Kindlepreneur 4 year Anniversary

Just recently, I was looking over my past articles and realized that Kindlepreneur turned 4 years old. Turns out that on February 8, 2015, I posted the first ever Kindlepreneur article.

When I published that post, I had no idea that Kindlepreneur would grow as large as it has. At the time, I was a LT in the U.S. Navy who had been deployed without his family. I started writing books to find a way to build a side business that would one day allow me to quit my job and be home with my kids while writing full time.

So, for this week's article, I wanted to take a look back at what we've done and some of the future projects I'll be working on.

But more importantly, I also wanted thank you guys…the readers. Without you, I wouldn't be here today in Franklin, TN writing. My kids now see me every day, and I get to be a part of all their activities like dance recitals, softball games and more.

So, with that, let's check it out the 4-year journey of Kindlepreneur.

Kindlepreneur Traffic and Visitors

After four years of writing for Kindlepreneur, we get 431.45k visits per month. But this is actually more like 220,000 unique visitors per month since many come back multiple times during the month to read new articles.

• Unique Visitors per Month: ~220,000
• Email Subscribers: 69,887

Book Sales Over the Years

One thing many people struggle with is consistent book sales. That hasn't been the case for me. Below was my total book sales after one year as reported in my 1-year anniversary article. This particular total of sales was captured on April 16, 2015:

Here are my total book sales as of today (the day writing this) and the specific sales platform:

Not bad for a dyslexic guy. I'll admit that I haven't been writing as many books as I'd like since Kindlepreneur, Publisher Rocket, YouTube, the podcast, etc have really taken up a lot of time. But that's something I intend to remedy.

YouTube Channel – See Book Marketing In Action

The YouTube channel has been around since just about the beginning although I used it sparingly. However, it wasn't until about 2 years ago that I took it a bit more seriously. 

Now, I create videos when words can't do something justice. Some things just need to be seen in order to fully understand. That's why the Kindlepreneur YouTube channel was created and gets a lot of attention.

I also used Thinkific to create a full free video course on Amazon ads. This was my first course and it was made free for three reasons:

• I started writing a Kindlepreneur article about Amazon ads and realized I couldn't do it without a LOT of videos
• It's a great way to add email subscribers to the community
• It helps educate and show one of the many features Publisher Rocket can do – but the course doesn't require you to have Rocket in order to succeed

It also helps that my 19-year-old daughter is my video editor and does an amazing job helping me to put things together.

Recent Favorite Kindlepreneur Videos:

• Book Marketing Tactics:  You Can Get Your Book in 10 Categories and Here's How
• News on Book Marketing: Amazon Changed Their Book Ads System
• Explaining Difficult Topics on Book Marketing: Can You Give Away Free Copies of your Book? (Explained)
• Review of Tools for Authors: MasterClass Review – Is it worth it?

Podcast – Learn Book Marketing On the Go

In November 0f 2017, I created the Book Marketing Show podcast. I did this, not because I wanted another thing to keep me busy…haha. Far from it. Nor was it that I wanted to hear myself speak. Actually, making podcast episodes is the scariest and hardest thing for me to do.

I did it because I heard too many times from readers that while they loved my articles on Kindlepreneur, they didn't have the time to read them all.

So, I created a podcast where people can come and learn book marketing on the go. But this isn't your usual ‘let's sit down and do interviews and talk on and on about other people.'  Instead, the Book Marketing Show podcast:

• Starts each episode with a concise book marketing lesson
• Includes an interview with an author who used the discussed tactic and their results
• Cuts the fluff and introductions and gets right to the point
• Ends with a summation of lessons learned
• Keeps between 15-30 minutes in length

Unique Downloads: 146,793

Christmas time always takes a dip because I stop publishing during that time period and give a bit of a break. But as you can see, it's had steady and slow growth. I'll admit I haven't really done much to push or promote the podcast. But like with many things, online growth is about consistency, dedication, and persistence.

Recent Favorite Kindlepreneur Podcast Episodes:

• Reviving a Dead Book Series: Reviving a Dead Book Series #4
• Insider Info: What Publishing Companies Are Really Like
• Case Studies: Using AMS Ads to Increase Your Total Sales
• Marketers & Coffee Series: Facebook Ads vs Amazon Ads

KDP Rocket to Publisher Rocket

Two years ago, I created KDP Rocket, a book marketing software to help authors get their books in front of more Amazon shoppers by helping you find the best keywords and categories, while also creating the most effective Amazon ads.

Originally, I created it thinking it would be something small to help. Boy was I wrong. Pun intended, but Rocket has definitely taken off. A big part of this has been because of the results authors have received, the level of support we provide, added free features and upgrades, and just overall word of mouth.

Here are some of the things about Rocket's growth:

• Now has a team of 17 people working on or with it
• Over 20,000+ users worldwide
• Multiple big-time publishers are now using it – leading to requests for consulting with me and more
• Authors from NYT bestselling and Wall Street Journal lists to first-time self-published authors are promoting it

But what's more is the future and things we'll be adding to the software:

• Version 2.0 comes out soon improving the look and feel (see below), adding to AMS ads, and adding book data to the mix
• International markets will be added
• New category systems showing all 10,000+ categories and more

Plus, we changed the name. A big reason for this is that we're currently talking with Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and hopefully, Kobo to add their information to Rocket as well. Because of this, we can't be ‘Amazon' specific and so we needed to change the name. Now, it's called Publisher Rocket.

Future Projects of Kindlepreneur

Having a great team around me, I've been able to focus more on projects and experimenting with book marketing. Here are a couple of things I'm working for 2019:

Adding and Improving Publisher Rocket: For this year, we'll be adding international markets, more capabilities to the Amazon Ads feature, and working with Barnes & Noble and iBooks to include their markets into the program. All of this will be free upgrades for current owners.

Updating my Free Amazon Ads Course: On January 7th, Amazon made some major changes to their Amazon ads system. I'll make sure the course shows this.

Building a Free Course on Building Amazing Author Websites: Authors don't have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to get a website that adequately represents their level of professionalism. I really want to show authors how they can create a website to feel proud of.

Read 4 Nonfiction Books and 4 Fiction Books a Month: Okay, this is a personal goal, but it's something I want to employ to nourish my creative side and continue to grow as an author, leader, and Christian.

Creating a Writer's Life Comic Book for Amazon: Since I've been a kid, I've always wanted to make my own comic book. Well, I planned that I'll not only create it, but I will also show every step of the way so authors can see it in action and learn how to make their own.

Thank You Kindlepreneur Community

Like I said in the beginning, thank you, readers, for all you've done to contribute to this journey. It has not only been an amazing ride creating Kindlepreneur, but also being able to just…well…create. It fills my authors and artist soul.

Without you guys, I wouldn't be here. Without you, your comments, and support, I might have stopped years ago. So, from the Chesson family to yours, thank you for being a part of this.

Cheers,