Are you ready for a creative challenge for your biz? If so, read on because I’ve got a fun one that I’d like you to join me in!

My name is Meagan & I’m a creative business coach that provides help & advice to moms looking to grow their business & manage their families at the same time. A question that I get asked by a lot of mompreneurs is, “How can I make additional income with my business?”. Oh how I love this topic!

Today I want to challenge you to take a look at your business & ask yourself the same thing. “How can I take one of my current products & create an additional income stream with it?”

It takes some creative maneuvering to take your awesome products & use them to branch out into other sources of income. Here are 5 steps for you to take to create an additional income stream that fits with your  brand & will make you money.

Psst…the challenge is at the end…read on!

 

 

The first step in this process is going to require you to take a good look at your current products & be honest with yourself. Which product lines are doing well & which aren’t? In order to take one product & create a variation of that product, you’re going to need to start with something that people like & want.

In short, it needs to be making you money now if it’s going to have a good chance at making you money in the future.

Let’s say you sell organic cake pops & everyone loves them. You can barely keep up with the orders & people are always commenting on how great they taste & how talented you are. So you decide that you’re going to take this product & turn it into another source of income.

 

 

 

Next you’re going to need to brainstorm creative ways that you can turn your chosen product into another product. Ask yourself these questions.

• What is my product used for?
• Would customers like to make it themselves?
• Would customers like to learn this type of craft?
• Can it be formatted differently?
• Can I combine it with another product that will compliment it?

By answering these questions, you’re trying to understand the very basics of your product so that you can get your creativity flowing & start coming up with all kinds of ways to create additional income out of this one product.

Some income streams you may want to consider are DIY kits, gift baskets, teaching a local or online class, offering a PDF printable, creating an e-book or course, etc. I’m sure you can come up with more!

So as far as our example goes…you sell organic cake pops & people buy them for parties & get-togethers. Now your pops are super detailed & decorative, but you think people would be interested in learning how to make a simple version of them on their own. You’re now so busy that you don’t have time to teach local classes & online classes would be too difficult to put together so you decide to create an e-book that will teach how to make simple cake pops & you’re even going to include 10 basic recipes that your customers love.

 

 

 

Here’s where goal setting comes into play. Write down where you are now – your starting goal – & write down where you want to be – your end goal.

It should look something like this…

{Start goal} I sell organic cake pops.
{End goal} In 3 months time I’ll sell an e-book that teaches how to make simple cake pops & includes 10 of my favorite recipes.

 

 

Once you know where you’re at & you know where you want to be, it’s time to plan out all the steps you’ll need to take to get to the end. Don’t stress out! This is going to go back & forth between specific & ultra-specific. The point is that you want to have small steps to carry out along the way. Once you’ve accomplished one thing, you can look at your plan & you’ll know exactly where to go next. This will be your guide.

Let’s go back to our example! {I love me some cake pops!}

1. I sell cake pops
2. Write out easy to understand, step-by-step directions on how to make cake-pops
3. Compile a list of 10 recipes to include
4. Put directions & recipes in word processing program
5. Research & hire photographer to take photos to go along with directions
6. Schedule day to make cake pops & have photos taken
7. Put photos in word processing program
8. Find fonts & colors I want to use
9. Format book
10. Convert document to PDF
11. Design e-book cover/have cover designed
12. Set pricing
13. Place e-book in shop & on website
14. I sell an e-book – “How To Make Delicious Cake Pops Yourself”

 

 

The last step in this challenge is to share your plans & goals with others. That includes customers, friends, family, business associates, etc.

Let your customers know you’re in the process of writing an e-book on your blog & social media sites. Ask which recipes they’d like to see in the book, tweet about the awesome font you’ve fallen in love with, & ask Facebook fans to vote on their favorite color combos for the book. Converse with them. Let them know what you have planned & that you’re excited about it. You’ll build up their curiosity & get them hyped up for your e-book launch at the same time.

Don’t forget to let your biz buddies in on your plans too. You never know who may have some tips & suggestions for you.

Become accountable by letting others know your plans. That way you’ll stick to it & more than likely get some encouragement at the same time!

Now here’s your challenge…

Complete these 5 steps then come back & leave me a comment letting me know what your inspiration product is with a link to it & how you’re going to turn in into something awesome that’s going to make you more money honey! I wanna know your end goal & once you’ve reached it, I’d love to see your final product {or hear about it one!}

I know the holidays are coming up & you’re busy, but go ahead & plan to start this project after the New Year. Write it down in your calendar now so that when the time comes, you’re good to go!

Okay, so join in & let’s get creative in our creative businesses!