I’ve been reserving most ebook updates for my email list subscribers and Twitter followers, but I figured it was about time I gave you guys a peak into the process…you know in case you’d ever like to do this someday.
The official launch of the Grad Meets World Ebook is a mere 13 days away. As in like less than 2 weeks. As in like “HOLY #$%$ where does time go?!?!”
I’ve been selling my services (no, not those kinds of services) for over a year. However, this will be the first time I’m selling an actual product with my name on it. Epically exciting? Hell Yeah! Scary? God yes!
Over the course of the last few weeks the magnitude of this project has really hit me. Sure, I didn’t make an announcement until the product itself was mostly finished. In fact, I kept my mouth shut for weeks in an effort not to jinx anything. But as I’m having Skype meetings, contracting designers, doing interviews, sending emails and writing up guest posts (all while working a full time job) I’m learning that there is SO MUCH MORE that goes into all of this. Don’t get me wrong, I knew I was in for a wild ride…I just didn’t know how wild it would actually be.
In an effort to help those of you who are thinking about launching your own products or services here’s a sneak peak into what my brain has looked like in the last few weeks.
(Click on the Image to Enlarge)
I swear it’s more organized in my head than it looks.
The point is that I have learned a lot of lessons through this whole process. Lessons that I hope can help you all as you work toward your own goals and projects.
1. ASK FOR HELP AND LEARN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.
I know next to nothing about internet marketing. Or, well, so I think. Of course I know this isn’t totally true. I know my way around social media, I know how to engage an audience and I know how to deal with people…I’ve just never actually sold a product.
So what should people do in situations where they may not know what they are doing? First, ask for help. There’s no shame in it people! Second, make your best effort to learn as much as possible from people who’ve already been there.
In light of that I would like to extend a huge thank you to Justice Wordlaw IV for walking me through the next marketing steps. Seriously, I was kind of clueless and he’s just plain awesome. If you ever need internet marketing done, he’s your man.
I’d also like to thank Molly Fisher for helping me create a sales page and putting up with me as I looked confused when she asked me about things like testimonials and headers. If you don’t the difference betweens a sales letter and a funnel page she’s your girl. She creates bangin’ pages at an unbeatable price!
2. TRY DIFFERENT APPROACHES.
One of my goals is to make a living from being my own boss. At the end of the day, I want to make the rules and experience true freedom. As a result, I’ve had to try several different outlets in an attempt to reach this goal. After all, if you can’t get through it, go under it, over it, or any way you can find. Finally, when you start experimenting with different outlets, try to learn as much as you can about each one.
For instance, I sell my writing and editing services so it’s kind of like selling a product, right? Well, not exactly. A product creates passive income, meaning you have to keep the interest around so that you don’t have to always actively create something. With writing I’m constantly working on something for clients.
I’ve experimented with some forms of a passive income, mostly in the way of ad sales on the blog which have begun to pick up thanks to you guys (many thanks for helping a blogger out!); however, that’s about as far as my passive income knowledge goes.
This ebook has been and surely will continue to be a lesson in passive income…one which I will definitely share with you all every step of the way.
(Speaking of passive income keep an eye out for the affiliate program that will be launching along with the ebook!)
3. SCREW YOUR INNER CRITIC.
Ok, this goes through all our heads at some point. We all fear rejection and failure in one way or another and selling a product is no different. However we digital entrepreneurs and bloggers need to realize something that Jenny Blake brought up in her keynote speech at the 20sb summit this year: We already put ourselves out there on the internet…I mean really put ourselves out there. Some of us even talk about some really intimate shit. So really, what the hell are we so worried about?
If I constantly worried about pissing someone off or failing miserably at my goals then I would probably never update this blog. I have to think of launching a product the same way. Am I going to be upset if someone doesn’t like it? Probably. But it’s not like I’ll let it kill me or anything. And it certainly won’t stop me from getting back up and trying again.
4. WORK OVERTIME FOR WHAT YOU REALLY WANT.
This may be an obvious statement but you’d be surprised how many people just sit around waiting for something to happen. If you want to reach your goals you have to work for them. I don’t just mean putting in some time here and there, I mean pouring your heart and soul into something.
I’ve been working overtime the last few weeks to create a product that I can be proud of. I go to work and come home to work on this blog and the ebook. I spend my weekends working on my projects because I care so much about it’s quality. I sometimes spend my lunch hours replying to reader email and Twitter followers. Now, I know not everyone is cut out for that – it takes a lot out of you to do this stuff! But people don’t succeed because they just can’t do it, they just don’t want it bad enough.
Is it draining? Yes. Is it exhausting? Absolutely. But nothing good in life comes easy. Sacrifices are a part of the equation so that one day you CAN do what you want.
Look at it this way, what’s a few sacrifices now compared to a lifetime of being unsatisfied?
And so I turn the mic over to you. What are some of the things that go through YOUR heads when working toward your goals? Feel free to share any exciting projects you’ve got going on!
I can’t tell you how comforting it is for me to read your posts and know that someone’s out there doing exactly what I want to/am trying to be doing. My freelancing “business” is just beginning, my ebook is in very (very) messy first draft stage, my full-time job still needs attending to, there’s always the blog…but reading on a regular basis about how you’re making it all happen is so encouraging to me. Please keep ‘em coming…they’re a huge help to my sanity and motivation.
Thanks Kelly! I’m glad someone out there benefits from it
By the way, your post today quite literally reminded me of myself hahaha. It was so nice to read that someone else with big goals is as human as I am. 