Building a Passive Income with an Online Store
Nowadays, having one job providing one income source is not enough. You need multiple revenue options to stay afloat, especially when you’re a solopreneur with a business.
Freelancing is a great way to make money doing what you love. But it’s not always the best way to pay the bills, especially with today’s living costs. You can invest money in stocks and bonds, but that won’t cover daily living.
While you could work your life away doing one task after another to pay your bills, a better solution is to make money without working.
Passive income allows you to create something once and continue making money over time from that item. There are dozens of types of passive income to implement for your business and plenty of ways to distribute these.
Best Places to Make Money with Passive Income
Once you’ve figured out what you want to sell for your passive income, you have to choose where to find customers.
Many people use social media, but as the drama with TikTok proved this last week, relying on something you don’t own is dangerous for your income.
Website
A personal website is the best place to sell your stuff. It’s possible to set up a website and have listings in place in one day. I’ll write a post about this soon. Check out my blog, Frugal Freelancer, for more on creating a website, including the best host and domain providers.
Having your own website gives you full control of your inventory, pricing, branding, and message. However, a website has downsides: You have to attract clients, be responsible for all costs, and do all the work (unless you hire a VA or freelancer like me).
Etsy
Ready for me to blow your mind?
Okay.
In 2023, approximately 96.48 million people were active buyers on Etsy, which was a record high!
Etsy’s annual revenue reached $2.748 billion in 2023, a 7.1% increase from 2022.
The Etsy app was downloaded over 11 million times, and Etsy had 7.1 million habitual buyers—customers who spent at least $200 and made purchases on six or more days in the past year.
What does this tell us?
Etsy is HUGE.
People are buying products online, and they’re choosing Etsy as their go-to shopping platform.
And here’s the deal: YOU should be on Etsy, too.
I get it—maybe you feel like Etsy is oversaturated, or the competition is just too much.
But the truth? That’s just an excuse.
Customers are flocking to Etsy to shop. So, if you want to start making money, why wouldn’t you put yourself in front of them?
The only thing that guarantees you won’t make money on Etsy is… not starting an Etsy shop at all.
The best way to jump in right now? Start a digital product shop.
I’ve signed up for the Go Digital On Etsy Summit (happening January 28th - 31st, 2025) and I’m inviting you to join me there.
This event features 25+ experts who are ready to teach you everything you need to know to create amazing digital products and launch your Etsy shop with confidence.
Whether you’re brand-new to Etsy or already familiar with the platform, this summit is packed with actionable insights and strategies to help you succeed.
Etsy’s growth isn’t slowing down, and this is your chance to dive in. Start 2025 by learning how to sell digital products on Etsy—I know this is YOUR year to shine!
Sign up for this awesome event here.
Teachers Pay Teachers
If you have an audience of teachers or homeschoolers, TPT is a great place to start an online store and access a massive audience of paying clients.
It’s free to sign up and list products. You can reuse products, descriptions, and pricing from your other online stores, reducing the work required to list new products.
Kit (Formerly ConvertKit)
Kit is a great place to host your email list, landing pages, and product offerings. You can manage your freebies and create upsells for your paid offerings.
Given the extra costs incurred by sellers on sites like Etsy, having other alternatives increases your profits. If you’re struggling to grow your email list, participating in bundles and summits is a great way to expand your audience and get eyes on your digital product offerings.
Amazon KDP
If you write books or have digital products to sell, Amazon can be a great place to make money from your work.
It’s free to publish electronic books on KDP but you’ll require a separate account if you want to convert the digital products into physical books. You’ll have to pay for each physical copy you send to print, but you don’t have to pay until a customer orders a copy.
RedBubble
RedBubble takes items you create and upload and handles all of the printing and distributing to your buyers, eliminating the work you must do.
It’s one of the best POD (print-on-demand) shops out there for designs you want put on items like mugs, shirts, stickers, pillows, and phone cases, among other things.
Sign up for these business resources:
30-Day Business Plan Summit (3-day online event for $10)
Marketing Momentum Challenge (free 5-day challenge)
Brilliant Beginnings Business Bundle (45+ resources)
New Year Brew Up (100+ resources)
CollabFest Summit (Free 3-day event)
The Copy Chat (Free online masterclass)
Easily Create A Beautiful Website In WordPress, Even If You Hate Technology! (Free 90-minute webinar)
Rise and Lead Gift Extravaganza