The Goal: $1600/m

[VitaminD]

Hi all,

First of all, cool forum. I hope it keeps expanding and we see some amazing things happen here. I, of course, loved Tim's book so we'll dispense with that.

My goal:

My goal here is very clear to me. My dreamline is to cover my current expenses with a Target Monthly Income (TMI) of about $1600, which is a little more than my current expenses. Here's my goal.

I want to earn enough income to quit my job and never work for anyone else ever again. Ever.

For me, this will take roughly 400 dollars per week, which isn't that much if you think about it and split it down like that. Everything else I want in my earthly life can wait until this goal is achieved - our most precious resource is time.

Where I stand:

I've started microtesting a product idea on eBay - an informational eBook series about how to improvise classical piano. (I can do this at will, and it is an expertise, and I have loads of info to write on that, so no worries). No bids yet, and it's way below my ideal price. So I'm not sure there's much demand for them, although I did do a Google search for similar items and saw one or two similar (not identical) products advertised - they must be doing well enough with it.

I've taken extensive notes on the chapter Income Automation 1. I've read the other chapters many times already, and understand the process.

I also need to brainstorm more product ideas, as that's the only one I've come up with. Any help would be appreciated. Here are some of my previous purchases/niches:


Music composing
Writing - literary
Self-help and motivational
Political opinion
Search engine optimization


There are more that will come up in the brainstorming session I'm sure.

What I need:

I know what I don't need. I don't need people who have not automated their own incomes, or at least started, to give me advice.

What I do need are any helpful hints, suggestions - forget it - give me full guidance here. I want to be retired (as I call it) within months, not years.

This will be an ongoing project and I'll post updates on this message board.

Thanks,
VitaminD

[searstower]

VitaminD,
I sold some stuff on ebay a while ago, and my auctions almost always sold for 3-4 times the ending bid for the exact same product that anyone else had listed. The secret to getting the price you want is perceived value, and price is part of perceived value.

People tend to think that if it's good, it's going to be more expensive, and if it's cheap, it's crap so why buy it? I'd recommend testing your product at a higher price before giving up completely.

Rebecca
PS - Also, look for completed auctions for similar items. Check their listings and see if you can figure out how they created perceived value and then copy that in your listing.

[VitaminD]

Thanks, good advice. I probably will test at a higher price. But remember, this is just a TEST for the product - I don't actually want to sell on eBay for income.

I'm going to be moving FORWARD from this remember, and testing products with Adwords.

[VitaminD]

More brainstorming - I saw this post by searstower and thought I'd fill it out.

* What do you do now for fun?
* What have you done for fun in the past?
* What are your skills?

-------------------------
1.
-I listen to music, write music, play music, record music
-Go running
-Blog
-read blogs
-Go to bars
-watch TV
-write nonsensical fantasy material (think Lord of the Rings without the creatures)
-Write in general (writing degree)
-Also wanted to get into hanggliding before I realized how expensive and time consuming it is (see why I need to retire? ;)
-Watch movies

2.
-Played video and computer games (I'd love to design them conceptually)
-Played Legos (way back when, but I was a master)
-draw (very occasionally)

3.
-Play piano
-Compose music
-Improvise music
-Writing poetry, fiction, anything
-Web content (sorta)
-Filmmaking (very amateur)

[jetpacklife]

Man, I wish I could trade some skills with you. I have no music or writing ability what so ever.

SEO is a very good talent and can certainly be the cornerstone to a successful online business.

In your shoes, I would probably try to start up a couple of targeted blogs (music, writing, fantasy, etc) Then really work to get them some free SEO and online marketing traffic. This could help you figure out where the market is. If you can get forums or comments going, you can get a lot of feedback from your users as to what they need, and give you lots more free content for your site. Look to fill their needs with a product or service.

[VitaminD]

Man, I wish I could trade some skills with you. I have no music or writing ability what so ever.

Believe me, they were long earned. At first, writing music (and playing it) was like doing Calculus - I had no idea how to bring form out of nothing. Basically as a side hobby for years I downloaded MIDIs, looked at them from a composing program and decoded what made songs "catchy." Eventually, I figured it all out, and it's turned into an unconscious competence now.

For writing, I wrote two books before college - one that was about 500 pages. Never had any typing/writing issues ever again ;)

In your shoes, I would probably try to start up a couple of targeted blogs (music, writing, fantasy, etc) Then really work to get them some free SEO and online marketing traffic. This could help you figure out where the market is. If you can get forums or comments going, you can get a lot of feedback from your users as to what they need, and give you lots more free content for your site. Look to fill their needs with a product or service.

These are interesting recommendations, but my concern is that they would take too much time. Mind you, I'm willing to put in time to figure these things out, but I think you're talking about microtesting for future products, which could be accomplished easier, no? I currently have a blog that gets a moderate amount of traffic, and even that's a lot of work.

BTW thanks for the PM response, I'm sending you another.

[VitaminD]

I did product testing last week, and was very pleased with the results.

My idea is an eBook that teaches you a musical instrument. I paid 200 dollars for AdWords and ended up "selling" 6 eBooks at 90 dollars each - a profit of 340 dollars in 3-4 days. Since my goal is 1600/month, you can see that I'm well on track.

I'm very happy with the results, and can't wait to get the book written and have everything live.

Next steps:

-Register a domain name with GoDaddy
-Write eBook in two weeks at approximately 18 pages per day (I'm a writer, this is not a problem)
-Prepare PayPal credit card processing and site forms
-Create new site that will better feature the product with screenshots
-Use the most efficient ad content from my test run.

June is a three paycheck month I think, so I'll have some scratch for more ads. Glad I don't have a car or kids. I can't wait to be making $400 a week. Thanks guys!

I also want to note that I was confused about this whole process until I actually DID it. I had so many doubts in myself that I wasn't really taking action. Once I took the action, set up the page and everything, it started happening. Doubts are just thoughts.

[Drewkerr]

Congrats on having the muse almost fully running!

[Vacman]

VitaminD,

Congrats on getting close to creating a fully functional and profitable muse!!

I'm on that path myself right now.

Because I'm doing the same thing right now I just had a couple quick questions I was hoping you could help me with.

You said that you were registering your domain name with GoDaddy.com, and that you had already tested your muse and "sold" 6 books.

If you didn't have a domain name already, then where did your AdWords ad take your customers to? Basically, did you have a sales page and a fake shopping cart set up? Or how did you measure your "sales?"

But again, congrats!!! I'm excited for you!

[VitaminD]

Because I'm doing the same thing right now I just had a couple quick questions I was hoping you could help me with.

You said that you were registering your domain name with GoDaddy.com, and that you had already tested your muse and "sold" 6 books.

If you didn't have a domain name already, then where did your AdWords ad take your customers to? Basically, did you have a sales page and a fake shopping cart set up? Or how did you measure your "sales?"

I used a pre-existing domain I have and just made a page off of that. I made an order form (where you fill out your credit card info) and the bottom had a link that said "click here to finalize your order." That link took them to a page that said the function is down (which it is), and I measured how many people clicked that link with Google Analytics.

Now I'm going to get a domain name that is relevant to the eBook (instead of my name). So I already had one...but not one that made sense.

[VitaminD]

Congrats on having the muse almost fully running!

Thanks! I'm excited.

[mrhead]

-VitaminD
So I've been browsing through some of the older posts on the forum and came across this one. How is your goal going? Have you made it to 1600? Did you ever get the domain setup and the ebook finished?

-mrhead

[VitaminD]

Saw this open thread too. Will be providing updates soon.

[FrozenCanuck]

VitaminD - you used Google Analytics to track orders? I suspect this might be dangerous, and I'll tell you why from my experience in testing a muse.

I tested a site with 3 pages. 1) sales letter; 2) ordering and pricing info; 3) the "complete order" page.

First page had a link to 2nd page.
2nd page disclosed all pricing info and guarantee info. It also requested the name and email address of the customer. When you hit "continue" it was to take you to the 3rd page with credit card info (that's what the customer was told to expect) and of course instead I presented them with a message of "sorry product not in stock".

The trick was this - the "continue" was really a submit button in disguise and it emailed me their name and email address. It was very basic PHP code that I learned by googling.

LOTS of people clicked on the "continue" button without having entered anything (no name / email address) or they submitted "donald duck" type names. So those are not real sales.

Just a caution ... keep going anyway! Just find a better way to test your next muse.

[VitaminD]

LOTS of people clicked on the "continue" button without having entered anything (no name / email address) or they submitted "donald duck" type names. So those are not real sales.

Just a caution ... keep going anyway! Just find a better way to test your next muse.

Something to consider. I've noticed in my previous unsuccessful campaigns that people click through to the order page but don't order - just curiosity I guess?

If price is a factor, I can test lower or even higher prices. But in my campaigns and in the traffic I've seen, I still think this is a viable niche.