8. The Passive Income Paradox

I want to delve into a topic that has gained tremendous popularity but often comes with misleading messages: the Passive Income Paradox. Today, we’ll have some real talk about the misconceptions surrounding passive income and why it’s time to shift our mindset toward predictability. In our quest to scale our businesses, passive income stands as one of the most coveted methods. Who wouldn’t want to make money while sleeping or leisurely sipping a margarita on the beach, as influencers would have us believe? However, the unfortunate truth is that many people misunderstand what passive income truly entails. Creating a sustainable “passive income” stream requires consistent effort, whether through investing time or money. It’s crucial to dispel the misconception that passive income equates to a lack of involvement or work. In this episode, we will explore the nuances of predictable income and uncover the steps necessary to establish a reliable revenue stream. By embracing the predictability mindset, we can navigate the Passive Income Paradox and pursue a sustainable path to financial independence. We’ll cover:

• Shift from Passive Income to Predictable
• Leveraging Your Existing Client Base to Fuel Predictable Income
• Sources of Predictable Income
• What about a Nutrition Concierge Program?

Shift from Passive Income to Predictable

Here’s the key distinction – ‘passive’ often implies an absence of effort, whereas ‘predictable’ acknowledges the initial work and ongoing maintenance but emphasizes the steady, reliable nature of the income. So, predictable income is not about working less; it’s about working smarter. A product, offer, or service that generates PREDICTABLE income can give you the freedom to work ON your business rather than constantly trying to recruit MORE business. You still have to work but it’s different and it allows you to focus on your work rather than recruitment 24/7. That’s why memberships and recurring revenue products are such powerful tools for entrepreneurs. And sometimes it’s not about creating a sparkly new offer before creating a new product, service, or offer, you may want to improve your client retention first. One of your Key Performance Indicators for your practice should be tracking the ratio of returning clients to new clients. Why? Because having a healthy balance is the best way to support predictable income.  

Leveraging Your Existing Client Base to Fuel Predictable Income

Aim for a 50/50 ratio, 50% new clients and 50% returning ones. It’s a sign of a healthy practice. Now you might ask, why is this ratio ideal? Well, let’s break it down. The returning half of the equation signifies that you are providing an excellent service, one that your clients see value in and want to continue investing in. You want this to be above 50%. Note that it will never be 100% but keeping it between 50-60% is ideal and achievable.  This is the root of predictable income in your practice. It means that your clients trust you and your expertise, and that’s why they choose to come back. This group of returning clients also acts as your safety net during slow periods when new clients might not be coming in as frequently. If your retention is low [high attrition] you need to improve this first before considering any new offer that will generate predictable income. On the flip side, having a steady stream of new clients implies that your marketing efforts are working and you’re continuously expanding your client base. These new clients hold the potential to become a part of the returning crowd, further boosting your predictable income stream. Our professional training often focuses more on serving our “new” clients and on taking them through an evidence-based framework of medical nutrition therapy to help them achieve their desired health outcomes. But, then what? Do we stop serving them and continue to just seek more and more new clients? Well, only if you want to get on the fast track to burnout. How do you continue to serve them beyond their initial success and leverage their satisfaction into more business? We all know that behavior changes don’t usually stick initially and require added support, so what offers and services do you have in place to support these new clients in their maintenance phase? If you can answer these questions you already have sources of predictable income and you just need to capitalize on them. If you don’t have support in place, this is your opportunity.

Sources of Predictable Income

In Episode #2, we talked a lot about generating a steady income stream by focusing on the top of your funnel and attracting new clients. Predictable lead generation leads to predictable income. But here I want to turn your attention to all those clients you have already served and how you can serve them value to fuel a steady stream of income that requires a little less of your time. I want to pause for a second here to address pricing and charging existing clients for additional services: If you have established yourself as the expert guide on their journey to wellness and a reputation for delivering value, you can likely charge for maintenance services. If you are just getting started or have yet to establish a solid client base, you may not have success out of the gate with this. But don’t worry, you can offer complimentary services to keep clients engaged. Why would you do this? A few reasons. Because past clients who are engaged and satisfied will always return for more of your paid services. Also, if you take insurance, clients might max out their reimbursement after your initial sessions and may not want to pay for added services until their insurance cycle begins again. Offering a variety of options, both free and paid, might be the best way to serve your entire population of past clients keeping them engaged until they are ready and or able to pay for more services. Now back to our discussion on sources of predictable income… In order for income to be predictable, the value you deliver ALSO needs to be predictable. You’ve heard me say it before, consistently delivering value is one of the most important aspects of scaling your business. If you can’t provide continued value to your clients, they’ll fall off your radar. Of course, delivering value takes work. It takes time and effort to identify what your clients need and want, and then deliver on that promise. The good news is two-fold: 1 – with existing and previous clients, you already KNOW what they need and want and they already know, like, and trust you 2 – with our membership, you already have access to everything you need to put together valuable offers There are, of course, our usual suspects for offers that support you with generating predictable income – let’s review them quickly here then I’ll present something innovative that you may not have considered: Create an online course or program:  This could be a self-guided program or a series delivered via live video, email, EHR, or a learning management platform. You already have access to done-for-you courses and materials to fill them so think about how you can deliver the most value to your clients and support them in maintaining the transformation they have already achieved. The key to making the success of this product PREDICTABLE is to run a few beta programs with existing clients and figure out what works. FYI – it’s never the first time. Listen to Episode #6 for more details on launching a course. Offer a challenge:  Similar to a course, a challenge has a defined beginning and end and is shorter in duration. It typically requires more work from you in that you have to show up consistently throughout the challenge, but it’s for a short period so might be doable. Five-day challenges that precede a particular “season” that your clients encounter can be really powerful. For example, “Back-to-School” is a “season” many clients might be experiencing in August and September each year. Think about what tools and services you could provide your clients to help them during this time. For example, a 5-day challenge for Getting Family Meals to the Table Fast. Think of seasons as periods of time when your existing clients need additional support from you. For example, if you serve people touched by cancer, maybe a “Post-Chemo” nutrition series would be helpful. If you serve couples undergoing fertility treatments, perhaps a “Pre-treatment” series to support optimal nutrition going into treatments. Develop a bundle of products:  There is a STRONG trend right now to offer kits and guides. This could be e-books, handouts, videos, or other digital products that you bundle to focus on a key topic of interest to your ideal client. For example, Your Ultimate Gut Health Toolkit, which might include an ebook, cooking video, recipes, and meal plan. If you have achieved a certain level of influence, you will be able to charge for these. Now, for the innovative idea…

What about a Nutrition Concierge Program?

Let’s take the lead of our physician colleagues here. Concierge medicine has been around for a while and is a business model that provides doctors with a predictable income stream and allows them to focus on quality over quantity when it comes to patient care. A concierge fee could be in addition to other charges, or it may be the physician’s only charge. This fee is used for a variety of services that may not be covered by the patient’s insurance. A concierge program can include your initial consultation, thereby adding more value to your service. You could offer three months of nutrition concierge services as an add-on to your initial appointment and then after it for a reduced fee as ongoing support. Your concierge program extends your support for an existing client and includes services such as… Special Curated Content: Each month, curate and deliver valuable content that aligns with your client’s unique nutritional needs. This might include educational articles, infographics, handouts, ebooks, instructional videos, and cooking videos that address their specific concerns. Supplement Recommendations and Protocols with a 30% discount [through Fullscript]: Based on your expertise and understanding of each client’s health status, you can provide tailored supplement recommendations. This allows clients to feel confident they are supporting their health with the right supplements. Provide education around each recommendation, such as the vitamin and mineral handouts in your library. Mini Courses: Each month, offer a new mini-course for your clients. These could cover topics like understanding food labels, portion control, mindfulness eating, meal prep hacks, and simple culinary videos. These courses will provide continuous learning opportunities for your clients, adding immense value to their membership. Curated Meal Plans: Each client will receive a personalized meal plan according to their specific nutritional needs. These meal plans, complete with grocery lists and personal notes from you, will take the guesswork out of healthy eating for your clients and help them maintain the journey toward better health that they started with you. Meal Kit, Meal Delivery, or Local Dining Recommendations: Support your busy clients by doing research for them. Offer monthly recommendations for meal kit services and maybe even discounts [most meal kit and meal delivery services offer discounts for clients of nutrition professionals.] Offer hacks for local menus so your clients can feel free to dine while still staying on track with their health goals. Your clients will thank you! Premium Testing Services: If part of your practice and scope of service includes regular testing, such as hormone testing, you can consider including this in your concierge offer as well.  Monthly One-to-One Consults or Group Counseling Sessions: These are higher value as they require your time and presence, so adjust your program pricing accordingly. You can consider different levels of concierge services with higher priced packages including these types of services. A concierge program like this works best if you are serving a well-defined niche – this way the curated content is scalable, rather than creating all kinds of content for all kinds of clients. You would need to put in the time monthly to curate the content but if you are already a Living Plate Rx member, this burden is significantly reduced.

Content Cure for the Week 

This week I am providing you with The Ultimate Guide to Creating Predictable Income: >>CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR GUIDE<< Your goal for this week is to review the guide and, after evaluating your practice and client base, identify a way in which you might leverage your influence and client success by establishing predictable income. The next time you’re scrolling through social media and you see another influencer or coach promising that you can enjoy walks on the beach and generate passive income with their course framework, just know that there is no one approach that will work for everyone and that true passive income rarely exists. You need to evaluate your existing: and new client ratio, level of influence, practice size, and client base to strategically and holistically create an approach to generating predictable income.

Key Takeaway

True passive income rarely exists. Instead, focus on setting yourself up for generating predictable income with a holistic approach, don’t look for that magic bullet. Predictable income can be generated by paying attention to your existing and new client ratio There are a variety of products and services you can offer your existing clients to generate predictable income. If you are new to private practice or have not yet achieved a level of influence where clients will pay for these services, you can offer them strategically to secure a consistent flow of new leads and clients which also leads to predictable income. Also, consider a Nutrition Concierge Program where, for a monthly fee, clients receive high-value content and attention from you to maintain their success in meeting their health goals with you as their partner. Setting up a passive income stream is a worthy goal. We must reframe our mindset to achieve success in a more realistic and attainable way. Let’s replace the word “PASSIVE” with “PREDICTABLE” and observe the transformation it brings.