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)