I’ve spent most of this week talking about making money from things you already have.
So I thought today I’d give you a few ways to actually do it.
Whether you bought Hidden Treasure or not, have a dig through your computer and see what turns up.
And don’t just look for finished products.
Try these ideas…
1. Look for the thing you abandoned
Search your computer for words like:
draft, final, version, notes, ideas, research, template, bonus, PLR
Then sort the results by date.
You’re looking for things you once thought were worth spending time or money on but never quite did anything with.
And don’t ask yourself whether they’re usable as they are.
Ask:
What could this become now?
A half-finished report could become a short product.
Research could become a checklist or resource pack.
A collection of prompts could become a toolkit.
An old bonus could be expanded into a standalone offer.
Often you’ve already done the hardest bit.
2. Find out whether an old idea has become more interesting
Google Trends is great for this.
https://trends.google.co.uk/explore
Take three or four old ideas you’ve found and put the main search terms into Trends.
You can compare different terms, see how interest has changed and look at related searches you might not have thought of.
You’re not looking for Google Trends to tell you something will make money.
You’re looking for clues.
Has interest grown? Are people searching for something slightly different now?
Does one version of your idea seem more interesting than another?
Something you dismissed two years ago may look very different today.
Google’s guide to using Trends is here:
https://support.google.com/trends/answer/6248105?hl=en-uk
3. See what people are looking for on Pinterest
This is one I think people overlook.
Pinterest has its own Trends tool:
You can explore search trends, things people are saving and shopping trends. You can also look at how interest changes over time. Some features depend on region and whether you’re logged in.
It’s particularly useful if the thing you’ve rediscovered is visual or aimed at markets such as crafts, food, home, fashion, weddings, printables or hobbies.
Put the subject of your old product or idea into it and see what comes back.
You may spot an angle you hadn’t considered when you originally created it.
4. Find out what people are actually searching for
Google Keyword Planner is another useful free tool:
https://ads.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner
You’ll need a Google Ads account, but you don’t need to be running paid ads to use it.
Put in the subject of something you’ve rediscovered and use Discover new keywords to see related searches and get an idea of what people are looking for.
Don’t get too hung up on the numbers.
What I’m usually looking for here are ideas I hadn’t thought of and the actual words people are using.
5. Go back through your old websites
This one can be surprisingly good.
Put any old domains you’ve owned into the Wayback Machine:
Then see what’s still there. Things like…
Old sales pages.
Products you’ve forgotten.
Bonuses.
Lead magnets.
Articles.
Offers you stopped selling.
I’ve found things this way that I’d completely forgotten I’d created.
Not everything gets archived, so you won’t necessarily find every page or image, but it’s well worth looking.
And there’s an official Wayback Machine browser extension too:
https://internetarchive.github.io/wayback-machine-webextension
That can help you find old versions of pages as you’re browsing.
6. Don’t forget what’s in the cloud
Your hard drive isn’t the only place you’ve probably got forgotten stuff.
If you’ve used Google for years, you could have old documents, emails, photos, videos and other files scattered across different services.
Google Takeout lets you export data from the Google products you use:
That can include email, documents, photos and YouTube videos.
I’m not suggesting you download your entire Google life and spend Sunday sorting it.
Just remember that when you’re looking for forgotten assets, they may not actually be on your computer.
7. Search your Sent folder
This one doesn’t require a tool at all.
Go into your email and search your Sent folder for things like:
attached
draft
here’s the
finished
download
product
bonus
report
Think about all the things you’ve emailed to partners, customers, freelancers or yourself over the years.
Old bonuses.
Reports.
Graphics.
Research.
Products.
Ideas.
Documents you’d completely forgotten about.
You may be surprised by what turns up.
8. Let AI go through the pile with you
Once you’ve found a few things, don’t immediately start working on the first one.
Make a list and give it to ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini with this:
I’m going to give you a list of digital assets I already own or have created.
I don’t want you to suggest creating a completely new business.
Look only at what I already have and identify the five quickest realistic ways I could turn these assets into something I could sell.
You can suggest repackaging, combining, updating, finishing, repositioning or breaking assets into smaller products.
For each idea tell me:
- What existing assets it uses
- What I would sell
- Who might buy it
- What work I’d need to do
- The quickest sensible way to test whether anyone wants it
Don’t assume something has value just because I own it. Tell me if an asset probably isn’t worth pursuing.
Here are my assets:
[PASTE YOUR LIST]
And that’s enough.
Don’t turn it into a huge project.
Give yourself half an hour.
Find ten things.
Run them through the prompt.
See whether there’s one that makes you think:
I’d forgotten I had that.
Because sometimes you don’t need another idea.
You just need to notice the one you’ve already got.
Your TED Talk
This one really couldn’t be more appropriate.
Mailande Moran’s talk is called Use What You’ve Got.
It’s about what can happen when you stop concentrating on the time, money or resources you don’t have and start looking differently at what you do have. Her argument is that constraints themselves can lead to different creative possibilities.
Which seemed rather appropriate this week.