How to Turn $1091.95 into Lifelong Passive Income

by

Passive Income - Information ProductsWell… my first Internet Lifestyle product is finally finished.  It’s been a long six months putting this course together.

The end result is I now have something that can produce lifelong passive income.

With that in mind, I want to break down the “financials” of info product creation.  Specifically I’ll give a real world example of what it’s like to invest in an eBook course.   (Maybe this post will give you that extra *nudge* to create your own.)

Audio Version of Affiliate Marketing without the Bulls**t – $590

Upsells are a great way to create additional product revenue.  The trick is to add extras without filling a sales page with high pressure one-time-offers.

So I decided an audio version is a great way to add value without being too “salesy” to my blog readers.

Here’s what’s interesting.  On the day I decided to look for an audio talent, Morgan from eBook Voice left a comment on my blog.  I check out Morgan’s site and discovered she offers an audio narrating service.  It was one of those serendipitous moments where you stumble across exactly what you need at the right moment.

I really love the quality of Morgan’s work.  She did an incredible job of narrating all eight modules.  We’re talking over 8 ½ hours of audio.  So that’s a lot of talking!

Now, you might think $590 is a steep price to pay.  However I think I got a great deal here.  Just do a search for ‘voice talent’ on Elance and you’ll see it’s a service that’s very expensive.

Another thing to consider is the lifelong value of an audio version.  Right now, I charge $15 for this upsell.  All I have to do is make 40 sales to break even.  Everything else is gravy!

My advice is this.  If you decide to create an eBook, offer an audio version.  And if you decide to offer an audio version, use Morgan’s eBook Voice service.

eCover Images – $295

I’ve used Elance.com for more than six years.  But I wanted to test out other services.  So I decided to try 99Designs.com since I’ve heard a lot of good things about this site.

Unfortunately I wasn’t happy with the end result.

The negative is they charge a ridiculous amount for their service.  I paid $295 for an eCover project.  But only $175 of that goes to the designer.  The rest is kept by 99Designs.com.

Do the math and you’ll see that’s a 40% cut.  That’s simply not a competitive price – Especially when you can find excellent designers from dozens of other sites.

With that said, I’m extremely happy with the work of Phil (the designer.)  I think he did a great job of creating a stylish batch of eCover images.  I highly recommend Phil’s services.  (Contact me if you want more details.)

Overall though, I don’t recommend 99Designs.  It costs an arm and a leg to post a project.  Plus this money doesn’t go to the people who do all the hard work.

Microsoft Word Template – $150

Again, I feel lucky here.  I needed a professionally designed Microsoft Word template.  And I hired Karen (on Elance) who did a great job!

Specifically I liked how the interior design of the eBook matched the look of the eCovers.  If you didn’t know better, you’d think they were designed by the same person.    (As an example, take a look at this free eBook: THE Affiliate Research Formula.)

It’s important to have a professional look for your information product.  This is something that increases the perceived value when people make a product purchase.  That’s why I consider $150 to be a worthwhile investment.

Infographics Academy – $27

Last month I signed up for Tristan Higbee’s Infographics Academy.  This investment has more than paid for itself.

I’m still going through his course.  But I applied some of what I learned to create a simple image for my sales page:

Overhyped Affiliate Marketing Products

I’ll admit this diagram is pretty basic.  What’s important is Tristan’s product has helped me learn a lot about creating images.  I hope to use this information as I build my affiliate center.  Ultimately this will generate additional future income.

Clickbank Activation Fee – $29.95

$29.95 is a cheap price to list a product in the Clickbank marketplace.  This is #1 spot that affiliates use to find a product.  If I get my course to the top of their listings, I’ll receive a lot of extra exposure.

I know Clickbank gets a lot of flak because of their high refund rates.  However this site is still the best place to find potential affiliates.  So I’ll take the occasional B.S. refund request because I’m now able to tap into a vast network of product promoters.

My opinion is all Internet entrepreneurs should have a product listed in Clickbank.  In my affiliate niche, I’ve brokered a number of profitable deals – Simply because of my high profile in the Clickbank marketplace.

Data Transfer Fees (Recurring) – $.08 Per Upsell

You’ll often get a few recurring charges with an information product.

First we’ll go over Amazon’s S3 program.

Amazon offers a simple service – They host large audio and video files.  I love this service because my upsell has 600 MB worth of content.  This kind of data transfer can cause a server meltdown in any standard website.

Fortunately, Amazon S3 handles all data transfer – At an affordable price.

Here is the pricing structure they offer:

Right now, I qualify for the $.12 per GB Transfer option.  This works out to $.08 per upsell option.  That’s a great price for removing a major info product headache.

Clickbank’s Transaction Fees (Recurring) – $1 plus 7.5% on Each Transaction

Yes, Clickbank’s fees are a little steep.   Not only do they ding you for an activation fee; they also take a taste from each sale.

Clickbank charges $1 plus 7.5% on each transaction.  That works out to $3.25 for the silver option or $4.37 for the platinum option.

Again, I don’t mind paying this fee.  Clickbank handles all credit card transactions (which is a real pain in the butt to manage.)  Plus they make it brain-dead simple for affiliates to promote your product.

Conservatively, Clickbank has been responsible for at least six figures of info product income in my pocket.  So I’m more than happy to pay their activation and transaction fees.

Let’s Add it Up…

Okay, let’s add up these fees:

Financials of Information Product Creation

In my opinion, $1091.95 is a small price to pay for something that will continue to make money.

How is this Lifelong Passive Income???

You might wonder: “How is this passive income?”

Well, I admit I’m going to work hard on this product.  So it’s not the true definition of passive income.

With that said, I’m putting together a strong affiliate center.  The end result is I’ll have a product that others promote while I enjoy life.  That sounds pretty passive to me.

Plus, there’s the added benefit of having an information product.  Offering a premium course helps you:

  • Gain instant credibility as a niche expert
  • Drive traffic to your blog – Even from the people who don’t buy
  • Network with other folks in a marketplace
  • Have a potential bonus offer whenever you promote a high ticket item

These are only a few benefits to having your own information product.  Put one together and you’ll see how it exponentially grows your online income.

How to Take Action… Now!

In this post, I covered two techniques to get more from your Internet business:

1) Affiliate Marketing

2) Information Products

So here’s what I recommend you do:

First, check out my report – How to Create a Profit-Pulling eBook Empire in 2011. This is a step-by-step blueprint where I talk about info product creation.

This information comes from my personal experiences with creating an eBook a few years back.  And it’s the same plan that I’m currently following.  So I know it works!

Next, I’d like to remind you about my Affiliate Marketing without the Bulls**t course.

I’m not going to do a hard sell here.  Suffice to say I think it’s a quality product and it seems like others agree.

Also, on Monday I’m raising the price by at least 30%.  So you only have a few days to take advantage of this discounted rate.

Anyway…

Creating this product was hard work.  But I’m glad I invested the time and money.  Now all I have to do is work on the affiliate program.  Wish me luck!

Take Action. Get Results.



20 thoughts on “How to Turn $1091.95 into Lifelong Passive Income”

  1. Hi Steve,

    I’m actually at a public library, at a rather remote Norwegian island. I’m living in a tent for 4 weeks, without any electricity and without any internet access. But, I really want your product, and I want the discount as well… so I walked through the forrest and found the public library. So, here I am and will buy the premium version in a few minutes 🙂

    Have a great summer Steve.

    Jens

  2. Hi Steve,

    Little things matter, definitely. The look of your Aff. Marketing without the B.S. is amazing. It looks like a high quality product… exactly what it is!

    I have one question. I know you’re happy working with Clickbank but did you considered other marketplaces like E-junkie?

    Thanks,

    Cristina

    • Like I mentioned the people I got to work for me all did wonderful jobs with their parts. I am extremely happy with all of their hard work and awesome designs.

      I have considered E-Junkie. Maybe at some point I will experiment, but for now I am just USED to using CB. I know what works and what doesn’t and it is the premier in the marketplace (not saying “best” but certainly premier)

      Do you have a lot of exerience with e-junkie and CB to think that the former is significantly better?

      • No, I don’t know which one is better. I was asking you because I always see the big guys recommending E-Junkie. Also, so far, it’s been really difficult for me to find quality products on CB (I’m not saying there aren’t). Maybe I just need to look more in depth.

        Cristina

        • No doubt there is a LOT of junk on CB. Hopefully a “good” product will stand out. But CB is also the one MOST people use, so it reaches more total marketers.

          I certainly may have to check out e-junkie in a little more depth at some day though. I think there terms may be slightly more favorable to the product owner. Since you are right…quite a few of the bigger names do use it rather than CB.

  3. Hi Steve,

    I always appreciate a look at the behind-the-scenes, plus your insights. Yes, it’s a heckofa lot of work to create products! But often times people think that when they’re finished creating, they’re DONE. This is not the case at all. Many times the marketing of the product takes a bigger time committment… if you really want to see it succeed.

    Having affiliates do much of the work for you is HUGE. And of course you see that, being a success at affiliate marketing yourself. 😀

    Congrats on your awesome product and your ability to have long-term marketing vision.

    Peggy

    • Peggy,

      Yes to do an eBook that you charge people for takes one heck of a lot of work to do it “right” I have really tried to do that because I want a product that lasts…not just a fly-by-night deal.

      You are certainly correct too, setting up something good is in large due to trying to attract affiliates. Next week I will release it to affiliates (with full 75% commission) and hopefully it will do well for the affiliates and myself.

      🙂

      Thanks for a great comment and the support you have given Peggy!

  4. Hi Steve!

    Just wanted to mention that Morgan was a great choice for the voice work. I’ve only listened to the first module so far, but I can assure everyone that the audio quality is superb. Morgan’s voice is very easy to listen to and is crystal clear.

    My only complaint is that she says "bee-ess" instead of "bullshit" everywhere. LOL

    One thing I’m wondering about, because I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that $1,000 investment is a LOT, can you please tell us when (if) you start seeing a profit on this venture. I don’t need to see what dollars you’re getting, I’d just like to know when you’ve taken in more than you have spent.

    Kind regards,
    Steve

    • Hi Steve!

      Thank you so much for the compliment! 🙂

      It’s funny, I wanted to say bullshit, but Steve MADE me say B.S. Maybe there should have been a censored and uncensored version! Hah!

      Thank you again for the compliment, glad to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂

    • Absolutely Steve. She did 1000 times better than I could have done narrating!

      Like she said, the calling it “BS” rather than “bullshit” was 100% my explicit instructions. While I feel no other word quite sums up the sentiment like “bullshit” and I personally have no problem with “language”, I am cognizant that some people find language of any sort offensive and may not want to play the audio where kids might hear.

      Hopefully “BS” sounds better and more professional.

      Regardless: mea culpa
      —–
      I am actually hoping to get to the breakeven by next week. Sales have been pretty decent from regular blog readers and I have made about 650 so far.

      Of course that has an end date, since most of the blog reader who would buy..likely have bought it.

      Next stage is of course to get affiliate marketers to market my affiliate ebook.

      I will of course release updates overtime as to how this whole process goes…because frankly, it is good training in and of itself…

  5. Steve,

    Wow, you invest A LOT into creating this course, but you know what, it shows! You can really tell when someone just slaps something together opposed to someone who actually spends the appropriate money and time to make it the best that it can be.

    Thank you again for the shout out! Really hope people are enjoying it. 🙂

    Congrats to you and your success! It’ll be so awesome to hear other people’s success after reading/listening to this.

    Cheers!

    • Again, thank YOU Morgan for the great work you (and the others) did.

      I really believe that a big part of the success of this will be the work you, Phil and Karen as well as all the support and help the readers of my blog have given me.

      I am a corny I almost feel like cueing Bette Midler now.

      you… are the wind beneath my wings

      😉

      Seriously though, I do appreciate the effort you all gave!

  6. Great breakdown of how you built the product up Steve. That’s really amazing. For those that think this is too much to pay, you’ve got to speculate to accumulate. I wish you every success my friend.

    P.S. The infographics, what are you designing them in?

  7. Thanks Matthew. Hopefully I have not been TOO “salesy” over the past few weeks about this product. I have put a significant amount of effort into this and want to make sure everyone gets the message.

    I appreciate your support and good wishes!

    As for the infographics. Hopefully I am not stealing Tristan’s Thunder. (His course is really great and I have learned a lot that I have been putting to use).

    There is an open source graphics editor called inkscape that all of the graphics are done in. It is far less bells and whistles than Paint Shop Pro for instance, but it is far-far easier to use.

  8. Hi Steve,

    I was impressed with your product, you went through a lot of experiences just to achieve it. I am hoping for your success in this product and thanks for the share. 🙂

Comments are closed.