I wrote and self-published over 100 eBooks between 2014 and 2015.
I betcha a few never sold a copy because I never touched ’em. Why? I have zero expectations for eBook sales. I did not write the eBooks to GET money. I wrote the eBooks to GIVE service.
Of course, having zero expectations and focusing solely on GIVING over the past 5 years, what has happened? Collectively, I make more money through my eBooks and through my blog in general.
Why?
The more freely I give with zero expectations, the more freely I get.
I give so freely because I am incredibly creative. I am incredibly creative and quite prolific because I have zero expectations. Expectations kill creativity. Like, the split second most bloggers self-publish an eBook, they expect to get something out of it. Massive promotional campaigns begin. 6 months obsessing over sales, free downloads, giveaways, blah blah blah. They want to GET it into the hands of as many people as possible and want to GET as many sales as possible. If you focus heavily on getting, you cease giving and if you cease giving you cease creating.
How in the heck could I write 90 eBooks in 3 months – 1 daily – if I obsessed over getting? I focused on giving. Words flowed.
Why this Strategy Works so Well
You may not self-publish a best-seller like some bloggers who expect big sales and try to get, get, get, but over time, your online presence, collective eBook sales and blogging income, and blog traffic, grows exponentially, quite miraculously. All because you are everywhere, and the world slowly but surely begins to find you, over time. You actually begin to dwarf everybody, all those bloggers obsessed with hefty short term gains, because eye-popping, massive, epic long term growth occurs over years, not months.
Some people call me one of the top bloggers in the world, now. But 5 years ago, I never heard such things. The 100 plus eBooks I created and thousands of thousands of posts and videos I created helped me establish a viral online presence that alerted more people to my blogging prowess, skills and know-how.
My friend Alonzo brilliantly advises to just put the content out there and let it do what it does. No expectations. Do not overthink it. Adopting this attitude helped him become one of the top internet marketers on earth with the most loyal tribe I have ever seen online. Nothing comes close when you consider the size and scale of his following, plus world famous celebrities are reaching out to him now. The joint powers of creativity, no expectations and generosity win again.
The money will come. The traffic will come. Of course you can do some promoting guys, and of course you expect a little return, here and there, being human. But focus heavily on helping people and expecting nothing to tap into the power of generosity, lifting you to heights you could never see, if you were burdened by heavy expectation.
Check out this eBook I wrote:
How I Published 100 Amazon Products in 10 Months (So You Can Do it Too)
(psst….One cannot buy eBooks from Amazon here in Oman; hence the – through Kindle and 0 cost for audiobook)
To many people, I sound inhuman. Impossible feat. But if you stop expecting so much from any SINGLE eBook and focus on serving other humans, you will see, it gets easier and easier to write and self-publish one Kindle short read spanning 6,000 words every 1-2 days. Fear stops you. Fear fueled by expectation, fear fueled by trying to get as much as possible, thru each eBook, fear fueled by worrying about wasting your time and not making a single sale on every eBook, years down the road.
Nudge into those fears, guys. Loyal readers and dear friends like fellow author/blogger Jan will pick you up, lifting you higher and higher in the blog-o-sphere, helping you see that being creative and generous leads to spectacular success over the long haul.
Expect nothing, and you will tap into everything.
Success takes care of itself when you are not so worried about chasing it, when you do not weigh yourself down with expectation and when you keep creating and connecting, and trusting in the blogging process.