Passive income is amazing because you separate your time from the act of making money. One of the best ways to explain passive income is the concept of writing a book.
You may spend three months working on the book and then release it on the Kindle platform. From there, the book can generate income any time of the day for years to come.
YouTube has a similar draw as well. You create videos, and as people discover you, they also discover your back catalog. The more content you produce, the more opportunities for your prior works to shine.
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High ticket items. One of the highest ticket items for residual passive income is an online course. Instead of getting $2-3 from book sales or a few pennies when someone views your video, you can make some serious cash from an online course. There is a catch, though.
You’ll need a sizable audience to make good money from your online course. Because a book is a low-ticket item, it is easy for people to make a buying decision. Also, Kindle Unlimited makes it easy for people to read work from unknown authors (like me).
Courses can range from anywhere between $45-$1,200, which is considerably more than a book. For someone to purchase your course, they will need to know, like, and trust you.
When someone buys your course, they should already know what to expect. They should have already viewed some of the content inside via free methods. They look to the system as a step-by-step guide that may go deeper than a book or YouTube.
Establish yourself as an expert. Before selling a course, you must establish yourself as a subject matter expert. If you are selling a course on how to be successful on YouTube, you best be a rockstar on YouTube.
You can also teach your own techniques that have proven results. For example, I want to create an online course called the Happy Cash Flow Retirement System. Inside, I will instruct students how to make $3,000/mo for each of rents, royalties, automated business, and dividends.
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This course is years off because I first have to prove that my system works—by doing it myself. Likewise, you’ll have to do similar for anything to do with relationships, marriage, health, dieting, and fitness.
If you are a technical person, you can do an in-depth guide on building websites, gaming PCs, and battling Pokemon. However, these courses may become outdated sooner than others.
An outdated course may be positive because people need to buy another method every 3-4 years. Always look for a silver lining when operating your own business.
Storyboard your course. Maybe one of the best things about creating a course is that you can start creating content for it today. For instance, if I am writing a course about becoming a dividend investor, I can write content towards that goal now.
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As I write my content, I can prepare it for my online course. Once I have what I need, I can repackage my course in video format.
Hosting your course. I have taken one online course; it was on Kindle Direct Publishing. I loved the information, and it was on the person’s website. Hosting his course gives him maximum leverage and income.
There are sites, like Teachable, that host your course for a cut of your profits. However, they have organic traffic that may stumble upon your course. It is best for you to drive traffic to your online courses, though.
Other sites like Skillshare function like Netflix. Members pay a monthly fee and access all courses on the site. Again, this encourages members to watch content from lesser-known creators.
Building your audience. The most challenging part of creating an online course is driving traffic to it. Nobody will randomly buy a $500 system and pray it is an effective teaching tool. No, they want to trust you implicitly BEFORE they buy the course.
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Using the concept of a sales funnel will help us properly position our online course in the market. A sales funnel starts with “unaware” people who may start searching to find a solution to a problem.
This situation is where your free content comes into play. Hopefully, you have become a content creator across the many different creativity options available. Luckily, I have written extensively about these options: music, photography, art, video, audio, and writing.
Each creative work should link to another further down the sales funnel. For example, let’s say our customer wants to run a marathon in a year. They stumble upon our YouTube video about running a marathon.
The YouTube video leads them to our book about preparing for a marathon in a year. We can link to our online course “How to Train for a Marathon in a Year.”
We can even add more items at the end of the funnel, like podcasts (to keep them motivated) and dieting supplements—the sky’s the limit. There is nothing you can’t sell once you have an audience.
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Have a plan. Selling to an audience is a double-edged sword. Once someone trusts you, you have their undivided attention. Ensure you release the highest quality.
You should have a plan from the start to advertise your products. I consider my books as part of an advertising platform. Yes, I give most of them away for free, but there is a method to my madness.
Inside every book and on every webpage, I have links to more of my content. I have some affiliate links, books, and articles. One day, I will have my online course in this section.
You see, I am building an advertising platform via my books. The books are just the tip of the iceberg. I have a long-term vision that incorporates online courses at the top of the passive income funnel.
I can also add in consulting and mentoring if I want; however, I don’t necessarily like to exchange time for money at this particular moment.
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Build lots of courses. As you create content, you establish yourself as an expert in your field and a content creator.
For example, I can create courses on military life, writing books, blogging, dividends, and retiring overseas in a few years. The key is to keep creating content daily and finding ways to solve people’s issues.
Becoming a content creator is the best way to future-proof your income against any market calamity. Once someone takes one of your courses, they will be eager to take additional ones.
Email marketing. The best way to make people aware of your course is via email marketing. When people check emails, they have an excellent mindset for learning and interacting. Reading a book or watching YouTube doesn’t always provide this level of interaction.
I admittedly am not good at email marketing yet. I am on my grind, releasing a book every day. One day, I will slow down and start to grow my business. However, the book “How to Blog for Profit” taught me the importance of building an email list.
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You can offer sales and promotions to your email list and get others to act as affiliates to your course. Once you create a great course, it won’t be hard for others to pitch it to their audience or friends (for a commission, of course).
Conclusion. The best part of an online course is purely passive income. You have your free content at the top of the sales funnel—leading to your books and podcasts. Your online course can be towards the bottom of the funnel, along with coaching and mentoring (not passive).
As you can see, your online course should be part of a content ecosystem. People need to consume a lot of your content before dropping $500+ on your course. Also, your course needs to solve their issue.
Think about all the YouTubers, writers, and podcasters you listen to daily. Would you buy a course from them if it was something that interested you? You trust them and their opinions.
Building that kind of trust is hard. It starts with you showing up daily (I learned from “The Practice”). Creating an online course is the icing on the cake and an excellent way for your audience to support you while helping themselves.
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Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. All Right Reserved Military Family Investing
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