By: Claire Makoni

Earn Songwriting Royalties

If you love to write music, you can create passive income by recording your songs and then publishing them through a variety of channels. You earn royalties anytime your music is played on streaming services like Apple Music, or Spotify, or played on the radio. You can even license your music for TV, movies, and videos without the backing of a major record label.

Purchase Music Royalties

Perhaps your talent isn’t to write music. That’s ok, you can still get into the music royalty game by purchasing the rights to song catalogues owned by other artists. Royalty Exchange is an online auction that allows you to bid on existing music catalogues. These are songs that are already earning regular, passive income for their current owners. When you purchase music royalties, you’re buying the future cash flow, which is purely passive income.

Photo Licensing

Photographers can build passive income by selling stock photos online. You’ll need to produce lots of content to earn a decent amount of money, but it can be a nice supplement to other, more labor-intensive work, like wedding or family photography. One benefit to stock photo licensing is that you can sell the same pictures to many different buyers. There is no shortage of stock photo websites where you can sell your work. Dreamstime and Snapwire are just two of the more popular stock photo sites out there.

Record an Audiobook

One of the best ways for content creators to increase their income is by releasing their content in as many formats as possible. For example, if you’ve written a paperback book or even an ebook, you’ll want to consider recording an audiobook version. There is no shortage of people who prefer listening to books instead of reading them. You can record the audio yourself, or pay someone else to do it for you. Once your audiobook is ready to go, it can be available for purchase online for years, making it the ideal passive income source.

Buy and Sell Domain Names

Buying and selling domain names is a bit like trading on the stock market. The goal is to buy low and sell high, but there can be some risk involved. There are people who earn good money buying domain names that they believe will increase in value over time, with the hopes of selling at a profit.

Start a Blog

Over time, it’s possible to create multiple passive income streams with a blog, through affiliate marketing, or display advertising, for example. But building a blog from scratch is anything but passive. You’ll need to be consistent in creating new content, and spend time promoting your blog. One of the best things about blogging is the low barrier of entry. If you have a computer and a wifi connection, you can get started for as little as a few dollars per month.

Start a Podcast

It seems everyone has a podcast these days, and while many people do it out of pure enjoyment, there’s a lot of money that can be made. As you build a reliable following, you can begin selling advertising via sponsorships to brands that wish to get in front of your audience. Make no mistake, there’s a lot of work involved in finding guests and conducting interviews, but the opportunity to build a passive income stream is there.

Start a YouTube Channel

If you can consistently create videos that people want to watch, you can build an audience on Youtube. This is important because, with an audience, you can begin to make money, by joining the YouTube Partner Program. Most of your earnings will come from ads, which are aired within your video content, however, there are more ways to make money. YouTube can also drive traffic to your website and social media channels, making passive income opportunities endless.

Sell Digital Products/Downloadables

Thousands of people earn passive income by creating digital products that people can download and use. From spreadsheets to productivity tools, calendars, and checklists, the possibilities are endless. Once you’ve created your winning product, you can make it available for download on your own website, or through a third-party platform.

Develop an Online Course

If you have expertise in a specific area, rest assured there’s someone out there willing to pay you for your knowledge. You can create an ebook on the topic, or develop an online course, and then sell it on your own website, or on an online learning marketplace like Udemy. No skill is too small to share with others. You could sell a course on creating a killer resume, starting a podcast, or how to travel hack a trip to Europe. With online courses, most of the hard work happens early on, when you’re creating the content. From there, with an effective marketing strategy, you’ll have yourself a nice, passive income stream.

Run Website Display Ads

If you have your own website, you can sign up to have ads displayed within the content on your site. The most well-known ad service is Google Adsense. Adsense displays ads that are relevant to your site content and that match your visitor’s preferences. When guests engage with an ad, you make money. Also, the higher your site traffic, the higher your income.

Affiliate Marketing

If you have your own blog or website, one of the best ways to make passive income is through affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing involves promoting someone else’s product or service, and earning a commission whenever a sale is generated directly from your recommendation. The most well-known affiliate program may be the one run by online retail giant Amazon, but there are thousands of other companies with programs of their own. Affiliate income takes time to build, but if you’re successful, it can be one of the best ways to make passive income.

Dropshipping

Dropshipping is a form of e-commerce where the seller doesn’t hold the product, instead, it’s shipped to the customer directly from the supplier. The seller’s job is to find products to buy at a wholesale price, and then sell them at the retail price, by advertising them through an e-commerce store, like Shopify. When orders are placed, they go directly to the supplier who ships the product to the customer. The seller profits from the spread between the retail and wholesale price. Dropshipping has become very competitive, but if you can find a product that people want, and sell it at a profit, there’s lots of passive income to be made.

Learn to Outsource

If you’re an entrepreneur, chances are you have a tendency to want to control all aspects of your business. After all, no one else understands it as you do, nor is anyone else as invested as you are. But the problem with doing everything yourself is that the money you make becomes anything but passive.

Recognize Needs vs. Wants—and Spend Mindfully

I have noticed that a lot of people find it difficult to spend mindfully because they do not know how to really differentiate between needs and wants.One of the largest challenges to creating and managing a personal budget is understanding the difference between needs and wants.Spending money on wants is often the first thing I tell my clients to cut in my budgeting class.

However, the truth about wants spending is much more complicated and (more important to satisfaction) than any needs spending.First, let’s define financial needs and wants.

Needs: Spending on goods or services required for basic survival without which an individual would die. Needs spending includes basic shelter, food, clothing, healthcare, etc.

Wants: Spending on goods or services that are not necessary for basic survival but that we desire or wish for. Examples of wants spending include dining out, going to the movies with friends, buying brand name vs. generic, etc. Unless you have an unlimited amount of money, it’s in your best interest to be mindful of the difference between “needs” and “wants,” so you can make better spending choices.

Needs on the other hand are things you have to have in order to survive: food, shelter, healthcare, transportation, a reasonable amount of clothing (many people include savings as a need, whether that’s a set 10% of their income or whatever they can afford to set aside each month). Conversely, wants are things you would like to have but don’t require for survival. It can be challenging to accurately label expenses as either needs or wants, and for many, the line gets blurred between the two.

When this happens, it can be easy to rationalize away an unnecessary or extravagant purchase by calling it a need. A car is a good example. You need a car to get to work and take the kids to school. You want the luxury edition SUV that costs twice as much as a more practical car (and costs you more in gas). You could try and call the SUV a “need” because you do, in fact, need a car, but it’s still a want.

Any difference in price between a more economical vehicle and the luxury SUV is money that you didn’t have to spend. Your needs should get top priority in your personal budget. Only after your needs have been met should you allocate any discretionary income toward wants. And again, if you do have money left over each week or each month after paying for the things you really need, you don’t have to spend it all.

Let me leave you with four ways to strengthen your spending defense mechanisms:

1. Be realistic with your yourselfIt’s very difficult to limit spending to your most basic needs. There are many reasons why the “No-Spend Weekend” or “No-Spend Month” only span short amounts of time. A “No-Spend Year” would feel like a punishment to most people, and not a rewarding experiment that can unleash creative ways for rethinking your budget and spending patterns.One of the biggest mistakes you can make is being too strict with your budget. If your budget is too rigid, you’ll most likely not stick to it. If having a coffee or going out for dinner with a friend is important to you, make it part of your monthly expenses,but keep it reasonable. Stick to your spending plan and make sure your splurges are affordable.
2. Find the thrill in being frugal and thriftyMany people love the “thrill of the purchase” because they are not asking themselves, “Do I really need this?” before reaching for their credit card. Indeed, the self-inquiry normally comes after the purchase. “Why did I buy this?” Along with feelings of guilt and regret.However, it is totally possible, with a change in perspective, to find a better, longer lasting thrill in being “cheap and cheerful”. For some people, frugality and thriftiness must be learned.
3. Defer your pleasure purchasesPut things back and take some time to think about it. We often fall in love with particular items in the store. Sales people come over and deploy all sorts of strategies to help us make impulse decisions. “I’m going to shop around a bit. Thanks for showing me this. I might come back for it later” can be a polite way to get out of moments of shopping doubt. Never buy things that you aren’t fully committed to. If you are still thinking about something in a week’s time, maybe it’s meant to be! After a week or so, you may also have made the little sacrifices needed to afford it.
4. Keep the online shopping to a minimum in order to keep wants in check, be conscious of the society we live in. We are constantly bombarded with online marketing strategies that are designed to prey on our tendency to confuse needs vs. wants. This is especially the case when we are in front of our phones.Yes, online shopping can be dangerous. In two or three clicks you can be buying a brand new pair of shoes you don’t need.What happens if you have to pay for shipping to return them? You might just end up with something that never leaves your closet. Shopping apps? Deadly. Make your purchases an event that you have to plan for. And save for these things to avoid putting them on credit.Start today to create a future you desire.

My upcoming book will open your eyes to so many traps and how to avoid them. However, I hope you got value from today’s episode.

Till I come your way with another tip next week. I remain my humble self, your finance coach.

This post was originally shared in our Facebook Group: Money Mathematician Network

Temi Alade-Mustapha.

I started this series last week, where I gave the first point; “ Do the math- Net worth and Personal budget” You may need to go through this page to read it again. The second point I will be sharing with us today is:

Recognize and Manage Lifestyle Inflation.

Most individuals will spend more money if they have more money to spend. As people advance in their careers and earn higher salaries, there tends to be a corresponding increase in spending, a phenomenon known as “lifestyle inflation.” Even though you might be able to pay your bills, lifestyle inflation can be damaging in the long run, because it limits your ability to build wealth.

Every extra dollar you spend now means less money later and during retirement. One of the main reasons people allow lifestyle inflation to sabotage their finances is their desire to keep up with what is in vogue. It’s not uncommon for people to feel the need to match their friends’ and coworkers’ spending habits. If your peers drive exotic cars, vacation at exclusive resorts, and dine at expensive restaurants, you might feel pressured to do the same.

What is easy to overlook is that in many cases these friends may be servicing a lot of debt to maintain their wealthy appearance. Despite their wealthy “glow”—the fancy cars, the expensive vacations, the private schools for the kids—they might be living paycheck to paycheck and not saving a dime for retirement. As your professional and personal situation evolves over time, some increases in spending are natural.

You might need to upgrade your wardrobe to dress appropriately for a new position, or, as your family grows, you might need a house with more bedrooms. And with more responsibilities at work, you might find that it makes sense to hire someone to mow the lawn or clean the house, freeing up time to spend with family and friends and improving your quality of life. Lifestyle inflation can easily derail your long term goals.

The trap of short term gratification in the form of luxury convenience can delay your plans to get out of debt or distrust your retirement plans.

Let me leave you with 7 ways you can control lifestyle inflation:

1. Be aware of your spending choices.
2. Do the math of your raise.
3. Treat yourself – within reason.
4. Set aside a percentage of your income for splurging.
5. Add big changes to your budget gradually.
6. Find friends with the same goals.
7. Set up automatic savings.

Till next week…Start today to create the future you desire.

This posted was originally posted in our Facebook Group: Money Mathematician Network

Temi Alade- MustaphaAuthor Money Maths.