This statement may surprise you, considering my work role in the world. Most of my work is one-on-one with amazing people who need guidance on what passive income streams could work for them and create a detailed strategy on how to implement it in real life.
These amazing people are business owners. they know, like the back of their hand, what they are doing and who they are doing it for. They are good at it and love what they do. But chances are they’re pretty busy and need some of that all-important time freedom they promised themselves when they started their business in the first place.
So, because of the nature of what I do, people assume that my business must earn more from passive income streams than from active work. You have to practice what you preach right? But to what extent?
For my business, there is a lopsided balance between the passive and active sides of my job. A fully passive business that teaches about passive income? This is not true. But there’s an important logic behind why, and for you to get to know and trust me, I think it’s really important to be transparent about the finances of my business.
So here are the really good reasons why passive income doesn’t make up 90+% of my income…
Reason 1: Business owners rarely prioritize their own business and rarely take their own advice
As with most people in professions, I am very much about my own business. And while I can look at anyone’s business and pinpoint exactly where they can make passive income, because that’s what I love to do, that’s where I spend my time and that’s where I want to work.
So when the time comes for me to sit down and work out marketing plans for my own passive products, I don’t – because I’d rather work with clients, telling them how to do it. So they can go away, have a wonderful passive life and give me their money, which they are happy to pay, and their wonderful testimonials, which they are more than happy to write.
Imagine if you’re a copywriter, your web copy is probably at the bottom of the list. If you’re a designer, the tiny branding tweaks you’ve been meaning to make (that no one else will notice but annoy the hell out of you!) won’t be a priority – your client’s job is.
Passive income is not just about the idea (it follows an idea, go out and make a lot of money from it!) I also put all the support to help with the strategy behind the decisions my clients make, creating, improving and product development.
It’s a bit wrong in a way because your product is only passive when it’s designed and built flawlessly. There is a lot of work that needs to be done on a passive product before you start reaping the benefits. And that’s where I love working with my clients and not doing it for myself!
Reason 2: Practice what you preach – legally
As I mentioned in the introduction, it’s important for me to practice what I preach when it comes to helping my clients build passive income. It is important for clients to understand that they are not going to become millionaires overnight because of the work we do together. It is important for customers to know this from the start. Your business will benefit exponentially from a passive income stream, but it doesn’t have to take over or supersede what you’re already doing.
I teach my clients to create passive income targeting their business’ “peripheral” clients, not to replace their active work with existing clients. The two are not the same, and creating a gap here allows my clients to reach new customers as well as serve existing ones in a way that already works.
I do the exact same thing in my own business. My passive products are designed for one type of “avatar” (in marketing terms) and my active work is designed for another. And it works.
Reason 3: One size does not always fit all
Most passive (readable, digital products) can provide a framework, a guide, or a more general learning environment for the client. It takes a customer from point A to point B without a scenic stop at point C or a necessary refueling at point D.
90% of your customers will benefit from this journey from A to B, but some may have really needed the journey to point C to make sure they made it all the way. A passive product cannot do this in a completely custom way. They cannot provide a personalized and tailored approach to specific businesses, people, personalities or circumstances.
In short, blanket stuff doesn’t work for everyone and can only go so far from a teaching standpoint. Because this is what I preach, it would be crazy for me to go against that and treat all my clients the same way, assuming all their circumstances are the same. This is what I would do if I only sold passive products in my business.
On the bright side of passive products, you can definitely capture the principles of something, a template or outline, and maybe even the how-to from a digital course, download, or similar product. You can gain a LOT from the output of one’s brain. But, on the other hand, talking to a person about your specific circumstances will always give you better results as a client than more general advice you could get from a course, for example.
One size doesn’t fit all, so the personal touch is often the difference between success and disappointment when starting a passive project.
I don’t believe the solution, therefore, is in a one-size-fits-all bottle. I believe in diversifying the way and medium in which we teach or present important information so that there is a methodology that works for everyone.
As the school system still insists on teaching everyone the same way (teaching fish to climb trees in some cases), passive products can only teach a certain type of person up to a certain point. It can’t and won’t work for everyone, and so it would be wrong of me to only offer passive products in my business that don’t allow my customers to have personalized solutions if they need them.
Variety is the spice of life, and to really get a positive impact from your business, you need to have a range in your offerings that allows for inclusion in delivery method and cost. This is the only advice I give and receive myself, so my offers vary in both price and delivery method to give my customers the best possible experience, whatever their circumstances.
Reason 4: I don’t believe in showing you “look what I did”…you can do the same.
I don’t subscribe to the screenshots of flashing Stripe accounts, the six figure bullshit, or people charging thousands with the claim of the ONE SOLUTION to a seven figure customer base. It’s all hurtful nonsense, and quite frankly, it’s dumbfounded.
I appreciate those people out there building passive empires and I truly believe it is possible to leverage your existing hardware and bottle your brain to maximize your impact IN ADDITION to what you already do as a service or product provider.
However, I believe it should be tailored to the client’s business and personality, so my business model will look different to client A and client B will be different again. It would be wrong of me, in this case, to instill a sense of comparison-itus by flashing my own passive success under my customers’ noses – after all, I’m selling them something different, right?
Plus, I really love what I do (as I’ve said), so I’d never want to scale to a point where I can’t have one-on-one interaction with my clients and make sure they’re getting the most out of their time with me . My business gives me flexibility and freedom with the balance I have, and that balance is a personal choice for each of us.
Reason 5: Most of us aren’t as motivated as we think we are
Big sweeping statement there, I get it. But I know a lot of business owners out there will resonate with what I’m about to say.
Unless there’s a deadline on the clock or a check waiting to clear, our motivation can be fleeting. We (including me!) often need accountability and structure to accomplish things that aren’t going to bring us immediate gratification or at least something festive on the horizon.
We need a ‘why’ and a motivation to run towards (or a scary thing to run to!) in order to take action. Because of this, people in general often wait until our backs are against the wall before we take action – pivoting to host a global pandemic, as a wild example!
In my line of work, clients come to me for complete clarity. They arrive with either a) a head full of ideas or b) desire, but no clues. My job is to sort through the chaos and provide a structured, feasible and logical approach to the task at hand. I regularly save people time, effort and money through this strategy, as well as giving them ideas they might not have considered themselves.
And often, it’s my job to talk people out and hold them accountable for getting it done. Without me, these concepts would probably remain another item on the dusty list of “cool” and ideas for later that you’ll never get around to.
So in summary, I guess what I’m saying is that “selling a result you’ve achieved for yourself” isn’t always the right thing to do in business because everyone is different and needs something different. Especially when it comes to passive income. It is my humble belief that customers should always come first and a good entrepreneur designs their business around said customer. And that, my dear reader, is what I do.
So if you’re considering a passive project of your own, then know that it’s going to take work and it’s going to take some unraveling of complex ideas and priorities. You’ll have to make decisions you’ve never made before and plan things outside of your usual comfort zone.
There’s no doubt that having someone to hold your hand through this process will help you exponentially, and that’s what I can do for you. It’s entirely up to you if you want to make more passive income than me, but I highly recommend that you start making it out of at least a small portion of your earnings.
Want to learn about the many ways you CAN do this with your business? It all starts with a (totally free) Creative Cuppa!
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