Who doesn’t want passive income? Passive income is money that you make without having to clock in or work; you make it passively. That means if you’re sleeping, binging Netflix, or even just hanging out with your friends- money is coming into your bank account.
So, you may be wondering, what passive income ideas are there? Well, today, we will be discussing 6 passive income ideas requiring an upfront time investment.
But, trust me. The passive income ideas that require an upfront time investment are ALWAYS the ones that payout the most in the long run. It’s kind of like a double-edged sword. Sure, you have to spend countless hours and days upfront, but then you don’t have to spend any time on these later on when they are bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year passively.
Let’s get into the article!
#1. Blogging
Blogging is a classic passive income idea, but it requires a massive upfront time investment.
Even though there’s a heavy time investment, blogging’s key silver lining is that it requires a very little upfront monetary investment. That’s right- most people can get their website started for as little as $7/month. Plus, blogs are SUPER easy to set up!
Blogging is just one of those things that build on itself. The more articles you write, the more money you will be making. Furthermore, it builds on itself progressively, similar to compound interest.
Compound interest is the idea that as a savings account gains money, it generates even MORE money in interest. And the same concept is true for blogging.
You see, a blog is NOT linear growth. It is exponential growth! That means your website’s growth is almost multiplied by each blog post you add.
Plus, blogging has to be one of the most fun passive income ideas. You can write about whatever your interests are!
You can monetize blogging via affiliate marketing, or my personal favorite, just display ads that make money every time someone visits your site!
The key to this is just sitting down for 3 months straight and just absolutely grinding out multiple blog posts a day. I’m talking 6-7 ‘SEO’ optimized blog posts. Sure, it’s going to be grueling; it’s going to be tough. But you’ll soon see the rewards.
If you aren’t going to write a ton of blog posts upfront, your blog will grow at a snail’s pace. Simply put, it is one of those big upfront time investment passive income ideas, but it definitely pays off in the end.
#2. Selling eBooks
I’m surprised selling eBooks hasn’t become more popular in the internet space, recently, considering it’s one of the most profitable passive income methods in the world.
Let’s put it like this:
You spend a good few months writing some great adventure novels or even informational books- and you can be rich for life.
Have you ever heard of Harry Potter? It’s estimated that 31% of the entire world has read the Harry Potter book series. And it has 7 books in the series!
J.K Rowling wrote that incredible novel when she was young and had to do NOTHING literally but relax in her house while it made her millions of dollars a day for the rest of her life.
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You can do the same thing! It’s very simple to write eBooks these days, actually. Simply open up a Google Drive Doc or even a Microsoft Word file and start typing. There are many free services that convert those files into book formats.
Then you can easily submit those ebook formats to Amazon, Nook, or other online book reselling websites and start making money while you sleep. The best part is- Amazon can do all the advertising for you, while you can just lay back and enjoy the passive income.
The only downside? It takes FOREVER to write books. I’ve been in the process of writing one myself, and it’s a drag. But, once you write one, you don’t have to do anything else but enjoy the money.
#3. Creating an App
By far, creating an app has to be by far the biggest upfront time investment out of all of these options. But, the money can be amazing.
One of my friends spent months non-stop developing an app. He didn’t leave the house; he just disappears for months. And, once his app was completed, he put the application on the play store, and years later, his app is still paying off a ton of bills, without having him lift a finger.
The nice thing about apps is that people tend to reuse them every day. So, you can grow a fairly dedicated audience that will be bringing you in money every day from the ads displayed.
Unfortunately, the downside is that you may need to spend months learning to code. Then only you will be able to code! Regardless, it’s a GREAT passive income stream.
#4. Create an Online Course (brings the most money!)
This is probably the LEAST common method I’ve seen in terms of passive income. Barely anybody I know has an online course! But according to a study done by Neil Patel, online courses can easily boost your passive income by $2-6k a month, even if you’re putting the bare minimum effort in.
Here’s the thing, it’s a massive upfront time investment. You’re basically putting yourself in a college educator spot and creating a whole course to educate someone with. After you create your first online course, you’ll find a new respect for teachers!
But, online courses are known to bring in the most money of ANY passive income source. This is because, by nature, online courses are worth way more than just a simple ebook. Online courses, on average, cost a few hundred dollars- and that’s a cheap estimate.
All you need to do is find something you’re super good at, and people want to learn. So, for instance, let’s say that you had a successful lawnmowing company as a teenager. There are tons of teens around the world that would be willing to pay hundreds of dollars to learn your secrets, tips, tricks, and more so they can successfully replicate the business and make money themselves.
Also Read: Why Online Reselling Is The Best Female-Oriented Businesses Idea
Find something you’re good at, start creating videos, powerpoints, lectures, and more, then publish it online! Once you finish the course, you’re set for life basically and can just keep getting revenue month after month.
#5. Podcasting
Podcasting is a great way to earn passive income, but it does require a HUGE upfront time investment.
While podcasting is all the rage these days, it’s incredibly hard to get noticed. And that’s by the nature of podcasts. It’s super easy for someone to skim the web and read websites, but it is much harder for people to sit down and listen to you talk for 40 minutes.
Also Read: 5 Must-Subscribe Podcasts for Female Entrepreneurs
Additionally, people will only subscribe if you have a ton of episodes proving you have high-quality content. Podcasting can be one of the most brutal industries to get into, especially considering you’ll have to spend hours recording and uploading before you even see an audience.
But, once you get all of that said and done, your audience can be massive. And it’s similar to running a TV series; your fans will want to watch episode after episode. So if you have 400 podcasts recorded, one fan can bring you 400 views, which can easily equate to $10 in ads from just one person alone.
And that’s not to mention that podcasts are among the top ways advertisers like to market their products. I personally recommend Anchor.FM, as it is a free podcast tool that pays you right off the bat.
#6. Selling Stock Images
Selling stock images is one of those almost ‘hidden’ passive income ideas, but it can generate a LOT of money- and it’s super fun!
It’s as simple as it sounds, take a ton of high-quality photos that people may use in a website, YouTube video, news publication, etcetera and market them for a few dollars.
At first, it may seem like a stupid idea, but having those images online being sold over and over for a few bucks each every day can really add up. That’s especially considering that your money grows as your image collection grows.
The downside? There is a HUGE upfront time investment. You have to spend a lot of time going to places, staging photos, editing the photos, and uploading them. You might be surprised to learn that good photography is actually quite difficult!
Regardless, make that upfront time investment and get maybe 300-400 photos up in your first few months. You can easily start getting money every day and start getting that passive income.
Conclusion
So these are the 6 best passive income ideas requiring an upfront time investment. Blogging, selling eBooks, creating an app, creating an online course, podcasting, and selling stock images!
I will remind you, while there is a big upfront time investment, that usually means that you can spend less time later working on your projects. But, that just means you have more free time to relax with all your money and travel the world!
