How Reader Dock Makes Money

RD is a cool little company that makes it’s passive income online fromselling docking stations for Kindle Fires!  That’s it.

Verrrry nichey ecommerce idea and doing alright from the looks, with about 11,000 monthly uniques and $23,000 in sales for the first year. (PS This data is coming straight from the Million Dollar Blog Project leader board, ie straight from the horses mouth.)

Okay, so let’s analyze this case study and see what we can learn.

Well, first of, their website is nicely designed; you’ve got a clear focus on their product from the get go, so you know what they make and sell (I’m guessing conversion rates are relatively good accordingly).

But more importantly, you have a lot of free content on all things Kindle related.

Even articles about how to lend Kindle books; it’s just a really great example of innovative writing for what most people would deem an unwritable niche (ie selling docking stations).

They’ve even got an app for the Kindle Fire that keeps the screen turned on when plugged in to power – kind of like the Caffiene app I use on my Mac to keep the screen on. Nice!

Sure it will only contribute a couple hundred dollars a month or even a year, but it’s such a quick and easy thing to make and a great little complementary product to their main offering. And unlike the average app maker, here they can promote their app on a highly qualified website for free, as opposed to relying on the lottery that is every app store.

Obviously, with all those keyword rich articles bringing in lots of Kindle-interested visitors, they also have display ads and affiliate links for the Kindle and for associated accessories.

Now I wonder how much they are making from commission on Kindle sales.

I mean, per sale it would be pretty nice given the 8-10% payout would net you say $15-$20.  But the problem as I see it, is that most people who land on the site would already own a Kindle.  I base this on the idea that most content on the site focuses on after market Kindle information, eg dock station, downloading free ebooks etc.

Actually, that analysis could be a little flawed if you consider that most Kindle fans upgrade frequently and move models (eg Kindle standard to Kindle Fire).

The accessories that RD is affiliating might get some clicking too.  Whilst the connector cable looks like a secondary product that they themselves sell.

Interesting to note – especially for those of you cheeky enough to try this – they have a few nav links that take readers to certain categories of Amazon books, which could lead to a few dollars per click through in book sale commission. Nice.

And hey as you guys know, you can earn commission on everything a person subsequently buys when on Amazon (within 24 hours of them clicking on your affiliate link), not just the product you linked to!

Visit the Reader Dock or check out Million Dollar Blog Project where case study originally spotted