The One Where I Get Accused of Rape
There’s an ancient Scottish saying that I love:
“Build a thousand bridges and they’ll never call you a bridge builder. Fuck one sheep and you’re a sheep fucker for life.”
(Prove it’s not an ancient Scottish saying. Go on, prove it.)
It seems like a large portion of the world has taken it upon themselves to email me and tell me they hate me. I’m used to hate mail, but this has been a special time. I’ve been fortunate enough to receive a whole year’s worth of fuck-you, all in the matter of less than a month.
Readers’ Digest version:
Some people are pissed/annoyed/disillusioned/confused about me taking SEO School off the market. They were pissed before, but after last week’s posts came out, they became uberpissed. They are the Pisserati.
The haters seem to fall into one of four camps:
They’re pissed they didn’t get a copy. They’re pissed they didn’t have a chance to get in on the affiliate program. They’re pissed because I have confirmed their theory that all marketing people are dirty, filthy whores. A few nice ones just think it was a stupid business decision. (Thank you, Mark, for being one of the nice ones. I truly appreciate your input and your kindness.)
I guess it doesn’t matter that you spend 364 days of the year being funny and informative and taking your shirt off to make marketing seem a little less boring or scary. All that really matters is that you made one decision that inconvenienced a few people.
Here’s a nice little story for you:
Once upon a time, it occurred to me that on average, SEO consultants charge more on an hourly basis than any other professionals I have encountered in my career. It is not unusual for an SEO to charge $1000 an hour. We’ll hit that again for those who haven’t had a coffee yet.
$1000 an hour.
Now, I’m pretty big into the whole “price to value” thing. A good SEO can give you enough information in an hour to earn you six figures in a year, easy. (Imagine being number one in Google for, say, “baby gift”. And imagine your products are dropshipped, meaning you don’t actually have to scale for that growth, you just have to cash the checks. Then tell me your SEO wasn’t worth a thousand bucks.) So I take no issue with an honest SEO charging that kind of rate.
At the same time, I write a blog for IttyBiz owners and wannabes. I write for people who don’t know if they can justify the purchase of a printer. My readers cannot afford a thousand dollars an hour. They can’t afford a printer, for God’s sake.
“Hey!” I thought. “I should write a book about SEO and then people could spend a little bit of money but get a basic understanding and their traffic wouldn’t suck. Wouldn’t that be cool?”
After some wine thought, I figured that it would be really cool to offer support for the book so that when people had questions I could, you know, answer them. Instead of saying, “Of course I can answer your question IF YOU HIRE ME AS A CONSULTANT BWAHAHA!”
So I wrote a little book and sold it and it was all cool.
After a while, I realized that my readership was growing. I knew I wouldn’t be able to support new buyers in perpetuity, so I figured I’d stop selling it. I knew that when I took the book off the shelves, there would be a small spike in sales. I figured it would be nice to take it off the market BEFORE I hit my limit, thereby insuring the small spike in sales didn’t put me over capacity and render the support thing a big, fat lie.
So I put it out on the blog that in a few weeks, the book would no longer be for sale. I got the small spike in sales and I got on with my life.
Then Mr. Copyblogger himself picked up the story and compared me to Aaron Wall and the shit hit the fan.
Now I’m “dirty”. I’m a “typical fucking marketer”. I’m “totally dishonest”. Oh, and let’s not forget that I’m “raping my readers”. People I have never heard of in my life were emailing me telling me that they didn’t appreciate my scarcity tactics. That I was depriving people of information.
It’s not food. It’s not shelter. It’s a 52 page ebook that starts by telling readers to take off their pants.
Mark and I were on Twitter, and he voiced his thoughts very well:
“Very interesting, Naomi. I’ve always had a very different strategy with product releases… It seems the demand is frothed up now.”
We talked about this separately, but for everyone else, here’s something to think about:
Taking it off the market didn’t froth up demand. Brian Clark telling 40,000 people I was taking it off the market frothed up demand. I didn’t know he was going to do it. It was no great strategy. It wasn’t the Marketing Master Plan. Yes, I AM a marketing genius, but some things really are just luck.
So now I have a bunch of strangers telling me they want the book, support or no support. I have a bunch of other strangers telling me that threatening to take my book off the shelves was filthy.
I figure I have two options:
1. Keep the book off the shelves, disappointing group A and leaving money on the table.
2. Put the book back on the shelves without support, thoroughly convincing group B that I am indeed a dirty, filthy marketer who only said it was coming off the shelves to sell a few more books.
I figure I’m basically fucked no matter what I do, so I may as well let you guys tell me what you think. This ain’t a vote, and I’ve never been known for following advice, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.
In my opinion, it’s people who are pissed off they didn’t make that much money off an e-book that are writing you. They do the same things you do but on a much much smaller scale and get pissed at your success.
I would love to make 12,246 from one e-book, but I haven’t. Am I pissed at you for doing it? nope. I am inspired by it and learn from it and study as much as I can. Some people are just not like that.
I think if people write you saying they want the book, I’d sell it to them, but without the support. Fuck whoever thinks you’re being shady. You didn’t know the supply/demand would be this lopsided. If there’s money on the table, and it’s not in your stack, you’re doing something wrong… :)
I will start off by saying I’m one of those lucky bastards who already has a copy. Which I’ve, um, read about half of. Because I’m just smooth like that.
I actually respected your decision to take it off the market while you could still handle the free support, which I hope to take advantage of someday. I think you need to ask yourself what you want more — getting the info out there (plus money) in a slightly less awesome way than you originally intended, or sticking to your original intention of helping people out when confusion strikes. You could also discount it a little to make up for the lack of support.
Though one does wonder — how will you keep track of who bought the book in time to rate free support, and who was too slow?
Just don’t wemble too long — that way lies madness. And sheep.
Isn’t there a saying that goes kinda “If you start to piss people off, you know you’re starting to succeed?”
Go with what feels right for you. If you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t, you’re free try to pick the option that makes you, personally, feel the best with your decision.
If you’re big on integrety/honesty, it might be best to leave it off the market and write another book covering similiar topics, but without support. Your decision, though.
Okay not to be a bitch (well actually I’m in a bitchy mood so strike that), but it’s not as if there are a shortage of books on SEO. Seriously. I could see if you were the only person in the world who knew all about the magical art of search engine optimization and you were depriving the world of that precious knowledge by taking your book off the shelf. But you’re not.
A search on Google will probably bring up at least 100k hits for SEO. So if people have nothing better to do than to complain about ONE ebook out of thousands being taken off the shelf by someone who wants to be able to provide the value they promised then those people really have too much time on their hands. My suggestion is, then, for them to use that extra time to actually make money with their business, get laid, get drunk. get abducted by aliens or some combination of all of the above.
end rant
p.s. I think you could put the book back up for sale and market it as a ‘back by popular demand’ thing. I wouldn’t consider you dishonest for doing that because it is true. People are demanding the book be sold and causing all sort of ruckus about it. So…sell it.
There are a lot of free information providers (bloggers) getting fed up with the hassle of dealing with blog readers like these.
I would set up a special sales page for the copy blogger readers to buy the book at twice the price and no refunds or support.
Wheeeee-ooooo!
What a bunch of whiners!
Hell, I didn’t even realize that the book came with support (that’s just awesome).
It always blows my mind to see how the world thinks that everybody owes them something. Like you’re some kind of evil wench for … doing what you said you’d do. (the HORROR!)
I’ll tell you what you can do … option #3. Check your email later today :-)
I’m in for Dave’s option 3. I have no clue what it is, but Dave’s one smart bugger and whatever he says, is… uh… smart. Yes.
But if Dave’s option 3 includes consults that aren’t in email, I say ditch the idea. I’m on phone revolt, seriously.
Those of us who have been here reading for a while know what you’re about. Everyone who doesn’t should screw off! Do what you intended to do in the first place. You’re brilliant…don’t let anyone make you second guess that!!
Put the book back on th shelves if that’s what YOU want to do. I’d buy it.
My guess is that people who are jerks now will also likely be jerks if they bought the book. I can see them asking for their money back, complaining that you ripped them off, etc. So, I wouldn’t try to please them at all. They’ve already shown themselves to be jerks. Be glad you don’t have to support them. Hurray!
But, you should do whatever you want. As someone who already bought the book, I certainly won’t be offended if you put it back up for sale. (I’m just continuing to be in awe of your genius!)
Dude, do what you want. You certainly don’t OWE the world your fantastic book. It’s not like the frothed up rape-accusers are going to actually buy the book if you do offer it again (they think it’s rape, remember?).
This may be a very naive, hopeful answer, but maybe you could get a publisher? And let THEM handle distribution/customer support, etc?
I didn’t buy the e-book for support, even though I look forward to getting it if I need it. I bought it because I was sure it was worth my hard earned money. How did I know? Dave Navarro said so.
Naomi, you wrote an awesome e-book. When you write Part 2, I will buy it. I like being part of your tribe. You may seem crude to some, but you have an integrity that is lacking in today’s world.
Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Don’t waffle…do what you said you were going to do…then write another kick-ass e-book. I don’t even care about the topic. I’m sure that you have many that you would do justice to.
Don’t do it for the whiners, do it for me. I will buy it and put money in your bank, no bitching, just paying you for teaching me. Thank you for doing what you do. It matters!
@James -
Don’t worry, I’ll fill you in b/c I’m having an Option 3 idea for MwP as well :-)
@Steve -
Glad to help :-)
Whoa. This sounds to me like a case of crowd mentality. Make something available for a while and people don’t feel rushed. But make it scarce (limited) or tell them it’s been taken away, and everyone goes apeshit. It’s that fear of lack, it’s that psychology of being told you can’t have something. Like kids: you offer something to them and they don’t want it. But as soon as their sibling has it or you tell them you’re taking it away then and they can’t have it, they want it. And by god, they want it NOW, or here comes the tantrum.
I’m not saying your book and you aren’t totally awesome and the only reason they want it now is because of what I mentioned above. But I would seriously stick to my guns, even though the additional money would certainly be tempting. (Then again, you’re great, knowledgeable, and talented. You can and will make money with many other things.) How many of these complainers, who bitched and boldly called you names, are now going to turn around and say, oh, well, all right. Well, thanks, and yeah, here’s the money…?
You gave lots of “advertising” before it came out and after, and warning about the end. You mentioned your intentions and about the support. Your intentions, to me, in taking the book off the market, were completely honourable. In fact, they were first about the consumer and only secondly about you.
They missed the boat. They know better now for next time.
But that’s only my two cents.
Naomi,
See what having a good heart gets you?
I dicked around and didn’t buy a copy NOR sell a copy via my affiliate link. I got busy, missed reading a few posts and before I knew it, I missed the boat. When I read Brian’s post about you offering SUPPORT for a $39.90 product - well, I had no doubt in my mind WHY you took it off the market!!! (Anyone who has more than 3 clients to service understands as well!!!)
IMHO - because you are damned if you do, damned if you don’t - I think you should embrace your inner “money grubbing bitch.” Raise the price and then put the eBook back on the market. Support comes through a membership site and one on one consults are only slightly less expensive than a trip to the moon. (Hey, how many SEO consultants consult shirtless! Come on!!! What a great USP!)
Remember, there’s a FINE line between love and hate. (The opposite of love is actually apathy.) The only people I’ve ever truly hated were the ones I first loved (and sometimes vice versa).
If “allowing” them to buy your eBook swings them back from hate to love, what’s the harm. YOU know where your heart was from the beginning and the thing is, your “regular” readers know that as well!
Hi Naomi-
First off, thanks for the “one of the nice ones” designation. You already know my opinion, but I’ll state it here, just for fun:
I think you should put the book back on the market. You already linked to my post detailing why I think you should, so I won’t do it again, so I don’t look like a link slut (although I mentioned the link, so maybe I already am…), but I want to clarify that I hope I didn’t sound like I said that taking it off the marketing frothed up demand.
What frothed up demand was having it out there. Having a good quality product that people really liked, is what frothed up demand.
It may sound like tooting our horn, and I guess it is, but we’ve definitely done the $12K in sales several times over- we’ve sold … I dunno… well north of six figures in information products since late 2005. And what we’ve found is this:
- a good product continues to sell, because it helps people, and because new people arrive. And because word of mouth spreads, and that can take time.
- having more than one product helps to accelerate sales, for some reason. (I could enumerate my guesses here, but I won’t). (I say this because I’m assuming you’ll come out with another product.)
- Sure there are plenty of books on SEO, or whatever topic, but there are people who haven’t even heard of you yet, who click with -you- and your voice in particular, and they aren’t going to digest the SEO information except perhaps from you. And if that helps their business, and they can put food on the table… it is kinda like food and shelter
So there, I said it. I don’t get a vote, but I’m voting anyway for you to put it back on the market.
peace and love
Mark
Sorry. :-)
My cheap two cents…
Your right, no matter what you do to try and appease your haters you will be fucked. Nothing you do will make them happy. They are obviously miserable people that cannot be made happy, and like Avonelle said if you did sell it again they would be a thorn in your side.
My advice is do whatever your gut tells you. You have made it this far trusting your instincts and that says a lot. My thought is that if all of the people who truly value what you do and support your decisions came out of the woodwork showing their support the same way your haters came out to claim rape, the small number of people who pitched a fit would pale in comparison. Then you would see that no matter what you do the people who matter most will support your decision.
Plus, if you do decide to sell the book again, who in the hell would begrudge you making more money??? Karma would most certainly take care of those people.
And yes, once your hate mail starts growing rapidly you know you are on the right path!
Please remove me from the update email notifications since I commented and don’t see my comment.
You could write a book about this saga :-)
I’d say sell it if people want to buy it, and make it clear there’s no support. You’ve probably already got an e-mail list of those who bought it thinking there was support so if you needed to weed out the requests for support from those who were ‘entitled’ you could.
But I like others bought it because it sounded good, accessible, and was a reasonable price for the information never mind the support. It was a good buy. I’ve implemented quite a few of your suggestions and noticed the difference.
Thanks :-)
PS I did think about e-mailing you re the pants thing though, which threw me a bit in the opening pages as I tried to fathom if it was UK or US pants you were referring to…
So if you’re fuc#$d (sorry, just can’t write it) either way, take the money and run. Sell it again.
Naomi - I bought your book, and didn’t know I was getting support. Maybe I should read the sales copy before I buy stuff, but I’m a junkie, what can I say?
Unlike most of the ebooks I’ve bought down through the years, I actually read this one. I figured if I was going to write a review, I should read the book first. I’m funny like that.
My policy is to only write vile nasty emails to someone that has screwed me over or stole from me.
I can’t see how you did that to these morons. So I say they can go to hell.
Sell the damn thing.
Oh, and the more you charge the better. I’ve got my great review ready and I’d love to cash in on some affiliate bucks and become a pond scum marketer just like you.
This just reminded me of a segment that Colin Cowherd of “The Herd” did on ESPN Radio. Without going into too much detail, he spoke about people that have “leverage”. If your e-book sucked, nobody would care about not being able to get it. But now, smart people are saying how smart you are…therefore you now have “leverage”.
I wouldn’t fret too much about this SEO book issue, I’d concentrate on using your new found “leverage” to create bigger and better opportunities for yourself. You have an excellent writing style (even with the potty mouth). You make unsmart people (like me) smart, using words I understand. Keep writing!
Wow. I’ve never even heard of this book (must have skipped over that Copyblogger post) and now I want it in the worst way. If I had an extra $1,000, I’d write you a check … for consulting, not the e-book. Guess I’ll just settle for the RSS feed.
My vote is for do whatever you want. I’m a low maintenance reader.
(got here via RL David’s comment at MwP)
either group a or group b will be mad at you no matter what. Since group B hates you already, put the book on the market, help out Group A and take the cashola.
*done*
First, it’s your book, so do what you like with it.
But, if you want to recover some goodwill, offer a support-free version of the book at a discount. Loudly proclaim that you’ll give anybody who bought the book at the original price a refund equal to the discount if they feel they deserve one. I expect very few people will actually take you up on it.
Alternatively, just post the thing free somewhere. Unsupported, obviously. You aren’t making any money with it off the market anyway. Putting it up somewhere free at least gets the bozos out of your inbox, and maybe a little ad revenue, if you choose to go that route.
But seriously, do what you like, not what the mob likes.
Not that my voice matters, but hear goes.
I know you well enough to know that you will provide support for the book whether you say you will or not.
Providing that support will burden you such that you can’t do other things that you’d like to do. You’ll stretch yourself too thin, with the result that you won’t produce the quality stuff that you do.
In the grand scheme of things, SEO Book was one revenue stream. You noticed that it would soon become the only thing you were doing, and wisely chose to pull the plug so that you could actually have a life and enjoy what you do.
If you’re assessment that you’re fucked either way is true, stick with the choice that was made when you were dealing with the situation. At the time, you knew you were close to reaching critical mass and couldn’t handle it. Besides the fact that you’ve been swimming in dough, what makes you think it’ll be any different if you rerelease it?
In a few months, people will have forgotten about it and will stop complaining. In that time, you will have moved on and will be doing bigger and better things.
And there’s the additional thing: if you buckle, will your readers believe you next time, or will you have set up the expectation that if we harass you enough, you’ll do what we want?
Ooh. Charlie, that’s a thinker right there - setting up the expectation that our word doesn’t hold water. Damn. When you’d get so wise? That’s definitely one to mull over.
(And if your site eats this comment like it did my last, Naomi, I quit. I’ll still love you, though.)
Stick to your guns. You explained your decision BEFORE the last day your book was available. Don’t wuss out now.
-Andy Pels
I’d love to know how many of those nasty-email-writing-folks would have said that stuff to your *face*. Seriously.
This just goes to prove (as Steph said) that everyone wants what they can’t have. And that there are *way* too many people out there who think the whole world owes them something. You didn’t *do* anything to these people, yet they feel they are entitled to bitch you out.
You know what will happen if you put it back out? They’ll still bitch. It’s too short, it’s too expensive, I want support, you swear too much, it sucks, that’s IT??…bla bla bla…
Obviously do what you feel is right, but as Charlie said, this will all blow over pretty fast. People like that love to bitch but they also have short attention spans.
Rock on Naomi. :)
Since I’m one of the lame ones that didn’t get to buy the book, I say put it back up.
Offering free consulting with the book is well, nice, but no offense, stupid! You need to charge for that shit girl! No where else in the world would you get free consults.
Naomi,
Tara hit it perfectly: “It’s not like the frothed up rape-accusers are going to actually buy the book if you do offer it again.”
Many more people complain about wishing for something than will actually put up the bucks.
Having said that:
Raising the price and offering it w/o support is unnecessarily shady. If you want to offer the book again without support, you are selling less.
Lower the price ten bucks and let ‘er rip. :)
Regards,
Kelly
Maybe you could have the book inscribed on a dildo, so people could shove it up their . . .
Hm, that might be a bit much even for Ittybiz.
No wonder you took your shirt off. You were just planning on raping us with your filthy marketing whore breasts. Raper.
I say put it back up at double or triple the money and no support. The folks who picked it up when you first offered it still get their sweet deal goodness from getting in early. And Mark makes a good point that folks will continue to come along who can benefit from it, and the book is still a great deal at the higher price.
Also, have a t-shirt made that says FILTHY MARKETING WHORE and take your picture in it, then append to all posts in which you mention this product. It’s your new brand!
I say put it back on the market without support, if that’s what you need to do, because A) I read it and thought it was worth recommending (and I’m picky), then B) I got a bunch of emails from folks who read my review and wanted to buy it but couldn’t, and C) I even got one person who wanted to bribe me for a “used” copy. And I promise, that has nothing to do with my ability to write a sparkling review, because I suck at affiliate marketing. In fact, I believe only one person purchased it through my actual affiliate link, and I don’t even know how to go about requesting payment through ejunkie for that. But I would still recommend it, even without the affiliate program. It’s just that good. It’s not about being the only SEO ebook out there; it’s about not being able to find another one that cuts through the crap and delivers the info Naomi-style. ;-)
No matter what you decide to do about the ebook, I still think you rock. People can be so silly sometimes.
Are You Trustworthy?
That’s the title of today’s article in copyblogger.
I’d say you are!
STICK TO YOUR FRICKEN GUNS!
And thanks for writing!
~~Lyn
Heh. I actually bought the ebook *for* the support. I figured it was probably the cheapest way to get to continue picking your brain now and then and it seemed like a really good deal. I did buy it at the last minute, and I actually almost didn’t because I thought I’d already missed the deadline before Brian posted about it. Anyway, I’ll read it so that I can sound like my questions are on topic, and because you’re funny and smart. In fact, mostly I bought it because you’re funny and smart and I like you. I usually steer clear of ebooks.
It makes total sense that you can only offer so much ongoing support, so it also makes sense to yank the book with support deal at a certain number. I don’t see how anyone who actually works with clients can miss the logic of that.
But what the hell? If it was me, I’d probably re-release it and sell a non-supported version for the late arrivals. I’d be tempted to double the price as a penalty for being late to the table… after all, it was available for a good long while and I bought it *after* Brian posted about it so I guess those mean whiney kids could have done so too. But on the other hand, if you sold it without support at the same price, you wouldn’t be penalizing the latecomers who were polite, you’d just be rewarding the early adapters who got in line while the getting was good.
I’d say re-release it without ongoing support and see how many more you can sell. Why not? I don’t think it’s dishonest, it’s just good business and preserves your ability to deal personally with the early buyers while giving the late buyers the same product without the extended options available to your core readers who ponied up.
I really can’t be arsed to read all the comments to see if anybody has said this, but I can tell you that is NOT an old Scottish saying.
If it were they’d say:
“Build a thousand bridges and they’ll never call you a bridge builder. SHAG one sheep and you’re a sheepshagger for life.”
Trust me on this one.
Naomi,
I did not read any other comments (so shoot me) because my opinion isn’t based on the 51% vote. This is your deal. You started it, you wrote the rules, and you knew what you were able to provide. Caving in to the mass dissenters who showed up a day (week) late and a dollar (40) short would be disastrous. Really they will just have to get over it. They aren’t you, and they don’t get to decide. AND like most things in this world the masses might be griping loudly today that they didn’t get and they have an exceptional exception (excuse) I doubt even a fourth of these dirt-mongers will be around next week to order even if you re-offered (extended). So do not cave, do not re-release until you are ready to offer it with support down the road (way down the road), and that is that.
Naomi,
You own the book,
you make the rules,
damned if you do,
damned if you don’t.
Make some money and don’t screw anyone over. You deserve it.
Would anyone not have bought the book if it were left on the shelves?
The timing of the purchase is all that may have been influenced.
I wrote a very bright comment, but it got eaten by your site somehow. No matter, now that I reflect back on it…it wasn’t all that bright.
My only comment would be how great it is to have passionate readers, prospects, etc. That’s what every business wants - passion. Hatred is a passion. Indifference is the worst thing you could suffer. Be thankful.
I’d consider one or more of 3 options:
a. EBOOK - Bronze (or whatever label you like; I’ve been watching too many Olympic sports)
Includes the Ebook only with no support and no updates. It is what it is, a single edition of a ebook.
Charge exactly what you charged for the first edition with support. Early adopters get rewarded. Too bad, so sad if you didn’t buy it the first time around WITH support.
b. EBOOK - Silver
Includes the current version of the ebook, plus forthcoming (if there ever are any) revisions. SEO is hardly a static science so it/when you decide to update the book these people would get the updates at no charge.
Charge a premium - 15% to 25% more.
c. EBOOK - Gold
Includes the current version of the ebook, plus forthcoming revisions, if there ever are any AND support.
Charge 50% more. This will separate the casual “I-want-it-cause-everybody’s-talkin-about-it” people from the “I-need-it-and-I’m-willing-to-pay-for-it” crowd. You’ll see mostly BRONZE packages, and you’ve already got the book written. Take their money, give them what they want.
Don’t leave money on the table. Give them what they want - while putting yourself in the position to serve people the way you want (premium payment deserves a higher level of service). If demand for GOLD goes too high, then calculate the downside and suspend it when you want.
Hate mail is great. It means people really care.
FYI, I bought your book and Aaron’s. Like some others, I had no ideas yours included support. I suppose that means I didn’t read it carefully. I failed the Evelyn Wood Speed Reading Course. I read really fast. I’m just slow in comprehension.
Like most things in life, give it a week, and it’ll blow over. Then people can call you a conniving marketer whore for an entirely new reason, probably equally untrue.
yes, stick to your guns. screw the haters. do what you said you were going to, and to hell with everyone else.
write something else (with no support so you can sell it forever) and make tons more cash with that.
fwiw i like the “filthy marketing whore” t-shirt idea =)
My last comment got eaten too and I’m too lazy today to rewrite it. :D
But, I’d buy the eBook AND the Filthy Marketing Whore T-shirt!
Speaking as a reader who bought your book within days of its release (i.e. before there was any talk of no longer selling it), I can say this:
Yes, you will piss SOMEONE off.
You can either piss off those who were too slow/lazy/ignorant to buy the book before it went off sale. In this case, you are a meanie and a disappointer person.
or
You can piss off your fans who actually bought your book, maybe jumped on it quickly before you took it off sale. In this case, you are a liar.
You asked for my opinion, there you are. Would you rather disappoint people you owe nothing to, or lie to those who already fattened your wallet?
Okay, I don’t have the book, I didn’t get it because I wasn’t ready for SEO yet. BUT, I say, don’t re-release it. Let it die out. Those who have it, have it, and those of us who don’t, well, we’ll have to wait for your next ebook, or book, or other useful item for sale. Now go focus on the other useful item you plan to release to a) help us all and b) put food on your family.
Rape? Um, ouch!! Where do these people come from?
No input from me either way. It’s your book and you can do just as you please.
Naomi- Limited edition is just that. Limited. I am in Charles Gilkey’s camp.
This demand you (and Brian) have created is something that is to be envied, valued and used on the landing page of your next release. Records could be broken there. Just my thoughts. I have MY copy.
Although I just saw Sonia’s suggestion and I must say there is an appeal there…my way , you get to use a whip…when Naomi says buy it, she means buy it now.
(Besides you can do a reprise edition later if you want. )
I didn’t buy the book (wish I had, though), and I say keep it off the market. Honor the people who gave you money up front. Sure, you’re leaving money on the table, but I think it’s worth it because you are doing what you said you were going to do. Taking a long-term point of view, this will only help when you release your next e-Book on Scottish sheep.
@Sonia Simone You made me laugh so hard I almost spit diet soda all over my laptop! (And I love the t-shirt idea!)
Naomi, if I were you — which I’m definitely not: my hair is blonde, I’m in Texas, and know squat about marketing — I would put it back on the market, without support. It’s too good of a book to not let out — but it’s insane to think you could provide support for EVERY person who buys it!
Maybe, in future, (if you ever decide to include support again, or some other extra bonus feature) you could decide in advance how many you can support, and make sure everyone knows they better hurry if they want in on the deal…. You could even have a countdown widget on your website showing how many are left!
Awww, {{{Naomi}}}.
I don’t know if I can give an honest opinion because I really want the book and I would definitely buy it now without support.
Maybe next time you can have a price tier for with support and without support? That way you could leave without support out there.
Either way, thanks for all you do.
Reduce the price and put it back on the shelves.
Why the price reduction? So that people who will buy it now won’t feel like they’re getting ripped off because they’re paying the same price as people who are getting support while they’re not. Knock ten bucks off it or whatever, and ignore the haters.
The book is extremely valuable on it’s own, people know this, and there’s a LOT of people who would be glad to pay for it and could care less about the damned support, they just want the book (so by keeping it off the shelves not only are you refusing to give a lot of value to people who specifically want it but you’re leaving perfectly good, honest money on the table as well–make people happy by giving them what they want and receiving the appropriate compensation for doing so).
Cheers,
Andrew
52 comments in don’t know if mine matters at all I bought it a while back and I say do whatever you want. screw the haters gah you’d think people would have better things to do
don’t drop the price if you put it on there, for goodness sakes seriously and I won’t be offended, I haven’t even gotten to read mine yet let alone bug you to answer questiosn or help me or whatever else you said you would do.
but yeah I’m a pre purchaser and I totally say go for it put it out, set up an auto download link rotation thing so you never have to think about it and let it roll in :) I know it’s not a vote but there is my 2 cents
or you know I just thought maybe you shouldn’t put it on the market and I can sell mine and my support that came with it for double what I bought it for — no lets go ten times… any takers
totally kidding do NOT email me I just wanted to throw a bit of what I know about marketing out there… :)
Naomi -
I’ve been reading with interest (when I am not distracted by a million other things) your series of posts on ‘how to write and market an e-book.’ I was feeling so disillusioned (sick to my stomach) by my experience hiring an SEO firm and spending thousands of dollars, that I’ve avoided looking at the term SEO for several weeks now so I didn’t buy your book. I wish you had written it before I hired the SEO firm back in December last year.
My thoughts:
+ stop selling the book now until you can catch your breath and your family before it falls apart
+ assess the situation and then re-launch the book within a reasonable amount of time and make it a ‘new & improved’ version. If you don’t do it soon enough a black market for your e-book will arise or it will fizzle and die.
+ write another e-book and call it ‘how to successfully write, distribute, and sell an e-book and then get screwed’ and refer to your experience with the SEO book.
+ bundle both books together and make $24K in one day
+ hire a nanny, a chaueffer, a cook, and a physical trainer then rinser, lather, and repeat.
Good luck and by the way what happened to Brandon and the Homeless Dude?
Aruni
Do not put the book back up for sale.
Relaunch it later on as a reconfigured information product (SEO School 2 - Return of the Ninja), jack up the value and the price, and when you say it will go off the market people will believe you and they will act accordingly.
You can’t give in and put it back on the market now because that blows the whole scarcity thing. Scarcity is not artificial. Support was part of the value (in fact, that was why you undercharged for it–it should have been at least $97). Support does not scale, therefore the scarcity is real.
Although, I seriously wish I had bought the book when you were offering support (yeah, I know I was stupid), I agree with so many whom have said that you should stick to your first instinct with the book. I’ve learned with my small business to never let complainers rule my decisions. They are always the people that never buy anyway, even the ones that say, I would buy it if it were pink… I make pink, the customer is gone and no one else wants pink and then I’m stuck with an entire box of pink. Listen to your gut.
I am not sure what it means, but it seemed like it worked:
Jesus said to them, ‘Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’
Um, Brent? What kind of asshole is really so petty that he wants other people to not enjoy a fucking ebook simply because Naomi made a decision and then changed her mind?
She offered the book with support. She couldn’t keep up with the support. She said sorry, folks, I have to renege, because I underestimated how big this would get. Are you really going to be pissed at a woman who is humble enough to not think her book is going to sell eight kajillion copies? She thought it would only sell enough that she could keep up with the support. Which is why she offered it. Because Naomi’s not an idiot.
So far as I’m reading your comment, you think that the people who bought the book should be pissed at her for lying that she was going to take it off the market. Now, since the people who bought the book are only going to be damaged in ANY way if they’re petty enough to want something no one else has, I think Naomi shouldn’t give a damn.
I bought the book. She took it off the market. She put it back on the market, sans the ability to get extra help. I still get help. No one else does. Doesn’t that satisfy your petty needs? You STILL get something the others don’t. Aren’t you just thrilled.
@Tei,
Well said!!!!!!!1
Looks like your a product of your own success! I like the spin on protecting your name by “not charging people the $1000 an hour consultant fee” nice touch! As you can probably discover I’m on the outside looking in. (No Naomi Special on my mantel to read on a cold day!) I’m a young aggressive SEO sponge sucking up as much Internet marketing information as possible in my unstructured database (my brain)! This article inspired me to comment and place my vote of confidence on the side of opening that exclusive contract you signed with yourself. I’m excited to read the ebook…… Start a “slow drip” and test this new theory and if you find yourself bogged down with new questioners then slowly wean yourself off of releasing anymore copies for good. Look as you said, your not going to make everyone happy. But helping the next generation succeed is the humane thing to do right? (Making a sad face with my lower lip curled right now!) Either way thanks for the hope!
Whichever path you chose, you’ll have my support.
Personally I guess I’d alter the book a little, you know, enough to make it “different” and then offer it as a free upgrade to existing users (like me!) but sell it w/o support (the “old school” model).
I didn’t even know there was support until I read Brian Clark’s post–you know, I’m just the typical consumer who reads the price and the PS.
Free support? NO WAY! I had no idea. How cool is THAT?!?
Got my copy when I had the chance. Read it. Loved it. Feel much more informed now.
Some people are not happy unless they are offended about something. Not much you can do about it but laugh. They may or may not get over themselves, but that’s their problem, yeah?
My opinion? I’ve got my copy and you should do whatever is going to make you happier in the long run. What that is I have no idea. :-)
I didn’t even hear about your site until the article ran on copyblogger and then I went back and re-read some of your archives and then added your blog to my bloglines account. So I guess since I never had a chance to get the book I didn’t care. I think you did what you had to keep yourself from going insane with supporting the damn thing. I’ll admit I scoured the net looking for another way to get a copy because I wanted to know what treasures this little, now discontinued, book contained, but at no time did I care about the support end of it. If I had found your site just a day or two earlier I probably would have bought it just so I could learn more about SEO. Feel free to put me down as being interested in the information, but not caring too much about the support side of the deal.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t…
So go with the one where you can make the money. Then I can buy it, because I fell behind on all my shit for a couple of weeks and missed out. So my advice is not without self interest ;)
Seriously though… the internet is full of fucktards. Hate mail is the first sign of success on the web.
Hi Naomi:
I say ‘fuck ‘em’. Their loss. You didn’t do anything wrong.
Move on.
Hey Naomi,
I’m actually one of the “heard of IttyBiz through Copyblogger” folks, and I did buy the book. I had plenty of time to get angst-y about buying the book, and to read your sales copy repeatedly, and to basically do an assortment of my anxious-hamster-jedi-mind-tricks before buying the book. So, these people had plenty of time to buy their own damn copies.
Here’s my advice - offer a free copy of the book, minus the support, to anyone who buys one hour (or $500 worth) of consulting time from you.
Reese
For the most part I bet the pissy people wouldn’t make good customers anyway. Screw them and just do what you think is right. I’ve always found your judgment sound and insightful. I was very curious about your SEO book but procrastinated too long — shame on ME! You stopped selling a product because the volume exceed that which you could properly support. I commend your common sense and ethics. This too shall pass.
Naomi,
I think you did the right thing by taking it off the shelf. I could not imagine how stressful life would be if all of a sudden you had 10,000 people calling to ask you questions each night because they were not able to finish the chapter they were on.
Would I like to get a copy of the book, even without the support, sure, but I don’t blame you one bit from pulling it off the shelves. No matter what you decide to do, I will continue to read your blog and you are more than welcome in my house any day.
There are three kinds of people:
- The ones that LOVE you
- The ones that HATE you
- The ones in between
If you listen to the 2nd group and change accordingly, things shuffle up and the result is that there are three kinds of people:
- Those that LOVE you
- Those that HATE you
- The ones in between
My advice is to do what YOU think is right. You’ll always be pissing of people, as much as you are making new fans.
Hi,
I came here from Copyblogger, miss the deadline (something with my visa card and international payment that was fixed two days later, too bad).
Just after I missed the deadline, I though of writing a comment here to ask (politely, I wouldn’t know how to do it otherwise !!!) that you put it back without any support. But I didn’t do it, because I thought:
“Well, she is the marketer, she’ll do what she has to do. Let leave that to her”
Don’t be mistaken : I would really love to read the book, not only for the SEO tips, but because Clark said it’s a good one.
It could be an example for me of a good repackaging of information (I know, well, more than a trick or two in SEO, so I’m not sure the ebook would teach me that much)
So, if it’s back, I’ll surely buy it (but not necessarily in a rush, since I have three books to finish before).
If not, I have discovered your blog, and I’m glad that I did.
Well, now. I have just learned a fantastically valuable marketing lesson, and all for free. You are a genius, and you are “lucky” - in the sense that working hard tends to improve the odds of getting lucky.
I second Aruni’s idea, BTW.
I am going to be launching an e-learning product shortly, with an offering of support and coaching, and I am worried about how it will scale. I’d love to sell just 1,000 copies, but don’t know where I’d find 1,000 hours to coach the clients. That’s almost 6 months at 40 hrs/week. And who will want to wait 6 mos for their appointment?!?
Back to the drawing board…
Naomi you crack me up.
Good post and it prove the point that what is exclusive, or difficult, or private, or only for a select group - is what the masses believe they want. You always teach in your posts on many levels. Thanks.
ps…you could hire support team, put them in place, and allow the readers to send you chickens or baked pies in barter. :)
Hah. Just finished reading all the comments. Sonia has a great idea with that t-shirt. Hell, I’d buy one if I could get an autographed picture!
[...] Taking Ebook Off The Shelves Equals Rape? I write a blog for IttyBiz owners and wannabes. I write for people who don’t know if they can justify the purchase of a printer. My readers cannot afford a thousand dollars an hour. They can’t afford a printer, for God’s sake. [...]
Disappointedly, I discovered your blog after the book was pulled. Since reading a favorable review of the book online and catching up on your blog content, that disappointment has grown into a MAJOR bummer. I was definitely upset, because it didn’t seem fair to all of us late comers, but I kept my mouth shut and kept on reading.
I’d LOVE for the book to become available again. I’d buy it in a nano-second. As for all the haters, I’d pull their IP addresses from the message headers and block them from your site entirely. I’m always amazed and disgusted by how awful people are when they shoot off “customer service” emails.
Dude, take the money. If it were me, it wouldn’t even be a contest. This is a case of getting a lot of extra money for almost no work, right? People are going to bitch no matter what, so you might as well get some moola for being hated.
I would redesign the cover or change the font or something though. I think the reissue should look different than the supported version.
Leonard had a really good suggestion. I wouldn’t charge more for it though. That just seems kinda mean. I may not know what I’m talking about because I’ve never done an ebook but I gather that putting the book out again without support doesn’t really cost you anything. So it doesn’t seem fair to charge more just because you can.
Also, if your demand it going up (and it’s looking like it is) I would think now is the time to start looking for apprentices. I think your idea about getting real and affordable help to microbusinesses is so awesome - like, human rights leve awesome, because it’s basically about family survival and economic independence - and there is no way you’re going to be able to give that to everyone who needs it all by yourself. This event is basically about you as one person not being able to give to everyone who wants and if you don’t want to deal with that the way most people do (by raising the price) then you’ll have to do it by increasing the supply.
I doubt my comment will be read much, but here goes. I 100% agree with Mark Silver. First of all, I bought the book and had NO idea I was getting support. LOL When I read you were taking it off the market, there was no doubt why. How could one person support that product on THAT topic that could have discussions for days and weeks?! You’d have no time to do anything else! On my site, I offer consultations but not with purchase of my e-Book. I am planning on increasing the price and offering 2-emails, though, but that’s only b/c I have software to support that and make it so I don’t have to keep track. I’d never offer free advice indefinitely b/c I’d be taped to my keyboard indefinitely. I say put it back on the market b/c a) people who want to buy it still want to buy it, b) people who don’t know about it yet, will learn about it and then not know you took it off the market and c) a select few will think *maybe* that was a cheap trick but if they read your posts, they will know it wasn’t and if they don’t, they will forget about it in 2 seconds.
IMHO, an information product should be sold as long as someone is there to buy it. I, personally, think it’s silly not to sell it, but obviously you need to do what you feel good about. What you could do is add a chapter or two, call it SEO 2.0 and then sell again without the support.
Naomi, I am new(ish) to your blog, so I didn’t get a copy of the book. However, I agree that you should stick to your guns. Granted, I’m all for you repackaging the information and selling it under another name. I’d definitely buy it. :)
But integrity is hard to come by on the net and I am sure few of the haters have the same level of integrity you have shown. If they were too late (like me), too bad. Their time would be better spent reading through your blog, starting with the first post, and learning a thing or two.
No matter what you decide to do, you’ve got another devotee here.
Hi Naomi,
I’d love to read your book, but didn’t discover the link in time to purchase it. The good news is that I discover your blog as a result of that offering, and I’ve been greatly enjoying your posts ever since. I completely honor your original intention - it’s rare these days for someone to take a product off the market in order to service their customers better. I honor you for that! Thanks for all that you bring to those on your list every day. You rock!
Blessings, Greg
I didn’t get a copy, even though I agonized over it until the deadline, because I wasn’t ready for SEO either (had to look it up). But I knew it would be worth it, especially with the added free(!) support.
Naomi, whether you offer the ebook again or not probably won’t matter to your detractors. I’m not sure I’d even want to sell my work to someone shouting “Give it to me, you bitch!” Consider yourself fair game for eternal criticism now that ittybiz has enough visibility to attract stalkers and hecklers in droves.
Oh…I’d like my “Naomi is my filthy marketing whore” T-shirt in red please, size large.
Jr., I’m so buying one of those shirts. Thank you!
Naomi, no matter what you decide, you rock. And that’s all there is to it. :-)
Hi Naomi,
If I were you I would pay them no mind. If they have the time to send nasty emails how fulfilled must their life be anyway. It’s sad really.
As far as putting the book back out there, I say do it; but without support. Keep the price nice and cheap so no one can complain, put a message on the site saying why you’ve put it back up and sit back and let the money roll in.
I’m sure that won’t stop the haters, but who cares about them anyway?
Good luck with whatever decision you make.
Cheers,
Charlie
Naomi,
As someone who bought it right when it came out, I won’t be upset whatever you do.
But, my thought is this:
You have proven that your word has value. When you say your book is going away, it does. The next one you write….they won’t wait. You can’t put a price tag on that. The naggers will get over this. You just spent an amazing amount of time in your last posts giving us valuable information that could have been your next book. I would have bought that on day one too. I bet a lot of people would.
And by the way, maybe you should think about doing the consulting thing…I bet you would be great. The book proved you know what you are doing.
Oooooohhhh Nooooooo! I don’t know how I missed it - until I read this I planned on buying it “someday soon,” but alas, I’m too late.
Since you asked for vote, we have two sayings in our family which I think you could easily apply to your angry mob:
1) “Lack of preparation on your part does not necessitate an emergency on my part.” This gem is something a lady at the DMV laid on my dad when he went at the very last possible second to renew his CDL - something he needed for his livelihood. It shut him up right quick.
2) “Fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke.” Stole this from Bette Midler, but I’ve yet to find myself in a situation where it didn’t help. :)
I’ll still think you’re the bee’s knees so whatever you do is
May you live in interesting times.
(hi my old friend)
I am pondering a new site called http://www.filthymarketingwhore.com. That domain is available…OK…how many other people checked too?
uh, just to clarify my previous post, I was referring to the angry mob not being prepared … not Naomi.
Oh, and i TOTALLY want a “Naomi is my filthy marketing whore” shirt.
(I’ll even design it for free if you want to sell them!)
Naomi,
I would put it back on the market, but at a substantially higher price ($97?). This tactic makes your diehard fans feel like they are part of the cult that got in early and got a good deal. I feel like I got at least $100 worth of value out of the book, so I don’t think $100 is unreasonable.
Otherwise, if you just put it back on the market at the same price, you’ve basically just pissed-off everyone that bought it originally (ignoring the support, which I wasn’t aware of). Think: Apple cutting prices on the iPhone after all the diehard fans paid full retail - didn’t the original buyers feel stupid!
If you decide to sell it at the original price, you at least need to give 25% off, or something, to the original buyers (although I vote for the increased price). Trust is your most important asset!
-Josh
(i.e. broke-ass Stanford MBA n00b referenced in your newer post)
Hmmm….the “hit product” blues. What to do?
Here are a few vaguely hung-over thoughts:
WHITE HAT:
- Give it away. 52 pages = 52 posts/articles = 1 full year of link-love.
- No support -. 52 almost pre-written posts about SEO should be good for SEO, right? Oh crap, I’m asking for advice, and I missed the book. Sorry.
- No support - and a few footnotes/updates means a modified product, 2nd edition. Modify the price, and offer a get-it-now or get the free installments solution.
- Sell ad blocks to SEO $1000-an-hour wannabes. Let them sell service. Screen ‘em.
- Set up a ” Naomi Flashes…her SEO” membership site.
- JV with some talent over at Teaching Sells that need a product and service. Let them set it up. Get the SEO guys to guest moderate. You supply the brains.
- People who bought the first edition get charter-membered in. All others pay….free trial to those who get the 2nd edition.
- Challenge Brian Clark, Darren Rowse, Yaro, Jack Humphrey and Chris Garrett to “expose themselves” in your forum.
- Blog about stompin’ Stompernet, even if Andy Jenkins is a terrific human being.
- Buy a sheep farm.
BLACK HAT:
- Cut a secret licensing deal with some SEO/ 2.0 monster grey hat marketer whose name rhymes with Howie Schwarz.
- Flood the net with a “this offer could be pulled by the authorities any second” campaign”
- Boost the price to include the soon to be world famous “Naomi is My Marketing Whore” tee-shirt, underground edition.
- Post videos showing you ripping off your tee-shirt while frothing about this outrageous “rip-off”
- Get the guys at Traffic Geyser to flood all the video sites. Give them consulting on how to properly meta-tag.
- Buy your sheep farm
Whatever you do….keep talkin’ dirty to me.
I love your Blog.
I didn’t buy the book. I am a subscriber and I knew the book had been released, and filed that info away in the “must look into this at some point soon” folder in my brain. I read Copyblogger … a couple of days too late. I’ve got a lot of stuff on, and I didn’t make buying your e-book a priority. My bad. Life goes on.
If you put the book back on the market, I am more likely to buy it because I’ve now heard more about it from happy buyers, and because I’ll be appreciative that you’ve made it available again. Support was never an issue for me.
If you ramp up the price, you’ll give the haters a reason to hate you. Don’t do it. Put it out at the same price minus the support. That’s if you decide to put it back on the market, of course.
And for the love of pete, don’t repackage, reformat, or in any other way try to rebadge it as something new, like a couple of commenters seem to have suggested. That’s fraud, and people will see through it immediately. Not that I think you will consider doing this, because you’re big on the trust thing, and quite right too.
But here’s something I think you ought to consider INSTEAD of putting the book back on the market: when you open pre-purchase orders for your next e-book, offer buyers the opportunity to buy both the new e-book and the original SEO e-book (minus support and for the original price) if they place a pre-purchase order. And let Brian from Copyblogger know that you’re doing this so that he can get the word out.
[...] course. It’s about Marketing and Promoting your business. If it’s anything like her SEO Ninja course you’re going to want to jump on [...]
[...] course. It’s about Marketing and Promoting your business. If it’s anything like her SEO Ninja course you’re going to want to jump on [...]
Naomi you are a real treat! I just found your blog a few days ago and I can’t stop reading it…I’m going to run out of posts soon and then I’ll have to actually work on my blog!
I didn’t even know what SEO stood for until I saw the title of your book and asked about it. I could offer myself up as pathetic but I’m not…just learning. Your blog alone offers up so much to anyone who is lucky enough to read it that I’d say that all those who wrote you hate mail wants what you’ve got and hates that they’ve missed the boat, train, e-book or whatever else is up their ass!
Sorry I missed your e-book but I just know that it was only the first train I missed…I imagine it will be a long time before anyone sees your little red caboose saying good bye!
You are one loved Filthy Marketing Whore!
[...] time. If you don’t know the whole sordid story behind the ebook, you can read it here. (For SEO School students, that was a really bad example of optimization. Because I heart irony.) [...]
Thank you for being real, thank you for all the good advice, thank you for putting treasures on your site that are totally free. Thank you for the no bullshit way you say everything.
I just discovered you today and I regret that I was too late to get your book. I am aghast that people actually got mad at you. It’s an “I me, me mine” world we live in, that’s all I can say. Except maybe it’s the rude selfish type that squeak more. This is like the second time in my life I commented on someone’s site. Maybe appreciative people tend to be quiet, and we’re really a silent majority.
I find it really amazing that so many people want to complain - when they had a chance to buy it. If they knew you were taking it off the market, then they also knew that it was for sale.
For them to know about it, and not take advantage of it then, it is no one’s fault but their own. Seems like they don’t want to accept the blame, so they try to pin it on you. Like you said - you can’t win.
Anyway, with such a demand for it, why not make a little more profit off of what is apparently an in-demand Ebook. As one commentator said, Sell it for a little less because there is not support with it. Why not? Or, put it in a package with your next product!
Why not release a “second edition, slightly revised” - a new product, with roughly the same content plus something-or-other (a prologue by someone else who is SEO famous) and with a different support model?
Naomi,
I read all of your posts in regards to writing and launching an e-book. It was all hilarious and informational.
We are about to launch a SEO Dashboard product that’s interactive with video, screencasts, etc. So, I know what you’re talking about. But I have to say that you absolutely captured the essence of getting it done and getting it launched. Your personality comes through. I’ll have to thank Selene, I found your blog through hers.
All the best!
[...] there were fifty. There are no longer fifty but that’s all I’m saying to avoid the Filthy Marketing Whore scarcity tactics thing that we’ve already talked to [...]