For those who haven't made a sale yet...

[Isaac Odongo]

Someone is charging over 10$ for printing per copy. For 30 copies.

Over 6$ for 100 copies.

About 5$ for 200 copies.

Seems they want me to print in bulk.

But I am not yet ready to print in bulk.

 

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[Nazca]

What's stopping you?

Currently working on it. The books are almost ready, I will launch them really soon.

 

[Isaac Odongo]

I will need to meet these printers personally and have face to face with them.

 

[Andy Black]

I will need to meet these printers personally and have face to face with them.

Isaac. Have you met the people you hope to serve personally and had a face to face with *them*?

 

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[Isaac Odongo]

Isaac. Have you met the people you hope to serve personally and had a face to face with *them*?

A very small percentage. I should follow up with face to face or ZOOM meeting and pictures of the book.

 

[Isaac Odongo]

I got a printer. He wants to first make the sample at his own cost then we talk the terms of full scale production. Has good printing and binding.

I have been tipped of the practice of printers selling books to their own clients without knowledge of the author and to the detriment of the author.

Wondering what to do.

One option is copyrighting the work. It will lead to delays. Besides, it hasn't stopped the pirating of books. It also won't stop the pirating of my book. And tracking down the books even with copyright is a huge next to impossible task.

Now I am worried. Should I just go on and get to printing? Should I take some steps to protect my book first? Apart from copyright, what other measures are there for me?

I don't know what steps I can take. I know it is not possible to stop the thieves completely but at least I should curb their actions in some way. Or should I even?

I don't know.

I could get the sample printed really fast.

I already have students paying for an extra course of English. To help them move faster than normal. They are supposed to buy this book as support material.

 

[Andy Black]

I got a printer. He wants to first make the sample at his own cost then we talk the terms of full scale production. Has good printing and binding.

I have been tipped of the practice of printers selling books to their own clients without knowledge of the author and to the detriment of the author.

Wondering what to do.

One option is copyrighting the work. It will lead to delays. Besides, it hasn't stopped the pirating of books. It also won't stop the pirating of my book. And tracking down the books even with copyright is a huge next to impossible task.

Now I am worried. Should I just go on and get to printing? Should I take some steps to protect my book first? Apart from copyright, what other measures are there for me?

I don't know what steps I can take. I know it is not possible to stop the thieves completely but at least I should curb their actions in some way. Or should I even?

I don't know.

I could get the sample printed really fast.

I already have students paying for an extra course of English. To help them move faster than normal. They are supposed to buy this book as support material.

Are you overthinking?

(Overthinking is the art of solving problems you don't have.)

 

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[Isaac Odongo]

Are you overthinking?

What a question? Thank you for it.

I guess I will have to cross some bridges when I come to them.

 

[MarcusAurelius]

Let's help those who haven't made a sale yet.

For those who haven't made a sale yet, reply below with what you're struggling with.


In the meantime, here's some questions for you to ponder:

1) What currently keeps a roof over your head?

2) What do people already come to you for help with?

3) If someone had a gun to your head and said you need to make a sale this week then what would you do?

4) If money was no object what work would you be doing?

Hi @Andy Black

I'm new here.
This is a very useful thread and I'd like to answer your question, if is not bothering, just to have some new ideas...

1) My dayjob. Not exactly a 9-5. More a 9-7 job, sometimes 9-8.

2) Usually custom and trading advices for international trades.

3) I'll take a full list of my company's customers and call everyone of them, finding who needs a best quotation to carry goods from Italy to all over the world, or vice-versa importing from around the world to Italy.

4) If you mean a dream job, I'd like to open a performance gym for endurance sports. Focused merely on high performance athletes and to everyone wants to achieve even higher results. Something like Tim Grover's Attack Athletics facility (Tim is the former mental coach of most famous NBA players like Kobe, MJ D-Wade..)
I'd like to build the same concept but for endurance and combat athletes (triathlon, marathon, ultra marathon, MMA, BJJ)

What's your advice?

 

[Andy Black]

Hi @Andy Black

I'm new here.
This is a very useful thread and I'd like to answer your question, if is not bothering, just to have some new ideas...

1) My dayjob. Not exactly a 9-5. More a 9-7 job, sometimes 9-8.

2) Usually custom and trading advices for international trades.

3) I'll take a full list of my company's customers and call everyone of them, finding who needs a best quotation to carry goods from Italy to all over the world, or vice-versa importing from around the world to Italy.

4) If you mean a dream job, I'd like to open a performance gym for endurance sports. Focused merely on high performance athletes and to everyone wants to achieve even higher results. Something like Tim Grover's Attack Athletics facility (Tim is the former mental coach of most famous NBA players like Kobe, MJ D-Wade..)
I'd like to build the same concept but for endurance and combat athletes (triathlon, marathon, ultra marathon, MMA, BJJ)

What's your advice?

My advice is to start by taking stock. What do people currently pay you to do? Can you quickly build something on the side doing that?

Once going, can you scale using business models, people, processes, or technology?

 

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[MarcusAurelius]

My advice is to start by taking stock. What do people currently pay you to do? Can you quickly build something on the side doing that?

Once going, can you scale using business models, people, processes, or technology?

The company I work for pay me to basically Made customer service.

I can build an informative blog on trends/rules for international trade/exchanges.

I can catch leads that will be taken by my company for contact and follow up.

I cannot scale. Because I do not have control on full ladder. Once I got a contact, I have to forward it to sales dept. That will provide follow up.

 

[Isaac Odongo]

Can you quickly build something on the side doing that?

@MarcusAurelius I am sure you can do that above.

 

[Andy Black]

The company I work for pay me to basically Made customer service.

I can build an informative blog on trends/rules for international trade/exchanges.

I can catch leads that will be taken by my company for contact and follow up.

I cannot scale. Because I do not have control on full ladder. Once I got a contact, I have to forward it to sales dept. That will provide follow up.

You've lots of skills and experience there that other businesses would pay for. Lead generation. Lead generation via blog/article creation. Then the technical subject matter itself that you already know about. Plus you'll have lots more skills and experience you've not listed.

 

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[Isaac Odongo]

Been doing the formatting of the book myself.

Printers say they can only use MS Word Processor.

Moving from Docs to Word messes up the document formats. Messes up things.

Doing the corrections due to mess from transfer from Docs to Word.

More work at workplace. Power blackouts in this city of mine.

 

[Isaac Odongo]

Developed some sort of story while engaging people.

Here it is.

"You may have already considered this. Helping lower secondary learners with a good background in English is easy. They almost always pass it without effort.

But helping those with weak foundations in English is next to impossible. They are almost always bound to struggle to score weak credits, passes and in all too common worst cases failures.

As teachers we desire to help all our learners get empowered. English language is one powerful way of enabling learners develop confidence and self esteem, which they need to ride through the school of hard knocks.

That was my personal desire too. I gave myself to the learners. I taught with the best methods and material I could muster. I listened to more experienced teachers and applied their suggestions.

I learned a lot from them. But the learners who come with little or no foundation could not have any significant improvement. I wanted to solve this problem. I wanted to help them.

I began to read about language learning and acquisition. I began to make meaning of my teaching experiences and outcomes. I saw a way out of the situation. But I saw no tools.

The new curriculum gave me a breath of life. It stopped me from retiring at the beginning of my career in teaching. I began to use it with all my power.

But the tools to enhance practice. To simplify learning of grammar aspects just didn't exist. I began to develop my own and use them, and to download similar ones and use them. And they worked. They validated my assumption about learning and acquisition of language. But they weren't sufficient.

Then I decided to make something. Something that provides the groundwork for strong language skills and also puts future language development on steroids.

I decided to develop something a learner can use at any anytime with little to no barrier. It had to be simple. It had to be user friendly. It had to be rigorous. It had to be fun.

That's how ENGLISH MADE EASY came about.

Thank you."

 

[Bnsalihu]

Finding the right product I can sell and advertise on Facebook in Nigeria (my country)


Any help please on selling products on Nigeria

 

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[DW85014]

I have many ideas that I know could be worth a lot, but I find no way to bootstrap any because I can't find an appealing feature set for an MVP that can be developed on the side. Figuring out payment processing that complies with all the laws is one of the hurdles that makes me want to kill myself.

1.) My day job that takes up 8h + each work day
2.) I would want that guy to pull the trigger, my life sucks
3.) I am mostly a ghost, at work I am tolerated as a cog in the software development machine
4.) Hire people who are smarter than I am and who can tame complexity - but not sure I would be able to sell my vision

Has your mindset changed any over the last few months?

 

[Andreas Thiel]

Has your mindset changed any over the last few months?

My mindset is pretty complex and I don't think anybody here gets how I think and feel.

I have been trying to crack the nuts for decades with no success.
I still fail to see opportunities and I still don't see how the math can add up with a day job.

Makes little sense to discuss this here, though. People just want to broadcast here, not discuss anything.

 

[Andy Black]

People just want to broadcast here, not discuss anything.

Do you really believe every single person in here just broadcasts?

Surely that can't be the case. And if it's not the case then is that a limiting belief?

Maybe your beliefs and the way you look at things is why you fail to see opportunities and fail to see how maths can add up?

 

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[Isaac Odongo]

Developed some sort of story while engaging people.

Here it is.

"You may have already considered this. Helping lower secondary learners with a good background in English is easy. They almost always pass it without effort.

But helping those with weak foundations in English is next to impossible. They are almost always bound to struggle to score weak credits, passes and in all too common worst cases failures.

As teachers we desire to help all our learners get empowered. English language is one powerful way of enabling learners develop confidence and self esteem, which they need to ride through the school of hard knocks.

That was my personal desire too. I gave myself to the learners. I taught with the best methods and material I could muster. I listened to more experienced teachers and applied their suggestions.

I learned a lot from them. But the learners who come with little or no foundation could not have any significant improvement. I wanted to solve this problem. I wanted to help them.

I began to read about language learning and acquisition. I began to make meaning of my teaching experiences and outcomes. I saw a way out of the situation. But I saw no tools.

The new curriculum gave me a breath of life. It stopped me from retiring at the beginning of my career in teaching. I began to use it with all my power.

But the tools to enhance practice. To simplify learning of grammar aspects just didn't exist. I began to develop my own and use them, and to download similar ones and use them. And they worked. They validated my assumption about learning and acquisition of language. But they weren't sufficient.

Then I decided to make something. Something that provides the groundwork for strong language skills and also puts future language development on steroids.

I decided to develop something a learner can use at any anytime with little to no barrier. It had to be simple. It had to be user friendly. It had to be rigorous. It had to be fun.

That's how ENGLISH MADE EASY came about.

Thank you."

Many people are showing interest in the book.

They are even saying things that show they are interested.

Printing is goddamn delaying. And it's annoying.

Print 50 and see how the market likes it.

 

[Isaac Odongo]

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

This was in a thread somewhere.

People just want to broadcast here, not discuss anything.

Maybe you are the one who has a problem. Maybe you are the one who needs adjust.

 

[Andreas Thiel]

Do you really believe every single person in here just broadcasts?

Surely that can't be the case. And if it's not the case then is that a limiting belief?

Maybe your beliefs and the way you look at things is why you fail to see opportunities and fail to see how maths can add up?

Possible, but this is not actionable advice. It is just one way of saying: other people figure this shit out, you obviously suck.

 

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[The-J]

Possible, but this is not actionable advice. It is just one way of saying: other people figure this shit out, you obviously suck.

There's nothing to "figure out", the fact is you lack the right beliefs, traits, and skills for success. Judging by your posts, it's mainly your beliefs. You're trying to crack the wrong nut. You don't want to change what you believe because you think you're right. You want to keep your complex mindset and succeed when it's actually your complex mindset that's keeping you from doing the things that result in success.

If that's the case, then there are no magic words that anyone can say to motivate you to do the right things. You have to admit to yourself that you were wrong all these years and do the things that the "old you" would never do. But if you're not ready to do that, and I mean honestly look at yourself in the mirror and do that, then you'll never get anywhere.

And by the way, this by no means makes you abnormal. Most people would rather be right than successful because they can be right today, but they can't be successful today. But most of those people don't hang around on forums like these. What does that say about you?

 

[Andy Black]

Possible, but this is not actionable advice. It is just one way of saying: other people figure this shit out, you obviously suck.

It wasn't meant to be actionable advice. It was meant to get you to wonder whether your thinking is the issue. If you acknowledge that the way you see things could be a problem then I'd consider that a win, for you.

Was I saying "you obviously suck" or was I trying to gently point you in a slightly different direction so you can see things slightly differently?

 

[DW85014]

My mindset is pretty complex and I don't think anybody here gets how I think and feel.

I have been trying to crack the nuts for decades with no success.
I still fail to see opportunities and I still don't see how the math can add up with a day job.

Makes little sense to discuss this here, though. People just want to broadcast here, not discuss anything.

Hey Andreas,

So I've got to say - I've had similar negative thoughts and honestly it was going for decades as well.

What's helped me though - corny as it sounds - is changing the channels and influence I let in.

I don't watch local news, occasionally watch National news but usually only the last 15 minutes - which has the last 5 minutes that switches to the positive.

I do regularly listen to uplifting podcasts and one of those podcasts suggested listening to the Strangest Secret every morning.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5x-KjBME_E


So most mornings (including this one) I listen to that as I'm eating breakfast to get my mind right - it usually works - it doesn't always.

Currently, I'm listening to some positive Youtube channel clips as I work (and write this).

Now I don't know if that will work for you but, I would try the 30-day Strangest Secret in the morning diet and see if it helps any.

If you want to DM me and talk (even though I think you're in Germany and I think that might be a stretch on time zone overlaps) I'd be happy to talk.

Sidenote about Germany - I have a millionaire friend - here in AZ who is originally from Germany - who does coaching. If you'd like me to connect you just let me know.

 

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[Andreas Thiel]

There's nothing to "figure out", the fact is you lack the right beliefs, traits, and skills for success. Judging by your posts, it's mainly your beliefs. You're trying to crack the wrong nut. You don't want to change what you believe because you think you're right. You want to keep your complex mindset and succeed when it's actually your complex mindset that's keeping you from doing the things that result in success.

If that's the case, then there are no magic words that anyone can say to motivate you to do the right things. You have to admit to yourself that you were wrong all these years and do the things that the "old you" would never do. But if you're not ready to do that, and I mean honestly look at yourself in the mirror and do that, then you'll never get anywhere.

And by the way, this by no means makes you abnormal. Most people would rather be right than successful because they can be right today, but they can't be successful today. But most of those people don't hang around on forums like these. What does that say about you?

I never said I don't want to change my beliefs. I would love to. I also wrote several times that my beliefs have changed many times. I can force myself to take another shot and I have been doing this.
I just don't see what adjustment I can make. There is no such thing as something that the old me would never do. Name one thing.

 

[Andreas Thiel]

It wasn't meant to be actionable advice. It was meant to get you to wonder whether your thinking is the issue. If you acknowledge that the way you see things could be a problem then I'd consider that a win, for you.

Was I saying "you obviously suck" or was I trying to gently point you in a slightly different direction so you can see things slightly differently?

It does not feel like you are pointing in any direction. You are pointing at me and saying what I do is wrong. No pointers.

 

[Jon822]

I never said I don't want to change my beliefs. I would love to. I also wrote several times that my beliefs have changed many times. I can force myself to take another shot and I have been doing this.
I just don't see what adjustment I can make. There is no such thing as something that the old me would never do. Name one thing.

Several forum members have tried giving you sincere advice to help you overcome whatever obstacles you're facing but at this point, I don't think entrepreneurial endeavors are for you. Until you can quit these bs excuses and start holding yourself accountable, you'll continue to be a professional victim. And this is exactly what the CURRENT YOU is: a constant victim that whines about everything, an action-faker who is adamant there are no possible alternatives to the failed avenue you've been marching down, and a circular list of excuses you throw out to avoid any self-reflection or self-improvement. I would love to be proven wrong but your mindset is terrible.

 

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[Andreas Thiel]

Several forum members have tried giving you sincere advice to help you overcome whatever obstacles you're facing but at this point, I don't think entrepreneurial endeavors are for you. Until you can quit these bs excuses and start holding yourself accountable, you'll continue to be a professional victim. And this is exactly what the CURRENT YOU is: a constant victim that whines about everything, an action-faker who is adamant there are no possible alternatives to the failed avenue you've been marching down, and a circular list of excuses you throw out to avoid any self-reflection or self-improvement. I would love to be proven wrong but your mindset is terrible.

You know nothing about me.

 

[heavy_industry]

What's really interesting about mindset and our thought process, is that it doesn't exist for real.

What I mean by this, is the fact that our psychological process is a petty attempt at trying to figure out what is going on around us. It is not reality, it's our best guess at what reality might look like.

The movie that is playing inside our head and the story that we keep telling ourselves is our own imagination.

We cannot see the world as it truly is. We will only see it as we are - which means that our past experiences will shape and distort our own perception of the world.

We are all flawed, and by extension, any mindset that we develop will be flawed and biased to some extent.

But the difference between a good mindset and a bad mindset, is that the former is closer to the truth. It's a more accurate description of reality.

And that's why it works. That's why having a good mindset will result in success: because what you think you know is very close to what is actually happening for real.

Your beliefs will determine your actions.
If your actions do not have success as a consequence, it means that they are the wrong actions. Which means that you are using the wrong mindset.

Reality will always tell you if you are right or wrong. Always.

The only question is, do you have the humility and courage to accept the fact that you are fundamentally wrong?

Do you truly want to change?

My mindset is pretty complex

WRONG

Your mindset is wrong.