Ep# 079: Creating Multiple Revenue Streams with Natalie Sisson

Once in a while I have someone on the show and their message and their mission so deeply resonates with what we’re doing here at Scaling Up. I had one of those moments when I talked to Natalie Sisson.

She’s just a true representation of a bootstrap entrepreneur because she has done it all, and she has done it all by pulling up those bootstraps and making it happen. She’s a two time best-selling author, she’s a podcast host with over 1.5 million downloads, she ditched corporate and started a tech company, then she monetized her blog, and she developed a multiple six-figure online education platform with eight different revenue streams.Natalie is the perfect person to have on to talk about all things having to do with having multiple channels of income flowing into and through your business.

If you don’t want to be a one-trick pony with a weak foundation (you don’t!) and you’re ready to learn how to develop more income streams into your business, tune in!

In This Episode, We Chat About:

How Natalie Monetized Her Business in the Beginning Stages

“The quickest path that I know to revenue when you have nothing is: you need a way to be able to be paid instantly, and for me that was coaching. I had enough credibility by then by blogging pretty regularly and free ebooks I put out, and I then turned one of those ebooks into a paid product. So I had a very small digital product that people would buy and then often from there they would approach me about coaching.” [This is a brilliant example of an Ascension Model of offerings. Learn more about this by listening to episode 76: Launching + Selling Out Your Programs, Services, + Offers!]

“Every single thing I did on my blog around content and getting those blog posts out --> led to more organic traffic --> led to more people opting in → led to more people purchasing those digital products and also wanting to work with me as a coach.”

We All Have Parts of Us That are Monetizable

“Every single one of us is unique. What I think people overlook is: okay, maybe you have some of the same experiences in terms of career or profession that others have, maybe you have some of the same skills -- maybe you’re great at Facebook ads, maybe you’re fantastic at singing, maybe you’re great at organizing events, other people have these skills for sure. But what nobody else has is the unique experience of the skills and the life experience that you’ve had… Nobody has the unique combination of your experiences, skill set, and your own personality.”

“There’s something that will draw people to you and I, that will draw others to somebody else. That’s the beauty of this. There’s more than enough people to go around. It’s all about whether the people relate to you and resonate with you, and if you’re in the trenches with them, you’re even more relatable and likeable.”

The Importance of Multiple Income Streams

“You don’t want to rely on just one income stream, because if something happens and you’re the unique person behind that, you’re the sole provider who can make that happen and you don’t have a business that is systemized and somewhat automated, you’re screwed.”

Different Sources of Income for Natalie:

Affiliate Sales
Digital Products
Online Courses
Podcast Sponsorships
Speaking Gigs
Book Sales
Coaching
Memberships

Shifting Your Business Model to Support Your Goals

“Ask your community, your audience, your email list where they’re at and what their challenges are. Because they will tell you what they need. And then you get to decide which of those things you can actually teach, what you’re skilled in, which of those things is going to be easy to create a product/service/offering around.”

“If you’re stuck in a service-based business model, you’re actually in a great place to pivot because you have all of these people you’re serving one-on-one; ask them what they need!”

“I think it’s a beautiful thing when you hit that divergent moment, and you choose the path that’s going to have more resistance, but be more fruitful over time.”