Uncertified Author Earns $3 Million in 2 Years (via TikTok)

💬 Random tweet I stumbled across recently…

This is the Shadow Work Journal’s sales on TikTok shop between 7pm EST and 11pm EST

2,300 orders x $17 product price = $39,100 in 4 hours

Here’s the Shadow Work Journal on Amazon, with 2400+ reviews 🤩

Keila Shaheen is the 24-year-old creator of the journal, which was first published in 2021.

From a recent article…

TikTok users have gone rabid over her journal. Some have raved that the workbook is ‘cheaper than therapy’ and posted dreamy videos of themselves filling it out on a sunny day.

TikTok has indeed been big for popularizing the product: the term ‘Shadow Work Journal’ has amassed 1.6 billion views on there 👀

The journal is based on the concept of shadow work by Carl Jung. It contains prompts and exercises aimed at exploring and understanding your unconscious mind.

😡 There has been some criticism…

Shaheen isn’t a practicing therapist, and her traditional mental-health credentials are limited: She graduated from Texas A&M University in 2020 with bachelor’s degrees in psychology and marketing, and took a training course in cognitive-behavioral therapy… 

Shaheen’s background is in marketing and brand strategy.

Indeed, Keila’s knack for storytelling has seen her official page on TikTok rack up 276K+ followers.

Her response to the criticism…

I firmly believe everyone deserves access to mental-health resources and the chance to embark on a healing journey

Sounds like the journal’s popularity has been aided by TikTok’s affiliate program, which lets creators earn commissions for driving sales 🤑

Keila says…

One 20-year-old part-time student I emailed told me she’d made about $1,000 off of her video about the book.

Apparently 45% of Keila’s journal sales in the last 6 months have come via TikTok.

As I’m writing this, the product page (accessed via USA VPN) shows that it has 454,000 sales 🤯

The price of the journal on that page is $7, but the tweet above said the price was $17 (same as the price on Amazon). So they might be experimenting with the pricing.

Regardless, let’s say Keila earns an average of $3 profit on each book, and 454K = only 45% of her total sales… then her profit since launch would be around $3 million 💰

Two takeaways here…

First of all, TikTok is insane for marketing, especially for products that can get some kind of emotional reaction.

Other examples of this…

• This 1 TikTok Video Increased Purchases 900%
• 21-Year-Old Entrepreneur: From Idea to $11M in 18 Months
• $4000/Month Business Boost Via TikTok

Second takeaway: you don’t need advanced credentials to be seen as an expert online.

Keila created her journal based on what she found helpful, and it has resonated with a lot of people 🎯

Could you do something similar?

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