Admit it-you’re jealous of the people like the founders of Facebook and YouTube. They came up with a ridiculously obvious idea that everyone has become addicted to. While their initial intentions where just to make a tool for their friends, Now they simply kick back with a martini on their yachts and watch the money roll in. They mastered the basic passive income model: come up with an idea, post it on the internet, and quit your day job as your bank account swells. More formally, place your stake in a business where you will be paid without being directly involved or having to do much work.
There are legitimate ways to do this, but let’s start with an option you’ve probably seen or perhaps even fallen for: the classic internet work-at-home business opportunity. These generally show up as an ad on a website you’re visiting, or even as a job posting on sites like careerbuilder.com. You’ll find lots of exclamation points! Work from home! No selling! No experience necessary! 100% legitimate! You read a long, repetitious testimonial about how easy it is and how much you’ll make, only to reach the bottom and discover you must first pay a subscription or “materials” fee. While there are many legitimate work from home opportunities, ways to make money on the internet, and real coaches that can help you develop the skills to successfully produce an income online, there are plenty of marketers who prey on those who are easily persuaded. Be careful not to fall for these scams.
If you want true passive income, there is work to be done first. You need an idea and a business model for it. You could buy stock and hope the market improves, but you still need to be involved, knowing what to buy, when to buy, and when to sell. You could join a subscription service that hosts your product for you. For example, sites like shutterstock.com and istockphoto.com let you upload your photos (pending approval) and pay you when someone downloads them. You still have to stay active and learn what works and what doesn’t, as the pay per photo is small (around $0.25). You could start a blog and ask for donations or use applications like Google AdSense that will post ads relevant to your site’s content and pay you per click. You still need a product, or at least a good cause.
Better still, you can create your own product or service and design a business to sell it. The next step is to build a website either as your main business location or as a partner to your physical store. Either way, your business is not the internet (unless you created the internet). It is a tool to help your business. If your goal is passive income, you first need to put some up-front time and effort into your idea and stay active. Modify what’s not working and expand on what is. Use those other ideas, such as a blog, to help build your customer base and build their confidence in your product and your expertise.
It is possible to reach the point where you can make money while simply sitting on your couch in your pajamas. To get there, you need to earn it with time, effort, and money-and spending fifteen minutes reading that over-excited yahoo’s webpage and paying him $69.95 to start doesn’t count! If you’re going to spend the money on a “get rich on the Internet” system, at least put the strategies they teach you into action. Create your own idea or product and get moving.
