This Is Working
I wrote my first article on September 10, 2017, to get the word out about my books. Why? Sales. Since that first one, my goal expanded to include budget therapy, a creative outlet, a whiteboard of ideas, and an exercise space to improve my writing.
What did I get out of it? I have met (online) many people, had lots of fun, significantly widened my writing scope, learned a lot about myself, and solved a few problems. However, the core goal of sales remains. “Hey, if you like this article, please consider buying one of my books.”
How are my book sales? Umm, not well. Last year, I sold 61 books, which is nowhere near profitability. How many sales came out of writing articles? I had no idea. Until now! I just read a review of Interviewing Immortality, “I enjoyed Bill’s blogs and purchased one of his books.” Insert Rockey theme music!!! This is working!!!
Now that there is a data point, it is possible to evaluate the marketing effectiveness of writing articles by looking at the Return On Investment (ROI). I have written 344 articles since 2017, and each article requires about 2.7 hours, which is 140 hours per year. Using ROI math, I traded 344 articles or 825 hours for one sale. My ROI is, umm, dismal. What did I expect?
I knew from the beginning that marketing a book is challenging, especially with a limited budget. Other authors pay for advertisements, endorsements, influencers to promote their works, and Amazon to up the ranking. Why not join this bandwagon? It is a waste until I have a book series with many reviews. In the meantime, my budget is for editing, formatting, and using tools like Grammarly.
Is writing articles worth continuing? From an ROI analysis perspective, no. Yet, that is not where my thought process is. A good ROI would be vital if I paid a ghostwriter to write these articles, but I am doing it myself. Instead, I think of my article writing effort from the reader’s perspective. Presently, I have published four books, but they are from three different series. “Hey, potential reader. Buy my first book and wait two years for the second and the third in four years.” That is a hard sell.
Thus, my effort is intended to generate limited buzz and have some fun. When I have a published trilogy with good reviews, then I will pay for professional marketing. Still, having one of my article readers buy my book boosted my ego. I claim victory! To that individual, thanks!!!
You’re the best -Bill
November 06, 2024
What did I get out of it? I have met (online) many people, had lots of fun, significantly widened my writing scope, learned a lot about myself, and solved a few problems. However, the core goal of sales remains. “Hey, if you like this article, please consider buying one of my books.”
How are my book sales? Umm, not well. Last year, I sold 61 books, which is nowhere near profitability. How many sales came out of writing articles? I had no idea. Until now! I just read a review of Interviewing Immortality, “I enjoyed Bill’s blogs and purchased one of his books.” Insert Rockey theme music!!! This is working!!!
Now that there is a data point, it is possible to evaluate the marketing effectiveness of writing articles by looking at the Return On Investment (ROI). I have written 344 articles since 2017, and each article requires about 2.7 hours, which is 140 hours per year. Using ROI math, I traded 344 articles or 825 hours for one sale. My ROI is, umm, dismal. What did I expect?
I knew from the beginning that marketing a book is challenging, especially with a limited budget. Other authors pay for advertisements, endorsements, influencers to promote their works, and Amazon to up the ranking. Why not join this bandwagon? It is a waste until I have a book series with many reviews. In the meantime, my budget is for editing, formatting, and using tools like Grammarly.
Is writing articles worth continuing? From an ROI analysis perspective, no. Yet, that is not where my thought process is. A good ROI would be vital if I paid a ghostwriter to write these articles, but I am doing it myself. Instead, I think of my article writing effort from the reader’s perspective. Presently, I have published four books, but they are from three different series. “Hey, potential reader. Buy my first book and wait two years for the second and the third in four years.” That is a hard sell.
Thus, my effort is intended to generate limited buzz and have some fun. When I have a published trilogy with good reviews, then I will pay for professional marketing. Still, having one of my article readers buy my book boosted my ego. I claim victory! To that individual, thanks!!!
You’re the best -Bill
November 06, 2024
