TURN YOUR PASSION INTO CASH

Do you want more control over your time, work, and finances? We all do. However, only a few people manage to get there.

Why? You may ask.

Because they haven’t mastered the most effective ways to monetize their passion and quit the 9-5 grind.

If you want to dodge that bullet and have more control over your income, schedule, and time; I can help you.

I can help you find your passion and cover the most effective ways to turn it into a lucrative business.

So, sit back, grab a pen and paper, and let’s dive in.

FIND YOUR PASSION

The obvious but most important step is to find your passion. This is because there is no limit to how far you can go when you discover what you are passionate about. Your passion is your true North. It helps you to build on your strengths, guides you in the right direction, and keeps you moving forward when you feel demotivated. Therefore, figure out what it is that you are passionate about and find the financial freedom you are aiming for.

Top 4 steps to finding your passion.

1. Know your interests.

Write down your interests and pay attention to your top 3 or 4. What do you enjoy doing the most? Is it entrepreneurship, writing, reading, designing, etc.? When you are satisfied with your list, move on to the next step.

2. Know your strong points.

Know your strong points or skills and compare them to what you love doing. Come up with a list of what you are great at and on a scale of 1 to 10 mark how fulfilling each skill is to you. Do you enjoy doing what you are great at or are you doing it for the sake of it? If your top 3 skills are in line with your interests, you are on the right path.

If not, then answer this; What do you enjoy doing but aren’t great at? Remember that your strong points aren’t necessarily the only way to find your passion. You can also identify one or two things you love to do but aren’t as efficient as you wish you were and work from there. For instance, you may be interested in launching startups but have failed several times. How many times have you failed only to try all over again?

When you have listed your interests and skills, focus on the next step.

3. Pay attention to the problems you like to solve.

This will help you to choose a passion that not only benefits you but your potential customers or audience as well. So, what problems do you like to solve? Maybe you are good with numbers and your colleagues come to you with bookkeeping or math-related challenges. Perhaps you are a brilliant designer and are designing flyers for family events such as birthdays or anniversaries. What you like to solve or the service you are willing to provide for free can lead to your passion.

4. Concentrate on the books you like to read.

Next, what sort of books do you like to read? What things do you like researching, especially in your free time? When you answer that, compare your responses to your previous list of interests and strong points. Does your choice of literature go with your interests and skills? If so, you have found your passion.

You may realize that you desire to launch a new business, you are great at designing, and have been providing graphic design services for free. You can start monetizing your skill online.

You may also discover that you enjoy doing research, are a good writer, and have been journaling for years. In this case, you can start a blog or offer your services on freelancing sites.

The key thing to remember is that whatever your passion is, you can turn it into cash, use it to gain more control over your life, and find the freedom you desire.
Here’s how!

CREATE YOUR FIRST PRODUCT OR SERVICE

Turn your newly found passion into a product or service and market it to your target audience. Keep in mind that the key to succeeding in your new venture is to add value to your customers’ lives, retain them, and attract new ones. Achieve this by offering a product or service that is better than what the competition offers or solve a problem that your competitor isn’t.

Here are key things to consider when creating your first product:

● Product or service type.

What type of product or service are you offering? For instance, if you are great at designing logos, websites, brochures and also love teaching, which route are you going to take? Will you market and sell your services on freelance sites or you are going to create an online course and sell it on Udemy? Choose what suits you best. The important thing is to pick the option that you are most comfortable with and one that will enable you to reach your audience faster.

● Your audience.

Next, find your prospective customers. Decide on your target market. Is it students, stay-at-home moms, SMEs, or freelancers? Do your research and find out what their pressing needs are. Offer them solutions that they aren’t getting elsewhere or make inaccessible ones accessible. For example, if you are targeting stay-at-home moms and realize that they are having challenges carrying out household duties, maintaining their side hustle, and shopping for groceries, build your business around that. Create an app, advertise and sell it to 3 or so supermarkets and explain how it’s going to benefit their business.

Mention how it’s going to enable them to do door-to-door deliveries, attract more customers, and grow sales. Focus on how the company and its customers are going to benefit from it.

● Your competition.

When you know your audience, study your competitors. Know who your competition is, identify their strong points, and learn from them. Similarly, find what they are not doing right and fill in the gap. This will give you a head start and help you to avoid making the common mistakes that most beginners make.

● Design and layout.

Next, concentrate on your product or service design and layout. How do you want to present it to your potential customers? What channels are you going to use? You can create a page and promote it on social media platforms. It can be an earlier version of the final product. The goal is to get the word out there and find out how many people are willing to exchange money for that particular product. So, use WordPress or your preferred CMS and create your MVP or Minimum Viable Product.

The trial version helps you to gain insight into what your users need. It will help you to make the necessary adjustments and ensure a successful product launch.

Your MVP should include the most important features such as the brand name, logo, a detailed description of what your product solves, associated costs, as well as a mission statement (optional).

BUILD YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION

So, you’ve discovered your passion and have created the perfect product. The next thing is to create your online presence. The great way to do that is to build your reputation and brand. You want to be the go-to person for that particular product or service and build authority. That is how you are going to succeed!

6 secrets to building your reputation.

1. Stick to your niche.

Stick to content that focuses on your niche and provide valuable information that’s centered around your brand. Talk about current trends or issues in your trade and join discussions that are related to what you represent.

Don’t go off-topic or join conversations that have nothing to do with your current product.

2. Make connections.

Build relationships with people who are starting and professionals who are already successful in your line of business. This is a great way to make connections, learn, grow your audience, and ensure the right people interact with your brand.

3. Be trustworthy and authentic.

Be transparent and honest. Don’t misrepresent yourself or your brand. Be honest about who you are, what you stand for, as well as what you can do. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver because that is how you lose trust. If there is something you can’t do, don’t pretend otherwise. When your customers or audience know that you are reliable, authentic, and always deliver as expected, you will build long-term partnerships and quickly establish your online image.

4. Pick a business name, logo, and mantra.

Next, pick a name for your business. Choose one that clearly defines and describes your trade. Find out if it is not already taken by doing a quick Google search. If it isn’t, move on to the next step. Design your logo or hire a designer on Fiverr. Come up with a slogan or business mantra and continue with the branding process.

Decide on your primary colors and fonts. Be consistent. Use the same colors on all posts and ads. Use professional images on both your business as well as professional profiles. Make sure your brand name or logo and slogan appear on all your ads or posts.

5. Own a website or blog.

Own a website and ensure your domain name is your business name. That is how you protect your brand and ensure you are easily identifiable online. If you already have a personal website, build your brand’s reputation using your site. Feature your products or services on it. Market to your existing audience or start a blog on the side. Your blog can be dedicated to offering valuable content that’s centered on your present niche and advertising your services to your audience time and again.

6. Be responsive on social media.

Join social media platforms and use them to build your brand. Respond to all comments or questions on your social accounts and pages. Be open to criticism and value the feedback you receive.

As you continue to build your reputation, mention your newly created product or service and begin advertising and selling it.

USE SOCIAL MEDIA

You can monetize your passion and turn it into a lucrative business with little or no money. Social media is a great place to start. Start a YouTube channel or open a Google My Business account and get started. You can also use Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest to reach a much bigger audience and increase your earnings. If you use any of these methods and take the right steps, you will make money.

So, do the following.

Open a Google My Business account.

Have a business account or page that is solely dedicated to advertising, managing, and selling your product. You can either open a Google My Business account or start a YouTube channel. Choose the best option that suits your business needs as well as one you are comfortable with.

5 things you can do with a GMB account.

1. Improve visibility.

GMB allows you to rank high on Google and advertise to a much bigger audience. So, optimize your account to improve SEO and improve sales. Use meta descriptions, posts, keywords, and customer reviews for higher rankings.

2. Personalize your profile.

Personalize your profile and improve your rankings. Enter the business name, description, location, as well as working hours. Add upcoming events, discounts, and promotions to keep your customers engaged.

3. Respond to inquiries faster.

Use direct messaging to respond to questions and comments. Never miss an inquiry and ensure you are available during the working hours indicated on your profile.

4. Gain customer insight.

Use GMB insights to understand how users interact with your product. Track user behavior and advertise your offers based on their interests.

5. Attract more customers.

Add customer reviews to prove credibility and attract more people to your business. Ask satisfied clients to leave reviews or email them to you. Customer reviews are a great way to prove the dependability and quality of your product. So, be sure to use them.

The best part about a GMB account is that it’s free. You don’t have to pay anything to open one.

Create a YouTube channel.

You can also create a YouTube channel for free, market your services, and increase revenue. YouTube allows you to advertise to the right people, improve traffic to your website, and connect with your subscribers at a personal level.

Offer valuable content to gain more subscribers and easily market your product or service. The more views and watch hours you have the more money you earn. You can make as much as 30k or more per year.

Come up with creative ideas for your YouTube content. You don’t have to necessarily talk about your products in every video. Be creative. Offer informative and useful content around your niche. For instance, if you specialize in tech and are an IT specialist, cover topics within your niche. ‘Best tactics to help you troubleshoot your PC without hiring a technician’ and ‘5 ways to improve your windows 10 experience’ are topics you can use on some of your videos. This is a great way to build authority and ensure your customers trust you enough to buy your products.

You can talk about your product, available discounts, and pricing plan here and there and refer followers to your website or blog.

You can also add affiliate links on your YouTube channel, website, or blog for passive income.

Open an Instagram account or Facebook page.

Sell your products on Instagram or Facebook. Create a Facebook page or open an Instagram account. Market to your existing audience and offer freebies or discounts to fast-track buying decisions.

SELL COURSES

After becoming an expert in your niche, you can create an online course and sell it on Udemy, Teachable, Thinkific, or Skillshare. Many people are doing it and the best part is that you create your course once and keep updating it with new information as you go. Most courses start at $15 or more but you can still make a lot of money. The more students you have the more money you make. So, concentrate on providing valuable information or teaching critical and in-demand skills.

For example, if writing is your passion, you can create a course that teaches students how to improve their writing skills and turn them into profits. The most important part is to do enough research so that you can provide helpful information and attract more students. If you have great reviews and testimonials, more people will purchase your course.

4 things to consider when creating an online course.

1. Your skill levels.

You want to maintain your reputation online so, consider your experience and skill levels before launching your course. How skilled are you in that particular field? Do you consider yourself an expert? If you are comfortable with your skills and have become an expert in your field, create your course. If not, I’d recommend you polish up your skills first and then give it a go. There are many online sources you can use. For example, you can purchase a course and learn faster or use countless free online resources to perfect your skills. Follow influencers in your niche, enroll in free courses, or watch free YouTube videos that will help with the learning curve.

Once you are comfortable with your skills, have had enough practice, and have access to helpful resources that will benefit your future students, create the course.

2. Market demand.

Next, consider market demand. How many people want to access the information you have? Who can benefit from it? The best way to figure this out is by asking your existing audience. Mention your course on your blog, Facebook page, or YouTube channel. Talk about the reason for creating one as well as how your students are going to benefit. You can also ask a few questions that will help you offer valuable content. For instance, what challenges are you having with ABC? What would you like to learn? Or what skills do you wish to polish?

3. Value proposition.

Next, work on your pricing plan. How much are you going to charge? How much do you wish to make overall? Learn from the competition. Pay attention to their strategy and come up with a better one. For instance, charge $20 or more for the complete course and give your students free useful resources. This will lead to more enrollments.

4. Marketing channels.

Decide on your marketing channels. How are you going to market your new business venture? You can use existing social accounts or pages as well as your blog or website. You can also use Marketing Automation Software. For example, Mailchimp.

Bonus Tip

Bid for work on freelancing sites and improve your earnings. Join Fiverr, Upwork, or PeoplePerHour, advertise and start bidding.

Follow these steps, do what you love best, and get paid for it!

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