THE BIG PICTURE

1. How to Sell 200 Million Books (Using a Simple Strategy)

I’m rereading Cashvertising (highly recommended) and came across this fascinating anecdote about how Haldeman-Julius sold more than 200 million books in the 1920s and 1930s:

Side note: if you’re curious, the LF8 refers to "Life-Force 8",” which is a list of foundational desires that are common to everyone: 1) Survival, enjoyment of life, life extension, 2) Enjoyment of food and beverages, 3) Freedom from fear, pain, and danger, 4) Sexual companionship, 5) Comfortable living conditions, 6) To be superior, winning, keeping up with the Joneses, 7) Care and protection of loved ones, 8) Social approval.

Instead of changing the content of the books, Haldeman-Julius simply changed their titles and sales skyrocketed. In some cases, he saw a 4x boost, and in one extreme example, a book went from selling 0 copies to over 30,000!

This is exactly why I'm a big believer in spending a disproportionate amount of time crafting the title and subtitle of your book (or any digital product).

It's the single most powerful marketing lever you have.

REVENUE STREAMS

2. How Beehiiv Makes It Easy to Monetize (+ Free Webinar on Nov 13)

I use Beehiiv for all 3 of my newsletters (including the one you’re reading now).

I’m a big fan of their platform because they make it super easy to make money from ads.

Instead of spending time hunting down sponsors, I occasionally get pitches automatically whenever a relevant ad opportunity comes up.

Here’s how it works:

1. I click on the “Ad network” tab in Beehiiv

2. I pick sponsor that’s available

3. I select a pre-made advertisement

4. I select a date that works

5. I include the ad using a drop down in my newsletter

6. I get paid when someone clicks on the ad

The only caveat is that you need to be on a paid plan to qualify for their ad network.

And how does the ad actually show up?

You’re looking at one right now. It appears right below this section under the “Presented by” heading.

Two quick things

1. Get 30 days free: If you’d like to try Beehiiv for yourself to get paid writing newsletters, use my affiliate link to get 30 days free (and 20% off your first 3 months on any paid plan). Click here to try Beehiiv for 30 days for free

2. Free webinar on Thu Nov 13: Beehiiv is releasing crazy new features and announcing them this Thursday: Click here to join Beehiiv’s FREE “Winter Release” webinar on Nov 13th at 1pm ET

PRESENTED BY

3. Get $5,000 Free in Roku Ad Credits

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Roku, and they’re giving away $5,000 of ad credits when you spend your first $5K with them. More details below.

(Quick note: This is the actual ad I referred to above. If you click the image or any of the links below, I earn a small commission.)

CTV ads made easy: Black Friday edition

As with any digital ad campaign, the important thing is to reach streaming audiences who will convert. Roku’s self-service Ads Manager stands ready with powerful segmentation and targeting — plus creative upscaling tools that transform existing assets into CTV-ready video ads. Bonus: we’re gifting you $5K in ad credits when you spend your first $5K on Roku Ads Manager. Just sign up and use code GET5K. Terms apply.

Use code GET5K now

ONE-MINUTE HACKS

4. A Quick Side Gig Hack You Can Apply Today

Give away your book for free as a bonus, but still list for sale on Amazon

Case-in-point: I offer subscribers to this newsletter a free copy of Write Your Book on the Side (see link below if you didn’t download it yet).

However, some people still buy it for convenience.

Here’s a review I got from someone who already had the free copy but bought it to read on the Kindle app.