{"id":21194,"title":"Work smart, not hard: passive income tips with Ryan Hogue","description":"The Teemill platform is optimised to give you everything you need to secure a stable passive income and make a positive impact on the world at the same time. We sat down with Ryan Hogue, passive income expert and YouTuber, to chat about how to make the most of everything inside Teemill. Check out this video and blog to learn how some of the top stores are using their chosen marketing channels and the tools inside Teemill to grow their brands, from search engine optimisation to social media.","content":"<p>Passive income is a term on everyone\u2019s lips, the silver bullet to a life spent doing what you want to do, when you want to do it. The <u><a href=\"https:\/\/teemill.com\/sign-up\/brand\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Teemill<\/a><\/u> platform is optimised to give you everything you need to secure a stable passive income and make a positive impact on the world at the same time.<\/p><p>We sat down with <u><a href=\"https:\/\/ryanhogue.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ryan Hogue<\/a><\/u>, passive income expert and YouTuber, to chat about how to make the most of this opportunity.<\/p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GjT38BpHfWQ\/?modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;controls=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;vq=highres\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><p>Those 20 minutes give you everything you need to get started with your passive income business. No time to watch the video? Here are some of the key takeaways if you\u2019re looking to make passive income online:<\/p><h2>Find your niche, do it your way<\/h2><p>Looking at the biggest brands in the world, two things stand out: branding and marketing. We can all quote a few brand mottos and recognise iconic logos. This is what makes a brand unique. Don't believe us? Check out <a href=\"https:\/\/vm.tiktok.com\/ZMFdfh21a\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">this video<\/a>...<\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/lqdcg2oa89jgv3gd26y6xgpnf1pzpullt0xq0yyksui2kqqb.png.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"104586192\"><\/p><p>Doing this successfully depends entirely on your audience, so step one is to <u><a href=\"https:\/\/teemill.com\/blog\/how-to-get-your-first-sale-online-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">figure out what your brand is about<\/a><\/u>, who you\u2019re talking to and where you can find them. Then, you can move to step two, identifying the most effective channels to use to grow your brand.<\/p><p>Teemill is built so that anyone can use it to make money online, sustainably \u2013 which means a whole load of different people and companies use it. The good news for you is that means we have a ton of examples of people creating successful businesses in different ways, and a host of tools you can use to do the same. We take on the practical stuff like manufacturing and fulfilment, to leave you enough time to do what only you can do: setting up your brand, and marketing to customers. Keep reading to see how other people have done this and some of the tools they use.<\/p><blockquote><p><em>\u201cDistil things down into the action items and then find the most efficient way of getting it done.\u201d \u2013 Ryan<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><p>If you\u2019d like to reach a wide audience looking for specific designs, you can focus on <u><a href=\"\/blog\/?search=SEO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">search engine optimisation<\/a><\/u> and keyword research. <u><a href=\"https:\/\/teemill.com\/blog\/how-to-do-keyword-research\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Find trending keywords<\/a><\/u> and phrases and create designs to preempt what people are searching for.<\/p><blockquote><p><em>One of the top performing Teemill stores went from 1k visits to 21k in the space of a month, using <a href=\"\/blog\/?search=SEO\">SEO<\/a>, with a <a href=\"\/blog\/?search=conversion+rate\">conversion rate<\/a> of 7.5%, over three times the industry average.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><p>Teemill has a built-in SEO tool, <u><a href=\"https:\/\/teemill.com\/teerank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Teerank<\/a><\/u>, to help your products get found online.<\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/b4amsdmmsa33yq0byjde9rafe63ypolbmth22ftawdpogwwl.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"104587118\"><em>-- Wanting social media fame and international recognition? <u><a href=\"https:\/\/teemill.com\/blog\/get-celebrities-to-wear-products\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Send your tees to celebrities<\/a><\/u>. Photo: Branded and Moniker<\/em><\/p><p>Sometimes the best way to get lots of people to hear about your business is to go old school. A feature in mainstream media can help catapult your brand into public consciousness, and create a buzz that will send people directly to your site. Teemill-powered store <u><a href=\"https:\/\/brandedandmoniker.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Branded and Moniker<\/a><\/u> bagged a feature on This Morning that grew their website traffic over 600% in a single month. The key was the personal connection between their designs and the personalities they reached out to, creating a personal connection and, in this case, a funny photo op. Getting noticed by people with a large following takes creativity and perseverance, and the rewards reflect that:<\/p><blockquote><p><em>Months after the feature, the store still sees 5X the profits it did before.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/5qr1o3tayveyvwiclg2vheg2qvs2l1z2fx1dnxtcb64fbiit.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"104586899\"><em>-- Knowing your customer means you can get the right designs, products and <a href=\"\/blog\/?search=photography\">photography<\/a> in front of the right audience. Photo: <u><a href=\"https:\/\/deguisementclothing.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Deguisement Clothing<\/a><\/u><\/em><\/p><p>The more you understand your audience, the better and more targeted your marketing can be \u2013 which means less effort for you, with higher rewards. A small streetwear brand started by two students has seen success by harnessing <u><a href=\"https:\/\/atlas.teemill.com\/blog\/tiktok-for-business-marketing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the power of TikTok<\/a><\/u>, where they knew their audience would spend a large chunk of their time.<\/p><blockquote><p><em>Following a TikTok which reached 350K views, the brand saw a 34X increase in traffic compared to the previous month. 3 months later, they hit their 1000th sale.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><p><u>Tools to try out<\/u><\/p><p>Teemill includes a whole suite of tools you can use to make the most of your marketing, and see success like the Teemill stores we highlighted above.<\/p><p><u><a href=\"http:\/\/teemill.com\/teerank\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Teerank<\/a><\/u> \u2013 conduct keyword research, get content and design ideas<\/p><p><u><a href=\"http:\/\/teemill.com\/posta\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Posta<\/a><\/u> \u2013 create socials posts using premade editable templates<\/p><p><u><a href=\"http:\/\/teemill.com\/masterplan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Masterplan<\/a><\/u> \u2013 plan your marketing campaigns, signpost launch dates or other important deadlines<\/p><h2>Keep your customers engaged<\/h2><p>Once your store is set up and you\u2019re marketing it to the world, it\u2019s time to think about what happens when you do get a customer. Reactivating an existing customer is <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/jiawertz\/2018\/09\/12\/dont-spend-5-times-more-attracting-new-customers-nurture-the-existing-ones\/?sh=65dd18185a8e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">five times cheaper<\/a><\/u> than attracting a new one. So when people come to your store, and especially when they make a purchase, you have a great opportunity to increase their value to you by ensuring they come back. The best way to do this is through <a href=\"\/blog\/?search=teemail\">email marketing<\/a>.<\/p><blockquote><p><em>\u201cIf I had to choose one or the other, I\u2019d rather have an email list than a website.\u201d \u2013 Ryan<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><p>The good news is, you don\u2019t have to make that choice. Our <u><a href=\"https:\/\/teemill.com\/teemail\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Teemail<\/a><\/u> tool allows you to communicate with your customers and send them product announcements, new campaigns, blogs and other content.<\/p><blockquote><p><em>Top stores across the platform can get up to 60% of their sales from people who have made a purchase in the past.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><p>Creating newsletters means reaching an <u><a href=\"https:\/\/teemill.com\/blog\/building-a-brand-community-online-following\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">engaged community<\/a><\/u> in seconds, for free. It doesn\u2019t get much more straightforward than that.<\/p><h2>Start simple, keep testing<\/h2><p>To make passive income, you need to find ways to make a small amount of work go a long way. That means only doing what you really need to, outsourcing the rest, and just deciding that some stuff isn\u2019t worth doing at all.<\/p><p>When you\u2019re starting out, keep it simple. Start with a free Teemill account, a quick store and only a few designs. Some of the top performing stores only have one design. Teemill is made to help you do less, but better, and it has thousands of templates and designs already built-in to get you started.<\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/ox3cr6bigtnq0ftkxikl7ijsfye6fkb3saerhyzuz9w1vpic.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"104587199\"><em>-- The t-shirt design for the Choose Love campaign was simple, but impactful. The charity saw over 100 thousand sales of this great <u><a href=\"https:\/\/teemill.com\/blog\/how-to-make-great-slogan-tees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">slogan tee<\/a><\/u>.<\/em><\/p><blockquote><p><em>\u201cYou don\u2019t get bonus points for taking 10 times longer to create a design if you can create one that\u2019s just as good in 5 minutes.\u201d \u2013 Ryan<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><p>Passive income is all about optimising to get the best results from the least time and effort, and Teemill is optimised to help you make a successful <a href=\"\/blog\/?search=ecommerce\">e-commerce<\/a> store. So work smart, not hard, and enjoy the journey.<\/p>","urlTitle":"passive-income-with-ryan-hogue","url":"\/blog\/passive-income-with-ryan-hogue\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/passive-income-with-ryan-hogue\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/teemill.com\/blog\/passive-income-with-ryan-hogue\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":{"id":1,"name":"Everywhere","code":"everywhere","created_at":null,"updated_at":null},"createdAt":1663938933,"updatedAt":1667887231,"publishedAt":1663944353,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":12,"name":"Teemill"},"tags":[{"id":30,"code":"marketing","name":"marketing","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/marketing\/"},{"id":347,"code":"ecommerce","name":"ecommerce","url":"\/blog\/tagged\/ecommerce\/"}],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/kvx7nsy3icgpds9wobuj4guvrcq99hs8t3xvisaz29t2glta.png","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/kvx7nsy3icgpds9wobuj4guvrcq99hs8t3xvisaz29t2glta.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/kvx7nsy3icgpds9wobuj4guvrcq99hs8t3xvisaz29t2glta.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"Ryan Hogue interview: passive income tips","metaDescription":"Passive income expert and YouTuber shares his top tips on making passive income online. Get insight from case studies on the best tools and marketing to use.","keyPhraseCampaignId":4224,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":40,"title":"Streetwear photography inspiration from Nocturnal Creature","url":"\/blog\/streetwear-photography-inspiration\/","urlTitle":"streetwear-photography-inspiration","division":12,"description":"Instantly recognisable by their unique and edgy style, Nocturnal Creature's photography is fresh, fun and real. 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