I’m willing to bet you’re sitting on a lucrative business idea right now.
Something you’re already doing that others would happily pay you for.
The problem? You may be too close to “see” it.
Let’s fix that!
Today, I will share how I monetized one of my existing workflows…
… and give you a 4-step process for doing something similar.
When done right, this is an excellent way to start a business without adding too much additional work to your plate.
So, if you’re interested in creating a simple recurring revenue machine that can grow with you over time, here’s where you should start:
Step 1: Document your week
The first step in finding something you already do that others would love to pay you for is…
… figuring out what you’re currently spending your time doing!
It can be challenging to identify your systems and processes when you’re just going through the motions of your week.
But when you can pull back and get a birds-eye view of how you spend your time, you may be surprised at what jumps out at you.
Your assignment: Keep track of exactly what you’re doing every moment of the day for an entire week. You can just keep a note on your phone or use time-tracking software like Toggl.
Step 2: Look for your processes that solve problems
Once you have your week fully documented, it’s time to analyze your activities.
Take a peek and determine – What processes have you created to solve your problems?
You may have processes around:
- Meal planning
- Grocery shopping strategies
- Fitness routines
- Productivity habits
- Content creation routines
- Continuing education habits
- Budgeting or finance
- Or more!
For each process you uncover, try to identify the specific problems or pain points it solves in your life.
Step 3: Hone your ideas
At this point, you’ve probably found at least one set of activities you routinely do each week.
For example, when I ran a private practice, I spent a lot of time learning about functional nutrition and adverse food reactions, taking notes, and organizing them for easy future reference.
I spent a lot of time on this activity because:
- I was new to the world of functional nutrition.
- Didn’t have $$$$ to enroll in expensive training.
- Had lots of client questions that I wanted to research.
- Wanted to document my thoughts and references about various nutrition topics.
- I wanted a quick answer-vault to refer back to at any time.
This process helped me become more knowledgeable and confident about discussing trending nutrition topics and better serve my private practice clientele.
However, I was so accustomed to creating these notes that it never even crossed my mind that they might be valuable to others!
As I hung out in dietitian groups on Facebook, people would often have questions about something I recently researched, and I would send them my notes.
The lightbulb finally went off when a colleague said, “Erica, I would pay you for these notes.”
If you’re struggling to “see” your routines that might provide value to others, think about the following:
- What do people already ask you for help with?
- What do other people think you’re good at?
- What comes easily to you?
- What are you surprised that people find helpful when you share?
- What problems were you facing in your own life for which you created solutions?
Chances are good that you’ve already created at least one system in your life from which others would benefit.
Step 4: Finalize your idea and productize it
Once you’ve identified something you routinely do that can also help others, the next step is to figure out how you might start selling it as a subscription service.
The key here is to get uber-specific.
You’re not trying to create a product that solves all problems.
You’re looking for a set of tasks you already do that you can start sharing with others in exchange for a reasonable recurring fee.
Here are some examples of productized routines:
- Meal planning subscriptions
- Weekly IG “hook” ideas and examples
- Monthly fitness routines
- Weekly email marketing templates
- Monthly cleaning/organizing routines
- Weekly Twitter post templates
- Daily children’s activity ideas
In my case, I decided to sell access to my library of nutrition notes.
I created a simple sales page, offering one year of access to my notes for a special price of $95/year.
I shared it inside my (super small) Facebook group of 300 people… and three people bought!
(Note: I did this BEFORE I actually created the membership, just to validate the idea.)
Oh my gosh, it felt incredible! I made just under $300 in one day from selling something I had already created for myself!
And now I had a recurring revenue stream, simply by sharing my pre-existing work with others.
Over the next two years, I added two new pieces of content to the library each month, grew the site to over 250 active paying subscribers, and earned more than $80k in revenue.
With just 1-2 days per week of work that I was already doing for myself.
And bonus perk – it’s SO much easier to market and write good copy when you’ve solved your own problems because YOU are your ideal customer!
Bottom Line
It’s so easy to over-complicate entrepreneurship.
But the truth is, you may have already created systems in your life that others would pay for.
Take a moment to do the exercises outlined in this email and see what you come up with!
P.S. – If you’re interested in joining The Functional Nutrition Library, I’m excited to announce that enrollment is now OPEN.
Before you go… here are a few more ways I can help you.
1. Free Weekly Videos: Subscribe to my YouTube channel to get weekly videos with the latest organic traffic strategies and tips for growing a lucrative online business.
2. Search Savvy Membership: Search Savvy includes access to my signature course, SEO Made Simple, PLUS the real-time support, feedback, and up-to-date best practices you need to grow your audience online.
3. Exclusive Facebook Group: Connect with 16,000+ lovely humans starting, growing, and scaling their digital businesses.
4. Functional Nutrition Library: Your resource for staying on top of the latest research and best practices in functional nutrition. (Recently relaunched! Watch me grow it in real-time.)
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Erica Julson is a registered dietitian turned digital marketing pro. She has over 14 years of experience blogging and building online businesses and has taught over 1,000 people inside her programs.