What to Put on Your Book Table

…now the answer to the above question seems obvious, doesn’t it? BOOKS!

Ah, but what if you don’t have any books? Or what if you have only one? Then what do you do?

I have four books out, plus two compilation books. But I have a TON of stuff on my book table. Why? Because you do not have to just sell books! And if you don’t have books, never fear! You can find stuff to sell, too.

What we need to realize is that the book table is not actually about selling books. It’s about selling information. And information can come in a variety of forms.

The first way you’re transmitting information is by speaking, of course, which is why you’re there in the first place. So we know you can speak. You may feel like you can’t write, but if you can speak, you can communicate. Thus, there are a variety of ways that you can still create items to sell.

Here are some ideas:

1. Sell CDs of your talks. Just record them, edit them (it’s not as hard as it sounds), and then burn them. To record them, you can purchase a digital voice recorder which you can then plug into your computer to edit the sound file. Here’s the Digital Voice RecorderI use.

Once you have a bunch of talks, you can even package together ones on the same theme. For instance, I sell three CD pack for marriage, one for moms, and one for any woman, regardless of kids/marital status. Then I had someone create a nice CD sleeve for them, that looks like this:

2. DVDs of your talks and conferences. This one is a little more pricey because you usually will have to pay to have a professional quality video made. However, sometimes you’ll be speaking in a church which already has the video camera set up to record things. Ask ahead of time, and see if you can have someone record you in exchange for a reduction in the fee. Videos come in handy for other uses, too, like putting snippets on YouTube or using as a promotional DVD, so it’s good to record whenever you have the chance!

3. Bible Study materials. If you’re speaking from a particular passage, can you take what you’ve done and turn it into a 6-week Bible study course? You just need to come up with some good questions, ice breaker ideas, and different passages to study each week. Buy those binders that allow you to put a sheet of paper in the front, and now you have a Bible study. You can sell it for $25, and then give people the rights to photocopy it for their groups. It may not seem like much, but groups are always looking for studies that don’t require homework (and sometimes NOT having a book that goes along with the study is actually a bonus!).

4. Gift Baskets. Did you talk about grief? Did you talk about friendship? Did you talk about encouragement? Why not create a gift basket that goes along with what your topic? Add a few pretty printed cards with some of your key Scriptures or sayings, and then put cute things that go along with it, like a mug, flower seeds, bath products, chocolates, or whatever. People can take it home to give to a friend to encourage them. Try to keep it inexpensive and simple.

5. Mugs. If you have a pithy saying that you use a lot in your talk, consider getting a mug made up. Many malls and printers have places where you can order customized mugs, and see how much it would cost for a quantity of 100 or 200 to start.

6. Charts/Checklists/Calendars. Do you talk about getting organized? Do you talk about making time for God? Do you talk about prioritizing family, or finding time for relationships? You can create several charts or workbooks that help people implement what you’ve said. Again, they don’t have to be expensive, but you can stick them in an inexpensive binder with an attractive cover, or sell them in a duotang with an attractive sticker with personalized graphics on the front.

In all of these items, the trick is to come up with inexpensive graphics that make your products look professional! Ask around to see if there are any amateur graphic designers in your church, or any IT people who are willing to do some work on the side for some extra money. Or, if you’re on Twitter, send out a request for moms who want to make money on the side. The internet is filled with really talented moms who want to work from home, so you’re sure to be able to find somebody!

These are just some ideas that don’t have to do with books. Do you have others? Leave them in the comments! Or if you don’t have a clue what to sell, leave your topics in the comments and maybe we can come up with some ideas for you!

Want to delve into this topic more deeply, and figure out how to create more of an income stream from your speaking? Get my audio download Creating Products to Sell when you speak!