Passive income in your account every month from royalties & digital products, that sounds good, doesn’t it? For example, you write a book, create a song or develop a course. But webinars or e-books also provide a nice passive revenue stream.
Royalties
First, let’s talk about Royalty. And no, we don’t mean the royal family but just hard earned money you receive because you have the right or patent on something. Because how cool is it, receiving money over and over again for something you made that is (still) being sold or used over and over again. Books, illustrations, a product, computer game etc etc.
Show me the money!
The most common royalty rate is between 4%-20%. Sometimes this is transferred annually but it also happens that you receive a one-time fee for the use of your “brainchild. You also agree whether someone then has the unique right to use your “product” or whether multiple parties may use it.
Copyright is key
Not entirely unimportant to mention is that in order to obtain royalties, it is of course required that the product really is your product. So you must own the rights. With a book this is usually clear and with a released song too but when you are marketing a product this is a bit more complicated. A great example is the jeans button. This brilliant piece of “technology” was patented for years, which meant that you could only put it on clothing if you paid for it. After all, the patent or right for use lay with the “inventor” and not with the apparel industry. So do you have a brilliant idea and market it? Get it recorded!
Digital products
When you have an enormous amount of knowledge about something, it is a smart idea to turn this into a product. After all, why not share those years of accumulated knowledge, and preferably for a fee. Win-win situation right? It makes the other person “smarter” and you get compensated for it. Good examples of digital products are: webinars, online training, e-books….
Fair sharing
It will take you some time, of course, because translating all your knowledge into a product is not something you do in 1 day. But when you have a finished product standing, you do have something you can sell until the end of days. And that means beyond your one-time investment of time, a continuous stream of income as you sell your product every time.
How, what, where
You have the knowledge but just don’t know where to start? Check out these handy steps and get started!
- Is there a market for your knowledge/product? No one is waiting for yet another online training course on a subject that has already been “squeezed out” dozens of times. So before you put your precious time into creating a product, think carefully about whether there is a demand for your topic.
- Start developing your product. Write out your text, possibly consider whether you want to make videos about this and accompany your training with assignments.
- Provide an accessible online platform where people can find your product.
- Start your marketing on time! A product does not sell itself by itself. Make sure you already have a well-run website or social media channel with enough followers.
- Write blogs, hold webinars and promote your online product in them.
Be creative but businesslike
There are plenty of options when it comes to passive income such as royalties and digital products. Find something that suits you and makes you feel good. You will have to invest a lot of time in this, especially in the beginning, and it had better be in a subject that energizes you. In doing so, don’t lose sight of the business side of things either. The saying “make your hobby your job” exists for a reason. Goodluck!
