NevBlog

Writing a book in 2 weeks Experiment!

August 15, 2011 by Neville

This is another one of those “There’s-really-no-practical-reason-of-doing-this-other-than-that-I-just-want-to-because-I-think-It’ll-be-cool” experiments.

I have no idea why, but I feel like I can write, format, publish and print a PHYSICAL book for NevBlog within 2 weeks.

Correction, it’s not going to be a full-fledged book….I think it’ll be more of a glorified pamphlet.

I want to see how fast I can make a book out of my blog and get it in-hand printed.

So today I am officially kicking off the “Write a Book In 2 Weeks Experiment”!

I already know the end goal, so here’s what I need to do in the next 14 days:

Come up with concept/title ideas.
Start putting Facebook ads out like 4HWW style to split test names (optional step).
Find out what format to write in (PDF or Word) to get it printed correctly.
Write Chapter 1
Write Chapter 2
Write Chapter 3
Write Chapter 4
Write Chapter 5
Write Chapter 6
Write Chapter 7
Write index
Formatting and editing
Agree on title from Facebook ads click-through-rates
Create book cover – Upload to service for printing like OffTheBookShelf.com or LuLu.com. Apply for ISBN number.

That’s the rough plan.

Now I’ll soooorrt of be cheating, because each chapter I’m going to write has already been written. Essentially I’ll be making each chapter out of a blog post.

For example, I might write about the Facebook fan site I made a while back and then sold for a small sum. That whole saga was already done and documented:

https://www.nevblog.com/facebook-profile-website/

https://www.nevblog.com/why-facebook-sued-me/

https://www.nevblog.com/selling-facebookprofile-com/

…..so one chapter might consist of that story. It’s already been done, but it’ll still require a lot of formatting and re-doing the photos for the book version.

But if I keep up the one-chapter a day pace I’ll have some extra time to do all the other miscellaneous things that might come up (I’m saving a whole day for formatting errors…..there’s ALWAYS formatting errors).

Anywhoozle, I’ll be starting this tomorrow. First step will be to come up with the subject of the bamphlet (book / pamphelt).

Random title and subject brainstorms (based off blog posts I already have done):

7 weird ways I made money through college
7 ways I made money without a job
7 stupid ways I’ve made money

Other suggestions are welcome!

Actually Giving A Fuck

August 13, 2011 by Neville

“Success leaves clues” is a fantastically short yet true statement about success.

….and after 28 years I’m starting to notice a trend about all the successful people I admire:

All of them….. Actually give a fuck.

I mean….they TRULY TRULY TRULY give a fuck about something.

I’m talking about people who have been successful for long periods of time. Not just short bursts.

You know what….let’s just jump into a couple of examples and you’ll see what I mean:

Herb Kelleher of SouthWest Airlines (the only airline in history to stay profitable every year) – I’ve seen him speak 3 times (first | second | third), and I gotta say….they guy ACTUALLLLYYY cares about his employees and having as much fun as possible. It’s allll he talks about the whole time, and you can tell he genuinely cares. He also is a fun guy himself, and refuses to work at a company that’s not the same way.

Earl Nightingale – He’s the guy who kicked off the whole self-help market….and I’ve never heard of someone so dedicate to the quality of his work as this guy. I’ve listened to pretty much every piece of content (that still exists) of his….and he never put out something “bad”. His stuff is also so jam-packed with amazing advice that it leaves other stuff behind. Sometimes I can’t believe they don’t just play his audio recordings on repeat at schools.

Howard Stern – The guy is literally MANIC on the insistance that his show be FUNNY. To do that he’s been through massive “1st amendment” legal battles and fights with his own employers and the FCC…..all so he can “say what he wants”. He’s consistently been the highest paid celebrity over the years because of it….all stemming from his absolute insistance that his silly little radio program “be funny”.

Steve Jobs – Watch every interview with him online (here’s one to start), and notice how god-damn-committed he is to “making the absolute BEST products on the market”. Apple consistently does this despite people hating them (for not using Flash on iPhone & iPads, getting rid of floppy disk drives, getting rid of physical keyboards on phones etc). I personally use a MacBook Air now….and I’ve gotta say that everything about it IS IN FACT “just waayyy better” than anything I’ve ever used before…..and it’s that extreme commitment Apple has to making incredible products that produces that feeling in me.

Gary Halbert – He’s the most revered direct response marketer I’ve ever heard of…and I love listening to anything he says….because he’s SO DAMN INSISTENT on getting his point across clearly. He said something I’ve never forgot, “The number one mistake people make in trying to make money (online or anywhere else)…..is they expect to get a lot of money, without first giving a MASSSSSIIVE amount of value first.”

How to improve your writing

August 9, 2011 by Neville

I’ve got several different ways you can improve your writing:

1.) The day I improved my writing, amazing things happened:

I was running a business called HouseOfRave.com at the time that sold light-up and glow stuff online. I used to make this really fancy newsletter and send it out to about 7,500 previous customers.

So I was sending an email broadcast to 7,500 people….all which whom have already paid me money. This is the dream-list for any marketer!

However these fancy emails I sent would result in only 2 sales at most.

Until I discovered Kopywriting. It changed everything. The first properly copywritten email I sent out to that very same list results in 120+ sales in the first few hours, thousands of dollars in profit, and sold out inventory.

This was the moment I found out that changing the words around on a page can result in DRAMATIC changes.

I wrote out this whole story including all the numbers, full screenshots of the old newsletters and new newsletters, and you can download the PDF file here:

2.) I made a whole Kopywriting Kourse about this very thing because people kept asking:

One of the fun things I started writing for was a little company called AppSumo, which quickly grew into a big company. During that growth phase from 50,000 people to 500,000+ people, I wrote all the emails and developed a distinctive “style” people paid close attention to.

Naturally this level of distribution got some attention, and I was bombarded with questions about writing techniques and the psychology behind why those things worked.

We even recorded a little video about all of this:

So from there the KopywrtingKourse was born!

I originally made it in 2011, and since then thousands of people have bought it and watched it. I’ve then re-done the videos to be even better in 2014 and added more stuff.

If I had to boil down the KopywritingKourse into one sentence it would be something like:

In less than 2 hours I will show you brain-hacks, formulas and techniques that will make you a MUCH better writer in your business and personal life…..and it won’t be boring as hell.

If you’re interested you can buy the KopywritingKourse right now and start learning immediately:

(Checkout through PayPal –> It’ll send you to the KopywritingKourse registration page –> You can get started immediately). You can go here for more details.

That Kourse has all the things I’ve learned over the years compressed down into some super-simple formulas, techniques, templates and mind-hacks. This Kourse has single-handedly been responsible for changing people’s businesses and incomes dramatically.

There’s even a bunch of companies where this Kourse is the only standard-issue guide they must watch before joining (because good copy permeates all areas of business, definitely not just sales pages like some people think).

Learning the proper psychology behind writing to sell has been one of the most profitable things I’ve ever done to date. I’d highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly highly suggest you do the same!

Sincerely,
Neville Medhora – Kopwriting Extraordinaire

Tracking Daily Income

August 9, 2011 by Neville

Here’s something I’ve been doing just for fun:

Writing down the actual dollar value an activity has made me.

I already track my daily to-do lists pretty meticulously…..so after I scratch something off, I now write the amount of money it made me (if any).

Now there’s only a FEW things that literally put money in my pocket each time I do them, such as:

Daily profit from HouseOfRave.com
Writing a piece of copy
Making sales from the Behind The Scenes product
Selling an ad or link on this el blog-o
Whatever else I do that equates to cold hard ca$h

The goal is to hit about $1,000 every weekday.
Some days I hit $1,000 easily.
Some days I miss by a few hundred.
Some days I far exceed that number.

….it’s just simply a reminder or the minimum I want to make (I always thought the minimum amount of money I’d be satisfied with is what a higher-end doctor makes).

Anyhooowww…..

Here’s a list of what you’ll make per month and per year if you make $XXX.xx per day.

I’m only counting weekdays to be realistic:

(I was just gonna make a boring Excel-style list….but thought Photoshopping it out would be more fun. The result actually turned out to look like an infographic)!

August 2011 Goooaaaaaallllssss

August 7, 2011 by Neville

Here’s the goal set for August 2011 (forgot to post the on the 1st..d’oh)!

1.) Signup for guitar lessons (again):

I already play the guitar as you can see:

…..but I wanna get BETTER! I’ve also become exceedingly spoiled with living downtown and not having to drive much…..so there’s no way in hell I’m going to drive to-and-fro to get lessons. This means I’ll have a tutor come to my apartment once a week.

The last time I went to guitar lessons I improved dramatically….so hopefully I can do the same, and pickup new styles of guitar too.

2.) The “Write-A-Book-In-Two-Weeks” Experiment.

For some reason I’ve always just wanted to publish a book for no reason other than “I think it’d be cool to say I wrote a book.”

I have no intention to make money off this book, nor do I care if it sells even one copy…..IN FACT this project is likely to just be a big damn waste of time. The only reason I can think of to spend the time doing this is :

“Cause it sounds cool” :-)

I’ll kick off the project mid-August. The goal will to “write a full book in 2 weeks” and get a printed copy of it.

I didn’t write it on this goal sheet…..but I also want to start automating HouseOfRave.com a little more.

Meeting the copywriting greats

August 4, 2011 by Neville

I was all excited for this marketing event thingy at the lake….and the conclusion:

TOTALLY DAMN WORTH IT!

As you may (or may not) know, I’ve become a semi-famous copywriter in the last 4 months….and this event brings together some of the top marketers (many of whom started by writing sales copy) from around the world.

Naturally I learned a lot stuff in the seminar parts of the conference, but the real value is NOT JUST GETTING TO MEET the greats in an industry….

….but getting to hang out with them in lots of different personal settings.

THAT is where the real value sets in.

FOR EXAMPLE:
I was all excited to meet Joe Sugarman again at this conference, because since I heard of him I’ve:

Read everything by him
Studied his work
Copied the style of some of his work
Used the principles he teaches to make money for myself and others
Watched every YouTube video about him
Downloaded interviews etc….

His work has actually added a major element to the way I work….and it’s exciting to meet a personal hero of yours.

HOWEVER it’s getting to sit next to him on a 45 min bus ride to a restaurant, or go boating with him, hanging out at the pool, or simply sitting next to him at meals and getting to ask stuff you don’t hear about in his work. This is where the networking happens…..because it’s not just “networking”…it’s actually becoming friends with someone.

Allllrriiigghhttyyy…..so here’s some of the highlights of the conference (well….the whole thing was a blast):

Here’s Joe Sugarman up on stage giving a talk:

Me with the great Joe Sugarman (and my Kopy shirt):

The first day of the conference, all 80+ people got on a big boat and went cruising around Lake Travis…complete with full indoor seating area, lunch buffet, three full-time jet skii’s and a wake boarding boat (not a bad day at a “boring conference” right?!):

Hanging out on a boat while Joe Polish goes tubing:

Hahah….Joe had a “tubing war” with a “hefty” Brit…..and judging by this picture I’d say he’s about to win!

We got treated to Joe speaking several times through the conference:

….and of course I got my obligatory picture:

I love all these pictures….but it’s more gratifying to hang out on a personal level with some with some other industry greats (some not so publicly-well-known) like Michael Fishman:

While hanging out at a restaurant by the lake I got a random shot of John Carlton and Joe Sugarman talking…..and with a little cropping and making the picture black & white it looks like they’re total badasses (or they’re asking “Why the fuck are you taking a picture of us?“)

Later on everyone got to hear John Carlton speak. He had a lot of cool ways to come up with a definition of your bid-nazz as well as other advice:

…and of course, the obligatory picture with one of the greats (who was good friends with Gary Halbert….another idol of mine):

The final speaker for the whole conference was Bill Phillips. I honestly don’t know toooo much about Bill other than he’s a HUGGGEEE figure in the fitness industry. I’ve heard this a lot in the past….and could tell everyone was genuinely excited to meet him.

Apparently he just had major surgery on both his knees, and up till last week was confined to a wheel chair. He can now walk a bit….but only with these massive full-leg braces. They kept calling him The Bionic Man :-)

….and what did you expect….a PICTURE with him of course :-)

I also made sure I brought my copy of “Advertising Secrets of the Written Word” by Joe Sugarman to get it signed….here it is!

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Fantastic learning experience, great getting to mingle with higher-ups, lots of fun…and completely worth it :-)

I’ve scanned and posted my notes from the conference below. I dunno how much REAL value you’ll get out of them since most of it comes from BEING THERE….but here ya go, enjoy!

Upcoming marketing thingy

July 22, 2011 by Neville

OMG OMG OMG I’M SO EXCITED!! :-D :-D :-D

The reason I sound like a 13 year girl is that next week I’m going to a marketing conference at the Lakeway Marine (here in Austin fortunately, so I don’t have to travel far).

Some of the main draws are the speakers, several whom I already highly admire:

Joe Sugarman
Joe Polish
John Carlton
Bill Phillips

…..to non-marketing people these names won’t ring a bell. But to someone like me….

…it’s like a doctor getting to meet the famous Dr. DeBakey

…or a bicyclist meeting Lance Armstrong

…or a murderer meeting Charles Manson

It’s very exciting :-)

This event after registration, hotel, and extra spending will run about $2,000.

However it’s a really cool conference. I went last year, and they did “sessions” from only 9am till noon. THAT’S IT! The rest of the time is spent yachting around, jet skiing, wakeboarding and mingling (part of the big draw).

3 hours of sessions is about as much as a dummy like me can realistically absorb in one day. Simply packing in 8 hours of sessions would just be a snooze-fest (and when there’s a lake, pool and jet ski’s waiting for you outside….it’s REALLY not cool to spend all day indoors)!

The event is also pretty much invite-only, so there’s no newbies asking you, “Ummmm…so how do I make money online cause I hate my job cause my boss suckss bllahahh blaaahh blaaahhh.” You get to hob-knob with all the big names out there. I believe last year attendance was capped at 85 people.

That’s neat, cause you get to hang out with the big guys in a personal, social settings…..not some massive conference where you can’t really talk to them.

Last time I was there I got to meet Joe Polish and Joseph Sugarman (I didn’t know Sugarman at the time)….. I love this picture:

….after that conference I bought everything I can find written by Joseph Sugarman, and have learned an IMMENSE amount from him.

I also got to hang out with Tim Ferris and do handstands with him:

I’m not sure if many people know, but apparently in the last 4 months or so I’ve become a semi-famous copywriter (thanks much in part to this same conference last year)…..so Joe Sugarman and John Carlton are now heroes of mine.

I made this shirt to take pictures with them:

…it should arrive right before the conference. I have a course coming out soon called KopywritingKourse…..and for some reason like spelling “copy” with a “K”.

I purposely didn’t write “KopywritingKourse.com” on the shirt since I’m looking to blatantly plug my stuff….rather just honor the greats in my own way.

This will be a GREAT time…and hopefully I’ll pull a lot of great connections and notes out of it :-)

Vancouver and The Grand Cayman Islands Trippy Trip

July 18, 2011 by Neville

“But Nevillleee…this is supposed to be a FINANCIAL BLOG…not a personal blog!”

Screw off…I forget pretty much everything that happens, so I have to write it down.

And I DON’T want to forget what a blast I had the last two weeks!

So a quick re-cap :

I first went to VANCOUVER.

I went there for a Zoroastrian youth congress (if you recall, I’m a Parsi Zoroastrian). We’re such a small community that we have these “Congress” events where everyone meets up.

They put everyone up at the Gage Towers at UBC (University of British Columbia), so this was the view a lot of people got. Gorgeous:

….got to stir up trouble with old friends (you might see what I’m talking about if you Google “Neville Medhora” ;-)

We went on a Canada Day cruise through Vancouver….it was amazingly perfect outside:

And they had fireworks at night…..really fun to stand around with close friends watching this view:

We went to the Stanley Park beach for a while…once again, terrific weather and amazzzzinngg views:

Of course I took my obligatory handstand picture :-)

Got to hang out with friends from across the country:

This is officially my favorite picture of the whole trip. After 5 days of craziness, I remember being physically exhausted, sad I had to leave, and already missing everyone……but it felt SO comfortable at this moment :-)