Dabbler's Guide to Health and Fitness

[impaul99]

Hey guys, I've got a question for you. Some of you may know about my plan before the new year to finally get in shape and take my health and fitness to a new level. I started with daily exercise on Dec 19th and implemented a healthy nutrition plan on Jan 3rd. So far I have lost 10lbs of fat, and have been able to stick to both my diet and exercise plans on a daily basis. My goal is to lose 30-40lbs of fat. I don't know which it is because the two body fat analyzers I use are totally different. Either way, I want to lose the gut around my waist

I have tried diet plans before and I have tried exercise plans before, but I've always dabbled with them without success. After a few weeks I always go back to my normal ways which is what I see almost everyone else doing as well. This time, what I decided to do is to pull out all stops and to use everything I have learned about self-development in the last 10-12 years to put together a plan for myself that works.

To ensure that I do not forget any steps along the way, I am documenting everything I am doing and have decided to write an eBook detailing my plan. I am about 40% through it now, and have some questions.

Firstly, I'd like to know what you guys think in terms of whether I should sell the book once it is 100% completed or if I should give it away for free. My intention is to help people who have dabbled with their health and fitness levels and are looking for a plan that works. Here are the pro's and cons of both sides:

Charging for the eBook:

Pros:
- People usually value something they paid for more than what they get for free, so they are more likely to actually READ the whole book if they pay for it. ie. I paid full price for a Tony Robbins program and finished it because it cost me something. I gave the same program to a friend who wanted it, but because he got it for free, he didn't see it as important to finish it. I don't want people to feel the book has no value because it's free.

- If I can generate money from selling this and other eBooks I'll have more resources and time to work on other books.

- Steve Pavlina's advice is "Whatever you do, make sure it's profitable."

Cons:
- People might not buy the book because they don't have the money, and they might have really benefited from the information in the book


While I work on the book, I am collecting names of anyone who's interested in the book and for anyone that does sign up I will be offering the book free of charge. Once it is finished they will receive a free copy, and if I do decide to charge for it, everyone else will have to pay for it from that point forward.

What do you guys think? What should I do?

I have a signup page here if anyone's intersted: The Dabbler's Guide to Health and Fitness by Paul Piotrowski

I'd really like to hear what you guys think.

Thanks.

[impaul99]

Ok, since 36 people have viewed this thread and no replies, maybe I made the question too complicated. Let me simplify it.

What would you need to see in a Health and Fitness eBook to make you want to pay for it, and what do you think is a reasonable price if it contained the information that once and for all helped you establish a level of health and fitness you have never been able to achieve before?

Paul

[icesar]

I like the way you approach the market. The weight loss market is a huge and highly competitive field and targetting the "dabblers" might be a good angle for you to take. As to whether to sell it or give it away, why not go with Steve's read, fire, aim approach?

Give yourself a $100 budget, buy some Google Ads, and see if you can make any money selling the eBook. If you can, tweak it, otherwise, try another approach. Giving the eBook away in order to put together an email list could also be very valuable, especially in this market, where you could recommend other people's products that have worked for you.

Good luck!

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by icesar

I like the way you approach the market. The weight loss market is a huge and highly competitive field and targetting the "dabblers" might be a good angle for you to take. As to whether to sell it or give it away, why not go with Steve's read, fire, aim approach?

Give yourself a $100 budget, buy some Google Ads, and see if you can make any money selling the eBook. If you can, tweak it, otherwise, try another approach. Giving the eBook away in order to put together an email list could also be very valuable, especially in this market, where you could recommend other people's products that have worked for you.

Good luck!

Thanks for your feedback! I know exactly what you mean. I'm actually doing that Ready, Fire, Aim approach already by writing the book and just focusing on putting as much value for people to use and then worrying about whether to sell it or give it away later. I see your point though, in terms of using the ready,fire,aim approach to marketing it as well. Set a budget, try selling it, and then lower the price until it grabs traction or just give it away if needbe.

Yeah, the dabbler market I think is HUGE, because a lot of people like to Dabble and so did I for over 10 years. Then I got tired of dabbling and decided to do it properly, but instead of just learning myself I wanted to do it in such a way that I could document and then teach others. I'm excited about the project.

[ticktockclok]

No offense intended, but definitely give it away for free. I can't see anybody actually buying another fitness e-book when there are already so many great books out there, and numerous free online sources as well. You could just load it with affiliate links with items that you like; supplements, equipment, food, etc.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by ticktockclok

No offense intended, but definitely give it away for free. I can't see anybody actually buying another fitness e-book when there are already so many great books out there, and numerous free online sources as well. You could just load it with affiliate links with items that you like; supplements, equipment, food, etc.

But if I load it with links for affiliates, the problem becomes that the book then becomes a sales pitch to buy products and I don't really want to do that. I want to offer advice that people can implement in their own ways, not by saying "To be healthy you need this specific water filter from this company, here is a link, buy it from them." because I get a commission for each sale. If I recommend a product, I want to recommend it and have people know that I don't make any $ on the recommendation of that product so that I'm not biased towards it.

I think if I decide to give it away for free, I would expect to make no money from the book in any way, even not from affiliate links. I'd have to figure out some other source of revenue the book leads to.

Thanks for your input though, I'll definitely take it into consideration and think about it.

[ticktockclok]

You don't have to be obnoxious with the affiliate links. You could just show a certain push-up bar that you like and link to the amazon page. Or show a supplement you like and give your affiliate link in bodybuilding.com.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by ticktockclok

You don't have to be obnoxious with the affiliate links. You could just show a certain push-up bar that you like and link to the amazon page. Or show a supplement you like and give your affiliate link in bodybuilding.com.

Let me ask you this. If the eBook's system was so powerful that anyone who actually bought and read the book had a 100% success rate following it and achieving an optimal health and fitness level according to their standards, and the book WOULD work for you if you did buy it, THEN would you buy it?
Would you be willing to pay $25 or $50 or $100 if it worked for you guaranteed 100%? Meaning, isn't your health worth more then that?

If you WOULD be willing to pay for it then it would stand to reason that the reason you would want it for free is because you're afraid the book will not work for you, no?

What if I *DID* charge for it, but offered a 6 month guarantee? If you don't like it, you can return it for a full money back guarantee for up to 6 months lets say? What about something like that?

[ticktockclok]

Originally Posted by impaul99

Let me ask you this. If the eBook's system was so powerful that anyone who actually bought and read the book had a 100% success rate following it and achieving an optimal health and fitness level according to their standards, and the book WOULD work for you if you did buy it, THEN would you buy it?
Would you be willing to pay $25 or $50 or $100 if it worked for you guaranteed 100%? Meaning, isn't your health worth more then that?

If you WOULD be willing to pay for it then it would stand to reason that the reason you would want it for free is because you're afraid the book will not work for you, no?

What if I *DID* charge for it, but offered a 6 month guarantee? If you don't like it, you can return it for a full money back guarantee for up to 6 months lets say? What about something like that?

No, I wouldn't be willing to buy it. First off, its an e-book. When there are already books out like this and this, why would I bother getting a more expensive ebook? The same information is probably online for free, or better!

If it said it worked for every person, I would laugh and walk away, thinking this person would be a terrible weatherman.

My health is worth more than that. I think its futile to attempt to delve into an area where many, many better options already exist for consumers. I think your best plan is to use the book to make the all-powerful list or use affiliate links.

[Frans]

Before you plan to sell your ebook, I suggest you compare the content of your ebook with the content of other similar ebooks.

FYI: The best selling fitness ebook on clickbank (since 3 years!) is "Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle" by Tom Venuto. This ebook (340 pages) costs $39.95 and comes with 5 bonuses and a 8-week money-back guarantee.

I believe it's hard to compete with that ebook, because it covers all aspects of fitness (goal setting/motivation, cardio, weight exercises, nutrition, etc).

PS. I'm not affiliated with that site.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by Frans

Before you plan to sell your ebook, I suggest you compare the content of your ebook with the content of other similar ebooks.

FYI: The best selling fitness ebook on clickbank (since 3 years!) is "Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle" by Tom Venuto. This ebook (340 pages) costs $39.95 and comes with 5 bonuses and a 8-week money-back guarantee.

I believe it's hard to compete with that ebook, because it covers all aspects of fitness (goal setting/motivation, cardio, weight exercises, nutrition, etc).

PS. I'm not affiliated with that site.

Thanks Frans, I actually just went and bought that book so I can read it and see what differences there are between my plan and his. So far, I've only read the first bit and already I can see a difference. His book is great from what I can see, and loaded with TONNES of information, but just reading it so far I am pretty sure I wouldn't have followed this program have I read it a month ago when I started.

For example, here are a few quotes from his book:

"Well, if you’re scared by hard work, then this program is not for you. Losing fat is simple but it’s definitely not easy"

and

"Hard work is the only way anyone ever accomplishes anything! Nothing good
ever comes easy."

Just reading those two sentences right there already tells me the kind of belief systems this person has. He probably works really hard, physically, to be in the shape he's in. I don't believe that's necessary, if you learn how to harness the power of your mind and spirit to help you on your quest to becoming healthy and fit. In fact, I'll go as far as saying that being healthy and fit is a natural way our bodies WANT to be, but we take them out of balance.

I understand what he's trying to say; that sitting on the couch and eating potato chips while watching an exercise video is not going to get you fit. What I think he is missing is that his own beliefs that "exercise is hard! no pain no gain!" are causing his exercise to be hard. I have been running every day since Dec 19th, and it's pretty damn easy! It was hard getting my mind figured out and overcoming some stupid beliefs I had, but once that was all done with, the physical aspects of actually working out are actually pretty easy.

After all, when you were a child and you ran around chasing other kids, did you think it was "hard work" running around? No! You ran around laughing all the way, playing with the kids and having fun.

I think that's where my plan might be different from his. His emphasis is more on "WHAT TO DO", whereas mine is more about "HOW TO BE WHILE DOING WHAT YOU NEED TO DO". At least that's one differentiating factor.

I'll read his entire book and have a better perspective. Thanks for your insights so far! Much appreciated!

[John Hill]

Paul,

It sounds like you have already made your mind up subconsciously to give it away for free. If you put it up on your site and it is popular and generates a lot of traffic for you, you will make money in the long run anyway.

I manage a gym in Bangkok and am a also a personal trainer and I thought about doing the same as you, selling an ebook of material I had written on health and fitness. However I decided to set up a website and put all that information plus more and my traffic has gone nuts in less than 5 months online.

Keep writing and learning along the way, the right answer will come to you. My link is below.

John

[Frans]

Paul, if you are going to sell your ebook, I recommend to join clickbank to set up an affiliate program (they take care of payment processing as well).

FYI: The commercial success of Tom Venuto's ebook is based on his generous affiliate program (his affiliates earn a commission of 51% per sale!). I think he earns more with his subscription based Web site that is built to support his readers than with his ebook .

[Frans]

Originally Posted by impaul99

What I think he is missing is that his own beliefs that "exercise is hard! no pain no gain!" are causing his exercise to be hard. I have been running every day since Dec 19th, and it's pretty damn easy!

Running (not sprinting) is a fat-burning cardio exercise, and I agree, it's easy (if you are motivated, of course).

The problem with cardio is: you'll not only lose fat, but also muscle tissue.

If you want to keep (or gain) muscle tissue, you must consume more calories than you burn and you must workout hard, very hard (heavy weight training, no sissy weights!), hence the credo of each (natural) bodybuilder: "no pain, no gain".

The more muscle tissue you have, the more fat you'll burn throughout the day (even without running or other forms of cardio).

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by Frans

Running (not sprinting) is a fat-burning cardio exercise, and I agree, it's easy (if you are motivated, of course).

The problem with cardio is: you'll not only lose fat, but also muscle tissue.

If you want to keep (or gain) muscle tissue, you must consume more calories than you burn and you must workout hard, very hard (heavy weight training, no sissy weights!), hence the credo of each (natural) bodybuilder: "no pain, no gain".

The more muscle tissue you have, the more fat you'll burn throughout the day (even without running or other forms of cardio).

What I meant is that running is easy NOW that I've gone through my plan properly. Before I used HATE running and any type of cardio workouts. I found them painful (my lungs would burn) and boring. But since I went through my plan and basically went inside my mind and flicked some switches, changed some beliefs, set some goals, aligned some values etc. it has been easy to run. Yes, it is still technically physically demanding to run, but it is not "hard" anymore.

It is the same with weight training. Yes, my muscles HURT when I'm micro-tearing the tissues during my lifts and it is physically demanding, but it is not HARD to do it anymore. It is purely a mental difference. A switch in the mind.

It is no harder for me to do my workouts now than to write this message, or to program a website, or to train in my martial arts training. Yes, each of them demand physical effort, and even pain, but it's not hard to do because the motivation inside me is so much more focused and strong now.

I think that's one key to success long term. To LOVE exercising and to LOVE eating well, not to HATE them. If being a bodybuilder is your job and you get paid for it, perhaps you can hate doing the work and still do it, but for the rest of us who work doing other stuff and workingout/eating well has nothing to do with making our living, I think the only way we'll stick to it is to actually enjoy it and WANT to do it.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by Frans

Paul, if you are going to sell your ebook, I recommend to join clickbank to set up an affiliate program (they take care of payment processing as well).

FYI: The commercial success of Tom Venuto's ebook is based on his generous affiliate program (his affiliates earn a commission of 51% per sale!). I think he earns more with his subscription based Web site that is built to support his readers than with his ebook .

Yeah, I wouldn't mind giving way a % of earnings for sure. Thanks.