As more and more people embark on their journeys to reach financial freedom, one topic of discussion repeatedly stands out among others. And that is the topic of passive income and how it is achieve? Many will tell you that passive income is the money you receive from doing as little work as possible. This is not necessarily true. By definition, passive income is reoccurring income received over time from work done once that requires minimal to no reoccurring effort on your part.

The reality is that you could actually work hard at something for years if not decades before it turns into a passive income. For example, one of my main passive income sources is music royalties. And although I now get paid reoccurring royalties from songs I wrote years ago, I initially started writing music when I was in my teens, but wasn’t offered publishing deals until I was in my late 30’s. Not to say that this is everyone’s experience or that I couldn’t have achieved this sooner had I known then what I know now. But my point is that passive income does not routinely derive from easy work. Nor is it necessary to seek easy jobs to have passive income.

Passive income at its core is about automation and being able to do something once that continues to pay you long after the work is done. So in that regard, most any job that can be automated can be converted into a passive income source. When thinking about ways to generate passive income, there are a few things you need to consider.

  1. What skill sets or products do you possess or can acquire that if marketed would generate additional revenue? Ideally you want these skills and or products to require as little overhead as possible to bring to market.
  2. What is the time and effort commitment needed to bring the above mentioned skills and or products to market, and generate revenue? To answer this question you need to have thorough knowledge about how money is generated through the skills and or products you are marketing.
  3. How do you automate the process so that minimal to no further effort is required on your part to generate continued reoccurring revenue?

A common mistake people make when building passive income and business in general is quitting their regular steady income source too soon. A general rule of thumb is to allow your passive income revenue to ellipse your regular income by 3 times the amount for a solid year before considering quitting your regular income if at all possible. This ideally gives you an opportunity to evaluate the consistency and future revenue generating potential of your passive income.

In the past passive income opportunities where relegating to industries that required a more substantial up-front financial obligation such as real estate, stock investing, and the like.

With the ever expanding possibilities of the internet, new and exciting passive income opportunities are constantly emerging. And there is no better time than the present to engage and master these opportunities. As most have come to realize, a key factor in success with emerging technologies is being an early adopter. If I could advise anyone seeking to master passive income in today’s climate I would say this.  Try everything, try it early, and try it often.