You’ve probably heard the phrase, “make money while you sleep”. It’s a common phrase that describes the power of passive income, ie, create a product once and reap the rewards for years to come.
Passive income can benefit absolutely everyone, regardless of the type of business you have, whether it’s product-based or service-based. The key is to make your product manufacturing process as simple and affordable as possible. This does not mean that your product will be cheap; This means you focus on an area of your expertise that solves a common problem for your audience, and build a quality product around it.
First, let’s review why trainers need to create a passive income stream:
- Increase your income when a customer cancels their contract. No one wants to think about losing a customer (or two!), but it happens. Instead of panicking at the thought of finding a new client to fill that spot, you can work in peace knowing you have passive income to temporarily fill that gap.
- Expand your name recognition and attract new buyers from your target audience. The world is a big place, and you always have the opportunity to reach new people in your target audience. Pricing products at a low level for passive income can attract newcomers to learn more about you and your coaching practices.
- Attract speaking or media engagements. Event organizers and reporters are constantly searching online for speakers or interview subjects. If you have products as part of your business and a consistent passive income marketing plan, the media will find you faster in their online searches. Adding these events to your media profile can also increase your authority level.
- Taking your prospects through the sales funnel, starting with a low cost passive income product, eventually leads them to your more expensive coaching packages. A sales funnel is essential to coach, because people want to hear about your work before paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a coaching package. Demonstrate your expertise with small, passive income products first, then entice those buyers with your high-value packages.
- Use passive income products as part of your overall marketing plan. When you have products, you can run a promotion that gets attention on social media. Offer a freebie, a bonus if they buy a coaching package, or offer a chapter of your eBook as a teaser to entice them to buy. Unique promotions will attract the attention of new prospects in your target market.
Is passive income really passive?
Passive income has many benefits as an additional source of income, but some trainers question whether you can really ‘set it and forget it’ when it comes to making passive income. Let’s explore this a little further.
Firstly, it takes some time to make any kind of product. Even if you are taking information from your experiences, you will need time to write or record it. You need to put in the time for proofreading and editing. If you outsource some editing and design tasks, you’ll have the availability of other people in the mix. So time is definitely involved, but delving into the expert material you already know, the first part of creating a product should be simple.
Once your product is complete, you will have a launch to prepare for. As wonderful as search engines are, you don’t want to hope and pray that people find your product; You need to let them know you have a product available, which means press releases, social media blitz, a book release party, virtual book tour… the list could go on. To showcase your new product, you need to claim the spotlight.
After your launch is over, you can refocus your energy on your coaching clients; However, you never want to fall into the ‘forget it’ phase, as people need to be reminded. 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 to other email blasts.
Here are some additional actions you can take to promote your product(s):
Add a graphic to the home page of your website with a link to your sales page.
Create an affiliate program for others to promote your product for a commission and send an announcement about it.
Create a monthly social media message that includes topical promotions for your product.
Organic sales are wonderful, and they certainly do happen, but you shouldn’t rely solely on search engines to bring you buyers.
Paid advertising on Facebook, Google and YouTube can also tout your product(s).