Trade Craft

Ash Kumara, an award-winning entrepreneur and author, recognized by the White House as an entrepreneur making an impact, created Trade Craft as his main business—a digital content network aimed at helping millennials master their passion through inspirational content, interviews, and life lessons. However, his primary revenue streams came from complementary ventures built on personal branding: book sales, speaking engagements, and startup advisory work where he specialized in crafting fundable pitches.

In 2012, Kumara published "Confessions from an Entrepreneur: Volume 1," a compilation book featuring interviews and lessons from business leaders. He worked with a small publisher, earning $2-3 per book sold (approximately 15% royalty on the $14 list price). The book was published in both Kindle and print formats. Kumara wrote the book himself and maintained strict focus on a niche market: college entrepreneurs and early-stage founders—a deliberate strategy he credited for his success when other authors failed to monetize their work.

Kumara's distribution strategy was pure hustle and relationship-building. He leveraged his speaking experience at colleges to create a dual-pronged approach: he built relationships with over 300 colleges and entrepreneurship programs, then offered a value exchange—typically discounting the $14 book to $9.99 or offering 30% off digital codes in exchange for promotion and committed to speaking or webinars. His first customer was UC Irvine, his alma mater, where he pitched the student government, entrepreneurship club, and computer science business plan competition. He built ambassador networks at each college and captured email lists from every speaking engagement.

The book sales exploded: Kumara sold over 150,000 copies, generating approximately $300,000-$450,000 in total royalties ($2-3 × 150,000). By 2015, his revenue breakdown was: roughly $50,000+ from book royalties, approximately $90,000 from speaking (averaging $5,000 per speech across roughly 18 engagements), and additional income from startup advisory work where he took flat fees or equity stakes. He strategically built an email list of half a million people through landing pages tied to each college ambassador, co-promotions that grew his reach by 1,000-5,000 people per webinar, and free ebook giveaways. His key insight was authenticity: writing about topics he genuinely cared about rather than chasing trends ensured his passion translated into the book and resonated with buyers.