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Ask HN: How to start earning $500/month in passive income in next 12-18 months?

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Re: Ask HN: How to start earning $500/month in passive income in next 12-18 months?

#161

Post by laurenbee »

CraigJPerry wrote: post #152
laurenbee wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not entirely passive (at least, in my experience) because in order to get people to continue to buy your books long after they are published, you need to continue publishing (unless you hit the kindle lottery and are wildly successful immediately).

As in publish new revisions?

No, entirely new books/stories. New books can get a nice bump in sales if they make it into the "New and Noteworthy" list or if Amazon mentions them in their "New books in [x category]" emails. Publishing a revision to an existing book does not change the publication date.

Re: Ask HN: How to start earning $500/month in passive income in next 12-18 months?

#162

Post by DanBC »

spicemaster wrote: post #160
hluska wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A monthly delivery of Indian spices would be incredible. If you could get it past the Canadian food inspection agency, I'd definitely subscribe (and possibly get your logo tattooed on my arm)...:)

I had been thinking of starting this service. Good quality spices are expensive. Also I think shipping costs are relatively higher from India compared to developed world. Considering these points the subscription price would have to be slightly high. Do you think there would be enough interest at a relatively high price point?

I'm confused about the need. Although I live in a small English town (pop 110,000) which has a number of shops selling a wide variety of spices.

Would you be selling small kits of spices to prepare a meal, with a recipe delivered at the same time?

Re: Ask HN: How to start earning $500/month in passive income in next 12-18 months?

#163

Post by purringmeow »

revorad wrote: post #104

There is a strange obsession here on HN with passive income. Yet I haven't seen any good examples of passive income, which were built without significant effort or time. Income is anything but passive. Here's a better way to look at it: You want to earn $500/month? As a good Ruby developer, you can earn that much in two days doing contract work. And no, it doesn't matter if you're based in Bangalore, you could be bas…

There is also a strange obsession with consulting. How do you find customers that aren't mom and pop shops looking for someone to build their site for $200?

Re: Ask HN: How to start earning $500/month in passive income in next 12-18 months?

#164

Post by spicemaster »

pgt wrote: post #30
Red_Tarsius wrote: post #12

I'd give a read to Start Small, Stay Small (www.startupbook.net) and other startup literature. Study Paul Graham's essays (www.paulgraham.com). Random ideas: - Start something like skoshbox.com, but with Indian goodies. You may not realize it, but foreign countries crave Indian tastes and flavors. I would probably pay for a monthly delivery of Indian spices and sweets. - Start a podcast on a passion of yours. Offer f…

Love the monthly Indian spices idea, especially if they are paired with recipes. Tajbox? Spicebox? Spicybox?

Me and my wife love quality spices and different recipes. We had been thinking of starting our own business. Do you think there are enough enthusiasts willing to pay for monthly exotic spices + exciting recipes? I am trying to do market research of sorts :) If there is enough interest, will roll out the service pretty soon.

Re: Ask HN: How to start earning $500/month in passive income in next 12-18 months?

#165

Post by spicemaster »

DanBC wrote: post #162
spicemaster wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had been thinking of starting this service. Good quality spices are expensive. Also I think shipping costs are relatively higher from India compared to developed world. Considering these points the subscription price would have to be slightly high. Do you think there would be enough interest at a relatively high price point?

I'm confused about the need. Although I live in a small English town (pop 110,000) which has a number of shops selling a wide variety of spices. Would you be selling small kits of spices to prepare a meal, with a recipe delivered at the same time?

Me and my wife love quality spices and experimenting with different recipes. We had been thinking of starting our own business. Sending out Indian stuff monthly is one of the ideas we had been toying with. When one thinks of stuff from India, spices seem to come at the top of the mind. (honestly we haven't thought this through yet; the idea was inspired from a Japanese candy service). I am aware that spices are available in most places in the west these days. But I guess it is not easily accessible in all the places. Convenience can be reason for someone to subscribe to the service. Another value add is accompanying details introducing the spice, its properties, uses and some sample recipes.

This is a time intensive operation. As of now, I m not convinced the returns would be high enough.

Re: Ask HN: How to start earning $500/month in passive income in next 12-18 months?

#166

Post by fiatjaf »

kephra wrote: post #60

Build a pile of small (Ruby) applications. Small in terms that the prototype could be delivered in weeks, and only needs a few weeks till production. So first step is to fine "easy jobs" that you can solve faster then others, and sort out the bad customers. I offer 2% discount if they pay invoices within a week. Only two type of customers would pay late: Those with a cash flow problem, and those with an account probl…

Can you give some examples?

Re: Ask HN: How to start earning $500/month in passive income in next 12-18 months?

#167

Post by lquist »

justincormack wrote: post #131
lquist wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I second this recommendation. Also, you only need ~$60k, as long term INR denominated fixed deposits yield ~10%.

And the Indian rupee has no stability against the dollar, so that is meaningless.

A guess, but I think he lives in India and probably cares more about INR return than USD return.

Re: Ask HN: How to start earning $500/month in passive income in next 12-18 months?

#168

Post by galfarragem »

simonhamp wrote: post #139
BugBrother wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

8) You advertise any chance you get. :-) (That said, it worked on me.)

Excellent point! I did "advertise" the site a lot to begin with - posting on HN, writing comments on related blogs, talking to people about it. I have played a little with direct advertising, but paying for adverts that link to a site that sells adverts seems a little too much like a self-defeating loop. Normally paid ads are done during promotions.

What is your CTR in AdSense? (I have an average of 1.3%).

Re: Ask HN: How to start earning $500/month in passive income in next 12-18 months?

#169

Post by OrtizCarlosA »

simonhamp wrote: post #62

I run Built With Bootstrap ( http://builtwithbootstrap.com ) that brings close to $2,000 on average each month in "mostly passive" income. How? Here are a few things that have helped: 1) I got lucky - I jumped on something early and got picked up quickly and rode on the back of a giant gorilla as it kept getting higher and higher - right place, right time 2) I keep costs low - I use Tumblr (free) and cheap, pluggable…

You have been very generous, thanks for sharing!

Re: Ask HN: How to start earning $500/month in passive income in next 12-18 months?

#170

Post by revorad »

danneu wrote: post #147
revorad wrote: post #104

There is a strange obsession here on HN with passive income. Yet I haven't seen any good examples of passive income, which were built without significant effort or time. Income is anything but passive. Here's a better way to look at it: You want to earn $500/month? As a good Ruby developer, you can earn that much in two days doing contract work. And no, it doesn't matter if you're based in Bangalore, you could be bas…

I own a forum that makes me $1500/month. I haven't logged in for 6 months. All the effort was done in 2007. Contract work, like 9-to-5 employment, is the opposite of what people have in mind when they say "passive income". The goal of passive income isn't to get something for nothing. It's to create something that generates income that isn't linked 1:1 with your time.

I meant that you can earn enough in 2 days, and then spend the rest of your time building a product which you really want to build and get off the time-selling treadmill.
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