The biggest mistake I've made in 10 years of blogging

ConvenienceBigs,

In 2013, I released my first print book, How to Travel the World on $50 a Day.

I was excited.

All my life I had dreamed of becoming a writer.

When I was in high school, I used to write fiction in notebooks to pass the time. Now, that dream was a reality! I could walk into bookstores and see my book on the shelf next to great travel writers like Tim Cahill and Bill Bryson. What a rush!

When it came time for the release, I thought, "This book is going to sell so many copies. My audience will support me 'just because,' and everyone loves to travel and save money so of course people would buy it."

In my mind, the book would sell itself.

I thought, "If I build it, they will come."

But they didn't.

And I was devastated.

The book's failure made me feel like a failure. I had planned its release for months, lined up guest posts, and offered a pre-sale incentive. I thought I had done everything right.

But I hadn't.

Book sales failed to make back my low advance, I didn't hit any best-seller lists, and it didn't generate a lot of media. Instead of making a splash, the first edition made barely a ripple. It sold around 1,500 copies the first month.

Afterwards, I did a lot of soul-searching and realized that my launch's failure stemmed from three things: (1) not articulating how my book was different from my blog, (2) not reaching an audience beyond the travel sphere, and (3) not planning enough.

When I wrote a second edition of the book, I resolved to fix those problems. I wanted a second chance. In my mind, there was no first edition. There was only a "beta version."

And this niche travel book's second edition became a New York Times best-seller that sold over 4,000 copies in its first month, which (though not OMG numbers) in travel is a heck of a lot. In eight months, it sold more copies than the previous edition did in two years!

How did I do that?

I got help.

For the "beta version," I tried to do everything myself. I wrote guest blogs, wrote the blog posts for my site, contacted media and other websites, and went on a book tour. I was a one-man band. And since I had to do so much, I couldn't focus on anything well. My overall efforts suffered.

I tried to be Superman, but I was really just Clark Kent.

Realizing the need for help when the second edition came out, I hired a marketing company, Brass Check, to do the heavy lifting. Brass Check focused on the planning, media contacts, and organization of my launch. They came up with a posting schedule, found sites I should be featured on, kept me on task, and helped edit and brainstorm posts.

Brass Check had the close connections to a lot of editors that I simply didn't have. They could get yeses where I would only get nos. Because of them, I was featured in Copyblogger, The New York Observer, Cracked, Entrepreneur, Mixergy, Entrepreneur on Fire, The James Altucher Show, Forbes, and a host of other websites and podcasts. They helped me set up a reddit AMA that hit the front page of the site, created over 2,000 comments, and led to over 1,200 people emailing me.

I didn't try to be Superman this time. I hired help.

Too many bloggers try to be Superman or think they can do it all. You can't — so don't try. Everyone I know who does it on their own either burns out or never grows. After all, there's only so much time in the day!

No one can do it all.

This is why I created the Superstar Blogging community.

It has more than 2,000 people to help you. To lend you their expertise, advice, share your content, give you links, and be your support system. No one gets to the top alone. I tried. It didn't work.

Come check out the Superstar Blogging community and become a member today. (Use the code10off to get 10% off your course!)

Take it from someone who tried and failed — you need people to help you. No blogger is an island.

But even if you don't join us (say that in a cult-like voice), join something!

Find a local group.

Find friends.

Find mentors.

Find something!

You'll succeed quicker if you do.

Sincerely,

Nomadic Matt

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