10 Passive Income Mistakes I Will Never Make
how I make money selling digital products
10 years on this journey.
Lot of mistakes I made along the way. You must have read or heard about my first non-fiction ebook — My Mistakes in Self-publishing. I have highlighted all the mistakes that new creators/writers often make while starting in their careers.
Now let me tell you some most common mistakes I made in my journey. I am pretty sure that you will see some common patterns in yours too.
So keep your eyes open, and coffee ready because I will be telling you some secrets along the way that will help you make sales on your digital products.
Passive income mistakes I will never, ever make
- Selling only on one platform — I was selling my ebooks on Amazon KDP for 3 years. Yes, my books were exclusive to Amazon KDP alone. I lost many readers and money along the way. Mistakes truly cost us a lot of money.
- Having only a few books — I wasn’t sure whether I could make money as a writer or not. I wrote only 2 books, published on Amazon KDP, and waited for sales to come in. You all know the result. It was only $0.33 and that too from KENP Reads.
- Not marketing properly — Properly? I would say barely! I wasn’t even marketing my books. I was completely dependent on the marketplaces to do the work.
- Not having a freebie — I don’t have many freebies. I have only 3 at this moment. And believe me, this works really well when you are trying to grow your list. If you don’t have any idea which product to make, just offer a freebie! Audiences love freebies a lot.
- Sometimes I used to write romance, while other times horror — Now you see the contrast? Will my romance reader ever pick horror books from me? Thankfully, I separated them with different pen names. Stick to a genre. Random genre won’t help much.
- Not selling directly — I started selling directly in May 2022. That’s where I got my first sale as well. Wish I knew about this before. I already had an audience but really didn’t know what to sell. I was dependent on affiliate marketing at that time.
- Not making the email list earlier — This I will regret forever.
Passive income is not…
- Passive Income is Not Instant or Effortless Wealth — I have multiple passive income streams but I can truly say that not one of them is a “get rich quick” scheme. Creator works hard just like they do in their day job but getting paid for the work you love with no boss above you is a blessing indeed for me!
- Passive Income is Not Always “Set It and Forget It” — I am always creating content for my businesses. Sometimes in written form and sometimes in video form. I will be making reels and posting product images on Instagram on weekends. I do work on it every single day. that’s how I make consistent sales.
- Passive Income is Not Risk-Free — Affiliate marketing for me is risk-free. But a business that involves handling customers isn’t. When you are a digital creator, you are the creator and marketer and also have to handle customers. All by yourself. Sometimes I win, while still there are so, many days I make very much less sales.
- Passive Income is Not Always High Yield — Sometimes I sell low-ticket products as well. Not everyone is going to buy $500 worth of digital products.
- Passive Income is Not Completely Hands-Off —Marketing, engaging and writing — a writer has to do all. So I will be doing something each and every single day
- Passive Income is Not Universal or One-Size-Fits-All — I write ebooks. Also, I have Google sheets. I like to create both of these types of digital products. But somehow my ebooks sell much much better than my templates. In case you need one then here have a look. Maybe you’ll like it.. :)
How many income streams should you have?
Many do ask how many income streams you have.
I have one bigger one (writing business). And three smaller ones right now which make me regular sales.
While I have two more they make me only a few or no sales per month. I hardly pay attention to these income sources because of the lack of time.
I won’t advise having these many income streams. I keep trying new ones and if that clicks me I keep going. Otherwise, I abandon it. Like I did with my Twitter account once. I used to sell Audiobook there (I was trying affiliate marketing for the first time and failed).
So first ask yourself — what are your income goals this year?
According to that, adjust your income streams.
Build one passive income one-time
I won’t advise anyone to have more than your needs. Because you’ll get confused and this affects our productivity.
But even if you have already and don’t know what to do. Then do this one thing —
- Pick the one — Pick the only one that is making you the most money.
- Build it — If it’s at $1 per month then increase it to $1.5k per month.
- Do the rest on weekends — Nobody likes to abandon their passive income streams. Even though they have made only a few hundred dollars per year. I will say to shift it to weekends. This will give you enough time to your main streams without losing the others.
Conclusion
Experimenting and growth do come with a cost.
When I make mistakes, I learn.
The more I learn, the more my business grows.
This is a path that all top creators follow.
And I hope you will do the same too.
I hope you will not miss this opportunity. Good luck!
If you are interested in Gumroad Business then you can check out my ebook — Build Once, Sell Forever — How I Create & Sell Digital Products With Gumroad
