Looking to grow your business by selling journals on Amazon?
As a dietitian or healthcare professional, selling journals on Amazon is an excellent way to make a positive impact on your target audience, have wider reach and generate passive income for your business (or side hustle).
Think about the population that you serve. Whether it’s diabetes patients, parents of young children, women going through menopause, or even other dietitians or healthcare professionals, low-content books like journals can serve as beneficial tools to empower your target audience to make LASTING change in their lives.
Below are three examples of journals created by dietitians, that are currently selling on Amazon.
Plant-Based Meal Planning and Wellness Journal by Maria Tointon
Mama on the Move by Callie Miller
*Please note that I earn a commission on affiliate links in this article
All of these authors created their journals through my Click to Publish program where I teach the ins and outs of becoming a self-published author using Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).
Amazon KDP presents an invaluable opportunity for dietitians to reach a wider audience of potential customers through Amazon’s vast customer base. Moreover, selling journals on Amazon allows you to leverage the platform’s marketing tools and analytics to optimize sales strategies and better understand your target audience.
This article focuses on 3 strategies to help you achieve sales success and avoid creating a journal that gets lost in the sea of books sold on Amazon.
Let’s dive in!
3 Strategies to Successfully Sell Journals on Amazon
Each strategy in this section focuses on a different stage of the self-publishing journey.
#1 Researching Your Niche
First, set aside time to research your niche BEFORE designing your journal. Determine the demand and unmet needs of your target audience. Then, tailor your journal to effectively meet their needs.
Dietitian Shannon Ebron’s Check-in and Color, a combined coloring book and gratitude journal for school nutrition professionals is a great example of this strategy.
Ebron is another Click to Publish student. She found a gap in her niche market and created a low content book to fill this need. Shannon has successfully sold over 1,100 copies of this one journal, earning over $4,000 in book royalties in just one year.
How do I research my niche?
One way to uncover the unmet needs of your target audience is to poll them. Ask current clients or your social media followers what they are looking for. Involve them in your journey as you research, create, and promote your journal.
Another way to research your niche is to check out the competition on Amazon. Here are 5 question to ask yourself when analyzing journals within your niche:
- What are the bestselling journals in my niche?
- What topics do the journals cover?
- Are there any specialized areas within my broader niche that are underserved or have less competition?
- What do customer reviews say they like and do not like about the journals?
- What keywords or search terms are commonly used by readers interested in this niche?
Researching your niche not only provides insight into market trends and gaps, but also ensures you’re creating a journal that resonates with your target customer. By understanding their specific challenges and desires, you can tailor your journal to address their pain points. Thus, delivering valuable content that the reader is eager to buy.
#2 Crafting Quality Designs with CanvaPro
The second strategy focuses on the design of your journal. A well-designed journal makes it more desirable to potential buyers and more likely to sell on Amazon. It can also leave a lasting impression that helps to foster brand loyalty and drive repeat purchases.
Utilize the information you gathered from researching your niche to guide you in selecting the best colors, design elements, and wording that speaks to your target customer.
Need help creating a professional looking journal?
One option is to hire a professional designer. Another (more budget-friendly) option is to utilize a graphic design platform like Canva.
Journal Templates with CanvaPro
While Canva does offer a free plan, for this article I will focus on Canva’s paid plan called CanvaPro. With CanvaPro you have a lot more options as far as templates, design elements, and fonts to choose from with fewer licensing restrictions compared to the free version.
A quick search of “journal templates” on Canva’s website reveals over 100,000 results. Templates include an array of cover designs as well as interior files.
As you search Canva’s template library, keep your target audience in mind. Which cover design would most likely get them to “stop the scroll” if they were searching for a journal on Amazon?
You can filter the results by style, topic, and color to narrow down your search. Rather than stare at a blank page, use these templates to help you save time and kickstart your project.
TIP: When using a journal template from Canva, make sure your margins are set correctly based on the page count and trim size of your book. You may need to make adjustments to the template.
CanvaPro is the version that I used to create all the low content books that I sell on Amazon, including my guided prompt journal for fellow Dietitians.
Regardless of the type of journal you’re looking to create (dot, guided prompt, graph grid), this can be done with CanvaPro relatively quickly. Once you find the best template for your journal, you can modify the colors, prompts, and other features to meet your needs, like in the example below.
#3 Promoting Your Journal with Amazon’s Built-In Tools
The third strategy to achieve success selling journals on Amazon is all about taking advantage of Amazon’s built-in features to promote books like journals.
- Amazon Author Central – Create your Author Page and share information about yourself to allow readers an opportunity to learn about you. Link other books you have authored, making it a one-stop shop for customers.
- Author Follow – The “Follow” button is located on your Author Page or book’s detail page. Customers who follow an author are notified of upcoming new book release dates and updates to the author’s page.
- Author Copies – Order copies of your journal at print cost. Use these copies as giveaways to promote your journal with current clients and at your author events, speaking engagements, conferences, etc.
- Amazon Ads: Set your own budget for Amazon ad campaigns to enable your book to appear in prominent places while customers browse for books.
- A+ Content – Engage with potential customers by adding A+ Content (images, text, comparison tables) to your journal’s detail page on Amazon. This extra information is helpful to make your journal stand out and connect readers with you the author.
Taking advantage of Amazon’s built-in features allows you to effectively promote your journal within the platform. In addition to these tools, be sure to optimize your product listings and descriptions with the relevant keywords that you gathered while researching your niche. This will improve your chances of ranking higher in search results and attracting more customers.
Final Thoughts
Selling journals on Amazon offers dietitians and healthcare professionals like you, an opportunity to share your expertise, reach a wider audience, and generate passive income. By implementing the combination of strategies covered in this article and continuing to refine your promotion efforts based on feedback, you can position yourself for long-term success in the competitive Amazon marketplace.
*This blog post was published on 3/25/23, and was updated on 4/5/24.
Interested in Learning More About Self-Publishing on Amazon KDP?
Check out the Free Dietitian to Author Masterclass. Discover what it means to Unlock the Power of Self-Publishing on Amazon.
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