9 Passive Income Strategies: From Stocks to Software

Finance9 Passive Income Ideas - How I Make $27k per Week

TL;DR

A comprehensive breakdown of nine passive income methods—from stock index funds to online courses to software products—with practical difficulty assessments and real revenue examples showing how the creator generates $27k per week.

Key Takeaways

1True passive income doesn't exist; it's actually time-decoupled income that requires significant upfront effort and takes years to build meaningful returns
2Stock index funds (like S&P 500) offer the easiest entry point for passive income, requiring only $12,000 invested to earn ~$100/month with minimal maintenance
3Building an audience through consistent, valuable content is the foundation for most passive income streams; without an audience, monetization becomes exponentially harder
4Online courses on platforms like Skillshare can generate substantial passive income ($60k-$65k/month for the creator) with minimal ongoing maintenance once published
5High-barrier passive income methods (apps, digital products, service businesses) require significant upfront work but offer the largest potential returns once established
6Get-rich-quick schemes don't work; the only sustainable path to passive income is providing genuine value that isn't directly tied to your personal time
7Diversified passive income streams (stocks, YouTube, podcasts, courses, affiliates) reduce dependency on any single source and compound overall earnings over time

Notable Quotes

“There is really no such thing as passive income. There is no way to make money without doing anything at all. But money that is not directly tied to our time—that's what I mean by passive income.”
— Creator

“The only way to make money is to provide value, and the only way to make passive income is to provide value in a way that is not directly tied to your time.”
— Creator

“If you just follow those three steps—create useful content, put it for free on the internet, and do this for at least two years—I guarantee you'll have an audience and you'll be able to make some kind of money.”
— Creator

“Get-rich-quick schemes don't exist. I've had lots of messages over the years from people who have tried signing up to a get-rich-quick crypto scheme... people always end up losing money.”
— Creator

Chapters

1. What Is Passive Income?

The creator clarifies that 'passive income' is a misnomer—there's no true passive income, only income decoupled from direct time investment. He emphasizes that value creation is essential and get-rich-quick schemes never work. The foundation is always providing genuine value.

2. Passive Income Idea #1: Stock Index Funds

Investing in index funds like the S&P 500 is the easiest passive income method (1/5 difficulty to start). With $12,000 invested, you can earn ~$100/month assuming ~10% annual returns. The creator's $350k portfolio generates ~$682/week. Very low maintenance (1/5 stars).

3. Passive Income Idea #2: YouTube Channel

Starting a YouTube channel is easy (1/5), but monetization is very hard (4/5). It took the creator 52 videos over 6 months to reach 1,000 subscribers. You need 60k subscribers to earn $100/month. His channel now generates ~$12,000/month (~$3,000/week) in ad revenue.

4. Passive Income Idea #3: Podcast

Podcasts are easy to start (1/5) but harder to grow than YouTube since there's no built-in algorithm. You need ~1,000 downloads per episode to earn $100/month through sponsorships. Maintenance is moderate (2/5) since you must continue releasing episodes.

5. Passive Income Idea #4: Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing (Amazon Associates, Skillshare) is easy to start (2/5) but requires significant traffic to monetize. You need 8,000 website visits to earn $100/month. The creator makes ~$11,000/month (~$2,750/week) from Skillshare affiliates. Difficulty to earn $100/month: 3.5/5.

6. Passive Income Idea #5: Digital Products

Selling digital products (e-books, icon packs, app themes) is easy to start (2/5) but competitive and difficult to market successfully. Examples: Traff made $300k selling iOS icon sets; Olio made $700k from Tumblr themes. Difficulty: 3/5 to earn $100/month; maintenance: 2/5.

7. Passive Income Idea #6: Online Courses

Online courses are easy to start (2/5), especially on Skillshare. To earn $100/month, you need ~28 students watching a one-hour course monthly. The creator's 9 Skillshare courses generate ~$60k-$65k/month (~$15k/week) with minimal maintenance (2/5). This is his largest passive income source.

8. Passive Income Idea #7: Paid Membership Communities

Memberships are easy to start (1/5) but require an existing audience and strong value proposition. Examples: Hannah Witton earns $3k-$7k/month from 626 Patreon supporters; Lore built $100k/year ARR from zero audience. The creator's membership community generates ~$2,800/week. Difficulty: 4/5 to earn $100/month; maintenance: 2/5.

9. Passive Income Idea #8: Automated Service/Product Businesses

Selling goods or delegated services (e.g., e-commerce stores, Facebook ads agencies) requires significant upfront work (4/5 difficulty) but can be scaled through outsourcing and automation. The creator's friend Olio runs a million-dollar Shopify store with minimal personal involvement.

10. Passive Income Idea #9: Software/SaaS Products

Building apps or software services is the hardest passive income method to start (5/5) because it requires coding skills, but offers the highest leverage once established. The creator's BMAT Ninja grew from $10k (year 1) to $25k (year 5). Maintenance: 3/5 once launched.

Key People & Entities

Skillshare: Online learning platform sponsoring the video; the creator has 9 published classes generating ~$60k-$65k/month in passive income
Traff: Designer who made $300,000 selling iOS 14 icon sets as digital products
Olio: YouTuber and entrepreneur who earned $700,000 selling Tumblr themes and runs a $1 million Shopify store
Hannah Witton: YouTuber with 600k subscribers earning $3k-$7k/month from 626 Patreon supporters
Lore: Founder of Nest Labs; built $100k/year annual recurring revenue from a paid membership community starting from zero audience
Tim Ferriss: Author of 'The 4-Hour Work Week'; known for discussing business automation and delegation strategies
Indie Hackers: Community platform and podcast featuring indie entrepreneurs sharing their software business revenue and strategies

Glossary

Index Fund: A diversified investment fund that tracks a market index (e.g., S&P 500), spreading investments across the top 500 US companies proportionally by their market capitalization.
Passive Income: Income generated from sources that are not directly tied to your personal time effort; typically requires significant upfront work before generating ongoing revenue.
Affiliate Marketing: Earning commissions by promoting and selling other companies' products through unique referral links.
SaaS (Software as a Service): A subscription-based software business model where users pay recurring fees to access software hosted on servers rather than installing it locally.
Monetization: The process of converting content, traffic, or products into revenue through various mechanisms (ads, sponsorships, direct sales, etc.).
CPM (Cost Per Mille): Revenue model where creators earn money based on the number of impressions or views; typically measured per thousand views (mille).
Conversion Rate: The percentage of people who visit a website or see a product and then complete a desired action (e.g., making a purchase).
Evergreen Content: Content that remains relevant and continues to attract organic traffic over long periods, not dependent on current events or trends.

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