Success is rarely about a single, monumental change. More often, it’s the result of numerous small, seemingly insignificant improvements that collectively lead to remarkable outcomes.

This concept, known as “marginal gains,” was famously applied by Dave Brailsford, the former performance director of British Cycling, to transform the British cycling team into the best in the world. Today, I want to share how the principle of marginal gains can apply to your self-publishing journey, which will help you achieve significant results through incremental improvements.

Dave Brailsford and the British Cycling Revolution

When Dave Brailsford took over British Cycling in 2003, the team was far from being world-class. His approach to turning the team around was rooted in the concept of marginal gains—making tiny improvements in every area related to cycling. He believed that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike and improved it by just 1%, you would get a significant increase when you put them all together.

Here are some of the methods Brailsford used to achieve these small but impactful improvements:

• Optimizing Equipment: Brailsford and his team meticulously examined and optimized every piece of equipment. They worked on improving the bikes’ aerodynamics, developing better tires, and even finding the most comfortable and efficient saddles for the cyclists.
• Enhancing Athlete Health: The team focused on the cyclists’ health and recovery. They hired a surgeon to teach the riders how to wash their hands properly to avoid illness, and they experimented with various types of massage gels for recovery.
• Improving Environment: They improved the environment in which the athletes trained and rested. For instance, they tested different types of pillows and mattresses to ensure the cyclists had the best possible sleep.
• Attention to Detail: No detail was too small. They even painted the inside of the team truck white to spot dust that could potentially affect bike maintenance.

The result? Within five years, the British Cycling team dominated the 2008 Beijing Olympics, winning 8 gold medals. They continued their success in subsequent Olympics and major cycling competitions, solidifying their status as the best in the world. (You can learn more about marginal gains by reading the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear – View on Amazon here)

Applying Marginal Gains to Self-Publishing

Just as Brailsford applied marginal gains to cycling, I’ve applied this principle to my self-publishing journey on Amazon KDP. Over the past five years, I’ve made numerous small improvements across various aspects of self-publishing, which collectively have led to significant success (150,000 books sold!).

Here are some areas where I’ve applied marginal gains and discuss thoroughly in my upcoming step-by-step self-publishing course:

Cover Design

I have improved my cover design over time by assessing the cover designs of books that sell well and avoiding styles that perform poorly. I explain common cover design mistakes and show you live examples on Amazon, saving you time from making the same errors.

Niche Research

I have learned a number of niche research strategies that make it an enjoyable part of the self-publishing process. Most people find niche research the hardest, according to a recent poll in my “KDP Secrets” Facebook group. I am now able to find many potential niches to publish in quickly! I now have more niches than I have time to create books—a good problem to have!

Book Descriptions

I have spent many hours researching shopper psychology and what makes people buy or not. Book descriptions are often an afterthought for most self-publishers; they are excited to get their new book uploaded and rush through this part without understanding that this is where we have to persuade the customer to make the purchase. In my course, I explain this area thoroughly, which will help your conversion rates and bring more sales.

Keywords

I use a different method than many people for the keywords in my title, subtitle, and seven keyword boxes. I believe my method has had a massive impact on the number of sales I have achieved.

I guide you through how to create a title and subtitle, and how to fill in the seven backend boxes, ensuring you rank for more search terms. I also show you common mistakes that other authors make with their titles and subtitles.

Outsourcing

If you are limited for time like most people, I will show you how to find the best professionals to help you in many areas of self-publishing. I explain how to determine if it’s more beneficial to outsource or do it yourself. I also provide a handy job template that you can use to find the best professionals and avoid time-wasters.

Time Management

This one will be very important for many of you to improve upon. If you work a full-time job or have other time commitments, it can feel like you have no time to dedicate to self-publishing. In this module, I show you how to schedule your week and give you an example of how I structure my days.

I work a full-time job on the railway, have an active 4-year-old son, run a large Facebook Group, manage an Etsy store, create online courses, and more. If I can manage all of these things and still make a very healthy income from self-publishing, so can you.

If you can master your discipline and time management, you will have more time to dedicate to self-publishing and therefore produce more and increase your chances of sales.

Mindset

Another big topic that almost everyone doesn’t take seriously. I love anything to do with mindset, including how to improve and how to perform at a higher level. I have continuously improved my mindset and how I approach self-publishing. In the mindset module, I speak about the qualities that you will need to become a successful self-publisher.

In order to sell more books than others, we must perform at a higher level. Your mindset will determine how much discipline you have, how easily you give up, and how you react to setbacks.

Tools and Resources

Over the years, I have found the best resources that save time and help to improve many areas of self-publishing. I share many resources that will make your life easier, allow you to complete things quicker, and help to scale your self-publishing business. All will be revealed in the course.

These are some of the areas that I cover within the upcoming “Self-publishing Success Strategy” course. I also share my secrets for: A+ content, how to build a brand, scaling your business, keeping your account safe, repurposing your books for maximum gain, advertising, and many more areas.

Conclusion

As with the strategy Dave Brailsford applied to the British cycling team, I have improved and perfected all areas of the self-publishing process. These tiny improvements have compounded and produced outstanding results.

Yes, you can find information for free online about how to complete each area of the self-publishing process. But you will have to grab these pieces of information from many different articles and YouTubers, and all of these different puzzle pieces may not fit together and could produce average or poor results. Maybe you are experiencing this right now?

With my step-by-step course, you will gain access to the way I think, how I do things, and tips, tricks, and shortcuts that have resulted in 150,000 books sold and a lot of money.

Everything you need to know will be laid out in a progressive, easy-to-follow, step-by-step course in one place. Most importantly, I reveal all of my self-publishing secrets, and you are going to love it.

I am planning on releasing the course at the end of July 2024. Stay tuned for sneak peeks and information.

All the best,

Ben

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Please check out my YouTube channel “Money on the side” for helpful self-publishing tips and tricks.

Need help with Amazon Advertising? I’ve got the blueprint. Check out what my students have to say about it here.

17 Eye-catching color combinations that you can use for your book cover designs – See my blog post here