The Passive Income Myth Exposed

In theory the idea of generating additional (and passive)business revenue from books, CD programmes and eBookscouldn't be simpler. Find a market. Create a product. Watchthe money roll in while you play golf, pamper yourself, shopfor shoes, go fishing or enjoy a little R&R.

The reality though is a lot different.

To make income from products genuinely passive there aresteps in the process that you can't afford to miss out. Infact the first phase of setting up your passive stream ofcash requires hard work, persistence and intelligence.You'll have spent a lot of time, effort and money before youcan truly say the money coming in is truly coming in of itsown accord.

So here's the myth:

Passive Income Is Easy Income

This dangerous myth has been shamelessly propagated by(almost) all the people selling "Passive Revenue How ToProducts" out there. What's worse is that they promote thismyth in their own interests. You see, if they told you thetruth. If they actually said that implementing their fool-proof programme means working your nuts off and taking afinancial risk then they wouldn't sell so many of theirprogrammes.

The truth is - us humans love the word EASY. "Easy" sells.But nothing really worth having (as life often proves) comeswithout a price. So in this case, unless you're extremelylucky, you're going to have to push that passive incomevehicle up, an often, very steep hill before you're going toenjoy coasting along watching the money roll in.

It's Not Really All That Passive Anyway...n==============================================
In the diagram here...
http://www.leanmarketing.co.uk/champions/passiveincome-01.gifyou'll see that there's a lot of effort involved to getyour product off the ground. During this time you (or yourpublisher) will be spending time and money. But even afteryou reach the top of the hill (the tipping point) you stillneed to be active to a certain degree in order to profit.When you're coasting along at full speed you need to steerclear of obstacles. If you forget about looking aftercustomersor collecting the cash then your income vehicle will crash.And you can forget about making any money!

The Active Stepsn==============================================
1. Gain Real Experience
Despite what people may say - if you're planning onproducing a "how to" information product you'd better knowwhat you're talking about. This does not mean attendingcourses or reading books (which means you'll just beregurgitating) but actually knowing (from hard experience)what it is you're talking about. If you're ethical,authentic and genuine, then you wouldn't even dare to claimyou know something when you don't. But plenty of peoplestill do it!

How many people do you see selling "Get-Rich-Quick"programmes who are flat broke? How many tell you how to makea fortune on the Internet when they can't even do itthemselves? Too many!

If we can see through their lies then it goes without sayingthat if you bluff it you'll get caught out eventually too.

So rule number one. If you don't know about it (from realexperience) then don't write about it!

2. Identify An Opportunity
It amazes me, but some people even forget (or skip) thisvital step and wonder why they never make any money. You'vegot to find a community or group of people who will sharethe problem your product can solve.

It's your job then to identify a genuine NEED and market foryour product. What pain relief can you bring with yourknowledge? What expert information can you share on apopular hobby or pastime? What challenges, problems ordreams do people have that you can genuinely help them with?

3. Create A Valuable Product
This is the point where you leverage your experience,expertise and knowledge by turning it into a system whichcan then be recorded and delivered without you needing to bethere. You can convert this system into a book, eBook, audioprogramme, video etc.

A valuable product must be able to deliver on a promise. Itmust be well put together and it must be unique. What's yourunique spin on the subject? What results can peoplegenuinely expect from applying your knowledge?

It's also a false economy to create audio (thinking thatit's easier) for a "how to" product, with steps to follow,when a more appropriate media would be a book or eBook.Audio is great for motivation or self-help. But not so goodfor step-by-step stuff like DIY, Car Maintenance or How ToDraw. So don't think in terms of what's the easiest thingfor you - think in terms of what's the most effective way tocommunicate what you know.

Also, forget the "Interview An Expert" model. It's just acheap (and blatantly easy) way to make a quick buck withoutcoming up with a single unique thought yourself.

4. Promote It Like Mad
Even if you've been published by someone else - it's stillyour responsibility to get the word out there. For instance,if you have a mailing list then tell them about it. Yourpublisher is unable to do that for you. If you'recommunicating using blogs, chat rooms or forums (where yourknowledge is being openly displayed) then mention your book.If you're still trying to sell higher-value products andservices then use this as your lower-cost way in. For lotsof idea on promoting things like mad on a budget buy TheGorillas Want Bananas or Lean Marketing Toolbox.

Don't get lazy when it comes to promotion whetheryou're doing it yourself or being published. If you're notmaking any money and you're doing very little about it thenyou only have yourself to blame; your publisher can only doso much on your behalf and is likely supporting another 100people just like you. What's your excuse - you only haveyourself to look after.

The So-Called Passive Steps...n==============================================
5. Collect and Account for Money
It doesn't matter how great the product is, how hot themarket is or how much promotion you do. If you don't have asystem for collecting money then you're not making anyincome (passive or not). Be sure to have systems in placefrom the outset and account for everything. You don't wantto lose all your profits to the tax man.

6. Deliver Excellent Customer Service
Again, your job is not over until you have a happy customer.What extras and bonuses can you give? Have you got thebasics right? Is your delivery process as slick andefficient as it can be? Unhappy customers will want theirmoney back and will tell their friends to steer clear sodon't crash, due to a sloppy business model, when it shouldbe plain sailing.

It's Never Passive Foreve
==============================================
Eventually, after all your hard work is done, sales willdecline. So make it a habit to keep on promoting. It neverstops. To mistake "passive income" with "passivity" is tosee all your hard work come to nothing. Take responsibilityand make it pay. This diagram illustrates the point...http://www.leanmarketing.co.uk/champions/passiveincome-01.gifnn=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=nCan you really get more business success bydoing and spending less? The Answer Is Yes!Get FREE Lean Marketing eBooks worth £24.95==> http://www.leanmarketing.co.uk