Yes, there is a reason :) I failed with quality articles, their low frequency and playing with ads positions. And I made only one themes roundup without any premium, so all affiliate commissions were from old posts. But $55 is better than none.

Sorry to hear that Kris. Was there a specific reason for this. I had a quick look at the report and traffic looks like it was the same.

I published mine today and it’s horrific :)

Thanks. I’m going to publish my next report today or tomorrow.

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the advice.

I would be reluctant to sell my books for more than $9.99 through Amazon. Firstly, because you get a reduced rate of commission. Secondly, because I would price myself out and get next to no sales.

I know your method of directing traffic to a landing page works. It would not be too difficult for me to do this as I all I need to do is change my signature on a few websites. You are also correct that I need to promote my book more to my readers.

I may try this technique with my next book. Perhaps even create a dedicated website in order to promote it.

Kevin

I have a few suggestions. Focus all of your marketing toward freelance writers that want to earn money from their writing. Direct all incoming traffic that you have control over (links from your articles on other sites) to a dedicated landing page with a free offer that solves a particular problem freelance writers have. Force the traffic to make a decision on getting your resource or leaving.

Don’t place any external links on the landing page. Conversely, you could put a “Skip this Step” link to allow them to go to the blog if they are not interested in your offer; although, the conversions will be lower than not having the link.

You should see a large increase in the number of signups to your email list if you use a dedicated landing page.

Next, send emails that bring visitors back to your post, especially the income reports (which I know you already do). Show how the techniques you write about in your books will help the reader earn money like you do.

Next, remove your books from Amazon or leave them and raise the price. In either case, you should raise the price to at least $19.99. You could make each of them $19.99 and then offer a bundle for say $24.99. This technique has been proven by many to increase sales. Make the books the concluding focus of each post. Also, periodically, hard sell your book to your list. Having a higher price will also give you the opportunity to discount the price on special occasions.

I know you make some money from the affiliate offers, but you may want to remove them. They are distracting and may make the audience think you are not focused. I have tried the affiliate offers mixed with my own products and have not had much success.

I know some people don’t like the technique I have described above, but I can speak from experience that it works. I have tried using just sign up forms on my site and pop-up sign up forms. Nothing has worked as well as sending as much traffic as I can to a dedicated landing page with an offer that solves their need. Yes, traffic will bounce, and may be more than you are use to, but it will help you narrow in on your audience and it will increase your subscribers.

I could barely get 2 subscribers per day using sign up forms on my site and pop-up sign ups. Now I average 15 subscribers per day and I only have a quarter of your stated unique visitors above.

Hi Joe,

The articles I wrote required a lot more research than I had anticipated. I tackled a few subjects I did not know inside out so I spent a lot of my time learning the topic.

Technical articles are sometimes like that. I find articles such as “10 Blogging Tips About XYZ” a breeze to right. With technical articles, I am always conscious about the fact that everything has to be 100% right. So I do a lot of research and then test everything myself to make sure the code etc works.

Kevin

When you say the client work took longer than you thought, where you charging by the word or by the hour? Did you still get paid as you thought you would despite spending longer on the job.

I get paid per post for the most part so when an article takes longer, its a bit of a pain.

Cheers, Joe

Thanks Asif. I appreciate the kind words. Best of luck with the re-design.