How I Made $40,000 in 4 Months selling a Video Series

At the start of October last year, I launched a guide on Gumroad that shows people how to flip books entirely online called Textbook Flipping Mastery.

Over the past four months, it and the related up-sell I created has made me $40,380 in sales with almost all of it being profit. My only expenses thus far have been $200 on Facebook Ads Retargeting. The guide is almost 2 hours of video based lessons on exactly how I have profitably flipped books online for several years now.

I decided to make this early on in 2020 after running across Chris Johnson on Twitter. He was offering value packed courses like mine, but only asking for a small amount in return. After seeing him succeed tremendously, I knew there was something valuable I could teach people too.

I chose one of the things I know best, flipping books online. I originally started selling books online the traditional way, finding local and selling on Amazon. Eventually though, I got tired of all the travel. So I figured out a way to do it all online, without leaving my house. The margins are slimmer, but the time saved throughout the whole process makes it more than worth it.

So with the topic in mind, I didn't create the guide right away. Instead, I focused on building a presence on different social media platforms. I spent most of my time on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. How did I build my following? By teaching people how to flip books online. I know it sounds crazy to give away exactly what my guide explains... but it worked. People still want to buy the guide though, because they want every last detail.

Here is how my sales breakdown by platform:

Twitter: $3980 - Followers: 2300
Instagram: $3930 - Followers: 2175
TikTok: ~$20,000 - Followers: 34,500
Gumroad: $2605
Facebook: $250
Reddit: $200
YouTube: $200 - Subscribers: 405

The reason for the ~ on the TikTok value is because Gumroad doesn't recognize them as their own traffic source yet. So while a majority of that section is TikTok, it's not 100%.

As you have probably observed, TikTok has been incredible for sales. There isn't a better platform right now for organic reach. On each platform, I continuously provide free value and once in a while I plug my guide. Once a month or so, I offer the guide at a discount of $25 instead of $40.

Out of the $40,380 in sales, only $31,130 is from the guide itself. The other $9250 comes from My Personal Textbook List, which is an up-sell.

Throughout my lessons I mention that anyone following my method of book flipping should keep a list of winning books to refer to in the future to find more profitable flips. My up-sell is my personal list that I keep and routinely update. I launched it at $250 and later increased the price to $500. Purchasing this offers the customer lifetime access to it.

My plan for the near future? I plan on releasing a new guide within the next week about growing on TikTok and leveraging the platform for building businesses.

Here are my main takeaways from building a successful info product:

• Start with a topic you know better than anything else
• Use TikTok, no matter your demographic. The app skews older than you think.
• Don't be afraid to give away your best info. People will still buy.

Thank you for reading this, I hope it provides you value. I would love to answer any questions people might have. If you'd like to follow my journey, Twitter is probably best for that.