Learning how to make money online has been an extremely fun and rewarding experience for me. But it didn’t happen overnight and it hasn’t been easy. I literally went to Google one day and typed in – “How do I make money online?” That got me started. I ended up trying lots of different tactics and I earned a little bit of money along the way. But then the concept of creating passive income online occurred to me and my efforts ever since have evolved into what I do now.
Passive Income Defined and Explained
Passive Income can be defined as an income received on a regular basis, with little effort required to maintain it.
In other words, residual or recurring income that takes very little effort to maintain. This is one way to describe passive income and it is the definition that I prefer. Note: it does not say little effort required to create it. In my experience, it takes a great deal of time and effort to create these types of income streams. But once they are set up and the passive income rolls in month after month, the effort to maintain is minimal. And believe me – after you get this to work once, you will be addicted and you will want to create more and more passive income streams.
How to Get Started
The #1 thing you must do, to get started, is create your own presence on the internet. And I’m not talking about a Facebook page or a Twitter account (although those are good too). You need to have your own website! Getting your own website and learning how to publish content on it will prove to be essential if you want to learn how to create online passive income streams.
Free Website Options
There are options available to create your web presence for free. Sites like Blogger, Tumblr or WordPress.com. I myself started out on Blogger and I DO NOT recommend these free options for a few reasons…
- Your domain name will be an extension of the larger site. For example, mine might look like this http://dumbpassiveincome.blogspot.com
- You don’t technically own any of the content you publish on these sites. They could shut down at any time and you could lose everything.
- You have fewer options available for customizing your design and functionality and more restrictive revenue guidelines to follow.
- Example: WordPress.com doesn’t even allow you to advertise!
- You WILL eventually see the light and want to move to your own self-hosted site. Moving your existing content can be a real pain (especially for beginners).
Benefits of a Self-hosted Website
Having your own self-hosted website simply means that you are buying your own domain and paying to have your site hosted somewhere. I HIGHLY recommend and encourage this route over the free options for several reasons…
- You will OWN your domain and all of your content. All rights to all of it will belong to you.
- You will have a stand-alone domain name. Example: https://yourawesomewebsite.com
- You will have unlimited options available to customize the design and functionality of your site. Plus, you will be allowed to create revenue in any way you see fit!
- You can have your own personal domain email address. Example email: yourname@yourawesomewebsite.com
Note: Links on this page that lead to products or services (like domains and hosting) are affiliate links – which means I will receive a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you choose to purchase after clicking on one of my links. Thanks in advance for supporting my blog!
Recommended Domain Registrar for Beginners
I have personally used two domain registrars over the past decade or so. I started off using GoDaddy.com exclusively. They were good. But then I found NameCheap.com a few years later. I use NameCheap.com for ALL of my new domain registrations and I’m in the process of moving all of my domains that are left on GoDaddy over to NameCheap.
- NameCheap – lower initial pricing, lower renewal pricing and you NEVER get marketing emails from them
- GoDaddy – higher initial pricing, higher renewal pricing and you get constantly bombarded with marketing emails
I highly recommend you use NameCheap.com when you are ready to purchase your domain.
Common Misconception for Beginners
Buying a domain name (yourawesomewebsite.com) is NOT the only step needed in order to get your site online. For example – if you go to a domain registrar site like NameCheap.com and purchase a domain, that only means that you own the domain and the rights to it. You can’t put anything on that domain until it is hosted somewhere. In other words – buying domains and buying hosting are totally separate and different transactions.
Bluehost is one hosting company that makes it really easy for you by combining both steps into one. PLUS – if you buy hosting at Bluehost, they will give you your domain FREE for the first year!
Recommended Hosting for Beginners
I have used (and am still using) two of the more popular ‘beginner’ hosting platforms – Bluehost and SiteGround – and I can recommend both of them with confidence.
- SiteGround – easy-to-use platform, extraordinary support, 1-click WordPress install – you will NEVER get marketing emails
- Bluehost – easy-to-use platform, great support, 1-click WordPress install – but, you WILL get bombarded with marketing emails
SiteGround Hosting
Today, SiteGround is just as (if not more) popular and as well-known in the blogging community as Bluehost. In fact, I stopped using Bluehost and moved several of my sites over to SiteGround a few years ago. I never had any issues with Bluehost (other than their CONSTANT emails trying to get me to upgrade and buy more stuff from them). I just liked SiteGround’s user interface better and found their support to be extraordinarily helpful!
SiteGround is my TOP recommendation for hosting for beginners for many reasons…
- Several plan options (with competitive pricing) to choose from to suit your needs
- Incredibly easy to use and understand interface – all self-explanatory with help options available
- Customer service and support are amazing – they treat their customers right and do whatever they can to help
- OFFICIALLY recommended by WordPress.org – the most popular, community-driven site-building software worldwide.
CLICK HERE to Get Hosting from SiteGround
Bluehost Hosting
Bluehost is by far one of the most popular and widely recognized hosting companies. I did not start off using Bluehost, but saw several other people recommending Bluehost for hosting services. I decided to try Bluehost for one of my new niche sites and I was really impressed! I started using them for several of my sites and stuck with them for several years.
Bluehost is a fantastic option for beginners for a few reasons…
- FREE domain name with hosting purchase – takes a few steps out of the setup process for your first time.
- Incredibly easy to use and understand interface – all self-explanatory with help options available
- Customer service and support are amazing – they treat their customers right and do whatever they can to help
CLICK HERE to Get Hosting from Bluehost
What if I don’t have a clue what to do next?!
Okay. So you chose a domain and purchased a hosting account. Now what? How do you put words and pictures on your site and make it look the way you want? Don’t worry. I won’t leave you hanging. I’ll point you in the right direction and help get you started.
WordPress for Content Management
WordPress is by far the most popular platform in the world when it comes to content management for websites. The stat I’ve seen in several different places recently is that more than 455 million websites worldwide are currently running on WordPress. New stats reveal that 39.5% of ALL websites in the world are currently powered by WordPress! Since most bloggers and internet marketers use WordPress, it will be really easy to find help and support if and when you get stuck with something.
All you have to do is load WordPress onto your site and you’ll be off and running! This is really easy to do and literally only takes a few minutes. Both of my recommended hosts provide extremely easy 1-click install processes to load WordPress onto your website. If you have trouble – simply contact their support teams and they will be more than happy to help.
How to Use WordPress to Build Your Website or Blog
After loading WordPress, simply log in to your site and start familiarizing yourself with the WordPress menus. It’s all self-explanatory and easy to learn. If you get stuck or need further instruction – simply Google it or look stuff up on YouTube. Lots of others have created excellent tutorials on literally every single aspect of using WordPress.
If you’re a total WordPress beginner… I would suggest watching a series of videos that were put together by my friends over at WP Beginner. It might take you maybe an hour to watch most of the videos and it will be time very well spent. Take the time to educate yourself. Knowing and understanding the ins and outs of WordPress will be absolutely essential to your success with your website. – http://videos.wpbeginner.com/ Note: you do need to sign up in order to access those videos. I’ve signed up myself – and I assure you, it is 100% legit. Nothing but value. No scam.
Recommended WordPress Tools
The sky is the limit with WordPress websites. Be sure to take a look at my top-recommended tools that I would not do without when it comes to building WordPress websites for this year, and beyond.
8 Must-Haves for Building a WordPress Blog
Passive Income with No Website or Blog
There are many other ways to earn passive income online. One of the coolest ways that I’ve come across recently is using a platform like neighbor.com to hook you up with people who might be interested in renting out your garage (or any other space you have available) for storage. You can literally rent out a piece of dirt or pavement if somebody needs some space to park their extra vehicle or maybe an RV. The possibilities are endless! It’s a platform worth checking out.
Thank You!
Again – I just wanted to say Thank You. Especially if you chose to purchase hosting through one of my affiliate links. You have no idea how much that means to me and how much I appreciate it. Support like that from a person like you is what keeps me going and keeps me motivated to continue providing valuable content on this blog.
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Image Credits
“Human – business evolution” by patriziasoliani via Flickr
“Free Manure” by slimmer_jimmer via Flickr
“The Art of WordPress” by mkhmarketing via Flickr