Weeks ago I was just working to get one print book finished and published. Almost finished when suddenly I realized I needed a website. Then another website. Then an eBook. Then a website to go with that eBook. So over the last month or so I’ve finished and published the eBook, bought hosting and domain names and started working on four websites. All this while still holding a full time job.
In order to do the websites justice, I have to build each of them properly. So that means re-learning how to set up WordPress and do plugins. Then get an autoresponder service so I can let people just sign up for my newsletter. Pre COVID we(my wife and I) had some websites up and running where we discussed sporting items and hobbies people liked. They bought stuff we offered on those websites. Amazon sent us a commission payment, although not a very big one, every single month for the longest time. I actually knew how to do this stuff.
Pre-COVID. Then all the big retailers started getting into the online game and we found our tiny sites competing with multi-billion dollar corporations. And after a time we decided to walk away from that.
I made the conscious decision not to do any more websites after COVID. On those previous sites, Opt In forms were never used. It was our choice to never collect email addresses on lists for anything. We did way different than now. Then it was our hobby that we used to also make some side hustle income and I just couldn’t see my site visitors as an orchard of money trees that I was supposed to pluck as often as I could. They were not something to cultivate and harvest for the maximum income. I still don’t want to use people like that, but now I actually have websites with information and a message that I want to get out to the world. Email lists are a great way to make it convenient to do that.
What I’m saying here is this is a huge and steep learning curve. I’m still trying to learn how to be an author and get books published, now that learning load has nearly tripled with the extra stuff I’m doing.
So my plan, once I got semi-organized early September 2024 was:
Finish the eBook and get it published. ASAP (it’s done now)
Get hosting and domain names. (This already was done before writing the eBook.)
Get all the services and such I need to do emails. Then set up Opt In pages for any of my site visitors that want to watch so they can just read about the progress from their inbox instead of having to find the websites. Time frame was end of September for this. (About a week late already)
Finish tasks for getting the first print book finished. Time frame, early Oct 2024.
Along side, work an hour or so per day on the websites. Try have functional sites with some resources by election day, 2024.
Start driving traffic to the finished print book, the eBook and the websites by Thanksgiving.
Work on second print book along side driving traffic hopefully to release it by Thanksgiving.
Retire from working my day job when I hit full retirement age in December of 2024. (this is beginning to look like a pipe dream)
My progress is more or less on schedule or within a week or so behind, and I just finished up getting opt in forms done.