The truth about passive income

Alright, let’s chat passive income - because we all want it (don’t we?). 
 
I’m about to absolutely burst the bubble of your passive income dream. 
 
But first… 
 
What is passive income?
 
Basically, passive income is money you earn with minimal ongoing effort or as people like to say “making money while you sleep.”
 
It’s pitched by almost everyone online as the holy grail of freedom, flexibility and financial peace.
 
But I’m here to tell you today that passive income is a made-up term to make you buy something from someone else - yep you heard that - a scam 😫
 
"Buy this PDF and resell it to make 100k a month like me" 
 
"Start an etsy store with Canva journals and you'll make a million dollars like me"
 
...
 
There’s no such f*n thing as passive income. 
 
What it really means?
 
“Passive income” or “money while you sleep” is made after an initial investment of time, money, or energy.
 
Most “passive” income is built on very active suffering.
 
You must be active before you are passive. 
 
You’ll be very broke for a long time building products, courses or whatever you want to build before you make any money. 
 
You don’t wake up with passive income - you grind to build it.
 
...
 
Making a product takes time, clarity, testing, and about 199 existential crises.
 
You have to market it, launch it, explain it, support it, and promote it... forever.
 
Every “easy download” usually comes after 6-12 months of unpaid backend work.
 
It’s like an artist having an exhibition.
 
She’s painted and painted for 12 months straight, without earning a single dime. 
 
She launches her exhibition and hopes that someone will buy her art. 
 
That's passive income. She's making money in that moment for work she has put in for months.
 
There's no timecard or paycheck for hours worked. 
 
No one has paid her for the months behind the scenes. 
 
...
 
Digital products are a bit different because they can be repurchased time and time again. 
 
But they still need to be updated frequently.
 
The templates we have on our website now are version 4. 
 
Yep… and each version took us 3-6 months to create.
 
Did we make any money while we were creating them? Nope. 
 
Because branding, marketing and business changes all the time, we have to update them to stay relevant. 
 
Our course community requires community engagement everyday. Nothing passive about that tbh. 
 
And just like the artist, if our work flops, it flops quietly and only we are affected (broke). 
 
...
 
Look, depending on what you like to do, passive income might sound better than client work, even if it’s harder. 
 
The pros of passive income?
- You can trade clients for customers 
- You gain freedom from deadlines (This can also be a con depending on your ability to self-motivate 😂)
- You’re in control 
- It can scale 

The cons of passive income? 
- You’re not paid anything while you create (unlike client work)
- There will always be daily work associated with your “passive income”
- It’s a slow burn. Months (or years) to gain traction 
- It’s high risk, no guarantee
- You have to learn everything (similar to business)

So whether you’re wanting passive income or not, just know it’s not the “easy way out”. 
 
If you’re already freelancing or running a business, you know it's harder than working for someone else. 
 
And if you’re wanting to add another income stream to your business, passive income is a great addition. 
 
But just know, passive income isn’t passive. 
 
It’s front-loaded effort, high-stakes guessing, and emotional chaos.
 
But if you’re okay with that - it might still be worth it.
 
Just stop calling it “easy.” It’s not. 
 
It’s just another full-time job but with a cuter outfit (oh and everyone thinks its cool 😂).
 
XO
Penelope