working on my “passive” income streams
There are so many get rich, quick schemes out there on the Internet. Many of them claiming to be passive. You can find an abundance of them from starting a Substack, doing a faceless YouTube, digital marketing, user generated content (UGC). The list goes on and on. And if you're not careful, you will very likely pay for something (likely a course or a tutorial) that will not return anything to you at all.
Because here’s the part that those successful passive income earners don't talk about, that there is usually an incredible amount of work and luck that is involved. Like so many things in life there is a right time and a right place. Because as we all know, the best content isn't the one that often gets highlighted. It is the one that gets the most attention. At times at the mercy of the algorithm. That runs true for any business as well. The most successful businesses are not often the best businesses they are just simply the ones that marketed themselves and packaged themselves the best to the public and distributed it better.
And as someone who has eight sources of income streams (and counting), I will tell you that not a single one of them is "passive”. Some are less work than others, but none of them are “passive” in the sense of what everyone imagines in “passive” to be in their minds. And a great deal of them having an incredibly high learning curve. With some of them I am still learning.
I'll use portions of my life as a case study.
Airbnb: Even if I didn't turn over the units, mostly myself, I would still have to coordinate cleaners and repair people to maintain the unit which, if you've ever tried to do something like that remotely is not always the easiest task, even with the right platforms and software.
Peerspace: when I rent out my home for Events, I have to make sure that communication is top-notch, that the space is as advertised and also handle any damages that are left subsequently after a rental, which doesn't happen often, but it does happen.
Those are only a few examples of some businesses that many people would outline as pretty passive because you get a large chunk of money and you don't have to physically be there for the better part of it. And this is why I say that passive income doesn't exist because even if you are not there physically but your mind is still actively running it, it is not a truly passive business. I'll wait for someone to tell me otherwise.
Still waiting.
Because for any business to be successful, it will require work. It will undoubtedly lead to failure in one shape or form or another. And if you're lucky, you may just be able to scrape yourself out of whatever little pothole you ended up in and actually create something that is sustainable and although not completely passive, is very much worth the return on investment.
And I'm not saying that you can't make butt loads of money doing user generated content, faceless, YouTube channels, faceless social media channels, writing a Sub stack. Because you absolutely can, you can absolutely be the exception to the rule.
I understand the draw to the concept of “passive income”, the appeal that something super simple can completely change your life. That perhaps we are overthinking this complicated journey that we're on and if we only did this simple XYZ thing we would have all the money we needed to feel happy and comfortable. As humans we often default to being drawn to things that will make us most comfortable. But as further research shows, it is not what make us most fulfilled.
So I challenge every single person who is looking to do any single one of these “passive income” things to approach it from the point of view and perspective of a true entrepreneur, which is knowing that there will be lots of hurdles along the way. There will be people who think that you're ridiculous. There will be people who are supposedly your friends and family who will secretly believe that you're going to fail. But instead of treating it as something that might just happen you treat it like a real business and you act accordingly.
Because the best income streams are not passive, they are just simply intentional.
Tell me have you ever been sucked into the guise of "passive income”? What was your outcome?
This newsletter is written while working a 9-5, running businesses, building new ones, and most importantly, while still actually living life. Currently it’s free, so if you want to support my work, a hot cup of coffee, goes a long way.
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