Is It Possible to Make $5000 Per Month Writing Articles?
If you have big huge grandiose plans for your product launch, it's never going to get launched.
Here is what I would do instead...
Write a simple report. It doesn't have to be big, just 10 to 20 pages. Write a quick one-page sales letter for it because... it's only a report, right? Then launch it, price it at $7 or $10.
Limit the special offer to just 10 buyers. After 10 sales, snap it shut and close the offer. Now you have $100 in your pocket for writing this report... great, right? But it's not the big huge product launch you hoped for.
That same afternoon, write the next chapter in the e-book. E-mail it out to all your buyers for free (if you were really evil you could charge $1 for the upgrade... but I'd rather not have to try and juggle multiple versions of the same book). Then post another special offer with the upgrade book for $11... again, limiting it to 10 buyers.
These will be 10 new buyers you can add to your list. (Make sure you are funneling all these sales into a product update list... otherwise this strategy is totally useless.) Repeat the process. That afternoon, write another chapter, add a couple bullet points to the sales letter, mail out the free upgrade and then post the offer for $12.
If you do this until you have a 50-page report (let's say 10 chapters in addition to the original report)... that's:
$100 + $110 + $120 + $130 + $140 + $150 + $160 + $170 + $180 + $190 + $200...
Which equals: $1,650. But more importantly, it equals 110 proven buyers, and you can expect a good number of those to buy from you again if you come out with similar reports for that same niche in the future.
If you could write just one "article" (I like to call my chapters "articles" ... it makes them easier to write) per day for a month, that means you launched three reports and accumulated 330 buyers (some duplicates... let's say 200) for a profit of $5000.
You don't even have to write every single day. If you were ambitious and could pump out 5 articles in one day, you could take the rest of the week off... aside from 10 minutes a day posting the special offer and dealing with customer support.
Continue this for six months, and you don't have to do these incremental launches anymore... your list will be big enough that you can write a report, launch it, send an e-mail, and take orders.
June 2007 was my best month and I didn't do any sort of AdWords, joint ventures, article marketing, social networking, nothing. I made a product, posted on a forum, then e-mailed my list of 8000 people (mostly previous buyers... because they are the most responsive!)
If you are the kind of person interested in totals, I only launched 3 e-books that month... 7 chapters, each chapter had a video, they were about 50 page reports with 60-90 minutes of video. The book part took a week of writing one article-chapter per day and a grand total of two hours making the videos.
On June 19th, 2007, I made 362 sales totalling $3,058.72 ($2,850.02 after fees). The total PayPal sales for that whole month and the three products I launched was 978 sales totalling $11,420.30... $10,541.05 after fees and a couple refunds. That plus my Clickbank accounts and day job income totalled right about $15,000 income for one month... not bad for a 22 year old! (I was 22 in June... now I am 23.)
Filed in: Clickbank • Product Creation
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Sites That Link to this Post
- internetmarketinghelpblog.com » Can you really make Big Money With Article Writing ? | January 2, 2008
- Is It Possible to Make $5000 Per Month Writing Articles? | Discover Self Help | January 3, 2008
- Robert Plank Shares How To Make $5,000 Writing Articles | February 9, 2009
Hi Robert,
I like how you broke the ebook cycle down into sections there. It is simple, and more importantly doable. One of the many things I believe people let trip them up is to try and make a huge product at once, it gets to be too much for them, they get frustrated and quit.
But as anyone can see, breaking things down can work wonders, and you don’t have to worry about choking on a big project..
Nice first post!
Dennis Wagoner
Wow, clever! And that means that the first 10 customers would get a 7 chapters for just $10. That would inspire people to buy quickly another time.
Robert, since I know your products I also know it’s not that hard for you to earn such amount! 🙂
It’s not only about some article and report – it’s about what’s actuall inside it! How attractive and often how current is the content. How helpful it is and how affordable as well.
You combined all of it and had a nice sales’ boom 🙂
Congratulations! It CAN be EASY – when you know HOW, WHAT WHEN…
Marian
Thanks for sharing this process with the world Robert. Some good advice from a 22 year old who’s doing great! 🙂
Adrian
Hey Robert, I like the strategy and it has obviously worked for you. I’m wondering if initially people would be hesitant to buy the next upgrade chapter for $11 especially after they just got 10-20 pages for $7-10.
However what is really unique about offering very limited quantities each time is that you have essentially trained your list and forum users to your selling habits and what to expect when you release an offer.
Great Job!
Frank Bruno
Robert fantastic information.
I own a few of your php products and love them. I’m excited to read the next chapter.
Thanks
J.R.
You want comments, you got’em!
Great idea, I may steal this idea. 😉
Gary
Robert, that’s sounds great but omits the time needed for producing or gathering the information to use for the articles or chapters.
I’d expect that would be significant but, even so, the discipline of regular writing sessions and the cash rolling in would be great spurs for us.
Thanks, John Williams
Robert,
How come I don’t see any code in that post you just made.
Something like:
if (!emtpy($my_brain)) {
echo $thoughts;
} else {
header(“Location: http://www.youtube.com“);
}
Dave
Phew, what can I say! Broken down like that sounds good … but, how do you get the traffic in the first place to build the list?
May try the idea although I would probably start off at a lower price and build it more slowly. As Frank Bruno siad I wonder how hesitatnt people wil be to buy the next chapter unless…… (Have to wait for the next chapter!)
Tremendous!
Chris
23 on the 23rd of September, right?
Robert,
Thanks for that post.
I hope the next post is how to get
visitors to the sales page to sell the report(s).
Just thought I’d drop by, leave a comment, and encourage you to continue.
Seems like you have at least 10 now…
gregw
Nice strategy…hate to admit it, but I’ve never really thought of that one. Thanks for sharing and keep the tips coming… 🙂
Hi Robert,
Since I own most of your products I guess I was part of your recent experiments. Thanks for the great products. I too have just recently started another IM blog –
InternetMarketingHelpBlog.com and I hope you don’t mind if I post the first couple of paragraphs of your first post on my blog with a link back to your entire article.
Hopefully, this will get you some more visitors and my visitors will be exposed to great, helpful Internet Marketing content. This kind of step by step content is what a lot of Internet Marketers are looking for and I am sure any of my readers (just like yours) will get a lot out of reading it! And hopefully doing it !
I plan on not just reading the info but putting it to the test..real soon !
Thanks again.
Best regards,
Harry Crowder
harrycrowder.com
Hi Robert,
Interesting post – I’ve been following your WSOs and buying some of your products/articles and I was curious to know what kind of process you were using to create all those offers. Although I think you’re one step ahead of this system, this surely works for someone who wants to start.
It would be helpful to know why you are not using an autoresponder service like Aweber or GetResponse for your mailing list. I think the main reason is related with automation (get people automatically subscribed once they purchase), but you could give some thoughts about this.
Congrats for starting your blog and you have already more than 10 comments… so keep posting 😉
Can’t wait to see the next installment, very useful information!
Congratulations on your success. Since you got almost twice as many comments as you wanted, will you post two next?
Hey Robert,
Great Great Blog Post. Ang what a way to tease us about the prepared posts to come…
🙂
Now, when can I buy 15 minutes of your time?
Paydex
(The one who named you PhPlank!)
Your article is simply amazing. Now that you have over 10 comments, could that indicate you will release article number two tomorrow again? 🙂
Just kidding. You’re a genius. You will be added to the blog reader straight away after this comment is submitted.
Thanks for the inspiration. 🙂
Robert
What a great idea. Thanks for sharing. The spin off ideas for monetizing this are limitless.
Success Belongs To You
Ken Little
And Robert…
do blog readers get a nicklesale instead of a dimesale?
and you need to put a stumbleupon and digg and blogfeed buttons on the site ASAP!
Paydex
“Paydex” is certainly a tough negotiator… 🙂
Glad to see we have surpassed the 20 comments even. Wanna become the new version of John Chow? 😀
Robert, what a terrific first post! Did you sell these three ebooks chunk by chunk? Did you use a WSO or your existing list?
I can’t believe you’re only 23! You’re doing great.
Cheers,
Mary
You bet I am.
Paydex 🙂
I Dugg It!
Paydex: Thanks for the advice, I just added a digg link. That’s the only social bookmarking button I’m going to add for now.
Mary: I use both a WSO and my existing list. I had a lot of success with this using software products so I just took the idea of free upgrades and applied them to e-books.
This technique works well when breaking into a new niche because you can test popularity without wasting a lot of time. You rely on what people do instead of what they say.
John: Good point. I just wrote another blog entry to deal with that issue and I’ll be posting it Friday. I’m not sure about making this a daily blog, I don’t want to burn it up too quickly.
Robert – how do you make the first sales as a new entrant in a market? It’s one thing to have the Plank name and rep.
Thanks.
First of all Robert, a feed button would be handy so I don’t miss your posts.
The content was great, but before you can make this work, in my view, you need a degree of recognition. How about a post on how you achieved yours Robert?
Cheers,
Ric
Thank you, Robert, for this eye-opening post, the revealing tip in Comment #28, and your thought-provoking blogging requirement in the email you sent.
I hope you will blog about list-building in the future.
Robert,
Fantastic strategy, thanks for sharing it.
Regards,
Andy
This method *is* how you build recognition… by stretching out what could be one decent sized WSO into several smaller ones.
Try to always have a WSO running at any given time, even if it’s for an old product. Even if it’s $5 for a measly 10 page report. Funnel into a list after the sale. If your name is always on page 1 or 2 you will get noticed, look at guys like Kevin Riley.
If I was starting out with no list, and I made $40 in sales from a WSO (let’s call it a mini-WSO), I would consider that a huge success. That means you spent money on a repeatable $20 ad that gave you back 100% ROI.
I’ve purchased every one of your offers that I’ve seen, because they cover a subject I’m extremely interested in… programming PHP. The technique you are promoting in this blog is great… as long as you have a product you can write intelligently about. I’m in the business (kind of) to write web pages. Anything I can glean that will help me with that becomes fodder for my reading. Still, I’ve not the experience, or ability in programming, to do what you have done. Wish I did, and wish I had a subject I could write intelligently about that would sell. Unfortunately, I’ve little imagination, and less skills. This old dog just doesn’t learn new tricks easily. More power to you, though. I like everything I’ve got from you.
Great job Robert! I’m one of your many loyal customers and I’ve learned from you during 2007 that promoting to a list of previous buyers is key to generating profits from anything you sell.
Don’t just throw any old thing together and exspect current clients to dish out money for it. Treat your customers well and they’ll be a reliable source of good income for many years to come.
Look forward to future post from you.
Kenny
Hey Robert,
I love the idea to get comments. My hats off to you my friend.
Shannon
Congratulations Robert. As a professional educator and trainer I was impressed by your simple yet highly practical sharing of knowledge.
I have numerous colleagues who are suffering just the type of writers (and marketers) block that your solution addresses. Not seeing a “tell-a-friend” button, I’ll gladly do it the personal way.
One other thing…
I’m big into Market Education, believing that what people learn – what you help them know, think and do – is the prime driver of all business.
So its DEFINITELY worth bringing to your readers attention (at least to the marketers amongst them) that you are not just teaching ‘content’. Your process also has the potential to shape behaviour. You are teaching current and future buyers what to expect – and (in a subtle, non-threatening way) what THEY SHOULD BE DOING if they value WHAT YOU ARE DOING FOR THEM.
Great example of leading your market to learn the right stuff.
This is such a great plan! I feel like a thousand lightbulbs just lit up in my head! I have a whole bunch of semi-related mini-reports that I have written and mostly just sat on because I couldn’t figure out how to release or market them. Now the picture is starting to come together. Thanks so much!
ALSO! PLEASE put a feedburner subscription form on this blog so we can get notified when you post again. That would be so great too!
Robert, yes I have bought quite a few of your reports.
The first 2/3 of your post is interesting in theory as it’s only theory and not what you actually do.
In the the last part you actually write what you did. This just shows how important it is to have good products and a list to sell to.
Dang Robert,
When you put it like that, I feel like I have wasted the last couple years. What a great, simple plan to build a small article into a full product line. Common sense along with great programming design skills..impressive. Keep it up.
Bang go my fantacies robert, you are 30 years younger than me. Will check my hard drive and make sure i own all your stuff. I try to buy it all:)
Alsp times releases scripts, can you do more on things that dont include log ins so they can be put into membership scripts?
//Thanks’
?
probably not right:)
David, this is what I actually do. It’s not theory. This is what I did what I did with PaySensor and Action PopUp, almost exactly, which are just as much e-books as they are scripts. I started with a simple script and the accompanying report was only a few pages long. I kept adding to it, limiting the quantity and releasing updates and posting the WSO at a higher price.
I did this with the Simple PHP and Sales Page Tactics volumes but on a larger scale — volumes of e-books rather than articles. I’m not so concerned about building credibility as I was a few years ago but yes I definitely have done this many many times.
I keep adding to the product and re-posting it as a WSO each time. The only difference is I have a dimesale on these so the price keeps going up without me having to do anything.
It was also this thinking that led me to release books in smaller sizes… I went from 17 chapters per book to 7 chapters plus 7 videos. The smaller books sold a LOT better than the larger ones and I could pump them out more quickly.
Sharyn: “Also times releases scripts, can you do more on things that dont include log ins so they can be put into membership scripts?” … I don’t know what you are asking.
It’s ALWAYS inspiring to see inside your genius mind. Looking forward to your next post as always… 🙂
Robert- WOW.
the comments you post are really spot-on.
you should add a RSS feed and stuff- i don’t want to have to reload your lovely blog every 10 minutes… 😐
🙂
Great idea, Robert! I’ll pass that one along to my list.
@Frank Bruno: note that Robert gives the upgrade to previous buyers.
@All: Feed link at bottom of page.
You have certainly cracked a winning marketing formula. Your success with it is all the testimony that you need.
Hi again, Robert
What script do you use for the dimesale?
(A strange thing happened. My comment was number 1 yesterday, when I wrote it, but now it’s number 2.)
Robert this is really a good idea. Something I may try as it seems like a way of getting an income without writing 50 pages at once for a product. I have also bought several of your products and must say you offer great software.
Robert
Thanks for that great insight into your product launches, and the articles tips. You know not all of us have the leisure time to keep visiting the warrior forum to see your latest WSO’s.
I check my mail regularly and was kicking myself for missing one day, that was the day you had sent an email offer. When I see ROBERT PLANK in my email I know it will be a worthwhile offer…no questions asked.
I suppose Robert you could say you have that 1st Class quality about you that we have all come to trust.
Great ebooks, great videos, (you talk a little too fast though), great products.
Have a great 2008 to you and all who follow you.
Steve
Hey Robert,
I see you had no problems getting your comment quota!
It’s a good article, and a theory Iknow that works. I look forward to reading more on this blog, so keep em comming kid. 😉
All the best …
Mary
I’m a loyal customer for your PHP books and I’d like to see more of your thoughts, so I came here to add a comment here to encourage you.
The incremental approach makes product development much more manageable, and is not new, as we all know. However the idea of selling the increments is really creative. It adds a nice dose of motivation to get the increments completed.
Interesting concept. Not sure what I could write on that I could break up into multiple chapters and then sell/upgrade on.
Gren said “It adds a nice dose of motivation to get the increments completed.”. AND conditions people to buy early since they will get free upgrades for the lower price.
Britt: The script that does the dimesale is called the PayPal Twister. It’s part of this book: http://www.salespagetactics.com/volume3
You thought you were commentor #1 because I moderate comments on this blog. So someone posted before you but you didn’t see it because I hadn’t moderated it yet.
Robert,
Two interesting ideas here. First, the plan for building ebooks over time, selling the “articles” in the interim. Second (and quite possibly more valuable) is the idea to require comments to get the next blog post.
Probably wouldn’t work so well without a good list, but combine the two ideas and you’ve really got something.
Thanks for an interesting idea.
Good advice on writing and building up the process slowly. To write 50 pages is hard but 1000 words at a time is easy.
Yes, it seems a lot of job, but you can also get a writer and pay him for the job 🙂 most of people do this.
Robert,
GREAT info as always, what is THIS page? I mean the script for this comments and your post? WOrdpress?
Yes Rich, it’s WordPress.
Robert,
Great info, but I have one question – in your experience, how applicable is this method outside the WSO forum? I mean, 1,000 unique visitors (that’s how many you’d need to sell 10 copies at the standard 1% conversion rate) isn’t just something you can conjure up with a flick of your wrist! 🙂
Have you ever applied it outside the WSO forum? Let me know – I’m dying to try it out!
All the best,
George
George: You would have to become popular in a forum. Not necessarily the Warrior forum.
I know people who ran WSOs that only made 20 bucks. So the thing about it is:
1. Your product has to be relevant to the forum you’re marketing in.
2. It needs to be on a topic exciting enough that lots of people will buy.
3. You need to build a list from that forum… that includes buyers, not just prospects.
When you build a list and keep it fresh with regular updates and content, you build up a charge of visitors that you can release onto a URL with a single mailing.
This is an interesting plan you’ve laid out for people- it could be its own $10 report. 🙂
Unlike what some commenters said, you would not have to have a list, a high-traffic site, or a famous name to use this method, just the ability to create content people want to buy.
I’m curious how the profits would vary if you didn’t limit the quantity of copies- in your example, what if you had a really interesting product that 500 people wanted to buy? Would you net more letting them all get it at the initial price?
Excellent Model – gets to the Money Fast and proves the demand…
And so far as I can tell from your post…
If not enough buyers..
If the topic does not have enough interest, you have not committed to continuing on the subject with more content.
Thanks,
Dale Maxwell
Robert you are somewhat like an evil Dr. Frankenstein creating programmers and marketers out of all of us. “It’s Alive!” muuuhahahahah!
Great job! Your process mkes it easy for people who tend to be “busy” all the time versus taking action. Breaking it down to writing an article (chapter) a day makes good sense and relieves some of the pressure of getting a massive product out there. I know I have found myself being “busy” quite often. Taking action is truly the key to success.
That was just totally amazing Robert! Your information was very informative and thorough. I see you mentioned your age. Was it to show that you were young and look what I did? I feel your intelligence personified your age before you told it. I appreciated the information and hope you keep it up. You’re a talent and a great contributor to the blogging community. I hope that you can continue to inspire your readers the way that I was just inspired. When you get a chance stop by my side a town and leave a comment.
Your Buddy,
Mr. Meltdown
Great article!
Would work amazingly with Kevin Riley’s product launch.
Thanks,
Ed
Thx much for the message on this older blog post, but what I’m trying to wrap my noggin around is what the business reason for the email was. Obviously time was saved by simply reintroducing much of the list to content already produced, augmented by the social proof in the comments.
I also wonder whether the email sending me here was loaded into ListMail months ago.
Thank you Robert for great explanation. It is very structural and helps a lot to understand the principles of selling the products.
Great business model!
Thanks
Tatyana
Cracking idea and really well described simple and yet very effective by the looks of things,. One I’ll definately be looking to add to my portfolio of IM strategies.
Thanks again Robert!
Wow
I realize this is an old post but it is great. Start selling at the beginning and keep on selling. Kinda like a membership from the early buyers standpoint. Unlimited updates.
Rick
Way to go Robert!
This article is just as good if not better better than some of your paid product articles. Great concept, wish I had thought of it…but didn’t. 🙂
Today I crank out five articles, following your TMOC plan. Tomorrow unfortunatly, I have to crank out some copy. I will be using your fast food copy formula.
I really like the mp3’s in the time Management on crack. I loaded them in my ipod. I would include mp3’s in all of your future products. Way better than video on reports of that nature.
Since I am on dial up I am going to start posting audio’s on my blog using the same formula for the video’s. They don’t take as long to load as videos.
Keep up the good (play) Robert!
…I mean Upload:)Hehehe.
Another good approach from you,Robert! But what about the php program I bought from you that allows me to trickle the posts automatically? I am willing to bet your other readers would be interested in knowing about that as an ammendment to your post. Keep up the good info! JM
Thank you Robert for that great information. I just found you on the Internet recently and have become a new fan. (One of many, I see).
I’ll have to get my grandsons reading your work. You’re inspirational!
Great work Robert. Thanks for sharing
Interesting strategies to work with and straight forward. I will certainly implement into what I am doing. Great Blog…keep up the good work.
DT
Robert, that is great. Shows just what is achievable. However, whatever you write about must be of good c ontent or else its a futile exercise.
Regards
Jo
Robert, you left out one key factor.
How did you get people to find your sales letter? Social attraction, PPC (you said no).
Jared
Jared,
Thanks for asking… the visitors came from a high-traffic forum, which is where I posted the special offers.
I have a book series I’ll be writing that way due to time contraints. never thought of giving away every other chapter though thank you
Rick
Robert,
I was looking around after reading your latest post and found this one. It is a really good post. I was wondering if you would post a link to one of your products that you used this tactic for (Or maybe one you are using it for now?)
Sometimes no matter how well explained something is I need to see it in action before I can wrap my head around it. 🙂
Question: When you say “post another special offer” are you meaning post to you blog, a forum, via email to your list, maybe all of the above?
And wouldn’t posting the new “special” each day make some people doubt the offer? Wouldn’t they just wait to buy until the daily offers stop?
Last question (I promise): Do you continue to sell the completed report once you are done with the add a chapter, re-release phase or do you close it up and remove it from the market after the 10 sales of the “final” version?
Thank you so much for you posts. They really are a new insite into an already known tactic. You explain things very well.
Keep those ideas coming 🙂
Cindy
http://MyBusinessMarketingMentor.com
Hi Robert,
Many happy returns of the day!
You have achieved what is the dream of millions of people who venture into online business very month. Congratulations and wish you continued success and prosperity.
The method you have described to make money is much more clearer than several paid programs that claim to take you by the hand. Great post!
Enjoy your day,
Rangarajan
Thanks for the step by step “how to” – brilliant! 🙂
I hadn’t read this for a while and I’m glad I’m on the comment subscribe list. How can this relate to writing software?
Rick
Robert, I love how you break down the complex into small simple, and most importantly, doable steps. Funny, I’ve basically taught my kids this process when they were learning to write their first papers. You could be an English teacher on the side . . .LOL. Never thought of applying it to what I need to do for products. This is also a great support for your DO 4 THINGS a DAY process as well.
Keep up the great sharing . . .
Theresa 😎
Hi Robert,
Once again you have broken down the impossible into manageable bites. The idea of ramping up the pricing and the content regularly to build recognition and revenue is brilliant.
Thanks.
Warren
Robert:
I like what I just read, and that sounds great. I don’t have a problem writing content.
However, excuse my ignorance, where my weakness lies is I haven’t the foggiest idea of “how to launch”; the technical stuff I’m lost on.
I understand the terminology but I still haven’t figured out how to add “share” buttons. Here’s my blog if that helps you understand what I’m missing starronthefly.evastarr.com
Please help. Any suggestions?
Much Gratitude,
Eva Starr