📚 Ebooks As A Revenue Stream Or A Pivot?

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How’s the week going for you?

I ended up getting a terrible migraine mid-day Monday that took until this morning before I could sit at my desk.

And even now, I’m still having some light sensitivity issues.

That’s why doing this online money making thing is so rad. Could you imagine what a day job would say if you told them you need three days to get over a migraine and that you’re still not 100% on day four?

Before we get into it today, just a quick reminder about the big summer sale at Growth Cupid where you can save 22% on everything with code SUMMER (goes through my birthday - the 22nd).

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Have you thought about Amazon + selling ebooks?

I think I’ve probably mentioned this in the past, but selling ebooks and paperback books on Amazon is something that I’ve been doing for probably more than a decade.

I was doing this back before Kindle Unlimited was introduced, and you could make a mint back them. KU kinda put the kibosh on the really easy money, but you can still do well.

Hell, I have books from over a decade ago that still bring in money every month…just not that thousands a month I was getting in the beginning.

Honestly, the set it and forget it feature of uploading books to Amazon is one of my favorite things about it - cause let’s be honest, after having to sue them back in 2015 there’s not much that makes my ‘favorites’ list where Amazon is concerned.

So, I was exchanging emails with Lukas, a reader, last week and I think I know where many people go wrong with selling books on Amazon.

Lukas mentioned doing things like coloring books, journal, and planners. These are what are normally known as “low content books.” And they were all the rage a few years back.

Today, to break into a low content book niche you need something really unique or you need to be the first one with a new idea. Even then, it’s a challenge because these low content books are so effortless you (and anyone else) can crank out tons of them.

That’s not really where the money is for most people.

You need either fiction or non-fiction. And if you’re doing fiction, then it needs to be in a hot, but under-served, niche (right now that’s LitRPG) and you really need to be able to crank out a new book every 30 days to make the most of the Amazon algorithm.

Hello, chatGPT!

With non-fiction, it’s easier but it can still be a challenge if it’s a crowded niche. Way back in the day I uploaded one of the very first books on side hustles (under a pen name) and made a ton of money from it - and still earn from it monthly.

But today, it would be insane to try to rank and sell a book on side hustles on Amazon.

Anyways, all this on earning from selling ebooks on Amazon to show you two things -

• You can earn a decent monthly income just doing this and nothing else

• You can use these ebooks as a new revenue stream for your site + to boost your authority in the niche

If you’re a food blogger, there is no reason for you to not be selling recipe books on Amazon. Bundle up the recipes from your site as many different ways as you can. I know someone who has been clearing five figures a month with recipes books for YEARS.

Her site got clapped recently, but she’s still got that sweet recipe book money coming in.

This email is already too long, so I’ll end this for now. But if you want to learn more about this, just reply back and let me know! I can do another update here.

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Week 8 of Local Newsletter Life Coming To A Close

Closing in on the end of week #8 of doing a local newsletter on Beehiiv.

I know that I didn’t give you a subscriber update at the start of the week, so here that is-

At the time I’m writing this, we’re at 1,771 subs and we’ll definitely cross 1,800 by tomorrow.

Over the weekend, I did end up out by the farmer’s market - despite the overwhelming Vegas heat. Ended up chatting with a couple of business owners and got a couple of good leads.

And, with my four day migraine experience this week, I’ve not yet had the chance to follow up with any of them.

Didn’t talk to everyone though because it was HOT and we left early.

I’ve also decided that the very first leads ad that I’ve tried has been the very best performer, so working on putting all of my money in that one.

With the way Facebook ads work, I have to slowly raise my budget to avoid putting it back into learning mode, cause that would increase my cost.

I’ve also decided to stop promoting the Beehiiv boosts for this local newsletter because less than 50% of subscribers are getting verified.

So, fuck that.

Here’s the earnings -

Honestly, I’d feel like it would be a better idea to start a similar niche newsletter and drive my own local subscribers to it instead of this 42% verification rate.

Reminder: I'm writing updates about my local newsletter on Twitter here and doing a more detailed case study in my private forum.

Beehiiv Ads Earnings For This Newsletter

I mentioned after I got the first Beehiiv ad in this newsletter that I’d give you an update on how it went. If you’re into it, I’ll continue these updates as I have them just to see what someone can earn with a Beehiiv newsletter in this niche.

And remember, SparkLoop did nothing for me in three months compared to this Beehiiv action.

Okay, so the first ad report is in and here’s the stats -

I think the earnings limit for this one was the $12.80. I can’t see those details any longer.

Shout out to the four of you who did me a solid and clicked that link. You’re my favorites.

Should I start giving these earnings away each month to newsletter subscribers?

Wonder if there’s a way for me to know who did the clicking cause then I could give it away to that pool of people. I’ll have to see if I can find that detail in my reporting.

Anyways…

So, I’ve had the ad in the last newsletter and the one today. And I think I have three more lined up over the next week or so.

That’s a lot, I think? Not sure if this is common with Beehiiv newsletters in this niche. But if it is, you may want to consider starting one….though I’m not really sure if I’m classified as digital marketing/SEO or side hustles?

Next Time…

I don’t have anything pre-planned for next time, so if you’ve got something you want to hear about from me - just reply and let me know!

Stay awesome,

Shawna

P.S. A reader got a KILLER $1/mo offer after completing the Post Planner free trial. Give it a try if you're building up a Facebook page. The longer I use it, the more I love it.

🚨 🚨 P.P.S. Don’t sleep on this Growth Cupid sale cause we have limited capacity for some of the services. 🚨 🚨

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