Are you curious about a one-year delay? I explained it in my first income report.


Ninth Income Report - December 2013
December was a strange month. I started writing a book about internet marketing. It was going slowly and painfully.

I went through a couple more iterations of the time management book edition.

 

At the beginning of the month I discovered that my story was featured in the latest edition of The Slight Edge! I sent them my story at the end of June, but I received no feedback so I assumed they rejected it. The new edition was launched in November. I bought the hardcopy and paid a hefty fee for the shipment to Poland, almost the price of the book itself. And then I discovered this! It was a happy moment.

I also joined the “get-rich-quick with Kindle” program called 6-Figure Kindle Club. I was curious about their methods and I figured out I had nothing to lose, because there was a money back guarantee. It sounded a bit too exciting for me to believe. I was in this business the last 6 months and they alluded to some big promises. And I wanted more results. I got a nice feeling when my speed reading book caused my sales to jump and I wanted to jump higher.

It took me more than a week to go through all the course’s videos. I found a few interesting tips. Participants of the program created a lively community together, they were giving each other reviews and advice. I quickly realized it wasn’t for me, but I decided to stay there to the end of the guarantee period. I also tried a few tips they were learning on the course.

 

I was polishing the final version of the parenting book with my wonderful proofreader, Diane Arms. I launched it just before Christmas using techniques learned in 6kfc: short free promo and getting reviews as soon as possible. It didn’t work out very well. In fact it didn’t work at all. This book has been my worst performing book so far. It sells just several copies each month. No promotional activity seems to add any vigor to its life.

 

Lesson:

Test, test, test and use what works for you. Gurus’ advice is good for gurus. You should seek solutions applicable to your situation.

 

Aside from the less-than-moderate success of the parenting book everything else was going smoothly. The sales of the personal mission statement skyrocketed (as my books went). I sold 72 copies of it in December, more than any two months before combined. I sold also 18 copies of my fitness book, so in December I sold more of them than I had from July to the middle of October. The content was the same in both cases. I changed only the covers (I published a new cover for A Personal Mission Statement… on 10th) and my catalogue was exposed a bit more thanks to the November promos.

The speed reading book was still selling in Japan (23 copies).

 

In December 2014 I decided to try other venues for my books. I studied a bit about Smashwords. I learned how to compile the manuscript according to their requirements. It took me a few days to do this, the process was a nightmare compared to Amazon’s, but I published the personal mission statement book there on the 5th of December.

I wanted to test how this platform performs without a marketing effort. The answer was: not very well. I sold just two copies of the book there. On Amazon I sold 57 in the same period. A disappointment.

The Income Report Breakdown

Income: 18.77€ which translates to $24.58.

It was another good month for me. I beat another sales record (167 copies overall). I felt the momentum building up; however the amount of money I received didn’t reflect that. It was the cumulated royalties for August to October period.

Cost:
$19, Aweber services (aff. link).
$1, first month of 6KFC program

Quite a lot was going on that month, but my costs were not growing because I got all my services for free. Diane Arms didn’t charge me for proofreading; Hynek Palatin didn’t charge me for the decent cover for the personal mission statement book; Chris Bell didn’t charge me for his editing services for Master Your Time.

Lesson:

Often gurus preach that you must invest in your business first (usually when they want you to ‘invest’ in their infoproduct) before expecting revenues and profits. And it’s true in general.

My mentor, Steve Scott, invested a few thousand bucks in his Kindle business before he saw profits. But there are two main differences between us:

#1 he was already an entrepreneur and I wasn’t.
#2 he had cash to invest in it, I didn’t 😉

I think those two points make all the difference. I was a lifelong employee. I had no experience in starting and investing in a business, I needed to learn that skill. This schooling didn’t go wrong. In November I invested the first ‘big’ amount, $35 in promoting services for the speed reading book and within a couple of months I reclaimed that money.

I started to become confident with my investing decisions, but I needed my experiences to build that confidence. Steve already had the experience and confidence to invest large sums and wait for profits for several months.

If you start with no business background, don’t spend money like crazy. You must first learn the ropes; recognize what is worth spending money on; feel that the investment will bring you a return, or the price is worth the learning experience if it won’t.

At the beginning keep your expenses at bay. It will limit your options somehow, but they are more limited by your lack of experience anyway. Newbies all too often expect an overnight success, they invest in all the wrong assets, like an expansive cover designer instead of at least a decent editor, and when the return of investment doesn’t come after a couple of weeks they are discouraged and quit.

Net result: $4.58

My first ever month above the red line. Wow me!


Previous Income Report: November 2013 || Next Income Report: January 2014

Ninth Income Report – December 2013

5 thoughts on “Ninth Income Report – December 2013

  • January 1, 2015 at 7:51 am
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    That’s awesome man, about being featured on The Slight Edge! It’s a book I’m planning on getting definitely. Just not yet. Must feel really cool to read about yourself in Jeff Olson’s book huh!

    “You must first learn the ropes; recognize what is worth spending money on; feel that the investment will bring you a return, or the price is worth the learning experience if it won’t.”
    >> Indeed indeed. This is a huge lesson point!

    Reply
  • January 4, 2015 at 11:27 am
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    I wholeheartedly recommend the book. Especially pages 106-107, ha, ha!

    Thanks for the comment. WordPress says you are one of the top commenters on this blog. I appreciate your input.

    Reply
  • January 4, 2015 at 2:37 pm
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    Oh yeah. So many good books to read! I often find myself saying the same thing for my YouTube. So much great music to record. Heh.

    “WordPress says you are one of the top commenters on this blog. I appreciate your input.”
    >> I’m surprised. You’re welcome. 🙂

    Reply
  • January 6, 2015 at 10:10 am
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    Great to see that strides are being made in this part of you income report, look forward to reading about future updates.

    Congrats for being featured in the slight edge!

    Reply

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