I started working from home because I wanted a better life for myself and my husband. I wanted a flexible schedule to do the things I love. I wanted to know that if I worked harder, I would get paid more.
I love being a blogger. One of the main reasons is that I have been able to stop exchanging time for money with the passive income from my blogs. There are only so many hours in the day. There is only so much you can earn per week in most traditional jobs. Not a fan. I want to maximize my efforts. I want to make money passively even when I’m on vacation or taking a little break.
People love talking about passive income online. But, everyone seems to have a different view on what’s passive. For me as a blogger, it means doing the work once and continuing to earn money on that work for months or years down the road with minimal upkeep. Sorry, folks. Passive income doesn’t mean getting paid for doing nothing ever. You’ve got to put in some effort.
Examples of Passive Income as a Blogger
- I write a rockin’ blog post that includes an affiliate link to a product I love. Years down the road I am still earning a commission when people click through that link and buy
- I write an awesome eBook and put it up for sale on Amazon Kindle
- I create an eCourse teaching bloggers how to better their business
These things may require a little upkeep from time-to-time, but they can earn me money day and night whether I’m sitting at my desk or the baseball stadium. All I have to do is continue to bring people into that funnel. It’s a pretty amazing gig.
It’s not about not working. It’s all about automation. I’m still working. I’m just spending the majority of my time on the things I do best and I enjoy most. I’m out there blogging and networking and bringing people to my site and getting them into my subscriber base where I can encourage them little by little to buy through my affiliate links and purchase the products I have to sell. I’m scaling my business by creating more products and more authoritative posts that contain affiliate links to great resources. My income isn’t limited by time.
Passive Income Ideas for Bloggers
You have so many opportunities to create passive income as a blog owner.
Free Email Courses – Wait a minute. Free? I thought we were getting paid. We are. We are! As an example, I have a free 7-days to Finding Work from Home series that people joining one of my newsletters can receive. Every day for a week they receive a new email telling them about a specific work-at-home opportunity. Sprinkled throughout that series are affiliate links to some of my favorite work-from-home resources. It took me just a couple days to put that series together and it goes out like clockwork to hundreds of new subscribers each day. And I earn a commission if a few of those people decide to click through and purchase my recommendations.
Note: I currently use Seva for my email newsletters which allows me to create as many subscriber freebies as needed and send them out in an automated fashion.
eBooks – My 7-day series could easily have been offered as a eBook for sale as opposed to subscriber bait, but my main objective at that point was getting people into my community long-term where maybe I can offer them a more extensive eBook on just one of those work-at-home opportunities a few weeks or months down the road. At that point they have seen a little of what I have to offer and are hopefully liking what they have seen enough to take the next step of becoming a customer.
eCourses – If I have a step-by-step process to share, I’m likely going to offer it as an eCourse. That’s something I’m working on right now. As it’s more intensive and structured than an eBook typically is I am able to put a larger price tag on this project. My funnel is getting a little smaller at this level, but there’s a high probability that many of those that purchased the eBooks are going to be interested in the eCourse.
My product offerings have come and gone over the years. I’m in the process of working those things back into my plan again now. Start small and start with just one if that is what it takes to get you moving. Don’t get overwhelmed, but always think ahead. You can offer as many digital products as you want for sale. The sky is the limit!
Passive Income is Available to Everyone
If you are sitting there thinking, “I don’t blog about blogging or working from home. I can’t offer eBooks or eCourses,” you are wrong. I don’t care what you are blogging about if you have followers they are likely interested in hearing more. Hubspot has two great posts I love to reference when brainstorming:
Don’t overwhelm yourself. You create content for your blog regularly. Just think of your upcoming product as a really long, in-depth blog post.
How Do I Price My Product?
Bloggers undervalue their offerings so often. It’s tragic in some cases. As someone that buys a lot of digital products, I urge you to price your offering higher than you think it’s worth. Why? Because I can’t tell you how often I buy $7 eBooks, give them a 15-minute scan and never implement a thing. $7 isn’t a big commitment to me. When we get into the $49-range on the other hand, I’m putting that puppy to work. I’ve got to make that money back. I immediately see your product as being of higher value before I even open the file.
You are not trying to sell to everyone. You are trying to sell to the right one. If someone balks at your price, who cares? They are probably that person that is going to blame you because they didn’t do the work.
And speaking of not selling to everyone, don’t try to create products that are trying to speak to everyone. Don’t be afraid to get specific. For example, I’m no longer buying “how to make money blogging” courses that are meant to include beginners. Why? Because I can count on 75% of the content, if not more, to be about things I’ve already done – buying a domain, setting up hosting, setting up this, that and the other thing. I’m spending money on things specifically created for people at my stage of the game. And guess what? That creates a lot of opportunity for you in creating additional courses! You can create one for the beginner, intermediate and advanced user. That’s a lot of income potential.
What ideas do you have for creating passive income as a blogger? If you are still struggling to get started, what questions do you have?
Laina Turner says
Great ideas. Thanks for sharing.
Angie Nelson says
Thanks for stopping by, Laina.
Alissia Haggard says
Just found you from the Blog Loft! Love this post! Working on creating my own course for January!
Angie Nelson says
My first one comes out tomorrow, Alissia. Very exciting!
Belinda says
Thanks for taking the time to share all of this info! I’ve had a blog for years but I’ve been trying to get a little more serious about it recently and it’s fascinating to see all the different possibilities/opportunities there are!
Angie Nelson says
You are welcome, Belinda. Let me know if you have specific questions, and feel free to join me on Periscope each weekday morning for blogging tips periscope.tv/thewahwife
Debbie Howard says
Great post. You gave me a lot to think about and act on soon. Thanks.
Katrina says
You are totally right about the fear of a big project preventing me to get started. I create content all the time blogging, it’s just a big blog post mentality hits home.mthanks!
Angie Nelson says
Getting started is the hardest part, Katrina. Best of luck!