Ep 18: Passive Income - What Is It & Why You want It

Let's unpack passive income offerings. First, it really does take active effort and ongoing maintenance. So I don't really resonate or agree with the part of the definition, which states that earnings are generated with minimal active effort or ongoing maintenance. But the second part of the definition is this: You can create income while you sleep, travel or focus on other pursuits. And that's honestly, the part that I believe is true. 

Think of it like this passive income is income you can make while you're not physically teaching or students can continue to learn via audio and video recordings, PDFs, homework assignments, journaling prompts, and so on without you facilitating and being in front of them, therefore it's income that can be made while you're doing other things. Types of passive income can include affiliate marketing or online business ventures, such as digital products, courses, and membership programs. 

And in this episode, I want us to go down the passive income rabbit hole together.

Transcript

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Let's unpack passive income offerings. First, it really does take active effort and ongoing maintenance, so I don't really resonate or agree with a part of the definition which states earnings are generated with minimal active effort or ongoing maintenance. But the second part of the definition is this. You can create income while you sleep, travel, or focus on other pursuits. And that's honestly the part that I believe is true. Think of it like this, passive income is income you can make while you're not physically teaching or students can continue to learn via audio and video recordings, PDFs, homework assignments, journaling prompts, and so on without you facilitating and being in front of them. Therefore, it's income that can be made while you're doing other things. Types of passive income can include affiliate marketing, or online business ventures such as digital products, courses, and membership programs. And in this episode, I want us to go down the passive income rabbit hole together. Welcome to the Essential Conversations for Yoga Teachers podcast with me. I'm Monica Bright and I've been teaching yoga and running my yoga business for over a decade. This is the podcast for you. If you're a yoga teacher, you're looking for support. You love to be in conversation and you're a lifelong student. In this podcast, I'll share with you my life as a yoga teacher, The lessons I've learned, all the stuff that wasn't taught in teacher training, my process for building my business, and helpful ideas, tools, strategies, and systems I use and you can use to So that your business thrives, we'll cover a diverse range of topics that will help you whether you're just starting out, or you've got years under your belt, and you want to dive deep and set yourself up for success. I'm so glad you're here. Listen, I don't take myself too seriously, so expect to hear some laughs along the way. Now, let's do this together. All right. I am super excited because it's that time of year again, when the business of yoga 2. 0 is about to get started again. It's my four month coaching program for yoga teachers, where you get the business coaching you missed out on in your teacher training. But what is the business of Yoga 2. 0, and why should you consider applying for a spot? Well, as the years passed while I was teaching yoga, I realized I was putting a business together piece by piece, alongside my regular teaching schedule. I had built a website, I'd started an email list, I'd branched out and diversified my income. And honestly, when 2020 came along, the studios I worked for were not able to continue to pay me for my time or they drastically reduced my pay for an undetermined amount of time. But I realized I was ready to go out on my own and create a space for yoga where students could feel seen, heard, and deepen their yoga practice beyond classes. So as I was building my own business, I learned a lot and I realized there was a lot of information that I had. that yoga teachers could benefit from. So I asked yoga teachers if they wanted coaching and I heard a resounding yes. I had tons of conversations with yoga teachers about what they want, what they need, and what support or what kind of support they desired. And then I created the Business of Yoga 2. 0 coaching program to help teachers build their businesses. What I know for sure is that diversifying your offerings is the best way to build a sustainable and long lasting teaching career because it frees your time and increases your income so you're not tied to 15 plus classes per week. So if you're even thinking, I have this idea or this offering that I want to create, but I'm just not sure how, or I have an email list, but I dread sitting down to write, or I don't even know what to write. Or maybe you think, I have this idea for an online offering, but I don't even know what steps to take to create it. Then when applications open, fill it out so that we can see if this small group coaching is for you. I don't accept everyone and that's on purpose. I want to make sure that you're going to get results. Applications open next week, so check your inbox and if you're not signed up for my email list, no worries. I'll link it in the show notes below. All right, let's get on with this episode. I am delighted to have the talk that we're going to have today. We're diving into the world of passive income, what it is, how to create it, and the transformative impact it can have on your business and your life. Whether you're a full time or part time yoga teacher, understanding passive income is the key to unlocking financial stability. and freedom. Let's explore how you can harness the power of passive income to build wealth and create a sustainable teaching career and a life of abundance. I will always start this conversation by saying there is nothing passive about passive income. Creating something that you call passive will require a lot of work from you. However, it has its benefits, and we're going to talk about it in this episode. You're going to walk away understanding what it really is, tips on how to create it, some examples you can take away and use, and finally, the benefits of incorporating passive income offerings in your teaching business. Let's start with understanding passive income. So passive income is typically defined as earnings generated with minimal active effort or ongoing maintenance. Unlike traditional active income, which requires continuous time and effort to earn, Passive income streams can generate revenue while you sleep, travel, or focus on other pursuits. So, let's unpack this definition. First, like I mentioned before, it really does take active effort and ongoing make. So, I don't really resonate or agree with that part of the definition. But the second part, that you can generate income while you sleep, Travel, or focus on other pursuits is honestly the part that I believe is true. Think of it like this. Passive income is income you can make while you're not physically teaching. Or students can continue to learn via audio and video recordings, PDFs, homework assignments, journaling prompts, and so on, without you being in front of them in order for them to receive content. Therefore, it's income that can be made while you're doing other things. Types of passive income can include affiliate marketing or online business ventures such as digital products, courses, and membership programs. How do you even begin to create passive income opportunities? Before you create anything, the marketing begins. Let me say that again. Marketing starts before you create the thing. Before you create anything. anything. So think about this. Identifying your niche. Determine your area of specialization within the yoga industry. This could be a particular style of yoga. For example, vinyasa or hatha. Maybe it's yin, restorative, somatic yoga or yoga with self massage. Maybe you enjoy teaching a specific audience like beginners, athletes, or seniors. Or you have a specialized skill or interest like meditation or yoga for stress relief, prenatal yoga, or yoga for menopause. It could be anything. The list is endless. Just identify what you enjoy teaching, right? And then define your offering. So decide what types of passive income streams align with your niche and expertise. I'm going to go into this in a second. But consider options such as online classes, courses. digital products, affiliate marketing, again, membership programs, or merchandise. Choose offerings that resonate with your target audience and provide value to them. So let's back it up a little bit. Before you identify your niche and define your offerings on your own, you really need to understand who you serve and what you have to offer. Understanding these two will help you begin to settle on the types of offerings you should even consider creating. In short, there's no need to create a course that lasts for months because you think that's what your people want, when instead they would prefer workshops now and then. How do you do this? Well, ask, and I'd advise asking again and again, honing in on what they are asking for and what you can see that they need. The best advice I give anyone is to identify a problem that they're experiencing and create an offering that solves the problem that they have. Of course, you might include things that you know they need, but they don't necessarily know they need. Just be very clear on how this helps and show them. A lot of times the best teacher is experience. So when they experience the solution to their problem, it'll help it all click. I want you to think about going back and forth between identifying your niche, defining your offerings, and going back to your audience. And again, identifying your niche, defining your offerings, and going back to your audience. It's like this little dance back and forth. between the three to hone in and figure out what it is that you want to create and what your people are asking you for and they would actually want to join. Once you're clear on this, then you can begin to create high quality content. Content that not only showcases your expertise, but offers value to your audience and gets them the solutions they need. When I say high quality, I don't mean that you need the fanciest equipment or the fastest computer or anything like that. What I mean is that you show up as a professional. Your space is clean and well thought out and you're ready and equipped to teach information that you understand deeply and are able to teach. If you're thinking something like pre recorded yoga classes, instructional videos, written guides or ebooks, meditation recordings, or online workshops, it's imperative for you to communicate how these are solutions. How will having recorded classes be of benefit to students? You've got to get clear on how your classes are different than others, why people should sign up for them, and what they'll actually accomplish from taking them. Ensure that your content is professional, well produced, and aligned with your brand and teaching style. It's important to consider and research the online platforms you'll use to host and distribute your content. This could include a website, online course platform, e commerce store, or maybe even social media channels. But I wouldn't rely on them too much, social media. I mean, they have their place, for sure. But they aren't reliable sources to get your information out to everyone you're connected with. I suggest using I suggest choosing user friendly, secure platforms that allow for easy monetization of your offerings, but also offer exceptional customer support. If a platform has shoddy customer support, that's a deal breaker for me. Because when, and I stress when, I have a problem. I need to know that I can get it resolved right away. Case in point, I switched email providers just recently, like in the last six months, because I couldn't get support on the weekends. And that was a deal breaker for me. I needed to be able to get resolution no matter what the day of the week was. I couldn't wait from Saturday to Monday to even get my problem looked at. So that was a deal breaker for me. And currently, I use ConvertKit and I love them. Now, you want to think about monetizing your content. So, in the past, I used to create content for social media with nothing to follow up after that content was consumed. That was a no no. Huge mistake. I didn't even have an offering for people who were wanting to give me money. Honestly, they didn't have anywhere to go except for my in person classes in Chicago. So if I connected with a teacher in Mexico and she's interested in learning more from me, she didn't have any options. Now she does because I fixed that. When you consider implementing monetization strategies to generate revenue from your content, remember, this could be something as simple as selling digital downloads. It could be offering subscription based memberships, or earning affiliate commissions from product recommendations, or monetizing your website or social media channels through advertising or sponsorships. Honestly, I suggest starting small, getting the hang of what you're doing, and work from there. The great thing about researching platforms is that you can also look into how you'll automate processes. This is huge. Super important. Thankfully, these days, online platforms have given this a lot of thought, especially during the last few years, they want to make sure that your life is easier and your students or your clients lives are easier too. So I found that they are listening a lot to feedback about what we want as online business owners and updating their systems to accommodate our needs. Another piece of advice. Automate as much of the sales and delivery process as possible to minimize ongoing maintenance, administrative tasks, and free up your time and energy. Use software and automate payments, content delivery, customer support, hello, chat, GPT, and AI, and to help create marketing campaigns. This allows you to focus on creating the big picture ideas of your business. Instead of getting buried in the day to day tasks. How do you automate the promotion of your offerings? Well, this isn't a totally hands off job. You have to be connected to this area to ensure that your messaging is yours. And not just some random or generic marketing campaign. So I wouldn't suggest a chat GPT to write this out for you, maybe as a jumping off point, but I would definitely be doing lots and lots of editing. If you do choose to use chat GPT to help you. It is a must to market your passive income offerings in order to reach your target audience and drive sales. You're not going to sell anything without talking about it. You know that whole saying, if you build it, they will come? That does not apply here. At all. But you can, and you should, use email marketing, social media marketing, content marketing, search engine optimization, SEO, and other promotional strategies to attract potential customers and generate interest in your products or services. Finally, you want to optimize and iterate. It is necessary to continuously monitor and analyze the performance of your passive income streams. You've got to track key metrics such as sales, conversion rates, customer feedback, and engagement levels. Then use this data to optimize your offerings, refine your marketing strategies, and identify opportunities for growth and expansion. It's a continuous cycle of researching, creating, testing, refining, and executing. Again and again and again. If you're wondering what some examples of passive income are, here are some to think about. And I'll just run through a few for you. So number one, online yoga classes or courses. You could create pre recorded classes or courses. covering different themes, levels, or styles of yoga. And these can be sold individually or as part of a membership program, allowing students to access your content on demand from anywhere in the world. The next is digital products. Develop and sell digital products related to yoga, such as eBooks, guides, workbooks, and more. On topics like meditation, mindfulness, or yoga philosophy, these products can easily be distributed and downloaded by customers, providing passive income with minimal ongoing maintenance. The third is affiliate marketing. So if you partner with companies that sell yoga related products or services, and become an affiliate marketer. I knew of a yoga teacher in the past who was an affiliate with Manduka. So she would travel around and market Manduka products. That's an option. You can promote these products or services to your audience through blog posts, social media, or email marketing, and earn a commission on sales generated through your referrals. She earned commissions when she traveled around to different yoga studios in different markets. The fourth is online workshops and retreats. So you can host virtual workshops, webinars, or online retreats focusing on specialized topics within yoga, such as advanced asana practice or yoga anatomy or teaching methodology. Participants can register and pay. To attend these events and that provides you with a source of passive income, especially if you are offering recorded classes at the end for people who couldn't make the scheduled time. The fifth is membership programs. So you could create a membership program, offering exclusive content, resources, or perks to subscribers. And this could include. access to monthly live classes, guided meditations or community forums where members can connect and support each other in their yoga journey. Number six, yoga merchandise, design and sell yoga related merchandise such as apparel, accessories, yoga props, featuring your brand or unique designs. You can use print on demand services to fulfill orders, eliminating the need for inventory management and shipping logistics. There's a whole world out there of drop shipping and print on demand, and it's a truly viable option. Number seven, yoga teacher training programs. So, develop online yoga teacher training programs for aspiring yoga instructors. These Programs could be structured as self paced courses, live sessions, or a hybrid of both and provide either certification, mentorship, or continuing education to other teachers who want to deepen their knowledge. Number 8. Online coaching or consulting. Exactly what I'm doing in the business of Yoga 2. 0. Provide online coaching or consulting services. To individuals or groups seeking personalized guidance in their yoga practice or in their yoga teaching careers, or maybe it's wellness goals. If you offer virtual sessions via video calls or email correspondence, charging for your time and expertise, of course. Number nine, a YouTube channel. You could start a YouTube channel showcasing yoga tutorials, guided meditations, or wellness tips. Monetize your channel through advertising revenue, sponsorships, or affiliate marketing. earning passive income based on the views and the engagement of your content. Your YouTube channel could also be the top of your funnel, right? This is where people are introduced to you and then they start to go down your rabbit hole and learn more about you. Finally is yoga retreats and events that are in person, right, whether it's retreats, events, workshops. They pay to attend these experiences, which can include accommodations, meals, and guided yoga sessions, providing an additional source of income for your teaching business. Now, the reason why I add this in passive income is the, the in person option is because you always have the ability to record yourself doing something in person. So you provide this service in person, but then you offer it in person. as a recording for people who couldn't make it. Remember how I said passive income does not mean you don't have to work for it. Instead, it means you have the opportunity to make additional income while you're not physically teaching classes and you get to set the schedule for when you work and when you don't. And finally, yes, you can be earning income and teaching while you're asleep. or on vacation. It's all about how you set up your offerings. So what are some of the benefits of creating passive income offerings for yourself and your business? The benefits of passive income include freeing you up financially, the ability to scale your business exponentially, And providing yourself more freedom to either work on your business, not in it, or the freedom to pursue your own interests and hobbies. For example, I run an online yoga studio membership. I can travel without having to lose income because I'm not physically teaching. That doesn't mean I neglect my members while I'm traveling. I've run challenges and fun games a couple of times when I had to take time off to travel to take my daughter back to uni in the UK and to visit with my family. I want to end with this. Passive income is not a magic bullet, but rather a strategic approach to building wealth. and creating financial freedom over time. By understanding the principles of passive income, identifying opportunities, and taking consistent action, you can create a number of passive income streams that support your business goals and lifestyle aspirations. Remember, passive income is not about getting rich quickly, But about building sustainable, long term wealth that empowers you to live your life on your own terms. Building passive income opportunities helps you in so many ways, from staying deeply in love with teaching yoga, to helping you free up your time and increase your revenue streams. It's so important for us to have these conversations so that you remember that there are so many opportunities for you in the teaching world. You know that my goal is for you to love the yoga teaching life and allow it to be fulfilling and rewarding. And as always, it does take some work to get there. If you love this episode, let me know. Subscribe to the podcast. So you're always in the know when a new episode drops and share it with another yoga teacher who you think would love to be in on these conversations because teachers have asked for business related episodes, you know, I'm bringing you more, thank you for helping to spread the word about this podcast. And finally, don't forget to join my newsletter. That's just for yoga teachers. I'll link it in the show notes below. And I would love for you to join so we can always stay connected. All right, that's it for now. Bye.