I’m hardly a veteran at this “selling things online” game. I’ve got my one handsome ebook for sale and that makes me some money and it’s great, really. Despite still feeling like something of a neophyte in this particular arena, I do know that I’ve collected a set of fairly universal truths regarding the process by which somebody turns an idea into a shippable piece of work (for sale or not). I know some of you out there have already taken this plunge, and I also know a couple of you who are either dreaming about or actively working at joining these ranks. This one’s for you.
Creating Something Awesome will Cost You
I don’t mean monetarily (though, it could definitely cost you in that sense as well, depending on the nature of the thing) — I’m talking about what’s called “opportunity cost”.
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it means that for everything you choose to do, you’re necessarily sacrificing the ability to do other things with that time or those resources. If I choose to eat lunch at my desk during the day, I won’t be able to eat lunch with my kids. If I spend $10 on an album in iTunes, then I won’t be able to spend that same $10 buying a Happy Days jigsaw puzzle.
The thing is, we’re talking primarily about time. If you commit to spending the next weeks or months working on a project that you will try like hell to ship on certain date, there are going to be lots and lots things you can’t do as a result. You’ll be sitting at your desk writing or coding while your family is asleep or your partner is out sipping delicious margaritas with the couple you met on that one cruise or whatever. It may seem easy to count those sacrifices at the outset of a project, but it’s a whole different ballgame when you’re sitting at your desk with an oddly brown keyboard and without a delicious pitcher of margaritas and people you like. Trust me - it sucks.
You also won’t have time for other interesting projects that might come your way. If you’re one of those people whose head is spewing out awesome ideas at the rate of 3-5 per day, you’re going to have to find it within yourself to write them all on a list somewhere and keep with the task at hand. This is especially sucktastic if you’re incredibly frustrated with your current project and the one you just thought of involves 3-hour brainstorming sessions with pitchers of margaritas and people you like. Trust me - this also sucks.
Some People Will Hate What You Make. Loudly.
Even if your project is to make a thousand patchwork quilts to be donated to local homeless shelters for distribution to needy children, somebody will probably send you an email informing you that your quilt is so awful that it would be insulting to their cocker spaniel’s feces if they crapped on it and that you should very seriously consider chopping off your dominant hand. Hopefully, these types of people will be in the minority among your audience, but be prepared for some people to lash out at you and to a totally inappropriate degree. On the plus side, this can actually be pretty funny once you realize that they’re not actually angry with you so much as they’re just angry. Either way, start thickening your skin now.
The obvious flip side, of course, is that most people will probably like what you’re making (especially if you’re actually doing the quilt thing — in which case, well done). I’ve gotten hundreds of emails from people saying how much they enjoyed the ebook they bought from me, but I’ve also received a few that called my ebook “trash” and “useless” and other such things. Luckily, I got more of the former than the latter, but that isn’t always true — sometimes lots of people will loudly hate what you do, but that’s when you appreciate the positive feedback all the more.
You’re Going to Want to Quit Very Frequently.
Awesome things are rarely easy to create, so if you’re looking to create something awesome, expect it to be really freaking hard at certain points. After I had written about 95% of Evernote Essentials, I became really, really frustrated. Several weeks went by when I didn’t want to work on it at all and I wanted to scrap the whole thing and walk away. The reason (in my particular case) was not knowing how to continue. If the first 90% of whatever you’re doing involves eating your weight in gumdrops, it’s very easy to not think through the entire 100% of the project because of how much fun the majority of it will be. The best way (and it isn’t even that great, frankly) to inoculate yourself against this type of fatigue as you near the end of a project is to have a plan. You don’t need to have every single hour mapped out, but have a rough idea how you’re going to get from here to “shipped” — because if you don’t know what “finished” looks like, you’ll either ship something that really does suck (at least, compared to what you’re capable of) or you won’t ship anything at all.
The point is, don’t quit. There will be setbacks, mistakes and unexpected SNAFUs — count on it. Just keep moving.
Perfect is the Enemy of Done
It’ll never be perfect - do the best you can, have somebody you trust take a look at it, then get it out the freaking door and pour yourself some margaritas.
As I said before, I’m hardly an encyclopedia of this kind of knowledge, but having danced this tango once, I know two things: it was incredibly difficult and I can’t wait to do it again.
Photo by Helen K
[...] a great piece in its entirety, but here’s one bit that I think is particularly important: Even if your project is to make a [...]