Passive Income Unlocked or Passive Income Unlocked Protocol is an online course created by Jeff Bridenstine and Ben Esman. This workshop teaches you how to create a recurring passive income stream by building data-driven niche websites. It will show you the exact framework Jeff and Ben used for their business model, including their popular informational site, mybackyardlife.com.
According to a study conducted by Ahrefs, a successful niche website can earn between $200 and $1,000 per month within the first year. Income School also revealed that a niche site with 50,000 monthly page views and posts that are 8 months or older earns an average of $2,815 per month. Jeff and Ben claim their niche sites have generated a monthly income of $60,278.05, with over 1 million page views.
While these numbers suggest significant earning potential, starting a niche site business also imposes several risks. This includes dealing with fragmented markets, unstable or unpredictable cash flow, limited monetization opportunities and scaling difficulties. Building and growing a niche site also requires time and ongoing effort. On average, it takes 9 to 12 months to see consistent search traffic.
Let’s find out if Jeff and Ben’s online course can really help you earn passive income. We will break down the coverage of their workshop and present you with some case studies. I will also discuss the pros and cons of this course to help you determine if this business model works for you.
Passive Income Unlocked Review: Pros and Cons
Pros
Affordability: The Passive Income Unlocked Protocol is more affordable compared to similar courses.
Successful Course Creators: Jeff and Ben have a proven track record in building profitable niche sites.
Easy-To-Follow: The course has a smooth content flow. I like how they presented the modules. They are well-organized and easy to apply.
Honest Marketing: Their sales page is straightforward and honest. They didn’t use any misleading promotions or marketing tactics.
Focuses on Producing Quality Content: Unlike most traditional courses that require SEO and other more technical strategies, Passive Income Unlocked Protocol focuses only on building high-quality niche websites to create a passive income stream.
Cons
It’s a New Course: It’s still a new course, so we need more time to quantify success.
Need Improvement on Functionality: There’s no search function or text versions of video modules, making it difficult to find specific lessons.
No Success Stories: I wrote this review just a few months after Jeff and Ben launched their Passive Income Unlocked Protocol. As of now, there are no success stories or reviews about the course yet.
Price
The Passive Income Unlocked Protocol costs $350 for a lifetime membership, $150 for an annual subscription and $90 for a 6-month subscription.
Refund Policy
You can request a 100% refund via email within 30 days of the purchase date of the course.
Reputation
The course was created in 2023.
Reviews
The Passive Income Unlocked YouTube channel has 3.76k subscribers.
What is Jeff Bridenstine and Ben Esman’s Passive Income Unlocked Protocol?
Jeff Bridenstine and Ben Esman’s Passive Income Unlocked Protocol is an online course that teaches you how to build a profitable niche site. This workshop covers comprehensive lessons about starting a niche site business, including niche selection, creating a topical map, choosing high-performing keywords, creating quality content and monetization.
The Passive Income Unlocked course also covers some basic affiliate marketing lessons like adding an affiliate link strategically, finding a profitable affiliate program and different ways to earn more affiliate income.
3 Ways To Monetize Your Niche Site Using Passive Income Unlocked
1. Display Ads
This is where most of the revenue will come from. According to Jeff, display ads are the most basic way to generate revenue with niche websites. He also pointed out that many people don’t like building informative niche websites because they usually require more traffic to generate income from this method.
In the 17th module of Passive Income Unlocked, Jeff teaches different ways to boost your earnings from display ads. He further emphasized the importance of producing multiple pieces of content, despite the small earnings, as they will add in time.
In the final video lesson of Monetizing Your Site, Jeff highlights the importance of using an ad-inserter tool. He will also show you how to use this tool strategically to boost your earnings.
2. Affiliate Marketing
Another way to monetize your niche website is through affiliate marketing. You can promote other people’s products and services and earn a commission for each purchase from your affiliate link. On average, you can get 5% to 20% commission from affiliate marketing. Jeff will also teach you how to maximize your affiliate links by becoming an Amazon Associate. You will learn more about this in the Monetizing Your Site module.
3. Digital Products
Finally, you will learn how to create and sell digital products through your website. Jeff will show you the step-by-step process for creating templates, eBooks, PDFs and other profitable digital products. You can sell these products directly from your site or offer them as incentives so that people will sign up for your mailing list.
Who is Passive Income Unlocked Online Course for?
The Passive Income Unlocked is for beginners, but some experienced site builders may also benefit from this course. This is not a digital marketing course and won’t cover and technical strategies like SEO or link building. It focuses more on creating results-driven niche websites and on how to monetize them. So, if you’re already an expert, consider looking for more advanced and technical courses.
What is Included in the Passive Income Unlocked Course?
Jeff Bridenstine and Ben Esman’s Passive Income Unlocked Course Curriculum
Jeff and Ben introduce themselves and their business model. This section also shows you the recommended tools to help you get started.
Welcome to the Passive Income Unlocked Protocol [1:48]
A 10,000-Foot of View Approach [1:18]
Using the Passive Income Roadmap [4:52]
Using the Workflow Tracker [4:52]
Accessing and Using the Private Community [12:04]
A Quick Overview of the Sites Used During the Course [2:26]
This section focuses on niche selection. Find out how Jeff and Ben choose profitable niches for their sites using their customized checklist. They will also teach you how to use ChatGPT to generate niche ideas.
Why Niche Selection is So Important? [5:21]
How to Use Niche Selection Checklist? [18:43]
How to Choose a Niche [8:17]
Generating Nice Ideas with ChatGPT [7:10]
Topic selection is also vital in building a successful niche website. In section, you will learn how to curate your topic list accordingly.
How to Find Topics [17:08]
Creating a Topical Map [10:42]
Using Topic Clusters [10:52]
This section is a step-by-step guide to conducting in-depth keyword research. Jeff will teach you how to select high-performing keywords within your topics to boost visibility and rankings.
Finding keywords [17:08]
Keyword Research Step 1 [6:07]
Keyword Research Step 2 [24:!3]
Keyword Research Step 3 [33:40]
Keyword Research Step 4 [44:36]
Learn how to analyze your competition and use it to your advantage. Jeff explains the importance of this process. He will also show you how to evaluate your competitors by using the checklist provided.
Competition Analysis Overview [1:35]
How to Use the Competition Analysis Checklist [3:03]
Evaluating the Competition [49:02]
How to Use the Competition Analysis Checklist 2.0 [8:55]
Identifying Red Flag [8:38]
Evaluating the Competition (Using the Competition Analysis Checklist 2.0) [71:41]
Choosing a domain name is also crucial to the success of your niche site. This section will help you come up with the best domain name ideas for your website.
Choosing a Domain Name [2:24]
How to Use the Domain Name Selection Checklist [3:47]
How to Come Up with Domain Name Ideas [3:31]
Generating Domain Name Ideas with ChatGPT [5:39]
Jeff and Ben will discuss some key pointers when buying a domain name and hosting to avoid future problems.
In this section, you will learn the basic structure of a post, creating compelling headlines and different linking strategies.
Creating a Post [15:59]
The Basic Structure of a Post [20:51]
How to Write a Good Headline [23:47]
Adding External Links to Your Posts [14:59]
Adding Internal Links to Your Posts [41:13]
Make your content more enticing by adding visuals. Apart from adding and optimizing images, this section also covers how to track articles that need images.
Images Overview [2:21]
Downloading and Adding Images [3:15]
Tracking Which Articles Need Images [3:33]
This process will help you gauge the success of your niche sites. Find out how to leverage Google Analytics to improve your strategies.
How to Monitor Your Progress - [3:45]
Configuring Google Search Console - [8:38]
Configuring Google Analytics - [5:55]
Getting the Most of the Workflow Tracker - [12:18]
Updating the Analytics Tab on the Workflow Tracker - [6:08]
Discover other ways to generate more traffic to your site without using SEO or PPC.
How Long It Typically Takes to Rank a Brand New Site [2:07]
How to Request Manual Indexing [1:58]
Alternative Sources of Traffic [2:48]
Creating Topical Relevance on Your Site [2:44]
Attracting Social Shares and Backlinks [2:06]
Increasing Pages per Visitor Using Tag Pages [9:52]
Finding Low-Hanging Fruit with Search Console [10:07]
Jeff explains the importance of outsourcing content in this business model. He will also discuss when and how to outsource content production. Outsourcing content is the key to turning this business into a passive income stream.
How, When and Why to Outsource Content [19:14]
This tutorial will help you create a custom homepage step by step.
How to Create a Custom Homepage [35:19]
Learn how to calibrate your site’s page speed for enhanced user experience.
Page Speed Overview [4:04]
How to Check Your Page Speed Scores [5:54]
Improving Page Speed with Plugins [6:32]
Discover different ways to monetize your site. Jeff will teach you some tips to maximize your niche websites and earn extra money.
Ways to Make Money from Your Site [5:39]
Display Ad Options [8:58]
How to Increase Your Display Ad Earnings [3:30]
Adding Amazon Affiliate Links [1:40]
Other Ways to Earn Affiliate Income [3:19]
Creating a Digital Product [18:26]
Improving Monetization with Ad Inserter [23:00]
Keep in mind that the dynamics for building and maintaining niche sites may change. Jeff and Ben will show you how to update and improve your content for better results.
Improving Old Content [3:01]
Tracking Your Changes with the Workflow Tracker [3:52]
The final video is a short conclusion of the course. Jeff and Ben will give you some key reminders and brief instructions about your next steps.
Where to Go From Here [0:52]
How Does Passive Income Unlocked Help You Make Money?
The Passive Income Unlocked helps you make money by building a data-driven niche website. To achieve this, your site needs to generate traffic from Google and other major search engines. But instead of employing digital marketing strategies like SEO or PPC, Jeff and Ben’s business model focuses more on producing high-quality content.
They will show you the exact strategies they used to grow their niche sites to over 1 million monthly pageviews, generating over $50,000 per month. Jeff will also teach you how to monetize that traffic through display ads, affiliate marketing and digital products.
What Do People Say About the Passive Income Unlocked Protocol?
As mentioned, the Passive Income Unlocked Protocol is still a new course. It was just launched a few months ago. So, I couldn’t find any success stories or student testimonials. However, Jeff and Ben’s online course has received some good feedback from different review sites, including , Internet Marketing Reviews, Free Affiliate Marketing Business and Online Marketing Reviews.
Internet Marketing Reviews
Aaron of Internet Marketing Reviews said that Passive Income Unlocked is a great niche-building site course, especially for beginners. However, he also pointed out that Jeff and Ben’s niche-building site business model is a long strategy and will take years to earn real money.
Free Affiliate Marketing Business
Ivan Brozincevic of Free Affiliate Marketing Business also did thorough research on Jeff and Ben’s Passive Income Unlocked Protocol. According to him, everything is legit. The quality of content and training is also good. Ivan also inspected one of their niche sites and found out it has a high SEO score. He also explained briefly that their niche sites are generating consistent revenues because of the traffic from major search engines.
Web Traffic Toolkit Reviews
Adam James of Web Traffic Toolkit also said the Passive Income Unlocked is a legit course. There are valuable lessons you can learn about blogging and how to monetize it. However, he also pointed out that Jeff and Ben’s business model will take a lot of time to grow and become profitable. That’s because it doesn’t involve any SEO strategies to boost visibility and rankings. He said it could’ve been better if it also covered some basic SEO.
Who are the Creators of the Passive Income Unlocked Protocol?
The creators of the Passive Income Unlocked Protocol are Jeff Bridenstine and Ben Esman. They are good friends who turned into business partners. Before finding success in building niche sites, Jeff has tried different ways to earn money online. With the help of his partner, Ben, they have successfully cultivated their niche site business, which now earns over $50,000 per month.
Are Jeff Bridenstine and Ben Esman Legit?
Yes, Jeff Bridenstine and Ben Esman of Passive Income Unlocked are legit. They have been building niche sites since 2018. According to Jeff, it was a hit-and-miss until he finally got the right metrics to get better results. Since then, they grew their websites, generating traffic and millions of page views.
I’ve also done tons of research about their interviews and podcasts. They had no misleading marketing campaigns about their products and services. In fact, they have been very generous about sharing their knowledge on building niche sites and have been transparent with their business model.
Jeff Bridenstine and Ben Esman's 2020 Income Report
I was also able to access Jeff and Ben's income report through Passive Income Unlocked's case studies and YouTube channel. They were transparent on how their niche sites get traffic and generate revenues.
month | income |
|---|---|
January | $26,333 |
February | $28,896 |
March | $39,445 |
April | $49,871 |
May | $62,213 |
month | income |
|---|---|
June | $50,750 |
July | $39,340 |
August | $32,201 |
September | $33,972 |
October | $36,822 |
Jeff Bridenstine and Ben Esman's Claims
Over $50,000 Monthly Passive Income by Building Niche Sites After 2 Years
Jeff and Ben claim that their online course will teach you the exact strategies they used for their niches that now earn over $50,000 per month. However, they were also honest about the timeline of their business model. As Jeff explained in his training, it took them about 2 years to finally turned their niche site business into a stable passive income stream.
Minimal Technical Skills Required To Monetize Your Niche Websites
Jeff and Ben also claim that their business model does not require you to use technical and complicated strategies like SEO or link building to monetize your site. You will only focus on producing quality content, the same way they built and developed their niche site business.
Passive Income Unlocked Alternative Courses
The Verdict: Is Passive Income Unlocked Protocol Worth it?
Yes, the Passive Income Unlocked Protocol is worth it. I am confident to recommend it, especially for beginners who want to explore their opportunities in building niche sites. Jeff and Ben are both legit and have a proven track record in this industry. If you follow their business journey, you can see how they worked hard to grow their niche site portfolio.
However, Jeff and Ben’s business model is not for everybody. Although it’s a low-cost investment, building informative sites is a long game. As they mentioned, it took them 2 to 3 years to finally get consistent traffic and generate revenues. Without robust SEO marketing campaigns, it may take a lot longer to get better results. That means you must be willing to invest your time and money while dealing with slow cash flow.
Producing quality content also takes a lot of effort. Yes, you can outsource content production, but that also can take a while and will require more money upfront.
If you’re searching for similar ways to earn money, local lead generation remains my top recommendation. By far, this business model is more profitable, more passive and more scalable than building informative sites. Let’s dissect the details with more clarity.
Profitability and Income Stability: On average, you can earn up to $1,000 monthly from building a successful niche website, which can take 12 to 16 months if you’re lucky. With local lead generation sites, you can earn $2,000 to $2,500. The profit margin can range from $2,000 to $2,500. And with the right metrics, you may start getting cash flow as early as 6 months.
Passiveness: Jeff and Ben’s business model relies heavily on producing high-quality content, which means more workload, even with the help of AI tools. With the local lead generation business model, you can easily automate its operations, so you can earn real money while you sleep.
Scalability: Scalability is another problem with niche sites since you can’t just replicate the success of your previous websites as they require different dynamics. With local lead generation, you can easily build multiple service sites for local businesses. And each site turns into a passive income stream, earning $2,000 monthly. So if you have 5 service sites, that’s $10,000 of monthly passive income.
Learn how to make real money while you sleep by taking our local lead generation course! I’ve been doing this business since 2019 and so far, it has been a successful journey. This proven business model is easy to learn. And once you hit the right metrics, it’s a surefire passive income stream!
