Creative entrepreneurs often find themselves in labor-intensive situations. Art takes time and work, and it can be hard to earn a full-time income if you don’t have time to create and run a business. That’s why I’m so incredibly passionate about passive income for creatives.

I know that passive income has become a buzzword lately. Everyone and their brother will tell you to buy up a rental property, or to create a dropshipping site.

And yeah. Those are great sources of passive income.

But like, how feasible is that for everyone?

Passive Income for Creatives: What It Is, Why You Need It, and Ideas to Get you Started Click To Tweet

If you’re already working to create a business, how much time and energy do you have to build up a side hustle for you passive income? Probably not a lot.

And, if you think about it, in a lot of ways, rental properties are not passive income. Sure, the rent rolls in every month, but unless you’re a slumlord, you’ll be spending tons of time and energy to maintain the property as well as advertise it when it comes time to get a new tenant.

And dropshipping is fine, but do you really want to spend time building a website just for dropshipping, and search engine optimizing that website when you still have your own creative website to maintain?

I am of the mind that there is no such thing as 100% passive income. But there are passive income methods that are easier than others. In this post, I’ll be talking about what passive income is, why all creatives should make it a priority in their business, and I’ll be sharing some ideas for those who are ready to create their own passive income products.

There is no such thing as 100% passive income. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't create passive income products. Click To Tweet

So, let’s get into it.

Passive Income for Creatives

What Is Passive Income?

At its simplest, passive income is money that comes in without you doing a whole lot. Ideally, it’s something you do once and continue to make money on for a long time.

But like I said, there is no such thing as completely passive income. It may require maintenance or updates. It may require you pay yearly fees to keep it going. It may require that you share about it on social media often.

That’s why I do caution creatives against setting up a whole separate business for their passive income. If you’re already working in your business, if you’re already paying web hosting fees for your business, and if you’re already busting your ass on your own social media, there’s no need to start a whole new thing for passive income.

Instead, working passive income into your already existing creative platform is a great way to make money with the work you’re already doing.

Why Do Creatives Need Passive Income?

There are a lot of reasons why creatives need passive income. Here are three of them.

001: Creatives need to make time and space in their work lives so they can do what they’re meant to do. Creating takes a lot of time. For me, writing a novel can take years. And when I’m in the process of a big writing project, I don’t always have the energy to add something new to the mix. So, signing up for a ton of freelance writing gigs isn’t always an option. But I still need money.

That’s where passive income comes in. It makes you less reliant on one form of income. The platitude is that millionaires have at least 7 income streams. And that makes sense. The more ways you have money coming in, the less likely you are to struggle when one form dries up. And the less you struggle when one project, like a novel, takes up all your time.

This, overall, will lead to a sense of stability in your business, as well as less stress overall.

002: The environment you work in will change, but your need for consistent income will stay the same. I mean, it’s not like we’ve been living in a pandemic for a whole stinking year or anything and didn’t learn this first-hand…

Being a creative person earning money from your creative work means that you are functionally a business. And businesses have to be ready for the market or economy to shift.

If all your income comes from client work or commissions, that’s probably good during certain seasons. But what about when you don’t have the energy for client work, or when your typical client is experiencing a financial crisis?

And don’t even get me started on social media.

So many creatives rely on Instagram to stay connected with their audience, but then when the algorithm changes and their posts aren’t being seen, they act like Instagram is out to get them. That’s not true.

Instagram is in business for itself. Just as you have to be in business for yourself.

So if you have only figured out how to book clients by showing up in their feeds, know that you’re going to be hurting very soon. Having passive income options means that you will be more likely to have steady income when those shifts do happen.

003: There is freedom with owning the means of production and distribution. Basically, if you can make the thing and sell it, you’re not beholden to anyone.

This means you get to work on your own schedule. This means you don’t have to deal with the stress and drama of working with others.

This also means you can generally pack up and go whenever you want, whether it’s just for an impromptu vacation, or if you want to take the business on the road.

And, it’s worth noting here that this also means you have some freedom to figure shit out. If you have some money coming in, it means that you don’t have to make rash or impulsive business decisions because you have the time and space to figure out what you need. There’s no ticking clock or being pressured into a choice.

It really allows you to be so much more intentional.

What would you do with the freedom that passive income can give you? Click To Tweet

Passive Income Ideas for Creatives

Okay. So. Have I convinced you that you need passive income yet? If so, let me know in the comments.

As a creative business owner, I have several sources of passive income, and it’s usually the first thing I recommend to creatives who are interested in building a business. And honestly, it’s a lot easier than you think.

I’m hosting this workshop (if you’re reading this before 10 AM on March 6, then know that I’ll be live at 10 AM and the replay will be available if you’re reading it after) about how you can get in the mindset of creating passive income products, how you can affordably and easily make one, and how you can market it.

And if you want to get a good idea of what kinds of passive income products creatives can make, check out this video below.

And if you’re interested in learning how I used passive income to build my creative business, you can check out this free download right here. It’s the system I used to quit my day jog and write full-time. And make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter, so you’ll be notified as soon as I open up my Art Like a Boss course for enrollment.

Is passive income part of your creative business?

Do you create passive income products? What kinds of passive income products do you think would do really well in your business? How do you think passive income products would change the way you do business?