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Authority Business “Traffic and Income” Report #5 [Jul. to Sep. 2014]

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Authority Traffic and Income ReportWelcome 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.

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The Daily Entrepreneur: 33 Success Habits for Small Business Owners, Freelancers and Aspiring 9-to-5 Escape Artists

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The Daily EntrepreneurWant 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:

The Daily Entrepreneur: 33 Success Habits for Small Business Owners, Freelancers and Aspiring 9-to-5 Escape Artists.

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…

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(Coming Soon) “Self-Publishing Questions” – The Podcast

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SPQ Podcast LaunchAlmost 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.

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12 Thoughts on Kindle Unlimited

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Amazon recently launched Kindle Unlimited. Does it help authors? Or will it kill your sales? Check out these 12 thoughts to learn about the long-term results of this program.

It’s been over a month since Amazon launched their Kindle Unlimited (KU) program, which gives readers unlimited access to 600,000 titles and audiobooks for the price of $9.99 per month.

During this time, there has been varied opinions on what this program means to both authors and readers.

On one extreme, there are people with the “Chicken-Little-the-sky-is-falling” mindset who feel this is yet another example of how Amazon is destroying books.

And on the other end, there are the people who praise every change that Amazon makes to their publishing platform.

Also during this time, I’ve had a number of people email me, asking my opinion on Kindle Unlimited. Did I see an increase in downloads for my habit books? Or am I seeing a negative impact on sales?

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about KU. While I love the idea, I do think there are some negatives to this program that might hurt authors in the long term.

So in today’s post, I’ll go over 12 thoughts I have about KU—both the good and the bad. Plus, I’ll cover a few strategies you can use to get the most out of this program.

Let’s get to it.

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[Kindle Launch] Behind the Scenes of a 20,000 Download Book Launch

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work-smarterMany 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:

  • 20,215 free downloads
  • 559 contributors
  • 1247 paid downloads (so far)
  • $427.83 in royalties the first week, and over $1400 in the first month
  • 413 individual emails sent to contributors (183 responses, 44% response rate)
  • 378 resources shared
  • 334 new email subscribers (out of 580 visitors – 57% conversion)
  • 246 emails to featured companies sent (64 responses, 26% response rate)
  • $208.23 in “production costs”
  • 200+ retweets and a social reach in the hundreds of thousands
  • 156 borrowed copies (Borrows on Kindle earn about $2 each)
  • $108.43 in affiliate commission (explanation below)
  • 79 Fancy Hands requests (more on this below)
  • 70 5-star reviews
  • 3 guest post opportunities, including one on EntrepreneurOnFire.com
  • 2 podcast guest appearances on shows much bigger than mine
  • 2 free t-shirts, including this one from Buffer.

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.

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Authority Business “Traffic and Income” Report #4 [Apr. to Jun. 2014]

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Authority Traffic and Income ReportWelcome 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…  

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Kindle Relationship Building: What’s Your Origin Story?

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Origin StoryWe all understand the importance of building an email list.

As a Kindle book author, this list can be the #1 generator of sales during a book launch.

The problem?

Many authors struggle with “what” to send email subscribers. They ask questions like: Can I promote my old books? How often should I send email? Should I focus on free content or ask subscribers to spend money?

Honestly, there’s a lot you can do with email, but your primary goal is to build relationships with subscribers.

When subscribers see you as someone real, they’re more likely to check out your books and potentially leave a positive review.

In today’s post, we’ll talk about a simply strategy for strengthening an email relationship. Specifically I’ll talk about why every author should add an “origin story” to their autoresponder sequence.

Let’s get to it.

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Analysis: 16 Kindle Book Marketing Strategies (Dissected and Graded)

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Book Marketing Strategies AnalyzedBy 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.

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Authority Business “Traffic and Income” Report #3 [Jan. to Mar. 2014]

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Authority Traffic and Income ReportWelcome to the third update of the Authority Internet Business Traffic and Income Report.

It’s been about 15 months since I started this case study. The idea behind it is to show how to build an authority business from the ground up with a brand new site (DevelopGoodHabits.com).

With each post, I talk about the techniques that actually work for creating reliable, long-term Internet income.

To illustrate what’s possible, I provide a quarterly breakdown of the traffic and income the business has generated. If you haven’t read the last two updates, here they are:

Today’s post will cover six primary topics:

  • Successes of Develop Good Habits
  • Failures of Develop Good Habits
  • Traffic Results
  • Income Results
  • Total Expenditures
  • Future Strategies

Like you, I’m a big fan of the sites that detail the results of their businesses—warts and all. It’s my hope that you’ll take the lessons from each of these updates and use them to grow your business and learn where to focus your attention.

Similar to the last update, a lot has happened in the first quarter of 2014. The income has been fairly consistent in this time, and I’ve reinvested it into a few strategies that I hope will grow the business. So let’s get started by talking about went right.

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7 Steps for Building a Team to “Level Up” Your Kindle Business

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Level Up Your Kindle BusinessMany bloggers use the phrase “leveling up” when they talk about improving your life, career or business. The way I interpret it is taking something that works and making it even better.

When it comes to a Kindle business, one way you can level it up is to build a team around your books.

The problem with Kindle publishing is it isn’t very scalable. You only have so much time to write and edit, work with graphic designers, and promote your books.

If you want to create more books, you need to put more time into your business. This is the wrong approach because you’ll eventually run out of time to write—reaching a sort of “critical mass” with your publishing efforts.

A simpler solution is to reinvest the income you’ve made and focus on building a team to help you grow your business.

As an example, in my most recent Traffic & Income report, I talked about how my authority Kindle business (DevelopGoodHabits.com) currently has a net income of $18,679.73. Instead of spending this money on a fun vacation, I’m putting it back into the business by hiring talented, smart people to grow my business.

In this article, I’ll show you the seven-step blueprint I’m currently using to build a Kindle-based team and explain how you can follow the same steps to enhance your book business.

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Authority Business Traffic and Income Report #2 [AIB]

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Authority Traffic and Income ReportWelcome to the second part of the Authority Internet Business Traffic and Income Report.

This is a series I started almost a year ago.

The goal?

To show what it’s like to build an authority business from the ground up. The goal of every post is to detail the specific actions I take to grow my site (DevelopGoodHabits.com) and help you learn valuable lessons along the way.

An important part of this process is doing a regular report that breaks down the traffic and income the site has generated.

Specifically, we’ll cover six major sections:

  • Successes
  • Failures
  • Traffic Results
  • Income Results
  • Total Expenditures
  • Future Strategies

Like most folks, I love it when bloggers show how much money they really make from their businesses. With the Traffic and Income Report, I hope to show what works with an Internet business and what doesn’t. Rather than just talking about different strategies, I’ll let you know if they actually help me grow my business.

A lot has happened in the last three months. Specifically, December was my best month ever for the business (we’ll get to that in a bit.)  First, I’d like to provide a quick overview of a major shift I went through during the last quarter.

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Kindle Publishing Questions Answered (Part 4)

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KDP LogoWelcome 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.

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