What it takes to earn $10K in “passive income” with Jill Anderson

Want to make money while you sleep?

There’s a lot of hype out there about the holy grail of “passive income.”

In reality, there is almost nothing passive about it.

However, if you are willing to put in the work, there is a way to make money building and/or selling products or courses online. I’ve done it and am still doing both – more and more in fact.

And what I know is that it takes marketing. Little by little – baby step by baby step – a passive income stream will start to trickle and eventually grow into a flow.

That’s what has happened with Jill Anderson of Jill Lynn Design, who has made $10K selling her Client Onboarding Toolkits over the past 5 years.

In the latest episode of the Marketing Mentor Podcast, Jill shares exactly what it actually took to sell 350 of one digital product, and what her plan is to make the next $10K.

Jill has the right attitude – persistence, one step at a time, $15 here and there – it all adds up.

So if you too dream of "passive income," here's the baby step to take:

Jill suggested just starting. Do something. Start creating the content and/or building the list. And to do that, you have to carve out time to work on it. Otherwise, it’s going to be one more of those things on the back burner that you never get to.

So listen here (and below) and scroll down to read the transcript:

If you like what you hear, we’d love it if you write a review, subscribe on Apple Podcasts and sign up for Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor.

Here are the places Jill is selling her Client Onboarding Toolkit:

Want more?

Read this: "Creating Passive Income: Easy or Not?"
Listen to our first podcast, recorded when she launched her product in January 2021, "What “passive income” really means"

Transcript of #457 with Jill Anderson

ilise benun

Hi there. This is ilise benun, your Marketing Mentor. And this is the podcast for you if and only if you are ready to leave the feast or famine syndrome behind, and I mean for good.

There's a lot of hype out there about this holy grail of "passive income," about which I have ranted because, in reality, there is almost nothing passive about it.

However, if you are willing to put in the work, there is a way to make money building and/or selling products or courses online. I've done it, and I'm still doing it, more and more in fact. And what I know is that it takes marketing.

Little by little, baby step by baby step, a passive income stream will start to trickle and eventually grow into a flow.

That's what has happened with Jill Anderson of Jill Lynn Design, who has made $10,000 so far selling 350 of her “Client Onboarding Toolkits” over the past five years. In today's episode, she shares exactly what she did and how she is still doing it to reach her next goal of another $10,000. So, listen and learn.

Hello, Jill. Welcome back to the podcast.

Jill Anderson

Hello, ilise.

ilise benun

You've been on the podcast before, but for those people who don't know who you are, give us your elevator pitch.

Jill Anderson

Sure. I'm Jill Anderson of Jill Lynn Design, and I create custom WordPress websites for creative professionals.

ilise benun

And we're talking today not about that actually, but about an extension of that, which is a product that you created for "passive income." And I think what we want to talk about is how it's not all that passive. But tell us a little bit, first, about the product.

Jill Anderson

Yeah. So, I created a digital course, the “Client Onboarding Toolkit: From Prospect to Paying Client.” It's my really simple, easy, four-step process from getting someone who's interested in maybe working with you to signing on the dotted line and becoming a client.

ilise benun

Beautiful. And when did you create this course?

Jill Anderson

Well, it launched in the summer of 2020, but it probably took me three years to actually have it ready. So yeah, so I'd say, I guess, what? What is that? Five years ago?

ilise benun

And how come it took you three years to have it ready? What were you doing during those three years?

Jill Anderson

So I knew I wanted to create something to sell as passive income, but I needed content for it. For those three years, I blogged, kind of strategically did it so that each post and that content could be woven together to create the product.

ilise benun

And one of the things I know also is that you were building a list during that time, right?

Jill Anderson

Yeah. So I've been in business for 20 years, I think?

ilise benun

Something like that.

Jill Anderson

And I probably started building a list in 2010, not really sure. So I had a list, but definitely wanted to get more people on it; always want to get more people on it.

ilise benun

And who's the market? Who's on your list?

Jill Anderson

So I like to say that I kind of have a twofold market. I like to talk about-blog about-newsletter about good websites and good business. I market to creative professionals, so there are a lot of creative professionals on my list. But there's also a lot of folks that are all kinds of people that just want to know about having a good website.

ilise benun

And I'm channeling some of the listeners now and thinking: wait, but aren't you a creative professional and a web designer? And if those people are also on your list, aren't they your competitors?

Jill Anderson

No. Gosh.

ilise benun

Why not?

Jill Anderson

No. I think, gosh, there's so much design that's needed in the world and creative services that I don't feel that way at all. I have a specific niche; everybody has or should have this specific thing they do and target. I mean, I guess if there was someone that was doing custom WordPress sites for creatives and had a similar approach, that would be a competitor. But there's so much work to be had that I don't think about it like that.

ilise benun

You're not worried about it.

Jill Anderson

No.

ilise benun

And the other fear I know a lot of people have is about sharing their secrets. And so this onboarding process is something you developed for yourself and then saw that other people might benefit from it. But don't you think about it as a secret that you don't want anyone else to know?

Jill Anderson

No. I think I'm all about sharing is caring, pay it forward, spread the knowledge. Yeah. I definitely don't think of it as a secret. I want to help people. That's really what the “Client Onboarding Toolkit” does, I hope, is that it makes it easier or shows a different way to approach your onboarding. Yeah, I'm not scared to put it out there. I think that more goodness comes from sharing than hoarding it away.

ilise benun

Speaking of goodness … so in the three years approximately that it's been out there, how much money have you made on it?

Jill Anderson

I just hit the $10,000 mark.

ilise benun

Wow. And how much does it cost? How many have you sold? Do you have those numbers handy, approximately?

Jill Anderson

I did not check what the quantity of it was, so I'll have to look at that.

ilise benun

Okay.

Jill Anderson

I mean, it's been several hundred. Started it at a higher price, when it first came out, it was $49. Kind of lowered that as I went along.

ilise benun

Why?

Jill Anderson

Well, one, I started with my list and I kind of hyped it up. So I was excited to share it and hopefully getting the people really interested to purchase the course.

But as it was out there and I marketed it, it's kind of clear that bringing the price down a bit would help generate more sales. And at that point, I had done all the work. I still have to work on marketing it, that doesn't go away. But it was okay for me to sell it for less with the hopes of making more money on it over the long run.

ilise benun

Right. So I mean, that's a choice people make, are you going to sell something for a high price? And if so, you'll probably sell fewer of them than sell it for a lower price and sell more.

Jill Anderson

Right. Yeah. Very opposite from how I run my website-building business.

ilise benun

Oh yeah? How do you run your website-building business?

Jill Anderson

I want to charge more and do less work than charge a little bit and do lots and lots of work.

ilise benun

And why do you call it ‘a course’?

Jill Anderson

So I've built the platform of it in WordPress because I'm a designer, developer, so I wanted to do that part myself. And it is a digital course that walks you through these four steps I have. There's a section for each step and multiple pages for each section. And you could do it all in one sitting or multiple sittings, with an action step at the end of each section. I felt like it's easier to do when it's kind of short, digestible chunks for people, but there is a PDF if people prefer that.

ilise benun

So it could be consumed, if you will, as an ebook or something like that or even printed out?

Jill Anderson

Yep.

ilise benun

And so let's focus on how to get your product out there because I imagine that people listening, similar to you, early on had an idea of ‘I'd like to make some passive income. I don't want to, for the rest of my life, exchange time for money.’

And so beginning that process and coming up with a product, that's one step. And then getting it out there, to me, this is the hardest step because often people have tons of ideas about what they would want to put out there, and then they maybe do one promotion and it doesn't knock their socks off and then they drop it. And so, what I'd love to hear from you is: what have you learned and what exactly have you done to, over three years, get it out there and keep adding to your “passive income”?

Jill Anderson

The first large step was marketing it towards my list. So I think at the time, I had maybe 2,000 people on my list. I had to start paying for Mailchimp, which was part of a ... I was kind of happy about that.

So doing promotions with that. But I also didn't want to be too salesy like, "Hey, you've been on my list and now I'm just going to throw this product at you." I wanted to still give them beneficial content. But yeah, I started there. And then I decided it would be nice to get it out there on more selling platforms.

ilise benun

What are selling platforms?

Jill Anderson

So, marketplaces that sell digital products, whether they're courses or PDFs or templates or whatever, so that it wasn't me really doing the promotion; it was just me putting the product on the platform and then people buy it that way.

So I started with AppSumo. I had been a customer of theirs for years. And I love them. They have a really great partner portal, great support, just they're a fabulous program. I know I've sold over 100 through that.

ilise benun

So just to be super clear, so AppSumo is a marketplace that has their own list, I imagine?

Jill Anderson

Yes.

ilise benun

And members. And these are people who are always looking for new tools or new software or new services. And so you basically upload it onto their platform and they market it for you?

Jill Anderson

Yes. Yeah, it's great. I have been a client or customer because that's where I would get my stock photography bundles from. But yeah, they have all kinds of things. But they do sell courses.

ilise benun

And I imagine they take a percentage of what they sell.

Jill Anderson

Yeah. It just depends. All of the platforms are different. But sometimes it's 50%. Sometimes the percentage changes based on whether it's a new customer or they're existing customers. They're all different. But I'd say it's about, they take maybe 40% on average.

ilise benun

And that's fine with you?

Jill Anderson

Yeah, because, again, I put it up there and that part's passive. People buy it and I'm not doing anything.

ilise benun

So it's kind of like Etsy. I think a lot of people are familiar with Etsy for artisanal and artist work. And it's that kind of thing but for digital products.

Jill Anderson

Correct. And AppSumo's a really popular one. But I also have it on DealFuel and DealMirror and StackCommerce, and that might be it.

ilise benun

How do you find these marketplaces?

Jill Anderson

Google. I've done a lot of research on ... I was really successful with AppSumo. So it's like, "Well, what are their competitors? Who else is out there in that space?" So I've been slowly adding different folks to where it's being sold.

ilise benun

And is that easy, or are there things to be aware of or know in advance if you want to post or upload a product onto the various platforms and marketplaces?

Jill Anderson

I don't know that it's easy, but I don't know that it's hard. It is work getting it up there because you have to make your product images and content around the product. So I piece together things. And it always takes me forever to do those parts. But now I have it down pretty well. And I know: here's the benefits, here's the features, here's why, here are the testimonials, here are all the things that they need.

So there's that part. And then there's more of the technical aspect of, if you're going to sell a course and if you're going to sell it on your website, or even if you're going to sell it through some other platform, you have: here's the redemption URL, here's the coupon code, and here's the instruction, and all of that. So it takes a little bit of time, but again, once you do a couple of them and you have all that, it's a little easier.

ilise benun

But you're very tech savvy. Do you think someone who's not quite as tech savvy would be challenged by all the pieces you have to put together and all the technology of uploading it?

Jill Anderson

So if you're not tech savvy, you have some options. You could hire someone that is.

ilise benun

There's a business.

Jill Anderson

There's a business. I do some of that for my clients. Then it doesn't have to be a digital course. You could just have a PDF, an ebook, something. Lots of people consume content that way.

And then there's other platforms, like Teachable, Skillshare, where you can use their technology and you just add your content.

ilise benun

And I seem to remember you did have, maybe you still do have, a course on Skillshare, right?

Jill Anderson

Not currently, no. It was a couple years back, and I think they were kind of cleaning house and getting rid of things that they didn't think were up to par. So I had a, what was it, “Fundamentals of Web Typography” that I had put up there. I had done that for a presentation for a conference and I made it into this little digital product. And it did okay. But I guess it wasn't as, I don't know, professional or what they were looking for in their content. So they fired me.

ilise benun

Well, and lest anyone think there's something bad about your content, they did the same thing to me with my “Anatomy of a Winning Proposal.” I had a little course up there also, and then it just disappeared. They didn't even tell me.

Jill Anderson

Yeah.

ilise benun

I think they told you, right?

Jill Anderson

They must have because I found out somehow. And then I wrote a blog post and a newsletter about how I got kicked off Skillshare. And then it was really popular because people were like, "Oh my God, I can't believe it." And it was a redemption of like, "Ah, Skillshare." So maybe I shouldn't promote that that's a place to go.

ilise benun

But I think, if I remember correctly, the idea there was let's test the idea of just creating content or a course that you would then make available to the public before you did your own thing with your own idea.

Jill Anderson

Yeah. I mean, definitely. I learned from it and went through the process. Still happy about it. They kicked me off. I had these videos, so now they're just for free on my site. I should probably market those again. It's been a while.

ilise benun

Maybe that's your next product. Is there a next product in your future? You've learned a lot, you like this one, but enough.

Jill Anderson

Yeah. I really just want to focus on this product, the “Client Onboarding Toolkit,” for now just because I feel like there's more to do with it.

ilise benun

Like what?

Jill Anderson

As far as promoting it. I think that could be ongoing forever. So I don't have any products necessarily in mind. I mean, I have ideas, but I'm just going to stick with this promoting the Toolkit for now; see how it goes.

ilise benun

Yeah. And when you say, “there's more you can do with it,” do you mean there are more platforms to upload it to or more with the existing platforms?

Jill Anderson

More platforms. Also, sometimes I think that just getting it featured on some blogs would be nice. Really just getting it out there more.

ilise benun

Influencers, maybe.

Jill Anderson

Yeah. Yeah.

ilise benun

And what about a Black Friday sale, Jill? We were talking Black Friday. Cyber Monday is coming up soon. What are you thinking about that?

Jill Anderson

I think that's a great idea. Very timely. So I think with this podcast and getting some information out about it and doing a sale would be great.

ilise benun

Your cat agrees.

Jill Anderson

Oh my gosh, yes. [Laughter] She's old and she's just meowing.

ilise benun

Aww.

Jill Anderson

Sorry.

ilise benun

That's all right. No problem. And what about other affiliates? Have you used that approach? Because that's the one that often people ask me about or think they can make a lot of money with. They'll just create their own marketplace and sell other people's stuff. What's your position on that?

Jill Anderson

So I have an affiliate program for my Toolkit, which you're an affiliate, a few other folks. I probably could promote that more. And I guess, are you talking about the flip side of that where somebody's an affiliate marketer and they put their courses out, put other people's content on their site, and then try to sell it that way?

ilise benun

Yeah, basically.

Jill Anderson

I mean, there's plenty of businesses that do that. I think you have to have a really specific audience and a good marketing funnel in place. Just because you build it, doesn't mean people are coming.

ilise benun

Right.

Jill Anderson

There's work there to be done, like anything.

ilise benun

My last question for you, Jill, is the question I've been asking everyone at the end, which is: is there a baby step you can suggest for people who like this idea of having a product, and realize it's not all that passive but there is a passive aspect to it, and want to move in this direction? What should they do first?

Jill Anderson

So, I would say, just start. Not necessarily all the planning around it—which could be starting—you know, you make a plan. But just start doing something, that's starting to pull together content or writing one blog post, some kind of action you're doing that's moving towards there actually being a product. Yeah. And then making time to actually work on it, if that's an hour or two hours a week, or five minutes a week. Whatever, just do something in that whatever time you can, consistently. Eventually you get there. Might take three years or more. But it will happen if you're consistent.

ilise benun

Well, and I love the fact, the honesty of: it took three years and I've been promoting it for three years and that's essentially five or six years now, and I've made $10,000. That's not nothing.

Jill Anderson

Yeah. I know. And it's 20 bucks here, 15 bucks here. It doesn't seem like that much, but then you look back, you're like, "Wow, I've really done something with this." Hope I make another $10,000 in the next five or six years.

ilise benun

Why not?

Jill Anderson

That would be awesome.

ilise benun

Excellent. All right, so tell the people where they can find your Onboarding Toolkit.

Jill Anderson

Sure. So it's on my website, jilllynndesign.com/onboarding.

ilise benun

And we will link to that, probably with my affiliate link in the companion blog post. And we'll also share some of the marketplaces that you have uploaded it to so people can see those.

Jill Anderson

Yeah, get a bit of a discount there.

ilise benun

All right. So thank you so much Jill, as always, for sharing what you've learned, and I will see you soon.

Jill Anderson

Thank you, ilise.

ilise benun

You see what I mean, now, about passive income? Jill has the right attitude: persistence, one step at a time, $15 here and there, it all adds up.

So for the baby step, Jill suggested just starting. Do something. Start creating the content and/or building your list. And to do that, you have to carve out time to work on it. Otherwise, it's going to be one more of those things on the back burner that you never get to.

So did you learn a little something? I hope so, because that's how this works, one baby step at a time. Before you know it, you'll have better clients with bigger budgets. Speaking of better clients, they're probably not going to fall in your lap. That's why I keep hawking my Simplest Marketing Plan. If you want to build a thriving business on your own terms, watch for the brand new version coming in 2023. It will be simpler than ever. Get on the list to hear about it by signing up for my Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor at marketing-mentortips.com. That's marketing-mentortips.com. I'll be back soon with more conversations with creative professionals who are doing what it takes to ditch the feast or famine syndrome. Until next time.

* This article was originally published here

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