A Teacher’s Passive Income
April 09, 2010
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Next weekend, I have the opportunity to speak to a class of MBA students about non-profit organizations using the web to support their cause. It’s a great opportunity for me on a variety of many levels, but I’d like to highlight how this talk will likely lead to passive income - now and down the road.
Rework: the inspiration
I’m reading a book by 37Signals called Rework. It’s an inspiring and thought-provoking book for anyone who owns or hopes to own a business, especially an online business.
The book has a section called “don’t out-spend, OUT-TEACH” which says: luring customers with money on advertising isn’t as effective as teaching them something. Because when you teach them something you raise your credibility.
Putting on my teacher’s hat
I love to teach people. The best part of teaching is when they have that “ah-ha” moment where everything starts to click. In my presentation, my sole goal is to teach the group of grad students how to successfully use the internet (and in particular, their website) to further their mission.
I have devoted the last 3 years of my life to learning the ins and outs of online business and web development, and I want to share this with them. Through teaching, I hope to build a trust and respect from them. Ultimately, I’d love to hear their future success stories inspired by my talk. I truly hope they build a successful online presence for each of their non-profits.
Where’s the passive income?
It costs money to get a web site started, and there are lots of places willing to set these things up for them. Fortunately, I have tried many of them and found which ones are good and which aren’t. Even better, my web host of choice for startups and non-profits has an affiliate program.
I’m going to create a web page with notes from my presentation and links for the students to get started. Ultimately if half the class signs up with Host Gator, at $50 each, I’ll make about $500 from referrals.
Future Growth
If I do a good job, maybe I’ll get invited back to talk to another group. Or the talk was so inspiring, that they tell their friends about it, and come to the page I built with the directions and affiliate links. Now, we’re talking about revenue stream that can build some momentum.
“Earning their loyalty by teaching them forms a whole different connection.” I’m going in as a teacher, but hope to come out as a mentor.
I’ll let you know how the talk turned went and the revenue it developed by the time my April Earnings report comes out.
