The What & Why of Passive Income
Last Updated on: November 13, 2026We all need to make money, right?
We need some way to obtain and maintain a certain standard of living…
We’ve got to eat… put a roof over our heads… clothes on our backs… and, at the end of the day, we’ve got to ‘pay the bills.’
So, how do most people accomplish this?
Well, most people go get a job…
And at the end of the day or month as it were… we get paid for the work we did during the course of that whole month… and we use the money we’ve earned to buy and pay for our needs.
And… if there’s anything left after that, maybe we can splurge and have a little ‘fun’ on something we want.
That sounds normal… right?
Well, it may not be ‘normal’ but it is the way most people live.
So, if people are able to live this way, why do people strive for more?
Honestly, that’s a topic that can encompass many, many more articles… but, let’s be honest, if you are like most people, you want more.
More money, more things, more time with family and friends… the list can go on and on…
So, in order to get the ‘more’ that you seek, you likely need to earn more money.
Money is the tool in our society by which we can obtain things.
In order to do so in the current model of a job, you would either need to spend more of your hours working, probably by getting a second or third job… or get a job which pays you more money.
Now, while that sounds great… and quite frankly, perfectly attainable… it’s likely not any ‘fun’ and at some point you will probably be right back in the same position of wanting more.
So, what can you do?
Well, the richest people in the world will tell you that you need to better leverage your time and existing capital to provide an increased or compounded return.
Welcome to the idea of passive income.
What is Passive Income?
Well, let’s begin with a definition of passive income.
According to Investopedia, passive income is:
“Earnings derived from a rental property, limited partnership or other enterprise in which a person is not actively involved. As with active income, passive income is usually taxable. However, it is often treated differently by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).”
Alrighty then… so what exactly does that mean?
The bottom line is, passive income is an alternative source of income you receive for work you have done or investments you have previously made… it is income that you receive when you are not actually actively working on it.
All people who have obtained financial independence will agree that having multiple streams of passive income was the key to obtaining their financial independence and is the key to keeping it.
Earning Passive Income
So, the question becomes… is earning passive income something that anyone can do?
The short answer is… YES!
The thing with passive income… the ‘catch’ if you will… is that in just about all forms that passive income takes, it requires some initial time and effort.
This is where most people stumble before they even begin.
Why?
Well, sorry for the brutal honesty… but frankly, most people are lazy… they simply don’t want to do the work necessary to reap the rewards.
They live incorrectly expecting that if ‘I set this up or invest this money today, I will be cashing enormous checks tomorrow’… ‘because everyone just wants to give me their money’…
Delayed Gratification vs. Instant Gratification
You probably read that and think, that’s sounds crazy… and you would be right, it is crazy… but sadly it’s the truth.
We live in a culture that glorifies and will do just about anything for instant gratification.
Unfortunately, instant gratification is the ‘kiss of death’ to passive income.
If you truly want to set yourself up with multiple streams of passive income, then you must understand delayed gratification.
If you can understand that developing these income streams is a ‘long term’ game… then you can have the level of income you desire.
Now, even though this blog is primarily for cryptocurrency information… I felt it was necessary to provide proper value to the CCM Family, to highlight various passive income methods that don’t necessarily relate to the crypto space.
I believe that if I over deliver, and give you a variety of options, hopefully at least one… hopefully many… will resonate with you and help you on your way to getting the level of income you deserve.
I will be providing you with passive income options in the crypto space soon, but for now, let’s look at some more traditional options.
Now, though I may utilize some of the methods I have listed in the upcoming section, I will defer to others in each specific space who have a specific expertise.
To that end, I will provide you links to websites and videos to those I believe, through my own usage, can help you in specific sections below.
Let’s get this party started…
Passive Income Methods
This is by no means an exhaustive list of ways you can create a passive income.
However, these will be some of the easiest to start out with and with most of these, they require minimal amounts of capital to start.
Create A Blog or Newsletter
Do you enjoy writing?
Are you passionate about something and you enjoy telling people about it?
If so, this may be the thing for you.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, writing a blog is not completely passive… especially initially.
You will need to set up your blog, write the material and get people interested in reading your content.
That process is a course unto itself… and beyond the scope of this article…
But as promised here are some resources to start you out in the right direction..
So, why a blog?
There are currently over 600 million blogs on the internet.
We reach out to these types of resources every day for information on various topics.
You might be wondering how blogs can generate money… there are many ways you can monetize your blog.
Some of these include Google Adsense… affiliate programs… selling ad space… and creating premium content through paid newsletters on platforms like Substack or Ghost.
If you start out with a blog that is about a topic you know or are passionate about… you have a greater chance of success and follow through.
Highly active blogs can attract millions of visitors over the course of time… this is especially true when your posts are evergreen.
The bottom line is, blogging can be an easy and relatively inexpensive way to begin your passive income journey.
Invest your time and energy today and eventually, when you are earning enough money from your blog… you can then leverage those earnings to pay someone to write your blog… post to your blog… market your blog… and maintain your blog.
And if I’m being honest… with the advent of AI and automation… this process is easier than ever…
Invest
When you make an investment, you are trying to make your money work for you.
In other words, instead of having your hard earned money just sitting in your bank account… quite frankly, losing value… you have it trying to multiply and thus earn you more.
Now again, this website is primarily about cryptocurrency, including cryptocurrency investments… but for the purposes of this article, we will not be speaking about that.
Why you ask?
Because, I believe that cryptocurrency is revolutionary and quite frankly going to change the face of the way we transact business… but for this very reason, I want to provide you great amounts of value, so we will be discussing cryptocurrency investing in greater detail in later posts.
So what are the more traditional things that people invest in?
Traditional investing assets include such things as real estate, stocks and gold… and in the future I will be talking more about sound money, where we will explore gold & silver as investing options…
Ultimately, each of these can provide great levels of passive income.
Now, each of those items we just spoke about is very different from the other… each provides a different potential income and an obvious differing level of risk.
Understanding your risk tolerance is very important before investing in anything.
Why?
Because if you don’t match your investments to the level of risk you’re willing to tolerate, then if there is any adversity with your investment, it will cause you great angst at least and will likely cause you to insert too much emotion into the equation, which will eventually cause you to lose money.
The bottom line with investing, you need to have some capital available in order to make money with this option.
The amount of initial funds you’ll need will depend on the investment vehicle you’ve chosen… your long term goals… and the amount of time you plan to remain in the investment.
If you are starting your investments with a smaller budget, click here for some investment options.
Peer-to-Peer Lending
If you’re like me, you might not have even realized that this type of platform even existed outside of the cryptocurrency space until recently.
OK… maybe I’ve been living under a rock…
But, Peer-to-Peer Lending can be another great source of passive income.
Again, depending on the amount of initial capital you have and your risk tolerance, peer-to-peer lending may be for you.
This option has the potential to return you 4% plus per year.
While this is less attractive than it used to be with today’s higher interest rates, it can still be a solid part of a diversified income portfolio, especially when you consider your average savings account with a bank is lucky to earn 0.5%.
Create Content for Social Media
Now, much like the blogging I mentioned earlier… creating video content requires a little work up front and generally continued content in order to remain profitable.
This technique is for all the video freaks out there… YouTube offers a great platform and is currently the most popular platform where you can publish videos and actually get paid for it.
But it’s not the only game in town anymore…
Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and even LinkedIn have become powerful vehicles for building an audience and monetizing content… and if you are completely on-board with decentralized options for video, check out Odysee.
Creators can get paid in multiple ways, just like with a blog…
These include Google Adsense by displaying ads on their videos… affiliate marketing… company sponsorships… and platform-specific creator funds to name but a few.
If you are already comfortable with creating and posting videos, you are a step ahead in the possibility of making money online.
There’s another bonus about using videos… something perhaps that personifies passive income… you can get paid even if your videos are being viewed by people several years after it was published…
Passive Income in Crypto
As promised, I want to give you a glimpse into how these principles apply directly to the cryptocurrency world.
While this is not going to be an in-depth list and instruction… this is where the concept of making your assets work for you truly comes to life.
* Staking: Many blockchains use a Proof-of-Stake model. If you own their native coin, you can “stake” it to help secure the network. In return, you earn rewards, similar to earning interest in a savings account.
* Lending: Just like with traditional P2P lending, you can lend out your stablecoins or other cryptocurrencies on centralized or decentralized platforms to earn interest.
* Running a Masternode: For some projects, like DASH, you can operate a Masternode by holding a certain amount of the coin. This provides a service to the network (like instant transactions) and earns you a steady stream of passive income.
* Yield Farming: This is a more advanced, higher-risk strategy in the world of DeFi where you provide liquidity to a trading pair in exchange for a portion of the trading fees. I’ll be diving deeper into all of these options in future articles.
Now, I’m going to throw one more idea into the fray here for you… mining…
Anyone who has done mining is laughing right now… and especially when this article was originally written… that would certainly have been laughable…
But in 2026… and beyond, I’m sure… there is a thing called fractional mining… this allows you to purchase ‘a fraction’ of a miner or node… run by someone else… and you share in the profits.
Sound interesting?
Watch This To Learn More
Passive Income Advantages
Financial Freedom: Financial freedom is something all of us long for. I’ve mentioned it earlier, financial independence is what allows people to do what they want to do, when they want to do it. Not to mention the stability that comes from these additional sources of income, provides peace of mind should one source fail.
Earn Money While You’re Sleeping: Passive income methods not only provide you revenue that is generated while you are sleeping… just ask Warren Buffet… but spending time with family, friends or frankly, doing whatever you want to do.
Ability to Work From Anywhere: Now, you’re probably reading this saying to yourself, ‘if I have to work from anywhere, that’s not passive income’ and in the strictest sense of the definition that may well be true. But consider, even for these techniques we’ve listed above that require initial effort and investment, the fact that you can do it from anywhere there’s an internet connection provides you with amazing opportunities and flexibility.
Bringing It All Together
If you’re reading this post, you probably want more… more time, more money… more of something that having additional income is the tool will help to provide it.
So whether you decide to be a blogger… invest in real estate… create videos… or dive into the world of crypto… making the initial investment now can help to start you on your journey to having many passive income sources.
I want to leave you with one other income option that seemed impossible in crypto when this article was originally penned… Play-to-Earn aka P2E… check out this video to learn more.
