So this is a bit of a personal post today, but if you let me indulge you with a story, you should get a lot of inspiration and see some of the benefits of a passive income that you might not have thought about. My main reason for posting is that I have spent a good year or so working on getting myself to the position where I can enjoy those benefits, and without realizing it, they crept up on me.
When you suddenly realize you've got yourself in the position where you can enjoy yourself and still earn something, it's an amazing feeling, and one you can look forward to as well if you go down this path.
I'll also let you know how to get started, so if this is your first visit to Human Proof Designs, creating passive income is what it's all about.
A Little Backstory
I first started living in Taiwan in 2008, and every year wanted to get down to Spring Scream festival in the south of the island. It's a music festival that takes place over the long weekend. I'd always wanted to go, but had never been able to. Despite it being a long weekend, I always had to work on the Saturday, and it was difficult for me to get the day off from work.
Not only that, but I was paid hourly, so taking holiday meant I'd be losing money (plus spending a lot), so I always felt like “Next year” would be better.
Technically I could have gone in 2009, 10, 11, 12, or 13, but I never felt comfortable and always worried about money.
This Year Things Are Different
I now work full-time from home, providing websites and guidance for people who want to get started on their own path to a passive income. Because I build websites for them, I can do it from a laptop, and travel becomes easy.
What's funny is, I didn't even really realize that things had changed in my life. I had become so used to just NOT GOING to Spring Scream every year, that I almost didn't go again this year. Then one day I realized:
I'm free to do what I want!
So go I did.
It's funny how we get so bogged down in work and striving towards goals sometimes, that we don't even look up and realize our progress.
I also have some websites of my own generating me a passive income, which means when I took 3 days off to go down to party in Kenting, my income was still coming in. I was able to email my customers thanks to smartphones and 3G, and was able to keep earning while I was enjoying the festival.
OK, so I still spent more than I earned, but it felt amazing not having to worry about work or money for once.
Great Story Bro
So you might not think of this as a particularly amazing story, but that's kind of the point. When most people start working online, they view it as a long path and often get so embroiled in building their business that they forget to enjoy, or even notice, the benefits.
Others think they'll get rich overnight and then quit as soon as they realize it takes time. I don't really want to focus on them though.
What I'm trying to say here is that if you keep working on your website, sooner or later you'll realize that you can take some time off, and still earn a living.
The holiday I took before this one, a trip to Thailand in July 2013 was similar. While flying from Bangkok to Phuket, I earned the price of the flight ticket from some sales my websites made. It was exhilarating.
So my message to you if you're already on your way and building your site is, think about the small things you may already be afforded. If you take the week off work, will you still earn some money? If not, what could you do to get your business running a bit more passively?
Also, if you're just getting started and you are desperately wondering if you're ever going to reach a stage where you've “made it”, this part is even more important:
Don't focus on the huge end goal of mass online income, instead, focus on the shorter term goals like earning $100 from passive income, or being able to take the afternoon off and not suffer a dip in business.
Eventually, you'll collect and achieve enough of these smaller goals, that the bigger benefits of a passive income (early retirement, freedom to travel, being able to look after loved ones etc) will sneak up on you before you know it.
If you're interested in earning a passive income of your own, read more about my affiliate marketing course for beginners. If you already know about affiliate marketing, and want to get a massive head-start, then read about my ready-made websites instead.
This is very inspiring Bryon! 🙂
Thanks for sharing with us. I hope you had a fantastic time at the festival!
Chris
Thanks Chris, it was a pretty good time yeah! Nowhere near as crowded as I expected. I guess everyone else was stuck at work 🙂
Sounds like it was a pretty good festival! It’s kind of cliche, but having money coming in while your on vacation is pretty sweet. I try not to get too lazy and let my websites slip, but it is tempting when you are gone all week and come back to money in the bank. lol.
I think a lot of people read stuff like this and think to themselves, “Ah well, I missed the boat on that one”, but they don’t realize that the internet is still growing and NOW is always a good time to build your first site. You’ll thank yourself in a year or two.
Yeah, excellent point about it never being too late. Now is probably even better to get started than it was before. A lot more people are searching on the Internet, and a lot of the initial “get rich quick” people have left. There’s definitely still time for anybody else to get started.
Great post Bryon inspiration is always good, I have been working hard for over 9 months now and as yet not earned a dime lol but I will keeping going thanks you and others, I know it will come soon.
Keep going Ken, it will come. 9 months might mean that you need to take stock of what you are doing and make some adjustments, but it can take some people up to a year to really earn something.
Great post Bryon, newbies are always interested to know how you get to where you are now. Every journey is different some faster, some slower but all are exciting. It must be a great feeling to be able to take a weekend off and know the income will still come.
Yep, fantastic feeling!