[Hades]

OK guys, so since I got fired from my job I have been taking inventory of the things I own and trying not to dick around on the internet too much (though that is an easy temptation).

I am currently pretty low on funds and looking to make extra money. With college starting back up again soon it's likely that I'm going to have to get a job, but since I have some free time I hope to figure out a way to generate passive income.

My first step to getting passive income was starting a fitness blog where I talk about my progress and give advice. I'm starting two weekly and one monthly "syndications" in the blog to hopefully get some kind of audience. Fitness is a niche though.
I did enable google adsense and hope to get over the payment threshold some day.

Do you guys have any advice for somebody looking to make extra money or passive income?

All I have right now is free time, and the job market in my area is complete shit, and I'm tied to school for at least another year. Thanks guys.

[WestIndianArchie]

(07-24-2012 08:13 PM)Hades Wrote:  

[b]Do you guys have any advice for somebody looking to make extra money or passive income?

Look up Pat Flynn and "Smart Passive Income".

Good luck.

[kdolo]

True passive income is tough - and it is only enough when you have a lot of capital to begin with then you can invest in binds or equities for the dividends

real estate is good, but then again it is not truly passive until you have large numbers of -units to justify separate management

[Kitsune]

Stop thinking of it as passive income. It is a fools game and a lovely buzzword from the Self-Help/Internet-Marketing/Personal-Development crowd.

It is also unhelpful.

I'd advise thinking of everything you do income-wise more in terms of Capital building, or, compounding interest. From your point (no job, whatever qualifications, whatever experience,) think of what you can do to get the best return on your investment. For instance, you could spend $500 getting a blog up and running, or you could spend it on a plumbing qualification if you're a plumber. Or whatever. Basically though, everything you should do should mean you make more money in the future.

And blogging is a hobby, really. If you're looking to make some spare change with it, I'd advise not using adsense; get yourself on a good affiliate system; something like clickbank for info products or Commission Junction for physical products. Even better, get a real deal with an actual manufacturer in your area with better commissions. It is harder work, but a couple of hours phoning around might mean you make a wage versus beer money.

Always apply the rule; if you start a website, what are you going to do when you've maxed out the keywords in your niche and got all the targets you can handle? Where is it going? A lot of people think they are going to get millions of visitors, but it dries up eventually. A lot of people think they'll just start another blog and do the same again - but you'll have to put all the work in again for those few cents a day on your investment.

My general advice would be this; in this day and age, everyone is disregarding actual business in favour of social marketing trends and internet business. Flip the script. How do you do exactly the opposite of that, and make those would-be business makers do all that work for you?

In other words, don't be the affiliate marketer in the long term. Hire those people to do that work for you whilst you make real business.

In the short term, just make money and put it in a pot. To have any sort of 'passive income,' you need Capital to put to work.

[reaper23]

passive income in the sense you're talking about is really saying, i want to get paid without working.

there are only two ways to get passive income - work your ass off making something that generates income that you can afford to pay someone else to manage...

or have lots of capital that earns dividends.

personally, i spent my 20's grinding hard in real estate, reinvesting every deal i ever did into one medium sized commercial building (10,000 sqft). it generates a small amount of passive income now, but once the building debt is amortized, it will pay $400,000 - $500,000 per year (15 years from now).

i started with nothing, borrowed my initial equity, took on investors and rolled it all up so that I have Infinite Return on my capital.

took me ten years.

but now my retirement in my early 50's is all taken care of, at a standard of living higher than i have now.

bottom line, asking about "passive income" is just about as bad as saying, how do i make free money.

[Cookie]

Hades,
While I don't have some great supply of "passive income" (which, isn't actually a real thing) I do make enough that I will be graduating college debt free and have enough money to vacation four times a year.
If I'm correct you're younger than I am, so my advice should still be useful to you:

1. Don't take out a crushing amount of student loans. I know several guys who've graduated with 100k+ in student loans. And they graduated with weak majors (like teaching, or music). Once you're out of school that kind of debt will hold you hostage.

2. Start hustling, not drug dealing or anything illegal, but get a couple jobs and work your ass off at them. Also for extra income, keeping working on your fitness blog. Maybe you could release some kind of e-book or something and sell it on your site (this won't make you rich, but still it would be a nice way to earn a couple extra bucks).

3. If you have a skill monetize it. I'm guessing that your a guy who's more skilled than working a job like McDonalds would require. Take whatever talents you have, I guessing from your interest in fitness that you're pretty strong, and find away to make money off them (maybe start a weekend furniture moving business or something).

4. Don't be retarded with your money. I know a ton of guys who manage to go broke between Friday payday and Monday morning, this is just stupid. Only spend your money on things that will benefit you.

If you really start grinding now you'll have a huge financial advantage over everyone else in your age group.

[Andreas]

What I hate about these Internet marketing Gurus is that they tell you that they will tell you step by step how to start making money and then hopefully becoming a millionaire and then they charge thousands of dollars for an online course or whatever they sell. How the fuck is the newb going to collect 2-3 thousand dollars for training on something that he/she is not sure if there is any chance of success.

Another thing that annoys me is that they tell you "I went from penniless to a millionaire in 1-2 years and I didn't have any experience" but they won't tell you how they got there. They launch a bunch of expensive products and they keep telling you the same story over and over again.

I just wish I could find an experienced guy who doesn't fluff talk and actually teach me something useful.

[cherico88]

I think some people delude themselves by equating passive income with "fast & easy money". There's no such thing as "easy" money, or at least in my 45+ years I have not encountered such a thing.

Look at your skill set. What are your strengths? If you are not sure, ask your friends to give you honest feedback. Only ask friends that support improving yourself. In California where I live, the economy is on life support, but there are still people prospering mightily! Look up my old posts that describe how my nephew is able to travel the world and surf 6 months out of every year.

Here is how his surf and band buddies make good money. Matt and Tim are brothers and graduated college with some useless degrees. Both are in mid-20's. Matt's junk truck broke down and he didn't have enough $ to fix it. He went on you tube and learned how to fix his electrical problem. He had NO prior mechanic experience. He took a one semester class in a comm. college to learn how to fix electrical problems in vehicles. Now, he fixes power windows and minor electrical issues working mobile from a van and even hired a helper. This fits with the tough economic times here in SoCal.

His brother Tim drives around in a truck fixing and installing screens and washing windows. He learned to do this by fixing his mom's screens after taking a free class at Home Depot. He is so busy during the summer, he has to hire 2 helpers and his sister to answer the phone and schedule appointments. He makes great $. By the way, Matt and Tim are loaning their sister some money to learn how to fix small dents and scratches on cars. That's a great biz here in LA with very little $ required.

Whatever you decide to do, you have to get off your butt and do something. Even if you fail initially, you will learn from your mistakes and improvise, adapt and overcome as we used to say in the Marine Corps.

Simple businesses make money! The key to making great money in a simple business is simple (not easy). Just be better than everyone else. That means showing up on time, being helpful to customers and delivering great value.

[alphaspiraton]

(07-26-2012 09:57 AM)reaper23 Wrote:  

passive income in the sense you're talking about is really saying, i want to get paid without working.

there are only two ways to get passive income - work your ass off making something that generates income that you can afford to pay someone else to manage...

or have lots of capital that earns dividends.

personally, i spent my 20's grinding hard in real estate, reinvesting every deal i ever did into one medium sized commercial building (10,000 sqft). it generates a small amount of passive income now, but once the building debt is amortized, it will pay $400,000 - $500,000 per year (15 years from now).

i started with nothing, borrowed my initial equity, took on investors and rolled it all up so that I have Infinite Return on my capital.

took me ten years.

but now my retirement in my early 50's is all taken care of, at a standard of living higher than i have now.

bottom line, asking about "passive income" is just about as bad as saying, how do i make free money.

How do you decide how much income to spend on yourself from the smaller projects, instead of putting it into the medium sized building. I mean expenses such as rent, food, entertainment (if any), etc.

Did you live, and will continue to live, on the bare minimum until the building debt is amortized 15 years from now?

Just curious. Thanks.

[Nineteen84]

Steve Pavlina recently did a series on passive income you may find useful: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/categor...me/page/3/

[reaper23]

(07-26-2012 02:40 PM)alphaspiraton Wrote:  

(07-26-2012 09:57 AM)reaper23 Wrote:  

passive income in the sense you're talking about is really saying, i want to get paid without working.

there are only two ways to get passive income - work your ass off making something that generates income that you can afford to pay someone else to manage...

or have lots of capital that earns dividends.

personally, i spent my 20's grinding hard in real estate, reinvesting every deal i ever did into one medium sized commercial building (10,000 sqft). it generates a small amount of passive income now, but once the building debt is amortized, it will pay $400,000 - $500,000 per year (15 years from now).

i started with nothing, borrowed my initial equity, took on investors and rolled it all up so that I have Infinite Return on my capital.

took me ten years.

but now my retirement in my early 50's is all taken care of, at a standard of living higher than i have now.

bottom line, asking about "passive income" is just about as bad as saying, how do i make free money.

How do you decide how much income to spend on yourself from the smaller projects, instead of putting it into the medium sized building. I mean expenses such as rent, food, entertainment (if any), etc.

Did you live, and will continue to live, on the bare minimum until the building debt is amortized 15 years from now?

Just curious. Thanks.

i worked five jobs like some jamaican immigrant. not only did i do real estate development but i started a construction company and an architecture and design firm (no prior experience in either). then on top of that I got a real estate license and hustled deals for other people too, plus sold all my own projects.

as the pipeline dried up and I stabilized my last and final property I started doing financial consulting for $10MM company. then they hired me as CFO..next added COO...and then became the Executive Director of the whole thing.

And as of Monday - I'll be the Executive Director of a $7MM company at the same time.

yes i'm working two top executive jobs at the same time.

the two jobs thing ends in Nov but I got the hustle back so I'll be doing some additional consulting afterwards.

moral of the story? work your ass off, plan for the future and don't waste money like an idiot.

[Kitsune]

(07-26-2012 06:41 PM)Nineteen84 Wrote:  

Steve Pavlina recently did a series on passive income you may find useful: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/categor...me/page/3/

The thing with Steve Pavlina is that he makes passive income by telling people to make passive income.

I could do a seminar charging 3k per head tomorrow and tell people to get passive income 'doing something they love,' and they'd be nodding their heads, knowing that they should get passive income, and I'd make 30k or more.

Then in a years time, a couple of my students could start a seminar series where they charge 3k per head telling people to make passive income doing what they love.

Steve Pavlina made all his money blogging during the adsense boom of the mid-2000's. He was making $40k per month from adsensem using word of mouth advertising. You couldn't make a couple of dollars a day now using the same strategy that he did, and the amount you listen to him should be measured against that fact. It is the same as when baby-boomers tell you the answer is to get a job and work your way up the ladder, save your money and retire comfortably in your sixties. The strategy worked very well at the time, but that time is gone.

The Internet is like a wild-west for earning money. It comes fast and leaves even quicker.

[worldwidetraveler]

(07-28-2012 04:51 PM)Kitsune Wrote:  

(07-26-2012 06:41 PM)Nineteen84 Wrote:  

Steve Pavlina recently did a series on passive income you may find useful: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/categor...me/page/3/

The thing with Steve Pavlina is that he makes passive income by telling people to make passive income.

I could do a seminar charging 3k per head tomorrow and tell people to get passive income 'doing something they love,' and they'd be nodding their heads, knowing that they should get passive income, and I'd make 30k or more.

Then in a years time, a couple of my students could start a seminar series where they charge 3k per head telling people to make passive income doing what they love.

Steve Pavlina made all his money blogging during the adsense boom of the mid-2000's. He was making $40k per month from adsensem using word of mouth advertising. You couldn't make a couple of dollars a day now using the same strategy that he did, and the amount you listen to him should be measured against that fact. It is the same as when baby-boomers tell you the answer is to get a job and work your way up the ladder, save your money and retire comfortably in your sixties. The strategy worked very well at the time, but that time is gone.

The Internet is like a wild-west for earning money. It comes fast and leaves even quicker.

Blogging and holding seminars isn't passive.

[Kitsune]

(07-28-2012 04:55 PM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:  

(07-28-2012 04:51 PM)Kitsune Wrote:  

(07-26-2012 06:41 PM)Nineteen84 Wrote:  

Steve Pavlina recently did a series on passive income you may find useful: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/categor...me/page/3/

The thing with Steve Pavlina is that he makes passive income by telling people to make passive income.

I could do a seminar charging 3k per head tomorrow and tell people to get passive income 'doing something they love,' and they'd be nodding their heads, knowing that they should get passive income, and I'd make 30k or more.

Then in a years time, a couple of my students could start a seminar series where they charge 3k per head telling people to make passive income doing what they love.

Steve Pavlina made all his money blogging during the adsense boom of the mid-2000's. He was making $40k per month from adsensem using word of mouth advertising. You couldn't make a couple of dollars a day now using the same strategy that he did, and the amount you listen to him should be measured against that fact. It is the same as when baby-boomers tell you the answer is to get a job and work your way up the ladder, save your money and retire comfortably in your sixties. The strategy worked very well at the time, but that time is gone.

The Internet is like a wild-west for earning money. It comes fast and leaves even quicker.

Blogging and holding seminars isn't passive.

No income is passive.

[Hades]

Alrighty guys, thanks for the advice considerably.

I have decided to spend the next month busting my nuts doing odd jobs and hocking all my extraneous shit on ebay. I'm basically going bare bones for travelling. So
-Clothes
-Sports Equipment (for fun and exercise)
-One laptop
-One e-reader/tablet android unit (for books and movies)
-One backup drive
-Basic shit for making friends and clubbing (one carton of smokes, two handles of liquor, rubbers)

And that's pretty much all I'm going to bring. I took stock of what I like and use on the regular and figure that's OK by me to have little else.

I'll keep my expenses low and learn about what affiliate marketing is. If affiliate marketing sounds cool and doesn't require too many hours a week I'm probably going to roll with it.
Also going to blog on my fitness link in the meantime. I might as well stay motivated even if it is a hobby.
I don't have a lot of money for travel but I figure that I have enough for plane tickets and basic living expenses. I'll probably get a credit card for emergencies but it's been a good productive time unemployed so far. It's actually been fun.

[Andy_B]

The number one rule of passive income is that it ain't passive at all--at least not at first.

[WestIndianArchie]

(07-29-2012 07:17 AM)Kitsune Wrote:  

No income is passive.

Some streams are more passive than others.

For example
Ad Revenue generated from articles you wrote for Info Barrel years ago
Royalties and Sales from intellectual property
Government Bond Income.
REIT income

You have to monitor and you have to manage, but you aren't renting a room, marketing, and giving a speech every few months to keep your personal brand in the public's eye.

[Kitsune]

I was writing in response to someone making a particular point, who quoted me making a point to someone else about another particular point.

However, I'd say I don't consider any of those things except Government bonds as passive income unless I'm merely slicing the profit off the top and someone else is managing it.

Ad revenue from articles: Same as blogging, and like a lot of traditional "passive income" streams, you have to do all the work up front and hope and pray that it'll make money in the end.
Royalties and Sales from IP: Hardly passive. I make some money from this, and it took me years. If you're talking about software IP, you're going to have months of meetings with financiers and IP lawyers if you want to secure income in the future. If you're talking about arts work, you're going to be spending years getting to the stage you can make paltry money from it. Not passive at all.
Government Income/bonds/assets/ whatever: This is passive, but in an 'income building' thread, not really relevant because you need the income streams before you can invest the money.

REIT: Same as above, and not really passive becase with anything involving stocks/investments that change in the short term, a) You need hefty, lose-able capital, and b) You need to spend time managing.

In terms of going from no money to big money, no income is passive.

[Rurik]

(07-26-2012 09:57 AM)reaper23 Wrote:  

passive income in the sense you're talking about is really saying, i want to get paid without working.

there are only two ways to get passive income - work your ass off making something that generates income that you can afford to pay someone else to manage...

or have lots of capital that earns dividends.



bottom line, asking about "passive income" is just about as bad as saying, how do i make free money.

No.

Passive income is owning a company that sells products or services, that runs automatically. You can do this by selling information products on the net.

[RichieP]

You will always be using hours in the day for some sort of productiveness, like Kitsune says.

The question is are you doing something you enjoy, are you investing in your own skills and earning power, are you building/acquiring cash-flow producing assets that will last for years.

Obviously the worst job is one where you are selling your time for $$, doing something you hate.

A better one is doing something you love, that's building skills and more earning power for the future. Or putting together a business that requires little time/effort once running and is a cash-flow generating asset. Or investing in cash-flow producing assets.

What's important to you?

Work you love
Having enough income to save
Building / Acquiring cash-flow assets (businesses, websites, property, etc)
Location independence
How many hours a day of work do you want

Best to just look at the larger picture of your own life. Getting sucked into the "Passive income" dream can be a disaster, unless you really have a taste for business, investing, buying and flipping assets (digital or physical) etc. A better option for a young guy might just be find work you love, figure out how to get paid well for it and work acceptable hours, and get good at saving. If you want to be location independent, there's ways to do that too, look into freelancing - writing, web design, etc.

I also think that as a young guy, you shouldnt try and "skip the process". There's something to be said for paying your dues (I think this because I TRIED to skip it and jump straight into a passive-income business and it was a bad idea). I should have just gone out, got a job or two, figured out some online freelancing to fund my travels, then eased into business books and biz ideas. I tried to jump ahead too soon and it was a mistake.

[worldwidetraveler]

Blogging and Seminars is an ongoing activity that will produce income but will not produce passive income unless you have someone else doing the work and managing it.

The most passive type of investment I have come across is making loans. That is where most of my money will be laid out after a year or two. I like real estate, personally, and you can make it a very passive income. I am not talking rentals but creating paper.

The OP isn't really describing passive income but still a good subject to discuss.

[Thomas the Rhymer]

(07-30-2012 10:07 AM)RichieP Wrote:  

A better option for a young guy might just be find work you love, figure out how to get paid well for it and work acceptable hours, and get good at saving.

Just to add my 2c, there's a lot to be said for developing a specialised skill set through your work.

It's far easier then to tailor your lifestyle. The more rare your skillz and the better your experience, the more likely you can be paid decently even if you're a part-timer. Then you'll have time to do other stuff. But you have to put in the initial time to develop those skills.

Kind of what I did at one point. I targeted a niche, used whatever opportunities presented to develop skills in that niche, and once my skill set was real, for a while I could basically choose whatever hours I wanted to work and still earn okay cash because demand for my skillset was desperately high everywhere. I used the opportunity to work part-time for a year and to finish a novel I had been working on for years, while gaming on the side.

[Andy_B]

(07-30-2012 10:33 AM)worldwidetraveler Wrote:  

Blogging and Seminars is an ongoing activity that will produce income but will not produce passive income unless you have someone else doing the work and managing it.

The most passive type of investment I have come across is making loans. That is where most of my money will be laid out after a year or two. I like real estate, personally, and you can make it a very passive income. I am not talking rentals but creating paper.

The OP isn't really describing passive income but still a good subject to discuss.

I guess interest on bonds and dividends on stocks are passive forms of income... But they're not really significant unless you have a lot of capital to invest up front.