Serious Entrepreneurs Have 2 Goals: Passive Income and Multiple Revenue Streams The biggest difference between a job and a business is that a business keeps making money for you when you're off the clock.
By Kimanzi Constable Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The phrase "passive income" has been so overused that it may provoke somewhat negative feelings. You've probably seen Facebook ads portraying the "laptop" lifestyle from entrepreneurs trying to sell you on one of their programs. You see what they're offering and understand that the way they travel and make an income is through people buying their course.
Just like any industry, there is good and not so good. The good part of passive income is that it can lead to multiple streams of revenue. Entrepreneurs understand more income sources means a more stable business and more room to grow. Implementing passive income strategies creates exciting possibilities and opportunities. Passive income sources allow me to have freedom and financial security in my life and business. I can spend my time traveling or writing, knowing that I'm stilling making income.
Here are three ways to create passive income and multiple revenue streams.
Related: How I Made $134,846.40 of Passive Income in One Month
1. Generate income online and offline.
When it comes to passive income and generating revenue, most entrepreneurs think about the Internet and social media. With billions of daily users, it makes sense. You can reach a large and captive audience without as much marketing muscle as you would have used in the past. You can:
- Create content on a blog or your website.
- You can start a podcast that reaches the millions of iTunes users.
- You can do Facebook or Periscope live videos that get seen and shared.
- You can pay for ads on social media and Google. They're very effective.
There are also ways to generate income offline. This helps to diversify your income. You can:
- Book paid speaking gigs on your topic.
- Book consulting gigs at companies and corporations.
- Take on large done-for-you projects.
There are many ways to generate income in both worlds and each of these helps creates revenue that's not too dependent on any one thing.
Related: 5 Ways to Generate Passive Income and Keep Your Job
2. Automate parts of your business.
One of the benefits of the time we live in is all the software and technology we have available. If you want to scale a business that's bigger than yourself, you're going to need systems in place to get you there. These systems should involve automating as much as you can. The less involvement of you in the day-to-day means you have time to focus on the big picture strategies that help your business grow.
You can uses tools such as Wordpress for your website platform. MailChimp to collect email addresses. Clickfunnels to create funnels and landing pages that are completely automated. Stripe to process payments. These are just a few tools I use but there are many more options for each part of your business. Find the ones that work for you and help you create systems. (Disclaimer: I was not paid to mention any of these companies).
Related: 5 Tools You Need to Build Your Passive Income 'Empire'
3. Have a system to consistently generate new leads.
A business thrives or fails depending on its marketing and system for generating leads. You need leads to make sales. No audience or exposure means you won't get fresh faces checking out what your business does. Too many entrepreneurs spend all their time on the "busy work" and not enough on audience building. There are some great ways to build an audience and generate new leads:
- Create content on blogs, podcasts, and videos. There are billions of people who consume this content.
- Get interviewed on podcasts. They have millions of listeners.
- Create content for large business and personal development publications. The seven major publications get more than 500 million monthly visitors.
- Get involved in your local community's events.
The point being, there are many ways to generate new leads and get exposure for your business. Creating multiple revenue streams is possible when you have a way to grow. You can never go wrong building an audience and by adding new leads.
We live in an exciting time. You can literally make money while you sleep. As an entrepreneur, you don't get a steady paycheck. You can create financial stability when you create multiple streams of income and make some of them passive. Use these steps and tools. Don't just run towards the online because these are still a lot of opportunities offline. Create systems and don't try to do it all alone.
