Posts Tagged ‘Success’

How I Sold Over 70,000 Ebooks (and How You Can Too)

Posted on November 12th, 2012 by Kimanzi

Note from me: I will be away this week speaking in Kenya, Africa. My good friend Dan Black will be moderating my comments. Thank you Dan! Be WARNED! This is a long post and as a result it will be my only post this week.

On a daily basis I get at least ten emails asking me how I sold my ebooks and how someone can sell an ebook they just released. I understand wanting to know how to sell because self-publishing is VERY HARD! You would think there would be people out there willing to get the valuable information we write and put out to the world, but it’s not easy to get their attention. This post is meant to be a help with that.

I have spoken literally all over the world about the two main components of successfully self-publishing: using the power of your story and making REAL connections with people. Unfortunately I had to learn this lesson the hard way when I first started out.

I wanted so badly to sell my ebook so that I could get away from a job that I absolutely hated and live a life I only dreamed about. So instead of making connections and spreading a message, I became a spammer. I flooded social media and even my real life relationships with my book, I told everybody that would listen that I had a book and why they should buy it.

If you have followed me for anytime then you know my story, if not you can go to my about page and read my story or listen to the many interviews I’ve done and get the full story :) for the sake of time I will move on.

After the first two months of my book being released I sold five (eight total but three were from friends) copies and not only was I crushed, I couldn’t figure out why. It took me two weeks before I even looked at a computer again and got back to trying to make my dream a reality. I did some research and this is what I found:

What I did wrong

  • I was a spammer.  I mentioned this a little but I really tried to cram my book down people’s throat. I would post once every hour on Facebook and twice an hour on Twitter. I called people I hadn’t talked to in ten years and told them about the book. I told anybody I saw at work or anywhere I went about the book, everybody in the world knew about my book :(
  • I only focused on the money. I had to get away from this miserable job and I needed income ASAP! The money was all I could think about and it motivated what I did. Every post I wrote on my blog led to buying the book. Every post I had on social media led to a link about the book. In the end I lost most of my readers and most of my friends and fans on social media. When the money didn’t come I was crushed and wanted to give up, I lost faith in my dream.
  • I was impatient and took shortcuts. The process of successfully self-publishing requires a lot of patience and time, it’s just not going to happen over-night. I read so much information on how to do this so I thought I could speed up the process. It really made everything I did very sloppy and it wasn’t even close to my best work. When the sales didn’t come right away, I would go back to my default move: spamming.
  • The 20 reasons posts. I’m a writer so I was convinced that I could write my way into some books sales. I would write posts like “20 reasons to buy my book” or “1o reasons you can’t live without my book”. These posts were a completely FAIL! I know you want to sell your book and you want to write to show people the benefits of your book but this kind of writing completely turns people off!
  • I lost sight of the message. I originally started writing to help people and show them that there is hope. I wanted to be a voice for the little guy and give them options. When my book came out I lost sight of that message and just focused on selling the book. The message was lost for a long time and it makes me wonder how many people I missed out on helping.
  • I didn’t have a real campaign. When the book first came out I would promote it hard-core, two weeks later I didn’t bring it up at all. Then I would read a story that inspired me and I would be back to promotion mode. I continued this see-saw ride and promoting and forgetting, there was absolutely no consistency. If your book is going to be successful you must have a consistent way to promote the book even going forward. (more…)

Sometimes the Problem is YOU

Posted on June 29th, 2012 by Kimanzi

At the end of last year I hated my job so bad I wanted to quit and work any job I could find, even at Mc Donald’s.

When I thought about the job and the things I didn’t like, I combined those problems with other problems that I had in my life. This made the job and everything associated with the job ten times worse, no wonder I wanted out so bad.

Now I want to move on but it’s because I know that I have a higher caller, I know the Lord has more for me and that’s the path that I’m on. Lately though I’ve been thinking back on my twelve-year bread career and all the crazy things that have happened.

One thing that stands out the most is the relationship I have with the person I work for now, things have come full circle.

This post is my formal apology!

I started out working at a factory second shift and working my bread business part-time. The bread business grew and I started working for the person I’m working for now, that was over ten years ago.

He used my services so much I was able to quit my job at the factory and do my bread business full-time, yeah! The work he gave me made up sixty percent of my income, so I made sure to always do good work, until……….

As I made better money then I had ever made, my lifestyle increased and it started affecting my work because I would stay up too late. I was too tired at times to do a good job and I figured that if someone didn’t like it I was the only show in town. (more…)

Stop Comparing Yourself to Other People

Posted on June 20th, 2012 by Kimanzi

I remember how excited I was when my first book finally came out, I thought for sure I would sell enough copies in the first few months to quit my job. Why did I think that?

I had read the story of Amanda Hocking who sold one million eBooks in six months doing nothing more than the things that I was doing, so I thought for sure I would sell at least ten thousand copies :)

When the book came out I sold three copies on the first day, I didn’t understand. I was doing everything Amanda did, why didn’t I have the same results?

We start comparing pretty early in life

Growing up with two brothers we were always comparing what we did. If my brother got a B in school, I had to get an A. Even when we were in high school we always had to compare ourselves to other kids. I think growing up and having that attitude engrained in us, it carries over with us as adults.

Whether you’re working a traditional job, running your own business or chasing your dreams, you won’t make any progress comparing what you’re doing to what someone else is doing.

You have to focus on your own efforts

I spent so much time trying to copy Amanda Hocking and do things exactly how she did them, it was a bad strategy because we don’t even write about the same things. Every step I took I would run to her website and compare that step to the step she made at the point I was at, wrong, wrong, wrong!

Whatever you’re doing it starts with research and yes you will research people who have done what you’re trying to do. However, once you’ve done the research, it’s time for you to form YOUR own game plan. Once you have your plan, it’s time to move forward and take action.

There will be a natural tendency to go back and see how you’re doing compared to someone else, don’t do it. If you have made more progress than that person, then you’ll get a false sense of success. If you’ve made less progress, then you’ll get discouraged and start doubting yourself. Focus on you and your plan, this isn’t a competition, this is your life.

You have to move at your own pace

I touched on this a little bit but everybody has to do things at a pace that makes them comfortable. I have been pounding the ground hard so that I can quit my day job at the end of this year, my friend William is moving a little slower. My contract at my job ends at the end of this year, so I have a lot more urgency, he stills has a few years before he has to worry about that.

So it’s only natural that I’m moving at a faster pace and talking to him he is completely fine with that. If you see others moving slower or faster than you keep going at the pace that makes you comfortable. The key is to make sure that no matter what, you’re making some kind of progress forward.

Comparing yourself to others will be your downfall

With anything that you’re doing to better your life you’ll always have doubt. When you look and compare what you’re doing to other people, you feed into that doubt. You run the risk of getting discouraged and feeling like a failure.

You may feel like you’re behind and take steps that you’re not ready for that could ruin everything you’ve done. You’ll make a mess, you’ll add to your doubt and eventually give up.

If you have been guilty of comparing yourself or your progress to others, then please stop today! It’s not healthy, it’s not smart and it won’t help you move forward. Stick to your plan and the way you’re implementing that plan, this has to be a personal journey.

Have you been guilty of comparing yourself to someone else?

 

 

Some Habits That Create Success

Posted on May 30th, 2012 by Kimanzi

Dave Ramsey always says that if you want to be successful, find other people who are successful and adapt their habits, this advice is spot on.

I have a confession to make, at the beginning of last year I was a TV addict, I literally mean an addict. I had a DVR and at anytime there were at least thirty shows saved.

Now you might be saying to yourself there’s no way he watched all those shows, the sad truth is I was watching at least five hours a day of TV, ouch!

I would always wonder why I couldn’t get ahead, why I couldn’t get anything accomplished, I usually thought this as I was watching a show.

Note from Kimanzi: As a practical matter, watching that much TV is not only a waste of time but it will fry your brain and drag you down spiritually.

From my own experience of not creating good habits, I want to share with you a few habits that can help you make this a productive year and help you as you chase your dreams: (more…)

Changing The World Starts With The Right Motivation

Posted on April 16th, 2012 by Kimanzi

“1.0 out of 5 stars A piece of junk
This is a ‘rant’ by a totally untalented ‘author’ who conned several thousand people into buying this pointless connection of words. Using ‘blog’ connections he got this piece of junk recommended on the 48 days website. He should put away his pen, refund everyone’s money, then go and take a writing course! ”

This is a review a person left about my manifesto on Amazon a couple of days ago, ouch! To be perfectly honest with you when I saw it I was mad. I have read so many good blog posts and books about how to deal with rejection, I wrote a post about it a couples of days ago, so you would think I would brush this off and keep going. However, despite all the knowledge it still hurt and I was still upset, but only for a little while.

Working through the process

Having this great information and knowledge is a process that you have to work through once you’re faced with this kind of situation. In the past I was all emotion and had nothing but emotional reactions to rejection or criticism, now I can take that knowledge and apply it, while it might not be that very moment, I do get to the point where I can brush it off.

How do would you deal with it? Would you react emotional or do you have your own process?

Why are you really doing what you do? (more…)

How To Deal With Rejection

Posted on March 30th, 2012 by Kimanzi

No matter what you do in life or how well you’ve felt like you’ve done something, get ready to deal with some kind of rejection. Rejection could come from a co-worker, it could come from a customer of your business. Rejection can come from people you don’t even know or from the closet people in your life.

Hello to those visiting from the blog of Jeff Goins, welcome! Tales of Work is a blog focused on three things: a job, your business, and chasing your dreams. I offer advice on all three area’s and practical tips for everyday issues that we face in whatever work situation we are in. If you like what you see, please consider subscribing for updates by email, you’ll get a FREE gift!


When you experience rejection you really only have two choices: give up or move forward.

Rejection at work or your business

You may be an excellent worker and be in a good position with the company you work for, even despite all that one of your idea’s or a project that you’re doing gets rejected, now what? At first you’re not going to be used to this, even if you’ve experienced rejection before, your standing will have built up a sense of security, so when rejection hits, you’ll feel like you got sucker punched.

Just realize that no one is perfect and use this rejection as fuel to make your next project the best the company has ever seen. If your boss comes up to you and tells you that your work has been lacking lately, then use this as your chance to show then why you’re the best person they’ve ever hired. Do you see what I’m saying? You may be down but you’re not out, you can’t quit or give up. (more…)