063: Igor Kheifets – List Building Lifestyle for Authors

How Igor Became an Amazon #1 Bestselling Author

Igor Kheifets is the author of List Building Lifestyle: Confessions of an Email Millionaire. Igor has mastered the skill of driving paid traffic. He is also the host of the podcast, the List Building Lifestyle Show.

When Igor launched his book, he sold 500 physical copies and 2,000 Kindle versions in the first week and became an Amazon bestseller. Today, he shares about marketing your book, niching down your market, and understanding the risk of failure.

What We Discuss with Igor Kheifets:

The reason he wrote the book
Some missteps in entrepreneurship
Understanding the risk of failure
The importance of marketing to sell your book
Why you need to niche down your market
Knowing your “who” when you don’t know what to write about
Igor’s book writing process and ideas for marketing your book
Committing to a crappy Version 1.0 product
Why he created the podcast, the List Building Lifestyle Show
Overcoming the impostor syndrome as an author

[01:00] Why a Book About Email Marketing

Email marketing has changed Igor’s life seeing an increase in revenue every two years. The book was his way to spread an idea. People will take you more seriously and this will open more doors.

Igor used blogging as his initial platform, writing at least 700-1,000 words each day. But he hasn’t seen any impact. So he started selling information products, and eventually books.

None of the authors you now admire and like have started out as authorities. Most of them became authorities as a result of publishing their books.

You don’t have to be perfect to guide and lead people. Waiting for permission to write a book is one of the most common reasons for failure. You don’t make an impact unless you put yourself out there.

[07:24] Learning From Failures

Igor became an expert of his craft as a result of trying everything that didn’t work. You can’t have success without failures.

It sure sucks to lose money. But this was one of the reasons Igor mastered the skillset of driving paid traffic and turning them into customers so he can recoup his money.

[12:45] Marketing Is Important in Selling a Book

The whole process of becoming a bestseller has a lot to do with how that’s sold and promoted, rather than being a good book because publishers couldn’t really recognize it.

In the 1930s, two books were sent to publishing houses with two different titles and different authors – but they both had exactly the same content. One book got rejected each time while the other got accepted in every publishing house. The one that got accepted was written supposedly by this famous author and the other one was just a created pen name that no one knew. A book can be published just because it’s written by somebody famous.

When Igor launched the book, he sold 500 physical copies and 2,000 Kindle versions in the first week and became Amazon bestseller. They launched it to their email list that consists of people that know and trust him, and not because the book is great.

[18:30] Focus on the Who and Find Your Niche Market

Get clear on who you’re writing to. The moment you pick your niche, you won’t have as much trouble getting your book out there. People are seeking specific solutions to their specific problems to their specific identities.

Narrow down the niched market you’re writing to. You will be surprised how this market will go for it just because of the specificity of the solution. Be as narrow as you can get.

Get your avatar down to a T. Pretend you’re talking to them on the phone. Pretend that’s what you’re doing but only that you’re writing. Or record yourself and just transcribe it. That’s already 80% of your book!

[24:55] The Book Writing and Publishing Process

Igor initially hired someone to interview him, get the content out of him, and have the book written for him. They only gave him the transcript without any editing. Deciding to write it himself, he devoted 90 minutes every single day and wrote 1,000 words a day.

He ended up with 33,000 words that turned out to be a technical guide rather than a book. So he decided to sell it as a report and not as a book. He used it to generate more leads.

Eventually, he got referred to 90-Minute Books that had the same system he used the first time. But this time, he recorded with them. When he got the transcription along with the formatting, he didn’t like the structure. Instead, he removed some parts of the book and wrote whole new chapters.

He finally launched the book to his email list and offered bonuses with the book. As a result, he sold 500 physical books and over 2,000 Kindle versions just because he reached out to his email list.

[33:00] Commit to a Version 1.0

Setting a deadline is important otherwise nothing gets done. You can’t really create a great product unless you commit to a crappy version 1.0. So Igor committed himself to it.

You can make money even if your product sucks and then improve from there. Now aware of the mistakes he had done, Igor is sure to be able to deliver a much better product.

[34:45] The List Building Lifestyle Show

Having a podcast is a great tool to further communicate with your existing customers. The show now features authorities and celebrities within their space including Robert Kiyosaki, Russel Brunson, Chris Voss, and Mark Manson, just to name a few of them.

As a result of having superstars on his show, he gained more credibility in the marketplace.

[38:36] Overcoming the Impostor Syndrome as an Aspiring Author

If you’re dealing with impostor syndrome, the bad news is that it never goes away. Being aware of how much of it is governing your life is important. It’s just an illusion in our perception of the world works.

Just hit publish and there will be people who are going to love it. Chances are, you’re going to hate your book. But there’s no other way of overcoming impostor syndrome until you hit the button.

There are people out there waiting for your story and for your big idea and the inspiration you will provide. As long as you’re not providing them with it, you are doing them a huge disservice.

If you have a message in you, publish it. It’s not about having a great message but it’s about you making an impact on someone else waiting to read your book.