At some point in every nutrition entrepreneur’s journey, you realize that your income potential is limited by the number of hours you can work. If you’ve maxed out your work hours, passive income can help you earn more without trading time for money. Your website is all you need to get started. Here’s what you need to know about passive income for dietitians.

What is Passive Income?

Passive income refers to money you earn consistently with little or no effort. To dietitian business owners who spend hours each week marketing, seeing clients, and charting, that might sound like a dream come true.

However, the term “passive” is a bit misleading. Nearly all forms of passive income require an upfront investment of time and, sometimes, money. And to keep things running smoothly, you must periodically market, monitor, and tweak your passive income strategy. 

For most dietitians, passive income won’t replace your current income. But it can provide an additional revenue source, allowing you to earn more without adding more hours. Or you might work fewer hours and maintain your current income. 

Another important reason to consider passive income is that it offers some freedom. The extra cash you earn allows you to take a vacation or time off when needed, invest in other areas of your business, or cover yourself during slow business periods.

Passive Income Options for Dietitians

There are numerous passive income opportunities available to dietitian entrepreneurs. Some require more time and expertise than others. But often, those that require more commitment will pay more. Here’s an overview of some popular options and what you need to get started.

Ad revenue from a blog

If you have an active blog on your website, you can run ads on it. You’ll earn money when people visit your blog to read an article or recipe. 

How it works: 

First, you must join a digital ad network for bloggers. They’ll place ads on your website and pay you per 1,000 page views. Most ad networks require you to have a minimum number of visitors each month, and there’s an application process. Google AdSense is a free-to-join ad network with no page view requirement, but it pays significantly less than others.  

What you need:

You’ll need a business website with a blog (or a stand-alone blog) with lots of content in your niche. You should also do a deep dive into SEO and keyword research to ensure enough people find and click on your content.

Online courses or programs

If you have a specific nutrition niche, it might make sense to package your content into an online course that users can access anytime. 

How it works:

With an online course, you produce your content once and sell it repeatedly. Online courses are an excellent option for clients who want to work with you but prefer to do so on their own time and at their own pace. 

What you need: 

You can use a third-party course platform like Teachable or host your course on your website using a plugin like Memberpress. There are pros and cons to both, so make sure you do your research. You’ll also need to create a sales landing page on your website and an email marketing campaign to attract people to your course sales page.

Digital products

With digital products, you typically earn less money per sale compared to a course, but they are faster and easier to produce. 

How it works:

Digital products can include meal plans, guides, eBooks, cookbooks, or anything else valuable to your audience. You can sell these on your website.

What you need:

Canva is an excellent resource for creating digital products. It’s easy to use and offers a range of PDF templates for different types of projects. In addition, you’ll need an e-commerce solution on your website or through a third-party platform to collect payment and allow users to download your file (I currently recommend PayHip for getting started; we use Thirvecart here at WBDS).

Affiliate marketing

Consider affiliate marketing if you often recommend certain products like supplements, cooking or kitchen tools, or athletic wear.

How it works:

With affiliate marketing programs, you earn a commission for selling another company’s products. Examples of affiliate programs for dietitians include Fullscript for nutrition supplements, Amazon for kitchen appliances, or Lululemon for athletic clothes and yoga gear.

What you need:

First, you apply to affiliate programs that align with your niche and audience. Once you get accepted, they’ll provide a link with a unique tracking code for your website. When your clients or readers click on that link, it sends them to the product page to purchase, and you’ll earn a commission. Affiliate marketing can work well if you have lots of traffic to your website.

Brand sponsorships

Many dietitians partner with brands in their niche as a spokesperson or brand ambassador. These partnerships can pay a monthly retainer or a flat fee per project. Brand partnerships can require quite a bit of time and work on your part, so the income really isn’t passive. But it’s a nice way to supplement your nutrition client work, and it often opens the door to other media and business opportunities for dietitians. It can also increase your visibility, drive more traffic to your website, and boost some of your other revenue streams – saving you time on marketing yourself.

How it works:

With a sponsorship, a brand pays you to promote a product through content on your blog, on the brand’s website, or in the media (online or paper publications, radio, or television.). 

What you need:

Brands work with dietitians who are experts in their niche, have an active following on social media, and have a media presence. You’ll need a website, an active blog, and social media accounts highlighting your expertise and the value you can bring to a brand.

The Bottom Line

Passive income streams are an ideal way to supplement your current income but don’t expect to get rich quickly. Most of these take time to set up, and whether you want to sell digital products or attract your favorite brands, you’ll still have to do plenty of marketing. 

If you’re starting from ground zero and have passive income dreams for the future, the best thing you can do first is to have a well-designed website in place to build your email list, create sales landing pages, and kick off that marketing. You can try several different forms of passive income to see which is most worthwhile — or run them all simultaneously. 

I always recommend nutrition entrepreneurs focus on more active income streams first (selling services, consulting, etc.) to have income coming through – and work on building your passive income streams next. There’s no perfect timeline or formula for this – it’s based on how much income you need, how much time you have, and what your goals are.

I hope this article gave you some ideas for passive income streams you can begin working on. And if you’re in need of a website that will be that foundation for building your passive income channels – check out our program, The Dietitian Website System!