How To Profit From Special Reports

Joan Stewart – Yes. It also positions you as an expert in your field, which means you can call yourself an author and a publisher. They give you a chance to upsell your customers to higher priced products and services. For example, I upsell customers who buy my special reports for $9 to my CD’s, which cost $29.95, and even to my mentoring program, because I put a little blurb at the end of every special report on my mentoring program. Also, the other reason I love them is because they can produce far, far more revenue for you than a book can—far more revenue.

Dan Janal – How so?

Joan Stewart – That’s how I tripped into this almost by accident.

Dan Janal – Why do you think that you can make more money from a special report than from a book?

Joan Stewart – In the first place, because a book costs money up front to publish and produce. You have an up front investment with a book; with special reports, you don’t. Every single penny that you make on special reports is pure profit. Can I tell you a little story, Dan, of how I tripped into these accidentally?

Dan Janal – Definitely, please.

Joan Stewart – When I joined the National Speakers Association, everybody said to me, “If you want to be viewed as an expert, you have to have a book,” and I said, “I don’t want to write a book. I have no ego factor involved. I’ve been published. My byline has been published thousands of times. I don’t have the time to write a book. I’m not interested.” And they said, “Sorry, Joan, you’re wrong; you’ve got to write a book.” So I said, “All right, all right, I’ll write the book already, but I’m going to start making money from the book long before it’s published, and here’s how I’m going to do it. I’m going to write a chapter, I’m going to call it a special report, and I’m going to post it for sale at my website for $7. So Chapter One is done. I’m going to write Chapter Two and I’m going to do the same thing. When I get 20 of them done, I’ll go pedal the book, which is now written, to a publisher and see if it can get it published.” Well guess what started to happen? I started my electronic newsletter at about the same time and these special reports were selling like hotcakes at $7 a piece. So Dan, do the math. When I came to 20 special reports, selling for $7 a piece, how much was to whole deal worth?

Dan Janal – That’s $140.

Joan Stewart – How many people do you know who can sell a book through Waldens or any other place for $140?

Dan Janal – No one, including Tom Peters. So you hit on the magic formula here, Joan.

Joan Stewart – I hit on the magic formula. Not only did I throw the idea for the book out the window, I kept cranking out the special reports, and today I have 48 of them, and I raised the price from $7 to $9 and I am flirting with the idea of raising the price yet again. I am not telling you don’t write a book, because there are many good reasons to write a book. If you are writing your book strictly as a moneymaker, folks, you’re writing your book for the wrong reason. Very few people make money from books. If you’re doing this, if you want write to make money, write special reports.
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