Today, I thought I would quickly talk with you about what some people call passive income, though is more accurately referred to as residual income. It’s something I am working on with almost all of my clients right now. It’s easy to see why. The idea is that you create something once, then earn from it over and over again, without much additional input. It scales wonderfully, costs little to set up and can earn you a fortune, if done correctly.
Residual income streams
For example, with some clients, I am helping them develop digital products, such as ebooks and audio programs. I help them develop the product and then market it correctly. Then, once the product is created, people can buy it over and over again. There’s no additional work required on my client’s part, when they sell 10,000 products, than when they sell just 1. Once they get that first successful income stream flowing, it’s a matter of repeating the process.
With the right guidance, it’s possible to generate a number of superb income streams. I currently have 18 residual income streams myself and am in the process of developing number 19. What I love about this process is that you can not only create a significant additional income, but because you are not tied to it with your time, it can significantly improve your lifestyle too. When you get the balance right, you can make as much money when you are on the beach or asleep as you make when you are in the office.
Of course, the key challenge most people have when setting up residual income streams is that they don’t know how to develop or market the products correctly; which is where I come in.
I show them how to develop products that their marketplace will want, and then how to make them irresistible. I then show them how to repeat the process, so they have a number of streams – It’s genuinely exciting! You know what? It’s one of the things I love most about the work I do with my clients, as the potential is enormous in so many ways.
I very strongly recommend you look into setting up some residual income streams yourself. If you would like me to help you, let me know.
Jim Connolly can help you grow your business and achieve the breakthrough marketing results your hard work deserves. To find out more, simply click here!
Residual income as you rightly say Jim, is the route to financial freedom because as you get older or if your health is poor, you still make money based on what you put in, up front as it were.
An excellent post as ever Jim. Thank you.
Thanks William. You make a good point there about the way that residual income requires an up front effort, which then repays you again and again over a period of time – Including when you are retired or looking for a life away from the office.
I have to admit, I have never been a fan of the term “passive income.” Maybe not the term itself, but what some have made it out to be. Too many out there in the blogging world have equated passive income with a way to make money without working at it. And this is just not true.
What these same “passive income” gurus forget to or don’t want to tell you is the fact you have to work your butt off to get the income from this product or service in the first place.
I like your “residual income” term better. It doesn’t discount the fact you have to work your butt off in the beginning to come up with an idea. Then come up with the product or service. And then market the darn thing right to get it to the marketplace and get people to buy it.
Residual income that continues to come in because you worked your butt off. Not “passive income” because you sit around and watched the money not come in.
Thanks as always Jim.
Hi Grant!
I used the term Passive Income purely because it’s something people are aware of. The reality is that the income is simply a residual. However, once the groundwork has been done, these residuals require almost zero effort.
For example, I make money from annual licenses that companies pay me, for sales handbooks I wrote for them years ago. The books were written once, but the license fees have come in (in one example) for 18 years.
I prefer the term residual income.
Hi Jim,
Can you give some examples of the 18 different types of income streams you use. Not looking for the urls or anything, just ideas of which business models you’ve found to be most successful.
Ivan,
Beijing
Hi Ivan. It isn’t about URL’s anyway. Don’t confuse residual income with that Internet get rich stuff – very different. Most of the income streams I use, do not require me having a website.
Here are some of the areas I am involved in:
I have many income streams, from companies who pay me annual licenses to use my work within their business. This is not only my largest residual income stream, it’s also my largest income stream by far!
I have another income stream, from the audio program on this site (see link in top menu bar.) That program alone has earned me more than the value of my house, since I invested a day of my time recording it, 4 years ago!
I have various affiliate incomes, such as the Headway banner you see on the right hand side of this page.
I have several advertisers on my other blogs, such as those you see here on http:thetechnewsblog.com who pay to advertise there. I don’t sell advertising there, people buy it (BIG difference)
I also have several income streams from other people’s audio programs, which I helped them author. I wrote the work once, then each time a sale is made by them, I get a percentage.
I own some land, which I bought 8 years ago and now rent to a farmer. The land is almost paid for and income from 2012 onward will be largely profit.
I hope those give you a taste of what I mean.
Thanks Jim,
Pat Flynn had some interesting articles on SmartPassiveIncome a while back that discussed this in detail and gave some good pointers.
We’re looking at developing educational material for the mobile apps, ie earn revenue thru license fees and royalties.
It takes time to develop the material and then find the distribution channels but, like you mentioned, the trickle down effect lasts quite a while afterwards.
and, of course, the get rich schemes are only fool’s gold.
Thanks,
Ivan
The key Ivan, is to avoid generic marketing advice from courses, books and gurus.
It’s not about channels.
It’s about tailored marketing.
As Grant said earlier, as soon as you copy the generic routes to “passive income success” touted in programs, books and blogs by gurus, you’re guaranteed to fail.
Whatever you decide to do, don’t waste a penny or your time on anything that wasn’t designed specifically for you.
YOUR plan needs to be based on YOUR resources, YOUR targets, and YOUR approach to business.
Hope that makes sense sir.
Hi guys.
Just to point out that Pat is a great friend of mine and has a phenomenal blog/ resource online for anyone wanting to make passive income. He is by no means get rich quick, in fact, he’s more get rich slooooow.
Hope you don’t mind me adding that, it’s just that Pat has been a great help to me in business.
Would you mind sharing some of those streams? I mean how you built them, not the revenue
Via a blog? Do you have any idea how big a comment that would be
The expertise I gained successfully developing residual income streams is what I use as the foundation of my client work.
Maybe I’ll write a book…
[...] wrote yesterday about residual income and the value of developing an income that didn’t require you exchanging your time for [...]
Jim,
I think this was a very important post. Until now I’ve followed you because I liked the way you write and what you have to say.
But I wasn’t really sure about what makes you different. What makes you stand out from other marketing consultants.
This post made that clear to me. You’ve got real-world experience and you know how to translate that into profits for you and for your clients. And you know how to think for yourself.
That’s refreshing in a niche filled with people who don’t have the track record to back up their rehashed ideas.
You walk the walk.
Debbie
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[...] The key to business success is NOT hard work and long hours. If it was, our grandparents would have been millionaires! In my experience, it’s about working hard and smart during working hours, putting effective plans into place, to create a business that’s as profitable as possible. [...]
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I love the idea of passive income too. What is your passive income model?
You are saying that selling a product one time or 10000 time is passive income. In that case, almost everything on the internet is passive income.
Once a product is sold, you cant just forget it. You need to provide support to the people who bought your product.
With scaling happening, your work increases automatically. So it’s no longer passive, but active.
Passive income, in my opinion, is something like recurring affiliate commission for an established site or adsense earnings for a niche site we have stopped putting any effort into or even a membership site where there is very little work for us.
[...] A couple of years later, our beautiful son was born. Thanks to this business model, I have had breakfast with him every morning of his life and been here to play with him when he gets home from school too. I work half as many hours as most people and a quarter as many hours as most business owners. I work hard and I work smart, but I don’t work long hours. Over 80% of my income these days does not require me exchanging my time for money. [...]
[...] You can read Jim’s blog post here. [...]