How to Make Money With Self-Help Books - Advice Needed

15 replies
Hello:

I hope I am posting in the write section of Warrior Forum. I am very new to Warrior Forum and relatively newbie to internet/niche marketing.

I worked with my a friend of mine who has been an internet marketer for over 4 years now, but only as his back-up editor and writer and I have some experience helping him with SEO and keyword research. But that's pretty much it. I am not confident enough that I can do it on my own without the help of experienced marketers who have been doing this successfully for years.

I read the "what to do when you are desperate" section of WF, and that is why I am here. I wish I am exaggerating when I say I do not have money, but I really don't. I can share the details privately if you need to know, but please trust that it's true and I am close to the "homelessness" end of desperation.

I have nothing to sell and no means to get a loan. All I have as my "assets" are: my laptop, internet connection, determination, optimism (that is slowly dwindling) and emotional and mental strength (that may start to dwindle as well). I am looking for a job as well as taking freelancing gigs.

Just wanted to share that so anyone who is reading this will (hopefully) understand that I am trying to take action to improve my circumstances.

I am in the public health/public service profession (I was a community development and international humanitarian aid worker). I want to go to school and become an addictions counselor. My dream is to make money online as a counselor and writer (I am a big fan of Dr. Wayne Dyer).

I created an e-course on natural anxiety relief, a few years ago which I distributed for free to my subscribers as a means to get them to buy the affiliate product I was promoting. I promoted it "old school" through local online ads (Kijiji Canada). In 2 weeks, I had about 200+ subscribers, about 20+ loyal ones who finished the 9-week e-course and 1 sale. However, I was working full-time at the time and really did not have time to focus on the business (I looked for jobs in the evenings as all my past jobs are only temporary).

I got a lot of positive feedback from that course, which I now want to turn into a book.

I want to make a website dedicated to self-help and sell my books (I would like to do both digital and physical books).

I am hoping to sell the books through Amazon (unless there is an easier and more profitable way of doing this).

They say that you should do what you love and helping people is what I love to do. If anything, I think my life and what I went through is a good example of how one should not give up even when you feel nothing is working your way.

I have overcome my depression and GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) without taking any medications, well, because, one, I cannot afford it at the time and two, I was concerned to lose my "personality," the "happy ninja" in me once I allow artificial chemicals to alter my brain chemistry.

I will make it and get over this financial boulder of a hurdle and I believe I can do this with help from experienced people like the ones on this site.

In this regard, my questions are as follows:

1. Can anyone coach me or (wishful thinking), help me build my website? I can write the content, but I just need someone to coach me on how to set-up Wordpress - eg., link to Amazon, a "donate" button and other stuff that might come up. Once the site starts making money, we can talk about a payment plan that is mutually beneficial?

2. Would it be more advisable for me to just write the e-book first (then do the physical book after) and sell it in Amazon, even without a website I understand that websites, may take a bit of planning and time to set-up. In which case, does anyone here have any experience in Amazon publishing?

3. As someone whose background and passion is in health, nutrition and self-help, what would be your best advice for me on how I can make money online? Can I even make money online these days in this niche?

I can only write about what I know, so I am not sure if it is profitable to write about self-help, knowing that there are already well-established gurus out there; but all the seminars I attended say that one should not think this way, that even though things have been done and written by many others, does not mean I have nothing new to offer, that I will not have my own following.

Thank you and I look forward to hearing your guidance and inputs.
#advice #amazon #books #ebook publishing #make #make money online #money #needed #self-help #selfhelp
  • Profile picture of the author annepinney
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Ninja Jade
      Thank you, Anne. I will check this out.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tomas Lodén
    1) There are tons of courses out there covering this, some even have a mentorship program.

    2) Yes.. write your ebook and use clickbank, JVzoo etc, why not contact the big guns in your niche and offer them a great deal, you could even try the warriorforum... Just one of many ways to make money from your ebook. The possibilities are endless

    3) Yes you can, this market is HUGE! The first one that pops up the Niche Profit Full Control, a brand new product from the team that brought you Niche Profit Classroom. It sells for $1497 or three payments of $597.. This course will teach you how make it by selling aff products but you can ofc use it for your own products as well.. Personally I have not tried it yet but have heard only good things from people on my lists.. One og many excellent courses out there.
    Good Luck.
    Signature
    6-fig affiliate marketer since 2003
    Free coaching to your first $100 dollars. DM me now..
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    • Profile picture of the author Ninja Jade
      Originally Posted by Tomas Lodén View Post

      1) There are tons of courses out there covering this, some even have a mentorship program.

      2) Yes.. write youre ebook and use clickbank, JVzoo etc to get affiliates for your business or why not contact the big guns in your niche and offer them a great deal, you could even try the warriorforum... Just one of many ways to make money from your ebook. The possibilities are endless

      3) Yes you can, this market is HUGE! The first one that pops up the Niche Profit Full Control, a brand new product from the team that brought you Niche Profit Classroom. It sells for $1497 or three payments of $597.. This course will teach you how make it by selling aff products but you can ofc use it for your own products as well.. Personally I have not tried it yet but have heard only good things from people on my lists.. One og many excellent courses out there.
      Good Luck.
      Thank you, Thomas for the tips. I appreciate it.

      1. I know Adam Short's Niche Profit Classroom and his newest version of NPC. This is the model that my boyfriend tried but has not had luck in making money from it. I do not know why.

      2. I will try WF. Thank you for that. I will also try contacting the "big guns" as you suggested. I am aware of Clickbank but have not tried JVZoo yet. I will take a look at all these pointers. Thanks again.

      3. This is encouraging to know. Any ideas how to make money in this niche? I understand I have to "microniche" and be very clear as to my target audience.

      Would an e-book sold through Amazon be a good start, or create a website and sell my book on there first? I just need baby steps. SO sorry, I am just overwhelmed.

      I think the general advice is take small steps but keep going. I just do not know what the first baby step is.

      Thanks again.
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  • Profile picture of the author godinu
    selling an e-book can happen without a website and without spending money, but you should have some way to help promote it online. Even a free blogger blog, tumblr blog or a facebook group can be used for that purpose. After all, you need to find your audience somehow.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ninja Jade
      Originally Posted by godinu View Post

      selling an e-book can happen without a website and without spending money, but you should have some way to help promote it online. Even a free blogger blog, tumblr blog or a facebook group can be used for that purpose. After all, you need to find your audience somehow.
      Thank you so much for the tip. I am really new to all of this, so I am just trying to wrap my mind around everything. I just opened up a personal FB account to get familiar with FBing. I think that I might go that route. Thank you again!
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      • Profile picture of the author rakota
        Originally Posted by Ninja Jade View Post

        Thank you so much for the tip. I am really new to all of this, so I am just trying to wrap my mind around everything. I just opened up a personal FB account to get familiar with FBing. I think that I might go that route. Thank you again!
        Hey, that's not true.

        You said you had 200 subscribers in two weeks before.

        You have done it once and you can do it again. Just make sure you are ready to collect leads before you seriously go after any traffic.

        If you get 200 subscribers then ask them what they want.
        Signature

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        • Profile picture of the author Ninja Jade
          Hi rakota,

          Thanks for the reminder and the vote of confidence! You are right. I did it once and I did it "old school" - just kept re-posting to a local ad to subscribe to my e-course! I got one sale out of it. That may or may not work for it again, but I certainly received a lot of valuable inputs on here that I can use.

          Thanks kindly,
          Maria
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    I'd focus on building an audience platform first to figure out what your target audience members need ... THEN create the product.

    Traffic must come first.

    Start with building a facebook fan page.

    That's free.

    Comment around and promote the stuffing out of the content you post on your FB page then build a blogger blog.

    Turn your spare time into spare cash.

    I'd coach you but too many of the people I coach for free end up wasting my time by not following my instructions. While a few have gone on to make tons of cash, I don't think the time I spent on those who flaked make the whole process worth it.

    There's a reason why people CHARGE money for coaching... and it's NOT about making money.

    It's about getting a minimum level of commitment.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ninja Jade
      Originally Posted by writeaway View Post

      I'd focus on building an audience platform first to figure out what your target audience members need ... THEN create the product.

      Traffic must come first.

      Start with building a facebook fan page.

      That's free.

      Comment around and promote the stuffing out of the content you post on your FB page then build a blogger blog.

      Turn your spare time into spare cash.

      I'd coach you but too many of the people I coach for free end up wasting my time by not following my instructions. While a few have gone on to make tons of cash, I don't think the time I spent on those who flaked make the whole process worth it.

      There's a reason why people CHARGE money for coaching... and it's NOT about making money.

      It's about getting a minimum level of commitment.
      Thank you for taking the time to reply to my query and for the advice.

      It seems FB is the way to go and it seems to be what everyone on here is advising. Right now, for me, it's trying to figure out and choosing one model to follow. It is so easy to get distracted with all the information out there, all promising great results, but I know enough that I should focus on one or two methods/platforms for promoting my product (not sure if I am even using the right technical language here).

      As far as time goes, let me just say that all I have now is time and my commitment to start earning a little bit. I know I have to set realistic goals, that is, not expect thousands of dollars in a month, because I know all this takes time.

      However, I am hoping I can make enough in about a couple of months to help augment pay for basic needs. I am looking for a job to support my "dream" of making "passive" income online. The reality for me is though, it is sink or swim. Either I find a job and/or get something going online, or, it is going to be ugly.

      I am also trying to focus on my dreams, my motivations, my goals versus fear because doing anything in fear will only make me lose focus and start doing things haphazardly and ineffective.

      I was wondering if I can consult with you from time to time? I know what you mean about people wasting your time and I also believe that there should always be some form of "energy" exchange in any transaction - whether it is money or commitment or barter. It is about keeping the flow going.

      Thank you again!
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    You're better off to concentrate on selling a service right now to make money rather than sell an ebook.

    I would look for students to run through your anxiety course. Get them to meet with you on Skype or by phone or Google Hangout, and deliver the information to them that way.

    An ebook devalues your content. Imagine: why should I pay $497 to learn what you know if I can pay $2.99?

    There are a few reasons why I stopped writing ebooks myself, even though they sold and remain a tripwire product for me. That's a big one.

    Which reminds me: relying on ebook sales to be your #1 source of income, especially when you don't have JV partners yet, is asking for failure.

    You have the guts of your course content. You have (I believe) some testimonials. You can "Do It Live" and present your info as you go: one of my courses was developed this way, a four week program adding weeks 2, 3 and 4 as we went, and feedback from the Facebook group dictated. I had core info I wanted to share, and I focused that around the problems the group told me they were experiencing that week.

    Trying to make a living at $2.99 or $7 apiece without a huge list of JV partners is a recipe for failure and frustration.

    Pick a money target that allows you to meet your needs with only one or two sales. And when you can start off the month with this month's fixed & known expenses, eg. rent and food, already in the bank, that's even more satisfying. I would set my price at that level: first sale pays all your bills.

    There are only two sides of the sales equation:

    Traffic

    and

    Conversion.

    If it's difficult for you to go through these two steps over and over again, why would you do it so the payoff is only a few dollars?

    Think: Where are you going to get this traffic from?

    How are you going to get some of it to convert into buyers?

    How many people do you need to talk to so you're ensured of ONE buyer?

    How many buyers do you need to hit your revenue target?

    Now you can back out to the total number of people you need to speak with (virtually, by sales letter/VSL, or in real life, by phone or in person) to make sure you earn that money.

    Estimate for now. Let reality show you what you really need as time goes on.

    Say for instance 100 unqualified leads : 10 qualified leads : 1 sale.

    If you want 2 sales to reach your (example) $2000 money goal, then you know you need to find 200 unqualified prospects. People who ought to have a good chance of having anxiety and the money to fix their problem...as well as the way to earn a payoff for fixing that problem.

    Where are you going to find those 200 prospects? Put your attention there.

    What do you need to find out about those 200 people to determine that they have anxiety you can resolve, and the money to hire you?

    Then you put your solution in front of those QUALIFIED individuals.

    Not everyone who walks by.

    If you can't think of a plan to do this, in sufficient and specific numbers, then go get a job for now and keep learning until you are able to.

    The truth is, you've set up a bad money equation here for yourself. Trying to survive on low dollar sales when you don't have a traffic source or a reliable conversion method is a losing game.

    Your information is more valuable than you think. Certainly more valuable than a $7 ebook.

    So WHO is experiencing anxiety and has enough money to invest in your $497 or $997 program...and when that anxiety is gone, will be mentally freed-up to earn another $5000 or $10000 or MORE (not hard) over the next year or two?

    That's your target market.

    Already somewhat-successful businesspeople who study self-development and acknowledge they feel a high level of anxiety, and already admit if they could get rid of that anxiety they'd vastly increase their performance.

    Get it?

    Go find those people.

    Set your money equation up so ONE sale pays at least all of your regular bills; two should pay for unexpected expenses, taxes, and profit...and leave a little left over for reinvestment.

    A lot of people come into this forum simply not prepared to deal with the realities of business. Blind attempts at making money are NOT the solution. Take the valuable education I'm giving you here and put it to use.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ninja Jade
      Originally Posted by Jason Kanigan View Post

      You're better off to concentrate on selling a service right now to make money rather than sell an ebook.

      I would look for students to run through your anxiety course. Get them to meet with you on Skype or by phone or Google Hangout, and deliver the information to them that way.

      An ebook devalues your content. Imagine: why should I pay $497 to learn what you know if I can pay $2.99?

      There are a few reasons why I stopped writing ebooks myself, even though they sold and remain a tripwire product for me. That's a big one.

      Which reminds me: relying on ebook sales to be your #1 source of income, especially when you don't have JV partners yet, is asking for failure.

      You have the guts of your course content. You have (I believe) some testimonials. You can "Do It Live" and present your info as you go: one of my courses was developed this way, a four week program adding weeks 2, 3 and 4 as we went, and feedback from the Facebook group dictated. I had core info I wanted to share, and I focused that around the problems the group told me they were experiencing that week.

      Trying to make a living at $2.99 or $7 apiece without a huge list of JV partners is a recipe for failure and frustration.

      Pick a money target that allows you to meet your needs with only one or two sales. And when you can start off the month with this month's fixed & known expenses, eg. rent and food, already in the bank, that's even more satisfying. I would set my price at that level: first sale pays all your bills.

      There are only two sides of the sales equation:

      Traffic

      and

      Conversion.

      If it's difficult for you to go through these two steps over and over again, why would you do it so the payoff is only a few dollars?

      Think: Where are you going to get this traffic from?

      How are you going to get some of it to convert into buyers?

      How many people do you need to talk to so you're ensured of ONE buyer?

      How many buyers do you need to hit your revenue target?

      Now you can back out to the total number of people you need to speak with (virtually, by sales letter/VSL, or in real life, by phone or in person) to make sure you earn that money.

      Estimate for now. Let reality show you what you really need as time goes on.

      Say for instance 100 unqualified leads : 10 qualified leads : 1 sale.

      If you want 2 sales to reach your (example) $2000 money goal, then you know you need to find 200 unqualified prospects. People who ought to have a good chance of having anxiety and the money to fix their problem...as well as the way to earn a payoff for fixing that problem.

      Where are you going to find those 200 prospects? Put your attention there.

      What do you need to find out about those 200 people to determine that they have anxiety you can resolve, and the money to hire you?

      Then you put your solution in front of those QUALIFIED individuals.

      Not everyone who walks by.

      If you can't think of a plan to do this, in sufficient and specific numbers, then go get a job for now and keep learning until you are able to.

      The truth is, you've set up a bad money equation here for yourself. Trying to survive on low dollar sales when you don't have a traffic source or a reliable conversion method is a losing game.

      Your information is more valuable than you think. Certainly more valuable than a $7 ebook.

      So WHO is experiencing anxiety and has enough money to invest in your $497 or $997 program...and when that anxiety is gone, will be mentally freed-up to earn another $5000 or $10000 or MORE (not hard) over the next year or two?

      That's your target market.

      Already somewhat-successful businesspeople who study self-development and acknowledge they feel a high level of anxiety, and already admit if they could get rid of that anxiety they'd vastly increase their performance.

      Get it?

      Go find those people.

      Set your money equation up so ONE sale pays at least all of your regular bills; two should pay for unexpected expenses, taxes, and profit...and leave a little left over for reinvestment.

      A lot of people come into this forum simply not prepared to deal with the realities of business. Blind attempts at making money are NOT the solution. Take the valuable education I'm giving you here and put it to use.
      Hi Jason,

      Thanks so much for this in depth and very useful advice. Actually, the e-book I am referring to here started off as a 9-week natural anxiety relief e-course. I promoted the e-course through a local online ad and within 2 weeks, I was able to get 200 subscribers, about 15+ of them finished the course and 1 conversion.

      I was just testing whether my content was "good enough," and have received positive feedback from the regular/loyal subscribers.

      However, these are "non-targeted" clients, as I posted it merely under the category "activities/courses." Therefore, people who are just randomly looking for something to do and was just curious - that it, not individuals with severe anxiety issues who would do anything, pay anything to get rid of it. I was surprised that I even got 1 sale from it.

      The people who want "free" stuff will never or rarely pay for anything.

      Therefore, I need to re-think my target clients and like you said, figure out where they hang out and sell to this group.

      Yes, I am looking for a job. I need to survive in the interim.

      I am very grateful for the advice you have given and I am prepared to face the realities of this business. I know it is not going to be easy, but I am determined to make it. What gets me up in the morning is the dream that I can make money by helping other people, so yes, I am more than ready and willing to be educated.

      Thanks again!
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  • Profile picture of the author jbsmith
    Hello Ninja - here are few recommendations for you that should help....

    1. You want to find a way to pay the bills for the next 6-12 months, building a business (ebook, advice, how-to, etc..).is quicker than many businesses, but still takes time and you don't want to be making short-term decisions at the expense of building a solid business. If that means finding a part-time job in your area of expertise OR you can offer weekly/monthly classes that help you teach people as your own business in the short-term while you build out your blog, following, traffic, and products. This latter approach can also help you develop/test your program and give you several hot leads when you launch

    2. You are absolutely right to want to tighten the positioning of any course in this area - you want to be laser-focused on solving a very urgent problem/challenge and bringing about a highly desirable transformation in someone's life. I would get out there IMMEDIATELY and start building a blog (Wordpress is simple to install with the Cpanel that comes with most webhosting accounts these days) - register a domain, setup Wordpress, decide on a theme (something clean - you can start with WP 2013-2016 themes - not only will these themes give you the ability to publish daily content on your topic, but also allows you to build pages where you can collect leads and sell your first product(s)

    3. I would start by taking your course, editing it down and making the best you can for solving anxiety - publishing that as either your own ebook or even better, a series of powerpoint slides (lessons) that you can record on the screen as tutorials (videos) and publish them as a Udemy Course (we have been having good success with them thus far)

    4. They key is to get out there, become omnipresent in your market niche - publish content on your blog, Facebook, Instagram, - you want to start becoming an authority in your space - this is a MUST no matter what form or format your product takes. It doesn't matter if it is a self-published ebook on your own site, on Amazon, a video course, etc...you will need to bring the majority of leads and so you need to begin marketing yourself and your business today

    Jeff
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    • Profile picture of the author MValmont
      Write a smaller book on your topic and put it for free permanently on Amazon. This will drive a lot of traffic inside of your book, then put a link inside your book that redirect them to your website. This is pretty much free traffic. If you don't have a product, then just offer them a product from Clickbank and make money...
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      • Profile picture of the author Ninja Jade
        Originally Posted by MValmont View Post

        Write a smaller book on your topic and put it for free permanently on Amazon. This will drive a lot of traffic inside of your book, then put a link inside your book that redirect them to your website. This is pretty much free traffic. If you don't have a product, then just offer them a product from Clickbank and make money...
        Thanks MValmont for the suggestion!

        I haven't thought about it. It wouldn't take much time for me to make a compressed version of my e-book and I already have a Clickbank product I can promote!

        Maria aka Ninja Jade
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    • Profile picture of the author Ninja Jade
      Originally Posted by jbsmith View Post

      Hello Ninja - here are few recommendations for you that should help....

      1. You want to find a way to pay the bills for the next 6-12 months, building a business (ebook, advice, how-to, etc..).is quicker than many businesses, but still takes time and you don't want to be making short-term decisions at the expense of building a solid business. If that means finding a part-time job in your area of expertise OR you can offer weekly/monthly classes that help you teach people as your own business in the short-term while you build out your blog, following, traffic, and products. This latter approach can also help you develop/test your program and give you several hot leads when you launch

      2. You are absolutely right to want to tighten the positioning of any course in this area - you want to be laser-focused on solving a very urgent problem/challenge and bringing about a highly desirable transformation in someone's life. I would get out there IMMEDIATELY and start building a blog (Wordpress is simple to install with the Cpanel that comes with most webhosting accounts these days) - register a domain, setup Wordpress, decide on a theme (something clean - you can start with WP 2013-2016 themes - not only will these themes give you the ability to publish daily content on your topic, but also allows you to build pages where you can collect leads and sell your first product(s)

      3. I would start by taking your course, editing it down and making the best you can for solving anxiety - publishing that as either your own ebook or even better, a series of powerpoint slides (lessons) that you can record on the screen as tutorials (videos) and publish them as a Udemy Course (we have been having good success with them thus far)

      4. They key is to get out there, become omnipresent in your market niche - publish content on your blog, Facebook, Instagram, - you want to start becoming an authority in your space - this is a MUST no matter what form or format your product takes. It doesn't matter if it is a self-published ebook on your own site, on Amazon, a video course, etc...you will need to bring the majority of leads and so you need to begin marketing yourself and your business today

      Jeff
      Dear Jeff,

      Thanks kindly for all your inputs. I was so intimidated to join Warrior Forum because everyone seems to be years and years ahead of me. It's kind of like being at pre-school level and all of a sudden was promoted to graduate school level. I have to slowly read people's advice and digest their suggestions. Thankfully, I understand a little bit of what people are saying on here.

      I really appreciate your suggestions, as well as the ones posted by others on here. I think the first thing I need to do is calm down, think and plan what best route to follow. I am just in a little bit of a panic because I need to make income asap.

      I am familiar with Udemy, as I actually created a profile there before hoping to teach my natural anxiety course there. Back then, I just did not have the time to work on my course. Now I am unemployed, I have time, but have a deadline to get something going. Perhaps that is a good thing - light a fire under my seat (I hope that is the correct expression)

      I just need to breathe and calm down - there's already a lot of valuable inputs on here - it's just trying to figure out my approach given that I have less than 2 months to make something happen.

      The truth is - finding a regular job is just as difficult as getting something working online. I have much better luck getting writing gigs on Elance, Upwork and Freelancer.

      If I make it, WHEN I make it, maybe I can be a good case study for aspiring entrepreneurs who are starting out with basically nothing other than strength of will, focus and determination and NOT giving up.

      Thank you very much for all your inputs.

      Maria ("Ninja Jade" is my "gamer name," makes me feel like I have superpowers or something) But "Jade" works too! I will answer to either names. Thanks so much again!
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