Internet Marketing: How to Tell When to Start Spending Money to Make Money Online (Pt II of III)

In yesterday’s post, I divulged that I’d started spending money to make money online. Maybe not a novelty for some, but I laid out my rationale.

If you’re a small-time marketer like me who doesn’t work with a big budget, this three-part series explains how you can tell when it’s time to start spending money to make money online.

The #2 Guideline to Consider Before Spending Money to Make Money Online

That being said, the second guideline I used which highlighted to me that I was ready to start spending money to promote my ebooks was that I was ready to make more money. Specifically, more passive income.

You may be shaking your head thinking, “Yeah, I’m ready to make more money. Who isn’t?” Well, let me explain how this came about.

Goal: Make a FT Living by Writing and Promoting a Line of Self-Published Ebooks

When I first starting writing and publishing my ebooks, I never thought of it as a way to make a full-time living. I thought of my ebook sales as a supplement to my freelance writing income.

When sales became more predictable and steady, I thought to myself, “Hmmmm, if I invested more in marketing my ebooks, I could make a nice living from the line and not have to write for clients anymore.”

Side note: As a self-employed person, I’m always thinking about retirement and passive income. With no company pension to rely on — and social security (I’m a U.S. citizen) being a big if — creating passive income is one way to be comfortable in retirement.

When Free Marketing Methods Just Aren’t Enough

And, that’s when it hit me – the idea that I’d have to spend some money to make more money (sell more ebooks). You see, I feel like I’ve hit a bit of a plateau with free marketing methods. Allow me to elabortae a little on this.

I primarily use article marketing to get the word out about my ebooks. Now ostensibly, I could up the ante with this. For example, instead of writing and distributing 3-5 articles to 5-6 article directories a week, I could double or triple these efforts. But, it’s not feasible with my freelance writing workload.

If all I had to do was promote my own products and not take on client projects, I may be more inclined to do more free marketing. But since I can’t, it’s more expedient for me to pay to get the word out.

Luckily, there are various inexpensive outlets in my niche (freelance writing) that allow me to do this.

Tomorrow, I’ll give you the final piece of the puzzle as I wrap up this series.

Written by Yuwanda Black from Inkwell Editorial
Posted on October 21st, 2008 and filed under Making Money
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