How I make "passive" income in my business

Debunking the passive income myth + sharing what works for me

There is no such thing as passive income. Or, rather, there is no such thing as 100% passive income. The idea that you can create something and sales magically start coming your way while you lounge on a beach? Not the reality for most of us.

However, there is such a thing as sort-of-passive income. In this post, I’ll write about the role of this kind of passive—or evergreen—income in my business, how I approach it and the realities about making money with it. I’ll also include ideas for you to think about and try out if you want to add passive income to your own business, including if you’re an artist or run a product-based business.

Why I’ve added passive income to my business

We’ve all read the social media posts that tell us the creator is making money while on vacation, while asleep, or in labour. To many of us seeking a slow, gentle and profitable business, this may sound like the dream: getting to live that slow and gentle life, and still making money! I definitely felt the appeal of this approach in the past but quickly learned that “passive income” isn’t quite as passive as I imagined it to be.

Nonetheless, I’ve made it a part of my business for various reasons.

If you create a course, a downloadable, a checklist, any kind of product or service that does not require you to be involved for people to buy and use it, it’s passive income.

1:1 mentoring has been at the core of my business since I started it. But 1:1 mentoring is hard to scale. There are only so many calls that I can do a week: currently, for me, the limit is around two a week. Over the past year, the core of my business has slowly shifted from it being one thing, to being more of an interlocking collection of things—an archipelago of sorts, rather than an island. 1:1 mentoring is still at the heart of what I do, but writing this newsletter and creating courses are now also at the heart of what I do. I deeply love doing all three.

Another reason why I added passive income to my business is that I like the idea of meeting people where they are: some of you reading this might not be ready for 1:1 mentoring right now (or ever), but you might like a little more support than you’re getting now and decide to buy my mini-course on Substack, for example. I like the idea of being able to connect with and serve different people beyond those that want or can afford 1:1 mentoring.

When I talk about passive income in my business, I usually call it “evergreen”, because that is what it is. I don’t like to create something that lives for a short time only—this is one of the main reasons why I don’t use social media anymore and the reason why I don’t create products that are only available for a short period of time. It frankly feels like a waste of my time for me to create a product which has a limited shelf-life.

Finally, I’m good at creating courses, workbooks and programmes and I love creating them. I have nearly two decades of experience in higher education which serves me well in this respect: I know how to explain something clearly, how to structure things and how to create effective materials. And did I mention that I love doing it?

Evergreen products and how I make passive income

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