8 Simple Steps to Create Passive Income Streams

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By Contributing Author

Passive income requires some form of investment of time, energy, and of course, money to make it worth the long run of having minimal intervention afterward. With the Internet, acquiring and running a passive income stream has made this process easier. There are plenty of online passive income ideas, and it’s among the Holy Grail of ways to make money via the Internet. How do you create a successful passive income revenue? In this chapter, we’ll explore how to go about creating a plan to produce this form of income, especially now that we have a better idea of what passive income is.

Passive income is worth your while. Here are some step-by-step ways to ensure you’re on the right path to acquire and work on your own passive income stream:

Step 1- Starting with an idea

Of course, the first thing you should do is select the idea you can work on the best. This is entirely an individual decision as it involves the unique situation you’re in, and what you have at your disposal that can be turned into passive income. If you have the means to purchase real estate, business investments or even dividend stocks, then wonderful. If not, you have to look at other choices you have. For most people, passive income selections involve some kind of maintenance, which is likely generated through online means. There are plenty of ways to create automatic income online that doesn’t require such a huge investment up front. The best is to start by listing out your ideas, and see which one works best with your situation now and what resources you have to make this idea happen. Here are some ideas to help you get your thinking juices flowing:

Idea #1 – Dropshipping

Idea #2 – Amazon FBA

Idea #3 – Self-publishing.

Idea #4 – Shopify

Idea #5 – Freelance virtual assistant

Idea #6 – Building an application

Idea #7 – Online auctions

Idea #8 – Cryptocurrency.  The New Age Currency.

Idea #9 – Make YouTube videos.

Idea #10 – Online fitness instructor

Idea #11 – Renting out space via Airbnb

Idea #12- Cashback rewards with credit cards

Idea #13 – Renting out your parking spot

Idea #14 – Develop design elements

Idea #15 – Website domain flipping

Idea #16 – Selling t-shirts online.

Idea #17 – Placing ads on your car

Idea #18 – Rent out your clothes.

Idea #19 – Develop WordPress themes

Idea #20 – Launch a webinar.

Step 2 – Setting up actionable goals

All it does take is a spark, and when you have that spark of an idea, your next to-do would be to create actionable goals. These goals are steps or tasks that have a time frame, objective, and quantitative results. Setting these foundations is crucial at the beginning stages.

Write down your goals and plate it on your mood board or vision board. Did you know that writing things down creates a powerful guide rather than setting them in your mind? Setting goals arbitrarily in your minds will often lead to failure. You don’t want to fail, especially if you’re investing money and time. While you can make mistakes, failing altogether will certainly cause bigger issues. Write down how you’re going to accomplish your passive income and detail it as much as possible.

Step 3 – Planning your idea in stages.

It’s all about planning. Don’t rush the process, but instead, spend a considerable amount of time planning effective steps on reaching these goals. How will you achieve goal one? How will you get from point A to point B? What can you do? What are the actions you need to take? Put all of these steps on to paper, as it will help you bring the gap of dream and reality a little closer. Keep in mind that nothing materializes quickly. If it does, then it will burn out just as quickly. The steps you put into place must be consistent and persistent, and as long as you know what’s going to take you to get there, you’re setting yourself up for success.

Step 4 – Creating a backup plan

The journey toward establishing a passive income stream is a huge task and it’s very easy to give up your time, and instead, focus on work that gives you consistent pay. Despite that, once you’ve successfully established your passive income, the rewards are great. On the journey to get there, however, you need backup plans. Getting into your passive income stream without any monetary backup plan is a fool’s game.

As much as you’d like to ditch your day job, you need to have some active income and just work on your passive income on the side, slowly and steadily building it up until it reaches a point that enables you to quit your active income, if you want to, and rely on your passive one. However, that’s still not a wise decision. If your passive income brings you plenty of money in a month, compared to what you usually get in a year, it’s wise to continue investing and creating other passive incomes, so that you don’t rely on just one source.

A fallback plan is essential unless your passive income pays your bills and feeds you more than your active income can bring to the table. However, the idea of a passive income is like a side hustle. Once you set it up and it runs on its own, you don’t need to put in too much effort to ensure its sustainability. Most people keep their active income work and allow their passive income to run on the side. From here, you can slowly and steadily build it up.

Step 5 – Emulate successful entrepreneurs.

Learn as much as you can from experienced marketers. Find out how they started off, what goals did they have, what methods they use, as well as what tips and tricks they use. How have they managed to know what their sales funnels are like, and how to sell products on the digital field and that, on autopilot? There’s plenty of research you need to do before starting your own online passive income stream. You need to know how they position their content and how they engage with their audiences. All of this is part of the time investment you’d need to do to gain knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Some entrepreneurs aren’t shy with their knowledge and are willing to teach those who want to learn their magic sauce. You can email them or get in touch with them on LinkedIn.

Step 6 – Join online marketing groups.

The Internet is your rabbit hole. Join online communities with online marketers such as on LinkedIn, Reddit, or Facebook. Here, you can read and converse about the experiences of people and gain knowledge on what, how, and when of the world of passive online income.

Ask as many questions as you want (without being annoying), and more often than not, someone in the group would be happy to dispense knowledge and expertise. You might even end up buying an online business, or even become a silent partner in online business – both of which are considered passive income revenues. Gather tips, tactics, strategies, and advice to help you along your journey.

Step 7 – Find yourself a mentor.

Being in groups and learning second-hand from successful online passive income earners is one thing, but having a mentor guide every step of the way is something money can’t buy. If you can find a mentor to guide you and advise you as you grow your business, this is extremely worthwhile. Being in your groups and forums helps as you can find a suitable mentor along the way. Take note that while many online marketers portray success, only a few actually achieve it.

When you do find someone whom you can connect with and have a few successful businesses under their belt, pitch a mentorship with them. They might just take you up on your offer. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t find one – good things come to those who wait. It’s better to take your time in forming a good partnership with a reliable mentor than to hastily connect with one that’s not a good mentor at all.

Step 8 – Continue to invent and reinvent.

Your ideas, goals, and steps need to be in line, and when you start your business, learn along the way. Your next thing to do is to reinvent and adapt, so that you can make your revenue stream sustainable and scalable. The good thing about passive income is that it can be scaled whether it’s a blog, online courses, or audiobooks. All you need to do is find a way to scale it, and over time, this passive income can and will produce tremendous results. It won’t happen right away, but through persistence, you’ll reach the goals you want.