S03E23 – I’m a Loser
Good morning 👋
Well, that didn’t work out as planned. Two sponsorships of the book approaching an investment of $1,000 has so far returned a total of two sales. Considering their combined audience size was a big number, I predicted the worst-case scenario to be I make my money back. That’s 50 sales! I was actually content with that. A good start. But yeah, clearly I needed an elementary lesson in the effectiveness of a sponsorship. I just wish its education didn’t cost me this much to enrol. That said, I’m determined for this loss to spur an effective comeback that initially recoups the money and then some. What’s the phrase? Oh yeah, keep going :)
The problem I continue to wrestle relates to marketing. The above failure made me almost decide to give up on the book’s marketing efforts altogether. Well, that combined with the continued difficulty I seem to be having getting developers with clout to help spread its word. They either ignore me entirely or acknowledge but don’t follow through, whatever the reason may be (lack of time, interest etc.). But then I had a thought provoking chat with a friend (and subscriber) yesterday.
When the work is creative, I know that what I’m building will see a positive return. I depend on my gut because I trust myself. I enjoy the process. The vibe is good. It’s the total opposite when I’m doing anything marketing related. I’m unconvinced. I lack confidence. I find it tedious. It’s off-key. With this clarified, I was challenged to somehow approach marketing as a creative exercise, and not a checkbox item. Bring the right energy and can (will!) do attitude. Aha! I have been doing it all wrong.
To be honest, I have no idea what this means in practise but I’m a strong believer that the likelihood of success hinges on mentality. Think you might lose, and you’re halfway there already. With the sponsorships, I was essentially subsidising growth. That was the idea. What is probably required is a guerrilla campaign. Put the time. Make it fun. And don’t stop until I see results. It will happen.
Next week is going to be interesting. It’s looking likely that I’m going to relocate during working hours. To actually have reasonable working hours. I’m scouting co-working spaces. I can’t believe 50% of the year is up already. If I don’t make such a change, there’s no way I’ll ship anything else this year. The second half of 2021 needs to be a reset.
Have a great Sunday!
Best,
Bardi