Raise your hand if you want to make your passive income product work for your business? I’m guessing it’s all of us, right?
But here’s the thing:
“Passive income” doesn’t really exist.
It does sound pretty dreamy right? Create a $97 course, throw it on your website, then jet off to live in a hammock under a coconut tree somewhere only accessible by two charter planes and at least one super sketchy ferry ride.
The idea of passive income is misleading because “passive” implies you don’t really have to work. You can just “set it and forget it.” But the truth is that passive income product? It takes hours of work upfront to create. And then? You need to market and promote it, consistently, to reap the benefits.
Which is why I prefer calling “passive income” leveraged income. Why? Because it’s more accurate and sets you up with realistic expectations of the process. You frontload the (unpaid) work to create your product and then you can make more revenue, with less input, as you get better and better at marketing your product.
And your marketing is really about relationship building. Remember: no matter what you’re offering, you have to take your potential client through the same 5-step journey to attract, engage, nurture, invite, and delight them. It’s the whole idea of building your know-like-trust factor before someone’s willing to fork over their hard earned cash to you. Sometimes your client moves through those steps quickly, but even so, no one gets to skip that stuff.
So how do we set ourselves up for max impact with a leveraged income product?
3 quick tips to get you started selling your passive income products
1 | Nurture your email list to boost passive income
Email marketing is the single most powerful tool you can use to make your passive income dream a reality. Sure, you’ll want to utilize social media as well but here’s why you want to make email marketing your top priority:
- Email is a much more intimate way of communicating with your audience. These are people who’ve raised their hand and said “I like what you’re about, tell me more!” and given you permission to go directly to their Inbox. Compare that to being part of a mindless scroll where you’re just one of hundreds of other accounts in the mix.
- Speaking of mindless scroll, for most of us in the service or creative space, our open rates for email run around 20% or higher. Whereas on social media—unless you’re paying for ads—you can expect about 5-6% of your content to be seen by your followers.
The more consistently you’ve provided value to your email list before launching your passive income product, the better, because all of us have to earn the right to sell.
You can take your regular email communication one step further by creating a funnel to intentionally lead new subscribers down the path to buying your passive income product.
2 | Create a series of emails that:
- Explains the value of your product
- Helps the reader envision what result/transformation they’ll get
- Positions you as the go-to guide on their journey
- Communicates that you understand their challenge
- Gives a clear call to action to purchase your product
3 | Don’t forget to create an irresistible lead magnet!
You can craft a killer email funnel but if no one gets on your email list in the first place, you’ve just wasted your time.
Make sure your lead magnet:
- Directly relates to your passive income product. Don’t put together a freebie on how to save money in your monthly budget if you’re selling a course on decluttering your home. Your passive income product should be a logical next step from your lead magnet.
- Provides high-value, actionable content. You want your reader to walk away with something they can do right now to see a result. Getting your audience a quick win inspires confidence in you and your ability to help.
- Is short and sweet! It’s tempting to stuff lead magnets full of all our brilliant knowledge but reign yourself in. Only aim to solve one problem with your lead magnet. You want to leave people thinking, “man, if that’s what she can teach me in this little freebie imagine how good her paid stuff must be!” Truly, the best lead magnets I’ve seen are just 1-3 pages long!
Expect your passive income—aka leveraged income—product to take a big time investment upfront. Then, honestly, spend about as many hours again nurturing your email list.
Make these steps a priority:
- Deepen the relationship with your audience by consistently communicating to your list long before you release your new product.
- Craft a powerful lead magnet that relates directly to your paid product.
- Build a series of emails to introduce your product, paint the picture of its value, position you as the go-to guide and, finally, clearly invite your reader to buy.
Over time you can refine your lead magnet and funnel but the first step is getting started. That’s the hardest part! It’ll take time to get yourself to that hammock under the coconut tree but be willing to take imperfect action and you’ll be on your way to passive (leveraged) income.
Ready to start earning passive revenue and scaling your business? Get our Passive Income Ultimate Guide.
Plus, 5 more posts you might like:
- Dreaming of making passive income in your business? Do THIS first!
- 3 Steps to Create and Diversify Passive Income
- How to Sell via an Email Funnel to Earn Passive Income
- The 5 Reasons You Need to Create an Online Course or Membership
- How To Leverage The Connections You Already Have Through An Affiliate Program
