Recently, I saw a big story about Roosh V being banned from Amazon. His books were taken down and his Kindle account (presumably) shuttered.

Between this and Alex Jones, it’s interesting to watch big tech’s deplatforming movement.

But, politics or personal opinions aside, today’s article looks at these situations from a business angle.

Specifically, why being banned from Amazon might be a blessing in disguise.

We’ll look at the pros and cons of Amazon’s Kindle program, and an alternative option which could put way more money in Roosh’s pocket.

Who Benefits Most From Kindle Publishing?

I’ve published a ton of books through the Amazon Kindle program. Back in late 2014 and early 2015, erotica was a hot niche and I’d often crank out five or six titles per week.

This huge quantity of books still brings in an average of $9.78 per day. Plus additional money through the Kindle Unlimited and Audible programs.

The reason for these continuous sales?

Amazon the third largest search engine. Pick the right keywords, get enough traffic, and you’ll generate a handful of passive sales

This is great for smaller authors or people who write about obscure topics.

You’re able to rank well in Amazon’s search algorithm, bringing your book extra traffic. Additionally, if your title reaches a “Customers Also Bought” list, expect an uptick in random sales.

That said, selling books takes work.

Unless you’re James Patterson or Stephen King, you’ll never sell hundreds of books passively off Amazon algorithms.

Random sales here or there are nice. But most purchases will come from your fans.

This means the majority of buyers are already coming from your blog, email list, Twitter account, Facebook page, YouTube channel, etc… So if you want to make more sales, focus on marketing through these avenues.

Which leads us to the next point.

More Sales, Less Profit

(A $9.99 Book Nets $6.99 In Royalties, Minus Amazon’s $0.07 “Delivery Fee”)

Kindle Publishing takes a 30% cut of all sales. And, it artificially caps authors with a maximum pricing of $9.99. Technically, you can charge more but there’s a stiff penalty for doing so.

At $9.99 per book, you’re only making $6.99 in royalties.

That’s not a lot. Especially since 10 books a day is considered “great sales.”

Case in point, the book Models by Mark Mason. This is one of the top dating books on Amazon (I read it years ago and liked it) and it sells about 14 copies per day. That’s a lot (in the publishing world) and borders on “perennial seller” status.

Anyway, at 14 books per day, the author makes $97.86.

This works out to $35,718.90 per year.

Now, let’s look at the same sales figures. But in this scenario the author sells his book via direct download, keeping 100% of his profits.

$9.99 per book x 14 books x 365 days = $51,048.90.

Quite the difference!

I don’t know how many sales come from Amazon’s rankings versus Mark Manson’s own site, but the author could only sell 10 books per day via direct download and still make more than he does off 14 Amazon purchases.

Why Being Banned From Amazon Shouldn’t Hurt Large Sites

Getting back around to the Roosh V example, Roosh owns three massive platforms:

1. Roosh V
2. Roosh V Forum
3. Return Of Kings

Return Of Kings gets over 3 million unique visitors each month. Far more traffic than any random shoppers Amazon’s algorithm will provide.

If Roosh did nothing but add a footer to every Return Of Kings post and pitch his book (now sold via direct download on a simple landing page), he’d instantly make 30% more money than he would have through Amazon.

Let’s say that the footer sales pitch is terrible and so ignored that Roosh only sells 10,000 books from it at $10 each.

That’s $100,000.

Now let’s say he sells 11,000 books through Amazon at $7 each.

He makes $77,000.

So he’s making $23,000 more through direct downloads, while also selling 1,000 fewer books.

By having a huge platform, Roosh can make sales directly without relying on Amazon’s support. And even if he sells fewer books, his profit margins even things out.

Closing Thoughts

For many big brands, especially those outside of mainstream tastes (InfoWars, Return Of Kings, WikiLeaks) normal distribution channels aren’t always important.

Since his YouTube ban, Alex Jones lost a ton of video views. Instead of getting hundreds of thousands per clip, he now gets somewhere in the ten thousand range.

But, does that really matter?

How many YouTube viewers were trolls or there solely to comment about “gay frogs?”

If his core audience of loyal followers is actually ten or twelve thousand, but they keep buying his Super Male Vitality or magic brain pills, it doesn’t really affect him.

Same goes for Roosh’s eBooks.

If you’ve built up a brand which generates millions of visitors each month, how much of a boost is Amazon giving you compared to just marketing on your own site?

I recently did an interview for a site called Online Money All Stars (they have a bunch of great content, check them out) and was asked an interesting question:

“What would you do if you had lost all your business and reputation?”

I gave an answer in the interview (again, go read it here) but I also wanted to share a full-length response that’s a little more in-depth. Mainly because of recent events like Alex Jones being deplatformed from everywhere, or last year’s big YouTube crackdown.

For this situation, there are some ground rules:

• You get to keep any money or non-Internet assets (stocks, BitCoin, rare comic books, etc).
• No crimes were committed, so you aren’t in legal trouble.
• You just lose what you already have (any websites, eBooks, Twitter accounts affiliate deals disappear. You also are perma-banned from your current web host). You’re still allowed to join programs and use services offered by any other company.
• What you do for money must be realistic or fitting your personality (i.e. no becoming a cross-country truck driver or professional arm wrestler).
• You must do something for income, and you can’t live at home.

Alright, those are the rules. And here’s what I’d do.

1. Move To A Second-Tier Asian City

Whenever you see “If I had to start all over again” articles, they’re usually full of advice like buying a $10,000 suit and pitching consultant services to executives in Manhattan.

Realistically, no one ever does this at their low-point.

If you’ve ever had a friend or family member wrapped up in lawsuits or a messy divorce, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Heck, even success guru Don Lapre stabbed himself to death when faced with legal trouble.

Likewise, many people suggest going “full Unabomber” and moving to the most remote area possible. This is also a bad idea. Many rural places are often as expensive (if not more) than living in an urban environment. Plus, you’ll need a car to get around. Something which adds to your expenses.

Instead, I’d move to a second-tier city in China or Vietnam. They’re safe, have nice infrastructure, and are massive in scale. Some of these places are completely unknown to foreigners, but have populations comparable to Seattle, LA, or even New York.

Plus, they’re super cheap.

I went on a road trip last week and got a hotel room (in the city center) for $4 a night.

So the first thing I’d do is move to an area like this, pay a full year’s rent up front, and rest easy knowing my housing costs were covered for an entire year.

Side not: Despite being super cheap, second-tier cities have all the amenities you’d find back home. Like movie theaters, shopping malls, supermarkets, fast food, nightclubs, book stores etc…

2. Re-Route My Emergency Fund To Investing

Since rent is a whooping $124 per month, I’d take my emergency fund and use it to continue investing in high-yield dividend producing index funds.

This (plus my current holdings) is an easy $1,200+ per year in passive income.

If nothing else, these dividend payments are enough to cover another year’s rent. But, more realistically, the next part of this plan will cover all expenses and then some.

3. Get A Low-Effort Online Job (Which Pays Hourly)

Instead of “brand building” or cranking out an eBook, I’d get a low-effort, low-brain power online job. Something that pays $8 – $14 an hour, and requires no prospecting, cold calling, or extra work.

I’d probably choose something like homework helper, transcriber, Zen Desk support staff, or some other easy job where you work for a company while getting paid hourly. I’d do this three to four hours a day, covering all my expenses and then some.

The rest of my day (for the first month or two) would be spent going to the beach, walking around town (or the mountains), and reading books.

Kind of like a mini vacation.

4. I Would Build An Old-School Adult Website

Instead of crafting information products (they’re harder to sell than most realize, my eBooks require around 40 – 50 visitors to their landing page just to sell one copy) or doing something in the fitness niche, I’d join every single adult website’s affiliate program. Then, I’d install the most aggressive ad network possible (pop-ups, banners, etc). This turns every pageview into profit. And with a strong enough program, you’re getting $4 – $6 per 1,000 hits.

At 60,000 views per month (2,000 per day, very reasonable) you’re making just under $400. This doesn’t include affiliate sales.

For content, I’d just repost all the promotional clips and pictures the affiliates provide. And for traffic, I’d link out to every forum, blog, etc…

This is about the lowest effort business there is.

You don’t make products or write copy.

Once the ad money started rolling in, I’d outsource everything through Mturk, paying someone literal pennies to run the whole project. Then I’d move on.

5. Build Some Legitimate Businesses

(On ClickBank, The Little Arrows Mean A Product Offers Recurring Commissions)

Grey area businesses are a great source of fast cash. But, they tend to get shut down quickly. As such, once I had some passive income coming in, I’d build some niche sites. For products, I’d pick physical goods (they always convert better than info products), or services with a recurring commission.

I’d also take my excess earnings, and also invest them into more high dividend index funds. This way you’re making money from three streams of income:

1. A job.
2. Investments.
3. Owning A Business (Your Sites).

This balances your cash flow between stability (a job), scalability (your business), and passive income (the returns generated on your investments). I would then stick to a simple formula of writing one article or sales letter per day (minimum) every day for the rest of the year.

Additionally, I’d build backlinks and do promotion daily, building up the traffic and boosting the page ranking. I’d also work on 3 – 7 sites simultaneously, allowing them to all grow at the same rate.

Within eight months, at least one will be generating $1,000+ per month. And even the smaller ones will make $100+ monthly.

Worst case scenario, all of them flop and you’re *only* getting $700 – $800 a month total. At that point, just keep what you’ve built as is, then start a new batch of sites.

Following this basic strategy, you’d still end up making $36,000 – $45,000+ over the course of a calendar year. This is also something of a low-end estimate, so the numbers could be much higher.

And, much of what you did (between investments and sites) will compound over time. So your second year of starting over is already positioned to be better than the last.

Warning: Today’s article contains graphic and gory images. Do not read at work!

What makes a year good? And how do you turn a bad one around?

By all accounts, 2017 should have been the worst year of my life. But it actually became one of the best.

In this article I’ll explain why.

This isn’t a “dear diary” entry either. You’ll find several powerful techniques for reversing a lousy situation, finding the positives in an otherwise terrible event.

These are easy to implement strategies for enjoying life to the fullest.

Appreciate What You Already Have

Last February I was visiting my parents in Iowa. One night, a huge wind storm erupted, knocking over a massive tree in our front yard.

The next morning, my Dad went to survey the damages. While inspecting the tree, it rolled over (I think he tried pushing on it) and crushed him. I spent a good 15 minutes, waiting for the ambulance and standing next to my Dad while he bled out all over the lawn. When the paramedics arrived, they weren’t sure if he’d live. And they were certain he’d never walk again.

(Here’s my Dad’s Leg)

Luckily, my Dad’s okay now. And he can walk around just fine.

But, in life, you usually take the people closest to you for granted.

You think they’ll always be around, then one day they’re not. This goes for family, friends, role models, and even people you know online. Because of this, I just want to take a moment and say thank you.

You don’t have to read this site, comment, or interact on Twitter. But you do. And it means a lot to me.

Alright, that’s enough sappy content. Let’s see what’s next.

Take More (Calculated) Risks

This is something I’ve written about before, but using Expectation Value allows you to take “gambles” where the rewards greatly outweigh any risks.

The $20 bill is a great example.

A few years ago, the government was debating whether or not they should remove Andrew Jackson from the $20 and replace him with Harriet Tubman. Most people fought about this online, or argued around the water cooler. A smart person would have simply walked into the bank, withdrawn $1,000 in new $20 bills, and put the money in a protective Mylar sleeve.

Why?

Because if Jackson was replaced, those old bills would have gone up in price. And, if he wasn’t, they’d still retain their full value.

No risk, all reward.

This is applicable to regular life too. I remember being 18 and depressed, so I decided to visit Central America for Christmas break. Everyone warned that “You’ll have a sh*tty time,” and “It won’t be fun.” Had I stayed home, I’d have a bad time too.

So on one hand, you have a guaranteed bad time. On the other, there’s only the possibility of a bad time, while the amount of fun you’ll have is virtually unlimited. It’s a little bit like standing on a sinking ship. If you stay you drown, if you take the lifeboat there’s a good chance you live.

When you think about risk and reward like this, it’s easy to avoid situations where failure is the default.

Likewise, you’re often able to find events where there’s very little at stake, but the payoff is huge.

If you play cards or do any investing, you’ll often hear people ask the question: “Where do I get the money to start?” The general response is “Cut down on unnecessary expenses.” This sounds like eye-rolling lame advice, but it’s true. There are professional poker plays (Tom Dwan’s initial $50 bankroll comes to mind) who started with pocket change and worked their way up.

A lot of times the money that’s spent on trendy brunch cafes, or drinking, is enough get you started in some other venture.

Last May I decide to cut back on my expenses for one month (cooking at home, no coffee shops, etc) and used the excess money to pay my rent a month early. The next month I went back to my normal routine. But, I had some surplus cash, so I paid the rent early again. That kept compounding and compounding, all from one tiny decision.

In many cases you can take something you’re guaranteed to lose (your time, money, whatever) and “swing for the fences” instead.

Lose and you aren’t out anything extra. But if you win, the rewards are limitless.

Focus On The Future

I love investing.

Specifically, the idea of building something that continues to grow and prosper over time. There’s a certain joy in looking to the future and knowing every year is better than the last.

The power of compounding is incredible, and taking advantage yields insane long-term results.

Workout every day for a year and you’re going to get big.

If you write an article a day, you’ll end up with 365 pieces of content. Law of large numbers says you’ll attract an audience.

Having a project makes bad days near impossible.

Because you’ll always know the next week, month, or year is going to be infinitely better.

I hate Twitter. It’s been that way since fall of 2016. But, like the alcoholic who’ll “quit tomorrow,” I never did anything about it.

I’d see people freaking out over Trump or Hilary, and then ruin my whole day getting mad about it. “Don’t those idiots know they’re wasting their time?” Meanwhile, I was the biggest idiot of them all, upsetting myself over other people’s grievances.

Then, around the time of America’s big Civil War statue controversy, I decided to scale back on Twitter. At this point, I made a two simple goals “no name / place dropping in 2018, and no Tweeting more than 100 times a month.”

We’re halfway through the year now, and I’ve kept good on this promise.

Last month I published 33 Tweets, and I think the number will keep diminishing until January 1st, 2019. Here are my observations during the break.

1. More Creative Action, Less Negativity

The majority of people use social media out of boredom.

“It’s Saturday night and there’s nothing to do, better browse Facebook.” That’s so common that I heard middle age adults say it.

Twitter and Instagram are the new television.

There’s “nothing to do” so people fritter their time away watching someone else live their life.

In reality, there’s a million better (and more interesting) ways to spend your time. This isn’t one of those stupid “always give 110%” clichés either, you waste your time in plenty or creative and fun manners.

In the evenings I’ll usually play cards (sites like PokerStars and Party Poker have free tables), go for walks, hit my heavy bag, and (more recently) started a Dungeons & Dragons group.

Also, I read a lot more books now. About an extra title a month. Mostly novels.

People gripe that you can’t learn from fiction, but I disagree. Reading Crime And Punishment partially influenced my Twitter hiatus in the first place, by presenting the idea that humans have an uncontrollable desire to confess their sins.

Case in point?

My long-term stalker / death threat sender Benjamin Riley Schmitt Tweeted his way onto a FBI watch list. The stress of which aged him 10 years in three months.

I think it’s rational to ask “Is five minutes of ‘ranting’ worth a lifetime of self-inflicted misery?”

The same goes for the numerous celebrities and public figures who can’t resist the urge to jump on some “hot button issue” and embarrass themselves.

I once read a quote which goes: “The more you know about someone, the more power you have over them.” There’s certainly some merit to that.

Reading or spending time with friends doesn’t have the visceral thrill of “trolling,” but you aren’t knocking on your own tomb either. If you want action, join a boxing gym or cardroom.

You get that same “rush,” while exercising your brain and developing constructive skills.

2. More Articles (And Profits)

Most Tweets (or social media posts in general) have a very short lifespan.

From personal experience, I’d say most content dies out within 24 hours. If you write something that really gains traction, you might a whole three days of engagement.

Long-form articles are different.

I have posts from 2015 that still generate daily income. And I have Tweets from last Thursday that are completely forgotten.

Years ago, when I built my first successful niche site, I ended up generating $1,600 a month in profit. And not once did I do any “Brand Building” through Twitter or Instagram. And even of I had, it probably wouldn’t do much.

(Apologies For The Potato Quality, This Image Is From An Old WhatsApp Conversation)

Last year, I actually worked on building a big social media profile and grew it to ~ 10k followers (the actual number is slightly lower). The revenue from that pales in comparison to what I make writing one or two SEO friendly articles a day.

I’m not alone in this observation either.

A friend running his 25k follower Twitter account mentioned his conversion rate was under 1%. While another friend (who got himself banned from all social media) generates about 100k unique pageviews per month, mostly from SEO (he also has a fairly high conversion rate).

Even some of the longer form social media platforms (like Medium) outlast Twitter or Instagram.

My Medium account averages a couple hundred pageviews per month, and I rarely post there. Likewise, several Tweets converted to posts went from generating “imaginary Internet points” to making sales.

Lastly, social media lets you get an idea out of system immediately.

I can’t tell you how many articles or ideas I’ve scuttled simply because I’d posted the condensed version straight to Twitter.

By taking a break, you give yourself time sit down and further articulate an idea or concept. And once you get the ball rolling, it’s easy to knock out a complete post or article.

Swapped the Twitter App with Google Keep. Whenever you’re at the grocery store or waiting in line, pen a few sentences or jot down an idea. Oftentimes you’ll end up writing a whole article or sales letter this way.

This is the difference between getting attention for an hour and setting up a long-term stream of passive income.

3. Better Quality Information

Last fall I was speaking with some engineers in Shanghai. For some reason we got on the topic of video games, and they started telling me all about their favorite Steam title: “Player Unknown Battlegrounds.”

If you’re unfamiliar with this game, it’s pretty simple.

You parachute onto an island, then shoot everyone you see. There’s no story, no characterization, and no real context. As far as games go, this is as basic as it gets.

And that’s why it’s popular.

Anyone can understand it. There’s no cultural barrier (a game like Doom is about as unrelatable to the Asian market as a game about jiangshibis is to Westerners). And without a story or complex mechanics, there’s virtually no entry requirement for getting started. It’s not a flight simulator where you have to understand a million controls, or an RPG which rewards players for reading obscure clues or acquiring massive amounts of information. You parachute onto an island and shoot things.

That’s it.

In contrast, many older games (especially on the PC) had insane levels of depth. In Frontier: Elite II, you could traverse the entire solar system (in real-time) and space travel obeyed the actual laws of physics. This means that you needed some understanding of how space flight works on order to play the game.

A big barrier of entry, but fun once you get the hang of things.

So what’s this have to do with social media?

Everything.

Twitter let’s you get bite sized information all day long. The only problem is that it lacks depth. Most of this content is obvious advice and as broad as possible. Much of this “wisdom” is little more than a platitude. It sounds nice, but there’s no substance.

Work hard, wake up early, “demand excellence.”

There’s a huge difference between reading “Eat steaks, salads, and do squats” on Twitter versus taking the time to study nutrition or fitness.

The same goes for other ventures like sales or investing. It’s fun to read “Warren Buffett is old and fat so he doesn’t understand BitCoin” or “Sales is about over promising and over delivering,” but you’re ultimately getting nothing of substance.

(You Can Read A Million “Insights” Like This And Learn Nothing)

[Side Note: The actual criticism of BitCoin, as explained by Peter Lynch, is that non-tangible technology is too competitive. Someone will always come up with a slight improvement that makes the previous item obsolete. Likewise, the best BitCoin advice I’ve received is “Invest as much as you’re comfortable losing and trade on volatility.”]

Additionally, the quality of sources has really taken a nosedive.

Without doxxing anyone, I’ve been writing here since 2012 and remember when all major content was long-form articles. And many of those blog posts (even the ones on “game” or fitness) were published out of corner offices by conventionally successful men.

Logging onto Twitter now, I see @TheAlphaHighSchooler telling you to “stop being a f*ggot and go lift some weights.”

Content like this makes me roll my eyes.

You’re better off reading a book by someone who’s been around the block than banking all your advice off someone who’s greatest accomplishment is… Tweeting.

Closing Thoughts

I don’t think social media is “destroying civilization” or “making us dumber.” But I do think it’s a time waster dressed up as a utility.

“Twitter is for smart people” is like saying “Netflix original programming is for smart people.” Sure, it’s better some alternatives, but you’re still not doing anything productive or meaningful.

If you want to catch up with people, write to a relative (most of your loved ones will die long before you do, so don’t take them for granted) or call up an old friend.

Same goes for business stuff or anything else, there’s usually something more important or efficient than posting pictures online.

All of the do-nothings who read motivational business Tweets would be better off getting a part-time job and investing that money into stocks, because they’re getting tangible results that way. Seriously, there are a lot of guys who spend five hours a night watching Gary Vee or Brandon Mace. They could use that time to go deliver pizzas, and then put that money into an index fund.

At least that way they’re getting something for their time.

Taking a Twitter break opened my eyes to how meaningless 99% of social media is. There’s no Earth shattering penalty for not sharing something. And stepping back makes you realize how fleeting most of the content is.

It’s a refreshing experience and something I wish I’d done earlier.

Is Benjamin Riley Schmitt guilty of identity theft?

It seems so.

Schmitt, who goes by the alias “Christian McQueen” and owns “The Cad Club” (a service which, among other things, promises “courtesans” for its members) has spent the past several years sending me death threats online.

These have ranged from murder (promising to go “Full Gotti” and “Slaughter a motherf*cker”), to attempts at intimidating relatives.

However, in one particular instance, Schmitt boldly claimed that he stole my Social Security number.

This is a federal crime.

(Just Some Of Benjamin Riley Schmitt’s Death Threats)

Worse still, Schmitt has a history of similar crimes.

According to an ex-girlfriend, Benjamin Riley Schmitt committed credit card fraud before having a mental breakdown and fleeing Los Angeles in an attempt to hide from police.

[Ben] asked me to wire him money and took advantage of my mental state in that situation and I did send him most of the money I had. I also opened up a credit card and let him use it and he took a cash advance against it. I was able to obtain some of the money back, but not all.

Then he went on a shopping spree on that card, after I already forgave him for clearing me out the first time.

I called the credit card and claimed fraud and he got really upset and threatened to kill himself. I was very scared so I called his dad and the LAPD and asked them to do a wellness check. They couldn’t find him. When I called his dad I was not really concerned about the money. I was more concerned he would kill himself.

This is not the only complaint of its kind either.

Schmitt has been arrested for theft before, faced a PayPal suspension for violating the terms of service, and faced numerous complaints for shady business practices.

Under his “Christian McQueen” persona, Schmitt has been criticized for scamming customers with a recurring payment system that’s virtually impossible to cancel.

When people complain, he’s notorious for forcing them into silence. Either with threats of legal or physical retaliation. Often promising to sue or assault them unless they pay up.

Benjamin Riley Schmitt uses cheap intimidation tactics in an attempt to bully others.

This time, he’s failed.

Benjamin Riley Schmitt Is Currently Under Federal Investigation

(Schmitt Pictured Above)

After Schmitt personally confessed (in writing) to stealing my Social Security number, I was forced to contact the authorities. Currently, the FTC is looking through his emails, websites, defunct forum, and all other lines of communications.

There’s not much else I can say on this matter until the investigation concludes.

Fortunately, the written admission of guilt makes this a cut and dry case. In legal speak, there’s overwhelming evidence against him.

Because of this, I suspect the case will wrap up within the next six to eight months.

At which point we’ll fully know whether or not Benjamin Riley Schmitt has committed identity theft.

Update: Since this article’s original publication, the FBI added Schmitt to their Internet Crime Center Watch-List.