Spare-Time Biz Opportunity: Self-Publishing
Trudging A Mile Through Snow,
Uphill Both Ways
It's easier now than it's ever been. Whatever doubts, fears, and frustrations you have about starting a self-publishing business, you can let go of them.
When AWAI Self-Publishing guru Gary Scott got started in self-publishing, he wrote by hand, had his books typed, typeset, designed … then printed thousands of copies before even knowing if they would sell. The labor and expense were tremendous compared to today.
As we talked, it reminded me of the old story of "When I was your age, I had to trudge a mile through the snow, uphill both ways, just to get to school." Sometimes we forget how easy we have it today. The excuses keep disappearing. The reasons to get started are plentiful.
Read Gary's interview below then follow the advice he concludes with — that's how you're going to achieve great things.
STBS: I think of self-publishing as an evergreen opportunity — it's a good business to be in during good economies and bad. How does that line up with your experience in light of our current recession over the last 18 months or so?
Gary: Roy, that's absolutely correct. Bad times are almost better than good times. Problems create opportunity because when people have problems, they need solutions. People who provide information about those problems and solutions — which is what publishing is all about — can always be in business.
STBS: Publishing is your primary business. My readers are interested in doing this in their spare time. How well does it work as a secondary, spare-time gig?
Gary: It works fantastically well. The way I got into publishing was as an adjunct to my existing business. I was originally an investment salesman looking for better ways to sell my investments. So, in my spare time, I published a book called The Passport to International Profit. After about a year of that, I looked at how much money I was making from selling investments and how much money I was making from selling my book in my spare time. I could see there was only one way to go. That's how I got into the publishing business. It became full-time, although it was created to be a spare-time business.
STBS: You've been publishing for 42 years. With the Internet and technologies in place today, how much easier is it to get started self-publishing on a budget and in your spare time, compared to when you started?
Gary: With the Internet, you write your product, you put it online, and you're in business. With some of the Internet programs that are available now, you can even build your own website if you wish. It's 1,000 times easier than it was when I used to write products by hand, have them typed, typeset, and then printed. I look back and shudder thinking about what we had to go through, where now it's a delight every day.
STBS: What other advantages are there to publishing online?
Gary: The other beautiful thing about the Internet is if you're doing any type of product that includes timeliness, the Internet makes it so wonderful. Before, we had a newsletter that went out once a month. If we felt the stock market was going to do well and we sent out a newsletter saying the market would do well, and conditions changed the next day, we had to wait a month before we could tell the clients. The cost made it prohibitive to interact with people on a daily or hourly basis — where today, I'm in touch with our 19,000 or so readers sometimes two or three times in a day.
STBS: You mention publishing to your readers almost daily — do you think it's necessary to do something like an e-zine newsletter or blog to consistently be trying to reach more customers? Do you think in your business that's maximizing your success and sales?
Gary: What I aim at doing with the Internet is create an intimate relationship. I'm not trying to reach the hundreds of millions of people out there.
The Internet is how I qualify people who have a sincere trust in what we’re writing about and then to develop a relationship of trust with them. So, the daily message allows me to come into people's homes and build that relationship, and that's what works for me in my business.
STBS: Is that also what's working for others you know?
Gary: There are a lot of really successful websites where people provide information once a week or even less. There are even some people who have static sites that don't provide any new information. They sit there with their 20, 30, 40, 50 pages of information and let their advertising and search engines do the work, and work their readers through the website without adding anything new to it.
I also know one fellow who has about 18 months of what he calls "evergreen information" that he recycles every 18 months. So once he’s built that 18 months worth of information, he works through it over 18 months and then starts all over again. His sales are about $20 million a year, which is not too shabby.
STBS: Not bad at all.
Gary: The more important thing is for people to build the business to suit their lifestyle. Merri and I are recluses. We are researchers and writers. I get an enormous feeling of satisfaction when I get up in the morning and am having my cup of coffee and I take an idea I think my readers would really gain from and I put it in writing. When it's complete, I feel fulfilled. I feel good. I feel like I've done something worthwhile for the day. So, it's a joyful experience for me. Whatever suits you is what works. It depends on how you like to operate more than what is the best way to do it.
STBS: What's the single-most important thing I need to do today to start or grow my self-publishing business, considering today's economy and business climate?
Gary: There are three things I'm going to say. Number one is turn your passion into profit. Start doing something you love. That's our “golden rule of simplicity,” and it makes your life so much easier and your business much more successful.
The second is just do it. Get started. Don't try to make your business perfect. Don't try to figure out the correct legal structure. Don't figure out how to make the best website in the world. Get something out there. Allow yourself to be embarrassed, and to fail. I embarrass myself at least four or five times a week. But, I'm learning every time I do, and improving my business.
Third and finally, start small. That's why I like self-publishing as a spare-time business. You start small, and you grow. Starting small is the natural course of things. You never see an oak tree pop-out full size. It begins as a little acorn. Then, a seedling. Then, a sapling. And finally, a full-grown tree. If you start publishing now, that's how your business will grow, too.
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