The Magic of Passive Income: How My Business Thrived During My Maternity Leave
Hello everyone! It's been a while, but I'm back with an incredible story to share.
To catch you up, I recently had my first baby. As a generally organized person, I had grand plans for my business before maternity leave: hiring someone, scheduling blog posts, and essentially getting all my ducks in a row so that my business would run smoothly while I was gone. However, due to a challenging pregnancy and our baby's early arrival, none of these plans materialized. So as I went off on maternity leave, cherishing those newborn cuddles, I accepted that my business would be on hold and would require extra effort to revive when I felt ready to return.
Six months later, I summoned the courage to review my business finances and analytics. I braced myself for the possibility that the business I had worked so hard to build might have completely crumbled. Instead, something remarkable had happened – my business had continued to thrive, generating a steady income even while I was knee-deep in diapers and midnight feedings.
Now, I’m not encouraging you to just walk away from your business for several months and expect everything to be fine when you return. If possible, I strongly recommend setting your business up for success so it can run smoothly while you are away. However, it is nice to know that there are safety nets you can put in place so your business can thrive despite all the things life may throw at you.
“What did you manage to do before you went on Maternity Leave?”
Even though my little one arrived earlier than expected, I did manage to get a few things done before I went on leave:
I updated my plugins and demo websites so that they were as up-to-date as possible.
I turned off my 1 on 1 services and booking pages so no one would book appointments while I was away.
I managed to schedule a few blog posts so that new content could be added to my website and YouTube channel while I was away.
I set up an autoresponder on my emails so that clients would know when they could expect a reply.
I also added a popup, announcement bar, and a message on my shop page on my website so that visitors would know I was away before they purchased anything. I didn’t want any clients to buy from me and then feel abandoned if they emailed for help.
I accepted that my business income would dip and gave myself some grace for not being able to follow through on the rest of my plans.
“Did you do any work while you were away?”
I had planned to ease back into work after three months, but as any new parent knows, babies have their own schedules! When I did start dipping my toes back in:
I answered some emails focusing on clients who asked for help with Plugin purchases or my Encyclopedia.
I responded to a few comments on my website and YouTube.
I participated as an affiliate in Paige Brunton's launch which required me to schedule a few emails and answer any questions that came my way.
I tried doing a few coaching calls but quickly realized I couldn’t guarantee that clients would have my undivided, uninterrupted attention. So, I put them on hold again.
“So, your business (and your income) nose dived, right?” - WRONG!
Now, here's where it gets really interesting. Let's look at the numbers:
Website Traffic
Dotted Line: Jan 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023
Solid Line: Jan 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024 (Maternity Leave)
My website traffic stayed relatively the same until around March when it dipped significantly. This can be completely attributed to my blog posts. Remember those posts I had scheduled out? They helped keep my website traffic up to its usual numbers. Once those ran out… my numbers dropped. My older posts did keep some traffic coming in, but having new, high-quality content regularly published on my site would have kept my traffic consistent.
YouTube Channel
My subscriber growth, watch time, and impressions were slightly lower this year but remained fairly consistent. However, my revenue increased dramatically compared to last year - WHAT?!
If I had scheduled more video tutorials for my blog, it would have helped maintain my subscriber growth, watch time, and impressions. Nevertheless, my older content did an excellent job of keeping my metrics stable.
The significant increase in revenue could be attributed to a strategy change during the latter half of 2023. After noticing a substantial drop in my CPM, I focused on creating videos and content to improve it. My efforts paid off, continuing to thrive even when I wasn't regularly posting new content.
Email Subscribers
My email list continued to grow, thanks to the freebies on my site, my newsletter, and blog opt-ins. In fact, I gained more subscribers from January 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024 than during the same period in 2023.
Income
When I finally got up the nerve to look at how much my business had brought in while I was soaking in the newborn snuggles, I was shocked. Even though my website traffic had dropped, I was not pushing sales, posting on social media, or publishing new blog and YouTube content, my income only decreased by 9% compared to the same period in 2023!
“But if you weren’t working, how did your business make money?”
Passive Income! Passive income is money that keeps coming in even when you're not actively working. Sounds like a dream, right? Well, it kind of is! Here's what was keeping my business afloat while I was away:
Jan 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024: Breakdown of Income by Source
YouTube
Most of my blog posts have an accompanying video that is posted on Youtube and then embedded in my blog. At the time, this was one of the only ways to embed a video in Squarespace. So several years ago, I decided that since I was already putting the time into posting videos on YouTube, I might as well learn how to monetize my channel. Now, my YouTube Channel and Blog are like the Energizer Bunny – they just kept going and going. The content I'd created months (or even years) ago continued to attract viewers and readers and bring in a consistent stream of income.
Plugins + Coding Encyclopedia
My biggest source of passive income is my Squarespace Plugins and Coding Encyclopedia. My plugins are always available and continue to be discovered and purchased by people who need them. My Encyclopedia is only available a few times a year but continues to bring in money from payment plans and subscriptions.
Affiliate Income
And let's not forget about affiliate income. Those product recommendations I'd made in the past? They were still bringing in commissions, even though I wasn't actively promoting anything. I also participated in an affiliate launch which required me to schedule out a few emails and then brought in a fairly consistent stream of income for several months after.
The magic of passive income is that the time you put into it continues to be fruitful for a long time after. Some income streams are more reliable than others, but overall, the passive nature of these revenue sources kept my business alive and kicking even when I had to take a step back.
Major Takeaway
If there's one thing I've learned from this experience, it's this: adding passive income to my business helped my business thrive even while I wasn’t actively working.
Now, I'm not saying you can just set it and forget it. If I stopped completely, eventually, the income would drop off. But passive income is much more reliable than trading time for money.
Remember, life is unpredictable. Building passive income streams is like creating a safety net for your business and your peace of mind.
So, there you have it – the unexpected magic of passive income. Who knew that taking time off to welcome a new life could lead to such valuable business insights? Here's to the power of working smarter, not harder, and creating a business that supports your life, whatever it may bring!
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