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Ask HN: Your best passive income sources?

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Re: Ask HN: Your best passive income sources?

#211

Post by firebones »

dholowiski wrote: post #209
danneu wrote: post #193

I make (well, past-tense at the moment) almost $2k/month on a vBulletin play-by-post gaming forum I started back in 2007. One single adsense banner below the navbar. I actually burned out within 6 months of trying to bootstrap the fledgling forum with fake activity, clever backlinks, and entertaining the trickle of registrants. Burned out enough to take a a break for a while. Came back months later and it was a bustl…

I'd just like to point out that this is a classic "Overnight"... well, after 6 months of crazy hard work "success" story.

As well as the risk of dependence on a single revenue stream subject to being shut off by automated algorithms flagging your site based on UGC from teenagers.

Re: Ask HN: Your best passive income sources?

#212

Post by bosco »

volandovengo wrote: post #112
bosco wrote: post #42

pixurwall.com - about 2-3k hits a day generating $20-30 in revenue. Cost 200 bucks to make and has been pretty consistent for over 8 months.

where does this traffic come from?

The way the app works, it auto tags 2-3 people that are in the collage poster that was generated. I believe most of the traffic is generated that way.

Re: Ask HN: Your best passive income sources?

#213

Post by goggles99 »

scheff wrote: post #62

I'm about to write a book on precisely this topic. I have been looking hard at addressing this issue over the past 10 years so that I can focus on what's important (Startups!). And I believe that I have finally found the best passive income source, given the limitations that people like ourselves are working with. I'm still in the process of experimenting with my method to see how far I can take it, but the basics of…

I always question people who write books, produce DVDs, hold seminars or sell any kind of knowledge concerning how to get rich or make extra money.

If you or any of these people are so good and know all these 'secrets' to success and money - Why don't you just get rich off of it and retire? why would you let everyone know you secrets? Won't this just crowd your space? Why do you need to sell this product to make money? Some of you claim that you just want to give back or help others and you have such success, then why are you charging me $20-$500+ ?

So I am always skeptical. I think that this is generally snake oil.

Re: Ask HN: Your best passive income sources?

#214

Post by geofft »

bravoyankee wrote: post #166
w1ntermute wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you could argue that at $25 it's still cheaper than a wedding planner That's exactly my point, when your competition isn't even anywhere in the neighborhood, you might as well raise your prices. A bride-to-be isn't going to see a $25 wedding DJ app as being expensive; she's going to see it as being 1/10th of what an actual wedding DJ would cause. You said people are only willing to pay for wedding-related services…

Come on, lets be serious. Hardly anyone is going to pay $25 for an app they will use only once. And it's an app. Most people flinch at any price over $2.99. Pricing it at $25 would be a disaster. You can bet the barn on that.

Dude, it's a wedding. I don't understand why people pay thousands upon thousands of dollars for everything related to a wedding they will have only once, but the fact is they do.

Re: Ask HN: Your best passive income sources?

#215

Post by tudorizer »

xgalvez wrote: post #192
tudorizer wrote: post #137

Good timing with this thread. My attempt is with making iOS games. Trying to mix pleasure and profit. First attempt is http://clumsyandthestars.com/ . Working on a second one now...

Good luck! I'm trying the same thing myself with http://yata.ca . It's more of a party game played with the iOS device, and thought the interactivity with people in the same room would add to the fun. Hope all's well with the second one!

looks pretty simple and sweet. Best of luck!

Re: Ask HN: Your best passive income sources?

#216

Post by firebones »

goggles99 wrote: post #213
scheff wrote: post #62

I'm about to write a book on precisely this topic. I have been looking hard at addressing this issue over the past 10 years so that I can focus on what's important (Startups!). And I believe that I have finally found the best passive income source, given the limitations that people like ourselves are working with. I'm still in the process of experimenting with my method to see how far I can take it, but the basics of…

I always question people who write books, produce DVDs, hold seminars or sell any kind of knowledge concerning how to get rich or make extra money. If you or any of these people are so good and know all these 'secrets' to success and money - Why don't you just get rich off of it and retire? why would you let everyone know you secrets? Won't this just crowd your space? Why do you need to sell this product to make mone…

I used to question most of those people too (and still do), but someone explained it fairly well in response to why patio11 did this with his drip marketing class: it's simply a scale out strategy. Given the available time an expert has, one could make $X as one person just doing it; with consulting and teaching others, you might reach 5 people in a year; but by turning that learning into intellectual property that can be distributed (as a class, a video, a book) you might be able to reach 100x the people.

That said, there are certainly gurus who are merely selling hope, often because the easy money has been made and they can wind down what they've learned because the edge no longer exists.

You know what I can't figure out though? Why is Mark Cuban shooting a commercial to pimp lame shoes?

Re: Ask HN: Your best passive income sources?

#217

Post by collegeappz »

Vivtek wrote: post #101
nostromo wrote: post #40

Real estate. (Ok, not 100% passive, but what is?) You can buy a duplex for not much more than a single family house in many US cities and, thanks to the low interest rates for an owner-occupied mortgage, rent out half and live for free. Unlike tech, you will not have a giant windfall with real estate; but also unlike tech, it's very easy to price your product, find customers, and figure out what your cashflow will be…

A word of caution: unless you have the personal skills to deal with tenants, do not make the mistake of thinking that real estate is passive income. Like any earning occupation, landlording takes attention to detail, the ability not to procrastinate, and people skills. Unlike most occupations, landlording will bring you into contact with some of the worst people the planet has to offer, under what has to be the worst…

Agreed. Or, what about investing in yourself and your own venture? Isn't that what entrepreneurship is about?

Re: Ask HN: Your best passive income sources?

#219

Post by tripzilch »

w1ntermute wrote: post #71
kaptain wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are willing to pay a lot for wedding-related /services/. A lot of people that want to save money on a wedding would buy this because they DON'T want to pay for a wedding planner who will ensure that the music is 100% perfect. If you price this at $25, you'll lose that group of people that were looking to save money, (you could argue that at $25 it's still cheaper than a wedding planner). Not every bride is foo…

> you could argue that at $25 it's still cheaper than a wedding planner That's exactly my point, when your competition isn't even anywhere in the neighborhood, you might as well raise your prices. A bride-to-be isn't going to see a $25 wedding DJ app as being expensive; she's going to see it as being 1/10th of what an actual wedding DJ would cause. You said people are only willing to pay for wedding-related services…

True, but at $5 (that's what it is now right?) you also get more people that will give it a try (before the wedding) to see if it works well for them. They may think $5 lost if it turns out to be shitty is just "too bad", but $25 may be a tad bigger hurdle for just giving something a quick tryout.

Re: Ask HN: Your best passive income sources?

#220

Post by armenarmen »

spiredigital wrote: post #104

I'd have to say my two eCommerce businesses. They took a ton of time to setup and market initially, but now they generate a full-time income as I have a team in place to manage operations. I love to work on them and often do, but I'll frequently take weeks off at a time to travel and everything continues to run smoothly. The entire business is based on the drop shipping model, so I don't have to stock any inventory a…

loved your book by the way
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