Is There A Single Best Passive Income Stream?
Don’t look now, but Passive income is starting to become one of the most talked about words on the internet. And why shouldn’t it? Adding passive income to your portfolio helps you increase your daily earnings and boost your financial goals in significant ways without taking a toll on your previous time.
The only problem is that true passive income is often misunderstood. They see this income-generating strategy as an opportunity without having to sweat one bit. The reality, all income needs some level of work. A complete Passive Income stream is nearly impossible to find. However, we did find 6 truly passive income streams.
Most passive income streams require a lot of nurturing and upfront investment at the start. With hard work and time, these will begin to build, maintain itself, and bring consistent revenue without you putting too much effort on your part.
Before you reach this level, however, you have to familiarize yourself first with the basics of earning passive income.
Here are some of the best passive income ideas you can venture out into.
Real Estate Crowdfunding
What Is It?
Real estate crowdfunding might just be the hottest passive income stream of the next decade. With high yields, it is no wonder why so many accredited and non-accredited investors are putting their money into Real Estate Crowdfunding.
In the most basic terms, Real Estate Crowdfunding allows the average investor to participate in commercial real estate investing. Platforms like Fundrise, Reality Mogul, CrowdStreet and other allow for peer-to-peer investing with a low minimum investment requirement. Some platforms — like CrowdStreet — only allow accredited investors to participate, while others — like Fundrise and Realty Mogul — welcome non-accredited investors.
How To Get Started
- Research: Find the crowdfunding platform that works best for you. If you’re a non-accredited investor, this is a good place to start.
- Purchase: Depending on the platform you choose you may have multiple options of how you can participate. Some platforms create their own internal funds to give you diversification or you can choose to invest on a deal to deal basis. Another thing to look out for is average annual yield and also the amount of time your money will be tied up in a single investment. Real Estate Crowdfunding is very lucrative and annual percentage yields are in the teens, but it is also a long term investment. If you want more liquidity, then the next option might be for you.
Dividend-Paying Stocks
What Is It?
The most basic passive income that individuals reference is dividend-paying stocks and other investments. This strategy does require you to put a certain amount of money on the table (especially if you want meaningful income) but it has been one of the highest consistent paying strategies out there. Dividend-paying ETFs and stocks bring consistent earnings around the clock and all with no work required on the investor.
According to Brett Owens, Forbes writer and contributor, dividends have a high potential to receive annual returns of 15 percent to 25 percent if the owner picks the right avenues and study the course. This move, however, requires time. There’s no way that you will be earning $1,000 per month without having to put effort into this opportunity.
How To Get Started?
- Research: As a first-time investor, you have to make sure that you are putting your eggs in the best basket. Hence, it is essential to research first. Know what the quality stocks are and which companies have low volatility. Make sure that these large corporations have a long history of prosperity and financial stability to ensure that they can keep up with the fluctuations in the market.
- Purchase: Once you know where to invest, you may either purchase it directly from the company or through a broker. Take note, however, that buying directly from companies requires a minimum investment of $25 to $500, so ensure that you already have the money on hand. On the other hand, all you have to do with brokerage firms is to open an account, and they will be the ones who will facilitate the purchase for you.
- Reinvest: There are two options in terms of dividend collection – get it directly in cash or reinvest it in the company through their dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP). If you want to increase your earnings further, it is recommended to enroll in this program.
- Track: Dividend amounts are not consistent. This means that businesses can raise, lower, or even eliminate dividends at times. Hence, you must track your dividends consistently to be able to decide what your next moves will be.
Lawrence Carrel’s Dividend Stocks For Dummies is a perfect read for those who would like to start investing in dividends.
Affiliate Marketing
What Is It?
Affiliate marketing refers to a strategy where you get paid by suggesting and referring new customers to a particular brand. The idea behind this is that you promote other people’s services and products and earn a commission once they end up buying or availing these.
There are a lot of companies that create their own affiliate marketing programs. This way, they’ll be able to expand their reach and earn more money by attracting these audiences to buy from them.
How To Get Started?
- Review: As an affiliate marketer, you don’t have to go through the rigorous process of creating an idea or a product. All you have to do is pick a product and publicly talk about them. Make sure that you are interested in it and that you are using these things, so when you talk about it, it’s more genuine and believable. Don’t forget to use an affiliate link when you’re promoting all of these products.
- Build An Email List: It is essential to expand your reach by collecting email addresses from the visitors to your website. You can do this by placing a call to action on your entry page, exit page, or sidebar. Make sure that it should offer people something that will catch their attention in exchange for their email.
- Educate: It’s not enough to promote, promote, and promote. If you directly do this all the time, your visitors will know that it’s only about the money. As an affiliate marketer, you have to make sure that you are providing some value-adding things to the lives of your audience – and this is through education. For example, if you’re trying to sell books related to investing, then maybe you can establish a webinar and article that will help them grow their money through side hustles. You can then subtly insert your promotions there.
Check out Kevin Ulaner’s Affiliate Marketing: The Beginner’s Step By Step Guide To Make Money Online With Affiliate Marketing to enhance your knowledge on this money-making strategy.
Create A Course On Udemy
What Is It?
Udemy refers to an online platform that enables its users to enroll in video courses on a wide array of topics. If you want to earn money, however, your role will be different. You have to be a producer instead of being a consumer. All you have to do is create your own video course with a subject you are highly knowledgeable of, submit it in the platform, and let your users purchase it. This strategy is an excellent way to transform traditional tutoring into an income-generating stream.
How To Get Started
- Plan: Make sure that you plan your course, depending on your passion and knowledge. Don’t go with something that’s on the trending list now. Instead, discuss something that you know will enjoy and that you’re most passionate about. This will ensure that you give out quality videos to your viewers.
- Draft The Lectures: Don’t go straight into shooting your video since these will not produce excellent output. Once you have chosen your topic, the next step is to plan lectures by creating an outline of your discussion. This move will help you gather your thoughts before putting yourself in the limelight.
- Record: Ready your microphone and smartphone so you can film your first course where you are. If you are camera-shy, you can also use screencasting software to screencast demos.
- Build A Community: Interactivity is essential in a world like Udemy. Hence, to be able to expand your reach and build a community, you have to create quizzes, give out assignments, and assign exercises to your students.
You may read How to Create a Udemy Course in 5 Days if you want to further explore the basics of this passive income strategy.
Sell Stock Photos
What Is It?
Do you wonder where blogs, websites, and magazines get their photos from? No, they do not usually set up their own photoshoots since that would be too costly. If you’re a fan of photography, then this might be the best passive income idea for you. The idea behind selling stock photos is that you have to submit a photograph or even a collection. Once users purchase one of them, you will receive a commission depending on the value of your item.
Take note that the easiest way to sell stock photos is through a third-party microstock website. Examples of it include Getty Images via Flickr, iStockPhoto, Shutterstock, Dreamstime, and 123F.
How To Get Started
- Stock Portfolio: The foundation of selling stock photos is to come up with images to sell. Hence, you need to create your stock portfolio. If you are not new in this niche, then all you have to do is collect your past works and put it together. If you’re just getting into photography, however, you have to prepare and plan your first ever shoot.
- Choose The Right Agency: Once you have established your portfolio, then you have to find a stock agency that will represent and sell your work. Make sure that you research the different agencies and select the best one that will fit your style. You should also study how the commission and payout works. Ensure that they have a reasonable commission rate that will not take too much of your sale.
- Check The Images: Even though you feel that you already have the best photo on hand, you should still come up with ways for them to be of high technical standard. The factors that you should consider including dust particles, chromatic aberration, the correct focus, noise, and sharpness.
- Keywords and Metadata: If you want to maximize your sales, you have to come up with the best keywords, metadata, and descriptions. This is to ensure that your audience will find your images.
Tara Jacobsen and Rebekah Welch’s book entitled Selling Your Stock Photography will further discuss how you can leverage on your photography skills.
Final Thoughts
It might be tempting for some people to pick all of these passive income ideas because of the profit it brings on the table. But if you’re still new to this kind of work, that would not be the best decision. We encourage that you pick just one in the beginning and put your effort into it until it flourishes. To be simple, master one thing first before moving on to another stream.
Study your options, pick an idea, draft a plan, and dedicate your time until this income-generating stream comes to fruition.