Start With A Side-Project
How I built, marketed, and sold a side-project in 3 months.
When you self publish an e-book, you need to figure out on which platform to publish, different platforms take different cuts in your revenues but also give your potential readers a choice where to purchase from. Some may not mind buying from your personal site, but others only buy from established online stores.
At the start of things, I just published on Gumroad because I was still writing the book and looked for the simplest solution that would allow me to have pre orders, plus I wasn't even sure if anyone would be interested reading my book!
When I launched I also published on Amazon, since I it's the biggest online book store, and it gives credibility to your book, if you appear there.
After launch I got accepted into Appsumo's marketplace which was overall a nice experience and offered some exposure to the sumo community.
Sometime after launch I decided to drop Gumroad and focus only on Amazon and Appsumo, and recently decided to give KDP Select a shot, which means I had to drop my product off Appsumo.
For those who don't know what's KDP Select - it's a program where you make your book exclusive to Kindle and get access to Kindle Unlimited.
You can check out my book Start with A Side-Project on Amazon and let me know what you think of it.
Will see how this move rolls out!
Cheers
I've reached the milestone of donating 50 trees from my Gumroad earnings of my E-book Start With A Side-Project, each tree was gifted to a buyer, so they received a nice E-card with a thank you :)
For visualisation, here are 50 trees:
π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³π³
I'm not an environmental activist but you just can't stay indifferent and ignore the state of our planet, here is a video about the destruction of the Amazon Rainforest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAZAKPUQMw0
There is obviously more to it than just "fixing up" the Amazon Rainforest, but this is a start.
We need to be more vigilant and take care of our planet better.
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This comment was deleted 4 years ago
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Hey Jonas, thanks!
I've used www.onetreeplanted.org for this. They are non-profit organization.
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I've just compiled a list of countries where I sold copies of my Ebook Start With A Side-Project. I've unlocked the multi international sales achievement!
- USA
- Canada
- Brazil
- Japan
- India
- Australia
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- Italy
- Myanmar
- Vietnam
- Philippines
- Pakistan
- Romania
- Ukraine
- Bulgaria
- Serbia
- Sweden
- Estonia
- Poland
- France
- Czech Republic
It's pretty amazing to see how much effect I had worldwide, by going through this list and realizing that my book was read in multiple countries by now.
So keep the good work and believe in yourself. Good things take time and persistence.
It took some time to get it up there, but it's finally happened. My E-Book Start With A Side-Project is live on AppSumo at a discounted price for a limited time.
Can't wait to see the power of AppSumo's marketplace, as I've seen other Indie Hackers here unleash it and reach great numbers.
You can check it out here:
https://appsumo.com/marketplace-start-with-a-side-project/
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Woah, I didn't know AppSumo accepted ebooks :O
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Just make sure everyone who buys gets a little nudge to leave a review. You can do this yourself in a week or so, personally. It helps! It absolutely helps when people leave real reviews that help others understand what to expect.
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Thanks for the great tip Andrew, I totally agree, reviews are super important!
Just curious as to where do I issue the nudges?
Thanks!
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All the best, do post the update on how it goes!
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Thank you, sure will!
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Last few days have been like a rollercoaster (in the good sense).
2 days ago I've launched my eBook Start With A Side-Project with the help of Chris Messina on Product Hunt.
1 day ago ProductHunt decided to feature me in their newsletter that was unexpected π€―
Today I noticed that someone with a familiar name has purchased a copy. A well known name from the UFC. However, there is obviously no way to know for sure who it is, but still, a pleasant surprise π€Ό
In the next week or so, I expect to launch on AppSumo. Super excited!
What a rollercoaster π
Today is a big day. Chris Messina hunted my eBook product Start With A Side-Project on Product Hunt π
https://www.producthunt.com/posts/start-with-a-side-project
I reached out to Chris a while ago in July. However there were no free slots for hunting, so we scheduled it later this month for today. I felt, like the wait was worth it. I also wanted to launch in parallel the release on AppSumo but that will come soon after.
I'm super excited and can't wait to see how it will go.
Drop by Product Hunt and show some love by leaving a comment or review.
When I first decided to write and publish a book about my experiences of building, marketing and selling a side-project, I've also decided that I would use some of the revenue for a good cause.
About a year back, I came across videos that show the destruction of the Amazon forest and its animal inhabitants.
It is in our responsibility, absolutely everybody, to take a good care for the planet we live on and make it a better place for us and for all. That's the reason why I've decided to contribute towards planting trees in the Amazon Rainforest.
A cool side effect to this - I gifted these trees, each one to each of my readers. They've received a pretty neat E-card with a thank you note π
I hope to see more indie hackers doing similar feats.
You can check out my eBook Start With A Side-Project is available on Gumroad.
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Great initiative for tree programs. I would love to test and serve this service on my website of tree removal.
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Great to see you did this too! Congratulations :)
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Great work! We stated @imailapp partly because of the rainforest and all thr trees lost
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Awesome. It's a big goal of mine to be able to use a percentage of profits to do things like this. Ethical capitalism is the only reasonable way forward for our economy. Initiatives like 1% for the planet and B corps are hugely important. Good job!
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π what a nice initiative
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Great initiative π
I've also always wanted whatever business I start to have a good positive impact. From the very beginning on Thankbox I pledged to plant a tree for every 10 sold. Planted 4 so far and hope to have a lot more as we grow (pun intended)! -
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Amazing initiative! Your post inspires me. When I start making money with my side-project I will do the same as you and my subscribers will receive the e-cards π Thanks for sharing and inspiring! β
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@nscode That is absolutely amazing! What would be your tip on how to organize same or similar opportunity? Who to contact? Where to start? I run businesses in Central Europe and your post is a reminder on where to put the attention :) I would really appreciate reading your journey from the idea to constant execution! All best!
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Hey Jacek,
Thanks for the kind words, I'm happy to hear you see this post as a valuable reminder :)
I'm planting trees with One Tree Planted, they're a non-profit organization that seems legit.
But I guess any other good-cause organization can help you get started, just contact them directly through email or twitter.
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Yesterday I saw the great numbers @AndrewKamphey posted which stemmed from the exposure he got from AppSumo. That's when I decided to give it a shot and submitted my ebook to AppSumo.
It was a long shot as their acceptance rate is only around 5%.
I woke up today and saw an email from AppSumo's team, saying that I got accepted and they will list me! That's some awesome news to wake up to.
I assume it's due to my marketing effort and the great feedback I got from readers:
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Our website translation tool conveythis.com got accepted to AppSumo too...
Their pricing structure is very hard to match for SaaS startups which incur heavy 3rd party API costs. You will end up spending more than earning. They keep 70% of the profits.
So, we ended up going on our own and our business grew 100% organically since then. -
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Iβm confused... they donβt just randomly accept you. Thereβs a whole long process and multiple meetings before they even bring you on or agree to even list you...
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I wouldn't call it random. I filled out the application form.
it could only happen because I was out there
(from my book)
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Im just saying that I've gone through their process (eventually rejecting to move further because of their 60% fee terms) but I was confused at what you said considering that there were 2 meetings, 3 beta tester periods of a week long, another meeting to discuss the contract, and then scheduling a date of launch before even getting the full go ahead to launch.
Unless there is a whole different process for ebook options versus a whole platform like we were. Lol.
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60%? Others have told me that AppSumo takes 70%. Are you sure it was 60%? I'm curious, just in case they negotiate differently for different deals.
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Have you ultimately launched an LTD with another platform? I'm currently in the same boat and really questioning about taking my product further with a LTD partner.
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yeah, I've launched three of our platforms on Dealify. The terms are VERY good. You get 70% payout for Dealify.
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Are you sure it wasn't THEM getting 70%? Others have told me they take 70%.
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Dealify: They take 30%... You take 70%.. Unless they are different with us since we launched 3 products there. But our agreement says we get 70% of the payout.
AppSumo takes 70% and you get 30% is what we were told. But yes, for Dealify we take 70.
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But the sales volume wouldnβt be as high as AppSumo I assume?
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I mean, I really wouldn't know since we never went on Appsumo. I think it depends on the product you're offering to be honest. I've seen some products on AS take dumps because they simply were not a good product overall. Even on Dealify side, we had great success on two of the three platforms and the third didn't do as good as we thought. But yeah, the sales alll comes down to your product. Keep in mind too with going on AS you're going to deal with a TON of support tickets. so if you are unable to keep up, the lack of support will also cause bad reviews and a lack of sales. So just be strategic with it. If you cant handle 1200 emails in the first week, it probably isn't a good fit.
This article is SUPER insightful: It's not our product but definitely brought some reality into the picture.
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Thanks for sharing. I'd like to learn about how your deal work out with Dealify, any way we can connect? Twitter maybe?
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You can email me: Timothy@Indema.co
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AppSumo pricing structure sucks for SaaS companies.
OneΒ should to be really desperate to get listed on that platform.
They take more than 70% of your total sales volume and ask you to give a lifetime deal which is usually around 20% of what you'd charge per year.
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Congratulations @nscode!
This is Vikesh from TexAu.
I had done LTD on AppSumo last year in November and it was one of the most successful LTD launches on AppSumo :) We had sold over 8000+ codes.
Your ebook is free or there is any price?
~
Vikesh -
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My product https://storycreatorapp.com was denied. I have 10 paying customers. What is your current traction?
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I think it was denied because they have an LTD running for "InVideo" for quite some time and it looks pretty similar to StoryCreator. If youβre still interested in doing an LTD, please shoot me an email.
I did TexAu LTD in the past and we generated around $431K from it.
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Not extremely different than yours, keep pushing mate, it's not about comparing but rather about focusing on your growth track and keep going in your lane. 10 is not zero, it's something to be proud of, and don't let denials keep you down :)
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Eff Yeah!
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Congratulations!
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Thanks!
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Why startups plan to go with appsumo, even if they charge 60% of fee. Most of cases appsumo asked to drop the product prices as well. Overall charge will here be more than 70%.
Is the only reason here is most of companies not able to make sales and let appsumo to do this work for them?
Your thoughts and feedback will be highly appreciated
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This is so amazing. Congrats.
Keep us posted with the kind of growth you have after this -
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Congrats!
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Thanks!
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Wow that is great π wondering how many people have filled the form after seeing this post, I just did it hahaha π
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I'm also curious :D
Should do a poll for this ;)
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Congratulations nscode! Wishing you continued to growth and success!
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Thank you for the kind words Joshua, wishing you these as well!
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Sorry I'm totally ignorant to this. What is appsumo and why is being acceptaged a big deal?
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appsumo have a huge following, check on google what is it. It's like deals site, because of a following they have they also take a lot of fees if you are accepted to be listed on there ( way too much in my opinion)
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Congrats!
Some small feedback on your description blurb:
"How an Hacker News post got me to accidentally launch on Product Hunt."
--> should be "a Hacker News post"
Cheers
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thanks!
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This is great! I remember reading your comment in the other thread.
So is it going to be listed as a deal or in the freebies section? -
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Congrats @nscode! That's really cool. Do you then discuss the deal in-depth with AppSumo (i.e. do you have a lot of negotation space), or do they just say 'these are our requirements for an ebook deal?'
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This comment was deleted 6 years ago
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Thank you!
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It's almost here! Only a few final touches left. Next week it will be fully available!
I'm shipping it first in PDF format.
Check it out π Start With A Side-Project
Some of the topics I will be discussing in the book:
- How an Hacker News post got me to accidentally launch on Product Hunt.
- Why a big tech magazine covered my side-project and brought in hundreds of visitors.
- How I grew an email list to over 470+ subscribers.
- Why so many other websites and blog posts featured my side-project, building incredible backlinks, helping me increase authority on Google.
- How I got other awesome makers to help me create content in exchange for marketing.
- How I grew completely organic without spending a dime on paid ads.
- How I sold the side-project on my own using escrow services and made profit.
And many more!
I've finished the first draft of Start With A Side-Project, a serious milestone π for a first-time author.
The next phase now is the copy-editing.
So far I'm pleased to say that I've sold over 10+ of copies πΈ in pre orders.
β¨ I'm extremely excited and looking forward to release it this month.
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