Smart Passive Income #271 - Fourth Podcast

Smart Passive Income Podcasts

This blog moved to a new location, please visit us at http://ramble.m2m.at.
 
Pat's fourth podcast addresses methods to create products suitable for passive income:

• Use the content you already have (e.g. from a blog) to create an eBook ...
• Interview people who know a lot about something (e.g. a niche) and turn the interview into an podcast, an audio CD, a DVD ... use this content on your membership site ...
• Teach somebody something, record and sell it to further people ...
• Coach somebody, record and sell it to further people (sounds redundant to the item above) ...
• Make money by doing something you were doing anyways (sounds cryptic). e.g. if learn something new, document the steps, ...

Smart Passive Income #160 - Pre Product Market Research

This blog moved to a new location, please visit us at http://ramble.m2m.at.
 
Pat starts a new series:  How to test your online product before it exists?

First,  check if a market exists

• Enter possible keywords into Google. Do the results contain paid advertisements?
• Are there other web sites selling similar products?
• Check Amazon. Are there books or products related to your product idea?
• Add the keyword "forum:" to your Google search. Are there any forums? Is there a lot of conversation/posts/replies? When was the latest post?
• ...

Smart Passive Income #84 - Is your Idea good for Passive Income

This blog moved to a new location, please visit us at http://ramble.m2m.at.

How to know your ideas are good for passive income?

First remember the definition of passive income: Create a product once, setup an automated process to make money without further intervention ...

• Do people need your product?
• Does your idea scale? Does it matter if you sell it once or a million times?
• Do you handle every order yourself (e.g. shipping, payment)?

Smart Passive Income #47 - Bachelor Party - Passive not that Passive - Questions & FAQs

This blog moved to a new location, please visit us at http://ramble.m2m.at.

For his bachelor party Pat was away from his computer for more than a day at admits passive income is not all that passive and that it might not be the perfect business model ...

Again, passive income means you create a product once, setup an automated process to sell that product to your customers and get money without investing further time.

It turns out, it does not really work that way. Pat receives tons of emails with all sorts of questions - not even all about his products. Of course you could ignore them ... but then you might your customers to recommend your product to others, or keep them as customers for future products.

You need to answer your customers, be polite and most of all quick. Customers hate to wait for a response!

If you find that you are asked the same questions again and again, create a FAQ page to limit such questions ... unfortunately lots of people will keep asking, even if their questions are answered perfectly in your FAQ.

Smart Passive Income #30 - The magic of Buy Now Buttons - Split Tests

This blog moved to a new location, please visit us at http://ramble.m2m.at.

How to test how your customers see your web page design?

Do Split Tests!

Create different versions of your page and split your audience so that part of them see only one version, and the other part see the other version. If your audience is large enough, the page which produces more sales, should be the better one, right?

The different versions do not have to be all that different. You can even test small changes, e.g. the size or the text of the order button.

Pat cites an article from drivetraffic.com, where 47 different versions of buy buttons got tested. The conclusion:

• bigger, fatter buttons do better than smaller buttons,
• use orange buttons on lighter backgrounds,
• use "add to card" instead of "buy now",
• place credit-card logos bellow the button for a sense of assurance and safety,
• place a strike-through retail price next to the sale price 
• ...

Smart Passive Income #29 - The Skeptic Arises

This blog moved to a new location, please visit us at http://ramble.m2m.at. 

... the skeptic arises: The idea behind smart passive income is to work hard once, create a product and sell it using an automated process, not having to invest any more time into that particular product ... compared to a nine to five job where you only get money when you actually do work ...

Pat postulates two formulas:

9-to5 ... time * wage = income

... meaning you get only paid when you work. To get more income you need to work more or increase your wage ...

passive income ... product = income

 ... meaning once you have a product you have income ... well, ... the product does not need maintenance? ... no updates? ... no continuous marketing efforts?

Smart Passive Income #28 - How to Develop your Product

This blog moved to a new location, please visit us at http://ramble.m2m.at.

... previously on Smart Passive Income ...

What's Smart Passive Income? You create a product (most likely an information product), setup an automated process to "sell" it, and make from that without further effort ...

... and now the continuation ...

Do you have problem finding YOUR product?

If you sell an information product, you should know what you are talking about ... however, you do not need to be an expert to start with. Pat, for example, was no an expert on leed architecture when he started to gather study material. Even when he had passed his exam, there are definitely more experienced people out there knowing more about the topic. But his unique point of view - as student learning for that special exam - helps other people preparing for the exam. And they are willing to pay for that piece of information ...

Smart Passive Income #18 - Don't Wast Your Time - Market Research

This blog moved to a new location, please visit us at http://ramble.m2m.at.

 

Don't wast your time and money on a product nobody will buy

If you have an idea on a new product make sure there are actually customers who are willing to buy it. Don' go with your gut an just assume it - ask them! Find them, ask them personally, make polls with your current customers (from other products) ...

... I will skip entry #19 which is a fable Pat wrote for fun ...