Package Information Creatively for Fun and Profits

by Marcia Yudkin

Got knowledge?  Got an enthusiastic target market?  Then
there's no reason to stick to books, ebooks, audios and
videos to convey your expertise.  Many more creative
options abound, and give you the chance to entice an unsure
buyer to make an initial purchase as well as have something
appealing for follow-up sales. 

Creative packaging also gives you a significantly better
shot at magazine and web publicity.  Years ago, for
example, I reformatted the contents of an audiotape as a
10-installment seminar on colorful postcards.  Entrepreneur
Magazine thought it was cute, and ran a little story about
my inventive new product, "The Procrastinator's Penpal,"
with a photo and my contact information.

For each creative packaging option, I've provided links for
resources or examples.

1. Reminder Cards

Imagine colorful, well-designed "cheat sheets" that lots of
people would find it useful to refer to often, and you have
a product. Years ago I repurposed a sidebar from my book
Persuading on Paper into a proofreading checklist. I
printed it out on one sheet of good quality paper, both
sides, laminated it and included it as a component of an
information product kit.

Bankers Online sells a colorful, postcard-sized reminder
card on the telltale signs of bogus IDs in packs of 50 for
easy reference by tellers and other bank employees. The
more highly designed such items, the less temptation buyers
will have to snitch your idea and duplicate it on their
own. You're best off going with a printing company that
specializes in postcard production for this printing this
type of card cost-effectively in large quantities.

Laminated Reference Guides  
P.L.E.A.S.E. System Reminder Cards 


2. Posters

Posters are as popular today as they were when you were you
were in college and for the same reasons - they can
decorate a wall and convey a message better than anything
smaller. They can also serve as larger-than-life-sized
reminder cards. Nearly anything amusing or educational can
be made into a saleable poster.

Special poster printers can create full-color posters for
you in bulk for resale, while Cafepress and Zazzle are
suitable for creating posters in ultra-small quantities or
on demand.

Cafepress
Zazzle 

3. Puzzles

Just about any kind of puzzle you can buy ready-made, you
can also commission as a puzzle containing content that you
specify.  That includes jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles,
word-search puzzles, Rubik's cubes, mazes, word jumbles,
cryptograms, etc.  Sell thematic puzzles with insider clues
or content one by one or in a collection.

Crossword Compiler Software 
Custom Jigsaw Puzzles 

4. Stickers

Stickers in your product line can be humorous or practical.
 The category includes bumper stickers, stickers intended
as labels, warning stickers, name tags, promotional
messages, indicators of credentials or affiliations, reward
stickers for kids, business reminders and more.

Custom Made Stickers 
Personalized Bumper Stickers 

These ideas just scratch the surface of the possibilities!
There are at least 97 more options for creative product and
service formats in which you can package and sell what you
know.

Marcia Yudkin has been selling content in one form or
another since 1981, including 101 Ways to Turn Content into
Money, from which this article is excerpted
(www.yudkin.com/contentintomoney.htm ).  Check out her free
weekly newsletter on creative marketing, Marketing Minute
(www.yudkin.com/marksynd.htm ).

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