I know a guy who lives in a remote part of Oregon.
He’s got a long scraggly beard, dresses in jeans and flannel shirts, and drives a new car.
By day he fishes and hikes.
By night he visits with his friends in the bar, or kicks back and watches TV.
He takes several long vacations each year.
He hires someone to do his yard work and maintain his house.
He never works – because he doesn’t have to.
And he’s lived like this since the 70’s.
Did he inherit a lot of money? Win the lottery? Rob a bank?
Nope. He grew up poor, never went to college, and hasn’t worked since he was 22.
What he did do was write a hit song. Just one.
And that song continues to pay him residuals to this day.
He did something once, and is still getting paid for it all these decades later.
So there you have it. Just write a hit song performed by a very famous person, and you are set for life.
What’s that? You don’t write songs?
Okay, then you might try the online marketing version of this residual game.
It’s called make a ‘sale once, get paid for months or maybe even years.’
Of course we’re talking about residual programs, and there are two basic ways you can profit: Promote someone else’s program, or create your own.
If you’re promoting someone else’s residual program, you’ve got several benefits.
- You never have to create membership content or maintain and update the software as a service
- You never have to worry about customer service concerning the program
- You don’t have to create the sales page, the membership site and so forth.
- All you do is send traffic and profit. That’s it.
Pretty sweet deal, right?
And don’t be fooled by the first month’s commission, either.
For example, let’s say you’re trying to decide between promoting Program A and Program B. Both programs are converting at the same rate.
Program A pays out $50 one time on a $100 sale.
Program B pays out $15 each month on a $30 sale.
Members of Program B tend to stick for a long time, because the product is something they need for their business. In fact, the average customer retention rate is 7.2 months, which is fantastic.
With Program A, you make $50. But with Program B, you make $108.
As you can see, if possible you want to find out how long the average customer ‘sticks’ to the program.
Software as a service tends to retain people for longer periods of time, assuming the software does what it’s supposed to. Hosting is a great example of this, because once people set up their website with a host, they tend to stick with that same host for years or for as long as there is no problem.
However, there are many information oriented membership programs that also retain members for a good long time as well.
To find residual programs you might want to promote, you can begin by Googling, “affiliate residual programs.” You’ll find lists full of them – more than you can ever promote yourself.
But having your own program can be even better, if you’re willing to put in the work.
- You can have affiliates promote it for you, making hundreds and even thousands of sales you would never get on your own
- You can make a lot more money – a LOT more money
- You can build a stable of affiliates who like and trust you, and will promote future programs for you.
But…
You have to create the program. And make no mistake, there is work involved.
If you’re selling software as a service, then you need to have the software developed, tested, tweaked and hopefully glitch free when you launch.
If you’re selling informational memberships, you’ll need to create a membership site and add content to it on a very regular basis.
And in either case you’ll need to deal with customer service, building the sites, writing the sales letters and so forth.
That said, it’s not as difficult as it sounds.
For your first membership site, I recommend you keep it simple. Find a target market that is eager for great information on their topic.
Then create a newsletter targeted to this market. Write the sales letter and newsletter as though you are speaking to just one person. Keep the price low – so low that it’s a no-brainer.
See? Not so hard after all.
If you’re going to do the work of bringing customers to a sales page, why not get paid for it over and over again?
Imagine this: One year from now you are earning money from not one, but twelve different residual programs.
Month after month you get checks for work you did six months or even a year ago.
How great will that feel?
If that feeling excites you, get to work and go make it happen!
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