A few weeks ago I did a poll on my Instagram about topics that my followers would love to have coaching on. The most popular chosen topic was passive income ideas and so I wanted to share a few that I use personally in my business. The best part of these passive income ideas is that they’re simple and you can start working on it today. While these are slightly geared towards photographers, there are also a few ideas that could work for any business.
First, I want to talk about the idea of “passive income” (aka scalable income) as it’s become a buzz word lately in society. It’s this idea that you can make money without having to work as if you could just “set it and forget it”. It doesn’t quite work like that, truthfully. It’s not totally passive because you still need a very limited amount of hours to maintain it.
Here’s the thing. It takes a lot of work up front just to get the ball rolling. You need to start marketing to your audience, getting beta testers if needed, creating copy and graphics, etc. You get the point. However, the idea is to get it to a point where you can automate it or outsource any maintaining work needed to continue growing your income for that product!
Here are 4 ways that I’ve been able to create passive (or scalable) income in my business:
Set up a digital store in your online photo gallery
I use Pixieset to send my clients their online gallery of images. By using this program, they have an online store option which I take full advantage of! I am able to connect my clients gallery to the store which allows them to order prints, canvases, and more!
Not only does it encourage my clients to print their images but now it gives me additional income that I would otherwise lose by having them print on their own at a big box store. (Side note: Pixieset does get a percentage of the order to cover printing but I am able to price my prints/products to whatever mark up cost I prefer!). Adding a store is 100% free, so if you’re not doing this.. you’re missing out on opportunities and losing that extra income!
Create and sell a digital product
Do you have a topic that you feel very experienced/educated on? Or is there a specific topic that you received questions about frequently? Consider turning your knowledge in a digital product! For example: My Client workflow and The Checklist Bundle. Other ideas of a digital product include: ebook, templates, online courses or webinars, presets, etc.
Become an affiliate marketer for products/programs you already use and love
Okay, before your roll your eyes or feel triggered with the word “affiliate” this truly is a great way to make some money. HOWEVER. This is important. I do truly believe there is a positive and negative way of doing this. And I certainly am not recommending and do not encourage doing this if your mindset is to only make money, regardless of what the product is.
If you are someone like me who is passionate about certain products or services in your life that you would be using regardless of a discount code/income, then I totally think it’s okay to market that! I’ve had companies reach out to me about promoting their products, but I’ve turned them away because they did not fit my market of followers. And to me, that’s not worth it, regardless of pay. Don’t trade your trust with your followers for a brand that doesn’t fit your market just because of the $$$ sign.
Here are a few examples of my most popular links for my business:
- Honeybook – I’ve talked about this program that has truly changed the game for my business. I blogged about 13 reasons and ways that I use this program that has truly allowed me to level up my client experience, my bookings, referral income, and more! Get 50% off your first full year!
- Ribbon & Ink – this is a compilation of many things that I’ve used in my business. From my own custom website template and working with Katie, my designer, as well as learning how to properly blog and start ranking on Google! This is a one-stop-shop for your website template /blogging needs! Which pairs super nicely with your website copy!!
- Website Bundle Promptlate (prompts & templates) for your website! It’s time we ditch those cookie-cutter website words that aren’t even doing their job. It’s basically 50% Prompts, 50% Templates, 100% the only DIY website copy resource of it’s kind. The Promptlates are your one-stop-shop for a DIY copy experience that’ll have people saying, “Who’s your copywriter?”.
Start a blog
This one will probably take the longest to pick up and start rolling by itself but once I started implementing what I learned from this blogging course, I was able to start ranking on GOOGLE. How does this become passive? Because of this blog post from 2019, it continues to bring more traffic to my website and people are booking me for their engagement session because of it!
So there you have it. Easy ways that you can start creating more streams of revenue in your business!! Do you have another idea? Leave a comment below!
Here are some other business blog posts you might enjoy: