Steve Morgan is a Freelance SEO Consultant based in Cardiff, South Wales, UK. Having worked full-time in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) since 2009, he decided to go self-employed as a solo freelancer in 2013 – and has been ever since. In addition to being a long-time blogger (with his SEO blog: SEOno), in 2019 he wrote and self-published a book – Anti-Sell: Marketing, Lead Generation & Networking Tips for Freelancers Who Hate Sales – which offers sales and networking advice to people who struggle with (or simply downright hate) sales and networking.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you ended up writing a book?
My background is in online marketing and SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Before starting work on the book, I was a long-time blogger… I wrote a few blog posts on behalf of my employer at the time (an online marketing agency) back in 2010, but I launched my own blog – SEOno – in 2011, so that I could blog more (and in my own tone and style). I loved blogging – and in fact I told myself I’d never write a book, as I liked the idea of blogging more…!
However, while SEOno covered SEO and online marketing topics, as I got more and more into my freelancing career, I found myself wanting to blog more about freelancing, personal branding, networking, and growing a business. I had loads of blog post ideas, but they didn’t seem like they’d be a good fit for my SEO blog… I was going to set up a separate blog for them, but then I realized that the advice was timeless(-ish), and if I converted each blog post idea into a book chapter idea instead, it could work well as a book. And that gave me the drive to start writing it.
What do you hope your readers take away from this book?
For people who want to become self-employed (or perhaps already are), but who are put off and/or intimidated by the idea of doing sales and networking, I’m hoping that the book will help them to overcome those concerns and to sell themselves and network in way that isn’t salesy at all.
Without sound cheesy, in addition to the tips and advice it gives, I see it as a book that empowers people. If you don’t like the idea of hard-selling and that ‘sell, sell, sell’ ideology then that’s absolutely fine. You don’t have to sell in that way. I’m proof of it: I hate the idea of selling, but I’ve managed to survive as a freelancer for 7+ years and continue to generate a steady number of leads on an ongoing basis.
What were the top three mistakes you made publishing your book what did you learn from them?
Oh my gosh… I’m sure I made so many, haha! Here are the top three though:
- A few months after publishing the book, I realized that I didn’t like the first version of the book cover, so I worked with the designer on a 2nd version with a few minor amendments, which incurred a further cost. I wish I’d worked harder on the 1st version so that I didn’t have to change it later on.
- I regret not taking the launch more seriously, in terms of striving for Amazon bestseller status. I really should’ve asked more people to buy copies at launch, but – given that’s a book about not hard-selling – I didn’t want to pester people too much, just in case that backfired. I guess I could’ve been smarter about the way that I handled it though. But hey – hindsight, right?
- I originally aimed for a January 2019 publication date, but getting the paperback version sorted led to a big delay, meaning that it didn’t get published until late March 2019. And it was all down to just one thing: I gave the wrong template format to the book cover designer! She designed the cover, I requested proof copies, and I found that the front/back/spine didn’t line up properly. At first, we genuinely couldn’t figure out why. We went back-and-forth multiple times trying to figure out the issue, and as it took 1-2 weeks to receive a proof copy, and she’d be busy with other projects, it took weeks and weeks each time. Eventually, I checked the template I originally gave her and realized that I’d selected white paper, but some time after that I’d opted for cream paper instead (and had forgotten that I’d previously opted for white paper). And cream paper is ever so slightly thicker, which means a thicker spine, which is why the template we were using wasn’t lining up properly. It was such a simple mistake that cost us weeks in delays. I still cringe thinking about it, haha! I guess the lesson here is to be really careful during the process – triple-check everything. Everything.
When will you consider your book a success?
I had three main goals for the book:
- Make my money back on its costs,
- Obtain Amazon bestseller status,
- Win a book award.
I’ve only hit one of those goals (#3), so in a way I do and don’t consider it a success.
Because it hasn’t hit #1, it’s certainly not been a financial success… I’ve made my money back on initial costs, but I entered a lot of book awards (see #3), which was very costly – so I haven’t made back all my costs just yet.
I also haven’t reached Amazon bestseller status (yet). I got close – it reached 4th in its best-fit category at one point – but never reached 1st, which was a shame.
That said, I consider it a success in many other ways. In addition to the fact that it’s won multiple book awards, its Amazon reviews are currently an average of 4.8 out of 5, from 50+ reviews. I told myself that I’d be happy with anything above a 4.5 – heck, even 4.0! So to have an average rating of 4.8 is just phenomenal in my eyes. I can’t believe how many people have resonated with the book.
I also struck a deal with my coworking space, who often buy copies in bulk to give to new members. They love the book and are absolutely delighted to be able to give free copies to people, and in turn I’m delighted that it’s helping out so many people on their self-employment journey as a result.
Also, my ‘win a book award’ goal was to win just one award. It’s gone on to win five. I’m incredibly proud of that.
Sure! This is from the introduction:
“I argue that you can sell yourself in a way that really isn’t sales-y at all. It’s about you being you: a good human being who helps out and imparts his or her knowledge to those in need.
“The best way to sell is not to sell. Let that sink in. The best way to sell is not to sell.”
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge that I’ve had with it has been promoting it… Not because I don’t know how to promote it (I work in online marketing in my day job, and I’ve always had a bit of a social media following), but because it’s a book about not selling. I’ve hit a bit of a catch-22 situation with it, because the more I promote it, the more it goes against the core message of the book. I certainly can’t be seen ramming it down people’s throats (so to speak)…
However, in keeping with the book and its teachings, the way that I’ve overcome this has been by asking people to review it and to spread the word. When other people review it and tell others about it, they’re selling it for me – so I don’t have to worry too much about selling it myself.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before publishing your book?
I thought the tricky and time-consuming bit would be writing it! But I’ve found that all the post-publishing stuff – mainly the promotion side of things – has been the really time-consuming bit. I wish I’d known just how time-consuming it was going to be in advance, so I knew what I would be letting myself in for.
I also find it quite obsessive keeping an eye on sales numbers, new reviews, and the sales rankings in categories on Amazon. As far as I know, Amazon doesn’t alert or notify you if you get any new sales or reviews, so it’s something that you have to keep an eye on yourself manually. I find myself checking a few times a day, just in case a new one pops up. Or maybe I’m just easily distracted, haha…
Ask people. It’s as simple as that. Just ask people.
If you know someone who liked your book, be sure to ask them if they don’t mind taking two minutes to quickly leave a review. Not all of them will (most will probably want to, but some might just forget) – but a bunch of them will. It’s how I’ve gotten many of my 50+ Amazon reviews.
Here are the ones that have worked best for me:
- I offered a free PDF copy of the book to everyone in my coworking space (which was essentially up to hundreds of people). It was a way to say thank you to a group of people who had helped me out a lot over the years – but admittedly it wasn’t an entirely selfless move… It meant that I was able to get a few good reviews on Amazon almost straight away (soon after the book was published), plus the place is filled with freelancers and business owners, who might then go on to tell other freelancers and business owners to buy a copy.
- The book contains the case studies of eight other freelancers and small business owners… I’ve found that they’ve gone on to help promote the book as well, given that they’re featured in it.
- Speaking at events. I was very lucky that a friend of mine is the co-founder of a UK freelancer community, and she asked me to speak at their annual conference. The talk went down a treat. A few people gave feedback saying that it was their favorite talk of the day, which was extremely humbling to hear.
- Participating in Twitter chats, i.e. the Q&A-style chats that usually last an hour and happen once a week/month. I’ve done well contributing to Twitter chats #ContentClubUK, #FreelanceHeroes, and #FreelanceChat – but I’ve made sure not to sell the book when I do; I just go in and chat to people. Sometimes the topic is around sales/networking, and sometimes I get asked to be the guest one week – and it’s those moments where I might end up shifting a copy or two.
If you had the chance to start your career over again what would you do differently?
Honestly? I don’t know! Probably nothing different. I’m pretty happy with how everything’s turned out so far. I’d be worried that if I did try to do something different, what if it went worse…?!
What helps you stay driven and motivated to finish writing your book?
When it came to Anti-Sell, I was lucky in that I had the basic structure in my head, along with what I was going to write about in all the chapters – and then I won a competition to go to a conference in Seattle. It was a 10-hour flight each way (flying from London Heathrow in the UK), so I took my laptop with me and got the first few thousand words (and therefore the first few chapters) written during the flights. This gave me the kick up the bum I needed to keep going and finish it off.
I appreciate that that was a fluke, and that not everyone is going to get the chance to write a book on a long-haul flight (especially at the moment!), but I guess my advice is to try and dedicate some time to get started. Once you’ve written 25-50% of it, it’s going to motivate you to want to finish off the rest.
If you only had $1000 dollars to promote a new book, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
Oof… What a question. Most of the promotion I’ve done for my book has been free – so I don’t even know what I’d do if I even had $1,000 to spend, haha! But in all seriousness, I would look into social media ads – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn – and make sure I had a slick website. I mean I’m happy with the Anti-Sell website – especially as it’s a DIY job – but getting something done properly would be cool. Oh and filming a promo video would be cool as well.
10+ years ago I never would’ve considered that I’d become a writer, but by blogging so much over the last decade, I’ve slowly improved my writing – and found my tone/style – which helped massively when it came to writing the book.
So I guess my advice would be to start smaller: if you don’t feel ready to write a book just yet, start off with a blog. Use it as a stepping-stone – and an excuse to practice and hone your craft – before you get started on the book.
What is your favorite quote?
I can’t remember who said it, and I don’t even know if this is the actual quote, but as someone who tries hard to strive for perfection and to please everyone, I once heard this quote (which I’ve likely largely paraphrased) and it really hit me:
“The road to success is to try and please as many people as possible. The road to failure is to try and please everyone.”
It helps you to realize that you genuinely cannot please everyone, so don’t worry if you can’t, and don’t dwell on it. If you obsess over the unhappy people, you’ll miss out on improving things with your happy people. You can’t please everyone. Heck, even the Beatles had haters.
Incidentally, if anyone knows the quote and who said it, then please do let me know!
How can readers get in touch with you?
The best way to keep in touch with me is by following me on Twitter: @steviephil. I talk about the book as well as some other stuff (usually stuff that interests me, which at the moment is mostly rock music and Dungeons & Dragons, haha)! And it’s also worth keeping an eye on my blog too: Anti-Sell.com.
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