Where the hell have I been?
July has been a life changing month for me. I don't say that to exaggerate or to create drama. Seriously, it's been huge. There's a lot to update you with, so strap yourself in folks...
Lou and I have decided to sell our house and move to Cambridge. In fact, we accepted an offer over the asking price on Saturday 30th July.
We spent the first chunk of July decorating the house and ensuring it was 'sellable' (is that a word?). We listed it on the market and 15 days later we sold it!
Who cares, and why's that relevant?
I wrote a Blog post last year which detailed a potential move to Cambridge. Lou owns a house there and has since been paying for its upkeep. Its costs are low, but it's still been an added expense in her life. For the full Blog post and back story click HERE.
I decided against it as I loved my job at PGL and didn't want to risk not finding a job I loved down there. Now that I've been working for myself, the option of moving down to Cambridge reared its head again.
This house doesn't have a mortgage. With the impending sale of our current home, Lou and I will be fortunate enough to benefit from a substantial sum of capital we have in our current home, which can invest with.
Our new living expenses will be approximately half of what they currently are (living mortgage free), with the added benefit of receiving the extra dividends / investment income from the house sale.
Based on my conservative estimates, it's fair to say that Lou and I will be FI. If not FI, we'll be extremely close to it.
For the last 3-4 years, we've been working towards Financial Independence, and once our house is sold we'll be one massive step closer.
With my kindle earnings, Matched Betting, Ebay and Dividends, I earn more than enough to cover both of our living expenses and more. In fact, my dividends and Lou's dividends are likely to cover our living expenses and bills, with any extra cash going towards 'fun stuff' or further investments.
Now that we're in this awesome position, we've asked ourselves...
..."What do we do now?"
This opens up a range of options. Lou is contemplating not working again, and we can finally do whatever we want in life together. Travel, relax, take up new hobbies, and generally enjoy our lives together.
I'm not one for sitting on my arse and doing nothing, and frankly, neither is Lou. Although we're yet to decide what we want to do with our new lifestyle, I feel so grateful to be in a position where we can take our time and make an informed decision.
What's happening with the FIRE Escape in Sept?
I've been rightfully asked what's going on with the FIRE Escape in Sept. I have to be honest and say, nothing at the moment. The house move is likely to happen in September, and although we don't have a date confirmed yet. I don't want to take on something like this whilst the move is ongoing.
I know that's shit and disappointing etc. But it's where I stand.
If anyone else out there wants to organise it, use the name and/or advertise it on this Blog, you are more than welcome. Contact me via the Blog on the right hand side and let me know.
What's happening with the Blog / Youtube?
Honestly, I don't know.
The reason I haven't announced our plans sooner is that I didn't know what to tell everyone. I still don't...
Our new situation will allow me to do whatever I want, and I have to be honest and say I was contemplating not doing any Blogging/Youtube online ever again for a while.
The truth is I need some time to consider what I REALLY want to do with my life, settle into my new surroundings and decide with Lou what we both want to do. Once I've established that, I promise you guys will be the first to know.
What's happening with the Kindle Course?
Like the Blog and Youtube, I was considering sacking the whole thing off. I had become somewhat disillusioned with the whole thing.
The course was set for release on 31st July, which obviously hasn't worked out.
I don't shy away from work, and I'm more likely to over-commit to stuff more than anything, but the thing that bothered me most was the potential ongoing work created in a membership site - dealing with issues (software, customer service etc), running the forum (and occasionally policing it), and ultimately ensuring that the members were getting exceptional value for money. If I couldn't commit to delivering excellent post-course service, I didn't want to do it. I wasn't comfortable with selling it and leaving them to it.
I've talked to a several people about whether or not to do it and I've decided that I DO want to proceed with it and get it out there. I will need to keep myself busy, and I believe I have too much to offer on this topic to just benefit from it myself.
A recent Book Launch really helped me confirm that decision. This book personifies my message of Self Publishing - Being unique, standing apart form the competition, or simply put, being INNOVATIVE.
This book has been a big, difficult, and expensive project, but has been totally worth it!
I hired writers, editors, proofreaders, even translators to get it done. It was totally unique and no other book is available on this topic on Amazon (for now..).
My Recent Ebook Launch Stats
Cost = £555.62 (This is usually £100-£200)
1-7 day sales = £655.50
1-14 day sales = £981.91
1-21 day sales = £1,231.26
(These sales numbers are NOT Including KENP (pages read), which are averaging about 5,000 pages read per day = approx £14 per day)
Its results have reminded me how important these elements are to success and how my message differs from most of the other Kindle 'Gurus' out there. I know my results aren't JK Rowling status or anything, but how many other Kindle Coaches out there have made over $1,600 in ebook sales alone (not KENP) in 3 weeks from one book?
Note: I haven't included Createspace sales numbers nor ACX numbers either!
I'm not sure when I'll complete it with an upcoming holiday and the house move, but once I have a better idea, I'll let you all know.
For those of you waiting for the course...
In the meantime, feel free to unsubscribe, wait or crack on with another option. I appreciate that I've let you down and I've let myself down with this commitment. For that I'm truly sorry!
To somewhat make up for that, I've tried to offer some alternatives. I'm going to be opening up my coaching service to a limited number of dedicated people, I'll work my nuts off to get this course done as soon as I can, and I'll recommend a course for those of you that are desperate to get going.
I've been asked by a few people what course I would recommend and so far I would only recommend one!
I've completed many Kindle Publishing / Self Publishing courses and I would NOT recommend most of them due to their generic, lack of quality and sub-par detail. This includes K Money Mastery which I did at the very beginning!
The only course I would recommend to anyone interested in Kindle / Self Publishing is...
Steve Scott's - Authority Pub Academy
I've reached out to the creators Steve, Barrie and Ron and asked for an affiliate link - They didn't have one prior to me asking! They've created some test links which I'll provide below and in an upcoming Youtube video when I show you a behinds the scene look at it.
>>Click Here for Authority Pub Academy
Steve and Barrie have written over 70 books between them and made over $600,000 in 2 years. Although I don't write my books, I've used a lot of their methodology to improve my pen name sales and brand. I've also used this course as a benchmark for my own course, and included a lot of the learning points from it. Their course was a big reason behind my initial delay in releasing my course in Jan this year due to it's quality.
This is not a cheap course, and it will take some time to work through. It has over 90 videos, in-depth interviews with successful authors, and 6 bonuses. The content is second to none in my opinion! BUT is only for the truly committed.
Kindle Coaching
I'm opening up my coaching once again, as I miss working with people, and I feel I have a lot to offer in the world of Self Publishing. I'll be restricting the number of people I take on, and I'll be looking for a particular type of individual.
To allow myself the time to complete my course, I will only take on people that have ALREADY released a book onto Amazon, and know the basics. My coaching will be a form of improvement on what you've currently done, rather than teaching you the basics of getting started.
Also, I'll only be willing to work with the truly dedicated people who are willing to work hard, make sacrifices and are willing to take a calculated risk. THIS IS NOT FOR EVERYONE!
If you've made a start on publishing and you'd like some help on improving your sales numbers, click on the link below and apply for a coaching spot.
>>Click Here to apply for a limited Coaching spot
Please note: Most people will NOT be accepted due to my selection process. Don't take this personally! :-)
I hope either of these options can take the edge off letting down those of you that are interested.
I've taken up enough of your time, so I'll wrap it up there. If you have any questions, as always, drop them in the comments below.
Labels: Blog Update, Early Retirement, Financial Independence
