3 Common Passive Product Mistakes

Last week via my IG Stories I dropped tips for strategic and effective passive digital product design. I’m a firm believer that any online business can sell passive products and I’m so grateful for mine because they bring my business great revenue.

While a lot of businesses push passive products (courses, workshop replays, templates, the options are endless…), a lot of them do so inefficiently.

Aight, let’s dive in. Here are 3 ways to help Future You save some coin and minimize effort when you drop your next passive product. (Note, some of the links below are affiliate links. I mae receive a small commission if you decide to sign up.)

1. Consider the cost of delivery.

Be strategic about the platform that you use to host/deliver your passive products. Let’s consider digital courses.

Many opt for sites like Mighty Networks and Kajabi to host their course content and while I love Mighty Networks for housing my different communities, I doubt I’ll ever use it for course content.

I truly want people to have lifetime access to my courses and there’s no way in hell I’m about to pay for Mighty Networks forever just so they can have that access. But that’s just me.

Choose a platform that will result in minimal costs in the long-run. I like to use Notion and Payhip. Notion costs me $10 per month and I’m already using it to organize my entire life. Payhip is free to setup with the Basic plan and they take 5% of each transaction.

For comparison, the Mighty Networks Business plan is $119 per month and Kajabi starts at $119 per month.

Either explicitly make it clear that you’re not offering lifetime access or choose a platform that you can afford to maintain.

2. Automaetion is your friend.

The magic of a truly passive product is that you don’t have to touch it. Other than reviewing the content to ensure that it’s still relevant, the goal is to be as hands off as possible.

I automate all of the customer journey using ConvertKit, an email marketing platform.

1. A purchase confirmation email is sent.
2. A welcome email is sent with a link to the content, tips for success and expectations.
3. I’ll include 1 or 2 check-in emails to see how things are going. I love when my community keeps me updated as they work their way through my resources.
4. Lastly, I automate a feedback request. I want to receive as much feedback as I can so I know whether or not I need to tweak things on my end. A lot of biz owners are scared of getting bad reviews, but there’s no such thing as bad feedback. It’s all helpful if you’re really about create quality for your community/audience.
5. Bonus: purchasers are tagged in ConvertKit so that I can quickly notify them when I launch products similar to the ones they’ve purchased.

3. Get help selling.

I like Payhip a lot because the option to have affiliates is super seamless. Once someone completes one of my courses, I allow them the option to share with their communities in exchange for a 20% commission.

I get a new sale for a passive product which means no extra work for me (see step 2 👆🏾) and they get cash in exchange for promoting a product that they (hopefully) enjoyed.

If you’d like more help launching your next passive product, I’m here to help you get to success.

If you’re already running an online business, nourishing your email list and have a social media following that you interact with, let’s chat.

And if you’re a newbie, I created The Self Maed Bootcamp just for you. It’s a 7-module course that takes you through all of the steps to launch your new business including creating an email list and how to authentically market your business via social media. By the end of the course, you’ll have launched your first digital offer.

And if you’re unsure of where to start, slide in my DMs.