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Kindle Test Results From Last Week

by WarrenPeterson
15 replies
OK, test feedback for you all on a project I ran last week with a book I have on Kindle. Up front, to let you all know, over the course of a month there have been sales of just under $90 (USD) worth of that book. My testing was not for income, it was to learn the system.

When I signed up with Kindle, I did join KDP Select, which gives 5 days (per 90 day period) where you can promote the book for free. I learned that for non-fiction mid-week is the best time to run the free promotion.

So I decided to run a two-day test of free promotion. I setup the promo to start the first minute on Tues. and run through the last minute on Wed. During that time, I posted on my FB page, sent an email update to my list, and posted to 2 LinkedIn groups. I also asked my friends to share the update on FB.

During those two days, it was lots of fun to watch the stats. By the end of the day on Wed, the book had moved all the way up to #1 for the main category I had chosen, which was Small Business & Entrepreneurship > Entrepreneurship.

It was the free promo, so there was no immediate revenue associated with that #1 ranking. I'm not sure yet if there is a right way to market that #1 (I took screenshots of Amazon), or if it is worth doing marketing with that at all, as again that is on the free side.

However, here is where it gets fun. During those two days, the book was downloaded over 650 times. And in the book is my intro/bio and links back to my various sites/pages. Now I have my own Kindle, and I know 100% for sure that lots of people download the free books and never get to them, so even though there was over 650 downloads, I know that no where near that will read it.

In the future, I'll be much more strategic with my intro/bio and also with my included links. I have lots to learn, this has just been the first test, but there sure is an incredible amount of opportunity with Amazon - far more so than the direct revenue opportunities of selling books.

I'm no expert on Kindle by any stretch, but if you have any questions, please let me know!
#kindle #results #week
  • Profile picture of the author kencalhn
    thx for sharing; good to know it. one test stat that would be very helpful too is, for example if you have a free offer in the kindle ebook that takes them from the kindle book to your site where there's a lead-generation optin, how many opted in for the free lead-gen offer/report? and sales conversions from there to whatever's being upsold etc..

    test results that would tie it all together would be helpful, if you have those in the future (from anyone doing kindle promos for that matter), eg out of 650 downloads, 31 opted in to optin form on site for free report, of those 7 bought within two weeks after download; converted 4 of those to upsell w/autoresponder chain w/in 20 days etc..

    i haven't done anything w/kindle publishing but it's definitely on the to-do list for lead gen

    good to know numbers, and midweek timing, thx
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  • Profile picture of the author WarrenPeterson
    Hi Ken, yes that is important data, and I don't have it. On my next round I am going to change up the intro/bio and change up the links. I'm going to add some unique links that are only in the book, and possibly unique landing pages, so I can follow people on that path.

    At the moment, there are no offers in the book leading them anywhere specific (other than just back to my homepage or FB page), it is a stand-alone book, and that is an obvious issue to address right now. These are the kinds of things I am hoping others will pull from this thread and get right the first time.
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  • Profile picture of the author gpwilson
    Nice start. I believe your next book would definitely bring revenue for yourself. Just keep great works.
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    • Profile picture of the author WarrenPeterson
      Originally Posted by gpwilson View Post

      Nice start. I believe your next book would definitely bring revenue for yourself. Just keep great works.
      Thanks. I have many changes to make for sure. I'm not all that interested in the revenue side honestly, it is not part of my primary business. I do these sorts of projects to learn, and for branding. I may revisit (in terms of revenue targets) down the road, but right now that doesn't align with my business goals.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Gram
    Just wanted to say congrats. Many people want it but fail to take the steps to test and try things out like you have done.

    Caution: Selling Kindle books is amazing and it gets addicting!
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    • Profile picture of the author WarrenPeterson
      Originally Posted by Paul Gram View Post

      Just wanted to say congrats. Many people want it but fail to take the steps to test and try things out like you have done.

      Caution: Selling Kindle books is amazing and it gets addicting!
      Thanks, I can see how it could be addicting! Since I use this mostly for branding, I am really working on how to best do that. The strategies for Kindle are, understandably, designed around sales. For me, it is all about branding.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brains Gone Wild
    Originally Posted by WarrenPeterson View Post

    OK, test feedback for you all on a project I ran last week with a book I have on Kindle. Up front, to let you all know, over the course of a month there have been sales of just under $90 (USD) worth of that book. My testing was not for income, it was to learn the system.

    When I signed up with Kindle, I did join KDP Select, which gives 5 days (per 90 day period) where you can promote the book for free. I learned that for non-fiction mid-week is the best time to run the free promotion.

    So I decided to run a two-day test of free promotion. I setup the promo to start the first minute on Tues. and run through the last minute on Wed. During that time, I posted on my FB page, sent an email update to my list, and posted to 2 LinkedIn groups. I also asked my friends to share the update on FB.

    During those two days, it was lots of fun to watch the stats. By the end of the day on Wed, the book had moved all the way up to #1 for the main category I had chosen, which was Small Business & Entrepreneurship > Entrepreneurship.

    It was the free promo, so there was no immediate revenue associated with that #1 ranking. I'm not sure yet if there is a right way to market that #1 (I took screenshots of Amazon), or if it is worth doing marketing with that at all, as again that is on the free side.

    However, here is where it gets fun. During those two days, the book was downloaded over 650 times. And in the book is my intro/bio and links back to my various sites/pages. Now I have my own Kindle, and I know 100% for sure that lots of people download the free books and never get to them, so even though there was over 650 downloads, I know that no where near that will read it.

    In the future, I'll be much more strategic with my intro/bio and also with my included links. I have lots to learn, this has just been the first test, but there sure is an incredible amount of opportunity with Amazon - far more so than the direct revenue opportunities of selling books.

    I'm no expert on Kindle by any stretch, but if you have any questions, please let me know!
    Congrats! keep going and keep testing! Just when you're comfortable with the results, keep testing! Kindle publishing is awesome and very addictive.
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  • Profile picture of the author Raydal
    I'm no Kindle expert either but I do have two publications
    on the platform--nothing to shout about--BUT I'm wondering
    what's the virtue of driving traffic to your kindle books when
    you can normally make money by selling on your own site?

    In other words, I think that the Kindle advantage is the
    traffic that the store gets, but if I'm sending my own
    traffic there what's the use? EXCEPT, the bump in
    traffic brings you more Kindle traffic?

    -Ray Edwards
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    • Profile picture of the author WarrenPeterson
      Originally Posted by Raydal View Post

      I'm no Kindle expert either but I do have two publications on the platform--nothing to shout about--BUT I'm wondering what's the virtue of driving traffic to your kindle books when you can normally make money by selling on your own site?

      In other words, I think that the Kindle advantage is the traffic that the store gets, but if I'm sending my own traffic there what's the use? EXCEPT, the bump in traffic brings you more Kindle traffic?

      -Ray Edwards
      That's a good question. For me, I don't sell anything on my site (at least not right now), so I don't run into that issue.

      I do think that for friends, LinkeIn shares, FB shares, etc.. they are more likely to share a link to a Free Book at Amazon versus to a page on my site. People see the link directly to Amazon, book cover, etc... and I'm guessing that will get shared more than a link back to other sites. However, I openly admit that is simply a guess on my side.

      I do know that once you move up the ranks on the Amazon Top 100 list, people who are just browsing that list will find you and download, so that is definitely a benefit (but one I cannot measure, or at least don't know how to measure).

      Perhaps for my next test, I'll make a page/post on my site and have all the information about the book there - including the link, cover images, and those details, and then have all the posts point back to that page/post. I could run the promo at the same times and on the same days of the week.

      Thanks for the question - it got me thinking!
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  • Profile picture of the author kencalhn
    the sole reason for kindle is to generate leads from amazon's traffic, not to sell the kindle book, at least that's how I'll roll
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    • Profile picture of the author aprilm
      Hey Warren,
      Congrats on your book! When I first started publishing, I used to start free promos on Tuesdays also. (Can't remember where exactly I read this was the best time) However, recently, I experimented with Sunday, and was very pleased with those results as well. I am also in the small business -> entrepreneurship genre.

      I would love to hear updates of your future experiments!
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      • Profile picture of the author WarrenPeterson
        Originally Posted by aprilm View Post

        Hey Warren,
        Congrats on your book! When I first started publishing, I used to start free promos on Tuesdays also. (Can't remember where exactly I read this was the best time) However, recently, I experimented with Sunday, and was very pleased with those results as well. I am also in the small business -> entrepreneurship genre.

        I would love to hear updates of your future experiments!
        Was the Sunday promo for the same book as the Tuesday promo? I know you said you were pleased with the results, how did they compare to the Tuesday results?
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  • Profile picture of the author mjessimy
    Hey let me ask you something though, you say it was marketing based, so in terms of keyword how did you choose? I can't seem to zero in on appropriate keywords
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    • Profile picture of the author WarrenPeterson
      Originally Posted by mjessimy View Post

      Hey let me ask you something though, you say it was marketing based, so in terms of keyword how did you choose? I can't seem to zero in on appropriate keywords
      Can you clarify this? I'm not quite sure what you mean...
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Originally Posted by Raydal View Post

    I'm no Kindle expert either but I do have two publications
    on the platform--nothing to shout about--BUT I'm wondering
    what's the virtue of driving traffic to your kindle books when
    you can normally make money by selling on your own site?

    In other words, I think that the Kindle advantage is the
    traffic that the store gets, but if I'm sending my own
    traffic there what's the use? EXCEPT, the bump in
    traffic brings you more Kindle traffic?

    -Ray Edwards
    Ray, I'm a long way from claiming expert status - yet. But here's what I've found in my own research into promoting on Kindle.

    Much of the promotion, especially regarding the free days promotions, is to an audience you might not be able to identify and reach any other way. At least not reliably. Once they've identified themselves by buying/downloading your book, you have a chance to get them to your website and establish a communication channel (your list) off of Amazon.
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