How I Made My First Sale on Gumroad Without Having Any Followers or Email List
I made my first sale on Gumroad, which was easier than I thought.
Getting that first sale is the first step toward a new income stream.
The first sale I ever got on Gumroad earned me almost $9. After taxes, I was left with $8.40, but that’s not important. What matters is the proof of concept.
It was enough to show me this works and that I can provide value to people interested in the same things I am.
What I Sold
I wrote an ebook about creating a faceless YouTube channel using AI.
Many people were asking questions about this side hustle. They wanted to know if AI-generated voices would allow them to get monetized or how to create YouTube videos without showing their faces.
This was my opportunity. I knew the answer to those questions because I have a faceless YouTube channel earning me money each month.
So, I started writing, and after two weeks, my ebook was ready.
How I Sold My First Ebook on Gumroad
The answer is simple: content marketing.
Content marketing is an incredible skill to have. Being able to teach, inspire, or present information in an attractive way can make almost any business successful.
Here’s what I did to make it work.
I started writing on Medium, and at the end of a relevant article, I would add a link to the ebook. This might not be new to some people, but it works. Compared to a self-hosted website, where you will have to wait months to get people to read your articles, Medium already has an audience waiting for content.
The first thing I needed to do was to find content ideas.
This was not a problem. You can go to answersocrates.com and enter your topic in the search bar. Press enter, and you will get enough content ideas to keep you busy for a few months. You can also check other writers on Medium who create content on similar topics.
The hardest part of this strategy is sitting down and writing content. It’s not going to be easy.
Creating content that people will read takes time and effort. Some of my articles flopped, while others got decent views. I started to promote my ebook in April but got the first sale on the 6th of July. Somehow, the next day, I got another sale.
Unfortunately, that was all for July. I didn’t have enough content published to get consistent sales.
Take a look at my Medium analytics:
In July, I posted a lot more than usual. If you don’t know, each black dot is a new post. Those two sales gave me the motivation to post consistently.
Honestly, I was not expecting any sales. I had only a few followers who probably didn’t see my content and no email list. It was mostly a shot in the dark.
Check out my guide if you want to learn how to make your first $1K on Gumroad selling ebooks:
