New Years Resolutions - One Year On
I wrote this article in January 2007 as a review of my progress over the year.
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As you probably know (but maybe you don’t) I have been selling ebooks on eBay for the last three years. However, the previous year has probably been my most successful to date although I still have a long way to go. In this article I measure what I’ve achieved in this past year and set goals for the coming year.
Around this time last year (January 2006) I was sending out my first newsletter to around 20 subscribers. My eBay store had less than 100 items inside and my websites were barely up and running. Although I had been alerted to the importance of websites, email marketing, ClickBank, Google Adsense, affiliate marketing etc, I had kept my main focus on eBay. This was mainly because eBay was the easy option. It doesn’t take long to learn how to list ebooks on eBay, and once you’ve learnt it’s surprisingly easy to build an eBay store full of ebooks. In contrast, learning about all these other methods outside of eBay just seemed so overwhelming. For this reason, up until 2006 I had kept my ebook sales mainly eBay based. However, during 2006 I began to explore the other avenues that I mentioned above.
Now in January 2007 I have my own income generating websites, a mailing list of over 300 subscribers (and growing by the day), my own premium ebook, four of my own resellable ebooks and a bustling eBay store with well over 100 active items.
I initially purchased a hosting package (which included domain names) during 2005, in order to host My Digital Dispatch so that I could auto-deliver the ebooks I sold on eBay. My original intention when purchasing the hosting was not to create a website. However, during 2006 I read certain ebooks including; The Silent Sales Machine, The Rich Jerk, The One Month Magnate and Ebay Auction Income Streams. These ebooks convinced me that to use the hosting only to auto-deliver ebooks was wasting a very valuable resource - the domain names. Since I was already paying for them I decided to test some of the ideas inside these ebooks.
I first set up The Ebook Cavern Website (http://www.theebookcavern.co.uk/) with the intention of hosting The Ebook Cavern Newsletter and eventually selling my own premium priced ebook. Following this I set up The Ebook Cavern Reviews Website (http://www.theebookcavernreviews.co.uk/) using ideas I came upon inside The Rich Jerk ebook. The website itself offers reviews of Internet Marketing ebooks I have purchased, outlining how useful they have been to me and who I think would benefit from them. During the year I also set up my third website, The Article Cavern (http://www.thearticlecavern.co.uk/) which provides articles on Ebooks and Internet Marketing.
Creating these websites gave me a big boost in comparison to operating on eBay alone. Not only was I getting my eBay sales but I was also making money on my websites in the form of Google Adsense revenues, Commission Junction revenues, affiliate sales and sales of my own products. My websites could also be used as an additional promotional tool and a tool to capture leads for my mailing list. All these benefits were at no additional cost to me because I was paying for the hosting in order to auto-deliver my ebooks. I just had to invest a little time in generating the websites.
My second significant achievement in 2006 was building my mailing list. I did this by placing sign-up forms on all my webpages and also on my eBay pages, whilst providing incentives for people to sign up. Jim Cockrum’s ebook How to turn Auction Traffic into Cash also guided me in building my mailing list effectively. From a figure of around 20 subscribers in January 2006 I now have well over 300 subscribers to The Ebook Cavern Newsletter.
Having a mailing list is another significant development in comparison to selling solely on eBay. When I sold solely on eBay I looked at each sale as a one time opportunity. However, a mailing list allows you to build a long-term relationship with customers and hopefully generate repeat purchases. It also gives you the opportunity to inform customers when you have launched a new product, added a new section to your website etc.
My next major achievement during the year was when I began to create my own products. I read several ebooks telling me the importance of creating your own product before I actually took the step and created one. In June 2006 I created and released “How to set up a Successful, Automated Ebook Business on eBay.” This was the first premium ebook I had created. I also updated my two previous resellable ebooks into the more accessible Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format and promoted them more heavily than before. On top of this I created a further two resellable ebooks before the year was up.
Creating my own ebooks was another significant development for me since January 2006. My first premium ebook provided me with a product of which I had 100% control. I could set the price, place my own links in the ebook and promote it as my fully unique work. My own resellable ebooks have also served as very valuable promotional tools for my eBay store and websites and could also be used as incentives for newsletter subscribers.
So to summarise in 2006 I have achieved the following:
- I have created three Websites!!
- I have begun to generate revenue using Affiliate Programs!!
- I have created and sold my own Premium Ebook generating additional revenue!!
- I have increased the size of my mailing list by approximately 300 Subscribers!!
- I have created four resellable ebooks to promote my eBay store and Websites!!
- I have increased the size of my eBay store!!
So now you can see, in a simple list format, what I have achieved online during 2006 with a part-time effort. If you have been selling ebooks on eBay in the past year you should make a similar list so that you can measure your progress. If you have not yet begun to sell ebooks online then you should use this list as your inspiration. If I can achieve this in one year with a part-time effort then what is stopping you doing the same next year?
That brings me onto my own plans next year. Although I am happy with what I have achieved this year, I feel I have only laid down the blocks which I can build upon next year. My affiliate revenues have not been particularly high and I believe I can generate more sales per month of “How to set up a Successful, Automated, Ebook Business on eBay” than I currently do. Therefore, my goals for next year are not radical - they are just to improve upon what I am already doing. I plan to increase the size of my eBay store further, continue to build my mailing list, create more resellable ebooks to promote my eBay store, websites, and products and generate an increased amount of affiliate revenues. I also have ideas for three more premium ebooks and plan to create and release these in 2007. Finally, I have one new goal - to experiment with Google Adwords. So to summarise my goals for 2007 are:
- To increase the size of my eBay store and to keep to my target of updating my eBay store at least once a Month!!
- To increase the number of subscribers on my mailing list by at least 350 Subscribers!!
- To create at least three more premium ebooks and sell them via eBay and my Websites!!
- To increase my monthly Affiliate Earnings!!
- To create further resellable ebooks to promote my eBay store, Website and Products!!
- To begin a Google Adwords campaign for How to set up a Successful, Automated Ebook Business on eBay!!
So that’s my online plans for 2007. I hope you’ve learnt from this article the importance of setting goals if you are selling ebooks online, and just what you can achieve in one year. If you’re not selling ebooks online I hope that this article has given you reason to begin. Good luck in the New Year!!
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About the Author:
Tom Parker is an eBay Ebook PowerSeller who sells ebooks and software at http://stores.ebay.co.uk/theebookcavern. To receive free tips from Tom regarding selling ebooks on eBay and a free collection of ebooks sign up for his newsletter at http://newsletter.theebookcavern.co.uk/.
(You may reprint this article on your blog, ezine, newsletter or website providing the article remains unchanged and the ‘About the Author’ box is included and unchanged.)
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