Passive Income
By
Pamela S Thibodeaux 
© 2014

In today’s economy, making extra money and investing in the future is on most folks' mind, and earning passive income is one way achieve your financial goals. Also known as residual income, passive income is money you earn or receive long after your initial work is done.

Let’s look at a few examples of passive or residual income.

Royalties – Many authors will argue the point that promotion is hard work and I agree, but the fact remains that royalties are a form of passive income. This is due to the fact that the bulk of the work is done in the writing for an author and in the actual publication on the part of the publisher. Once this is accomplished and initial investments are recouped, the rest is considered passive income, especially on books that remain in print for a long time or those which are constantly being reprinted. Another form of passive income is royalties from movie rights and merchandise which are generated as a result of the book.

While we’re talking about royalties, think…gas, oil, and other natural resources which produce long-term income as the result of a single well. Yes there is maintenance involved in these types of ventures. But, ask the person whose only job was to agree for someone to drill on his land how much work he does to receive that check every month! None, nada, he doesn’t lift a finger – Passive Income.

Renewal Commissions is another form of passive income known mostly in the insurance or investment industry. The initial sale is made and every month or year that the policy is renewed the sales person receives a commission. Granted there may be follow-up or service work, but that is a minor thing compared to the income one sale can generate.

Google Adsense is another form of passive income. You place ads on your blog or website, every time someone clicks a link and follows through, you receive an income. Google is good about ads that actually relate to your blog or website. For instance, if you’re a writer, the ads will most likely be for writer or publisher services.

Affiliate sales are a form of passive income. I’ll devote a whole article to this subject, but a simple example of affiliate sales is this: You sign up for the service, receive a code to past on your website or blog and every time someone accesses that code to purchase a product, you get a percentage of the sale. For authors, reviewers or book lovers, Amazon has a wonderful affiliate program.

Now, many of these programs give you an “account” and your account must reach a certain amount before you actually receive any money, but this is still a form of passive income.

Another form of passive income I can think of is articles (like this one). Once the original article is written and sold and the time has passed for your rights to be returned, there are sites lwhere you can post your articles for a “per click” income. Again, some places wait until your income is at a certain level before you actually receive that money, but the funds are still yours. Check out ArticleDocument.com.

Award-winning author, Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She has over twenty years experience in bookkeeping, insurance and tax preparation. Multi-published in romantic fiction as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as, “Inspirational with an Edge!” ™ and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.”

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