Resources Page: Make more passive income from your website
You've clearly clicked on this blog post for a reason and my guess is you'd like to make more money with ease in your business... am I right??
Well today's blog post is going to help you do exactly that by using your website to creative passive income. HOW? I hear you cry... A RESOURCES PAGE
What is a resources page?
A resources page is a page on your website which pulls together your favourite links and resources which your audience might find useful.
You have also seen it be called a 'favourites' page or a 'tools' page which includes a bunch of links of products/software that that business owner loves.
The magic of this page is that you don't have to promote it, it is simply a page that exists on your website that users will stumble across if they're especially engaged with you and your website - making them the most likely to buy.
What can you include on your resources page?
You can truly include anything you want on your resources back. Some of the most common things to include on a resources page include:
Your own free resources e.g. freebies/lead magnets
Your own low-cost digital products
Links to your most popular blog posts/podcast episodes
Your favourite tools/software you use in your own business
Favourite products that you use everyday
Courses that you've taken and recommend
I would encourage you to most importantly consider your audience.
For example if your primary audience is business owners, including links to your favourite accounting software and Canva would make sense. But if your primary audience is busy mums, it is probably less relevant.
Another example would be if you’re a nutritionist or health coach, linking to your favourite supplements with discount codes will probably generate more results than your go-to stationary brand.
The key thing here is to only include resources that you genuinely use and recommend. You don’t want to end up in a sticky situation where you link to something you cannot vouch for, and it comes back to bite you in the butt.
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How can a resources page make you passive income?
A lot of us business owners have resources that we could monetise into digital products but never do, or affiliate links that we never share. Your resources page is the perfect place to host these so they have a home and actually start getting found by your audience.
The art of an effective resources page therefore is to make sure that you include AFFILIATE links and your own paid digital products.
DON’T just include links to any and every product you enjoy, like your favourite coffee maker or a niche software that is specifically for your industry. You need to start thinking strategically about what you could include that will actually make you money and be useful for your audience.
What paid digital products could you create for your resources page?
When it comes to creating digital products, you don’t need to go creating things from scratch. You probably already have a bunch of things in your business that you could monetise. For example:
Resources/worksheets you give to your clients.
Could you create a mini course based on blog posts you’ve already written?
Do you have any old freebies that you no longer offer but could sell for a low cost?
Recordings of old masterclasses you have run.
There is no need to go creating a whole library of paid products overnight. In fact, I don’t recommend tens of products because it will just confuse your audience. Pick a few strategic products that will be the most appealing to YOUR audience.
Mistakes to avoid!
Here are two of the most common mistakes I see people making when it comes to their resources page:
Do NOT include links to products/software/courses that you don’t have an affiliate link for OR you haven’t actually tried and tested. There is no point driving traffic away from your website, if there is nothing in it for you, or if the product could negatively impact your reputation.
All links that are taking users off your website to another website should open in a new tab e.g. an affiliate link. You don't want to lose that traffic altogether by sending them to another site. Make sure that when someone clicks on a resource, it opens in a new tab and your website stays open in the background. This helps to increase your chances of users coming back to your website and picking up where they left off.
Always Include an affiliate disclaimer - it is super important that you make it very clear to users when something is or isn’t an affiliate link. Take a look at Tonic’s example below which showcases how you can make it really clear to users.
Example Resources Pages
Louise Henry - Fave Tools
Louise Henry is known for supporting small business to grow using courses to create passive income. She has a ‘Fave Tools’ page on her website which not only acts as a source of passive income for her, but also an incredibly useful and relevant resource for her audience, who get to see “behind the curtain” of what she uses to run her own online business.
Tonic - The Tonic Toolkit
Tonic is a website template shop that uses their toolkit page to promote their website templates and their favourite tools. They even include discount codes for their audience to make the tools even more appealing. Importantly, they include a very clear affiliate link disclaimer to make it very clear to users that they may make money if they choose to purchase through their links.
Launch The Damn Thing - My Favourite Things Page
Launch The Damn Thing is a fellow website designer and educator who has a unique resources page in that it is structured almost like a shop. Users can filter by price, categories and sort them alphabetically or from oldest-newest etc… This page is only ever linked on the footer of her website so it doesn’t distract from the other pages on her website, but if someone was really snooping around they could easily stumble across it.
Next Steps
Your next steps are to have a think about what resources your audience could benefit from, but also that you could make a passive profit from.
If you would like some help setting up your resource page in just HALF A DAY, then you might benefit from a design and tech day with myself. A Squarespace web designer for service providers and small business owners. Take a look at my services here or find out more about me here.
