Last Updated on October 15, 2024 by Jan Barley
What you should know about passive income and why
You should know about passive income that it’s not easy to achieve. That’s not to say it isn;t possible, because it 100% is.
When I began my digital marketing journey, I soon realised many people aren’t cut out for launching a digital marketing business and making a passive income.
Now, I’m not sure if people are lazy, or it’s learned helplessness or a job mindset, but the number of people I see in Facebook groups asking for help to actually “do” their business for them is higher than you might think.
Here are a few examples: –
- How do I generate traffic?
- How do I build a sales page?
- How do I write an email campaign?
Think of ANY question relating to online sales and marketing, and someone is asking about it. I mean, “How do I get traffic?” does anyone genuinely believe they’ll get the answer with a few lines in a comment?
Here’s the truth
Digital marketing is a business, like any other business, either bricks and mortar or online. You wouldn’t open a pie shop in town without checking the footfall, local interest in pies, what type of pies people want, what prices are acceptable for the location, etc.
For a moment, I assumed people do their due diligence, but they don’t. From 2021 to 2023, several start-up companies I worked for went bankrupt. In each case, to me, the reasons for failure were obvious.
There was mainly a lack of preparation, not considering future obstacles, poor money management, and all the typical rookie mistakes new business owners make.
But, Jan, Isn’t Digital Marketing Easy?
Digital marketing is simple but not necessarily easy. When you start a digital marketing business, it’s a shedload of work, and there’s a gazillion things to learn. I began in November 2023 and am still working on editing my products and setting up automated processes to sell my digital products.
It’s a tad more challenging for me with my ADHD brain, and there are times I think I’ll never get everything in perfect working order. However, I KNOW it will work because I am laying the foundations. Even at this stage, I know I could help small business owners get better results from their social media marketing.
I’m the saddo (AKA entrepreneur), spending hours each week learning about driving organic traffic, social media marketing, understanding the algorithms, creating email campaigns and hooks, editing videos, faceless digital marketing, and anything relevant to my business.
I’ve bought a few in-depth courses, like the TikTok training, but most information is available on YouTube tutorials.
Top Tips: What to Do Before Considering a Digital Marketing Business
Tip #1: Know yourself REALLY Well
To give you an idea of how important it is to know yourself, here are the character traits that get in my way:
- I have ADHD, so I hyper-focus – leading to burnout – or procrastinate
- I overthink everything – with a slight perfectionist edge
- I spend too much time planning
- I get lured by shiny objects
- I ALWAYS underestimate how long a task will take
- If there’s no perceived emotional reward, I lose interest (That’s an ADHD thing)
- I crave freedom, so the commitment required for social media marketing clashes with that desire
It’s a lot, though you can probably create an equally impressive list. LOL.
Tip #2: How Much Free Time Do You Have?
Everything always takes longer than you think. That could be because we have time blindness. I have learned that it’s better to overestimate the time required or, even better, set strict time allotments.
Try using an online clock, such as the free Clockify app, to assess project times (as long as you remember to stop and start it!)
Tip #3: What are you Prepared to Give up?
We know that finite time does not exist, so when you take on a new task, it’s inevitable that you will need to give up something previously taking that space.
Most of us spend time scrolling mindlessly in the evenings, watching Netflix, or playing online games.
One client pays me well but splits the work between multiple writers. I love writing for this company, but the monthly income doesn’t cover all my bills. However, the new company pays significantly less, and the genre does not excite me.
I think I’ve decided what to do because I am super close to having my first product bundle ready, which is exciting.
I hope you found this article helpful. If you genuinely want a successful digital marketing business, you will do everything necessary to make it happen. It helps if you love the digital marketing space, enjoy creating content and are happy to put in the time, knowing it could happen in a day or take months.
Conclusion
If the goal is passive income, check 9 best passive income ideas for digital marketers. It takes commitment and focus. It’s a long game, but if you stay in it, you will eventually win. If you want to make passive income from your blog, read your blog, read 7 ways to monetise your blog.
Believe in yourself and trust that you can achieve passive income.
