Yesterday someone asked a question about ways of earning passive income unrelated to steem. I decided it was such a thorough answer that I should share it with those of you here also.
Why Bother?
The reason I think it is so important to have more people know about these things (particularly my readers 😊) is the same reason I think there should be Universal Basic Income (UBI). I believe that when people have food, shelter and other basic survival needs taken care of, their creativity flourishes. And so does their consideration for the needs of others. So does their natural loving spirit. It all gets to come out to bless their community when they are not driven by primal fear every day.
So I'm going to share with you some ways I was able to create a sort of UBI for myself over the last 8 years. And that is how long it took me to do the following.
What I Did to Create My Own Personal "Basic Income"
I've done a lot with recurring revenue/passive income. In fact, I'm completely supported by passive income now, and had been for a few years once before also. That first time I didn't know enough to know to diversify, so it only lasted a couple years. Now I have a better "portfolio" that I can see lasting indefinitely with minimal maintenance time and money.
My first real money maker was online courses. I used to run a business technology company so I knew enough about some popular tech while also having once been a full time technical trainer. That ability to teach technical subjects in a way non-technical people can learn them and actually use the knowledge to do a job well is rare, so my courses were very, very successful. At times I was making almost $10k per month just from that.
I also have done very well with real estate. Now with online courses, you're mostly just investing time. You should put some money into hosting/building a website for your courses and marketing them, but I never put hardly anything into that. Mostly I invested a significant amount of time creating high quality courses.
But with some types of passive income it really takes money to make money. Sometimes it doesn't take as much money, but then it takes more time, as in waiting. In my case I didn't wait long, but had started by putting in $40k.
I got the $40k mostly from another type of passive income that not everyone would consider passive, but I do. I was working about 15 hours a week and earning about $40k per month. Even after paying off all debts and covering living expenses while accumulating, I was able to in just a few months save the money for the real estate investment. That money was multiplied many times over by price appreciation in the next few years. Basically I was acting as a type of agent, creating tech deals and staffing them, but unlike an agent I kept ownership of the entire process, so I kept most of the money.
A friend of mine invested more like $30k and had to wait maybe 10 years for that to 10x. I know other people who have invested as little as $10k, but then had to wait more like 20 years to see the same types of returns. My point is, you can either spend time or money, but in general real estate tends to pay off. (Unless you are so unlucky as to buy at the top of the market and then need to sell at the bottom.)
Other things I've done have earned or continue to earn me recurring revenue, but to a lesser extent than these things. I've bought debt and earned returns in the 9% annual range quite reliably. I've had membership programs. Plus I know there are a few other things I'm not remembering right now.
On the whole, I encourage people to think, "How can I earn more by working less?" This is a good guiding principle for gaining the freedom to spend your time how you want. I still am very productively engaged, but now it is mostly volunteer efforts for things I believe in without having to think about how it's going to pay me.
... Oh yeah, there was also an app.
And of course, we are all in cryptocurrency, and specifically STEEM, for the greatest future benefit. These are just things we can do while waiting the years it may take for that to really take off, and not having to ever sell our precious crypto for fiat along the way.
And You?
Are there any things you've done to create recurring revenue for yourself? Or "passive" income, where you may make some effort, but your income is not determined by the amount of effort. You are making more than your hourly work could ever earn you.
Please share in the comments what you have tried and what you have experienced with this. Or any of the above you think you might try.
(Photo Source: Pixabay)
I've never really had a main job, but at some point when I was younger I worked for a bookshop. After then i have been chasing a degree which is the only real shot one has to get adecent job here and it is nothing close to what you've earned so far. One will consider themselves lucky if they can get a job that pays up to $500 monthly.
After I graduated, which is this year, I hope to get a job that within that range if possible, so i can cater for my needs and that of my family. Agriculture is something i will also like to invest in which has a lot of potentials in Nigeria, as my country works towards food security. Real estate is another nice investment i will add to my portfolio. I am already in the crypto world, so i will like to build on that as well
It is important to work for others when first starting out, so glad to hear you are clear about first preparing yourself for a good job. You will both learn and earn on that job. Just make sure to live below your means so that you can save. Even before you're 100% clear on what you're saving for, save as much as you reasonably can anyway. Then when the right opportunity in real estate, agriculture, or whatever comes along, you'll be ready to take advantage of it immediately.
For 2 years after I started making quite a lot of money I still lived in a single room with no heat and no bathtub in someone's back yard. I could have afforded to live a very luxurious life, but I was saving for my future instead. It only took 2 years to set myself up on a path that 6 years later led to early retirement.
Thanks for the advise. I will keep that in mind when I get a job and start making money.
No means of passive income for now but venturing into opportunities that will make me work less and earn more after I graduate.
The internet has a lot to offer but it only takes one time to discover them.
Am not really prepared to start looking for work after graduating but to have things at hand that will handle my needs.
The cryptocurrency world, binary option and foreign exchange are my base for now and am building myself up in getting more knowledge about them.
I’m not familiar with all those things but I hope they all pay off for you.
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passive income, that is indeed the dream...
its been a while since I commented on your articles and its great to see that you are really taking off here on steem.
I also co own an apartment with my parents that we rent out so that gives me a bit every month, I now run a few masternodes as well, and a witness here on steem. I am looking to see if there are more options of building on that since i recently became unemployed but cannot live of passive income by a long shot. And all I am making just goes back into creating more.
I bought 2000 more steem this week.
It starts adding up slowly but its kind of interest on interest, and that means it grows exponentially. Just need a bit more time and then hopefully I am also on the same level as you. able to volunteer my time instead of looking to get paid
Yeah, it definitely takes time to build, but compounds. At certain points you can leverage gains from previous things to sort of uplevel the pace of further accumulation. I think that's where the real gains come from. But even just as you are doing now, layering these different elements, I think is how you set yourself up for that. At some point you just start being able to layer bigger things. But yeah, took me 8 years of deliberately working at this to get to this point.
I recently bought some margarita glasses on a website that are very hard to find due to the size and thickness.
You see, in order for me to get these glasses I had to buy them by the case in which there came 12 glasses in a case only wanted about 5 or 6 or so and sell the rest. My darling wife took one of the glasses with her to work and showed one person and 3 cases later I'm thinking......." What if I would sell these on Amazon?"
The ones on Amazon are small and boring looking. I have never even considered selling online but after making a 35% profit of selling all I have gotten had got me thinking of selling on Amazon.
Hey.....who knows where this can go. If I get in to this and it takes off, every last dime will be invested to create a constant flow of income.
I will be seeking your advice if I do go forward.
The model you're talking about is most profitably implemented as dropshipping. Or you could use this approach you used here, of simply selling for more than you bought for, where you also do the fulfillment. But it would save you not to have to ever touch the glasses yourself to sell them.
This isn't passive income, but you can definitely make more than with a job if you get enough consistent demand. Just make sure you don't set up a business that only has about 2 months worth of accessible demand.
The best single place I know of for learning more about this is Amazing.com
Thank you for your input, I will check out the site.
Very interesting, I really need an extra income, but lacking money for investment is difficult
Then take the investment of time route. That's how I had to start too.
Hello @indigoocean,
I am trying animals farming at present, but it is yet to take off. i know it will take off in future.
Am also now looking at the real estate business you talked about, it looks like a cool one.
I would be very interested to learn of how real estate investing works where you live. This is something that varies a lot from place to place.
Yes, that is true. I will be going on a survey about it.
Hey @indigoocean thank you for the inspirational post .. Once my move has settled down I will be looking into setting up a net based business model so your perspective really resonated with me. It's great to see genuine people that have done well and got ahead in life, respect for all you've achieved and huge respect for your native American youth project.
Thank you. I look forward to hearing of your work as it progresses. Let me know if I can help with some of my business consulting knowledge once you get to that stage of implementation.
Thank you for that @indigoocean I really appreciate your kind offer :)
I wouldn't have a clue how to do it. We aren't that cashed up. All we do is pay off our mortgage slowly and grow our own food. I work part time which is a blessing but gee - 10 k a month is inconcievable to me.
It wasn't that long ago that it was inconceivable to me too. I lived on about $1k/month for most of my life! But there came a turning point, that led to another, then another. And over time, more became within the realm of what could be let in.
I guess you need a little bit of business sense and a willingness to take risks. I don't think I have either but I'm quite inspired by you
@indigoocean,
I'd love to talk with you about some of your successful past projects and courses that netted you that sweet, sweet passive income!
Is there a good way to get in touch with you?
Honestly, other than writing about it and sometimes doing livestreams on the topic, I don’t really have an interest in focusing on this stuff anymore.
Posted using Partiko iOS
I've always though real estate but I need capital. I have one friend who is very interested but I'd say a group of at least 4 is needed to bring capital together. I hope to have some passive streams in tye next couple of years.
The amount needed to get into real estate profitably vary so much from place to place. My ex bought 3 never lived in houses for just $30k some years ago at the market crash. Now worth many times that. He could have bought just one.
I was just looking at an article a friend shared with some places for free in Italy if you will turn them into a tourist business. So many possibilities, but it all does take some savings. Good that you have friends doing it with you.
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