If I could start over... Lessons learned in e-publishing business
| Category: E-books | Date: 2002-04-22 |
As my online business approaches its 1st anniversary, I look back on my efforts and results, trying to summarize and draw conclusions.
What would I have done differently if I had to start from scratch again? What could I have done better? If you are just starting out in an information publishing business, or thinking about going into an e-business, the information I will share with you could be absolutely priceless as I will speak completely from personal experience.
************
If I had to do all over again, here are the things I would do differently:
************
1. I would have focused on one product at a time - starting from developing it to putting in place an effective marketing strategy. Beginning to work on new products while my 1st product wasn't yet selling well was a big mistake. I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of work. I had to keep testing the ad copy, web design, and headlines for my 1st book while creating the 2nd one.
My part-time business turned into a full-time nightmare for a little while. Now I am definitely waiting - no new products until my three books have a good and a proven marketing system in place.
Now, that's not to say that I don't come up with ideas for new products. I have at least 4 or 5 titles in my "idea bank", but I will not start working on them until I can see that my current projects are set up successfully.
2. I would have not jumped into forums and discussions groups making a fool out of myself before even "testing the waters". Being completely new to e-business (but not to web design) I underestimated the power of message boards and their effect on one's business. The Internet is not some huge universe of anonymous creatures. Everyone knows everyone and a bad news spreads fast throughout the online marketing community.
If I could do it over, I would have definitely lurked before posting. Get a feel of what kind of people, messages and reaction you should expect. Once you understand the forum atmosphere, your posts will be much more in tone with others and appropriate.
3. I would have never believed those ads, web sites and people who said that this is not hard work. There is no way you will be "making money while you sleep". This statement is missing one point: you need to work HARD before you can start "making money while you sleep". In other words, you need to get your business to a certain level before you start getting consistent orders, some of which will arrive "while you are asleep" :-)
4. I would have definitely come up with a schedule of when to work and what to do. For example, 2 hours a day. Monday - submitting to Search Engines, Tuesday - contacting other webmasters for link exchange, Wednesday - writing an article, and so on.
Because there is always something to do, I found myself working too many hours a week and many times would not accomplish much. Having a schedule and a plan helps a lot and allows rest time without feeling any guilt :-)
5. I would have researched market better before developing a very time-consuming product. I would have posted questions on related forums, created a mini-product, and located my major competitors first.
If I had done my homework before creating my 1st product, I would have realized that I needed to target it better. In other words, I would have focused on a specific niche of customers to market it with more success. Product that is too generic is hard to create an ad copy for, find good places to advertise, come up with good keywords for Search Engines and discover common characteristics in your customers.
************
Even though I have made a lot of mistakes in launching my e-business, there are some things that I would have still done the same:
************
1. I would have still created my free book, which was actually a smaller version of my 1st product. There are a lot of web sites and directories which collect free e-books (or link to authors' pages) and bring a lot of quality traffic.
If the free book is of high quality, it also spreads a good word about you as an author. Amazingly powerful viral marketing tool, and I found it to be excellent for building my mailing list.
2. Regardless of the controversy about reprint rights, I would have still offered the resell rights to my products. It helped me generate quick cash and allowed me to acquire the things my business really needed: advertising, software, and supplies. Somehow, until you start making money with your business, you are very hesitant to spend any. Reprint rights gave me the resources I needed to take my business to the next, more professional level.
But since there are many loopholes in the reprint rights business, I will think twice now before doing it again with my future products.
3. The fact that I chose to write about what I already know saved me a lot of time and embarrassment. It is always better to focus your business on what you are already an expert on, or something that you really want to get into and are willing to invest the time learning.
4. I would have definitely hired a professional graphic artist again to design my book covers! What a blessing... You see a cheesy e-book cover and you think, they want me to buy this piece of trash? Regardless of the book quality, people are bound to judge it by its cover :-)
5. My own domain name (actually 4 of them) was a really smart decision. A memorable and a unique name makes you look more professional, serious about your business, and the Search Engines will love you! And, yes - the Search Engines. I wouldn't spend my life on optimizing my web site for every Search Engine and directory, but I would definitely devote some time to choosing the right keywords and submitting once a month. Just so they know you exist.
There is a lot more to discover and much more knowledge to gain. Learn from your mistakes and don't repeat them next year.
About the Author
Milana Nastetskaya is a full time web developer and the author of two books: "Create Your First Busines Web Site in 10 days" and "65 Instant Web Design Answers".
milana@instantwebanswers.com
http://www.instantwebanswers.com
What would I have done differently if I had to start from scratch again? What could I have done better? If you are just starting out in an information publishing business, or thinking about going into an e-business, the information I will share with you could be absolutely priceless as I will speak completely from personal experience.
************
If I had to do all over again, here are the things I would do differently:
************
1. I would have focused on one product at a time - starting from developing it to putting in place an effective marketing strategy. Beginning to work on new products while my 1st product wasn't yet selling well was a big mistake. I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of work. I had to keep testing the ad copy, web design, and headlines for my 1st book while creating the 2nd one.
My part-time business turned into a full-time nightmare for a little while. Now I am definitely waiting - no new products until my three books have a good and a proven marketing system in place.
Now, that's not to say that I don't come up with ideas for new products. I have at least 4 or 5 titles in my "idea bank", but I will not start working on them until I can see that my current projects are set up successfully.
2. I would have not jumped into forums and discussions groups making a fool out of myself before even "testing the waters". Being completely new to e-business (but not to web design) I underestimated the power of message boards and their effect on one's business. The Internet is not some huge universe of anonymous creatures. Everyone knows everyone and a bad news spreads fast throughout the online marketing community.
If I could do it over, I would have definitely lurked before posting. Get a feel of what kind of people, messages and reaction you should expect. Once you understand the forum atmosphere, your posts will be much more in tone with others and appropriate.
3. I would have never believed those ads, web sites and people who said that this is not hard work. There is no way you will be "making money while you sleep". This statement is missing one point: you need to work HARD before you can start "making money while you sleep". In other words, you need to get your business to a certain level before you start getting consistent orders, some of which will arrive "while you are asleep" :-)
4. I would have definitely come up with a schedule of when to work and what to do. For example, 2 hours a day. Monday - submitting to Search Engines, Tuesday - contacting other webmasters for link exchange, Wednesday - writing an article, and so on.
Because there is always something to do, I found myself working too many hours a week and many times would not accomplish much. Having a schedule and a plan helps a lot and allows rest time without feeling any guilt :-)
5. I would have researched market better before developing a very time-consuming product. I would have posted questions on related forums, created a mini-product, and located my major competitors first.
If I had done my homework before creating my 1st product, I would have realized that I needed to target it better. In other words, I would have focused on a specific niche of customers to market it with more success. Product that is too generic is hard to create an ad copy for, find good places to advertise, come up with good keywords for Search Engines and discover common characteristics in your customers.
************
Even though I have made a lot of mistakes in launching my e-business, there are some things that I would have still done the same:
************
1. I would have still created my free book, which was actually a smaller version of my 1st product. There are a lot of web sites and directories which collect free e-books (or link to authors' pages) and bring a lot of quality traffic.
If the free book is of high quality, it also spreads a good word about you as an author. Amazingly powerful viral marketing tool, and I found it to be excellent for building my mailing list.
2. Regardless of the controversy about reprint rights, I would have still offered the resell rights to my products. It helped me generate quick cash and allowed me to acquire the things my business really needed: advertising, software, and supplies. Somehow, until you start making money with your business, you are very hesitant to spend any. Reprint rights gave me the resources I needed to take my business to the next, more professional level.
But since there are many loopholes in the reprint rights business, I will think twice now before doing it again with my future products.
3. The fact that I chose to write about what I already know saved me a lot of time and embarrassment. It is always better to focus your business on what you are already an expert on, or something that you really want to get into and are willing to invest the time learning.
4. I would have definitely hired a professional graphic artist again to design my book covers! What a blessing... You see a cheesy e-book cover and you think, they want me to buy this piece of trash? Regardless of the book quality, people are bound to judge it by its cover :-)
5. My own domain name (actually 4 of them) was a really smart decision. A memorable and a unique name makes you look more professional, serious about your business, and the Search Engines will love you! And, yes - the Search Engines. I wouldn't spend my life on optimizing my web site for every Search Engine and directory, but I would definitely devote some time to choosing the right keywords and submitting once a month. Just so they know you exist.
There is a lot more to discover and much more knowledge to gain. Learn from your mistakes and don't repeat them next year.
About the Author
Milana Nastetskaya is a full time web developer and the author of two books: "Create Your First Busines Web Site in 10 days" and "65 Instant Web Design Answers".
milana@instantwebanswers.com
http://www.instantwebanswers.com
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