That’s not personality with a little “p”, as in characteristics of individual behavior…I mean Personality with a big fat “P”, as in celebrity. Everyone has a personality, but famous folks are a Personality.
And with my Passive Income Glasses on, I view that as a problem. As an entrepreneur can be caged by their business because they don’t delegate and outsource day-to-day tasks, a Personality is worse off because they can’t delegate or outsource their role.
They are their job. Their job is them.
Think about it: What if Rachael Ray got sick, or just sick of cooking, and stopped doing her cable shows? Rachael is the shows and the shows are her. If she is paid per show like most TV actors, then she doesn’t get paid if she’s not in front of the camera.
However, among other things, Rachael has written and published umpteen cookbooks. As the author, she likely receives royalties—a small percentage of each and every book sale…forever. Here are some thoughts, ideas, and a fine example on how we can build this scenario for ourselves.
Getting Over Beyond Ourselves
Like Rachael, we must extend our business beyond ourselves, even if—especially if—we are the business and the business is us. We need to ensure we’re paid even when we’re removed from day-to-day operations, whether we’ve chosen not to do our work or we find ourselves unable to.
Think on these—
- Rachael isn’t the first or only celebrity chef to publish books or license her persona: Julia Child also wrote best selling cookbooks, while Wolfgang Puck’s name and face are on a dozen bottles and boxes in the grocery.
- Movie celebrities have a long history of insuring their signature body parts for up to 8 figures. Notable food critics insure their taste buds, dancers insure their legs, female strippers insure their boobs, and some male stripper insured his nethers.
- Even way-minor celebrities have to manage extraction from a business that’s closely tied to their personality. When Lisa of Hungry Girl wanted to get clear of her Monday-Friday ezine, she queried her readers for a writer who could mimic her tone and style.
With these in mind, here are a handful of ways to extend our businesses beyond ourselves. Each can take a variety of forms and some or all can be combined for a portfolio of continuous hands-free income:
- Write a book
- Package a process
- License or patent
- Teach others how
A Fine Example
Jim Horan of the One Page Business Plan is someone who assembled all of these. He started with a process for developing concise and effective business performance plans, then extended his consultancy beyond himself by:
- Writing books
His One Page Business Plan books are well-rated sellers at Amazon. Cleverly, he composed a 4-book series by directing his one process at four different groups—non-profits, consultants, creatives, and financials. The examples are specific to each group, but the core content is the same. - Packaging his process
In addition to his books, Horan packaged his process into retreats and workshops, as well as a web-based system with enterprise software and graduate school level e-learning. With these, his process is executed by certified facilitators and proprietary technology—totally hands-off continuing income for him. - Licensing his work
The One Page Business Plan site labels Horan’s process as “proprietary methodology” and his licensed consultants and international affiliates prove this to be true. Anyone who wants to resell his process to their clients has to pay up. - Teaching others how
Consultants wanting to resell the One Page Business Plan process pay a pretty penny for training and certification, as well as annual license renewal. But like any franchise, licensees benefit from his established brand and overall marketing, and get some support for training, sales, and demos.
A Few Notes
- At the heart of it, Horan has only one product. One. There’s no madly varied suite of offerings here, just his one great idea configured, presented, and earning in a myriad of ways.
- Horan’s collection is crafted for many spending levels and audiences. His books cost around $25, his smallest license and certification program costs $2,800 with a $250 annual renewal, and his executive certification program costs $10,000.
- Horan’s site says he has over 400 licensed consultants out there. Even if they’re all at the lowest consulting tier (and I’d bet they’re not), the $250 annual licensing fee comes to at least $100,000 each year.
- The production, marketing, distribution, and sales of Rachael’s books are delegated/outsourced to a publisher and partners who share her income, and are therefore dedicated to her success. Yum-O, indeed!
- If you haven’t already, catch Our Freedom at Work and James Hipkin‘s great comment on resolving how there’s only so much of me to go around.
Et tu? Do you have a plan in place, or in action? Did this spark an idea, or give you a push? Lemme know down below…
