Making money selling intellectual property is the Holy Grail of the internet. Everyone wants to do it. I’m convinced there are more people writing about HOW to do it then are actually doing it! But I felt I had a shot. I was also intrigued by the possibility of passive income. Talk about the Holy Grail! Just imagine making money while you sleep! (Sounds like a late-night info commercial.)
I put together the rate-setting toolkit over the past six months. It is a combination of workbook and audios. Then I hired a marketing consultant. It was a LOT of work and much harder than the books lead you to believe.
The bottom line is I announced the toolkit to my subscribers and offered it on sale for two weeks. And the orders started coming in!!! Then the fear in the middle of the night awoke me. Was it good enough? Was it helpful enough? Were there mistakes? What if someone read it and it didn’t help them enough? What if they thought it wasn’t worth the money they paid? The front cover isn’t professional enough. There is a mistake on the back over. I could go on and on.
The good news is that I put it out anyways. If I waited until I felt everything was perfect, I would still be waiting. Of course we should put out the best work we can– work we can be proud of. But there is a line between doing great work and being overly perfectionistic. Have you crossed that line? Being a perfectionist can serve to keep you standing still.
Yes, it is hard to get away from the anxiety that comes with putting yourself out there. Being visible is stressful. What if they don’t like it? (We translate that to: What if they don’t like me?) But if I am going to earn my worth, I must go out on a limb and offer my work to the world. Change that: I must SELL my work to the world. There seems to be more money that way. (www.ratesettingtoolkit.com is where the toolkit lives by the way.)
Mikelann – I loved your rate setting toolkit!! After I read it, I immediately raised my rates – that night!!
And I agree so much with the “waiting until things are perfect” sabotage… you will never get it done if you wait for that “perfect time”. Just do your best, put it out there, and keep perfecting it.
I’m also looking into selling info products on the internet, although I’m not sure what niche I want to get into yet. I’ve been studying the methods… I just need to come up with some products. :o)
Keep up the good work! You’re an inspiration!
Becky… :o)
Congrats on putting out a product that will help so many women. I too have many “gremlins” (aka inner critics) telling me to stay small in my professional life. I fought a few of them in the last 24 hours. But your honesty has given me strength to keep fighting the good fight. So for now, I am telling my inner critic to be quiet. I am glad you overcame yours and put out a great resource.
Kathleen
KBK Connections, Inc.