October Earnings Snapshot: $689.30

I wonder if this is lower than expected because I haven't reached the payment threshold for foreign currencies?

Finally

I finally got the first eBook of this new series done. It was significantly longer than the last ones, which is part of why it took so long - not because it was a lot of work, but because I found myself quite overwhelmed at several points. When all was said and done, however, it wasn't nearly as much work as I expected it to be. Now I can go into writing the remaining books with realistic expectations of how long it's going to take.

Finally Getting Back into the Swing

I've been struggling with discipline/motivation/something. That's partly the way I seem to work: I get super jazzed about something for a stretch of time, then drop it for a stretch of time, then come back to it. I was really intrigued by this method of working outlined by Steve Pavlina, where you work overtime for one week and then take a one week vacation, alternating every week. I think in order for me to execute it effectively, I'd have to add a little structure to it. If I could condition myself to work really intensely for one week and then break really intensely for one week, that would be great...but I'd have to keep it at a strict interval.

But that's a solution for a little further down the road. Right now, I want to be putting in a few hours on this project every day.

I was really hesitant and reluctant to work for a few weeks and ended up procrastinating a great deal. Procrastination usually ends up being a vicious cycle for me. I start to feel really bad about the fact that I'm procrastinating so badly, then get really down on myself and procrastinate more as a result. This cycle can go on for weeks at a time - what just happened to me.

I got out of it this time by taking a good, hard look at why I was procrastinating. I evaluated many possible reasons, but the one that made the most sense was an embedded fear of success.

I've accepted that I am capable of changing my life. I'm also blessed in that I have a pretty good idea of how I'm going to do it. But I am also very afraid of changing my life. I've grown comfortable in my situation, even if it's less than ideal. Things that change after I accomplish my goals include:

• My living situation - moving across the country and setting up a new, comfortable home. That's stressful, complicated, a lot of work, and expen$ive!
• My schedule - am I possibly trading my current existence for one in which I am constantly working? Does having all this money to do all of these cool things and take all these cool vacations interfere with my long-established penchant for lazing around on my couch and playing video games/aimlessly surfing the internet?
• My relationship - how will it change? Will we grow and change together? Will my success put him off? Will his staying the same put me off? Will we no longer be compatible?

Etc, etc, etc. I came up with a few more reasons, but those are the big ones and they are not small things to consider. Changing my life means actually changing it, and that has consequences. Subconsciously, leaving my comfort zone is a scary thought. After listing my fears, I thought about each one and decided that most of these fears were me putting a negative spin on a positive thing - even my relationship, though I'm still a little scared about that.

September Earnings Snapshot: $465.53

Now that's more like it. Next month will be even better!

Showing Up

"Ninety percent of life is just showing up" - Woody Allen 

Imposing rules, quotas, and expectations on myself is counterproductive. It may not be so for everybody, but it's certainly the way I work.

The best I can do is to ask myself to show up every day and take one step in the direction I want to go. How big of a step that one step is varies from day to day, but what really matters is just showing up every day.

When I set crazy expectations for myself (e.g. 'write 25 percent of this book in one sitting'), I am less likely to show up. When I show up and take that first step, work gets done. That's better than nothing.

I have the complete power to strip away those rules and expectations I impose on myself. When I do, it's immediately easier to get back to business. That makes me feel unstoppable.

Now, if only these books would write themselves!

Under-Promising and Over-Delivering

Under-Promise. Over-Deliver. And Your Brand's Fans Will Talk (via FastCompany)

I've begun working on my new series. I made a few mistakes with the last one that i'd like to correct this time around.

• Implement uniform formatting across all versions. Although Smashwords offers distribution to Amazon and Barnes and Noble, I submit to these two retailers separately from the others. This time around, I am not going to modify the formatting for any e-reader. My biggest specific mistake was inserting page breaks into my final drafts. This doesn't matter on an e-reader. The font is adjustable.
• Write about a timeless topic. My first topic has a definite expiration date, and I don't anticipate it bringing me any money four years from now (then again, who knows?). This time I'm going to write about a subject that never falls in or out of style or becomes obsolete.
• Improve the quality of my writing. Although my refund rate for my current series is average and I have been getting positive reviews, I still personally feel that I could have done a better and more thorough job and delivered my readers more content for their money. I've identified a need in this niche for an inexpensive, comprehensive book in plain English. The title itself will tell people exactly what to expect, but I will pack this book with more information than advertised.
• Have confidence and pride in my product. This ties in with the above point. I'm much more likely to aggressively market and seek reviews and promotion for a product that I know is great.

Create great products. Exceed people's expectations. Get them talking. Get positive reviews. Boost visibility. Sell more. Right?

Product Price is Important

While out of town this weekend, I spent a lot of time thinking about this new sales page that I wrote up for my first eBook series.

This would be a great scenario to achieve:

• 10,000 monthly visitors
• 1 percent conversion
• 100 extra sales/month

The problem with this scenario - in my case - is that this will only bring me an extra $200 a month the way things are currently set up.

This sales page would be a lot more worthy of the time and effort I've put in if I had a higher-priced product to pitch. Accordingly, I've bundled together the eBook series into a complete collection. I will make even more money if I sell it directly from the website, upsell it on the individual pages, spend money to set up a Clickbank or E-junkie cart, etc - and take the retailers out of the picture.

My next bundle product will sell at a much higher, affiliate-friendly price point. Lesson learned! When you're selling a more expensive product, volume and conversions don't matter as much.

I also am figuring out that there is a point at which I have to stop with this project, accept that I've put enough effort into it, and move on to the next one. Do I really want to go this far and put this much work into this project? Will it be worth it?