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Passive Income - the myth or truth?

by Amber Jalink
17 replies
My programmer shared with me an article this morning that I thought was excellent, especially for everyone who keeps pushing "passive income".

It's at:
“Passive Income” – Will only lead to Disappointment | Shoestring Startups – Australian Startup & Small Business News, Profiles & How Tos

The truth is - it takes the four letter word - WORK - to establish ANY form of business. If you want passive income - you have to work hard at it to set it up, maintain it, nurture it. (This *typically* can take 2-3 years, not just a one or two month thing).

And then, IF you got it right - you can sit back with a lot more leisure time... but you still have to monitor and maintain it.

12-15 years ago, everyone on the net said "oh a membership site is the way to go, people will pay forEVER!" Duh. The net changes so fast, if a person stayed a year that was great. Most stopped within 3 months. (Pretty sure that's the industry average too).

Others said MLM is the way to go, but they totally failed to mention just how much work is involved, recruiting, referring people, getting new people under you (cuz others dropped out), etc. And most of those companies DON'T let you be "passive" (no work), if you do you lose income.

I'm not saying there isn't such a thing at all - I'm saying, people look at it wrong, and that's what I liked about this article. I've said this for years, it was nice to see a confirmation

Stop looking for that magic "thing" that will get you big riches so you can sit back.

Pick what you WANT, what you really ENJOY, and stick with it. Focus everything you can on it - it WILL take off.

BTW -YES I do know that amazon, apps, and other related type things CAN make great passive income - my point is, it takes WORK UP FRONT to do it first.

Too many people focus but then something doesn't turn out as quickly as they thought, and they give up and move on to the "next" thing.

Yes yes, I know, WSO's look so catchy and pretty and tempting lol especially with the psychological hype - it's like quitting smoking or losing weight - it takes willpower, because buying WSO's can be addicting. Resolve to have some restrictions on how much you'll spend or go cold turkey if you have to.

My motto is: (while I do review some... not often because I'm busy) - if it doesn't work directly with what I'm doing RIGHT NOW, if its not a compliment to it, or if it doesn't help me do something faster - I won't bother.

My daughter and I have this joke:

"Easily distracted by shiny objects".

Don't be. It'll pay off much faster if you focus.

Hope this helps a bit.
#income #myth #passive #truth
  • Profile picture of the author cashp0wer
    Passive income is great but it comes at a cost. I had to work many hours to create the passive income that I am enjoying now. It is still not completely passive either - I just have to work less at it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Amber Jalink
      Originally Posted by cashp0wer View Post

      Passive income is great but it comes at a cost. I had to work many hours to create the passive income that I am enjoying now. It is still not completely passive either - I just have to work less at it.
      Exactly! It DOES eventually happen - once the work is there. But its never "forget it". Not truly.
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      WSO - Create Native Apps - Prelaunch Announcement

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  • Profile picture of the author FrankMiller
    Great post. Yeah the work up front is what truly leads to the passive income.
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    • Profile picture of the author alfid
      Originally Posted by FrankMiller View Post

      Great post. Yeah the work up front is what truly leads to the passive income.
      I agree with this as well as similar responses I see on this forum. The income is passive in that you don't have to be online to take the order. However, you have to set up your site, promote, and produce new content.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
    There are things that would qualify as passive income, but they all require time, effort, or money (in some combination).

    For example, as a songwriter, I can make money from royalties, but I have to write the songs first. I also need to monitor my payments to make sure I'm not getting cheated. The song only needs to be written once, but it also needs to be promoted properly. Once it achieves a certain level of success, the income becomes mostly passive.

    Now, if I weren't a songwriter, but had a lot of money, I could buy the rights to songs that would pay me royalties. The work here would involve researching which songs are most likely to provide a good return on my investment.

    If I weren't a songwriter, and I didn't have a lot of money, I could target those songs which are not yet popular, but could be. I would then buy the rights for a song (double meaning intended) and hope it would pay off. In this case, the main task would be promoting the song so it could start putting money in my pocket.

    This is just one example of passive income, but it takes work to get it to that point.

    All the best,
    Michael
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  • Profile picture of the author apoorv.parijat
    That's very true. It's unfortunate, really, that many people think that you can achieve something truly worthwhile in a couple of months. Anything that's going to last long will take time — and a lot of hard work — before it starts producing results on it's own.

    Your point about focus is very pertinent, too. It's a lot better to focus on one thing and do it for a while than to hop around and try 200 different things within a short while. There will be a time when it wouldn't make any sense to continue but until then, focus.

    Great post. :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author Amber Jalink
      Originally Posted by apoorv.parijat View Post

      That's very true. It's unfortunate, really, that many people think that you can achieve something truly worthwhile in a couple of months. Anything that's going to last long will take time -- and a lot of hard work -- before it starts producing results on it's own.

      Your point about focus is very pertinent, too. It's a lot better to focus on one thing and do it for a while than to hop around and try 200 different things within a short while. There will be a time when it wouldn't make any sense to continue but until then, focus.

      Great post. :-)
      Your post actually triggered a thought in my mind too - 'being truly worthwhile in a couple of months' - it's like a reputation.

      You don't just build a reputation in a short time - it takes many many months (years really). Same thing Because if you don't focus - it goes down the toilet just as fast as a bad reputation.
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      WSO - Create Native Apps - Prelaunch Announcement

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  • Profile picture of the author mlord10
    Passive income is a reality, but like others have said it takes time & consistent effort to set things up properly, and of course maintain them.

    Over a long period of time, it is difficult for income to be 100% passive, but you can certainly make more money with less time if you set things up right from the beginning.

    I made $175 in commissions before I even woke up this morning...but that certainly didn't happen overnight!
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  • Profile picture of the author Invert Planet
    I see IM akin to planting a garden:
    Lots of seeds, lots of work, getting dirty, pruning and culling, and taking care of it. Eventually it will root and take care of you (until the seasons change again).
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    • Profile picture of the author txconx
      Originally Posted by Invert Planet View Post

      I see IM akin to planting a garden:
      Lots of seeds, lots of work, getting dirty, pruning and culling, and taking care of it. Eventually it will root and take care of you (until the seasons change again).
      Best analogy, IMO.
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  • Profile picture of the author murphyslaw
    There's no such thing as truly passive income (unless you got a huge trust fund / inheritance somewhere and just live off the interest) but having to work on your own terms, being your own boss turns work into something fulfilling, something that doesn't feel like work - that's a more realistic goal. Once you find the level of work you want with the right level of income for your lifestyle then that would be passive income for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author prefamous
    ABOUT PASSIVE INCOME:

    Nothing on the internet meets the definition of passive income. Your sites have continually be managed because there is always someone trying to rank higher then the search engines. I have passive income. the sources are as follows.

    Kindle books I wrotemeets passive definition once written and put on amazon you don't have to anything)
    Lending club:Once I invested in notes the money once a month not further action on my part.
    Nook Publishing:Same books as kindle further action not needed.
    I have an android app:Once published you don't need to anything else but it helps a bit if you do.

    the main criteria for something to be consider passive is that you set it up and then after you do that no further involvement is needed to continue earning money.

    things they say are passive but aren't
    affilaite programs
    any online advertising
    cpa offers
    selling on ebay or amazon(active not passive)
    investing in stocks(unless you hold dividend stocks)
    flipping real estate(not)
    rentals(can be passive but regular involovment is always needed)

    note:if you have the cash you hire people to run these thigs then it will all be mostly passive.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ryan David
    I heard Rich Schefren say this about 5 years ago. "You can have any lifestyle you want, but first you need to build the business".
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  • Profile picture of the author Greg Jeffries
    Yup. It takes a lot of hustle and patience to create a solid passive income stream...even if you know exactly what and how to do it.

    Too many newbies on this forum post threads about wanting to make instant money. And while that is possible and there are easy ways to make money online and their are indeed many free ways to make money online, in order to build a solid sustainable passive income stream that you can live off of it's going to take a decent amount of money, time, patience, hard work.

    Now, once you get there, you now know how, and you can diversify or duplicate that success in another market or niche much faster because of your network, list, etc. But there are no quick and easy roads to success online. But once you're finally "there" or where you want to be, you can do it over and over again.

    Best of luck to everyone out there. DO NOT GIVE UP! Persistence is key. Hang in there, hustle, and you WILL make it.
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    • Profile picture of the author prefamous
      Originally Posted by extemporaneousM View Post

      Yup. It takes a lot of hustle and patience to create a solid passive income stream...even if you know exactly what and how to do it.

      Too many newbies on this forum post threads about wanting to make instant money. And while that is possible and there are easy ways to make money online and their are indeed many free ways to make money online, in order to build a solid sustainable passive income stream that you can live off of it's going to take a decent amount of money, time, patience, hard work.

      Now, once you get there, you now know how, and you can diversify or duplicate that success in another market or niche much faster because of your network, list, etc. But there are no quick and easy roads to success online. But once you're finally "there" or where you want to be, you can do it over and over again.

      Best of luck to everyone out there. DO NOT GIVE UP! Persistence is key. Hang in there, hustle, and you WILL make it.
      what you are talking about business income which is active income. the problem is they read these article on the internet about passive income and it identifies blogging as passive, but it is not passive unless you hire someone to run your blog.
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