Passive income is a very big buzzword these days in the entrepreneurial world, and for good reason. It’s essentially a stream of income that doesn’t require an exchange of your time (once your method is established, of course). The thing about this sales method is that many don’t realize that it takes a good amount of time and effort to bring in consistent, high levels of passive income.
That being said, there are a few ways you can make passive income, even if you’re just getting started.
Passive income method #1: Network marketing
I started up my business in 2011 with a network marketing company, and am so grateful for that experience. Even though I’m not actively working that business anymore, I’m still bringing in passive income from all of those years of building a business with that company.
While network marketing does take work to make significant income, you can make smaller amounts even at the beginning.
There are two parts to network marketing:
- Selling a product and
- Building a team of business builders
The first step brings in smaller amounts of income at first (unless you have a high volume of customers) but is easier in the beginning. The second step is what can bring you in a significant number (thousands and thousands eventually!) of passive income.
If you’re looking to go this route, my recommendation is to partner with a company you truly believe in. If you’re not passionate at all about the products and the mission of a company, your partnership will feel very forced and appear that way to your audience when trying to sell. Pick a company that you’re already a fan of, and one whose products you’re already consuming, that align with your own company’s offerings.
Related: How This Entrepreneur Produced Passive Income With Her Business
Passive income method #2: Upsell from a freebie
I had a client make a little over $1,200 in six weeks as a result of her $7 upsell. Not too bad for something she created in probably an hour and will never have to work on again!
This is a great method to make some small passive income, and as your audience grows, so will this amount of money. The thought process here is that you push and promote your free offer (also known as a lead magnet to grow your email list and build trust with your audience), and have a small price point upsell directly after they opt in for the free offer.
The way I recommend doing this is to have the “Thank You!” page of your free offer (or email signup) be the actual upsell. You should also include links to the upsell in the confirmation email you send out along with your free offer.
The upsell itself should relate to the free offer. I know that might sound obvious, but you’d be surprised at the things I’ve seen people use as upsells!
For example, if you are a business coach and create a free offer called “5 Simple Steps to Create Passive Income,” your upsell could be a $7 workshop breaking down those five steps in greater detail with a template or step-by-step worksheet users can follow.
If you can solve a problem in the upsell that customers realize they have after opting into your free offer, then you’re golden!
In the example above, someone might opt into that free offer, and think, “I wish I knew the specifics to implement these methods.” By having that offer as your upsell, you solve that problem for them and make a purchasing decision that much easier.
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Passive income method #3: Self-paced course
In my opinion, this is the optimal way to make passive income, for two reasons:
- You can charge a higher price point and
- You can have more of an impact on a user with a higher-priced program than you can with a small price point upsell
Of course, you’re not in this to just to make money or sell programs, but to truly impact your customers lives’ and make a difference.
When it comes to a course, the most important thing to remember is that the curriculum must be something your user can implement and see results from without the aid of coaching. Personally, I think it’s a good idea to first launch your course with a group coaching program to work out the kinks, over-deliver when it comes to customer service and assistance, and get great testimonials.
Then, you learn how to tweak the program to make it a self-paced course and have your clients still get the same results. I did this with my signature health coaching program, and it worked very well. We had incredible testimonials, and the program sold itself when we launched it passively.
There are certainly more than three ways to generate passive income, but the above are a few that can help you no matter what stage your business is in, and can be duplicated easily and used time and time again.
Good luck and get that passive income flowing!
