Foolish Adventure

Guys, I disagree. You have some good information, but really missed the meat. I have worked on elance for more than two years. I have a 100% approval rating and rave reviews from my clients. I’m from the USA and most of my clients are from Canada and Europe. My expertise is ebooks. It is unusual to get a great writer and a great designer, but not impossible. I was a journalist for 23 years and now write for three national magazines. I was also a graphic designer and layout person for TVA (government) and for several newspapers. I’ve listened to this podcast and have to say there’s a LOT more information that needs to be added:First – I disagree. All ebooks don’t have to be 50-70 pages long. Most clients can get a great ebook with solid content that will meet their MARKETING or PROMOTION NEEDS and still sell well in 12-25 pages. The length of your ebook depends on the product, how you plan to market the book, what you want it to accomplish. There are other factors you haven’t mentioned. I know – you’re talking about paying $500 to $750 to get a 50-70 page ebook that you can sell for $29, make millions overnight and leave your cubicle monkey job and fire your boss on the way out the door. Not happening. Ebooks don’t make you millions. Marketing that ebook, having a plan, knowing how to utilize social networking, blogging and interacting and promoting that ebook is what makes that get rich overnight thing happen. There are millions of videos uploading on YouTube every HOUR. How many go viral? NOT many. Same with ebooks. Everyone has a story of the teenager who posted an ebook and made $20,000 the first day, but those are urban legends. Look behind the scenes and you’ll see more than an ebook. You’ll see a savvy, socially connected teen who marketed his book well – even if all he did was send it to 500 Facebook friends. The money is in the marketing, not in the ebook.Everyone who hears this podcast will want a 50-page ebook. And, they’ll expect to get rich overnight from it. How will that make you guys look when they don’t? The fact is, a 50-page ebook might not be the best way to start. They may have something else they can sell. Or, they can sell something someone has already written by simply joining (for free) Clickbank. They may have a small business that could benefit in a different way from shorter ebooks. For instance, John, of Before & After Magazine or bamagazine.com sells his 2-10 page ebooks for $1.99 to $2.50 each, or in batches as a subscription. It’s a great model! It’s not the book, it’s the marketing. Many, many, many people could use John’s type of ebook model for their business and do very well. So, please don’t tell everyone 50 to 70 pages is optimal. It’s not. It depends on the type of business, what you want to do, and on the reality that you are NOT going to get rich overnight selling an ebook unless there is nothing else out there on the topic. Come up with a 10-page ebook that is just verified photos of aliens or the formula for turning straw into gold – THAT will sell a lot of books – maybe. Again, niche and subject matter MATTER.Quit focusing on money and focus on value. It’s not about the product – it’s about the content. Find people who are willing and able to give you great value for your money. Tip: anyone willing to write for $10 an hour is not likely to be that person. If they are, chances are they are so good they won’t work for $10 an hour for long. And they won’t take you with them when they’re able to charge $50 or $100 an hour. If you hire a great writer, you won’t need a great editor. Great writers incorporate their own editors in the process, which is why they charge more. They edit the book so you don’t have to. Even if you can’t write well enough to give visitors directions to your bathroom if you can give a ghostwriter a table of contents, notes, or a rough draft of what you want you can negotiate a better price. If the ghostwriter writes from scratch and must do all the research they will charge more.Ebooks will NOT make you an overnight millionaire. Marketing is where your ebook will succeed or fail. When you hire a ghost writer you get a writer. When you hire me you get marketing advice, links, information, instruction, marketing help and more – that’s where the value comes in. Stop focusing on what you’re paying for one thing, and see how you work with the person to benefit you both the most over the long run.I’m really disappointed that you’re reducing creative people to “what they’re worth an hour,” when you should be asking, “What value is this person bringing to the project?” You’ll never have a four-hour work week if you’re working with people who are willing to swap time for money. One of the things this podcast does, unfortunately, is give your listeners the idea that writers are cheap, willing to work for almost no money, and aren’t really to be respected or valued. That’s odd – because THEY are the ones providing YOUR audience the valuable information YOU are willing to sell at 10 times the rate you paid your writer! I don’t get it. I have clients who pay a base rate, but also get my marketing advice and in return they pay me a percentage of what the book sells. You had a great chance to win a lot of creatives and writers to your site, but by de-valuing us as you have in this post you’ve really hurt your own credibility. I’m disappointed. When you share the wealth you get tremendous return. Guys, THAT is the best marketing lesson anyone can learn.

Guys, your broadcasts are one of the most valuable things on the internet; I have learned alot of interesting things…however, I do agree with Becky’s point, that sometimes the “quick rich” angle is there without the disclaimer…..there are no get rich schemes that work; at least I have never found them and I have been through a few ups and downs in entrepreneuship…thanks

Hi Becky,

I really like your response here!

I’ve never sold an ebook (as I think I mentioned in the show), so I’m definitely in unfamiliar territory.

Although I think you’re mistaken about us saying you can make millions overnight with ebooks. I don’t think we ever said that. I don’t believe we’ve ever said you can make millions overnight with anything.

I totally agree with everything you said about writers being valuable. A lot of what you said makes sense.

Thanks for listening, and thanks for the thoughtful comment.

All the best,

Izzy

Becky,

I can see your passionate about this topic, but it pisses me off that you would build up this Get-Rich-Quick straw man argument and then attack Izzy and I for it when we have not advocated any such thing. Our show isn’t about get rich anything and we have said such many times.

To take Izzy’s comment about how well a 21 yr old (not teenager) did on his product launch (marketing that you mention is so important) and turn it into something it clearly was not, is very dishonest.

I would never go to someone’s blog, make accusations that aren’t true and then lambaste the blogger for doing the things I’m accusing her of.

I don’t mind getting criticized for things I’ve actually said or done. If it is valid, I use it to become better. But I won’t sit idly by and let someone trash my work with false statements.

As for de-valuing creatives and writers, I pay what someone asks for based upon the constraints I have to work with. That person chooses their own value. In this episode, I even say that I’ve probably been too cheap.

As for listeners will now want a 50 page ebook–I can’t prevent how people perceive this show and I’m not omniscient and can’t think of every possible counter to everything I say. No one can. It could be good for us to say in our shows, “this isn’t the only way to do X.” That’s a valid criticism.

You talk a lot about marketing and promotion. Izzy and I talk about marketing in other episodes, but we have been asked by our listeners to talk about how to make the product, too.

This episode is ONLY about the making and NOT the marketing, which we said in the beginning of the episode that we would be talking about the making of a product specifically ebooks.

To Everyone Reading This: Feel free to criticize me or the show. I’m all for having a discussion on how to make FA better. Just do us a favor and make sure it is about something we have said or done and give us a suggestion on how to get better.

Thanks,

~ t

Oh, I thought of one more thing to add…

It’s okay for everyone to have their opinions. But we need to remember, they’re just opinions.

A good example is that I frequently say it’s a good idea to create a “How to” type of product because they tend to sell well. That’s my own personal experience, but it doesn’t mean it’s always the case for everyone. You might be able to create an entertainment product that sells well, and then I’d be wrong. That’s totally fine.

Tim and I spend most of these shows sharing our opinions about building online businesses. The whole point of the show is to share what we’ve learned from our experiences. We’re definitely not always right about everything.

I don’t think my business is perfect. I just think it’s possible, and more people might enjoy trying to build something like it.

Still, I appreciate your passionate comment.

Thanks,

Izzy

Lol

Becky: I totally disagree with your comment that this episode devalues writers. I am so sorry you thought so. I do not know Becky if you have listened to all Izzy and Tim’s audios since their inception. If you have not,maybe you should. I am sure these guys are not in the bully business of devaluing others. On the contrary, their approach is inspiring, thought provoking, fun, playful, foolish allowing, which makes them so much adorable and charming. And curiously enough more CREDIBLE AND TRUSTWORTHY than anything I have seen around. if I were you instead of being so disappointed for something they did not say or do, I would re-listen not only to this episode but to all the others. Maybe by doing this you will retract your words and if I were you I would apologize to them (you came a little too strong and I found you unfair).

Wow. Did that woman even LISTEN to the podcast?? You guys didn’t say anything about making a million dollars overnight. You didn’t say anything about working for $10 an hour. You didn’t say anything disrespectful to authors, editors, or designers. I’m an avid blogger (author), I minored in editing in school and have done freelance editing work both in print and digital formats (editor), and I taught a university-level InDesign class (designer). Nothing that was said in this podcast offended me in the least. I was nodding along as I was listening to it.

Obviously Tim and Izzy know that a great ebook needs marketing to sell. They’ve done entire episodes on the subject.

Becky said, “One of the things this podcast does, unfortunately, is give your listeners the idea that writers are cheap, willing to work for almost no money, and aren’t really to be respected or valued.” What a load of crap. If people weren’t willing to work for the amount set by the client on eLance, they wouldn’t take the job in the first place.

Becky also said, “I’m really disappointed that you’re reducing creative people to “what they’re worth an hour.”" Again, total crap. If you’re charging an hourly rate for your services, you’ve already named your worth an hour yourself!

Becky, I consider myself “a creative,” and I HAVE been won over. Ignore this type of fanatical BS (which I know you’re doing already) and keep doing what you’re doing, guys.

Stuff like this makes my blood boil. Becky’s obviously got a chip on her shoulder. Sorry you guys happened to be in front of her when she decided to go off.