It’s another Expert Briefs, where I ask really smart business owners to answer your burning questions.

This week I asked our panel of experts…

“What's something cool in your business that is working really well for you – right now?”

I think you'll find the responses interesting.

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Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts Podcast says:

I've got two words for you: Micro Continuity.

Back in December I sat down with pen and paper, determined to brainstorm and come up with a new recurring income stream.

If thinking hard could produce sweat, I was sweating buckets. I ran through dozens of scenarios, filling sheet after sheet of notebook paper.

Over and over I asked the question, “What do my people need?”

I decided I wanted to focus on a project that would cost $10.00 or less per month and deliver something subscribers would really look forward to and USE.

After coming up empty on my own, I went to Facebook and asked for input.

https://www.facebook.com/kellymccausey/posts/10153781014775227

As you can see, I got a lot of ideas there!

(Always be willing to ask for help.)

One of the ideas that came up had to do with statistics. It strongly considered offering a stats interpreting service – but scrapped the idea as being too time intensive to ever fit in under $10 per month.

Several people mentioned graphics – so I went back to the drawing board and brainstormed ways to meet graphic needs.

I'm not ashamed to tell you I ran through some ridiculous ideas in my head and on paper. I threw away a lot of silly stuff. Every idea was just too time intensive.

More than once I shoved my notebook away and thought, ‘Oh heck with it!'

Every time I felt like giving up I reminded myself:

“Kelly McCausey, if YOU don't keep brainstorming, someone else will stumble upon the profitable idea you quit just short of – so buck up and get back at it!”

Finally, an idea that didn't scream ‘crazy train' started to form and I registered a domain name.

The results?

Click here to see what I came up with.

A mix of information & useful resources, it can be delivered for $10 or less and appeal to a wide market.

Here's the most exciting part, on the first day we welcomed 50 subscribers. Within two weeks We hit 500 subscribers. Feedback has been excellent and cancellations have been very few.

I've brought hundreds of new people into my funnel, I've given my affiliates a way to generate recurring commissions and I'm providing something truly useful. That counts as ‘working really well' in my book.

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Kristen Eckstein of Free Book Promo says:

I've been using various spreadsheets and systems in my business for marketing, promotion, tracking, and more for years. Then when I started working with Nicole I got an idea explosion in my brain to turn each system into digital products for ongoing passive income. I'd never seen anyone sell an Excel spreadsheet before, so I thought I'd try it and see how it does.

I pair each spreadsheet (such as my best-selling Kindle Free Promo System) with a how-to video and sometimes some additional bonuses like a webinar, checklist, mind map, etc., then sell it as an inexpensive $7-27 product. Each system is linked on the back end on the download page to another one of my systems, so I usually make at least two to three sales every time just ONE new person buys one system. It's fun to watch the same name pop up on my PayPal alerts as they go through each system and collect them all.

Free Book Promo System

Now I'm scouring my hard drive for more systems and templates we regularly use in our business to package into products. Some future products will include a social media promotion system, networking tracking system, Adobe templates for book cover designs, and much more.

The best part about this process is I'm also finding new systems I need to implement in my own business, and as I use them and they work, I can turn those into more products. It's an endless web of easy product creation that's generating steady passive income!

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Shannon Cherry of Learn How I Get *Paid* to Attend Events says:

My answer may surprise some.

It's NOT working.

You see, I moved to from New York to San Francisco at the end of December with my family. From Thanksgiving until recently, I have only a few scant hours a week – if at all – it work on my business. And guess what? I continued to make money.

With limited hours, I got ultra focused and only worked on what really mattered to bring in money.

And here are the results since December 1:

• 6 invitations to speak on stage (and sell)
• 2 new sponsors paying me more than $10,000 + merchandise
• 8 New people in my Tweak It and Profit ongoing monthly program (recurring income!)
• 3 new coaching clients at my highest level

And more importantly, I have lots and lots of support from people! That has been the best part!

So try not working… not forever, but for a bit and see how focused you can get.

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Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

I've got a few things up my sleeve right now that have been working really well for me.

Obviously the first thing was FINALLY choosing a new Business Coach for me. That's always a huge deal and I've been looking for a long time for  my next coach.

The second thing for me was realizing that I love to get paid to mastermind with smart people. So I sat down and tried to figure out how to make that work in my best interests.

Here's what I came up with.

• I made my coaching program affordable and tweaked it so that I work with people who I really like.
• When I go to NAMS in Atlanta, I try to see if I can schedule my presentation in the advanced room for Friday morning. Then, at the end of my talk, I announce that I have 12 spots for free 15 minute one-one-one time during the weekend in the Instructors 1-on-1 Room and give those people first dibs – since they sat through my talk. This ensures that I get people who are at a higher level and very very targeted for spending more time with me. I usually fill a few spots in my coaching program during the weekend. If I chat with someone who is a perfect fit, I tell them about the program. If they aren't a perfect fit for me, I refer them to one of the other instructors. Either way, I help them the best I can in the 15 minutes we have together, give them a big hug, and tell them to let me know their progress the next time I see them.

But – that wasn't enough. I wanted to get paid to travel and mastermind both.

So, Kelly and I came up with Beachpreneurs. And that has been working GREAT.

It was a little scary, finding a 9 bedroom house on the beach and renting it for a week without knowing if anyone would come. But it's become a really exciting and fun ladies-only mastermind weekend.

Here's a hangout that Kelly and I did before our first Beachpreneurs weekend last year.

A big part of my decision to run with the Beachpreneurs brand is because my word for the year is “FUN” – so watch for lots more fun headed your way.

And, the last thing that's been working really well? I'll be announcing that soon. 😉

Warmly,
Nicole Dean