Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

In the world of passive income, what can be better than parties and networking as part of your efforts? I know that some of us do not find a lot of pleasure in these types of events. However, for those that do, this becomes a perfect match of work with joy. You can start small and grow to substantial income and activities. Parties and Networking For Income We have all attended events that fall into this category. They may include a school dance, a professional conference, or a group vacation. Of course, some of these require a large amount of effort and time to get them set up. That would remove the passive part of this particular income source. Nevertheless, they can be automated and turned into a template that can lead to entirely passive income. You can even hire out the most onerous work. Give Them a Why The key to throwing these events is to provide a "why" that resonates with the group. You are creating a community of sorts, so start with the ideas that bind those members together. This is the concept that drives the mastermind groups that are so popular and all the groups you can find on meetup.com. The challenge in creating these events is that the members could do the same thing themselves. You want to find ways to make your events special (and desirable to attend) without having to put in too much effort. This is one of those cases where a proper balance needs to be one of your goals. That means fun-loving extroverts are far more likely to find success in these areas than a grumpy old introvert. Nevertheless, even grumpy old introverts like to have a good time. You need to be the one to provide that experience for your members.

We have touched on a large number of potential passive income opportunities. However, there is an incredible number of lesser-known odd jobs as well. These can include collectibles and ride-sharing, but that is not the focus of this episode. We will spread out into further reaches, including transportation services and jobs that are roughly doing someone a favor (for a fee). Odd Jobs Are Everywhere (But Hard To Find) The most significant challenge with these jobs is finding them. The best odd jobs typically are found via word-of-mouth or niche web sites. These often require a level of trust between the employer and employee. They also range from things like hand delivering items to house sitting or similar services. The opportunities are limitless. Thus, it helps if you start with an idea or two and then keep an eye out for those types of needs. The good news is that once you have done one of these, it can often lead to others. That word-of-mouth can be a powerful marketing tool. Back To Basics It will come as no surprise that the best areas for us to look for this kind of work are in our hobbies. Even better, we can find some gems among our habits. Think about the things you do the most, enjoy the most, or have the most experience with. These are a good start for potential odd jobs. We all know that the tasks some people hate are fun or straightforward for others. This situation opens up the opportunity for you to take on someone else's pain without much effort on your own. We can even find economies of scale. A classic example is the mother of a few children that runs a daycare. She is going to take care of her children anyway. Thus, adding a few more children to the mix is not a cost in time. There might even be a benefit to her children in this situation. There are more playmates, better social opportunities, and maybe even better educational discussions. The more, the merrier is not just a phrase; it can be a path to some substantial passive income.

While arts and crafts are not always a path to riches, they do often have some value beyond the material they are created from. Thus, hobbies that fall into this category are excellent for passive income. There are work and effort that go into these products. However, when you enjoy the job, it might as well be considered passive. Arts And Crafts Come In Many Forms Many people think of things like painting and pottery when art is mentioned. However, the Internet has made it easy for us to make money from many other forms. These options include photography, music, and writing. There are sites where people pay money to browse a wide range of these types of products and "purchase" the ones they like. This process is not always a direct cash transaction for the artist. Instead, there is typically some form of credits that can be purchased and the artist gets paid based on credits spent on their products. Art Is Its Own Reward While we may enjoy our best artwork, there is also a lot of it we can share. This fact is even more valid in the world of digital products. Products like digital photographs and videos can be shared out to numerous others for a price. Better yet, we can still have an original to enjoy on our own. All of these options are excellent ones to pursue, and you can start by using the links below. There are numerous other sites available; you just have to try a few searches to find them. While these are good for earning some extra income, a word of caution, some artists have managed to lose control over their art. This situation can occur through complicated agreements and contracts. Take a close look at any agreements you sign, and you might even get a legal resource to review them as well. The last thing you want is to add stress to your life over your hobby. References and Sites Mentioned https://www.redbubble.com/ https://www.dreamstime.com/ https://www.istockphoto.com/ https://contributor.stock.adobe.com/?as_channel=stock&as_source=globalnav&as_campclass=brand&as_campaign=footer

When you think of passive income, the idea of ridesharing is not likely to occur to you. However, there are ways to make this new opportunity work for you. This concept will require some planning and flexibility. Nevertheless, we can find ways to do this in a passive style rather than the side-hustle it is often viewed as. Ridesharing Can Be Time For Money The most common approach to the ridesharing services out there is as a side-hustle. Someone signs up, sits in their car, and collects riders when they can. This description is a simple model and a way to make some extra cash. However, we can take advantage of our usual travel patterns to find ways to earn while we drive. This option requires you to be a bit flexible when you want to travel. If you do, then you can find regular riders to popular destinations and hopefully take advantage of that. Work and Play Your best route for picking up regular riders is going to be daily ones like work or other destinations. These will often be popular enough to have a steady stream of drivers. Of course, working at an airport would be a perfect solution. Nevertheless, any populated area or frequent destination (sports venues, government buildings, shopping complexes, etc.) can work almost as well. More people are using rideshare services every month, so why not take advantage of that trend? More Than Moving People Do not limit yourself to the idea of taxi service options. There are food and other product delivery sites that generate similar traffic. No pun intended. These may be even better as a form of passive income. It would not be surprising to find that certain people order from the same places on a regular (or even daily basis). Think about things like picking up and dropping off several Starbucks coffees every morning, or office supplies to a nearby business. All of these could be a perfect fit for you. It just takes a little research and desire. Happy hunting!

No matter what physical product is created, there are bits left over. Sometimes these are full, unused products. In this episode, we look at using those to generate passive income from overages. These items are often tossed in the trash, so why not see if they are sellable. Rather than working harder, this approach will allow you to generate income from stuff you already have. Passive Income From Overages - Trash To Treasure There are many examples of these product opportunities. One that may be very familiar is the idea of a proof copy of a book or artwork. These are used for validating a product and are typically less than 100%. However, they may still be perfect for the right customer. Think about a run of tee shirts that is an "ugly" color. You may not want those for your use or a primary customer. Nevertheless, those products may be valuable to a slightly different customer base. That is how the knock-off market works. Selling the End Product Some hobbies are all about the process and not the outcome. Painting can fall into this category. Likewise, things like jigsaw puzzles, glass blowing, pottery, scale models, and more can meet this need. You may even get a bonus of being to clear out a bunch of stuff from storage that has come from your favorite hobby or pastime. This option is slightly different from a passive income from overages, but it is a way to generate revenue from "cleaning house. Building From Outcomes Many things we do generate cast asides or trash. These leftovers can be used as material for other products or artwork. Construction material is possibly the best example of this. You can take the odd pieces left from cutting wood or demolition tasks or find a new use for things like bottle caps or wine corks. Of course, more valuable material (think gold or copper) will have more intrinsic value as well. Nevertheless, take a look at what you have laying around after enjoying your hobby. You never know what new product idea may be waiting for you.

The best ways to generate passive income is through subscription-based products. These solutions are the gift that keeps on giving. We have a sales cycle that is successful, and then we see the profit for months and years to come. It is worth our time to dig a little deeper into this form of income and typical solutions in this category. The Best Subscription-Based Products While there are many ways to create a product that generates recurring revenue, some jump to the top of the list. These may seem obvious. However, it is good to keep these ideas in mind when you start down the path of a PI product. These traits are the best ones for subscription-based products. Software-as-a-service (cloud-based solutions) Solutions that require regular data updates (contacts, regulations, laws, etc.) Solutions for platforms that are regularly upgraded A model where users are likely to use the product more as time goes on (data capturing, anything tied to business growth, etc.) Note that some of these will require regular updates on your part as well. That is ok. However, you want to make sure those updates are not too time-consuming. They can flip a passive product into a full-time job if you do not watch out. Avoiding Multiple Sales The best part about recurring revenue products in my mind is the need to sell only once. Your pitch for the product should address the recurring nature of the licensing. That means that you will be able to automate the recurring billing or invoicing. There should be a minimum of feedback and cancellations. Of course, the best way to ensure this outcome is to build a product that is high in quality and does the job it was advertised to do. Keep in mind that customers do not always need more functionality to keep renewing a license. A renewal reminds a user that they are paying for that product or service. As long as it is solving a costly problem, then renewals will be a no-brainer.

There are passive income best practices we can follow to improve our odds for success. There are also anti-patterns we want to avoid. This area of entrepreneurship is so broad and loosely defined that best practices tend to be vague. The anti-patterns are much easier to detail and avoid as we launch our product. Passive Income Best Practices Avoid Time-Wasters The income portion of the PI equation follows typical business recommendations. You must provide a product that customers want. On the other hand, the passive side of the equation can be far more challenging and even counter-intuitive. These are simple in nature, and they often boil down to avoiding time wasters. However, sometimes the things that make our products great are exactly those time wasters we want to avoid. Customers Can Drag You Down Your customer base is always a critical factor in success. They need to be willing and able to pay for your product and service. That takes care of the income concern. However, they should also be as self-sufficient as possible. A customer base that requires a lot of support or hand-holding will suck all of the passive out of a solution. This combination adds up to a focus on direct and straightforward products over flashy and feature-rich ones. This holds for every aspect of your solution. You want intuitive and straightforward to be the best description of your solution from installation, to usage, to exception handling. Quality is vital throughout these areas as bugs often lead to customer calls. You want to love your customers from a distance through easily automated ways. Conversations do not fall into this category.

We have often discussed how we can outsource and automate our processes. This approach allows us to reduce the hustle portion of our side-hustle. While that is a crucial step, it is also one that can provide its own challenges. Outsourcing, in particular, is a learned skill and one that takes patience and research. In this episode, we will look at some key considerations when you take this essential step. Refine Processes To Outsource And Automate Automation and outsourcing are similar in one core aspect. They require us to refine and tightly define our processes. We cannot be vague in our understanding or describing our processes. If we are not specific in our definitions, then how can we expect a person or computer to reproduce the results accurately? That is our first step. We must master our processes, and then we can look for ways to outsource and automate them as we move towards passive income. Team Building Is Essential Whether we hire fifty people or an individual, we are building a team for our solution. They will need to be comfortable working with each other and with you as well. This concept is often overlooked when building a team. The idea of chemistry is mentioned. However, most professional teams appear to be selected based on skills first, and chemistry is a bonus. You will be far more successful if you chase after both. The team must have the skills to get the job done. Also, they need to be able to work cohesively, dare I say it, as a team. Other Resources As stated at the start of this post, we have discussed this challenge several times. Therefore, it may help to direct you to some of those useful links. Super Stars and Role Players – Building A Team Build Or Buy – Deciding What Is Right For You 3 Things to do Before Outsourcing

It is hard to argue that reducing expenses is not the least exciting episode of this season. Nevertheless, this is an important part of our passive income strategy. Debt is a killer of any income. Also, any funds we free up can be used for investing and other income streams. That makes this an essential part of the move to being a master of passive income. Reducing Expenses Adds Up Investing income builds over time. On the other hand, debt reduces our funds over time. Think of it as a form of negative passive income. That means any obligation we have will automatically kill our passive income attempts and what that provides. Of course, we could generate passive income to kill off our debt, and that would be an approach that snowballs quickly. The more we can chip away at the principal portion of the debt, the better. This can be supplemented by reducing expenses in general and moving those saved dollars to debt reduction or investments. Regular Reviews Help We often talk about periodic financial reviews of our businesses. These not only help us see where our money is going, but they can also be a time to cut costs. We might find a lower cost solution or haggle our way to a better deal. In either of those cases, we have managed to reduce expenses. This type of thinking is equally important to our personal finances. Just as we can get into a spending habit for our business expenses, we can do the same for our personal ones. Thus reducing costs may be as easy as changing a few practices. Plan on a personal financial review at least a few times a year. Go over the line-item expenses and category totals for a few months. You will be amazed at the kind of insight this can provide. You might even find several bills that you paid without getting anything out of the service. Cut back where it makes sense and do a little shopping to attempt to reduce the cost of some of the "needs" on your list.

It is hard to flip through a magazine or sit through television commercials without being exposed to a cashback program. These come in many forms. Some provide points or tokens of some sort, while others credit your account or even send you cash. No matter how these work, they are all ways to get paid for spending money. While not fully passive, these are good programs to take advantage of. Cashback Is Passive We all have to spend money. These expenditures may be in small or large amounts, but it is a fact of life. We spend money to live, whether through food, clothing, or shelter. All of these are essential to our existence and require us to do some level spending. Thus, getting paid for these transactions requires no real extra effort on our part. That is almost the precise definition of passive income. Buy Some Fun Usually, when we talk about passive income, we work in dollars and cents. That is not always the case. We can earn credits, coupons, points, or other items of value. These should all be considered a form of income. Better yet, we often are limited in what these non-cash items will buy. That makes these perfect earnings for us to spend on things we enjoy. Why not use this form of passive income to make your life a little more enjoyable? Take advantage of frequent flyer programs or discount coupons for your favorite store. Any of these options can bring you more joy in your life. That should make these ways to earn income even more fulfilling than cold cash. Even a buy X get one free program can put you in a little better situation. Think about it, is having fun better when you get it for free or when you pay for it?