A similar topic to this came up a few years back,
but was derailed off topic quickly, here's a more specific question.

What sources have you found or built in your business that's cultivated
passive Income?

To avoid confusion I'm defining "passive Income" as Income you make from an
investment that you don't actively work for,(beyond the initial work and investment)
for example, bonds are a type of passive Income, so is some real estate (if managed by someone else).

Some folks include "side hustles" as passive Income, I don't because you
only earn it when you actively work for it, not exactly passive,

In entertainment this could be like one guy I know of that rents his theater to other acts when
he's not using it.

some folks have made YouTube videos that still get views, (and therefore revenue) 10 years
after they first made it.

I'm primarily asking about entertainment business, but if you've had more success with
other passive Income sources feel free to talk about them.

For some more examples of passive Income in the magic business specifically,

when you make a new download on penguin magic, people are still buying
and downloading it years later, that is a sort of passive Income.

a product can sometimes be as well, if your not involved in the manufacturing of it.

When criss angel released a magic kit a few years back, to my understanding his day to day
involvement with selling those props was minimal, he probably made a lot of passive Income.

many magicians have licensed there name and likeness to products they have little to do
with selling.

just throwing out a few more examples, maybe someone will get an idea about revenue
sources they haven't considered before, I'll probably post more later.

ps, my definition of passive Income is more broad than the irs, some of these may not count
as passive for tax purposes.

Interesting topic. In many I coach or consult, this is an area where I help many eventually get to because for most perofrmers, if their performing stops, so does their income.

I have long had several sources of both active and passive income aside from my performing. Active obviously includes coaching, consulting, training and education. I have released just over 100 books, courses, modules, and reports on entertainment business and entertainment business opportunities. One of the markets I specialize in is the school education market of which I have both active and passive elements established.

I have a course on the real inner working of the school/education market. Understanding that over 975 pf entertainers and speakers that think they know the school market don't or have an incomplete or completely incorrect perception and understanding of the school market, this is one of those courses that is worth many times the cost of the program. Almost everyone that uses it earns tens of thousands of dollars per year, some easily breaking 6-figures.

In addition to that, I license 5 of my school programs to different speakers or performers most of the time offering exclusivity on their area, state, or region.

Other active means are my other business - production company, entertainment agencies, modeling agencies, press and media company, promotional company, among others. I also have training, education, coaching, and courses on starting an entertainment agency or becoming an agent or producer.

My books and courses have been longtime passive sources that will continue even after I am gone. I have other IP that will do the same. I also have two productions that tour regularly and are licensable.

Many performers have a hard time looking beyond themselves and their performing. Good topic. I hope you write more as you mentioned. I too would like to hear from others.

Thanks for the input,
that's quite a lot of different revenue sources, (both active and passive)
if you don't mind me asking, has any other sources been able to
compare with you performing Personally?
Feel free to ignore this question if you want.

As for another example, probably the magician that targets passive Income
the most that I know of is Asad chaudhry, some folks here may know him
as the guy from the "52kards" YouTube channel.

Early in his career, he leveraged his YouTube fame to start a e commerce site,
the 52kards website sales tricks and decks, from asad and others.

although he's "creative director" to my understanding he's not running the
day to day operations, here's a video where he talks a bit about it,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AcuCrkIYJk

Note, I don't know him Personally, and obviously I'm not
aware of his business dealings directly.

Sorry, that question was miswritten, should read,
"How has these other revenue sources compared to you performing Personally?"

I really need to proof read things.

Its rare that I'm asked about my personal preferences or opinions as I always operate from the professional perspective which is why I was asked to be here originally.

Personally, if you know my background and story, we had a family act when I was 12/13 years old. My parents were our managers. By the time I was 16 we relieved them from their duties (yes, we fired them!) As a kid I was always infatuated with the behind the scenes aspects of entertaining - managers, agents, producers, promoters, publicists or press agents as they were called back then. I loved any bit of information I could get. So my entire life I have had this inner battle between being the entertainer, and the behind the scenes business operations.

Throughout my entire career I always had this back and forth. If I was perfoming and on the road for too long, I missed the managing, booking, producing, and promoting back in the office (long before cell phones and then internet.) If I was conducting business, maintaining business operations, or producing behind the scenes for too long, I'd miss and start craving being back on the road performing.

When we relieved our parents from their duties, I became our agent and manager. I soon realized it took the same time, effort, and expense to promote my act as it did to promote another couple or few acts. So I began representing and producing others as well. This became the birth of my first agency. Ever since I still crave the same balance between performing and running my agencies, production companies, coaching, and consulting.

Revenue wise, they are pretty close as well. My performing pays very well due to the performing markets I work. Yet my agencies and production businesses can and do generate more revenue than just my performing. I enjoy the revenue balance as well. They are both equally fulfilling.

I enjoy my coaching and consulting and training the best of all as it allows me to work with and help others and apply the knowledge I have acquired over then decades, as well as much proprietary entertainment business content I've created which is unavailable from anywhere else.

The pandemic was the first time off from performing in 42 years. I really enjoyed it, but was glad to get back to performing.

You said duty.

Apologies for the personal question then.

firing your parents, and becoming a manager at 16 is impressive,

can you imagine if keith partridge fired Shirley?
it might have lasted more than four seasons...

Anyway, one of the things mentioned above reminds me of one
entertainer, (not sure if he's a public figure so I won't use a name)
who works in trade shows.

This guy doesn't work as an entertainer exclusively, he also tries to sale
his expertise as a "marketing specialist" advising exhibitors on everything
from displays to sales personnel.

he also sales books and other things to exhibitors.

this isn't exclusive to trade shows, there's party planning, wedding planning, etc.
where such services could be sold.

But these services, though possible sources of revenue, aren't exactly passive,
you still only get the revenue when you actively work for it,
it's really upselling,

so why do I bring it up? as a cleverly disguised segue, into the next topic,
partnering with other services.

some folks reading this may already be doing this, for example, working with
a face painter, upselling the others services to a client for a percentage
of profit.

but many services could be partnered with for the mutual benefit of both,
from bounce house operators to corporate sales trainers.

such revenue would be a form of passive Income in my mind.

ps, I have nothing against Shirley jones.

Shirley would be happy to hear that I'm sure.

No problem with the personal questions. I must say I glanced over the story a bit. After letting our parents go we went through 2 (and almost 3, the last one lasted only 3 days) other managers and/or agents. We only enjoyed moderate success with these guys and were actually having to tell them how we needed things done. It was very frustrating. It was this frustration that led to me after two years saying "we'd be much better off and save 20-25% by just doing it ourselves." So at 18, I did.

I don't think Keith would've had the ba**s to fire Shirley. Laurie or Danny would've had to do it, lol. What's funny about your reference, is, as I mentioned I consumed anything I could on agents, managers, producers, promoters, and other behind-the-scenes industry personnel, I remember enjoying seeing the manager as part of the Partridge Family, and the whole aspect of Reuben Kincade.

Partnerships can be good in some instances. I've always found one party is usually better served than the other though. I see this work better with other types of performers than with magicians. Magicians are weird as they don't mind being un-unique and being interchangeable for the most part. Some do, the majority don't. They are also typically lousy business people and have little knowledge or understanding (or true interest) in the operations and real interests of others. It's a weird empathetic kind of thing. So most magicians I've seen approach these deals from what they hope to gain or get from the arrangement with little effort or true understanding in creating success for the other party(s).

This is one of the reasons my agencies have always been successful is that we operate from the performer's perspective, interests, and point of view. We are truly equally as concerned with the talent as we are the client. That is the only way partnerships, referrals, and relationships work is there has to be actual effort and work put into a system and creating the dual progress on a daily or regular, consistent basis. Many people use the term a "win-win" deal or proposition. Few can deliver on this or really truly understand it. I have found this is the only way partnerships can succeed to any decent return level and in the long term.

Yeah, it was a stretch to refer to it as passive Income,
but in my defense, I was running low on examples.

I can tell you've spent time with magicians due to
your accurate description of many.

As for partnerships, if a deal isn't mutually beneficial,
it won't last long, when making a deal it's usually
better to figure out what the other guy wants
out of it and appeal to that.