I’d like to introduce you to Gary. He’s the peanut man that lives (and works) just up the street. I see him almost every Friday through Sunday out in his yard tending his enormous vats of boiled peanuts.
One day, I pulled into his drive-through line only to find out that he was out of my favorite variety (regular reds). As I hung my head, he said, “Wait! I might have some in my vending machine.”
I was confused. Boiled peanuts in a vending machine? Whoever thought of such a thing? Turns out Gary did!
He bought a refrigerated vending machine and converted it to hold his bags of boiled peanuts.
Brilliant!
Gary has always told me that it takes more time than people think to make and sell his peanuts. He is constantly going to market to buy his peanuts then he has to boil all the different varieties, set up his vats, etc.
Because he’s only there from Friday through Sunday, the rest of the week he’s making nothing, not even peanuts.
By thinking out of the box, Gary can earn passively 24/7 just by pointing out to customers who drive in that they can stop by anytime for fresh peanuts.
While Gary has a product, he does consider himself a service-based business because he has to be there to make and sell the peanuts.
What else could Gary do to grow his passive income?
Think about what goes perfectly with boiled peanuts. Off the top of my head, I can name these that he could easily sell as additional items in vending machines or on a cart by his peanut pots:
- Soda and other drinks
- Prepackaged bags of popcorn
- Other prepackaged snacks
He could set up a Facebook page or other online page and share links to his favorite peanut-related items such as:
So many options that could be sold or upsold to bring passive income.
Then There’s Marie Who Hosts Entrepreneurs on Business/Fun Italy Trips
I’m at Marie online several years ago. One of the most positive women I have ever been introduced to! She adores Italy and helping online business women grow. So it only made sense for her to combine those two passions and lead women entrepreneurs on business-building (and fun) trips to Italy.
As you might imagine, this is a very hands-on service. However, over the many years, Marie has done this, she has developed a list of favorite suppliers that she works with. She and I discussed how she might earn some passive income, even though her business was anything but passive.
At different points in their journey, Marie and her guests go shopping in town. One suggestion I made was to strike a deal with the local shop owners. They would provide Marie’s guests with a coupon as they entered the store.
Then, each woman would get 10% (or whatever amount) off her purchase. The coupon could serve as a tracking device. The employee would write down the total amount of the purchase on the back of the code and Marie would earn a commission on any sales.
Another suggestion was to create a digital PDF that she provides to her traveling companions. Suggestions for:
- Phone, accessories
- Apps
- Luggage
…anything else they might appreciate while taking this trip.
She could also create blog posts or social media posts with her review and/or recommendation for various products. It’s simple enough these days to schedule posts in advance so they could run 24/7 to help generate passive income.
Marie could also shoot footage of Italy while she is there and create different types of virtual tours that she could post on a YouTube channel. All those views could eventually get her to the level of being monetized and earning from that stream. The description could also include links to lots of different products people could purchase.
She could also sell some of her photographs on Etsy or other sites. Or use those photographs to set up a print on demand shop that would allow customers to purchase Italy décor including:
- Mugs
- T-shirts
- Aprons
- Wall art
- Tote bags
- Phone cases
- And MANY others
What Are Some Ways That Service-Based Entrepreneurs Can Make Passive Income?
It depends on your business. But the process I use is to think about what services your business offers and which products would coexist with those services… make them better or support them.
Here are a few examples.
1. Affiliate Marketing – Do you use particular software, digital products or services that people on your list would find useful? Chances are pretty good that these companies have affiliate programs. Even if you have personal products you use on a regular basis, you can share those with others and earn a commission passively. Here are several other affiliate marketing articles that can help you.
2. Digital Products – Not everybody is going to hire a professional to do the work for them. There are lots of folks out there who would rather learn and be able to do things themselves.
For those, you can create any number of digital products to sell. These might include checklists, worksheets, short video courses, all the way up to extensive training courses with numerous sessions that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.
3. Books – Selling on Amazon’s Kindle Direct platform is easier than ever these days. Especially when you can use ChatGPT to help in the process. Share your knowledge in short books and earn while you sleep. This free guide gives some exceptional ideas on how to use ChatGPT for this purpose.
4. Think Outside the Box – Gary, my peanut man up the street, decided to hack a vending machine so that he could earn passive income. Can you do that? Or can you hack another outlet for passive sales?
If you want some additional help, my Passive Income Jumpstart course will guide you through getting started with passive income.
Don’t be limited by what is typical or standard. Keep your eyes and your mind open to ideas involving passive income and look for opportunities when they come to you.
I totally agree with this blog post. I have service based business and I also sells Digital Branding and Marketing Templates for Entrepreneurs because not everyone can afford to pay for certain services.
Yes ma’am! Thanks for sharing.