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- Didn't know how to write… then wrote a $1 million book 📕
Didn't know how to write… then wrote a $1 million book 📕
Welcome to a fresh edition of eBiz Insider, my free newsletter packed with tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business.
Today...
The $1 Million Author Who Didn't Know How To Write
Critical Software for a $180K/Month Business
$275/Month Passive Income via ChatGPT
Good News: Nobody Cares What You're Building
$100K/Year Content Agency (in only 5 Hours a Week)
His 20-Year-Old Side Project Sold for Millions
Sprezzatura
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The $1 Million Author Who Didn't Know How To Write
Deanna Cooper Gillingham is a registered nurse who was recently interviewed on the SPI Podcast 🎙️
10 years ago, Deanna was going through a divorce and was in a tough financial spot. She started listening to business podcasts, including Pat Flynn's Smart Passive Income, for inspiration.
When she heard how Pat earned $3000/month from an exam study guide, she realized she could do something similar for the nurse certification exam she needed to take 💡
So Deanna decided to create the book she wished existed. She wrote blog posts and built an email list while writing the book over the course of a year.
🙈 She had to battle a lot of self-doubt along the way…
…most people who wrote books had so many initials after their names. I had RN, that was it. So I didn't have all the initials after my name.
I didn't think anybody was going to listen to me and I didn't know how to write… I honestly could not figure out how to write a sentence. I actually had to take a course to figure out how to write again.
She persevered and eventually self-published the book on Amazon, then promoted it to her small but targeted audience 🎯
Deanna says…..
That first book is now in its third edition and [it] has earned us… after Amazon takes their cut… over a million dollars.
Yes: over $1 million in profit from that one book 🤯
From an author who said…
I didn't think anybody was going to listen to me and I didn't know how to write
A good reminder there not to take self-doubt too seriously.
Deanna has since expanded into online courses, coaching programs, a podcast and speaking gigs.
But her initial business idea is one worth considering yourself…
✅ Creating a resource to help people pass a professional certification exam.
Is there an exam like that in an industry or niche you're familiar with? 🤔
Remember: you don't need to be an expert to create a helpful resource for such an exam.
Like Deanna, you can put in the work to research your topic and create something genuinely useful.
Or, you could collaborate with someone who has the expertise. Get them to provide the tips and tricks while you handle the editing, publishing, promotion, etc.
Critical Software for a $180K/Month Business
Today's email is brought to you by ClickUp.
ClickUp is the project management software I use for my business. That's where I keep track of tasks, manage my team, record screencasts, and basically organize my entire life.
I switched to ClickUp last year after seeing how well it was working for a woman who earns $180,000+ per month running a bunch of niche sites 🤯
And it's been working great for me ever since.
Sign up for ClickUp's free plan to try it out for yourself.
$275/Month Passive Income via ChatGPT
DeepakNess tweets 👇
I created simple scripts… added them after each post on a site, and now getting 25–30 sales every month.
To give you an idea, the AI site only gets 3,500 monthly users.
Scroll to the bottom of this post on his website for an example, look for the box with the big "Learn More" button.
The scripts Deepak promotes there let you connect AI with Google Sheets and Airtable…
He sells the scripts for $10 a pop, so he's earning about $275 per month from those, totally passive, on a site that only receives ~115 visitors a day 😎
And it gets better…
Sounds like Deepak uses ChatGPT to write these scripts, rather than coding them from scratch 🤖
He believes other sites could do similar…
A monetization idea for blogs — create simple products & promote them across your site. With ChatGPT, it's not difficult to create simple tools, calculators, extensions, plugins, etc.
Just analyze the forums in your niche, see what people want, and provide them with solutions.
Could you try something like this?
Or how about offering this as a service to established blogs? 🤑
Good News: Nobody Cares What You're Building
Peter Askew is the guy behind the $7,400/Month Niche Job Board we profiled a few months back.
He recently tweeted 👇
don't forget ~
if you're building, & self-conscious about what other folks think/say
a reminder, NOBODY CARES
even if they give you shit, they'll forget 20mins later
once you soak this in, it gives you ultimate freedom to build ANYTHING
no one is watching; build whatever
💬 Adam Wright replied…
"no one is watching; build whatever"
Reminds me of...
It's okay to be a little blackhat in the beginning.
- Harvard shut down Zuckerberg's FaceSmash for misusing university info.
- OpenAI is getting in trouble for using public data.
- WPBeginner's founder initially made money online by doing things "he doesn't want to talk about."
In other words, don't worry about making mistakes or breaking a few rules when building your business.
Obviously don't do anything illegal, but try to get out of your comfort zone and be willing to experiment with tactics and strategies that might ruffle a few feathers 🪶