As this blog has pointed out in the past, there are many ways to earn passive income. One way is to create your own blog or YouTube channel, publish an ebook, or create an online course. Offering valuable information to people (and monetizing your blog or channel with ads) is a smart way to earn money from your expertise. While creating the content takes time and effort, the work won’t feel overly demanding if you have some interest in the topic. And once you’ve created and published your content, 90% of your work is done. All that remains is promoting it.
Some people have been able to quit their day jobs via this type of passive income strategy. Unfortunately, there are likely many others who could reach the same level of success, but don’t pursue it, simply because they don’t believe they have any expertise worth sharing.
This is unlikely—almost everyone has something to teach. It’s likely that you do, too. You simply need to determine what your “something” is. The following tips may help.
Consider Your Hobbies
What do you do for fun? What’s a hobby you’ve stuck with over the years?
Maybe you like to cook, draw, or play an instrument. It doesn’t matter what your specific hobby is. What matters is that it’s something you’ve spent so much time doing that you possess a talent for it. You can help others develop their own skills in your hobby by teaching them via a blog, YouTube channel, ebook, or online course.
For instance, perhaps you’re an excellent home cook who knows how to make meals on a budget. Writing a blog of recipes is a simple but effective way to turn your hobby into a source of easy income. With this particular example, you could even earn additional money through affiliate marketing. If you maintained a blog focusing on affordable recipes, you might also use it to promote kitchen products you find useful. You’d then earn a portion of the revenue every time your blog yields a sale.
Consider Your Work Experience
What do you do for a living now? What have you done for a living in the past?
There’s a very good chance you’ve had a job that required specific skills. Maybe you’ve even had to earn certifications or degrees to qualify for a position. If so, you can teach other people interested in pursuing those types of jobs.
Passive income millionaire Pat Flynn started that way. He was hoping to earn a certification that would make him more valuable in his industry at the time. To do so, he needed to pass a notoriously difficult exam. He decided to blog about his process of studying for the exam to help himself stay committed. However, he eventually learned his blog was relatively popular among other people preparing for the test. He first monetized it with ads, then published an ebook study guide, promoting it through the blog. This approach was so effective he was able to switch careers and focus exclusively on teaching other people how to earn passive income.
Think back through your work history to determine if there are any special qualifications or skills you’ve developed throughout your career. If there are, you can help other people develop them as well.
Consider What You Want to Learn
In the example above, Flynn didn’t have the knowledge he needed to pass the exam when he started his blog. He wasn’t an expert. The point of his blogging was to ensure he maintained effective study habits. Over time, he acquired the knowledge and skills necessary to pass the test.
You could do the same. While you may not currently feel you have any expertise others would find valuable, there are probably skills or talents you’re interested in developing. Committing to one and chronicling your learning process through blogs or videos can help you build an audience. When you finally reach the point where you’re skilled enough to have valuable information to share, you’ll already have people willing to pay for your ebook or online course.
You can make even more money if the skill you choose to learn is profitable on its own. Remember, Flynn’s original intention was to develop skills that would make him more valuable to employers in his field. He only left that industry when his passive income streams began bringing in enough money for him to quit his day job. However, even if he had never reached that degree of success, he still would have made extra money from his passive incomes streams, while also boosting his earning potential in his career. You could adopt a similar strategy.
Think Outside the Box
Don’t give up on the idea of earning passive income via one of these methods simply because you don’t think you’re an expert in a particular subject. Try to think outside the box when it comes to skills and knowledge—or even the idea of “expertise”—if you’re having trouble determining what topic you want to focus on. Think of major experiences. For example, maybe you’ve recently committed to a healthier lifestyle: quitting smoking, eating more fruits and vegetables, or embarking on an exercise program. Or maybe you bought a fixer-upper and are renovating it, or perhaps you’re moving to another country. Many people are going through similar challenging experiences and they want to know how other people are navigating the difficulties—even those who aren’t “experts,” strictly speaking.