Are you interested to learn how to earn a passive income online in 2023? If the answer is yes, then you are lucky that you landed on this page. In this post, I will be sharing my opinions with you regarding earning a passive income on the internet and hopefully, by the end you will have a clear pathway to follow.
But first things first, I would like to start by briefly defining passive income the way I understand it.
So, what is passive income?
Passive income is simply defined as income that you earn while not spending your finite time resource on working for that income. The idea has been very popular for many years now and many people are super passionate about earning a passive income.
It is the dream. Living on a hammock at some beach, sipping margaritas, and having dollars pouring in your bank account without you even lifting a finger. It certainly sounds enticing. However, the reality is usually a bit different than this ideal picture. But first, let’s discuss the different ways someone can earn a passive income with.
Different Ways to Earn a Passive Income
There are definitely many different ways someone can earn a passive income with. Real estate investments, stock market investments, and running an automated business are some that come from the top of my mind.
To be clear, in this post I will not be touching upon any of these methods. The only method I will be talking about is the one I personally have been successful with and am very passionate about. This method is earning passive income through an online business. Plain and simple. Before we move on, let’s clear one more misconception that people frequently hold.
Passive Income is a Myth
There, I said it. What? Debunking the main topic you promised you will be discussing in the post? Well, let’s be more specific.
Complete passive income is a myth. Many people easily believe in push-button riches and achieving wealth without having done anything at all to earn it. In my opinion, this is a complete and utter fallacy. And it’s a dangerous one at that, where you start chasing unicorns and shiny objects instead of putting the work in. I have fallen victim to it in the past and I know it’s not very productive.
Initial Hard Work is Required
In order to truly build a passive income online, you first have to work very hard. Don’t fool yourself with ready-made websites or methods that promise the stars without sweating at all. They are scams and many of them exist online.
So, start with setting up the right mindset for yourself. Prepare to work hard in the beginning and build an online business of substance that brings value to your readers. Then, and only then, you can dream of automating parts or the whole of your online business.
Here is the blueprint I suggest you follow in order to really stand a chance in building a passive income online.
Step 1: Build the foundation of your online business yourself
When starting out, I absolutely suggest that you start building your online business yourself. This is the only way for you to truly understand your audience and business. Spend your time at this stage and truly become a master of your niche. Focus on building a true authority website in your chosen niche.
Understand what your readers need, become immersed in your online business, and continue growing it yourself until you both build a following and start making income online. Once you reach that stage, and only then, start thinking about ways to streamline/automate/outsource parts or the whole of your online business.
Step 2: Start Automating
This a critical step for any online entrepreneur to take. There are certainly good and bad ways to automate your internet business.
First, identify the parts of your business that you don’t truly enjoy. We all have parts of our business that we like and parts of our business that we hate. It’s just a part of life. You can find awesome freelancers from all over the world that love doing the activities that you hate.
Just hop on Upwork or any other similar website and hire the best person for the task at hand. Most of the time, you can find awesome professionals for very reasonable rates.
In general, you have to judge which parts and how many of the activities of your online business you will automate. Keep in mind that outsourcing your work to freelancers or even hiring a part or full-time employee to handle parts of your business is the way to transform your online business into a passive income asset.
Automation Caveats
When outsourcing, you should be careful not to become completely disconnected from the core of your business and your audience’s needs. Usually, it’s good to keep writing at least some parts of your content yourself and communicating with your audience on a regular basis. Content, communication, and marketing should be the last parts of your business that you automate.
Automation through Tech
Another way to automate your online business is through tech. Keep an eye out on services and software that you can make use of in order to save time and bring your business closer to automation. For example, a platform where you can manage all your social media accounts, like Hootsuite, or a productivity tool like Trello, can shave off lots of time you would otherwise be losing. Michael Hyatt discusses automation for productivity very nicely in his book Free to Focus, which I highly recommend.
==> Check Michael Hyatt’s awesome productivity book Free to Focus here
Building an Authority Website is your best bet
In conclusion, for people who want to build a passive income online, I recommend building an authority website from scratch and then finding ways to automate parts of it, or even the whole of it, up to the degree you prefer for your lifestyle. I also believe that building an authority website is the way to go, because of evergreen content. This is content on your website that will more or less stay relevant for years to come.
Building your online business with evergreen content in mind from the beginning is an investment that can pay off big. The more you have invested in such content on your website, the more passive the maintenance of your website can be. There are websites that, when built that way, can generate income and traffic for many years with little to minimal effort, even without automation and without even touching them.
I still receive income and traffic from articles I wrote years ago on websites I own. Talk about TRUE passive income.
Does Online Passive Income Sound Enticing?
If you found the ideas in this blog post interesting, but feel a little lost about how to start from scratch or even how to outsource, etc. I would like to urge you not to get lost in the details. I believe that when there is a will there is a way.
The most important part is for you to be truly motivated to create a passive income stream online and set your mindset straight, which I hope we did in this post. If you would like to learn more about how I brought myself up to the level of consistently earning passive income online and get access to the platform that made it all possible for me, be sure to check my lazy bum to online entrepreneur story.
==> Read my lazy bum to online entrepreneur story here <==
I hope you found the information in today’s post useful. If you have any questions or remarks, I would love to read them in the comment section below.
Cheers to your online success,
Founder of Lifestyle Freedom Business, Tony
Passive income, for obvious, and somewhat boring reasons has become a very popular topic recently, and I appreciate your emphasis on debunking the myth of complete passive income and highlighting the importance of initial hard work.
Passive income can become an even more difficult notion when the people who attempt to build it, find it to be incongruent with what they actually want to do and accomplish. Even something like passive income has to be approached with some passion and intensity beyond just wanting to make money by sitting on your behind. And we know that if the driving factor behind creating that business is laziness, it is unlikely to get off the ground.
Automation can be a massive tool in achieving a passive income. Outsourcing tasks that you dislike to freelancers or hiring employees can free up your time and allow you to focus on more critical aspects of your business. However, it’s very important to strike a balance and remain connected to the core of your business and audience.
You’ve hit the nail on the head! The notion of passive income is indeed often misconstrued. While it does offer the appeal of earning without constant active input, the groundwork it requires is substantial and far from ‘passive’. Aligning it with your passion, interests, and goals is crucial for its success. As you rightly pointed out, automation and outsourcing can be highly beneficial, but staying connected to your business’s core and understanding your audience’s needs are equally important. Thank you for your insightful comment!