When it comes to your business, you should always be on the lookout for byproducts. Every single business has a byproduct in some way or another that, when treated properly, can add a huge boost to your bottom line. Even people who have hobbies that they do for fun (as opposed to profit) have opportunities to capitalize on their byproducts. In some businesses these byproducts are obvious, in others they may take a little bit of thought and investigation before they really become clear.
Many people have already heard the story of Kingsford Charcoal… For those who haven’t, it’s a little known fact that it actually started as Ford Charcoal. When Henry Ford built his automobile plants, he built saw mills to create the wooden parts that went in to his Model Ts. The saw dust and wood chips would begin to pile up. Henry quickly looked for a way to dispose of all of this scrap and, in doing so, learned all about the methods of compressing it and turning it in to charcoal. Henry Ford discovered a byproduct to his main product that turned in to a multi-million dollar business of its own. In the 70s an investment company purchased the charcoal portion of the business and renamed it Kingsford Charcoal.
The story of Kingsford charcoal may be an obvious example of a byproduct. They had factories and the excess wood chips just piled up. They had to stare at them everyday which eventually led to their idea. How do you spot byproducts, however, if you have no visible waste? What if you’re product is a digital product or even a blog?
Believe it or not, The WordPress Classroom began as a byproduct… I’ve been blogging since about 2006 with various other niche blogs. I learned how to monetize my blogs and make some extra cash back in 2007. I was going to build my online income through blogs alone because I had a few of them and I was good at it. Then one day, someone asked me, “Why aren’t you recording this process and teaching others how to blog?” That was a huge “Aha” moment for me. That was when I realized that I can be good at one thing and produce a byproduct by teaching others as I go along. The WordPress Classroom was born.
I don’t care what business you are in or which niche you chose to work in… Your business has byproducts. Have you ever seen DVDs of behind the scenes footage of musicians in the studio or musicians on tour? Those are byproducts of being in that industry. Have you ever gone to a live seminar and seen someone recording the seminar from the back of the room? They are creating a byproduct to sell later. Are you a dentist or a doctor or a mechanic? Is there any reason you can’t record your craft (with permission from your clients) and sell the videos as training material or use videos to overcome objections to people using your services? All of these ideas are potential byproducts of exactly what you’re doing right now. Even non-paid gigs can produce byproducts. Are you in to model planes, quilting, cooking, dirt bikes, or any other fun hobbies? Create a blog all about your hobby! It’s what you love doing, you’ll have no problem talking about it and engaging others. All byproducts.
My final example is what I’m doing right now… I’m in the process of creating a new site called LearnToBlog.com. During the entire process I’ve been turning on my screen capture software and explaining every last step that I’m taking to get this business online. I’ve recorded information about how I landed the domain, info about how I designed the logo, info about how I had the theme designed, info about having the theme coded, details about how I set up the affiliate program, how I protect the content, how I create the tutorial videos, and so on and so on… I’m thinking that, when all is said and done, I’ll be able to make just as much on the training of how I developed LearnToBlog as I did on selling subscriptions to the program itself. We’ll see.
The point is that there are byproducts that can be converted in to cash. It doesn’t matter what your business is or what your hobbies are. There are ways to squeeze some extra money out of what you do. Sometimes the byproducts just take a little hunting before they really become apparent.
Do you have any more examples of byproducts? Please leave some comments. I love the feedback!
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Hi Matt,
You’ve really put things into perspective for me. I always have a bunch of good ideas but never thought about making them into products that I could make money from.
Basically I have one product out there in the ether and have not sold many of those. So now you’ve inspired me to get off my butt and put some of these ideas down on paper, put some sales funnels together together and get to marketing.
Thanks,
Jay
Hi Matt,
Great post and very timely! I have just begun to think of byproducts. I often think — oh, no one would care about this, or everyone knows how to do this, but I think your post is a good example that this is not always the case. Thanks for pushing me to explore my own byproducts. -Norene
Hi Matt, Thank you for that post, I suppose that most just don´t think in that way, you have inspired me to start and do something like this myself.
Thanks again. Wolfgang
Hi Matt,
I really like what you’re saying here. I’ve got a glass etching business that my wife and I have been running for about 6 years. It started out as a hobby but quickly turned into a business. We’ve been talking about creating training videos, since there’s only one real set of training videos out there. I’ve also been thinking of creating videos on how to market your hobby/business online locally as well as internationally. Basically, we’re going to put together a full business system for those that are interested in this hobby as a business. What do you think?
Hey Matt,
After just conducting an interview with Jay Boyer…he opened my eyes to a fantastic by-product for info marketers….amazon books. We all have the products sitting around on our drives, and if we just had them transcribed….we could do some editing and have our own books available for sale.
Pretty cool.
Also…I’ve been offering “by-products” of my knowledge. Whether it’s consulting, website setups, creating videos…I’m putting the offer out there and getting people to buy. So, that’s pretty cool also.
PS…thanks for the charcoal example. never heard of that one.
Brandon
Hi Matt,
as they say – the best idea is most likely the simplest.
The idea of looking for by-products that just “happen” along the way while doing/creating something else is brilliant.
Especially online there are so many opportunities to do that, with “how to” manuals as there are lots of people wanting to learn more about it.
I will start looking differently at my own business to find some byproducts that I can market in the future.
Thanks for a great post!
Hi Matt
Ye, can really relate to your ideas about how to create product. And of course having a blog is a great way to keep a record of what is going on and how your business progresses.
I’m at about where you were 3 years ago I reckon LOL So it’s interesting to see your path. I’m feeling that most people just keep at it until suddenly something turns a light on and they find what works for them. I currently have fingers in a few pies but also love the way we can communicate in blogs.
I notice that you’re not in Networked Blogs and wondered what your thoughts are on that.
Hi Matt,
This is an interesting post.
There are times when my knowledge can be used to help others in the Internet Marketing arena. Since I’ve been marketing for over 5 years now I’ve gained a lot of experience that I’m willing to pass on. Maybe now is the time to get that started.
This is great information and I believe you have given me some needed encouragement to get it done.
Thanks,
Mike.