We all have knowledge in some area. But not everyone knows how to get paid for what you know. On top of that, most of us tend to have inglorious imposter syndrome.
Yet, you might be sitting on a goldmine where your experience, passions, and skills are pure gold, waiting to be discovered by others. It may not be seen as such to you, but there’s someone who will be ready to pay for it.
If you are feverish about finding your gold and transforming it into a stream of income, Graham Cochrane’s pro tips will help you.
He’s been teaching non-business people to live their passion for 13 years in the knowledge commerce industry. But it’s still in its infancy stage, and you can join it today.
Introducing Graham Cochrane
Graham Cochrane is an entrepreneur from Tampa, Florida. You might know him as the founder of The Recording Revolution, one of the world’s largest and most loved online audio recording and music production resources.
The Recording Revolution, indeed, deserves its name as it’s revolutionized the way audio and music are being produced since 2009 when it was launched as a little blog.
You no longer need a professional recording studio to create radio-worthy songs — all you need is your bedroom.
Today, it’s a seven-figure business that reaches millions of students yearly in over 200 countries.
Graham is also a business coach, YouTuber, and recent author of his book How to Get Paid for What You Know.
In an episode of the Superhumans at Work podcast with Jason Marc Campbell, Graham shares his top tips on monetizing your skills.
You can listen to the episode on the Mindvalley platform (exclusive for Mindvalley Members).
How to Kick-Start Living Your Passion
We all have something to offer, which has little to do with specific knowledge or expertise. It’s your personal experience and passion.
According to Graham, changing your career and turning your passion into an income stream has never been easier, with one-key technological solutions available today.
“It’s similar to the one-on-one coaching model where you share your experience to help others transform. In the case of online courses, you make a product out of it and build your audience online where you share your passion,” he adds.
In other words, you take the idea out of your head and put it into a digital product that sells for you 24/7. And it’s helping people get results in some areas of their life.
So, how do you figure out what idea you can use for an online course?
Many people struggle with figuring out what they want to do — some struggle with picking up one thing out of many.
Here are two guidelines for you to follow to find your sweet spot:
- Look at the marketplace and see which area is a booming business people spend money on. The size of the market matters.
- Pick one topic you can talk about for the next 5-10 years.
The bottom line is you want to make things easier for yourself. When you share what you’re passionate about, it’s virtually the easiest way to live your passion.
As soon as you figure out your idea, start building an audience online by creating content around that topic. As you do, learn what people need and want to get insights into your paid product.
You may know the subject very well, but through engagement with your audience, you get to know what’s the most valuable information you can teach.
5 Roadblocks You Might Face and How to Overcome Them
Starting something is always the most challenging part because underneath it all, there’s always a fear — the fear of failure (or maybe success?).
As the formidable hypnotherapist and trainer of Mindvalley’s Rapid Transformational Hypnotherapy for Abundance Quest Marisa Peer puts it, “We have a limiting belief that we aren’t good enough that protects us from failure.”
But the only failure that exists is the failure of never trying, so you have to start somewhere.
Once you start somewhere, here are 10 roadblocks you might face:
Roadblock 1: I’m camera shy
If you don’t like showing yourself on camera, you can blog or podcast instead. Graham explains that podcast listeners are more valuable than YouTube users because of the depth of their engagement with the content.
“Podcast listeners are more likely to listen to the end of the episode without switching to another piece of content. It’s just harder for your podcast to be discovered,” he adds.
Roadblock 2: I don’t have the proper equipment
You don’t have to be equipped with a great camera and proper light. You can use a simple microphone, your iPhone, and natural light, and it will look more realistic and less static.
On top of that, people are more forgiving towards the vlog style. And if you are passionate about your subject, it will be seen and rewarded because people look for authenticity and genuine passion.
Roadblock 3: Imposter syndrome
“Can I do this?”, “Will it work for me?”, “I don’t have a good idea!” — we all have our doubts and insecurities, keeping us away from living our passion.
Even when people know their idea and what content they want to create around it, they stop because they believe they aren’t credible enough.
But you don’t have to be the best in the field or super advanced. You need to be further along than someone else.
I can’t take you somewhere where I’ve never been before. But I can take those who are behind further along.
— Graham Cochrane, business coach and author of How to Get Paid for What You Know
To overcome this roadblock, you need to stop focusing on yourself and start focusing on people who need your help.
“Nobody cares about you. They care about themselves. So all they care about is if you can help them,” he explains.
Roadblock 4: I don’t have a big following on social media
If you don’t have a big following on social media, it’s not an issue because the quality of your audience and content is always over the quantity.
Instead of obsessing over the following, you want to commit to creating quality content around your passion. Even if you have zero subscribers, imagine that millions of people are watching and try to deliver the absolute best content you can.
This is how you will get early adapters. Your goal is to build credibility and trust.
Roadblock 5: I’m too late to get started with online courses
The knowledge commerce industry is a giant wave, and we’re still at the front of it.
People are now aware of it as never before, and online learning is becoming a preferred way of learning more and more.
Graham explains that it doesn’t mean this industry is too crowded. The demand is so much bigger than the number of people creating courses.
Most importantly, on the technical side, it’s never been easier than now with multiple software platforms that support you.
They host video courses and webinars, build websites, run your blog, manage email marketing, and even have communities. And it didn’t exist a decade ago.
So get on the wave now, as we are just at the beginning.
7 Passive Income Ideas
Passive income is earnings from activities in which you aren’t actively involved. Traditionally, passive income would come from rents, royalties, and contributions to limited partnerships.
Today, there are multiple sources you can use to generate extra cash flow.
Let’s look at seven passive income ideas that don’t require lots of financial investment and have minimal risk (you can also use some of them as business ideas):
- Create an online course: Find something you’re passionate about and create an audio or video online course on it. You can distribute it through Udemy, SkillShare, and Coursera. Platforms like Kajabi offer everything you need to create, grow, and manage online courses, coaching programs, podcasts, memberships, and more.
- Affiliate marketing: Website owners, social media influencers, or bloggers promote a third party’s product or service by including a link to it on their social media accounts. Amazon is the best-known affiliate partner.
- Write an e-book: It can be an excellent opportunity to eliminate publishing costs and leverage the worldwide distribution of Amazon to get your book seen by millions of potential buyers worldwide.
- Sell photography online: You can sell your photography on Getty Images, Shutterstock, or Alamy. You need to find your niche topic that’s in demand, and as the more users download your photos, the more you get paid. If you can sell the same photos repeatedly, you can scale your efforts.
- Rent your home/space short-term: If you have any space you’re not using, you turn it into a passive income opportunity. For example, you can rent your home while traveling and even rent your parking space.
- Create a blog or YouTube channel: Find a popular subject or a small niche, and become an expert on it. Blogs and videos on YouTube are easily discoverable via Google search and YouTube itself, as these platforms are designed for searching. If your titles and keywords match people’s interests, your content will show up in the results. It can create a steady income stream over time if your content is interesting and consistent.
- Sell designs: If you have design skills, you can sell items like T-shirts, mugs, and hats with your printed designs on them on CafePress and Zazzle. You can also capitalize on interest in a particular event and design items capturing its spirit.
As you can see, passive income isn’t about getting rich quickly or earning something for doing nothing. It does involve a great deal of work you put upfront before it starts working for you.
As long as you are committed to it, it can be a great way to create financial freedom for yourself.
Starting Your Business Freedom Journey
More and more people realize that university degrees are becoming obsolete. We no longer seek traditional education, especially in light of the current global situation.
You can now learn business skills alongside like-minded people from all over the world, without leaving your home or favorite coffee shop, at a fraction of the cost.
If you aspire to embark on a life-long learning journey, Mindvalley is the right place for you. Here, you will have the opportunity to join a community of aspiring entrepreneurs across the globe and access free samples of quests such as Zero to 100 Million with Miki Agrawal, Course Pro with Jimmy Naraine, and Business Freedom Blueprint with Eric Edmeades.
Welcome in.
