Why I’m Done Chasing Passive Income
“The best way to find out what you want in life is to try a lot of things.”
I have ten stickers ready to be added to my online shop. They range in content from millennial-based to asexuality and even draw inspiration from this publication, as well as some stories I have in the works.
I’m not 100 percent sure when I’ll make them available—I still need to figure out some Printful logistics—but I’m excited. I also have plans for other merchandise, like tote bags, notebooks, and clothing.
No, this isn’t another shameful plug of products… well, not yet.
I intend to promote my merch, but how I do that will be significantly different from the past.
You see, I used to chase the promise of passive income. I used to put so much time and energy into creating digital products with the hope that enough people would buy them and I could leave my 9-5. I bought online courses from a variety of “experts” and implemented their teachings with little to no results.
I tried it all: online courses, digital products, and dropshipping. Most of which I sold via Etsy.
While I had some luck selling digital products such as templates, trackers, and workbooks, it was never enough for me to leave my day job.
In truth, I probably spent more money on the courses than what I made in total from all of these endeavors. Because what these courses don’t tell you is that to succeed you need a subscription to this site for keywords, this software for automation, and this platform for promotion. Not to mention constantly sharing your work on social media and paying for ads so more people see it.
As the saying goes, “You need to spend money to make money.” But when you’re not seeing a return on investment, all it feels like you’re doing is bleeding money.
join the community today ↓ to get blogs, news, and announcements delivered right to your inbox!During my time home recovering from my surgery, a lot of introspection took place and a great deal of it surrounded the idea of chasing passive income. Before my surgery, I carefully planned a to-do list for my time off.
This list included:
watching a few online courses I had purchased but didn’t have time to watch yet
add more products to my Etsy shop
revamp my copywriting services
add new services once I completed some of the online courses
All this while I’m meant to be healing and resting?!?! I’m an Aries, people, and my natural state is go, go, go!
Well, needless to say, this never happened because, after a hard look at what I wanted out of life, it didn’t include all of that. I quickly realized that chasing the dream of living solely off of passive income took me away from doing the one thing that constantly brings me joy: writing.
The dream of writing full-time isn’t as lucrative as it used to be. Many successful authors have a side hustle (or two) to bring in some extra income. It might be a monetized YouTube channel, an online course or community, a podcast, or offering editing/coaching/consulting services. This is something I see myself doing in the future, but it’s not feasible right now.
And so with this revelation came the decision to close my Etsy shop. The online courses continue to collect digital dust and I’m currently drafting a new novel. As of now, I have no regrets.
This choice became an unknowing participant in my efforts to leave social media, particularly Instagram, where I was roped into buying most of these courses. Well-written copy in an ad can make anyone feel seen. It plays you psychologically and I’m not ashamed to admit I was duped into thinking I could make 10k in six months.
Quantity overcame quality
Drawing inspiration from products doing well in the marketplace is a natural part of successful business models. When the Stanley cup became popular, many companies created products similar in look and design to compete. Even Instagram switched to a more video-based platform after the rise of TikTok.
But when quantity overcomes quality, it shows, and it’s what leads people to feel empty after making a purchase that doesn’t make them feel the way the ad promised.
Search “skeleton sweater” on Etsy and you’ll find a ton of similar items with slight variations. This isn’t by accident.
I read Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon earlier this year and he notes that this is what creative people do: we steal from those we admire, transforming it into something new from our perspective and experience. This isn’t a new concept, but when it becomes more about money than originality it also becomes a dignity issue.
I don’t want to sell the same thing as everyone else. I want my items to be unique, meaningful, and speak to something from my core. And, hopefully, someone out there will connect with it as I have.
Originality itself barely exists. We all get inspired by the things we see, hear, feel, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It becomes a problem when the creator doesn’t try to put their own spin on it.
Call it what you want: copying, mimicking, flattering… it happens all the time, even digitally.
The rise of PLR and MRR products took the digital world by storm in the last year. In simple terms, people sell a product to someone who can then sell it to their audience because they have the “rights” to do so. All they have to do is change the colors, fonts, and, sometimes, the imagery.
When I was on Instagram, I saw a ton of ads of people selling the same PLR/MRR product bundles with slightly different covers, color palettes, and prices. They pitch it as saving you time, but you still need to adjust the design a little and promote it yourself.
Nothing is foolproof.
Look at what happened to the thousands of authors whose work was stolen by Meta to train their AI. What will art or even online products become if all we do is steal, replicate, and ignore originality?
You’re probably saying that I’m naïve in thinking this way. “This is the world now, Jess, and you just have to adapt.” But here’s the problem: Things move at such a rapid pace nowadays that fads and trends come and go within days. How are we supposed to keep up?
How can writers keep up with an AI model that can write a book in minutes about a timely event when they’ve been hammering away at it for months? How can handmade products compete with AI-driven items when it takes them longer to create and will have to price higher to make up for the time, equipment, and shipping costs?
And that’s the punchline: They don’t want us to keep up. They want us to keep consuming and not thinking about how it was made, and instead fill our homes with cheap and meaningless items that lack originality.
So while I know earning enough money from passive income is doable, it’s not something I am interested in chasing anymore. The merch I plan on selling (which will be on my personal website and not a third-party site like Etsy) will be pulled directly from something I created, whether it’s a piece for Substack, my book(s), or something I identify with.
Yes, it’s still dropshipping over handmade products, but the creations have more meaning to me. I’m not searching online to see what’s selling well or what the “it” thing is.
This is another reason why leaving Instagram has become a huge blessing. I no longer see ads for courses promising me unrealistic expectations.
When I constantly chased passive income opportunities, I burned myself out from trying all the different ways. My attention was thrown in twenty directions. I’d work my day job, come home, and spend thirty minutes on one thing before jumping into another. All the while neglecting my writing.
Yes, some see success with passive income, but it’s not a cure-all for life. We’d all love time and financial freedom, but most of us don’t have the luxury or privilege to sacrifice hours of the day devoting the time necessary to follow these formulas.
All you can do is what you can and know that success is part luck, part timing, and part hard work. No different from publishing, getting promoted, or literally anything else in the world.
I want to end this by stating I know many people go into this line of work because they are creative and want to find new ways of doing things. That’s great. I myself love coming up with sticker designs and finding the best patterns for tote bags. As a creative person, this is something that lights me up, but I’m no longer falling prey to these online courses that promise this amount of money in X amount of months. Because no one can promise that.
So keep an eye out for that merch announcement because I absolutely love what I have so far and I look forward to sharing it with you.
Now I want to hear from you. What are your thoughts about passive income? Have you ever tried it? Were you successful? Share your thoughts in the comments and let’s have a realistic conversation about this topic.
If this post resonated with you in any way, please consider buying me a coffee. A little caffeine goes a long way for a writer, and I will be forever grateful for the fuel. ☕️