5 Ways to Generate Predictable Income Online in the next 21 Days (Coronavirus 2020 Edition)

Well, there's no escaping it; Coronavirus is here and people are scared.

And because of the decrees, both de facto and de jure, for "social distancing" (aka how I live my life), small business owners everywhere are getting pummeled.

(especially brick and mortar small businesses)

Unfortunately, a lot of these businesses are going to be wiped out.

Before anyone freaks out, this isn't fear mongering. It's a reality.

The businesses that are forced to close right now, some for upwards of 60+ days, still have expenses to pay.

They still have overhead. They still have rent…

If these small business have no consistent, predictable, online revenue stream - or they can't establish one ASAP - they're screwed.

But fear not.

I've been to war in real life and in business (metaphorically speaking).

And today, I'm going to show you a way through the uncertainty.

Below, you'll find 5 ways to generate predictable income online in the next 21 days. Consider this the Coronavirus 2020 edition; stuff that's working now and should work well for you.

If you have any questions, thoughts, or recommendations for what I can add to the list, leave a comment below!

Ready?

Strap on your helmet and let's get to it...

Strategy #1. Become an affiliate for a proven digital offering

This is for my brick and mortar entrepreneurs who are getting kicked around by all this the worst:

Given that you have a business and you have a databaset of customers, the absolute fastest, simplest, and best way to serve your customers and clients, while generating a profit online, quickly, is through the right affiliate offer.

Affiliate marketing is basically performance-based or commission-based marketing; e.g. you get paid for every sale you refer / generate.

So the question is, if you have customers OFFLINE, how could they be served ONLINE?

For example, maybe you run a yoga studio. People come to your classes in person. You've recently had to shut your doors for an indefinite period of time.

You could, of course, try to stream and sell your "in person" classes online.

But then you might realize your customers don't want to pay full price for a virtual streaming service, so you'll probably have to cut the price…

Unfortunately, cutting the price of your new streaming or online offer WILL NOT HELP, because you can find a million and a half yoga practices streamed online, basically every day.

If you're a guru, you can maybe get away with selling on the premise of your name alone.

For just about everyone else, why fight an uphill battle?

A better solution:

  1. Find an established, premium subscription or membership platform in your niche or industry (aka: customers pay for a subscription; not a freemium ad-based model like YouTube)
  2. Confirm they have a subscription model (e.g. $30/ month)
  3. Confirm they have a LIFETIME commission model (e.g. 30% for life)
  4. Confirm they have customers, and said customers like them
  5. Share this platform both as a teacher and affiliate

Your customers win because if the platform is established, it's a better user experience than you trying to hack something ridiculous together right now.

You win, because you have to deliver absolutely ZERO, while you have the chance to make a profit, in perpetuity.

#winnerwinnerchickendinner

Don't believe affiliate marketing can make you a bucketload of cash?

Here's a screenshot from one of my affiliates who earned more than $50,000 from sharing a simple, proven, high quality digital product, over a 1 week period of time:

affiliate crushing - 5 Ways to Generate Predictable Income Online in the next 21 Days (Coronavirus 2020 Edition)

Yup, it works.

You just gotta find the right fit. And then put it out there the right way.

(Need help on this? Book a lightning session with me right now and in less than an hour we can figure out the optimal affiliate offer for your list, and maybe even start to line up your promotion)

Advanced Affiliate Marketing Strategy

Most people do the above and stop there.

That's profitable enough, in most cases, if done correctly.

Here's a simple way to ramp things up:

Put together a *30 day challenge* (or for however long your doors are closed for - why not?!) and join along with the customers you referred.

A simple way to do this:

Have anyone who signs up with your link send you the confirmation receipt (confirm inside your affiliate program that the sale was attributed to you), and add them to a private group where you can throw in extra stuff, whether bonuses or perks, providing feedback or support, and much more.

Who knows, this group might take off in such a way that you could charge money for it (but then we'd be getting ahead of ourselves, that's Strategy #4 below).

Strategy #2. Self-publish

I know that might sound like a lot to accomplish in 21 days, but hear me out.

Here's the deal:

Amazon is one of the biggest search engines in the world. It's also the #1 digital retailer in the world.

If you're not tapping into this audience, you're missing out.

Insurgent Publishing makes 100% of its income online. We still sell print books, we just have no brick and mortar book store (nor do we try to get our books into stores).

I built Insurgent Publishing to be antifragile, and it seems to be working.

Here's the secret to success on Amazon:

  1. Have a voice
  2. Keep it simple

That's it.

The best part about a book; it can be a genuine, passive income generator for you and your business.

I still receive sales of some of my books on my website that I haven't promoted or shared in…literally, years.

That's the power of books, of writing, and of becoming a published author.

Self-Publishing Pro Tips

If writing and publishing sounds like a lot of work, it doesn't have to be.

Today, you can find fantastic transcription software that makes audio dictation a real possibility (for those who hate sitting down to write). I use Rev.

Design and formatting used to be a pain. It's not anymore.

Now you can get professional cover design and professional formatting of your book (both digital and for print) for next to nothing, thanks to the amazing 100 Covers and FormattedBooks.

100 Covers and Formatted Books helped me put this bestseller together.

Bottom line: creating a professional-looking book costs much less than it's ever cost, and it's much more lucrative than it's ever been.

If you are rearing to go, but don't know where to start, here's a completely free course on how to launch a book to bestseller (based on the strategies and techniques we used to launch bestsellers like: "The 7 Day Startup," "The Art of Work," and many others).

And of course, if you have any questions, book a 1 on 1 Lightning Session with me here and I can answer any and all your questions (like how to get a book produced for under $3k, or how to take advantage of Amazon SEO to create consistent sales every day, or how to turn one book into multiple streams of revenue, and much more).

Strategy #3. Host a Virtual Summit

A virtual summit is like an in person conference, but hosted online.

Even better than an in person conference, you have no barrier to entry (geographically, speaking - optimal in these times of social distancing), can grow your email list, and you can make a killing on the backend with proper upsells and downsells.

Virtual summits can be very profitable.

brag brian berni 20k sales4 - 5 Ways to Generate Predictable Income Online in the next 21 Days (Coronavirus 2020 Edition)

I've coached and/or strategized, organized, managed, and run more than a dozen 5 to 6-figure virtual summits.

The reason they work so well is because they require little overhead, they don't have to be complicated, and you can drive results relatively quickly by leveraging partnerships.

(side note: here's the best system in the world for finding, connecting, and leveraging influential people to market and promote your products for you, including virtual summits)

Virtual summits are one of the best ways to position yourself as an authority in your space, niche, or industry, while simultaneously growing your reach (and most importantly: email list), as well as being a great way to get started selling digital products online (because the product, in this case, basically builds itself).

I used a virtual summit to drum up new coaching and consulting clients.

I called it: $100k Launch School.

The premise of my virtual summit was that you can make a years worth of income in a single month with a good launch.

The reason I bring that up is that my virtual summit helped me not only grow my email list by over 5,000 subscribers (in less than 3 weeks time…something that took me 3 years to do the first time I did it), and make over $20k from ticket sales alone, it also allowed me to book myself solid with clients (virtual / exclusively online) for the last two years.

(hence why I haven't felt the need to run one since, but also why I'm such a big fan)

Crazy, but true.

Still not sure if a virtual summit is right for you?

Here's a short video to help you make up your mind if you SHOULD host a virtual summit

Lastly, if you are going to run one, remember: they aren't necessarily complicated, but there are a lot of moving pieces.

You can figure out the list of things you need to do very easily. Executing in a timeline manner to drive real results…well that takes a little bit more planning.

So if you're thinking, yeah, that's something I want to get into: here's an insanely comprehensive, step-by-step blog post on how to create, host, and launch a virtual summit from scratch.

And if you need more help, of course you can schedule a 1 on 1 call with me here.

Strategy #4. Create monthly recurring revenue with a premium membership site

A membership site is platform that has a private, members only area.  A "premium membership site" then is one where someone has to pay to get access. Simple.

The key here is paying members.

You can get on something like FB, YouTube, or IG right  now and start posting free content…but we want to monetize that content.

That's where the premium membership site comes in.

With a premium membership, you get paid to produce and upload content. Remember the yoga studio example I gave earlier? If you were to create your own, that might include daily yoga workout, maybe some weekly meditations or bonus posture clinics…maybe you bring in a guest instructor to interview that person, or include an online community element.

There are a thousand ways to create and run a membership site, hence why it's not my first recommendation…

…but because so many small businesses are built on a business model of selling time for money, typically in person, and often 1-to-1, or 1-to-many…well, a membership site can be a no brainer solution.

For more on running a membership site, listen to this in-depth interview with membership site expert Jen Lehner.

Strategy #5. Get yourself on Clarity.fm and start selling advice by the minute

Clarity.fm is a website that connects experts with people with questions.

They have a very simple system that allows your clients to book calls with you. Your clients are charged by the minute.

That might sound strange, but it works out really well, in particular (for me at least) with initial consultation calls.

First and foremost, it helps me avoid tire-kickers. After all, if someone is serious about growing a 6 to 7-figure online business, they won't be turned off by a $5 / minute call. If you're not used to charging so much, start with something lower…but don't diminish your value!

Second, it's painless. You can hook up your own system with a hodgpodge of widgets, which I do have, and still use (mostly for blocks of consulting people can book via my Accelerator Coaching), but it's kinda nice to have a system that works well, and is simple.

So had to give it a shout out here.

Clarity.fm takes a few minutes to setup, and you can be sharing your page and book paid consulting calls in minutes flat.

BONUS "STRATEGY" #6. Offer your services as "Pay What You Want"

This isn't quite like the other strategies I've shared, per se. More like a "feel free to overlay this on top of any of the above" type of strategy (or "create your own riff on it and go" type of thing).

Listen, right now, we're in a "crisis" (or at least "crisis-lite").

The fear you've probably felt is that it may get worse.

Everyone is aware of that.

You don't need to aggravate it, but you can be honest about where you're at, what you're doing, and why you're making your services PAY WHAT YOU WANT…

Because if you can make a compelling case for:

  • WHY you're doing it (crazy times, want to give back, nervous about the future but understand everyone else is in the same predicament, etc etc)
  • And why people should support you (because they know you, because you've been there before, because times are hard and maybe getting harder, because you want as many people as possible to still have access to your secret sauce, etc etc)

All of a sudden, pay what you want pricing starts to not just work, but make a lot of financial sense.

There's really too much to cover with this one, so best if I direct you to my completely FREE Pay What You Want ecourse:

Here's a completely free course on how to sell your goods and services using Pay What You Want Pricing.

Wrapping it All Up

And that wraps up 5 ways you can start making a predictable profit online in the next 21 days (with a bonus 6th strategy, because I couldn't help myself...you could implement PWYW pricing so easily right now, if you mean what you say and know what you're doing...so look into it!).

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions on things I missed but that are legit ways to make predictable income online, share below. Let's use this a space to share and support one another (you can even plug your own stuff, just don't be grabbler).

Stay frosty.

Tom "social distancing before it was cool" Morkes

p.s. if you liked this blog post, you'll love my book "The Art of Instigating" - the paperback costs less than a meal out that you can't have right now anyway. Click here to pick up your copy (and one for a friend) today!

Started, finished, and shipped on a mountain homestead, deep in the heart of the Rockies | Writing time: 12 hours | Soundtrack: silence (a trend!)

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7 comments on “5 Ways to Generate Predictable Income Online in the next 21 Days (Coronavirus 2020 Edition)”

    1. The best part is, there's no "fad" with books. If it's a good book, it can sell as many copies 10 years from now as 10 days from now...should definitely be at least part of your online marketing strategy.

  1. All these strategies assume a reliable internet connection. Ten of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, depend on public Wi-Fi for their internet access. The "no more than 10" rule is closing most facilities that offer free wi-fi, effectively cutting them off from the internet.

  2. This is a good nudge in the right direction. I have been contemplating on writing and publishing on Amazon for some time now. I have a flare for writing, but I think I have to push it up a notch during the corona enforced social distancing.

  3. I enjoyed hearing from you on Derek Doepker's influencer marketing class. So I wanted to check out your blog. These are all great ideas. I would love to check out your Launch Your Book to Bestseller course, but when I clicked on start the lessons it went to page not found. Do you have a new link for the course?

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