Written on December 3rd, 2009 at 02:12 am by Darren Rowse
$72,000 in E-Books in a Week – 8 Lessons I Learned
Over the last 11 days I’ve been on a massive learning curve.
This post is a number of the scattered lessons I’ve been learning – mainly from the launch of my Portraits E-book over at Digital Photography School. This builds upon the post – The Insiders View of How I Launched My New E-book from last week.
Update on the Launch
In the last few hours I’ve ended the official launch process of the e-book. You may remember that we launched the book with a 25% off discount on the book that was to last a bit over a week (9 days actually).
In that time we’ve sold a bit over 4800 e-books.
Before you rush off to grab the calculator – that’s a little bit below $72,000 USD since launch.
While it has certainly been a profitable week – do keep in mind that there are some costs to take off this figure, it’s not all profit. PayPal takes a fee off every transaction, there were design costs, proof reading, affiliate commissions etc.
All in all it’s been a fun week but I’d learned a lot about this type of launch that I’ll do differently next time.
Lesson #1: Offers with Deadlines Work:
You’ll see from the following chart the number of sales each day during the launch.
Day 1 and 2 were the ‘pre-launch’ – held over the weekend and basically a trickle of sales from a couple of tweets that I made.
Day 3 was launch day. It was when I emailed my list, posted on the DPS blog, tweeted in earnest about it and posted my last post mentioning it here on ProBlogger. It was a great day of sales.
Days 4-9 saw me do a few promotions on Twitter and an attempt by me to get my affiliates for the product promoting it. I’ll talk more about the affiliate promotions below. I also mentioned the e-book in the weekly newsletter that I sent out (Day 5) but that promotion wasn’t as in your face as others as I didn’t want to burn out readers. These days were steady in terms of sales which surprised me a little as Thanksgiving was in the middle of it all!
Day 10 was the day I sent out my final ‘last chance’ email to my list. It was a short email simply reminding them that they had 36 hours to go to take action on the 25% discount. The email also linked to a page on the blog where I had a number of reviews from other blogs that said nice things about the e-book.
This last action email and the post on the blog drove a heap of sales. I was expecting it to be a good day but Day 10 went past the launch and considering that the promotion ended halfway through Day 11’s figures that was a good day too.
All in all I think this chart illustrates the power of having an offer with a deadline. The sense of urgency and scarcity that such an offer brings about is powerful.
Lesson #2 – Extra Launch Offer
One thing that I almost immediately regretted with this offer was not having a time sensitive offer that ended after 24 hours. While the first day and last day were great, the reaction of a lot of readers on Day #1 was ‘I’ll think about it’.
Perhaps having a fast action bonus of some kind might have helped convert some of these procrastinating buyers. I’m sure some did end up buying but perhaps not having a fast action bonus lost a few sales on launch day.
Lesson #3 – Mid Promotion Offer
I mentioned above that on Day 5 I mentioned the e-book in my weekly newsletter. I showed the above chart to a couple of experienced internet marketers over the last few hours and each one of them said it’s a pretty typical result. The first and last day of an offer are generally the biggest.
However a couple of them also suggested that they also try to do a mid launch promotion also. In this way they try to get their chart to look more like a W than the V that my chart is like.
Upon reflection I could have done something similar with a number of things. Next time I’ll consider a post and/or email mid launch that points to some reviews/testamonials of the product as well as adding an extra bonus.
Jeff Walker did a nice mid launch promotion on his latest launch that seemed to work well – midway through he added a series of extra bonuses for buyers.
Lesson #4 – Affiliates Need More Hand Holding
Next time around I will be putting a lot more effort into developing relationships with the affiliates promoting the promotion. While 2-3 of the affiliates did quite good promotions – they were in the minority. Here’s what I’ll work on next time:
- communicating with affiliates before the launch – the craziness of the launch I didn’t start equipping affiliates until I’d already launched. While I did have a couple of them set up and ready to go most signed up on Day 3-4 and didn’t start promoting until days 5-6 which coincided with Thanksgiving.
- tips for affiliates – as I watched the promotions that some of the affiliates ran it became pretty obvious that many didn’t really have much experience in affiliate marketing – I think I assumed too much and should have developed some resources for them that showed them how to promote the e-book. While I’m not a big fan of swipe files and would never use them myself when promoting a product – I can now see why many people offer them to affiliates.
- banners – again, I wish I’d put a little more time aside to put together some banners and other graphics for affiliates to use. This was on my list of things to do but in the whirlwind of the last few days before launch it didn’t happen.
- recruit affiliates – I think this will get easier as I launch more products because I’ll have previous affiliates already set up but next time there are a few sites that I’d like to target as potential affiliates that didn’t come on board this time. Perhaps they didn’t come on because it was all too last minute or perhaps I simply didn’t have the relationship with them that I thought I did – but next time I want to be more prepared and have done more groundwork in this area.
Lesson #5 – Pre Launch Buzz
Apart from a few comments in passing in newsletters and blog posts – I did very very little to build anticipation on DPS in the weeks before this launch. I think I wasn’t wanting to build unrealistic expectations with readers or to be too in your face – and in doing so failed to create ANY anticipation among readers.
I look back now and think I should have done more – perhaps doing a live interview with a portrait photographer in the days before, running a competition, publishing an excerpt from the e-book…. etc
I don’t think that these pre-launch promotions need to be ‘in your face’ at all – rather they should both build buzz but also be useful to readers.
Lesson #6 – Price Isn’t Everything
When I ended the 25% off discount I expected that the folder in my inbox that collects emails about new sales would sit dormant for a while. The promotion is over – sales will stop now won’t they?
Not true. The price is back up to it’s normal price now of $19.95 but the sales are coming in pretty much at the same rate that they were before the discount. There’s still a certain buzz going around about the E-book and this momentum continues to drive sales. Even since writing this post we’ve had another 10!
Lesson #7 – It Takes a lot of work
This type of launch is both exhilarating and exhausting.
The excitement of launching this 9 days ago was fantastic. Seeing the first sales being rung up over the first few hours was a real buzz. Getting up each morning and realizing that you’d sold several hundred e-books was great.
However the number of emails that I’ve personally replied to this week must have been quite a few hundred. The weight of customer service type queries that come in when doing a launch is massive.
People whose computers crash during downloads, problems with credit cards, complaints about PayPal, people with old versions of Adobe Reader that mean they can’t read the PDF, people who fail to see that you’re selling an E-Book not a hard cover book (despite you slapping it all over your sales page)….. etc
This is just the territory that comes with this type of launch and if I were smart I’d probably have outsourced it – but it was good to get my head across it all as it taught me a lot.
Lesson #8 – Products are Powerful For More than Just the Money They Earn
I’m planning a post on this later in the week so won’t say too much except that both with this Portrait e-book and the development of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog workbook I’ve discovered that having a product of your own is something quite powerful.
Not only is it an income stream – but it’s something that has a real impact upon both your readers and your standing in your niche/industry:
- I’ve noticed that readers are quite excited about the launch – they are proud that a blog that they belong to has it’s own resource.
- Some readers somehow feeling more ownership of the blog because they have bought the e-book. I guess they now have something a little more tangible from the blog that they own.
- I’ve also had a few emails from others in the photography space who seem to have taken a bit more notice of the site as a result of the e-book. It’s already opened doors.
That’s it for now – I’m going to log off now for a bit and have a glass of bubbly before crashing into bed to try and recuperate before I have to do it all again!
158 Responses to “$72,000 in E-Books in a Week – 8 Lessons I Learned” - Add Yours
Andrew @ webuildyourblog.com
December 3rd, 2009 2:16 am
WOW! Awesome stats, Darren. You can now afford a relaxing holiday!
Thanks for sharing all the good points. I’m just starting the pre-launch of mine new product and the article is very timely.
Did you offer prizes for affiliates? It’s one thing I am thinking about.
Thanks.
Andrew
Gabe | freebloghelp.com
December 3rd, 2009 2:33 am
Congrats on the success! And thanks for sharing your lessons learned!
Michael Holmes
December 3rd, 2009 2:39 am
Wow!!!
Now these are lessons I DEFINITELY need to know…especially in selling my book and upcoming E-book.
I’m grateful that you shared you successes and the areas where you felt you could have done better.
And like Andrew said, “You can now afford a relaxing holiday!”
Mark Wolfinger
December 3rd, 2009 2:46 am
Congrats.
Question: Don’t early buyers feel left out when new bonuses are added in the middle of a promotion?
Are there hard feelings?
Would you send those freebies to anyone who bought the book earlier and requested these bonuses?
Thanks
Vishal Sanjay
December 3rd, 2009 2:54 am
Congrats Darren, I guess its easy to build an empire online once you create a platform, you have 3 high traffic blogs, through which you can keep building your online empire. Even i concentrating on the same, Im gonna build my blog generate traffic and build a network on it.
PetrS
December 3rd, 2009 2:55 am
Thank you for sharing this experience with us! I believe it will be useful not only for me, but for a bunch of your readers ;)
Mark Foo | 77SuccessTraits.com
December 3rd, 2009 2:56 am
Awesome! 4,800 copies sold in 9 days, which is on average more than 500 copies per day! Congrats for the great success!
Cheers~
Mark
David Walker
December 3rd, 2009 2:58 am
That’s one big turkey, Darren ;) Congratulations on the sales. Promotions aside, buyers still knew what they were getting from you, and that’s very important.
Urgency always works. I think people need to feel they’re getting something limited and exclusive to give them the much-needed ‘nudge’ in the right direction.
I’m glad you took the time to analyze what worked and what didn’t and presented it all to us. Every launch and sale teaches us something; what we did right, what we could have done different, and what we should never do again.
Every launch is another step up the learning ladder, and you’re almost there ;)
brian | No Debt World Travel
December 3rd, 2009 3:09 am
All great lessons learned Darren. In launching my own e-book I never knew the intricacies involved. It is not as simple as saving a PDF file and waiting for PayPal to send you order confirmations.
Anxious to hear how things progress.
Justine Smith
December 3rd, 2009 3:16 am
I’ve been looking forward to hearing about the more in depth details of your e-book launch. WOW $72K in a week!
I really want to offer something to my readers to avoid advertising for some time but I really am just afraid of rejection.
While it’s fantastic to hear about your success, I always have the “he has so many subscribers/he’s a famous blogger/he’s well respected” in the back of my mind so I am afraid to put myself out there.
I am getting 500 unique visitors a day/900 page views a day after just a month. Do you think I should try to launch a paid product or start looking for direct advertisers? I’m not sure what would be better for my blog.
I know you said before that I should try an product even with my visitor count but I wonder which is a better route to try first?
Justine Smith
December 3rd, 2009 3:19 am
Also about #7 “it takes a lot of work”
–> I would love to hear a post just on how you promoted the e-book (like hours per day, how you reached out to new people). Maybe you have tips for those with a smaller audience then yours.
Here’s an idea – Perhaps you could help a blog launch a product (without using your name until the product is launched) as a ‘casestudy’ to show that even those with a smaller audience can do it!
Kelsey
December 3rd, 2009 4:03 am
WOW! That is more than double what I make in a year. This definitely inspires me to continue working on the 2 e-books I’ve started- you’ve showed me that they are a great source of passive income (with a little marketing elbow grease, of course).
Rob
December 3rd, 2009 4:06 am
What was the sales figures of the 31dbbb e-book?
Will you ever turn any of your e-books into a physical book?
Why haven’t you sold your books on amazon as an e-book or a kindle download?
Oh yeah, congratulation and you are very inspirational.
Caitlin
December 3rd, 2009 4:08 am
Congratulations Darren! I’m sure that the e-book is definitely worth the price. I’ve been thinking about buy it myself.
Casey Stubbs
December 3rd, 2009 4:13 am
I just did a similar launch on my site for a premium service I am offering and I wish I would have read this post first. I learned several of these lessons as well.
Thanks for the insight.
Corwin Hiebert
December 3rd, 2009 4:31 am
Darren – great insights. Especially on the affiliate stuff.
I’ve just published my first eBook as a way to launch my blog so I’ll keep this post in my back pocket for the next one (when I actually have an audience to promote an offer to). I wrote “Eleven and a Half” Ways to Make Your Next Event a Huge Success and I think it’s awesome eBook; my Mom likes it anyway.
Professor Beej
December 3rd, 2009 4:42 am
Those are quite impressive, Darren. I hope my ventures into ePublishing are even fractionally as lucrative.
My ideas are generally fiction or academic essays and criticism. Do you think those could work in an eBook format (such as on the Kindle store in addition to the self-marketed blog route)?
David Edwards
December 3rd, 2009 4:50 am
Awesome stuff Darren!, every popular website should have an e-book!…
Dean Saliba
December 3rd, 2009 5:28 am
Well done.
I’ve also found having a deadline, and mentioning it a lot, can help sell a few more copies or a book, e-book or a web site layout.
Diabetis
December 3rd, 2009 6:04 am
Congrats!
Another milestone for you.
Rosa
December 3rd, 2009 6:25 am
I just recently bored your book Pro-Blogger Secrets for blogging your way to a six-figure income, and I just cracked it open. If this book does wonders for me, you can bet that you just bought yourself another client through the help of the library. It took me over a month for the book to come back in stock since so many people had it on reserve. I am impressed by the numbers above and by your methods. I will continue to read your blog and look into promoting some of your ebooks in the future.
Lucifer@Blog Contests
December 3rd, 2009 6:25 am
Great Congrats on Your success You Are earning like anything :)
Dave Doolin
December 3rd, 2009 7:00 am
I’ve done 2 small launches now, and I was stunned at how time consuming they were.
There are so many moving parts.
Both of those launches were more “practice” too. Sure, the product has value, but I kept everything fairly low key so I could keep a grip on what was going on. Even so, tons of work.
I’ll be slowly ramping up in the future. As a one-man shop, I have to make sure I can mostly chew what I bite off, just take bigger bites each time.
For anyone not having experience with a product launch… expect to be surprised!
Chad Campbell
December 3rd, 2009 7:00 am
Thank you for sharing your stats with us. This post is making me look into how to get the mid-launch “bump” you mentioned. I personally had never considered that aspect of a product launch.
Deborah Richmond
December 3rd, 2009 7:52 am
I’m grateful for the information you are sharing in this post. I am developing a product now and need to learn as fast as I can how best to launch. This is some very helpful information. I found it interesting that a discount didn’t create a significant amount of more sales, as you would expect.
Coop
December 3rd, 2009 8:49 am
One of my goals for 2010 is to create and sell my first e-book, so I appreciate your info..
Greg
December 3rd, 2009 8:51 am
Wow…
Thanks for the informations!
Very interessant!
@GregoryClerc
The Emotion Machine
December 3rd, 2009 8:52 am
This is great news for you Darren, I am living vicariously through your success. I am curious though – how long did it take you to put together the ebook? I have yet to see it but I am sure it is wonderful!
Sebastian Sjöberg
December 3rd, 2009 8:53 am
Congratulations, it’s an inspiration to us all. Enjoy those bubbles!
Mary Lutz
December 3rd, 2009 9:03 am
I’ve been tossing around writing an ebook myself. This really inspires me to do so. However I’m just beginning to build my list. I will definitely bookmark this and refer to it as go through the whole process. Thanks Darren.
Ed Cyzewski
December 3rd, 2009 9:07 am
Very, very helpful.
In launching my own print book I hear ya on the point about not blogging about it enough. I didn’t want to overwhelm folks with it, but now I see I could have really worked a lot harder at repackaging my information or pulling some key quotes from the book to share with potential readers.
One quick question. Under what circumstances should an ebook be free? And if so, any thoughts on how the marketing/launch would be a bit different?
My thinking is that books with fairly common knowledge in an easy-to-use format should most likely be free. In other words, it’s more of a distribution service. However, there’s less urgency with that launch of a free book. Can free books have urgency in their launch?
$30 Date Night
December 3rd, 2009 9:18 am
Wow. Darren, well done. Thanks for sharing these lessons – invaluable, I’m sure! I’m mid writing an e-book and you’ve just inspired me to finish it and start getting it out there!
TheInfoPreneur
December 3rd, 2009 9:28 am
Perfect post just what I needed, before I launch mine
Thanks Darren
Cindy
December 3rd, 2009 9:41 am
I’m really enjoying the Portrait e-book. Every time I read a little section I want to grab my camera and practice. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge & experience.
Stephanie Chandler
December 3rd, 2009 10:28 am
Ah, the power of niche marketing! Love this example and will cite it for future reference with my readers (I wrote “From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur” and get a lot of inquiries about ebook marketing). Congrats on all of your success!
Daniel Cajiga
December 3rd, 2009 10:52 am
Darren your life is actually impressive!
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S !! friend!
and thank you very much for sharing all this knowledge and motivation for free.
Best Regards,
Daniel Cajiga
Dan
December 3rd, 2009 10:55 am
Is it really beneficial to partner with affiliates that you need to hand hold during a launch?
My thoughts have always been to use the launch to drive buzz. Only select affiliates who know what they are doing will be able to drive the buzz you need. Why not select certain sites/people to partner with during the launch, and then after the launch focus on others that need the additional hand holding?
Chiropractic Marketing
December 3rd, 2009 10:57 am
It’s good to see ebooks are still a viable market. And affiliates definitely needs some hand holding to get things rolling.
Stan
December 3rd, 2009 12:27 pm
This is hot.
Would love to see more info on how you promoted the book actively on twitter. Always thought that direct promotion on twitter was bad form. What do you think?
alwaysLovely
December 3rd, 2009 12:27 pm
Darren, congrats! Thanks so much for sharing the insider information! Valuable!
Dr Wright
December 3rd, 2009 2:05 pm
Thanks for sharing real results and being straight forward with the information.
Dr. Wright
The Wright Place TV Show
http://www.wrightplacetv.com
mbt shoes
December 3rd, 2009 2:47 pm
Congratulations! I will continue to read your blog and look into promoting some of your ebooks in the future.
Casey Watkins
December 3rd, 2009 3:04 pm
This is some great info! I plan on releasing an Ebook in February so I am getting as much launch info built up as I can!
Vern | AimforAwesome
December 3rd, 2009 3:09 pm
I’d be interested to know, roughly, what is the proportion of ebooks that sold as a result of your own photog site, problogger, your own lists, versus affiliate sales.
And, did you notice that only a few top affiliates were responsible for 90% of the affiliate sales or was it spread out a bit?
How many affiliates sold it?
:)
Dana @ Online Knowledge
December 3rd, 2009 3:19 pm
What a great lesson you share here. I will always remember these eight lessons in my own product. So thanks for sharing it.
Sarge @ beginnerblogger.com
December 3rd, 2009 3:53 pm
It’s amazing that you’ve learned so many lessons given how successful (in most peoples eyes) your ebook launch and product have been.
It’s scary to think how well you will go next launch! I think it will come down to having a great product than the other areas you have mentioned (although I’m sure they will help) given that you’ve released several ebooks now.
Nice work Darren – can’t wait to see how the next one goes! :)
NINA
December 3rd, 2009 4:58 pm
Hello Darren,
Can you tell me how to promote blog via Twitter? I really need it to increase my traffic. Thank you very much
Nina
80s dude
December 3rd, 2009 5:30 pm
Well congrats AGAIN Darren for doing it super big!
Mobile tracker
December 3rd, 2009 5:44 pm
Awesome, you are doing a really great job, and thanks for this information, I nearly envy you.
Bukisa Boy
December 3rd, 2009 6:37 pm
Wow. I’m envious. I guess it also pays to be well known and trusted on the web.
Morgan
December 3rd, 2009 6:45 pm
Congrats Darren – very inspirational for my own eBook as I’m getting ready to release a third edition.
Sean
December 3rd, 2009 7:23 pm
Darren, your hard work and diligence has paid off – congratulations. Looking forward to hearing about the next launch and the things you did differently.
Thanks for always keeping the posts down to earth and real, you ensure people understand what it truly takes to be a success in Internet Marketing.
Immanuel Tse
December 3rd, 2009 10:15 pm
wow… u’r awesome dude !!!
MichaelR
December 3rd, 2009 10:31 pm
Wow! 72k in sales in just 11 days? Thats years of my salary already.
Annabel Candy, Get In the Hot Spot
December 3rd, 2009 11:35 pm
Great pointers here for my imaginary launch:) A few points and questions:
1. How much $$ did the biggest affiliate make? Cheeky:)
2. What exactly are swipe files?
3. I see the need to anticipate problems and work out how best to deal with them before they happen. It should be easy to set up web pages for some of these problems such as the old version of adobe so people can help themselves.
4. Another thing that may interest you. A camera catalogue came through my door today and I was browsing through thinking of getting a new camera but over-whelmed by the choice. Then I remembered DPS. Have never visited or read it but it definitely occurred to me that I would use it if I did want to buy a camera so all I’m saying is that just subliminally mentioning your diff blogs on each blog is a good thing.
And finally, well done! You’re definitely setting the bar high and I think it’s a huge achievement.
Deabashish Brahma
December 4th, 2009 12:01 am
Ohh ! It’s absolutely great, lot to learn , it’s about consumer behaviour , it’s changing, slowly but in a positive way.
With Warm Regards
Deepak @ BusinessAttitude.com
December 4th, 2009 12:14 am
I’m really enjoying the Portrait e-book. Every time I read a little section I want to grab my camera and practice. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge & experience.
Kimmo
December 4th, 2009 12:17 am
Posts like this make me keep coming back to this site!
One comment:
You said: “One thing that I almost immediately regretted with this offer was not having a time sensitive offer that ended after 24 hours.”
With some people this might work, maybe even most. But with me, it is the opposite. If an offer doesn’t leave me time to consider, I always skip it.
Coach Chris Berg
December 4th, 2009 12:20 am
GREAT post! Thanks for sharing and being so transparent!
Michelle, Moving Mountains Design
December 4th, 2009 12:33 am
Very inspirational and great information. Congratulations on the sales. I’ve long toyed with the idea of an e-book and this gives me more impetus.
Rob
December 4th, 2009 1:34 am
Darren, phenomenal results – congratulations!
For lesson #7 about the work – have you considered adding a FAQ section on the sales page at all? Or even once someone purchases the ebook, using aweber to forward an automated email which contains all the troubleshooting and FAQs?
The FAQ and troubleshooting could also be added to as emails come in and as you realise the problems customers keep having or questions that keep getting asked…
It won’t eliminate all the emails, but might reduce the volume a little and should stop you having to answer the same questions all the time…
Mike Stenger
December 4th, 2009 2:35 am
Very cool to get an inside look on a product launch Darren. People really underestimate urgency when promoting a product or offer. Yeah, a lot of the big-wigs of internet marketing know how to use it extremely well and many people do, but it’s usually very generic and mediocre such as “The doors close in 2 days, This page is being taken down Wednesday at 12AM EST., etc.”
Having the use of discounts like you did or even something different can make your offer more unique and get more sales.
Paul Saunders
December 4th, 2009 3:26 am
Darren,
Firstly thanks for your open honesty with your readers on a subject very few would reveal as much, think this puts you in much higher regard.
This is an interesting post, particularly as it follows your frank admission earlier in the week that you had failed to expose yourself to any of Jeff Walkers strategies over the last few years and realised you had let yourself down by not doing so.
I really hope you will at least run through some of his modules as it is so relevant to this post. I have never, yet, done a launch, but hope to in the early part of next year and will certainly be using your experience, and Jeff’s very logical step by step plan. Reinvest less than 5% of your net profit from this launch and I am sure you will achieve 50% increase in figures next time.
Well done.
Brandy
December 4th, 2009 3:46 am
Congrats! I understand it’s not all profit, but no matter what it proved to be a successful launch and I wish you much more success with it. I love the part you learned about Affiliates, as a person who is still learning affiliate marketing, often having a hand to hold at first would be best, at least in my opinion :-)
Doug
December 4th, 2009 3:58 am
Darren,
What ebook software do you use, for ebooks that you are planning to sell. That have features that protect against copyright infringement, unauthorized printing and forwarding. Do you also have a cover making software that you have used and recommend?
Thanks
Carolyn Edlund
December 4th, 2009 6:34 am
Your results show the power of compounding “interest”!
Rosa
December 4th, 2009 6:39 am
I am returning to update my previous comment with another one. I read your book on my blog under “Reviews_Books on Blogging” in the header section that you can check out. I must say that I found it interesting and you sold me. There were a few things that I would have done differently in the book but overall, it was a great read and a person can learn a lot from it. My next adventure…after obligations of’course….31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook.
Rosa
December 4th, 2009 6:41 am
You seriously need an edit button for comments. I sort of chopped up by comment by accidently deleting part of it and not realizing it. So, the comment was suppose to say
“I am returning to update my previous comment with another one. I read your book and even reviewed it on my blog under “Reviews_Books on Blogging” in the header section that you can check out. I must say that I found it interesting and you sold me. There were a few things that I would have done differently in the book but overall, it was a great read and a person can learn a lot from it. My next adventure…after obligations of’course….31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook.”
Sorry about that. Just didn’t want anyone to think that I was dazed and confused while writing comments on here.
Ike Okoye
December 4th, 2009 7:08 am
Nice tips on selling an ebook on a blog. I think one has to have a lot of regular readers first before hoping to profit from selling such books online
Connie Mettler
December 4th, 2009 11:21 am
Hi Darren,
I’ve never commented on your blog before – but wanted to share my experience with deadlines, which tallies exactly with your experiences. I consult with juried art fairs in the U.S. and the artists have to send in applications to participate. No matter how the events try to position themselves with discounts, etc., the applications always come in right before the deadline. Something about its “drop dead” time. Congrats on your sales.
Web Hosting
December 4th, 2009 5:40 pm
It’s easy to build an empire online once you create a platform, through which you can keep building your online empire. Having the use of discounts you can make your offer more unique and get more sales.
That’s really an appreciable post you have shared.
Reza@Blogging Guide
December 4th, 2009 7:16 pm
No matter what kind of product you sell, you must have a good reputation first in your niche. So, use the first year to gain popularity and reputation and tin the second yearm you can start making money online.
Cropar
December 4th, 2009 7:48 pm
Dear Darren,
I think you are really a hardworker. I hope I will do the best like you, soon. When you launch this e-book, did you do other bussiness too?
Alexiel
December 4th, 2009 9:03 pm
Wow, I think I’m gonna buy this one.. I hope to have a blog like yours that earn big time.. :D I guess I’ll start reading you posts here.
David Morson
December 4th, 2009 9:44 pm
Hey, your article is really interesting and has given me motivation to work harder on my blog. From now on I will make more efforts.
free online adventure games
December 4th, 2009 10:37 pm
Great stats and post. Learned another great lesson today. Thanks Darren.
Ciprian G.
December 5th, 2009 12:02 am
Hi Daren,
I hope I will have the chance to fallow your plan one day.
Regards,
Ciprian
Josh
December 5th, 2009 12:02 am
This is great that you are sharing this information. Many marketers hold back on information like this.
Joshua Black
December 5th, 2009 2:02 am
Darren,
Thanks for the thorough recap of your launch. I am currently working on a launch for a small business networking product of my own and I am definitely going to incorporate some of your strategies this week. I appreciate how thorough you are in your explanations.
abrablog
December 5th, 2009 4:19 am
wow. Thats big number. I just manage to get around $1-2k for 1 month for selling ebooks. But you got more than me..
charles
December 5th, 2009 6:15 am
I came across your ebook while googling and immediately became interested. I JUST started a blog of my own and I’m sure your tips will help me become a better blogger. You mentioned that this book is not for beginner bloggers. How many months of blogging experience do you suppose i should have before applying your tips? Thanks.
Patrick OToole
December 5th, 2009 9:41 am
That’s fantastic Darren. I’ve just started my blog so income so far is $0. I have plans for future eBooks, I’ll be happy if they were 1/10 as successful.
I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve learned from your site and how much it motivates me.
Thanks for everything.
Health Mind Spirit News
December 5th, 2009 8:02 pm
Darren,
You are an inspiration,
and a motivator, to
us all!
thank you
Golden Blogger
December 6th, 2009 3:45 am
Great Congrats on Your success You Are earning like anything :)
Shannon
December 6th, 2009 6:25 am
Great Post. I love the concept. Its really hard to sell ebooks online. Great Job.
Alison Moore Smith
December 6th, 2009 6:34 am
At $72k in one week, there’s just one lesson: repeat.
Rita
December 6th, 2009 6:55 am
I’ve read about this product launch formula where you set a deadline.
As a consumer journalist, I don’t really like very much pushing people because of a deadline. It’s too much like high-pressure sales.
However, a $20 e-book isn’t a very big expenditure, not like some of the expensive courses being sold on how to do the product launch and how to market.
Rita blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide
kolorowanki
December 6th, 2009 9:03 am
Thanks a lot for this information! it is very useful Darren.
Arijit Das
December 6th, 2009 11:45 am
Congratulation!! you had a great sale of ebook…. Ya!! your book was interesting, i read it. Thanks for such a fantastic book you sold.
Andrea Kimes
December 6th, 2009 12:14 pm
Congrats Darren. You’re changing the way that people look at how to make money from their blogs. I think a lot more bloggers will be happy at how they can increase their income, and a lot more visitors to those blogs are going to be happy that they’re getting offered quality products. Thanks for all the info, and here’s to wishing you continued success!
Paramendra Bhagat
December 6th, 2009 4:03 pm
Congratulations.
Paramendra Bhagat
December 6th, 2009 4:06 pm
Congratulations on a major milestone.
Menandro
December 6th, 2009 7:17 pm
Congratulations for your success. I am quite sure you put a lot of hard work into it. And on top of that, you provided quality. So now you earned credibility and passive income online. More power to you!
ehomepreneur
December 7th, 2009 12:11 am
Thanks Darren for the great post. You may want to consider writing another eBook sharing the whole life cycle of creating an eBook, from conceptualization, designing, development to product launch. I believe it will be interesting and beneficial too.
Frank - Our Hiking Blog
December 7th, 2009 8:02 am
Fantastic! For someone who gets excited if he sells 3 eBooks in one day thia is massive. Congratulations!
Would love to be on the affiliate list if you ever decide to do an Outdoor Photography ebook. (and as noted, great idea to give your affiliates a few days notice before the launch to get em selves organised – with some resources to point em in the right direction…)
value gold coins
December 7th, 2009 12:25 pm
This article should be called, “How to do a product release if you have an authority site like Problogger.net.”
Congratulations on your success!
Mike from Drop Ship
December 7th, 2009 2:16 pm
That is awesome success. Thanks for sharing the tips. Congratulations!
laptop battery
December 8th, 2009 1:12 am
Great Congrats on Your success You Are earning like anything :)
Get Togetha
December 8th, 2009 2:58 am
This is so inspiring. I’ve written a great e-book at a great price and I didn’t do it for the money. Just wanted to help future bloggers save time and energy and the response has been beyond my imagination…maybe I need to raise my e-book price….hehehehe….
Blog Your Passion:
http://www.gettogethablog.com/books/
Wagworx Refreshtool
December 8th, 2009 3:33 am
Thank you for sharing! Outstanding results in only 9 Days.
Dr. David Hale
December 8th, 2009 7:35 am
Darren, your The Man!!!
You’ve got me beat by $29,800.
I guess us bald skinny guys have all the luck.
Dr. Dave Hale
The Internet Marketing Professor
Erin
December 8th, 2009 3:50 pm
For #7 – you should probably put together a FAQ from that experience and use it next time you have an e-book launch. When people write, auto-reply with the FAQ and provide a different email address to which they should write if their problem is not covered in the FAQ. After each launch, update the FAQ.
Erin
M.
December 9th, 2009 3:38 am
This is an excellent product you’ve put together. I owned a small-publishing site and we always tried to give customers the best product we could, but this one is truly outstanding. No wonder you had such great sales numbers.
Well done!
Nanuni Kokoritu
December 9th, 2009 7:11 am
Oh man you’re awesome!! Make $72000 in just week is my dream. Thanks for the tips too. In 2010 my target is $5000 per month ! And you help me with lots os ideas.
Jimmy
December 9th, 2009 3:59 pm
This was some very valuable information. Thanks or sharing. We wil be sure to put to use in launching our much anticipated ” Starter Guide to Youth Fitness”
Greg Harding
December 11th, 2009 7:05 pm
Congratulations on your success Darren. Totally well deserved from the amount of work you’ve obviously put in.
Eat Smart Age Smart
December 12th, 2009 1:51 am
Darren,
This is exciting.
As an affiliate manager for other marketers since 2005, I’m looking forward to launching my own product.
I’ve learned a lot from working with others and I know somewhat what to expect, but nothing beats doing things under your own name.
Yes, I agree, having your own product is essential.
Krizia
Eat Smart Age Smart
December 12th, 2009 1:53 am
Nanuni Kokoritu – I like your numbers. That was what I also had in mind and then keep growing from that point on.
The Blog Is Mine dot Com
December 12th, 2009 2:16 am
Oh man you’re awesome!! Make $72000 in just week is my dream.
Thanks for the tips too. In 2010 my target is $3000 per month ! And you help me with lots of ideas.
laptop battery
December 12th, 2009 3:05 pm
’ve also found having a deadline, and mentioning it a lot, can help sell a few more copies or a book, e-book or a web site layout.
Peter
December 12th, 2009 10:52 pm
Oeh, you did a good job: $72,00 is a huge income for 10 days work haha.
janelle
December 15th, 2009 1:28 am
I agreed on comment suggestion for an FAQ to help your next launch.
BTW I would LOVE to be your next ebook product launch project! I am a food blogger of almost 4 years and would love to sell a cookbook…
Help?
scott
December 15th, 2009 9:05 am
Thanks 4 posting, I found this very interesting and helpful.
Thanks,
Scott, CA
http.linksharedirect.blogspot.com
scott
December 15th, 2009 9:06 am
Thanks 4 posting, I found this very interesting and helpful.
Thanks,
Scott, CA
Kaw
December 16th, 2009 8:58 am
Wow, that’s a nice number of books sold. Have to do it again and again.
Thanks
losangelescarrental
December 18th, 2009 9:24 pm
Another great rticle! I always like read your blog so I always come back for more to get so useful information. Thanks.
http://www.losangelescarrental.org/
Kevin @ SuperSmartEbook
December 20th, 2009 9:14 am
That is a great sales figure in a week time! You are really giving a detailed insight of your business which I love and I’m sure other readers love it too.
Varun Pratap
December 20th, 2009 4:37 pm
Congrats on your success. Like you said in your final section. Products are really powerful. Specially, what you learn during you create, launch and after the launch.
When I created my first product 3 yrs ago, I was surprised by the results. It opened doors to many relationships with other marketers.
Samuel Watson
December 22nd, 2009 4:53 am
It is good to see how a real pro does things, there is something to be learned here even for a wee fish like me. If I can reach my target of 500 copies in the next year I will be a happy man.
malowanki
December 22nd, 2009 7:07 am
Next wonderfull article 72$ in a week…..wow
ppc tips
December 28th, 2009 1:06 pm
Nice job. Congratulations on your sales figures.
Beck
December 28th, 2009 7:05 pm
Can I join your group vacation to the Disney World too? Just kidding – great work!
Jack Kinsella
December 30th, 2009 7:24 am
I’m intrigued by the feedback loop you have created in this blog, particularly evident in this post.
You retain and attract readers by articulating, in earnest, exactly what you do to make money from blogging and yet it is these exact same readers which make you money in the first place.
I guess an individual reader isn’t aware of the patterns of the masses and so, despite his inclusion within this crowd, the insight from above is highly valuable. It certainly is to me.
Travis
December 31st, 2009 5:28 am
Now this is what I like! Thanks for putting this information out there for everyone to see – actual results from someone actually making money on the web!
Keep up the fantastic work, I love your site!
Travis
Nate Moller
January 2nd, 2010 4:28 am
Great tips! One of my biggest goals in 2010 is to launch my first ebook; I will definitely use this post as a step by step guide. Thanks again!
Mark - VendingCoach.blogspot.com
January 3rd, 2010 3:41 am
As with everyone else…congratulations on a successful launch. I really agree with beefy up your affiliate help. I’ve done a few affliate things in the past and still a newbie in this area, I can tell you, it would really help from our viewpoint.
Have a Prosperous New Year.
Mark
M. Sean Kaminsky
January 10th, 2010 9:38 am
Thanks this is inspirational! Before you accept any publishing deals – consider doing it yourself. The possibilities for this keep expanding.
Nathalie Diane
January 13th, 2010 12:31 pm
Thanks for the post. It encourages me to go on with my blog.
mafia wars guide
January 15th, 2010 9:54 am
sweet, this will help me when I next launch a new ebook. hope you write more behind the scenes posts about your launch
simon
January 17th, 2010 2:31 pm
I am planning to launch an ebook based on PLR, hope to get some great sales with your good tips. Thanks!
Simon
PhotoExtremist
January 20th, 2010 9:39 am
Hi Darren
You said you made $72,000, but there were some other expenses like PayPal fees and affiliate commissions etc, how much did all that cost?
Also, an idea that could reduce the amount of customer service questions would be to make an FAQ page or something
EBooker
January 20th, 2010 5:44 pm
i simply don’t believe it! awsome sales!
Web Design London
January 21st, 2010 4:32 am
Yet another great post on this Blog. I have been thinking of writing an e-book for quite some time now but I know from experience that making money online is not easy and requires a lot of effort. The information you have here is very useful and will definately help me launch my first book.
Movie Car Maniac
January 22nd, 2010 2:21 am
Wow! Great results. I wonder how I can use these techniques myself. Hmm, will have to do a little planning.
Victor - Dating Advice Books
January 22nd, 2010 2:54 am
Fantastic results !
Can you please advise the % of return or refund requests you have received.
Forearm Tattoos
January 24th, 2010 9:13 am
Thank you for these tips – I have made about $72 (without the k) in the last couple of years with my e-book. I thought writing it was going to be the difficult bit – selling it is even harder. I have got an awful lot to learn – thank you for the advice.
Justyn | CoverGround.ca
January 24th, 2010 9:31 am
That is astonishing!! I’m getting ready to do just the same, and will hold off a little to make sure I have all your lessons in check! Thanks for the lessons learned!
Multidox
January 24th, 2010 7:48 pm
Those earnings are really huge, Darren. I would like to know how much e-junkie took for helping with the sales. Your experience is an eye opener
james brown
January 29th, 2010 5:01 pm
I really hope you will at least run through some of his modules as it is so relevant to this post. I have never, yet, done a launch, but hope to in the early part of next year and will certainly be using your experience, and Jeff’s very logical step by step plan. Reinvest less than 5% of your net profit from this launch and I am sure you will achieve 50% increase in figures next time.
This is an interesting post, particularly as it follows your frank admission earlier in the week that you had failed to expose yourself to any of Jeff Walkers strategies over the last few years and realised you had let yourself down by not doing so.
Alexander di Chiara
February 1st, 2010 4:37 am
As a long time Italian Internet geek being in a break in the Caribbean after a US nice experience, i have to recognize your optimization in the work-flux, it’s amazing.
The to do list must be a 300 k/byte file minimum in situations like, and your lessons are crystal clear and very useful. Especially the story about the affiliates and the launch, incredible true. I have to confess i read: “lunch” instead of “launch” the first time and was still true and funny :)
I’m running a website for passion and incredible good climate here, where you can relax yourself swimming in 2 minutes, but it’s still important to be honest with your readers and offer always valuable and relevant content. So, thanks for the suggestions, i am trying to put together a photobook about this St.Maarten paradise, and i think i am gonna need them a lot. I’ll try to do my best.
Congratulations,
Alex
Tina
February 2nd, 2010 6:12 pm
Nice post here. It does make senses, appreciate for sharing.
This article gives the light in which we can observe the reality. this is very nice one and gives indepth information.
bamz
February 7th, 2010 1:49 pm
very good tips darren
thanks
http://ebookku-gratis.blogspot.com
Mohamed Adam Jr
February 8th, 2010 12:41 pm
Thanks for sharing this experience with us! I believe it will be useful not only for me, but for all the readers.
Mohamed Adam Jr
Attraction Marketing Coach
Catie Redbank
February 9th, 2010 10:04 pm
A friend of mine wrote an ebook about fishing in Weipa. He released it last week. He’s has sold 2 copies so far in 4 days at $19.95 per copy. He is very pleased.
He figures on these averages if he writes another 10 or so ebooks, he can retire:) I admire his thinking.
Maybe that’s the secret? A few bucks per day from multiple little niches that have automatic delivery.
prashant
February 9th, 2010 10:58 pm
Great results. I wonder how I can use these techniques myself. Hmm, will have to do a little planning.
bookmarking demon
super awesome
February 10th, 2010 10:53 am
simply amazing. 70,000 of an ebook for photography? Wow, I would have never guess their was such demand. Congrats on a successful launch.
Josh
February 10th, 2010 1:53 pm
First off, congratulations on the earnings. This method of earnings has always interested me but I’m not quite to the point where I want to spend that much time working on an e-book and the frustration in successfully launching it. I will definitely keep this as a helpful guide when I do manage to start this up myself.
Thanks for the super tips!
-Josh
Daniel @ OhSoEffective
February 15th, 2010 2:31 am
Thanks for sharing, I know your ebook is going to be a great success. What id like to know is… if you had a forecast of what you was going to earn in your first week and if this amount has hit your expectation or totally smashed it. Either way congratulations on your fantastic number.
wonderblaster
February 15th, 2010 4:53 pm
Ok so you made some money – real good money I believe.
Of all the pains and costs you mentioned related to your launch and the product, one that catch my attention (and I will always keep that in mind) is Lesson #7 – It Takes a lot of work.
I can imagine the frustration on people pretending to have not seen the signs and banners and reiterations about the stuff being downloadable rather then tangible (as in books). How did you deal with it? Did you tweak your web pages? That would be interesting to know.
And just before you answer, that, let me extend my kudos to you. You are an inspiration to those who want to make money online.
Shanon
February 17th, 2010 6:25 pm
Congratulations on your success! Thank you for the helpful tips. I really appreciated it. Keep up the good work!
Thanks again!
Shanon
Rich Edge
http://www.richedge.com
PicZasso
February 22nd, 2010 7:00 am
WOW!!! Thats awesome! Gongratulations man! keep it up:)
J&K Lowline
February 23rd, 2010 3:02 pm
Congrats! 72K in 9 days is very impressive. Thanks for sharing some interesting ideas!
Carl
February 24th, 2010 9:27 pm
For me 72 K is good for year not only for week…. Thanks for sharing inspiring post!
Bob
February 25th, 2010 4:04 am
Very inspiring success story. I hope someday I too can manage crazy earnings like that.
Congrats and good luck on future projects!
OffCampus-Student.com
February 25th, 2010 11:55 pm
Holy moly. And to think, the total of my online earnings thus far is $20. I have a long way to go but we’ll see. ;) Well done Dan.
Paid Directories
February 27th, 2010 9:16 pm
Good ebook sales. Your making alot of money man good job invest it into gold NOW. Good job though
MLM Training
March 1st, 2010 5:04 am
Great stats and post. Learned another great lesson today. Thanks Darren.
uzoma eze
March 1st, 2010 10:33 am
Darren you’re the best blog strategist I have ever come across in my entire life, you need to keep this up for eternity hope the best for everyone.
Having a strategy for your ebook sale is ideal for good business and will no doubt try this out thanks
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