Anya...idea for your booklet...

Hi Anya:

I have to agree - in Canadian bucks almost anything bought in US $ is an ouch....but once you start marketing on the internet in US funds you will be happy about the situation of the Canadian dollar :o)

I know along the path of threads many suggestions have been made about your teen makeup booklet.

One area you might consort to would be using your booklet as a fund raiser for schools. We'll talk Canadian schools here for purposes of grade levels as I am not familiar with how the schools are divided in the US.

I have two daughters just moving into the teen years and the oldest - now 13 and in Grade 8 - has requested and received permission to use makeup (sparingly)....took a bit of a struggle to give consent.

In their school almost every female in grade 7 and 8 is wearing makeup and looking like horror stories from mis-applied cosmetics.

If you move into the grades 9 - 11 a similar situation seems to be prevalent......if you look at many of the faces they also are sporting horrendous applications.

Schools are always looking for ways to fund raise.....especially now that our precious government is reeling in the funding they once used to be fairly generous with.

A well written cover letter, and an outline sample of the booklet should be ample to get the school interested....once agreed to, the booklet could be pre-ordered by the students....this way you only have the printing costs of what are actually going to be purchased....schools will want a 50% take so you will need to price accordingly.

Now if you really wanted to take this seriously you could move into some serious money by approaching national cosmetic companies for space ads, as well as local stores handling cosmetics, clothing, and accessories in the school cities where you are going to offer as fund raiser.....you will be offering these companies targeted advertising directly to the market they are trying to reach and penetrate.

Just do a little research on the number of 12 - 16 year olds in this country alone...then do some research on the number of public, separate, and high schools and you will see the immensity of the market waiting for both you and your paid advertisers.

With proper mix of ads you might just find you could provide the booklet to the schools at no cost and give them 100% of their take on sale of the booklets.

Just food for thought.

Cornell

And I thought I was the only Canadian on this board! It's great to hear from a close neighbor!

Your idea is terrific - and works in so well with Gordon's advice to leave the ebook and turn it into a booklet. I'm wondering if there would be the same resistance from teens in schools to buying something that teaches "what they know" already. At least, that's the message I'm getting online - that the teens already "know it all" so they have no use for my product. But hey, you never know. Maybe with a little persuasion from teachers who want to raise money, it would fly. I will definitely research this avenue.

Thank you so much!!

Anya :)

> Hi Anya:

> I have to agree - in Canadian bucks almost
> anything bought in US $ is an ouch....but
> once you start marketing on the internet in
> US funds you will be happy about the
> situation of the Canadian dollar :o)

> I know along the path of threads many
> suggestions have been made about your teen
> makeup booklet.

> One area you might consort to would be using
> your booklet as a fund raiser for schools.
> We'll talk Canadian schools here for
> purposes of grade levels as I am not
> familiar with how the schools are divided in
> the US.

> I have two daughters just moving into the
> teen years and the oldest - now 13 and in
> Grade 8 - has requested and received
> permission to use makeup (sparingly)....took
> a bit of a struggle to give consent.

> In their school almost every female in grade
> 7 and 8 is wearing makeup and looking like
> horror stories from mis-applied cosmetics.

> If you move into the grades 9 - 11 a similar
> situation seems to be prevalent......if you
> look at many of the faces they also are
> sporting horrendous applications.

> Schools are always looking for ways to fund
> raise.....especially now that our precious
> government is reeling in the funding they
> once used to be fairly generous with.

> A well written cover letter, and an outline
> sample of the booklet should be ample to get
> the school interested....once agreed to, the
> booklet could be pre-ordered by the
> students....this way you only have the
> printing costs of what are actually going to
> be purchased....schools will want a 50% take
> so you will need to price accordingly.

> Now if you really wanted to take this
> seriously you could move into some serious
> money by approaching national cosmetic
> companies for space ads, as well as local
> stores handling cosmetics, clothing, and
> accessories in the school cities where you
> are going to offer as fund raiser.....you
> will be offering these companies targeted
> advertising directly to the market they are
> trying to reach and penetrate.

> Just do a little research on the number of
> 12 - 16 year olds in this country
> alone...then do some research on the number
> of public, separate, and high schools and
> you will see the immensity of the market
> waiting for both you and your paid
> advertisers.

> With proper mix of ads you might just find
> you could provide the booklet to the schools
> at no cost and give them 100% of their take
> on sale of the booklets.

> Just food for thought.

> Cornell

Hi:

Not so close neighbour (Ontario) but in same country :o)

Tell ya what...if you'd like, I'll see what my kids think and have them do a casual question asking of the other kids in their class and see what the reaction is....Let me know if you want the kids to do a candid survey of their classmates...you can use email if you like so as not to tie up the board here.

The teens may 'think' they know it all but the kicker will be in the approach to them....if you don't have Gordon's RH you really should obtain it.

Cornell

That would be great - I'll even send along a free copy of the ebook for your kid's trouble if you give me an email where to send it!

Now for this survey....do you need me to email you with some questions, or do you have something in mind? I do have a specific email they should use to get their feedback to me (not the one posted above).

I agree...I don't know the finer points of selling, and after seeing Gordon's masterful use of RH here yesterday, I'm dying to read his work. I'll have to work on the hubby to see If I can use the credit card and get it, but he's a very hard sell, as our finances are so incrediby tight.

Anya.

> Hi:

> Not so close neighbour (Ontario) but in same
> country :o)

> Tell ya what...if you'd like, I'll see what
> my kids think and have them do a casual
> question asking of the other kids in their
> class and see what the reaction is....Let me
> know if you want the kids to do a candid
> survey of their classmates...you can use
> email if you like so as not to tie up the
> board here.

> The teens may 'think' they know it all but
> the kicker will be in the approach to
> them....if you don't have Gordon's RH you
> really should obtain it.

> Cornell

Hi Anya and Cornell. I'm also a Canadian who resides in the Scarborough, Ontario area.
God bless.
Brent "The Winner" Whinfield

> Hi:

> Not so close neighbour (Ontario) but in same
> country :o)

> Tell ya what...if you'd like, I'll see what
> my kids think and have them do a casual
> question asking of the other kids in their
> class and see what the reaction is....Let me
> know if you want the kids to do a candid
> survey of their classmates...you can use
> email if you like so as not to tie up the
> board here.

> The teens may 'think' they know it all but
> the kicker will be in the approach to
> them....if you don't have Gordon's RH you
> really should obtain it.

> Cornell

Hi Brent:

Not too far away...located in Sarnia.

I just visited your site. Looks good.

However, I ran in to some problems that maybe unique to my computer or may be presenting problems to others viewing the site.

Constructive comments here.

I didn't do every link, but when I went to the link pointing to winner.html it wouldn't display in netscape...tag problem on it...missing the close html tag at the end of the page. If that doesn't cure it look for a table tag not closed.

Also in Netscape 4.76 on the tour (tour/power1.htm)I had no sound but had the page display. In IE 5 had the sound but no page display.

As I say my be unique to my computer but could be costing some sales if a common problem.

Cornell

"I'm wondering if there would be the same resistance from teens in schools to buying something that teaches "what they know" already. At least, that's the message I'm getting online - that the teens already "know it all" so they have no use for my product. "

******Ummmmmmmm, I don't know who tried to convince you teens may not be interested in your book because they think they know it all but your naysayers are dead wrong.

Consider this: How many fashion magazines are there that target teenage girls? How many teenage girls buy those same fashion magazines every month (or simply buy a subscription)??? Thousands upon thousands upon thousands.....if not into the millions! When I was a teenager, not only did I devour every magazine I could get my hands on, I would cut out photos (to copy the looks) and instructions and put them in three ring binders. When I stopped do that, I had three binders (with the really wide spines) FULL of examples.

Teenage girls will read/use ANYTHING that will help them be more attractive. Magazines, books, websites, bestfriends' advice, and even the occasional advice from Mom.......doesn't matter what the media is, as long as they end up looking a certain way (the certain way will depend on the taste of the individual girl).

So don't worry about the naysayers who think teenagers aren't going to want to hear your makeup advice. As long as it isn't their **parent** telling them how to apply cosmetics, they'll listen. ;)

Also, I haven't seen the contents of your book so I don't know what looks you've chosen to teach them. If you haven't already done so, you might want to include a few funky/trendy looks that aren't outrageously freakish. I wouldn't be caught dead in blue or sparkly eyeshadow. However, what an almost 35 year old woman shouldn't wear is completely different from what a 16 year old girl can wear. When I was a teenager, I was much more adventurous (although, lucky for me, I inherited my mom's cosmetic good taste gene so I never looked freakish) than I am now. So, in order to increase your book's appealability to teenagers, you might throw them some teenage looks so they won't think you are an agent of MOM (Moms' Opinions of Makeup) and are out to force them to look.....**gasp**.....NORMAL and BORING. They want to look like the Hollywood trendsetters and Hollywood insists on being funky/trendy/sometimes-downright-weird.

Anyhoo, hope this helps put your mind at ease a wee bit.

Good luck,
EM

Hi Brent,

I'm out in Oshawa! How ya doin?

Paul Short
successthink.com


Success!

Hi Anya:

I just happened to read your post and came across this site in a women's ezine.

EverythingTeen.com


I think your booklet idea for teens is a good one and this site could be a good one to promote it. I don't have any kids, but do have a a 9 yr. old niece, going on 16. When I look around at the teen population and the money they seem to have at their disposal, plus the peer pressure to look and be 'cool' I think you have a very ripe market for your product.

And BTW, the same seems to hold true for the baby boomers and older population in terms of spending money to decorate their homes. My husband is an interior designer and says that the last few months have been some of the best he's seen in his business. These people are spending LOTS of money on home decorating and renovating.

Good luck. Let us know how your booklet is progressing.

Eliz.

Hi Anya:

> That would be great - I'll even send along a
> free copy of the ebook for your kid's
> trouble if you give me an email where to
> send it!

The initial response from my 13 year old was -I would want to see it first, or a sample, or something before buying it - how would I know if I wanted it if I don't know if it would be useful.....also got just a touch of the teen know-it-all attitude.

This was one of the reasons I mentioned RH in other post....will need a piece to offset that know-it-all attitude...if you can get around that with a well written copy, I think you will find a solid market.

My email address is in the header of the post if you want to send it to let the girls look at it.

> Now for this survey....do you need me to
> email you with some questions, or do you
> have something in mind? I do have a specific
> email they should use to get their feedback
> to me (not the one posted above).

These are kids....I just wanted them to do an informal question asking amongst their peers in normal conversation to get an open opinion....not a formal survey.

There are other spin-offs of this that could be set up as distributorships or franchises that would return a very healthly residual monthly income....probably could get some major corporation sponsoring to get it rolling if the package was put together properly.

Kids will be talking to their friends beginning of the week, so we'll see what kind of response comes back.

Cornell