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How Products Can Boost Your Business
From the Pages of “Day Job to Dream Job” by Kary Oberbrunner [Part 3]
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- November 18th, 2015
The last post of our Day Job to Dream Job series talked about why you should become a Functional Freelancer.
Compared to traditional long-term contractors, Functional Freelancers (1) add value to themselves, (2) are independent and (3) attract the best clients. We also discussed personal branding and how inevitable it is to become the CEO of Me Inc.
Don’t forget to check out this post in case you missed it!
In the third part of our Day Job to Dream Job series, we will be discussing the concept of Products and how it can boost your business.
We will also be exploring different products that you can make to generate passive income. Let’s get started!
3 Ways Products Can Boost Your Business
As a Dream Jobber, you will eventually reach a point where success become less and less accessible.
At this critical moment, you have two choices: (1) to add more activity in your plate and burn out or (2) create products.
Activity generates active income and as what we talked about in my first post, it’s dependent on your time, schedule and energy (which at this point you only have so little).
Products, on the other hand, generates passive income and it is not bounded by your schedule and energy.
Sure it requires work at first but you only do it once — and clients will pay you over and over for it!
Below are three ways products can boost your business.
1. Products Increase Income
To illustrate this, Kary shared the story of Brian Moran, a baseball fanatic who managed to earn over $100,000 a month from his online products.
Brian graduated in 2008 — the recession. What a perfect timing! More fortunate than his peers, Brian landed on a decent job but unfortunately he didn’t like it.
Always wanting to create his own business, he decided to launch one using his “other “passion — baseball.
Brian learned about WordPress, Google Ad Words, Facebook Marketing and Search Engine Optimization. Over the months, his client base grew from 60 baseball players to over 10,000 Facebook Fans!
Like any Dream Jobbers, Brian reached a point where success becomes less and less accessible.
Thankfully, a friend suggested that he should start teaching his Facebook Marketing techniques. Brian decided to give it a try — he launched another business, wrote eBooks, developed tools and eventually quit his day job.
Now, Brian earns around $100,000 a month. By creating products, Brian clearly increased his income.
2. Products Increase Impact
It’s not always about the money —- it’s also about impact. The story of John C. Maxwell illustrates this clearly.
John started from a very humble beginning. A pastor with a keen eye on leadership, John decided to write a book and impact lives beyond his congregation.
His first book, Think on These Things, was published in 1979. It had 33 chapters in 100 pages!
From there, John moved on to write more than 80 books. He sold more than 20 million copies and became one of the 25 authors inducted to Amazon’s 10th Anniversary Hall of Fame.
Eventually, the pastor left his church to pursue writing and speaking fulltime. Today, John Maxwell is one of the most-sought keynote speakers by Fortune 500 and organizations — big or small — across the globe.
“When I die, I don’t want to be known as the leadership guru or the greatest leader that ever lived in my generation…I want to be known as the person who trained more leaders that anyone else.”
By creating products, John increased his impact from a congregation of church-goers to millions.
3. Products Increase Influence
Aside from income and impact, Day Job to Dream Job also shows us that products can increase influence. Let’s look at the story of Jillian Michaels of The Biggest Loser — you probably heard about her!
Jillian Michaels reached eight grade with 175 lbs. of extra luggage on her 5’ 2” frame. Bullied and terrorized, Jillian decided to take control of her life through martial arts and various physical activities.
At 28, she opened her own gym and in 2005, she became a personal trainer on the NBC reality TV show, The Biggest Loser.
Jillian’s influence grew from a handful of people at her gym to millions of TV fans. But she didn’t stop there. She increased her influence by creating products.
Jillian created her own website (which now has over 1.6 million monthly visitors). She also became a bestselling author, an entrepreneur and one of America’s most sought health and wellness experts.
She’s also a big time motivator and role model. Aside from her website and books, Jillian created DVDs, podcasts, apps and even video games!
From a handful of people at her gym, Jillian extended her influence to the rest of the word by creating products.
It’s Time to Create Your Product
Below is a list of products that you can start making today to increase your income, influence and impact.
As you go through the list, I hope you’ll realize that creating your own product is easier than you think.
EBooks – A book-length publication in digital form.
Books – a hard copy work of fiction or nonfiction.
Audio programs – a digital audio program that people can listen to (ex. Podcasts)
Webinars – a media presentation distributed over the internet using video streaming technology. It can be published live or on demand.
Membership – communities where member pay a regular monthly subscription fee to access premium tools and content.
Online course – education using electronic media.
DVD and CD programs – education using physical DVDs and CDs.
There is a plethora of tools available online which can help you create these products. So there’s no reason you can’t make one!
Get started with your new product today and watch it boost your business by increasing your income, impact and influence!
Lenmark.
