4 Tips for Creating Passive Revenue Streams

One of my most requested speaking topics is “How to Make Money in Your Sleep.” Heck! Who wouldn’t want to make money while curled up in bed and dreaming sweet dreams? Or, on weekends when you’re out living your life?

Of course, the key to making money while you sleep isn’t the zzz’s you get. It’s the strategic business planning you do. Passive revenue streams may be every coach’s “sweet dream,” but successfully setting them up can be tricky.

So before you head out the door to live your life—whether for a day, a week or a year away—commit to the following four tips to set yourself up for passive income success.

1. Strategy first, tactics second

Make money while you sleep. That’s a strategy.

Develop a new program to help people lose 10 pounds in 10 days. That’s a tactic.

If you confuse strategy and tactics, you’re not alone. Many of my clients (and even some of the big companies I’ve worked with) have trouble understanding the difference. I love my friend Bev Bachel’s definition. Author of “What Do You Really Want? How to Set a Goal and Go for It,” Bev describes strategy as “what gets done above the shoulders” and tactics as “what gets done below.”

Regardless of how you define the terms, the important thing when it comes to creating passive revenue streams is that you answer two questions:

• WHAT goal am I ultimately trying to accomplish? (Strategy)
• HOW am I going to accomplish my goal? (Tactics)

Once you’ve declared your goals, list the steps you need to take to reach them.

2. Do it your way and on your timeline

Remember this mantra: One size fits none!

It’s tempting to look at what others are doing and think that mimicking them will bring you similar success.

It won’t.

If you’re wondering why you’ve got nothing to show (except debt) for everything you’ve tried, STOP. Take a time out. Get back in touch with your strategy by asking yourself what it is you really want to accomplish. Are you trying to earn more money? Work fewer hours? Make a difference in the lives of others?

Sometimes the answers to these questions are as simple as finding the right tactic. Marketers and other gurus can offer valuable advice, but if you religiously mimic others or blindly follow the crowd, you’re in for some frustration.

Not only will you overlook your sweet spot and lose opportunities that are better suited for your natural abilities, you’ll wake up one day and not even recognize who you are. Believe me; I’ve been there. For example, when I wrote sales copy the way the Internet marketing “experts” advised, my community shied away. When I write as if you and I are having a face-to-face conversation, the results are dramatically different.

I have dozens of conversations each month with coaches who are busy pursuing business tactics that teach “proven formulas.” Yet, they never get the results they deserve. Remember, just because a strategy or tactic worked for someone else, it doesn’t mean it will work for you. In the process, you’ll spend money, lose time and perhaps even destroy your own self-confidence.

Before you do another thing, make sure that your tactics are aligned with your strategy. Don’t feel obliged to follow advice “by the book.” Make it your own.

Only one size fits you!

3. Leverage your unique point of view

This step may sound really hard, but it’s easier than you think and doing so fortifies your position as a thought leader. You know what works for your current clients, so leverage that by mining the rich content that bubbles up during your conversations. What’s working? What’s not? What challenges are they struggling with?

Pick the most common issues. Then, figure out how you can help solve them and create a passive revenue stream in the process. Is it by way of an e-book? A recorded webinar? A 5-week self-study program? Any of these are great ways. It’s up to you to determine which deliverable best showcases your advice and is easiest for your audience to adopt and apply.

What if you have already developed and delivered a presentation, an educational webinar or a series of blog posts on the hottest topic facing your clients? Congratulations, you’re already sitting on a gold mine of valuable information that you can package and sell.

4. Develop a marketing plan that sells

Put on your strategic business planning hat because it’s marketing time. This is not the “Field of Dreams” where you build it and they will come. People need to know about your goods!

In order to make people aware of your offerings, you need to develop a brand that people love and a solid marketing plan that does the selling for you. Make sure you have a program name, a logo, sales copy and a web page with e­-commerce capabilities. You’ll also need email autoresponders and a promotion campaign that reaches and speaks to your ideal audience.

Putting all of this together is essential to ensure that your great ideas and awesome knowledge actually turn into money while you sleep.

If you’re ready to delve deeper into your own passive revenue streams, participate in Carolyn’s virtual session at the 2016 Business Development Series. Carolyn will share her secrets for sleeping (and living) easy while your leveraged products generate passive revenue for you.