Joe Popelas, a 20-year-old university student in Toronto, transitioned from earning $11/hour in a part-time job to scaling a million-dollar digital publishing enterprise. Discovering AI’s power in generating written content, he launched a business creating eBooks using ChatGPT.
Popelas stumbled upon GPT‑3 in 2020, initially experimenting with AI to produce book content. By 2022, he recognized the commercial viability. After meeting with an eBook publisher raking in around $2 million, he realized this was a golden opportunity. He moved fast, publishing over 40 titles by September 2022, constantly refining his process. His breakthrough came on December 28, 2022, when he earned $1,000 in profit in a single day, confirming the venture’s potential.
Popelas attributes his success to identifying motivated niches, mastering prompt engineering for AI-generated content, and investing heavily in Pinterest advertising
Balancing academic commitments with a booming business proved challenging. To manage, Popelas dropped two courses and worked late nights, dedicating himself to ads, content creation, and business operations.
Popelas attributes his success to identifying motivated niches, mastering prompt engineering for AI-generated content, and investing heavily in Pinterest advertising. His approach: start with broad ad campaigns to identify promising markets, then pivot to conversion driven campaigns once niches showed traction. A high-converting landing page played a crucial role in turning curiosity into sales.
With more entrepreneurs entering the AI eBook market, competition has intensified. Popelas sees this as beneficial: increased competition spurs innovation and forces refinement of both content and marketing.
Scaling & The Future
Popelas recently received a $930,000 acquisition offer but declined, opting instead to sell a 40% stake to a partner. This strategic move will help scale ad spending, operations, and mentoring. He now spends mornings optimizing ads and afternoons mentoring aspiring creators, many of whom have already seen notable success.
Joe Popelas’s journey highlights how curiosity, grit, and smart use of technology can transform a part-time side gig into a scalable business. By mastering AI tools, marketing strategy, and niche selection, he built a brand worth over $1 million and is now helping others follow suit.
