Last week we explored a powerful technique for clearing blocks & obstacles.
This week, we're going to look at a method that absolutely anyone can use to
create extra streams of income & start living the passive income lifestyle
(as I write this, I'm relaxing in my local Starbucks, & I can definitely
vouch for the benefits of this lifestyle!) In this article, you're going to
discover the 5 keys to creating an information product-based passive income
so you can be free to live the life you desire.
However, in a change to our usual approach,
this article comes to you from my friend & former student, John Wilkes. John
came on the Salad NLP Practitioner & Master Practitioner training a few
years ago, & now
teaches individuals & businesses to develop passive income
streams. His story is an object lesson in what's possible when you use these
tools to take responsibility for your own life. Over to you John...
“I discovered NLP when I
was at university and decided to base my dissertation on its practical
application in business. This was a great experience because I got to meet
a whole host of ‘NLP People’ and get their opinions. Yes, I met some
nutters, but I also met Jamie Smart and the Salad team who totally opened my
eyes to applying NLP every single day. When I met him I had no practical
experience of NLP and I was only intending to interview him. Jamie being
Jamie I was walked through timelines, did goal setting exercises and a host
of other things. It totally opened my mind to my ‘inner world’ or
unconscious and I signed up instantly to do my Practitioner and Master
Practitioner with Salad.
After University I
worked for a management consultancy in London designing and developing
corporate training programmes for the likes of HSBC, Channel 4 and
PriceWaterhouseCooper. Although I loved my job it was becoming more and
more clear from each NLP module that my core values were not being met from
my job but also my lifestyle was not how I wanted it to be. At my core??? I
am about freedom, authenticity and sharing, and what I really wanted to do
was set up my own business and travel the world.
A few years earlier I
read several books including Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki about
passive income and the thought had always excited me. Passive income is the
idea of taking the time to set something up and then letting it make money
automatically. I took massive action and set up a few ventures to start my
passive income. They were pretty successful but I stopped working on them.
I even stopped going to the gym and generally felt a bit low. What was
happening?
An exercise around
money
I brought this up with
Jamie at the next module and he got me to do an exercise. He asked me to
write down anything that popped into my head, positive or negative, about
these statements:
Rich people are…
Making money is…
If I am wealthy it
means…
Not selling time for
money is…
My parents look at money
as…
This is probably the
first time I realised that NLP had changed my life. This is because while
consciously I wanted to make money, be wealthy and be able to live anywhere
in the world my unconscious had other things going on (this is also when
Jamie taught me that the unconscious is running the show). It turns out I
had some pretty negative attitudes and beliefs towards money and I had the
belief that making it easily was not fair or possible for me. It was
classic self sabotage. Why else would I have been doing well with my
passive income businesses and then stopping when it was going so well?
How I applied NLP
So I got to work on
myself. I set goals during my NLP training that I wanted to achieve more
than anything and the ‘second sight’ into my own thinking, behaviour and
beliefs that NLP gave me was now going to be used in a practical way.
For the next week I
applied the meta-model questions to almost every thought I had about money,
success, happiness and the lifestyle I wanted to challenge myself in new
ways of thinking.
I also looked at my
strategies for achieving goals. I discovered what my strategy for
completing tasks and found my sticking points in the strategy where I
procrastinated. This allowed me to see the future and put things in place
to keep me on track to achieving my goals.
I sat and did the
meta-mirror with myself to get clear on why I wanted to achieve certain
goals and discovered that helping other people was more important to me than
I originally thought.
I even got a coach!
Starting a business
and living the dream
I was still working in a
‘normal’ 9-5 job at this point and more than anything wanted to build my own
business. It while I was practicing the Disney Strategy one day that I came
up with an idea.
In the company that I
worked for, all the consultants and trainers sold their time. I thought if
we could ‘productise’ what we did and create a portfolio of information
products such as books, DVD’s, subscriptions areas to our website etc we
could create a passive income for the business and grow at a much quicker
rate.
This was a huge success
for the company and I could see how it could help so many other small
businesses if they only knew how. So I spent three years researching the
best ideas for products, interviewing people who were already successful,
learning how to create websites, marketing effectively online and coaching
people to build passive income by turning their knowledge into products and
quit my job and set up on my own.
Here are my top tips for
developing passive income from information products – this is a great way to
create the income you need to live the life of your dreams:
1. Begin with the end
in mind
Decide your
ideal monthly figure in passive income first. If you want to be earning
£5,000 per month you probably wont be able to do it only selling a £5
report. By setting your figure first you can develop your portfolio of
products and pricing accordingly.
2. Find
a niche demand
A niche
demand is a market of people who are already proven spenders or actively
looking for what you are providing. By doing this you will not have to sell
and instead you will provide what customers are looking for which is half
the work done for you. How to spot markets that are already hungry to buy
is explained in our new book Info Products For Professionals
http://www.theinfoproductprofessionals.com/ebooks
3. Do
something everyday
The key to
building a successful business, selling information products and earning
massive amounts of passive income is consistency. Make sure you do
something everyday that takes you closer to your goal. Creating info
products is not a get quick rich scheme but a solid, fulfilling business
model that takes attention and effort to become successful and earn your
target monthly income. Lots of small steps take you to where you want to
go!
4. Be
dynamic with your products
Think
outside the box. The key is to build a portfolio of products that provide
so much more value than they are financially worth your customer will keep
coming back. You can create products in minutes such as teleseminars or
interviews to products that take more time such as books, ecourses,
subscription based websites and games. The world is your oyster so be
creative! Visit our blog for free tips, techniques and ideas for your next
product
http://www.theinfoproductprofessionals.com/blog
5.
Automate your business
Initially
your business will take effort from you but as soon as possible delegate as
much as you can to enjoy true passive income (money without having to work)
instead of just owning your job. There are many ways to outsource you
administration work, marketing, product and content creation to name a few
and at a very reasonable price.
The passive
income lifestyle really begins when you are earning your target income
whether you are in bed, at work or holiday. Live the dream!
Running a successful
business hits all my values and life is as good as its ever been right now.
As Salad would say I am ‘Doing What I Love’, helping other people transform
their lives and early next year I will be moving to Argentina and running my
business remotely. I have to add here that these were all goals I set on my
first day of NLP Practitioner training!
The path has not always
been easy but I enjoy the challenge of becoming a better person and NLP
provides a great basis to do that.
John Wilkes,
http://www.theinfoproductprofessionals.com/ebooks
A big thank-you to John for writing this
article. In October 2008, we're going to be doing the first module of the
Salad NLP Practitioner training (Master Prac starts in April 2009). This is
the last time we will be running the programme in its current form, so if
you want to benefit from lots of personal attention from your trainers, as
well as get a powerful group training in a modular approach to help you
develop your skills & live the life of your dreams, go to
NLP Practitioner Training 2008
Have a great week!
To your success!
Your friend
Jamie
Jamie
Smart
Jamie Smart
director of training
jamie.smart@saladltd.co.uk
If you have found this tip useful, please share it with any friends,
family, colleagues and associates who you think will be interested. You are
welcome to reprint it (with copyright and subscription information) and
continue to enjoy the tips. I am always grateful for any comments,
criticisms or other feedback that you may have. Please send them to
jamie.smart@saladltd.co.uk
