We all know that you can earn money online through blogging and writing articles for bloggers. Is there another way to generate revenue through writing articles? You bet. For those of you that love writing, but simply have no time to start a blog, there’s a solution for you– revenue sharing websites. These are simply websites that allow you write content for them, and then in return they share a piece of the advertising revenue with you.

Some of the benefits of revenue sharing websites?

1. Established system.

Most of these sites have an established structure in place. Your job is to simply write the articles. The website is established throughout the search engines, the domain is setup, and the theme is in place. Everything is pretty much ready to go for you.

2. No behind the scenes blog work.

You won’t have to deal with all of the behind the scenes work that us bloggers perform on a daily basis. There is no reader correspondence, SEO work, marketing, promotion, etc. You simply focus on what you do best.

3. Focus on writing.

Once all of the distractions (emailing, networking, social media, etc.) have been removed, you can focus on writing quality articles that will hopefully gain traction. The best part is that you can write as many articles as you want on as many topics as you would like to write about.

A few examples of revenue sharing websites?

Associate Content
Article Income
Bukisa

Where does this form of passive income stand?

This is arguably one of the most difficult forms of passive income to jump into at this point. You have to invest PLENTY of time upfront to pump out lots of articles. There’s also no guarantee that you will earn any money at all from all of the articles that you’ve written.

The payment structure on some of the sites is also not very lucrative for the articles that are not highly ranked. A few years ago, I heard of many writers that were earning decent residual income because of how high some of their articles ranked. Now, it’s much more difficult to break through.

I would also recommend revenue sharing websites for those of you that love to write and help people. If you want to make money online then this is probably the last option that you should consider.

Writing “quality content” has become a must for anyone that wants to grow their new blog. This leads to the super-important question, how do you consistently write quality content? I feel that you need to switch up the content that you write. Instead of writing in the same fashion, you could try writing a different type of a post. One of the types of articles that you could write is a case study.

Why a case study?

Because it’s not a theoretical or “what if” post. A case study is a concrete example of how one person achieved success. People also love to hear from people that have “been there and done that.” A case study is a chance to show case an interesting tale.

A case study is also an excellent opportunity to learn from someone else. You have the chance to sit down and pick the brain of someone that has reached a specific goal before you. You’re essentially killing two birds with one stone. You get to learn from a successful individual and you get a quality blog post out of it.

A case study on who?

On someone in your field. Someone that has accomplished something you would like to one day. An individual that has made a huge impact on a specific industry– or you could do a case study on someone on their way up. Either way a case study should outline the trials and tribulations that someone you admire has gone through.

My favorite case study was when I wrote about a friend that works as a tutor and makes decent money at it. Instead of writing about something that I don’t know anything about, I reached out to my social circle for help. My friend was more than willing to help me out and share tips with me on how one could be a profitable tutor. We actually went so deep into details that my friend shared with me on how he earned $2,100 from tutoring.

Will I apply my own advice? Yes I plan on conducting a few case studies here in the near future. Stay tuned guys.

Blogging for money is clearly a core aspect of earning an active/passive income online. I’m not in any position to be running a blog on how-to blog, but I feel that I’ve read enough and spoken with some of the most successful bloggers, that I could at least pass along some of the knowledge that they shared with me with you guys.

There are those searching the internet for any possible tips on passive income and how to earn more money passively. There are also those that view passive income strategies as being nothing but a big fat scam. Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, let’s address if its worth chasing passive income:

How’s your active income?

Before you start trying out different ways to boost your passive income, have you even tried to improve your passive income? Have you applied for higher earning positions? Have you attempted to negotiate for that much needed raise? If not, then your first priority should be to get serious about the money you actively earn before you can start passively earning money. Too often do people begin stressing about their passive income before they have actively attempted to earn as much income as possible.

What’s the effort required?

Some supposed passive income opportunities require an absurd amount of effort with very minimal return for your time invested. What am I talking about?

1. Bulk article writing. There are many sites out there that share the income with you from the ad money that comes in from your posts. The only problem is that you often have to have tons of posts in the directory before you see any money coming in at all. Therefore, you need to invest a lot of your time upfront before you even see the potential of money coming in. Sure the income comes in long after the work has been put in, technically making it passive, but the initial effort is heavy.

2. Launching a crappy product. Many newbies to the world of internet income will want to attempt to create a digital product as a source of passive income. This is an excellent concept in theory. The reality is that most products suck and don’t sell well at all. The end result is hours upon hours spent on an unprofitable endeavor.

What are your passive income expectations?

Do you view passive income the same way you do winning the lottery? If so, then this is the wrong mind frame. This type of thinking will quickly discourage you from even attempting any passive income opportunities.

I definitely see the value in increasing my passive income and trying to generate more money while I sleep. I just feel that a little bit more research needs to be done before we decide what passive income opportunity we will follow. We also need to weed out the passive income scams, so that we can focus on the legit passive income opportunities that exist out there.

You think you could earn more money in your field? Do you think that there’s one simple strategy to exorbitantly expand your income? If you do, chances are that you’ve been considering a Master’s Degree/attending graduate school.

Passive Income Now isn’t simply all about the ideal passive income lifestyle where you lay on the beach all the day while the money flows in. That type of thinking is nothing but pure garbage. We are really realistic here at PIN. If one wants to increase their passive income, chances are that their active income needs to be increased. What’s a better way to increase your active income than obtaining more qualifications? Let’s take a look at if a Master’s Degree is the ideal solution for you…

Why do you want the Master’s Degree credentials?

Do you want prestige? Do you want to earn more money? Do you want to work less hours? Do you want to become an authority in your field?

Whatever the reason may be, you need to understand why you’re going to pursue this very expensive and time consuming endeavor. If you’re only in it for the money, you might have a difficult time adjusting to the all night study sessions and few years of decreased income. If you want prestige, you’ll likely have to fork over more money in order to attend an Ivy League school. If you want to work less hours, you could be in for a surprise when you find yourself working longer hours. If you want to become an authority in your field the graduate school might help, but so could extensive research/excellent results on the job.

You need to figure out why exactly it is that you’re considering a graduate school degree. Once you, the next logical question becomes, is it worth it?

How will you pay the insane graduate school fees

Obtaining a graduate school degree is extremely expensive. Sure you could argue that the increase in your income will justify this expenditure. However, is it worth it? MBAs are pretty popular nowadays. Before you even consider graduate school you must try to figure out how this education will be paid for.

• Will this require additional student loans? If so, then how much longer will it take you to pay off your debt? How far in debt are you willing to go?
• Will your employer pay for it? If your employer pays for your Master’s Degree then they’ll also likely make you sign a contract where you promise to work for them for X amount of years. Are you willing to give that away? You might also be required to take the course during your weekends and evenings. Are you willing to give this free time up?

I’m not here to give you a final answer on the topic. I just wanted to open up the topic of earning a graduate school degree to increase your active income.

Since this blog is my journey to passive income it would make no sense to ignore the role that credit cards play. Credit cards, when used wisely can be a very beneficial financial tool. The unfortunate part is that credit cards have built up a horrible reputation over the years. Credit cards have become “very evil” in the personal finance community. However, I like to keep an open mind. This is why I wanted to look at how credit cards can be viewed as passive income:

0% balance transfer fee.

Do you have an outstanding balance on your current credit card? Many times promotional offers arise where you can transfer your balance from one credit card to another, at no additional cost. Along with the free balance rate you aren’t charged an interest rate. If you owe $10,000 on a credit card that’s charging you 19% interest, think about all of the money you could potentially save by paying no interest at all. You’re technically not earning any money, but you are saving yourself lots of cash.

–Wait just one minute though. Before you even consider this option you need to understand that this is a tricky process with a miasma of FINE PRINT. You must stay on top of the fine print. Many of these options are often for a limited time, the rate could change at any moment, and the whole process could be thrown off gear. You don’t want this “amazing offer” to mess up your entire financial system.

Cashback rewards credit cards.

Any income that you do not actively work for is considered passive income. For those of us that often use our credit cards/pay for big ticket items, it adds up at the end of the year. I haven’t made a fortune, but I’ve received a few bucks at the end of the year when I needed some extra cash.

The reason that I do get cashback is because I use my credit card for MAJOR purchases. Whenever I plan a group trip or my family is heading on a vacation, I collect the cash in hand, and then put the purchase on my credit card. As a result, I’ve had decent amounts of cashback payouts from my credit card.

The major concern that I need to stress here is the justification of each purchase. Often people will use their “cashback” as an excuse for spending money. What’s the point of spending money, for the sake of receiving a minor amount of money down the road?

Is it worth it?

I don’t think so. Credit cards can be a very effective form of passive income. Unfortunately, the tactics are fairly technical and the process is really easy to mess up. You need to be 100% in control of your finances if you want to start playing around with credit cards in this manner.

Another important point that I need to mention is that often times the earnings can be minuscule. There are more effective ways (mentioned here soon) to increase your passive and active income then playing around with credit cards.

The topic of refinancing has become increasingly popular with the low interest rates as of late. Why is home refinancing so popular? Can you even save money from home refinancing? First let’s look at all of the factors involved with saving money by refinancing your home mortgage:

Lower interest rates.

At the moment, you can pick up a 15-year fixed mortgage at 4.02%. That’s a steal when you think about how high interest rates were a few years ago alone. A whole percentage or even a piece of percentage can save you thousands of dollars over the life of the mortgage. Think about how much 1% of $200,000. That is some major savings in the long run. This is why home mortgage refinancing is so popular at the moment.

Costs of home refinancing.

You must remember that the ultimate end goal of refinancing your mortgage is to save money on interest/your mortgage over the years. One aspect that many people often overlook is the actual cost of refinancing process (application, appraisal, lawyer, and home inspection costs). Will the lowered interest rate justify the cost of the process? This is one thing that you must strongly consider. You don’t want to go through the whole refinancing process only to find out that you saved yourself a few bucks here and there.

Before you start the home mortgage refinancing process, you must cover the following bases to ensure that the process will even work out for you:

Strong credit.

If your credit score is over 700, you’ll have a higher chance of being approved for refinancing. Before you go in to look into home refinancing, you must know where your credit score stands. If you go in with a poor credit score, you’ll not only be turned down but lots of your time will be consumed by the whole process.

Built up equity.

A mortgage that’s underwater will be impossible to refinance. It’s ideal to have at least 20% equity built up in your home. If not, the lender is going to give you a hard time and you likely won’t receive the mortgage refinancing that you applied for. This usually means that new home owners may have a difficult time with getting approved.

Cash flow.

What’s your income like? If you can prove that you have a steady paycheck, you’ll have a higher chanced of mitigating some of the risk for the lender. If you are currently self-employed, you might want to wait a little bit before you go out trying to refinance.

Have you considered refinancing your home mortgage? How did it go?

Selling your old junk on the internet has become a fairly popular source of passive income. The income itself isn’t completely passive but it does come fairly easily. You put up an ad online for a product that you’re trying to sell, others bid for it, the person that’s willing to spend the most money is then rewarded with your product. Sweet! You win by getting of a dust collector that’s not really adding any value to your life. The other person wins because they just picked up something that they were searching for.

Instead of giving you chearleading and simply hyping up the process of selling your stuff online I wanted to tell you what you need to consider before you start selling stuff online:

What site will you use?

There are many sites to choose from. From eBay to Craig’s List to Kijiji (and many other emerging sites, both local and international). Does it matter what site you use? Yes it does 100%. Every site has a different auction setup/pricing structure. I’ve lost money unnecessarily to eBay just because I wanted to reach the front of the page. The auction setup is also very important because this dictates the amount of communication that will occur. On Ebay, you rarely communicate with potential buyers, unless they want to ask you specific questions. Through CL & Kijiji I find that there’s lots of communication involved. You need to exchange emails, phone calls, and arrange for any scheduling discrepancies that may occur.

Will you ship internationally?

I once sold a product to the highest bidder in Germany. I was happy with the amount that the person was willing to pay for the product. In fact, it was much more money than I was expecting by far. There was only one problem. The shipping of this product to Germany was much more than I expected. Even worse, it was much more than I told the buyer it would be. At the end of the day I was upset and the buyer was pretty disappointed as well. You always need to consider international shipping fees and customs– they can make or break your online transaction.

Do you prefer something local?

When selling textbooks and larger items, I’ve preferred to sell on local sites. I find that you’re more likely to sell textbooks on the local version of Kijiji, where other students from your school are more likely to frequent. The local transaction is also a lot easier to deal with logistically. The biggest issue is trying to arrange a perfect time to meet up with the buyer.

What’s the product worth?

Just because something has sentimental value to you, it doesn’t mean that it has market value to others. I’ve sold stuff that I found to be highly valuable for next to nothing simply because there was no demand for it. Before you even put your product up for sale on the auction site, you need to search for similar products to determine what you should expect to receive from your transaction.

Hopefully this post has given you a realistic perspective when it comes to selling your stuff online.

Anyone that comes over to Passive Income Now is surely interested in increasing/creating passive income. I’m personally very passionate about increasing my active income, along with my passive income. I understand that active income comes first. However, I do feel that your active income can be used as leverage to slowly create passive income.

For all of you reading this with a steady source of active income, this quick straight-to-the-point guide can show you how to create passive income:

1. Pick a source of passive income.

There are many ways to create passive income. It’s a matter of you choosing the right source of passive income for your situation (risk tolerance, capital investment, time constraints, etc.). Not every source of passive income will be ideal for your unique situation. Make sure that you don’t go in over your head.

For the sake of today’s post, I’m going to list the 3 most common sources of passive income and analyze them throughout:

• Real estate. You buy piece a property (condo, home, duplex, etc.) and you rent it out for a profit. Another alternative is to sell the property a brief period down the road in hopes of great home appreciation.
• Create an online product. This can be a simple audio file or an elaborate 50 page eBook on how to lose weight.
• Create a static blog. These have been on the rise lately. They range from static insurance pages to pages with layers of content.

2. Ensure you have the capital needed to begin.

Most reliable sources of passive income will require you to invest some capital ahead of time. The common misconception with passive income is that it is inexpensive to setup. While this can be true in many cases, it doesn’t always hold true. The amount of capital needed will vary greatly in every situation. There will be times where you’ll want to increase your portfolio and you’ll be willing to take on more risk (you invest in real estate). There will also be times where you have more time than money. This is where you can actually focus and pump out passive income products (eBooks, tutorials, etc.).

Now let’s revert back to our 3 common sources of passive income:

• Real estate. This is the most capital intensive passive income opportunity. A piece of real estate will cost you thousands of dollars aside from the actual property (lawyers, broker fees, closing costs, property taxes, etc.).
• Create an online product. The capital needed here varies depending on your skills. For my eBook I plan on outsourcing all of the aesthetics (creating a readable design, cool theme, etc.).
• Setup a static blog. The capital here is very low. You’ll simply have to pay your monthly domain hosting fees. You might have to spend some money to hire someone to update your page.

3. Free up initial time for your new source of passive income.

No matter which passive income route you decide to pursue, you’re going to have to invest some time upfront.  Even a capital-intensive source of passive income like real estate investment will require a heavy time investment. you to research the market, speak with a real estate agent, look for the right property to invest in, find the tenant, review the tenant, etc. The time will add up. There is the possibility of outsourcing the whole process but then that cuts into your share of the passive income.

Once again we will go back to the 3 most popular passive income sources:

• Property investment. Will you have the time to deal with tenants? Before you even have a tenant in the property, you’re going to have to do plenty of work. You’re going to have to search for a specific property, research the area, meet with real estate brokers, meet with a lawyer, and meet with your mortgage provider. Then when you have the keys to the property, you’re going to have to search for a tenant, screen tenants, and check references. Then once the tenant is living in the unit, you’re going to have to be on-call if anything is to happen (or you can hire a property management firm).
• Online product. Can you handle customer service? You need to consider how you’ll deal with customer complaints and follow up.
• Static webpage. Do you have the initial time needed to setup shop? It will take a decent amount of time to get the website running. Once the website is running you may have to update it periodically.

Once you’ve taken care of the three above scenarios, you can focus on creating and maintaining your passive income. Good luck!

In the never-ending quest for passive income, many of us will drop our guards and fall prey for a “too-good-to-be-true” source of passive income. I’m not here to judge anyone because this can honestly happen to the brightest minds out there. We’ve all slipped up. When it comes to riches and making lots of money, it’s easy for our judgment to become clouded.

Today I wanted to point out a few income sources that we should avoid at all costs…

Gambling

From sports to casinos to horses, gambling can make you some decent money, but it could also cost you your life savings. When you know your stuff it may seem like gambling on the outcome will be a sure thing. Unfortunately, it never is. Underdogs win and favorites lose. Anything can happen. You don’t want it to happen with your money.

Hot stocks/Day trading

It seems like my inbox is always filled with emails that are tipping me off with exclusive stock tips. First of all, why would anyone share that type of information? If you had a feeling that a stock was going to sky rocket, why would you tell anybody else? I would personally keep the knowledge to myself and laugh all the way to the bank.

Even if you disregard “hot stocks,” day trading in itself can be a recipe for financial disaster. The time and energy that you will spend on day trading is almost always not worth it. In almost all cases you would be better off getting a full-time job.

Ambiguous investments

Do you ever listen or read a bunch of  high praise for a “secret source” of income? Do you get hooked in with promises of making $576 a day? I must agree that these ads do gauge my interest. They also leave me thinking about how in the world this money will come in. My advice to all of you is that if an investment seems too good to be true, it usually is.

Flipping real estate

This is a controversial item on the list. Some will say it fits perfectly on this list, while others will disagree. There definitely is big money in flipping real estate properties. The reality of it is that you’ll almost surely lose money the first time you try it. Unless you’re really experienced or working with someone really experienced, you should stay away from flipping real estate as a first time source of passive income.

Investment property management. This is pretty much as close to passive income as it gets. You purchase a piece of real estate that you intend to use as a rental properly and you subcontract the actual management duties. Is it really the simple? Let’s break the concept of investment property management down a little bit.

Why would anyone look into hiring investment property management?

1. Create passive income.

Your income from the real estate investment will truly become passive if you outsource the management aspect of it. Managing an investment property can consume a large portion of your time (not to mention the late night calls when a home appliance stops working).

2. Hands-off management.

Some of us have more money than time. There’s nothing wrong with that. Some investors have plenty of capital and don’t want to deal with any additional stress. If you fall under this category, then property management could work out for you. The property management company will literally take care of everything on your behalf (collecting rent, finding tenants, replacing tenants, legal issue, etc.).

Now let’s answer the big question– Are the services going to be worth the property management cost?

1. What are your monthly cash flows? If you own a few rental properties you may not feel like managing all of them. Unfortunately, after you factor in monthly mortgage payments along with maintenance fees, you might just barely break even when you decide to hire a property management firm. Are you willing to cut back on your profits? How much are you going to charge for rent? All of these calculations must be completed prior to outsourcing your property management.

2. Are you knowledgeable in the field? For first time real estate investors it might be wise to attempt to learn the process instead of outsourcing it immediately. There are lots of tricks to the trade that we all need to grasp. There’s nothing worse than being financially ripped off simply because we didn’t know other wise.

3. How reputable is the firm? You need to look for a property management firm that has a strong reputation. Whether you need to conduct research online or call upon references, get it done. You’re trusting these people with one of your greatest investments. You need to ensure that they’re reliable and that they won’t put any schmuck into your unit.

At the end of the day, the decision to hire an investment property management team is going to take lots of research. When you’re prepared, I hope that you make a well-informed decision that allows you to sleep easily at night.

Good luck.