Passive income can be defined as, “income resulting from cash flow received on a regular basis, requiring minimal to no effort by the recipient to maintain it.”
A big portion of why I first decided to become interested in making money online was because it allows you to exponentially grow your income.
This unique capability of the internet’s reach is unlike anything that has existed only a few decades prior.
Remember things like the ‘Texas Oil Boom’ or the ‘California Gold Rush’ in America back from your history class? You see, the internet and in essence, creating revenue streams online is the same – IF not bigger.
So, if you wish you would have lived during Rockefeller times and also, been smart enough to realize your opportunities to dramatically change your economical situation – you want to be investing in creating an online business!
Or, for goodness sake, even a side hustle :).
Can you tell how passionate I am about this?
But don’t write me in a few years, telling me I didn’t give you a heads’ up.
This is your heads up if you haven’t taken any action yet and don’t have an online business yet or, started on one.
You might be confused as to what exactly you want to be doing and why.
That’s why I created this blog article.
It’s for those of you who understand the opportunity, want to take advantage of it but are still a bit confused about which road to take.
So, here’s my list of 7 Proven Ways To Make Passive Income Online.
Why am I talking about ‘passive income’ in particular?
Because I’m a big believer to create a smart business that’s working for you in 6 months, 1 year, 10 years,… heck! Regardless, right?
I mean, if you can take your family on a luxury vacation to French Polynesia for a month, watching your kids play in the sand on the beach while sipping on a Mai-Tai and kissing your significant other during sips and all that WITHOUT having to worry about money because you got your financial shit and business together…
Well then, in my book, you’ve done something right ;).
So… that’s why I am using the words ‘passive income’ even though some of these options might not be passive right away – they VERY WELL have the possibility to be so IF you’re doing things right.
NUMBER 1: AFFILIATE MARKETING
Say you don’t have a product.
You’re not keen on teaching.
You’re not keen to write or produce or create something you can sell.
What to do?
You can use other people’s awesome products and promote them.
Promote them how???
That’s where it gets tricky.
[A] You need to educate yourself on how to grow an email list, how to form a trustworthy relationship with your list and different traffic options.
[B] You also need to watch out for promoting the right affiliate products.
What are the right affiliate products?
- Products were somebody has to sign up on a monthly subscription basis. Why? Because this creates RECURRING revenue for you *duh*!
- Proven products that actually solve a real business need. My favorite? Business software.
- Companies that agree to pay out a minimum commission of 30% on each product sale. {Granted if you’re i.e. promoting fashion or technology items, it’s okay if the commission is lower and that’s okay since you’re promoting more higher end items.} However getting a commission of 3%… don’t bother.
BONUS TIP:
My personal favorite affiliate programs where I’m making 80% of my monthly affiliate commission from are:
- https://www.clickfunnels.com/?cf_affiliate_id=140591&affiliate_id=140591
- https://we-connect.io?fp_ref=cornelia94
- https://www.activecampaign.com/?_r=5YAZ278A
- https://try.thinkific.com/corneliaheyny
- https://www.shopify.com/?ref=gys-llc
For more cool tools or software you can promote, check out my related article: https://corneliapauline.com/2019/05/31/6-best-digital-marketing-tools-to-grow-your-business-online-in-2019-fast-intentional/
FINAL SIDE NOTE:
There’s one very real danger to Affiliate marketing and that is that your affiliate partner is in control of the product.
As such, he could shut it down at any given notice. Granted, if you find a reputable company that won’t happen. Regardless, I only recommend to invest in this option as a side income or an initial starting point and then, move on to one of the other options.
NUMBER 2: ONLINE COURSES & PROGRAMS
Some might argue that you couldn’t create passive income with those but I beg to disagree. Why?
Well, first of all it depends how you’re promoting these online programs. Are they connected to a personal brand – YOU – then, it might be a bit harder to create truly passive forms of income out of them.
Regardless and once you’re getting to a certain sales level with your courses, you can outsource pretty much near everything!
From customer and tech support to your students to community managers and more. Some online course creators I know never think about this but it’s truly possible.
Also, when structuring out your courses and BEFORE even launching them, think about how much you personally want or need to be involved in the program to help your students facilitate the desired transformation.
Are weekly one-on-one coaching calls really necessary? Or, can a supportive and exclusive Facebook Group solve that?
Be mindful and strategic about your time.
Think ahead to how you want to be managing the course AND how it fits within your overall business. Then, create it accordingly.
FURTHER INFO:
If you feel like you’re dying to create an online program or your current one doesn’t seem to be working, stay on the lookout for my new program launching in the next few weeks, the Income By Design Academy!
To receive updates and more information, join 25,000 other peeps & sign up to my free email newsletter now: https://corneliapauline.activehosted.com/f/12
NUMBER 3: BLOGS
Yep. Blogs to me can create an amazing passive income stream once you’ve built them up.
Granted, blogs compared to the other previous forms of income take a few more years to build up. But they are amazing money-making machines if done right!
Some tips when it comes to blogging are:
- You need to be blogging in a niche and have 1 particular reader in mind.
- You need to be posting about 20 blog posts a month during at least the first year to create some momentum for your blog.
- Your blog above anything else needs to be SEO-optimized. That’s where you will get most of your organic traffic from.
- Design should never be a main focus for your blog. Quality content should always come first.
And guess what?
You can outsource a shit ton with a blog from hiring a Pinterest manager to create and distribute pins for you to acquire organic Pinterest traffic to hiring SEO-focused blog writers, a brand partnership sales person and more.
If you love writing and you know you can be consistent when it comes to it – a blog for a specific niche might be a great opportunity for you.
And just to tell you a little story, I met a super humble, cute mom blogger from a tiny town in Arkansas during a conference I attended in Las Vegas that I spoke at.
Within 7 years, this mom blogger pretty much 10x her husband’s income, allowed him to quit his job and all of them and their 5 children are living off of the growing income of her niche blog! The coolest thing? Her blog is growing on autopilot right now – as is her income.
If you think 7 years is a long time to grow a business… How about spending 40 years at a corporate job where you could get fired any time and the only income growing opportunity is to be hunting down the next promotion?
Your choice.
NUMBER 4: CREATE AN ONLINE B2B SOFTWARE
Now and in regards to this passive income option, it depends how ambitious you are as a future software founder :).
If – say – you’re shooting to achieve multi-multi-millionaire status, your ‘passive income’ might come from you selling your company. Then, investing your money and living off dividends or profits from businesses you’re invested in.
This option is great for someone that has been in the online space for a while and has been noticing a need for a particular business service to solve a pain point which can be done through a – you’ve guessed it… software.
The amazing thing about this nowadays is that I know quite a few founders who aren’t engineers by trade, nor do they know how to code.
But they’ve either partnered up with somebody that can help them realize their vision or, hired somebody!
There’s also no need for taking on venture capitalists or angel investors nowadays. Unless, you know how to play that game and want to. A solid launch strategy and knowledge about digital marketing is all it takes.
The coolest thing about most B2B softwares? They’re creating a recurring passive income from monthly users for you.
This is a great further read if you’re into this option: https://amzn.to/31sTHJB
NUMBER 5: BUY AN ONLINE BUSINESS
Another great way to generate passive income is to buy an already lucrative, built up online business and/or website.
This is a lesser known option and it does require some background for how online businesses function. You want to be aware of all of the potential pitfalls a specific online business could bring about with itself. Not only that, you want to know the whole history behind the business before buying it.
So, yes, this one is for the more experienced online entrepreneur among you guys.
Where can you find online businesses and websites to buy?
Here are only a few options:
Flippa – https://flippa.com/
Exchange Marketplace – https://exchangemarketplace.com/
BizBuySell – https://www.bizbuysell.com
FE International – https://feinternational.com
Empire Flippers – https://empireflippers.com
NUMBER 6: CREATE AN E-COMMERCE STORE
I’m going to include everything e-commerce after this point, cool?
From – To:
- Doing Amazon FBA,
- To selling Wholesale on Amazon,
- Creating and selling books on Amazon,
- Creating a Shopify store and manufacturing your own products,
- Dropshipping,
- Etc.
Pretty much, whatever requires selling physical goods of any kind in any shape or form online.
When it comes to creating any type of successful e-commerce stores, it honestly comes down to one word. Ready?
RESEARCH.
Research is going to be your best friend because I’ve found the most successful online e-commerce businesses to have followed the rule:
Market → Product = Fit
{Instead of: Product → Market = Fit}
So, if you can identify a market or need for a product and know a way to make it better or more awesome, etc. go for it!
This option does require one of the highest starting capitals (besides buying an existing online business, of course) but it can be very lucrative. And the best part?
It can create some pretty badass passive income for you for YEARS to come! Not only that, successful e-commerce owners have an easy time exiting and selling their online stores. Another plus for this passive income option.
TIP:
The best platform in my opinion to host and create your e-commerce store on is by far Shopify. 14-Day Free Trial here: https://www.shopify.com/?ref=gys-llc
FURTHER READ:
If you already have an existing e-Commerce store, one of the best tips I can give you is to double down on your retargeting strategy. For that purpose, I’ve created another blog post a little while ago where you can steal my best converting Abandoned Cart Email Template:
NUMBER 7: BUILD A BRAND OF ‘YOU‘
“But Cornelia, that would mean that I always had to be doing stuff and engaging with my audience, etc. How is this passive?”
Yes, this point is totally arguable. I agree.
However, there is one thing why this option falls into a passive income category for me.
Nobody can take away your own brand from you.
And that’s something you can not argue with me with :).
Think about it!
Every software could crash, Amazon could tank (hey, it could happen ^^), Facebook could be shut down (sorry, Mark!), etc.
BUT the one thing nobody can take away from you is if you’ve created a successful brand around YOU and built up a loyal fanbase.
So, I urge you to consider doing this at least in some shape or form in addition to what you’re already doing or deciding to do.
A great example of somebody that has been doing this is the fashion entrepreneur, Danielle Bernstein.
She’s an A class example of someone that has created a personal brand around herself for years before creating, manufacturing and selling her own clothing brands online.
And you know something?
Danielle NEVER has to worry about excess inventory! Never. She is always selling out during each new or repeat product launch!
Not only that, she’s recently partnered up with a CBD company who wanted her for – you’ve guessed it – her personal brand’s influence. Passive income opportunities are endless for her!
To conclude, having created the right kind of influence online with the right kind of audience is one powerful weapon.
Okay! That was a long blog post but I hope you’ve found it incredible valuable.
If you did, be awesome and tag me in your IG Stories @corneliapauline , letting me know which part of this article or tip you liked the most ;).
Have any questions? Leave a comment down below and start the conversation. Oh and of course, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog for more awesome posts to come soon!
Let’s do this!
~ Cornelia Pauline
P.S. This article may contain affiliate links which may result in my being financially compensated for purchases site visitors make through said links.
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