I have moved to another site…
While Steve Scott Site has been a great experience, I’ve decided to focus all my efforts on a new site called Authority.pub.
This is a podcast and a growing blog that teaches the principles of the self-publishing business model. Hosted by myself, Barrie Davenport, and Ron Clendenin, the ASP show breaks down what it takes to success as an authorpreneur in 2016 (and beyond.)
If you’re interested in this podcast, here are three ways to get started:
Welcome to the fifth update of the Authority Internet Business Traffic and Income Report.
We’re almost at the two year mark from the start of this case study. During this time, I took a brand new site (DevelopGoodHabits.com or DGH for short) and built a successful self-publishing business around it.
To give you an idea of what’s actually working for my business, I break down the financials and traffic on a quarterly basis.
If you haven’t read the last four updates before, then I recommend you start here:
Like the last two updates, there were a number of breakthroughs (and setbacks) in the last quarter. My Kindle-specific income decreased for each of the three months, but I’ve also discovered a few new streams of revenue. So let’s dive in with the financial stuff.
Want to start a side hustle or a small business?
Have trouble making a decent income from your existing business?
Can’t seem attract customers or and land important clients?
Pay close attention if you answered “yes” to any of these questions…
Today I’m pleased to announce my latest book:
Being an entrepreneur doesn’t mean you have to build a start-up company or pitch a product on “Shark Tank”. Anyone who is out there hustling to make extra money on their own, is in some way an entrepreneur. It’s for these people that I wrote The Daily Entrepreneur.
Here on some details on this book…
Almost a year ago, I started a series of blog posts called “Kindle Publishing Questions.”
The idea was to answer the questions I often get from readers.
Unfortunately, I gave up on this idea because it limited my writing time. I felt that every hour I spent on blog posts was an hour I didn’t have to write my Kindle books. (Honestly, I can only write a few hours each day without my mind turning into tapioca pudding.)
Things changed when I started doing podcast interviews on a weekly basis. Whenever a host asked me a self-publishing question, I could rattle off a detailed response. I didn’t have to think about “the right way” to answer the question (like I do when writing). Instead, I simply described what works for me.
From this experience, I’ve realized there is a market for a short-form podcast that answers the questions authors have a on a regular basis.
That’s why I’m launching a podcast called “Self-Publishing Questions.” (Clever name, right?)
Here’s a brief overview of what I’ll cover and how you can get involved.
Many Kindle authorities claim that launching a book for free no longer works (I’ve definitely said this recently.) Fortunately people like Nick Loper (the Chief Side Hustler at SideHustleNation.com) are proving me wrong.
With the right amount of effort and smart work, you can parlay a free book launch into a profitable stream of income. In today’s guest post, Nick details that exact strategies he used to get over 20,000 free downloads and create a lifelong asset.
Update: Nick has recently launched a course that digs deeper into each of the concepts he covers in this post. If you buy the product through my affiliate link, you will get a 75% discount off the regular price.
Last month, I released my latest book project, Work Smarter, into the world.
The book actually started out as a blog post idea, but as the text grew past 10,000 words (eventually totaling 20,000), I figured it would be better suited for book format.
The project is all about the online tools and resources today’s entrepreneurs are using to get their work done. I’m always excited to learn about new tools, and I know other people feel the same way.
There’s a joy in discovering something that can make your life easier or make your work more efficient — and that’s what Work Smarter intended to do.
(And based on the feedback, it did. If you missed it, I guarantee you’ll find something new, novel, and useful among the 350+ resources — or your money back.)
Here are some of the hard numbers from the launch:
In this post I’ll share the step-by-step process and methodology I went through to create and market the book, including which tools I used most from it to get it done, what worked best, and what mistakes I made along the way.
(Including why I changed the title mid-launch, what I could have done better on social media, and how the first 17,000 readers got a hard-to-navigate version of the book.)
Ready? Let’s do this.
Welcome to the fourth update of the Authority Internet Business Traffic and Income Report.
This case study was started over year and a half ago, with a goal to show how to build an authority business for a brand new site called DevelopGoodHabits.com (or DGH for short).
In each post, I detail the techniques I use to create reliable, long-term Internet income from a single brand.
At first, I thought the site would make money from a variety of sources, but so far I’ve stuck with Kindle publishing because it’s working really well.
To illustrate what’s possible, I provide a quarterly breakdown of the traffic and income that the business has generated.
If you haven’t read the last three updates, here they are:
Like you, I’m a big fan of the sites that detail the results of their business—warts and all. It’s my hope that you’ll take the lessons from each of these updates to grow your business and learn where to best focus your attention.
Just like in the last couple of updates, there have been a number of breakthroughs (and setbacks) in the last quarter. The income has skyrocketed, yet I made some mistakes that helped me learn a few valuable lessons about what it takes to build a lasting brand. So let’s start by talking about them…
By now you’ve probably heard about the 80/20 Rule.
You know, the theory that states 80 percent of your results come from 20 percent of your efforts.
When it comes to Kindle Publishing, I feel this rule has many applications.
Sadly, one of them is that 80 percent of book sales are completely out of your hands. If Amazon “likes” your book, they’ll work hard to promote in places like their search engine results, the “Customers Also Bought” section, top category lists and targeted email campaigns.
It’s awesome to know that Amazon does a lot to market your books. The problem? This means that you as an author can only do so much to increase sales. In my experience, only 20 percent of my unit sales are directly affected by specific marketing strategies I’ve implemented. Everything else is driven by the Kindle marketplace.
The good news?
While your efforts only have a minimal impact on book sales, there are a handful of strategies that can have a significant impact on your bottom line. The trick is to know what actually works and what doesn’t.
Today’s post is a special one. Instead of talking about what works, I will show real-world data on the different marketing techniques I’ve tested over the past year. Each strategy will be analyzed, dissected and given an overall grade. Then, at the end, I’ll provide a couple of recommendations based 100 percent on the techniques I’m personally using in my Kindle business.
Let’s get to it.
Welcome to part four of the Kindle publishing series!
A few months back, I asked readers to submit any questions they had about writing and selling books on Amazon. In this series, I’ll go through each one and provide specific action items that you can take.
Missed a previous post?
Then check out these links: Part 1, part 2 and part 3.
Today’s post will cover questions related to creating and selling your book.
As always, we’ll start with the “3 Golden Rules of Kindle Publishing.” If you’ve read this section already, then feel free to skip ahead to the good stuff. But, if this is your first time here, I recommend you check out the following because it provides a background on why I make certain business decisions.
Once again, I’m answering another collection of Kindle publishing question that I’ve received from readers.
If this is your first time here, then you’ll want to check out part 1 and part 2 of this series.
What started out as a long blog post has evolved into hundreds of excellent questions that I’ll answer now and throughout the New Year. (I’m even thinking about starting a YouTube channel around this concept.)
Today’s post includes a mash-up of the different questions I’ve recently received. Some relate to topics I’ve partially covered and others go into strategies that I haven’t previously discussed.
As always, we’ll start with the “3 Golden Rules of Kindle Publishing.” If you’ve read this section already, then feel free to skip ahead to the good stuff. But, if this is your first time here, I recommend you check out the following because it provides a background on why I make certain business decisions.
Welcome to the follow-up of the series where I answer your Kindle publishing questions.
(If you missed my first 15 responses, you can check out the article here.)
I originally intended this to be a lengthy, single post, but now it’s turned into something much, much bigger.
Since I’ve received over 200 responses, I’m going to answer every single question that you have about Kindle publishing (no matter how long that takes.)
This group of questions covers a few of my favorite topics: Researching book ideas, building relationships with readers and balancing everything with a blog.
Lots to cover, so let’s dive in…
With the publication of my latest book (“23 Anti-Procrastination Habits”) I now have five habit-related Kindle books for my authority website DevelopGoodHabits.com (DGH).
I honestly feel that Kindle publishing is the best way to monetize a brand new blog or authority site. Unlike other income streams, you don’t need lots of web traffic. Instead, you can build your audience and sell books at the same time by leveraging Amazon’s platform.
Now, I know some readers don’t feel that Amazon is “right” for them. Others are having trouble getting started. So, I thought it would be useful to answer specific questions that you might have about the Kindle publishing process.
That’s why I recently sent this message to my email subscribers:
The response back was phenomenal.
Almost two hundred people sent me their questions and comments about the Kindle publishing process. (A big thanks to everyone who took time to send your questions.)
At first, I was tempted to “cherry pick” the most common responses and reply to those. Instead, I’ve decided to turn these questions into a multi-part series of blog posts where I’ll do my best to cover every single response. Today, I’ll tackle the first 15 questions.
But first, let’s lay the groundwork with a concept that I call…
For all of July, I was traveling through Greece. While I *wanted* to relax and take the month off, one day I suddenly felt inspired to write a short Kindle booklet.
The result is called:
Is $.99 the New Free? The Truth About Launching and Pricing Your Kindle Books
It will be free through Amazon’s KDP Select program for the next five days.
Starting today (August 12th) to the end of Friday (August 16th); you can grab a free copy directly from Amazon.
Read on to discover the details about this freebie.