How The Digital Age Makes Passive Income Easier to Achieve

Unless you’re self-actualized and have found an escape from the system, earning an income is always going to be a daily responsibility. It doesn’t matter if you’re in college or the breadwinner of your family; earning money is what keeps life rolling onward. Of course, the more you earn, the easier life gets, and who doesn’t want that?

Recently, CNBC highlighted survey results from LendingTree, which showed that more than 50% of Americans define wealth as the absence of financial concerns. This was more than twice the percentage of the 23% who conflated wealth with a six-figure income. 

Just as people have differing definitions of wealth, there also exist different types of incomes. Passive income, where you earn without direct intervention, has always been a bit of a golden goose. It sounds great, but is it sustainable? Well, times are changing, and today, we’ll look at how it’s becoming a more reliable income in the digital age. 

What’s Wrong With Non-Digital Passive Income?

The concept of passive income isn’t exactly new. Even goat herders, 2,000 years ago, might have rented out their herd while away to pull weeds from their neighbor’s farm. We’ve always had some sort of way to maximize our earning potential with minimal intervention, which is what passive income is all about.

For a long time (and even to this day), real estate has been the most popular method. Brent Weiss, a financial planner, tells Business Insider that he’s seen a good amount of his clients rely on house hacking to generate passive income. This refers to the process of renting out a room or space in the house you buy for yourself. According to Weiss, 50% of his clients are able to use that income to pay for half their mortgage and create more income for their family. 

However, you could easily argue that with the work involved in tenant management, it’s far from a passive income. That’s the key issue with non-digital methods. Eventually, the work involved starts to become a secondary job. Perhaps not as stressful as your main one, but stressful nonetheless. This is why more people are looking toward digital sources.

Crypto-Related Passive Income 

Before we explore this area, it’s worth noting that digital options aren’t without their own issues. While you won’t have to put in as much work in maintenance, they do require a little extra initial effort. With that in mind, let’s look at how digital passive income can be the superior option.

Your first option is dealing with cryptocurrency, which, despite its volatile reputation, can make for a surprisingly good passive income source. If you’re scared of Bitcoin, Ethereum, particularly, Ethereum staking is a great option.

Bit Digital believes that Ethereum is the most credible option, considering it’s the most widely adopted programmable blockchain. Even Investopedia notes that staking allows you to earn passive income on your ETH holdings. The investment needed from your side will obviously be ETH, but also decent hardware. You’ll need a computer that can serve as a full node, which should cost between $800 and $1,500. 

Thankfully, this isn’t like mining, where you need several powerful graphics processing units (GPUs) to earn money. You’re simply holding, and right now, the cost of storage drives isn’t too expensive. 

The Digital Product Route

If you wish to steer clear of crypto, that’s fine. There are plenty of other digital passive income sources to work with. One method that still works to this day is creating and selling digital products. There are two ways to go about this. The first option involves doing everything yourself. 

That means creating each product, whether that be ebooks, courses, or anything else, and also marketing and selling them on a platform like Etsy or Gumroad. If, however, you are willing to invest, you can hire people to make your digital products and then only deal with the marketing and selling side of things.

Likewise, affiliate marketing sounds like it’s part of the old internet, but it’s still very much profitable if you set it up right. The only caveat is that you need to have a prior digital following. 

This is why one of the most essential pieces of advice for digital passive income is to start creating a personal brand. Even with a modest following of 5,000 to 10,000, you’d be surprised at how many passive income options that opens up. 

Ultimately, digital passive income is something that everyone should be looking to explore. If you have a bit of free time and a willingness to learn, hop on the internet right now and start researching what could work for you. In five years, you don’t want to look back with regret when you see your friends enjoying their own passive income streams.