11 Entrepreneurs Who Created Successful Journal Products [2023]
A journal is a newspaper or a magazine that covers a particular subject or a professional activity based on the author's thoughts and feelings. The beauty of journaling is there is no right or wrong way to start.
The approach depends on your personal experience and can take many forms.
Find a journaling habit that works for you and create a writing routine. Get creative and journal about anything that comes to mind, so long as it interests your target audience.
Here are some real life success stories of starting a journal brand:
1. MindJournal ($1.8M/year)
Ollie Aplin (from London, UK) started MindJournal over 7 years ago.
Hey! My name is Ollie and I’m the co-founder of MindJournal – a journaling brand for guys.
At the moment I’m working on designing the 3rd edition of our core journal that’s helped over 3,000 guys from all over the world. We’ve helped guys at rock bottom, to entrepreneurs at the top of their game all achieve one thing — feel more in control of their emotions and significantly improve their life satisfaction and self-worth.
2. Stone ($1.2M/year)
Stefan Johnson (from London, England, United Kingdom) started Stone over 5 years ago.
Fast forward to 2019 and we have launched 6 new products with a further 12 in development, are launching an editorial side of the business and are now average around $40,000 USD per month in revenue with over 45,000 products sold.
Learn more about starting a journal brand:
Where to start?
-> How to start a journal brand?
-> How much does it cost to start a journal brand?
-> Pros and cons of a journal brand
Need inspiration?
-> Examples of established journal brand
-> Marketing ideas for a journal brand
-> Journal brand slogans
-> Journal brand names
Other resources
-> Journal brand tips
-> Journal brand calculator
4. Seph Crafts ($2.4K/year)
Sephora Thelismon (from Cameron, NC, USA) started Seph Crafts about 3 years ago.
My name is Sephora. I am the owner of Seph Crafts. I started my company as a hobby about two years ago and have since transitioned to a full-time business owner during the pandemic.
Initially, it was easy for me to focus only on the bottom line. But the reviews from my clients were priceless and rewarding. I focus more on the quality and client experience. My passion and thoughtfulness show in every planner created. So, for me, it feels good knowing that Seph Crafts planners are great for increasing productivity in someone's everyday life.
5. The Food Diary ($9K/year)
Laura Mulkerne (from Yorkshire, Virginia, USA) started The Food Diary almost 6 years ago.
Hi, I’m Laura, and I’m the founder of The Food Diary Co. We currently sell one key product: a food diary for people who want to track their food, symptoms, and wellness. Our diary was originally created for people with digestive and/or chronic illnesses such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBD, Coeliac and more, to better understand their trigger foods and digestive upsets, but it can help anyone better understand the effects of their diet on their overall health.
We’re based and ship from the UK, but we sell our diaries worldwide. In fact, the USA, Canada and Australia are our biggest markets after the UK. The greatest thing about selling this product is connecting with the people who buy it: we share stories of diary users on our blog and social media regularly, and hearing how this diary is helping people all over the world absolutely makes my day.
6. Cinquanta Cox-Smith ($120K/year)
Cinquanta Cox-Smith (from Killeen, TX, USA) started *Cinquanta Cox-Smith * about 14 years ago.
Hey, y’all I’m Cinquanta Cox-Smith I hate putting myself in a box, but If I had to explain what I do: I’m a Multipreneur. (Author, Podcaster, and Entrepreneur) I’ve been helping entrepreneurs start an EASY Print On Demand side hustle from anywhere for about 3 years now. I’m originally from a small town in South Carolina called Georgetown. It’s historic in many ways, especially for the Geechee Gullah culture. I’m an Army Veteran and my Husband (Shawn) is an active-duty soldier. We have 2 kids Kyree (15) and Sharye (12). Let’s not forget about our dog ChuChu. He's most definitely the star of this show.
I’ve always felt like this was just a hobby, or I was just making shirts but Print On Demand is so much more than that. It’s helped me create $7,000 in one month selling POD journals on Amazon KDP, it’s helped me land a Magazine Cover with my T-Shirts for Stars & Stripes (American Military Newspaper). It’s helped me teach over 10,000 people how to create passive & residual income from home with just a computer and some wi-fi. Most importantly it’s allowed me the gift of TIME. Time to spend and travel with my family. Once we get further along into this interview. I’ll tell you about how I accidentally started in the Print On Demand industry 12 years ago.
7. Planner Peace ($270K/year)
Jess Yasuda (from Hobart, Tasmania, Australia) started Planner Peace about 8 years ago.
Hi, I’m Jess. I’m 34 years old from Tasmania, Australia. I started Chasing Planner Peace back in 2015 when I was pregnant with my third child. Originally we were based on Etsy and only sold planner inserts, however, we’ve now turned into a one-stop planner shop that caters to seasoned “planner addicts” who want to add to their planners, and also planner newbies who love the fact our shop is the only store in Australia you can custom build your own ring planner style planner.
Over the past few years, we’ve really expanded our range to not only offer planners and inserts, but also planner dashboards (beautiful cover pages), dividers, notepads, stationery items and more. We also recently started our subscription box service where every two months customers can receive a “Planner Peace Box” which is full of planner and self-care goodies. We have so many more plans for new products in 2020.
8. PurposeCards ($3.6K/year)
Jared Gold (from Washington D.C., Washington, D.C., USA) started PurposeCards about 4 years ago.
Hey there, I’m Jared Gold, and I’m a founder of PurposeCards: daily micro-journaling cards that help you make every day successful. Simply fill out the sun side in the morning, the moon side in the evening, and then store your card in the box behind the “Completed” tab for easy reference later on. They’re the size of a credit card so they’re easy to take anywhere and intentionally minimalist so they’re easy to commit to.
We launched our Kickstarter on March 24th, and as of April 6th, we’ve raised $1,565. We decided to launch right as COVID-19 infections started to accelerate because we figured this product could be very timely (and we wanted to get this out the door ASAP). Therefore, we didn’t have time to build a list or other pre-launch things ahead of time, but we have multiple other marketing initiatives actively going right now, where if a single connection works, it could really make the campaign a massive success (more on that below).
9. Saint Belford ($162K/year)
Tom and Alex (from Victoria, Australia) started Saint Belford almost 6 years ago.
Much to everyone’s surprise, we turned a profit in our first year achieving a revenue of 43k. In our second year, we almost quadrupled this amount, turning over 160k in less than six months.
11. Dreamfruit ($12K/year)
Elizabeth Russell (from Eugene) started Dreamfruit ago.
Hi there! My name is Elizabeth Russell. I’m the creator of the Dreamfruit Almanac for Earthlings, which is a moon-based planner and guided journal that I self-publish each year.
Dreamfruit is a unique project that feels more like a “sacred assignment” than a business. That said, we are in year four and have just completed our first crowdfunding campaign with over 100% community support!
Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.
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