Money-Making Tips for Indie Writers & Entrepreneurs
Make more money in 2017 with my favorite money making habits.
Today, my sister scribes, fellow creators, beautiful businesswomen and excellent entrepreneurs, I thought I’d share some of my favorite tips, tricks and insights with you. A list of spiritual and practical things you can do to increase revenue now.
Advertise continuously Every. Single. Month. (Maybe every week!) This year, as soon as all the income arrives for the month, I’m going to set an advertising budget for that month and it will be as generous as that month’s income allows. The only way to know which ads will work is to try them, so I try them all and I keep notes. But the key to remember is that advertising isn’t once and done. If you want your sales go higher and stay higher, advertise. Track average sales for a week or so prior to your ad, and for a week or so after to judge its impact. Count the increase in sales, not the total sales. (So if you sold 10 copies a day before the ad, and 20 copies a day after the ad, you increased your sales by 10 books per day.) Multiply the extra sales by the amount you earn from each sale, and compare that number to the amount you paid for the ad. If you make more than you spent, then the ad is making you money. So why would you not do it all the time?[ctt template=”5″ link=”ZulMc” via=”yes” ]A site that makes you more money than you spent on the ad, is a site worth using again and again and again. @maggieshayne[/ctt]
Advertising can also include Facebook posts
Find viral posts that have lots of likes, and relate to your craft and your audience in some way, and share them to increase engagement in your page and ensure more people see your posts. Make memes with characters and lines from your books. When I do this, I always include my website in the text on the meme. It’s not clickable, but if you put in a non-Facebook clickable link, FB drastically cuts the number of people who will see your post. So put your website onto the meme itself. People see it, at least. IN the post, tag your own page or group. If you must include hotlinks that lead off Facebook, put them in the comments under the post. If you’re buying a FB ad or boosting the post, of course, you can include your links without being penalized.
Pay Attention to What's Working If your focus is always on what’s going wrong, your business is going to suffer as a result. I promise, this is absolutely true. And if you want to know what you’re focusing on, go back and read your daily posts to your writing loops and groups. Those will show you where your focus is. For most of the people I see on the loops, that focus is “Amazon is conspiring to destroy authors.” My own focus is “Amazon is making me rich.” What you focus on grows. Good or bad. So keep your attention on the things that are working. Talk to your fellow artists about the good things happening, all your little wins, everything that’s getting better, every sign of improvement. Skip the posts that claim the sky is falling. It’s not, except for those who believe it is.
Stay Open to New Revenue Streams Let go of any notion that royalties from your ebook sales are your only revenue stream. There are dozens of potential ways for money to flow into your business; speaking fees, Youtube ad revenue, audiobook sales. print book sales online, print book sales in independent stores and other brick & mortar businesses where your readers hang out. You can sell print and e directly from your own website. You can sell video and audio workshops. You can host an online seminar with a fee to attend. You can parlay your social media power into a sales site for books and book related merchandise. You can create and sell merchandise related to your story worlds. You can market products and services you believe in and collect affiliate fees. There is no limit beyond your own imagination. If you can dream it, you can do it. Try everything, keep what works and celebrate it. Let go of what doesn’t work and resist the urge to go online and bitch about it. (See #3.)
Set goals!
I set goals for the year. I set goals for the month. I set weekly goals, and I set daily goals. My go-to goal-setting and business organizing tool is the Leonie Dawson Shining Year Datebook and organizer, which is currently on sale for half price while supplies last! I’ll put a link below. So every morning, I sit down and list my 3 most important tasks for the day. Every Monday I write down my 5 major tasks for the week. It really helps keep me on point and that’s even more important with all the other things to do besides writing, when running my business. I put my writing goals first, then fit in pieces of the other goals around it.
Give yourself an abundance of down-time I know you think the more hours you work, the more you’ll get done, but the opposite is actually the case. Work when you feel energized and excited about the task. But it’s important to quit before you get that feeling that you’re slogging through mud.[ctt template=”5″ link=”Qa9PZ” via=”yes” ]I do my writing when I’m bright-eyed and bushy tailed, and as soon as the energy starts to wane, I quit. @maggieshayne[/ctt]Sprinkle your day with rewards. Work a little, then go for a walk outside. Work a little, then do some yoga. Work a little, then meditate. Work a little, then play a little. You’ll end up getting more accomplished in less time and you’ll feel like a million bucks. Plus, it won’t feel like work. Extra bonus: life is fun again.
Segment Intending & Presence Esther Hicks taught me about segment intending through her Abraham recordings and books. When I begin any task, whether it’s cleaning the kitchen or writing 2000 words, I give myself a block of time in which to do it, and I don’t allow anything else to interrupt during that time. No veering off track to grab email, reply to texts, watch tv, get a coffee or a drink, etc. I began this practice and found it allows me to check tasks off my to-do list much more quickly, and it also helps me to be present, fully present and focused on whatever it is I’m doing. And this is a fabulous spiritual practice as well as a habit that makes everything you do, your very best work.[ctt template=”5″ link=”PbUpA” via=”yes” ]When you’re fully present in any task, it will always be your very best work. @maggieshayne[/ctt]
The More You Give Away, The More You'll Receive This old adage is one of the truest you’ll ever hear. The more books I give away, the more books I sell. The more advice I give away, the more my fan base grows. The more money I give away, the more abundance flows to me. It’s like attracts like in is simplest form.When you hold tight to what you have, it’s an act of fear. Fear there’s not going to be enough for you if you give too much away. The message beaming from your cells out into the universe is a message of lack. Of not-enough-ness. And so you see evidence of that lack all around you, and you never have enough, because the message you’re beaming is the life you’re creating. But when you give freely, the message you’re beaming is one of plenty, and you will see evidence of plenty everywhere in your life.
Resources I Use and Adore
Leonie Dawson’s Shining Year Biz & Life Workbooks and Planners I’ve mentioned these already. I love them, they’re on sale for half price. And I’m an affiliate.
Booktrakr This site keeps track of your daily sales by title and vendor, and is my go to source for number crunching after ad campaigns, monthly, annually and so on. It’s fantastic. One drawback is that you have to trust them with your login credentials at the retailers, which is scary for some. I’ve trusted them for years, and I monitor the sites well enough that I’d know within a day if something was off, and would be able to fix it just as quickly. I just love this service.
Ebooktracker This is a free service for anyone whose ever advertised in KND, and I’ve been using it forever. It tracks book rankings on Amazon, so you don’t have to stay up all night after an add to check hourly. It’ll tell you how high you got, and when, at your convenience.
Quickbooks Pro I pay a lot for QB. It handles my payroll and a lot of the other things involved in running a business. I wouldn’t try to do this without it.
Lifespan Under-Desk Treadmill My hubby modified my desk with legs that electronically extend at the push of a button, but before he did that, I just put the desk up on risers so I could use my fabulous under-desk treadmill from Lifespan. I am not exaggerating when I say this desk has added years to my life and taken pounds from my waistline. Over time, I’ve even become adept at composing while walking. But even before I got to this point, and used it only for email and social media, and it still did me a world of good. I walk slowly, but every step counts. YOUR HEALTH IS WORTH THIS. Get a desk treadmill, I’m serious. [ctt template=”5″ link=”coX08″ via=”yes” ]Longer life and better health is worth every penny a desk treadmill will cost. @maggieshayne[/ctt]
Esther Hicks and Abraham To learn more about the philosophy of Law of Attraction, the philosophy of Like attracts Like, and how living in joy and bliss can lead to abundance and ease, visit this website, read the books, listen to the recordings.
Above All Else, Cultivate Joy
Yes, above all else. Above writing, above hours at the desk, above taking courses (which I should’ve included–take courses, keep learning!) But above all else, seek joy. Be a happy person. It is, after all, a choice. Focus on things that feel good. Turn off the news. Stop worrying. Banish that habit from your life.[ctt template=”5″ link=”GnpVT” via=”yes” ]Worrying is being ungrateful in advance. @maggieshayne[/ctt]Choose to be happy, and everything you touch will turn to gold.
Until next time….
Maggie
#business #writingtips #maggieshayne #independentpublishing #RWA #creativity #ebookpublishing #blissblog #maggieshayne #indiewriters #makemoremoney #publishingtips #blissblog #indieauthors #indiepublishing #entrepreneurs #NINC #PAN