Which Products and Clients Make You the Most Money?
A data process for deciding which products and clients to focus on.
By James Schramko · Updated May 2026
If you have been online for a while, you may have added several products or services.
Some products, services or divisions are worth more than others.
Some clients are better than others.
How do you know which ones to focus on?
I use a DDD process. Look back at the data, decide, then act.
I have run it on my own business. Around 2015 I had eighteen products for sale. I kept two, mentoring and my royalty deals, and sold or killed the rest. Revenue went up and I dropped to a three day work week. In February 2023 I repackaged my old coaching program into Mentor, one program at one price, and the weekly one-to-one calls disappeared. By the end of that year I was tracking about 40 percent up on income against roughly half the workload. My scheduled call hours went from six or seven a week to three.
DDD stands for:
Data
Decisions
DO
We score past data to look for patterns, then use it as a filter.
First, I map out the last year's sales by product line.
Then I account for fixed and variable costs, OTHER than my time.
Then I work out the hours each division needs from me.
That gives me an effective hourly rate (EHR) by product / service.
I also weigh other factors when reading the data, such as:
- Is the market growing or shrinking?
- Can it be recurring?
- Is it scalable?
- Does it generate an asset value (can I sell it)?
- Does this product create another product?
- Does it build authority (hero product)?
- Does it sit with my values?
- Is it defensible?
Let's look at Example 1 of a MADE UP business:
Here is how the four divisions compare once the last year of data is scored. This is a made-up business with a low ticket offer, high-level coaching, affiliate marketing, and royalty deals:
- Low ticket offer: meaningful revenue, but it eats the largest share of monthly owner hours. Its effective hourly rate is the lowest of the four
- High-level coaching: solid revenue, modest hours, a strong effective hourly rate, and the most enjoyable work
- Affiliate marketing: very little time and a very high effective hourly rate
- Royalty deals: a slightly lower effective hourly rate than coaching. Each one also builds an asset value, usually a multiple of its annual revenue
In this made up example, the business is generating $960,000 in revenue for just 53 hours per month.
Pretty good, right?
Most divisions seem to contribute a fair share of that revenue.
Notice the royalty deals create an asset value, usually a multiple of the annual revenue.
Now it's time to make decisions.
I like the royalty deals here. Their effective hourly rate is slightly lower, but they build an asset value.
That pays off when the business sells down the track. None of the other products have this advantage.
Favor business units that create asset value or by-products.
Affiliate marketing is very easy and takes very little time. It has a very high effective hourly rate, so I would do more of that.
The high-level coaching has a good effective hourly rate and doesn't take up too much time. I suspect these calls are more enjoyable.
On the surface, it looks like each division contributes a similar amount of revenue.
Look closer at the time spent to earn that revenue and the low ticket offer needs a lot more of it.
On an effective hourly basis, it is a low performer next to the best product lines.
For the low ticket offer, I could suggest adding more members or raising the monthly rate. Or hiring more help, even though it already costs a lot.
But there are better product lines. In this case I would sell off or end the low ticket offer.
If you can sell off a division, go for it. It's always better to get paid than to close it.
As you come up with action steps, write them in columns 1, 2 and 3.
It could be to:
- Delete a product line
- Sell off a product line
- Change price
- Buy time (labor) instead of your time
- Drive traffic
- Improve conversions
- Change team
- Improve systems
- Automate
Now let's have a look at Example 2.
In this NEW example I have removed the low ticket offer.
Some of the time that went to low ticket now goes to high-level coaching.
That means more clients served at a higher effective hourly rate.
A few more hours of affiliate marketing has given that revenue a big boost.
One more royalty client has added asset value on sale, for just a few more hours a month.
Now the business is generating 1.2 million dollars for 38 hours per month.
It has three products to focus on instead of four.
This may be a more interesting business to run. Keep passion in mind when you make the decisions.
Now score your own product divisions and see where your focus should be.
I would also do this with your coaching clients. Score them and tune as required.
Then allocate tasks with deadlines to you and your team.
One warning from running this with clients. Founders score their own products generously, especially the ones they enjoy delivering. The matrix works best when someone outside the business holds the pen. I do that with founders inside Mentor most weeks.