Passive Income - That's the "get rich quick" buzz phrase of 2019. If you've done any research on business building or wealth creation on your computer, chances are you're being served ads from several different "earn money in your jamies" internet business gurus. And once you're caught in their clutches, you'll never escape.
Thanks Tai Lopez!
Now that you're caught in the Passive Income web, seemingly every YouTube ad you see is promoting some kind of scheme that will purportedly allow you to earn millions while lounging on a beach, or eating ice cream in your living room. These people talk about how they went from sleeping on their moms couch, to in 6 months owning a Ferrari and traveling in private jets, all thanks to their ability to work a keyboard and mouse.
They call it "passive" income. We have a different word for it... Poppycock!
Yes, you can earn passive income, but "passive" doesn't mean "easy". The phrase refers to the tax benefit gained from having income that is not classified as "earned" income. Thus, "passive" does not refer to income generated through no work from you. Quite the contrary. Sometimes "passive" income requires more action than earned income.
One popular way to earn passive income is to invest in real estate. The aforementioned gurus in the real estate will tell you that all you have to do is shell out 5% (it will likely be closer to 25% in reality, but it's the internet and who cares about reality?) and buy a rental property and watch the money pour in! That's it! Well chances are, if that's all you do, you will not watch the money pour in, but instead, poor out!
In order to have a successful passive income real estate business, you must approach that endeavor with the same amount of passion and tenacity that you did in your job that paid you your "earned" income. In order to have a passive income real estate business you must: pick the RIGHT deal/property, negotiate a fair investment, work the specifics of the deal, hire the right people to manage the property, keep current on all repairs/maintenance, and so on. That sounds pretty active to me!
Now let's shift gears and discuss the other "get-rich-quick" scheme in question - harnessing the power of the internet to generate "life changing" amounts of money. You've seen these folks. They're the ones that are usually flying in a private (probably rented) jet, or driving in a sports car (probably rented... Or stolen) and talking about the 7 figure income they're now earning thanks to Shopify, or Click Funnels, or Etsy, and they'll teach you how to do the same. All they're asking for is your credit card! How altruistic, right? These nice people are going to teach you the tricks to their trade, all for just a few hundred dollars. But, before you get too excited, ask yourself this. How many multi-million dollar earners are taking time out of their day to teach people how to do the job that made them rich?
The truth is, these people are earning large amounts of revenue on the internet! They're just doing it one credit card transaction at a time from the people who are hopelessly searching for passive income! (Just to be clear, I'm not judging them for it! They are providing a service that they charge a reasonable amount for.)
You've heard the saying, "good things come to those willing to work for them". It's true. In order to have true passive income, you must take massive action!
Full disclosure, I am the Vice President for Honest Abe Roofing Franchise, and you will see my face on your computer screen also telling you how you can "earn life changing amounts of money", but you'll never hear me say it's going to be easy. Our business model requires massive action from the franchisee during the initial launch of the business in order to fully realize it's potential. But, once fully realized the business becomes a REAL passive income machine! You will be able to put the business on "auto-pilot" once you get it to a certain "altitude". Then it's just a matter of monitoring the key performance indicators of the business to keep the cash flowing. This is the most sustainable and realistic way to earn true passive income.