122: My Top 5 Sources of Recurring Revenue

As I ask in the introduction to Free Time: What revenue streams are in that oh-so-sweet-spot of profit, ease, and joy in your business? Recurring revenue is one of the holy grails within a sustainable, scalable business. It’s an area that I have focused intently on since 2015, so in a follow-up episode 112: My 3 Biggest Business Regrets, today I’m sharing more about the recurring income streams in my business. The primary recurring streams of income in my business are (in order of size):  Corporate licensing, primarily of the Pivot IP  Coaching powered a network of subcontractors My private BFF community Royalties from my three books (not much, but they still count!) and LinkedIn Learning video courses Podcast ad revenue, and  Affiliate sales (okay, so I snuck in a sixth! These aren’t quite recurring on a monthly basis, but a small-yet-active ongoing activity)  Some of these are more passive than others, but together they combine to create a diversified business model that supports both Fortune 5 clients and “Fortune Five Million” as the basecamp founders would say :) 🌟3 Key Takeaways: You can batch service delivery like you batch other tasks. Consider putting all of your coaching (or equivalent!) calls on certain days of the week or weeks of the month to maximize your free space. Sometimes “passive” income is really just asymmetric income, where you front-load the effort, and see the results later on. Ideally, a business will have a small mix of recurring opportunities so you’re never completely dependent on a single stream or client. I aim for three primary focus areas when it comes to recurring revenue: licensing, coaching, and community.  📝Permission: To renegotiate how you invoice clients, shifting from one-off project-based billing to recurring retainer-based billing. You might be surprised at how much easier this makes things for your clients too, by reducing decision-fatigue and scheduling complications!  ✅Do (or Delegate) This Next: Reevaluate one of the revenue streams in your business: How could you “productize” a service, making a one-off or ad-hoc stream more predictable by shiting it toward a subscription model?  📘Books Mentioned: Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business  Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One Subscribed: Why the Subscription Model Will Be Your Company's Future-and What to Do About It Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You 🔗Resources Mentioned:  Jordan Gill’s Systems Saved Me Free Time Programs: BFF Community, Free Time Operations Dashboard, Voxer Coaching Waitlist Turning the Flywheel (Monograph) 🎧Related Podcast Episodes:  112: My 3 Biggest Business Regrets  Pivot 066: Create Multiple Streams of Income with Dorie Clark 016: IP Licensing with Lee LeFever 111: Building a Second Brain with Tiago Forte Pivot 283: What Are You Here to Do? How to Find a Path That Fits with Adrian Klaphaak Pivot 288: Embracing Uncertainty — Mic Flip with Adrian Klaphaak 💻 Access Free Time episode transcripts on Podscribe »  🌟Enjoying the show? The best way to thank us is by leaving a rating or review. ❤️Consider joining Jenny’s private BFF community, where you’ll get access to a monthly Q&A call, a private podcast feed with bonus content, and a community forum to exchange ideas and feedback with fellow Heart-Based Business owners.  💌 Subscribe to the Time Well Spent newsletter: http://itsfreetime.com/join 🛠 Get instant access to the Free Time Toolkit: http://itsfreetime.com/toolkit 💬 I’d love to hear what’s on your mind! Take the Free Time listener survey ☎️ Submit a voice question or comment for future episodes: http://itsfreetime.com/ask 🎧 Make sure you’re subscribed wherever you listen to podcasts 📝 Check out full show notes and links from this episode and share it with a friend! https://itsfreetime.com/episodes/122 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices