WHOA - y’all - can you believe it’s been a YEAR since I posted a blog? So much has been going on and happening in my world - day job, side hustle, swim team, marriage, etc. - but I think I’m finally around the bend.
As of late, my big passion is working on multiple passive income streams - online printables, workbooks, ebooks, and other goodies. Because frankly - my day job has ramped up SO much that I need to rethink some priorities. But I really need some extra money right now - and this income idea makes the most sense to me.
Enjoy this marathon blog post with five sections on how you can create your own passive income stream - PLUS some fun exercises and resources! Here we go…
5 Reasons You Need a Passive Income Stream
Have you heard the phrase, “Make money while you sleep”? It’s a common phrase thrown around the internet marketing world that describes the power of passive income. Make a product one time but reap the rewards for years to come.
Passive income can benefit absolutely everyone, no matter what type of business you have or what type of coach you are. The key is to make product creation as simple and as inexpensive as possible. This doesn’t mean your product will be cheap; it means you should focus on your area of expertise and solve a common problem among your audience.
Hello, World!
Let’s review why coaches need to create a stream of passive income:
1. Supplement your income when a client cancels their contract. No one wants to think about losing a client (or two!) but it happens. Instead of panicking at the idea of finding a new client to fill that space, you can approach the task calmly, knowing you have a passive income to fill that gap temporarily.
2. 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. Using your products as a giveaway or pricing it on the low end will entice these newcomers to learn more about you and your coaching practices.
3. 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 have a consistent marketing plan, the media will likely find you faster in their online searches. Adding these events to your media profile will immediately elevate your authority level, too.
4. Lead your prospects through a sales funnel, ultimately leading them to your more expensive coaching packages. A sales funnel is a must-have for coaches because people want to know about your practices prior to paying hundreds or thousands of dollars on a coaching package. Showcase your expertise with smaller, more inexpensive products first, then entice those buyers with your higher-priced packages.
5. Use products as part of your overall marketing plan. When you have products, you can run promotions that garner lots of 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 attention from new prospects in your target market.
Check out this free webinar from my buddies Julie and Cody who have totally made bank on teaching people to create passive income in this way!
Creating Products Your Clients Will Actually Buy
I’m a big believer in creating passive income for your coaching business but many coaches don’t know what to offer or think that their one-on-one coaching services are enough to sustain their lifestyle.
Sure, your clients hire you for your specific skillset and specialty but wouldn’t you like to earn more in your business? Wouldn’t you like to cash in on the phrase, “Make money in your sleep”? Wouldn’t you like to reach more of your target audience who aren’t quite ready to purchase your big-ticket coaching packages?
This is why you need products to sell in addition to your coaching services.
What Will They Buy?
A simple way to determine what your audience needs is to simply ask them. Create a survey with Survey Monkey and ask your followers on social media and on your email list to complete it. Maybe what they are looking for is a simple ebook or a workbook. Others may be looking for a class to resolve their particular problem.
Also, ask your current coaching clients what they need. This is especially important to retain them as clients after their coaching sessions end. What’s the logical next step for them to continue learning with you?
Identify Your Target Market
You have likely done this exercise already however it’s important to reanalyze your market and identify any changes that may have occurred. Have you stayed true to your initial business plan of attracting your target market or are your clients at a lower income level? How do you attract new prospects?
By creating lower-priced products, you’ll attract people who aren’t quite ready to purchase a high-priced item. However, these are still good prospects to have in your sales funnel because they can start slowly with your lower-priced items, and as their income increases, you can offer higher-priced items, eventually leading to your highest-priced product. While they progress through your products, they will see you as a credible expert and will trust this expertise, especially when you offer your higher-priced coaching sessions.
Answering Your Questions About Sales Funnels and Why Coaches Need One
One question I am asked all the time by my readers is what is a sales funnel and why is it important to have one? I guess that’s really two questions but they go hand in hand so I’ll tackle answering them together.
A sales funnel is a pathway through which you guide prospects into the depths of your business. Unless your prospects have unlimited funds, you will rarely find someone ready to purchase your highest-priced coaching service. Likewise, if you’re planning a weekend retreat in a faraway land, very few will shell out $10,000+ unless they already know you and like what you have to say.
Hence the need for a sales funnel.
Anatomy of a Sales Funnel
No doubt you have seen pictures of funnels, where the widest opening is at the top of the funnel with the smallest opening at the bottom. The idea behind this graphic is that you’re attracting as many people as possible at the opening of your funnel and bringing them down to the smallest opening, where your most expensive product is offered.
Every step along the way, from the wide opening and downward into the funnel, you need to make offers to this audience and usually, they are incremental in price. These offers make chronological sense to the consumer and after they purchase one product, they are more likely to purchase a second due to liking your content and your style of coaching.
What Can I Offer?
At the opening of your sales funnel, you want something with a mass appeal so you’re attracting a large number of people. It can be a freebie, a chapter from your book, a recording of an interview, or anything that will showcase your coaching.
Once people have responded to that freebie, I prefer to offer low-priced items throughout my funnel. These types of products give your audience a low-risk way of experiencing your coaching skills and beliefs. These low-priced items can include ebooks, workbooks, e-courses, or a membership site.
How Can I Get Started Creating Low-Priced Items?
The key to creating low-priced products for your sales funnel is that they should be quick and easy to create. You don’t need ghostwriters or a huge team to create the products I’m talking about. The idea is to pull your expertise out of your head and get it onto paper or video. No extra research is necessary…it’s all about what you know (CLICK HERE for a free ebook to help you get started!)
How Consistent Product Branding Can Lead to Increased Sales
I have no doubt that before you opened your coaching doors you thought long and hard about the branding of your company, from the logo design to the colors of your website. The same kind of branding strategy should occur when you’re creating products for your audience.
While the product graphics don’t have to look exactly like your website, there should be repeating elements so your subscribers and clients will recognize the product as being yours. Whether that’s the same color palette or font, repetition develops trust and name recognition. And once people trust you, they are more likely to become repeat buyers.
Repetition is also important when you have a series of products, whether it’s a series of ebooks, webinars, or classes. For instance, do you know that section of Amazon that shows the “Customers who bought this also bought” section? If an author’s series of books show up, all looking similar in design, the reader would know right away that this author is a credible authority because, after all, look at all the books she’s published!
If the books in this section are all different in design – whether it’s because they are by different authors or because the series author didn’t think about consistent branding – the credit rating is not as dramatic. The readers might think they belong to all different authors or they cover topics different from the original book they published. Make it as easy as possible for customers to recognize and purchase your products through consistent visual branding. Making them confused or having to jump through hoops will lessen your sales and possibly hurt your credibility.
What Types of Products Should You Offer?
So many coaches focus on high-end products and forget that not all their clients will purchase their high-end products right away. In fact, that’s the rarity instead of the norm.
In most cases, people will hear your name and want to learn more about you. But they’ve worked hard for their money and will likely want to hear you speak or understand what your coaching practices and beliefs are prior to buying a package from you.
What better way to encourage potential new clients than to offer low-end products for them to test out before buying a high-end coaching product?
Don’t Be a Copycat; Create Your Own Path
By now you probably have figured out that I’m a big believer in creating low-end products for your coaching business. There are plenty of coaching gurus who tell you to go after the high-end clients and you might think you can’t get those clients without offering high-end products.
But let’s think about it this way…does a high-end client start off as a high-end client? Or does that high-end client start off as a low-end client who increases her earnings year after year to eventually become a high-end client?
Food for thought.
Your own coaching success won’t be based on how other coaches structure their businesses. Your success is directly correlated to the amount of work you put in, the products you create, and the way you market yourself. Take control of your own destiny and make your business choices based on what YOU feel is the right move.
Just because Coach A is basing her clientele around that high-end demographic and doesn’t offer products doesn’t mean you have to do the same. Yes, be aware of your competition and what they’re doing in their business but do things your own way.
Be original. Identify your target market and its pain points. Jot down their demographics and where that audience can be found online. Ask them what types of products they would like to see or that they desperately need. Plan your pricing based on what your market can handle as opposed to your own monetary goals.
What Types of Products Can Coaches Offer?
You’re only limited by your own creativity but some of the easiest products to create are ebooks, workbooks, e-courses, and recurring revenue sites. They should be easy to create because you’re using your own expertise and experience to create these. No need for expensive ghostwriters or a team of researchers.
If the idea of creating products is daunting, or if you’re already coming up with excuses of why this idea won’t work for you, make sure you check out the free resources from Gold City Ventures: their ebook and workshop.
And remember, low-end products do NOT mean low quality! You should always over-deliver on your content and these products are no exception. Join us to learn how to work these products into your sales funnel and coaching business.
