Let’s talk about passive income stream ideas for content creators.

Passive income- that’s the dream, right? To make money while you sleep.  But is it really possible? 

Or is it just one of those attractive buzzwords marketers throw around to trick you into thinking money can be made without putting in any effort?

In this post, I am talking about what passive income is and what it isn’t. I’ll also be giving you my top 3 passive income streams for content creators in 2023 and beyond.

Rather watch the video? Check it out below.

Is passive income really a thing?  

The good news is that passive income definitely does exist!  I generate a lot of passive income in my online businesses, even when I sleep. 

In fact, I woke up to this email the morning I created the video above.

And this email from my other business right before creating this corresponding blog post today!

Finding out that you made money while you slept, or when you are not working, is a REALLY awesome feeling. BUT passive income isn’t 100 percent passive, as many marketers would lead you to believe.

Let’s start by breaking down what passive income is and what it isn’t.  

What is passive income?

Passive income is an income stream that requires little to no DAILY effort to maintain.  You are not trading time for money on a DAILY basis to get paid.  DAILY is the keyword here 🙂 

For example, if you are a service provider like a coach, a graphic designer, or a teacher who teaches yoga or watercolor painting you have to show up and dedicate your time providing your service in order to get paid.  

But passive income is something that you set up once, which then allows you to make money without needing to show up time and time again to get paid.

No more trading time for money EVERY time!

However, no one is going to show up and pay you without getting something in return.  You need to create something and put some systems in place first. This has to happen before people are going to give you money without you needing to be there. 

Now that you know what passive income is, let’s talk about what it isn’t.  

What passive income isn’t

Passive income isn’t passive and easy money in the beginning. 

It requires a lot of front-end work before you begin to reap the rewards.   You need to set up a system that is going to allow you to earn money without you needing to show up in real-time.  

And like anything that yields big rewards in life, passive income requires hard work and self-discipline. Plus it will require automated systems to make it work passively down the line.  

I also want to be completely transparent and say that passive income is never 100% passive. 

Yes, you can definitely get paid while you sleep or while doing other activities, but you will need to continue attracting new people to you so that they can become aware of what you offer. 

As a content creator that may look like writing a new blog post each week. It may look like creating a new weekly YouTube video or Podcast episode to get people into your funnel and make them aware of what you offer.  

It’s not 100% passive, but it requires SIGNIFICANTLY less work and effort than showing up to a job 40 hours every week or any type of work where you are trading time for money. 

Now some people love interacting with others and showing up and there is nothing wrong with that.  You can charge significantly more when you are physically showing up in person or online and providing feedback. I highly encourage you though to incorporate a few passive income streams into your business as well.

Diversifying your income streams and creating passive income in your business is a GAME CHANGER! You create something once and then you can make money from it over and over and over again!   

Alright, you now have a better understanding of what passive income is and what it isn’t. Now, let’s get into my top passive income stream ideas for bloggers, YouTubers, and all other content creators.

3 Passive Income Stream Ideas for Content Creators

1. Affiliate Marketing

If you are a content creator of any kind, I think the fastest and the easiest path to get started making passive income is with affiliate marketing.  

Affiliate marketing basically means that you sell other people’s products or services through links within your content.  

You apply to become an affiliate for products and services that you use and love within your niche and then you receive a special affiliate link that you use to promote these things. 

There are affiliate programs for every niche

You can type in a keyword or business name related to your niche in a Google search and put affiliate program after it to see who offers them.  If there isn’t an affiliate program in place, you can reach out to a company directly to see if you can work something out. 

Are you a student in any of my programs or have bought any of my digital products? If so, you can become an affiliate for me and earn the money back that you invested.  If you aren’t signed up for this yet, reach out to me via email to get set up.  

There typically aren’t any requirements to become an affiliate for most companies, other than filling out an application. Once you are approved you will get a special link unique to you to share. If anyone purchases something through your link, you will get a commission.

These links could be shared in a blog post like this or in something like the show notes of a YouTube or Podcast episode.   If you click the “SHOW MORE” link in any of my YouTube videos …

Then you will see several links including affiliate links show up after my disclosure.

When someone clicks on your affiliate link and purchases something within a given time frame, you earn a commission.

Can I make a full-time income from affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing can work well, but it is NOT my #1 pick for passive income stream ideas.

Here’s why: You are taking people away from your site and you only get a small percentage of the sale. It does however allow you, especially as a beginner, to start making some money without much effort when you are just starting out. 

However, if you want to make a decent amount of money per month with affiliate marketing then you need to have a good amount of traffic coming to your site each month and/or have some high-paying affiliates.  

I think affiliate marketing is a good strategy to use in COMBINATION with the other two passive income streams I mention in the post.  

Affiliate commissions typically range from 1% to over 50%. It just depends on the program and what they offer.  I am part of some affiliate programs that make me 3% all the way up to 55%. 

As I mentioned you want to make sure are being authentic and honest with your audience. Only share products and/or services you have used/currently use and love. You really can’t give an honest review of something you haven’t used.  

I have videos related to affiliate marketing and affiliate marketing networks on my YouTube channel that you can view here.

To recap affiliate marketing is an easy and fast way to make some passive income online. However, it’s also in my opinion the least profitable of the three passive income streams that I am discussing today.

2. Small Digital Products

A digital product is a resource that you create once and you can sell over and over again.  It is bought and delivered online.                           

Creating and selling your own digital products is an excellent way to create a passive stream of income in your business as a content creator. Digital products are what made me my first amount of significant money online and continue to be a HUGE source of income in my businesses.  

There are numerous types of digital products you could sell- ebooks, audio trainings, workbooks, planners, templates, spreadsheets, etc.

Let’s take a graphic designer for example.  If he/she wanted to create a passive income stream in their business with a digital product they could easily do this. 

Depending on their area of expertise…

• If they were a good artist, they could sell graphics or illustrations to be used online or on products. 

• If they specialize in typography they could create and sell fonts for use on websites or social media graphics.

• They could sell templates where you just plug your own information into a pre-designed template that allows non-designers to walk away with a professional looking item – think Pinterest templates, ebook templates, logo templates. 

• They could also package their knowledge into an ebook or create a workbook to guide others through a specific graphic design technique.

A yoga teacher or even a yoga blogger/YouTuber for example could create

• A yoga journal or workbook 
• An audio training that provides a 5-10 minute meditation
• A printable pack of yoga poses for flexibility or back pain or ones specifically for beginners    

Whatever your niche is, there is a digital product that can help your audience get a quick win and transformation. I believe it’s one of the best passive income stream ideas around.

As a content creator in this business, I currently offer a Blog to Business Planner as well as Digital Blog Post Templates.

Now let’s put into perspective the difference between affiliate income and digital product income for your business.

Let’s say that you recommend a specific product that sells for $50 and you get 20 sales at a 5% commission rate for recommending it, you would make $50 total as an affiliate.  You sold $1000 worth of the product but you only get a 5% cut.  

Whereas if you create your OWN digital product and sell it for $50 and you sold 20 in a month, you would make approximately $1,000 minus a transaction and platform fee-  you would come in at around $900-$950 profit.  

Yes, affiliate marketing requires significantly less upfront work, but over time it does not pay nearly as much as digital products that become a passive income stream once they are created.

3. Online courses

The last passive income stream that I want to discuss with you today is online courses.  Some may argue that courses are digital products and I agree it can be categorized like this, but I believe it can also be its own separate category.

Online courses involve a lot more upfront work than a smaller digital product like a workbook or spreadsheet, but they have a much higher passive payout over time as well. 

Online courses provide detailed step-by-step tutorials whereby you share your knowledge on a specific topic typically via video or audio to provide a transformation for your student.  

Since it requires a significant time investment on your part, there is a right and wrong way to do this.  

I strongly advise you to monetize your course before you make it, which means pre-selling it with a beta program and testing it with a real audience before you create all the content.  Otherwise, you could spend weeks, months, and years pouring all your time and effort into a product that no one wants!!

I, unfortunately, made this mistake with my parenting blog back in 2017.  Do NOT spend months creating a course without monetizing it first.  It’s not fun.   This is a topic for another day, but here’s the main takeaway… Creating an online course is much more labor-intensive up front, but once it is validated and created, it can easily earn you 5 figures a month when all your systems are in place. 

Courses typically range anywhere from $97 to $1997. They can go much higher as well depending on the scope of knowledge, niche, etc being covered.

So while selling 20 $50 books/month as an affiliate at 5% can make you $50, and selling 20 of your own small digital product at $50 can make you $900-$950/month.  Selling 20 of your online course at $597 can make you approximately $11,500/month after transaction/platform fees.

Passive Income Streams Ideas for Content Creators Recap

My top 3 passive income stream ideas for content creators in 2023 and beyond are as follows: 

1. Affiliate marketing
2. Small digital products
3. Online courses

If you want to learn how to make your first $1,000 with a digital product and sell it with a tripwire funnel get on the waitlist here for when my Digital Product Blueprint course reopens this March.