A Problematic Business Model
A few years ago, I started a business providing German to English translations and Business English training.
While things are going fine, there is one aspect of this that really bothers me. The relationship between work and reward is 1:1 - i.e. I do a translation and get paid for it, same with training. There is no passive aspect.
If I go on holiday, my earning drop to zero for that time. Ditto if I get sick.
Once I realised this, I started looking around for something that would change this. Believe me, there so many scams around, a lot of which tend to follow the same pattern.
Some person provides a free webinar and gives a short (if you're lucky!) overview of his or her own rags-to-riches story and offers to let you into the secret. This would normally cost $10k, but they're not asking for half that (which would be a steal). All they want is just under $2000. For this, they will 'give' you their secret to financial success.
This is where we tend to part company. Looking into this from another angle reveals that most of these courses can be boiled down to "just do what I do - it worked with you and there are plenty of other idiots around"
I was starting to get quite frustrated by all this until I came across a site that was different. There was no hard sell and they had a free membership (that required no payment information - always a plus in my eyes). The free membership is available as long as you want and you have access to affiliate marketing training, which turned out to be really good. Plenty of actionable and useful information. The free membership even included 2 free websites.
There is a premium membership that opens the doors to the rest of the training, and increases the website count to 50. These sites are hosted there and the hosting is included in the premium price.
I completed the initial training and really enjoyed it. The pressure to become a premium member came from me - I really wanted to access all the other training and information. I should also mention that there is an awesome community as well - really helpful and friendly people from all walks of life.
I initially hesitated to tell people about this, as I wasn't 100% convinced that I wasn't being foolish. That feeling has passed and I can say with confidence that this is the real deal. The site has been going for over 10 years and the owners are very active and helpful. I suggest having a look yourself - I'm sure I'll forget something important.
The site I'm referring to is called Wealthy Affiliate and really deserves a second look.
You can even sample a full month of premium membership for only $19 before the price goes up to the standard $49. If you pay annually, it's only $359, which is a huge saving. There are no long-term contracts and you can cancel your membership at any time.
I'm happy to say that this is going to provide that missing passive element to my business model.
Is anyone else worried by the lack of a passive element in their business model?
Or have you found another way to solve this problem?
Recent Comments
2
Really great post. I enjoy your writing style.
Thanks for your kind words.