It’s been nearly a month since the release of Unautomate Your Finances and it’s high time I get around to sharing some of the details with you guys.
First, I want to take some time to showcase some reviews and mentions from around the web. The project was supported by well over 30+ different blogs and communities and I owe these guys/gals a huge thank you. Be sure to check out some of the reviews if you are still on the fence! 🙂
I’ll also briefly share a couple e-mails from average readers who purchased the product. I didn’t anticipate that so many people would take the time to send (sometimes really long and passionate) e-mail feedback.
Lastly, I’ll share the “nitty-gritty” financial details. How sales did the first month, how much money I made, and a summary of my thoughts of the first month. If you’re interested in any of this, have a scroll down! Enjoy!
Reviews and Mentions from Around the Web:
“…it teaches you to curb your impulse spending and become more conscious of your financial habits, so you can stop living paycheck-to-paycheck and take control of your money.”
“Baker shares solid personal-finance advice on saving for emergencies, coping with credit, and creating a realistic budget.”
“My favorite part of the Unautomate Your Finances is Baker’s signature 2-page minimalist budgeting system, which is the simplest method I’ve seen to force yourself to acknowledge the money you’re actually spending during every transaction.”
“I wish I would have had this book in 2007…it would have helped me save thousands of dollars!”
“Unautomate Your Finances is one part inspiration, one part goal setting, and one part practical application.”
“This is exactly the guide I wish had existed before I became debt-free.”
“Baker isn’t some financial adviser looking to make commission on your assets without doing much work. He is living YOUR life and shows you how to improve your financial situation…”
“Baker’s writing is entertaining, engaging and and well reasoned. It’s also sprinkled with bits of wisdom from the likes of Albert Einstein, Billy Joel and Tyler Durden. That’s quite a diverse group, how could you not love that?”
“If you’re battling debt, want to monetize what you’re passionate about, or want to leave it all behind to travel the world for a year with your family, then Baker is the guy you need to talk to.”
“First of all, by reading this guide you’ll start to have a better understanding of what financial freedom means. This is the cornerstone of every effective financial strategy and the guide does a pretty good job at it.”
“This guide will no doubt challenge what you’re currently doing with your money and your life.”
“The beauty of this product is that it teaches you everything that they should teach you in school, but don’t.”
“This is personal finance advice from your friend at the bar who happens to be smart about money.”
“I’ve read it, it’s actionable, it’s doable. I like that type of shit.”
“Adam takes readers through the steps of identifying what’s important and then shows them how to get it — immediately. One step is being mindful of how we spend our time and money. By unautomating, you do just that.”
“If you are struggling with finances or you want to optimize your system, this guide is a must read.”
“Baker’s passion for finances transcends into phenomenal writing and quality advice on reducing debt and dealing with money.”
“[Baker] has me thinking about finances. What I really like is that he isn’t Donald Trump or Motley Fool talking about finances. He is someone like me.”
“Offers tons of action steps we can take to make sure we’re staying on top of our money and Baker does a good job of getting you fired up to take action when you read it.”
“All I can say is that this book is Adam Baker at his best. Even though I’m not in debt and have a pretty good fix on my finances, I read his book cover to cover in a single sitting…”
“Adam’s book offers you his unique perspective on mastering your personal finances. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but I will say his book had me rethinking EVERYTHING.”
“Adam points out a bigger problem – that automation let’s our bad habits spin out of control without us noticing. We spend more than we should. We own more than we need.”
Working Your Way Around the World
“Baker’s book really delves deep into the human spirit. He approaches personal finance from the ground up.”
“Baker has developed a product that has fundamentally changed the way I think about money, and he and his wife Courtney are proof that you really can get conscious about how you spend, escape the debt “game” that the rest of the world is stuck in, and start to build the lifestyle you want now!”
“This is a stimulating journey deep into the psychology of money management, with more practical advice fit into eighty-some pages than most bloggers could write in a lifetime!”
“UYF flows like a conversation with a good friend from start to finish. The signature characteristics of authenticity and transparency that Baker has built his personal brand around shine through every word.”
“Baker succeeds where many personal finance writers fail; he creates a complete personal finance plan that seems both easy to follow and highly useful. Just reading through it made me feel motivated to remake my personal finance life.”
“the book does not promise any magic-bullet, get-rich quick schemes. it calls the reader to make intentional sacrifices and hard decisions about their finances and spending patterns.”
“Baker (as he’s known) and his family are living proof that “living as you want” and “decreasing debt and consumerist behavior” are not mutually exclusive.”
“In a world full of noisy messages, Baker puts together a wonderful book on how to simplify your finances through the process of unautomation. Whether you want to eradicate credit card debt, or build financial stability for your future, Baker’s book will help you get there!”
Note: I really tried to track all the reviews and links. Courtney and I scoured Google, tracked backlinks, etc… If you wrote or linked to the project and I missed you… I’m sorry! Don’t hate me! 🙂 Shoot me a quick message and I’ll add you ASAP!
Sampling of customer e-mails:
One of the most unanticipated benefits from the launch have been all the feedback from people who’ve read the guide. Many of you, I’ve never met before and I’m honored that you’d take the time to send such passionate feedback!
Here’s just a few e-mails I’ve received:
*****
“I LOVE it. It spoke to me like nothing else I’ve EVER read about my finances. I get it. For the first time I bloody get it, and strangely enough it has led to a complete overhaul of my life starting with clutter. My wife has been amazed and my kids jumped right in as I went through the house and starting getting rid of stuff. I’ve got huge boxes in my living room here ready to go to the mission. It feels great.
I took the same approach with my email inbox, cleared it out – and then, more to the point – this organizational tsunami washed into my finances. For the first time ever I have a clear list of all my debts distilled down to what life costs me weekly. I averaged up my self-employed income and realized I needed to earn $200 more per week to begin turning my $ life around. Within TWO DAYS I’ve magically been able to line up another $200 / wk for the next 2 months.
This has been a remarkable process of taking charge of my life and it all started with your book. I am SO glad you are in the world and sharing your story.”
-Alex
*****
I love the honest, simple approach this takes with finances. It makes it seem entirely doable for me—unlike similar financial guides that make me feel I need to be a brilliant, pragmatic Indian mastermind or a middle-aged conservative.
-Samuel
*****
Hiya Baker,
I just ordered your UYF book yesterday and dug in last nite. You totally rocked it!.Honestly, I feel I’ve had the finance thing figured out for awhile, and I was worried that your ebook might be a whole lot of stuff I already knew. (This happens so often when you buy an e-book, right?)
I hit the buy button because I thought: I love this guy’s work, and I want to support it. If the e-book isn’t great, no big deal. I’ve just made a donation to someone deserving.
Well – I was pleasantly surprised. You delivered great, useful content. I especially appreciated how you wove your family’s personal story into it. Very effective and engaging—which is all you want from a book. But you gave something more: Powerful commands, laid out in tiny steps (that make a huge difference) to take some ideas, right now, and go do them.
I took away some great tips on fine-tuning my already decent plan. I’ve decided to try the envelope method (been thinking about it — but the way you wrote about it inspired me). I’ve gotten down to one credit card (for “emergencies” living abroad — in case I can’t get cash out of ATM) but I HATE the industry with a passion and am on my way to opting out, too.
-Lisa
*****
Although my husband and I are debt (except for mortgage) free and are saving money each month, I still found a lot of worthwhile information in your ebook. One thing you wrote really hit home, though. At the bottom of page 60, “The higher the amount crawls, the more likely it is to start day dreaming about “better uses” for that money.”
This was so true for us. All that money sitting there with nothing planned for it except “someday something bad might happen”. It was too much for us. We ended up throwing most of it into mutual funds because we were too tempted to spend it. Now we keep a $5000 emergency fund. Whenever I read a personal finance article or book that recommends the 3-6 month emergency fund, I cringe a little, but also realize it’s not realistic for us to keep from spending money that is in an easily accessible bank account. Reading the above in your ebook helped lessen my guilt, though, so thank you!
-Stacy
*****
The Nitty-Gritty Numbers…
Many of you have inquired into “how the launch went.” As you know, I’m a big fan of financial transparency (Courtney and I are working on getting our personal details together for a post next week).
I’ve always been upfront with my income and I don’t want my product launches to change that fact. For those of you interested here are the financial details from the launch (March 9th) through the end of March.
Total sold in March: 345 guides
Gross Income (less Paypal): $5216.20
Affiliate Commissions Paid: -$1469.18
Expenses (Design & Launch): -$440.00
Net Income (March): $3307.02
Keep in mind that a large percentage of sales (50-60%) were in the first two days. That’s natural, but it also means that the income over time will settle on a much, much lower number. The guide is still selling at least a few copies everyday and April is off to a great start!
Overall, I’m absolutely stoked at the launch month. I overshot my goals for my first launch and learned an absolute ton that can be applied to bring even more value to my audience with future products. Most importantly, I have a genuine product that will always be part of the site, will provide the initial seeds of income, and will positively affect hundreds more people of the coming months.
Also keep in mind, that I made more money this past month than I did the entire first year of blogging. It’s been a long process and a ton of work. One product isn’t going to result anywhere close to full-time income over time. But the framework is there.
As always, I appreciate your support on this part of our journey. I share these numbers only because I firmly consider you to be along for the ride with me. This is a big part of the “do what you love” process for us. An authentic start to earning a living through helping inspire others.
Rock on!
Xoxoxo,
-Baker
And the transparency continues! When’s the next project coming out Baker?
May… 🙂
Very cool Adam. It is an outstanding read. Congratulations on the first month’s success!
Thanks for the support Matt. Next time I’m in Chicago we’ll meet up!
Congrats Baker – love the transparency on the launch stats. Not bad numbers at all! Keep grindin buddy.
Ya, before I know it I may catch up to you! 😉 (watch your back)
Thanks for sharing the others reviews/thoughts. I love seeing what others got out of it as well.
I am proud of your effort and know that you put every bit of yourself into this product.
Congrats on the success and I hope to be reading more in the near future.
David Damron
The Minimalist Path
Sweet! You finally got to use my juicy quote.
Outstanding results, like…eyeball popping, in my opinion. 🙂
Just wanted to drop a quick thanks for posting the financials. That was really helpful. Your profit far outranks royalties from traditional publishers!! I really appreciate the disclosure and wish you continuing success!!!!!
Brilliant Adam; I purchased mine today {a little late, I know} I’m debt free already but I wanted something to give me a fresh ‘kick’ todays buidling my savings, and you have 🙂
Great job on the launch Adam, it was a great read, and the numbers of people buying it bear out the great relationship you’ve built with your readers – they can’t wait to buy what you’re creating! Can’t wait to see what you’ve got up your sleeve next!
Thanks for sharing, especially the numbers. I’ve noticed that bloggers are always willing to share their money woes (especially budget bloggers) but then are too afraid to talk about specific dollar amounts when it comes to earning through their website. I think maybe they are afraid people will support them less because they are making money? I think that is BS and sharing like you do just earns more support in my book.
Congrats again!
That’s inspiring to see so many respected bloggers and positive testimonials. I hope you’re including that on your sales page 🙂
Was that part of the burn-out feeling? Hoping it would be a tsunami of full-time income and adjusting to expectations? I find that I fluctuate between being completely stoked that anyone likes my work and are connecting to it, to feeling like… huh… I have such a long way to go.
Baker that’s awesome feedback you’re getting, awesome reviews and great numbers. I’m really impressed and the thing that I like the most about it is you did it by putting out a quality product that really helps people and fills a need.
Too often (especially in the online world) I’ll see stuff put out that’s marketed really well, and I’ll get a review copy – and it’s just garbage. It frustrates me because then I see big names promoting it, and I know that there’s someone out there with a better product, without “the machine” behind them and in the end it’s the customers who will suffer.
In your case though you put out some real content, with meat behind it and I’m really glad to see it working out for you – I’m sure that the buyers are even more happy about it 😉
Looking forward to seeing what you have in May!
That’s it! I’m buying my copy today!
Thanks for this transparency Baker!! Really hope I can get a big jump on my first sales too!
I agree wholeheartedly with those reviews 🙂
Hey Baker, I’m glad your book was a success; both for you and the readers that learned a thing or two from it!
You really crushed it with this first product. Good luck with the upcoming and I love the fact that you’re putting all the numbers up here for curious readers like myself. Awesome!
So you made $3,300 for how many hours of work? Just curious 🙂
Awesome Adam! Really good stuff, and thanks for your transparency, as it gives others who are thinking of writing an e-Book a benchmark to shoot for.
I did highlight your launch in one of my Katana Wraps called “Don’t Be All Things To All People”, and shot you back a two or three sentence review when you first sent out your e-mail. I’ll try and dig it up again tonight and resend. No worries about adding me or giving back at all, as it was my pleasure.
The video chat with Jun on Untemplater was fun too!
Cheers,
Sam
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I have been following your progress and must tell you how exiciting it is that you are making some dough.
The videos with the straight writing are wonderful.
I’m adding you as a link