Is Passive Income Really Passive?

I’ve been touting the benefits of passive income as an additional stream of income but some of my readers have questioned if you can really ‘set it and forget it’ when it comes to creating passive income. Let’s explore this a bit further.

First of all, creating any kind of product takes some time. Even if you’re taking the information from your own experiences, you’ll need time to write it out or record it. You’ll need to allow time for proofreading and editing. If you outsource some of the editing and design tasks, you’ll have other people’s availability added to the mix. So time is certainly involved but by delving into expert material you already know, the first part of creating the product should be simple.

Once your product is complete, you have a launch to prepare for. As wonderful as search engines may be, you don’t want to hope and pray people find your product; you have to tell them you have a product available, which means press releases, social media blitzes, a book release party, virtual book tour…the list could go on and on. Claim the spotlight to showcase your new product.

After your launch excitement ends, you can calm down a little and refocus your energies on your coaching clients; however, you don’t ever want to fall into the ‘forget it’ phase because people need reminding. You don’t have to email them every day about your product but don’t be afraid to mention it in your weekly newsletter or as a postscript in other email blasts.

Add a graphic to your website. Create an affiliate program for others to promote your product for a commission. Create a monthly social media which includes occasional promotions of your product. Organic sales are wonderful and they certainly happen but you shouldn’t depend solely on the search results to bring buyers to you.

Repetition Brings Repeat Buyers

Is there a way to create a series out of your product?

When you break down your subject into individual steps, your books will be shorter and easier for busy people to read. It’s also easier to include actionable steps, targeted specifically for whatever topic you’re discussing. What a feeling of accomplishment to finish a book, check off the action steps, and wonder about the next step(s). Readers will be excited to find the next book in your series and make an instant purchase. On the other hand, if you load people down with a 200-page book, even if there are action steps buried in there, you’ll find it more difficult to keep people’s attention and there’s nothing else for these readers to buy next since everything was included in the one book.

Likewise, if your chosen passive income model is a membership site, you can have repetition within the site. For instance, schedule a webinar-type call once a week or once a month for a Q&A session. Once they participate in the first call, they’ll expect the next call and put it on their calendars. Or run a monthly challenge for members. The challenge topic may change but members will come to expect it and keep their subscription active in order to participate.

In short, passive income is not a set it and forget it business model. Most of the work is completed in advance of sales but some promotion during the year is necessary to keep sales going.