When I started this journey in 2011, I had a dream of building a “passive” income online business. I wanted to have membership websites, courses, and everything passive so that I could make money while I slept. I read the Four Hour Work Week and was determined to live that kind of lifestyle. It took doing the actual work to realize that even in passive income, there is active work. If I was going to build an online business that supported me and my family, four (or even 40 hours) was not going to cut it at times.
Today, I operate what I call a “lifestyle” business. The idea is to build a business that supports the kind of lifestyle you want to live. The “life” part comes first. A lifestyle business has some passive income elements but also active. It’s a business that involves writing, speaking, coaching, consulting, digital products, travel, and lots of relaxing. Today, I want to break down some of the main elements of a complete lifestyle business. I hope it helps as you build this year.
Traditional Online Parts
These are the things you would normally think of in an online business. You have a website setup that talks about your topic and who you are. You start to build your social media presence and email list. You build an audience and social proof as an expert. You start to sell different online offerings in different ways. You might run some Facebook ads, do a webinar, or use live video (which is popular right now). A complete lifestyle business needs the online parts because passive income is nice and it’s good to have multiple streams of income. That’s how you create stability in your life and business.
Services
Here you might offer coaching or other services depending on your topic. There are all kinds of services to offer in a lifestyle business and they can bring you a great income. Coaching was my #1 income source for a long time. This year, it’s consulting by far. Services are the natural place to start and make serious income in the beginning. As you grow, you might scale back because services take up so much of your time. A complete lifestyle business will have some kind of service’s offer.
Paid Speaking
This is one area that too many entrepreneurs avoid or don’t know how to make work. You, as an expert through your life experience, can speak at conferences all over the world. You can get a generous fee and all of your expenses covered. This is where the travel can enter your lifestyle business. Paid speaking is something that should be a part of your lifestyle business—even if it’s just local gigs. How do you get booked? Find conferences and pitch them. Yes, there is more to it, but at its core, that’s what you’re doing. Again, multiple revenue streams are needed. If you have not considered paid speaking, I challenge you to spend some time thinking about it and then start researching. It can be a profitable addition to your lifestyle business.
Paid Consulting
This is my favorite area of a lifestyle business right now. The opportunity to go into a company, train them on your topic, and walk out with a $15,000 check is super fun. The opportunity to travel to companies all over the world has made this year interesting. Paid consulting is something you can do. You can start small with local companies and grow it to a worldwide part of your lifestyle business. There is more profit and more opportunity than the online stuff, which is kind of saturated. You should have all the elements and this is one that should not be ignored.
I love lifestyle business. I love the freedom it provides and the lifestyle it can lead to.. Build your lifestyle business to have multiple streams of income and multiple opportunities. Don’t limit yourself because you can do and experience things you didn’t know were possible.
Are you building a complete lifestyle business?
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In late 2012, I booked my first “official” consulting gig with a local McDonald’s franchise owner. He hired me for some social media consulting. I didn’t know much about much, but I was happy for the opportunity. I did a good job for his business and he referred some more opportunities to me.
That little $500 contract led to years of pitching and landing consulting gigs. All of that has led to being booked at 23 companies in 23 different countries this year.
Paid speaking and consulting all over the world can be an amazing addition to your lifestyle/online business. You can travel the world teaching on topics you’re passionate about.
I can teach you how to book paid gigs. I want to show you exactly how to get hired as a worldwide speaker and consultant. My “Get Booked” opens for registration on Wednesday (tomorrow). If paid speaking and consulting are some of your goals this year, check out the details of the class: https://kconstable.com/
Thank you for this brilliant overview. Helps put things into perspective for those of us just starting out.
Aloha William. I’m glad you found it helpful.