Passive Income (or not)
Thoughts on Passive Income / Freelance Advice / Handlettering by Ilana Griffo
I had an amazing call with another business owner who I really admire, and we talked a little bit about "passive income" and I wanted to share our discussion with you, because I think it's valuable!I think people assume that "passive income" is something you offer, that doesn't require any work once it's launched. You sort of "sit back and relax", while your income just comes pouring in. Sounds AMAZING right?!Here's the thing. Hopefully you've learned that followers aren't always customers, and that freelancing/owning a business is hard work, and passive income is no exception.
Do Your Research | Passive income requires a lot of work upfront (creating an outstanding product), so make sure you've done your research, and found out that people ARE in fact interested, and what they'd be willing to pay for it (aka - know your client!).
Make A Plan | You need a plan of attack, a few months out - start telling people about it, get them excited, share a couple teasers, and capture the emails of people interested.
Tell EVERYONE | My friend recently launched a new product, and sent it out via email. I had NO idea about her course, because she didn't tell anyone else! No social media, no "hey friend, look what I did". That SHIT CRAY! Tell EVERYONE YOU KNOW, and then tell them to tell EVERYONE they know. I know it's scary to ask people to share this, but your inner circle, your social network... that's what we do!
Believe In Your Badass Product | If you don't think your offer is that awesome, how are you going to sell it to someone else? Make sure you're proud of your product as you're screaming it from the rooftops! Tell people WHY it's awesome!Want to see an AWESOME example of a recent launch? A fellow designer, Melissa Yeager, (who has a seriously valuable blog, adorable puppy, and some serious talent - I have multiple posts saved to revisit over and over) recently launched an awesome course (if you're looking to learn about Adobe Illustrator - this course is for you!), Illustrator Essentials. Melissa hosted multiple webinars, had a countdown, giveaways, and shared progress along the way. As a fellow creative, I knew people who would want to take the course, I watched the webinars with some talented folks, and had fun following along as developed this beast! I also love that she only opened the course for a period of time, and plans to open it again at a specific date in the future (January 2018). This makes it limited, personal, exclusive, all the things people crave, and it adds more hype to her next launch. Her journey to launching was a great reminder of how much work goes into creating the product and sharing it with the world.Once your product is launched, you're no where near done. People (unless maybe you're Beyonce) aren't just going to FIND your product, you have to keep talking, share reviews, update the course/product as feedback rolls in, and tend to it!There are really great sites for "passive income" like society6.com, where you can post your artwork, and earn a little extra cash, but if you haven't done your research, and promoted the crap out of it, you can't get very far. Even though society6 already has shoppers visiting everyday, it's easy to get lost in the overload of amazing artwork that's on there. To stand out, do your research (find out what's popular with that audience), add artwork/offerings/updates, and tell people about it! Sitting back with your feet up can only get you so far. In my experience, with "passive income", you get what you give.So tell me, what are you working on, what are you launching? What's your experience with passive income?