Let’s get something straight right away…
Passive income is real. But the version most people are selling you is a myth.
You’ve seen the ads and the fake screenshots – the gooroo on a beach with a laptop claiming he makes $10k a day while he sleeps.
And maybe a tiny part of you believes it’s possible… but a bigger part of you suspects something’s off.
Here’s what’s actually off – they’re showing you the last 5% of the journey and leaving out the 95% that came before it.
Which is why this week, we’re looking at recurring revenue and passive income – what it actually takes, what the real building blocks look like and how you can start laying those foundations right now, even if you’re starting from zero.
The Big Lie (And the Bigger Truth)
Pat Flynn, who literally built his brand around smart passive income, said something recently that every aspiring internet marketer needs to hear:
“The passive part is last. That’s where people get it wrong.”
In his podcast episode SPI 854: The Truth About Passive Income, Pat is refreshingly honest about this. You can’t skip to the passive part. You have to build the thing first.
And building the thing first means doing active work – choosing a niche, growing an audience, building an email list, launching a product. None of that is passive. But when it’s done right, what comes after it can be.
This isn’t meant to discourage you. It’s meant to save you from wasting money on shiny objects and redirect your energy into the actions that actually compound into real income over time.
So What Is Recurring Revenue, Really?
Recurring revenue is income that comes back automatically over and over again, not because you keep selling, but because you built something people keep paying for.
Think memberships, subscription tools, ongoing coaching programmes. Digital products sold through automated funnels. Even affiliate income from products that pay monthly commissions.
The key word in all of that is built. You build it once (or repeatedly improve it), and then the system does the re-selling for you.
Membership expert Stu McLaren, who has spent 17 years helping entrepreneurs create recurring income, recently sat down with Amy Porterfield to break this down in a way that finally makes it feel achievable:
#751: The Secrets to Realistic Recurring Revenue with Stu McLaren
One of the most powerful insights from that conversation? Less content, not more, is often what keeps members engaged. The trap most people fall into is thinking a membership needs to be an avalanche of material. It doesn’t. People stay because of transformation and community, not volume.
This is worth thinking about, especially if you’ve been putting off starting something because you think you don’t have enough to offer.
You probably do.
The 3 Building Blocks You Actually Need
Based on everything shared in both resources above, and what consistently works for people building income online, here are the three things that matter most:
1. An Audience (Even a Tiny One)
Before you can have recurring revenue, you need people who trust you. That doesn’t mean 10,000 Instagram followers. It can mean 200 email subscribers who open your emails and feel like they know you.
Start there. Build a small, engaged list before you worry about a product, a membership or a funnel. Everything else gets easier once you have that.
2. A Minimum Viable Offer
This is the step most people skip because they’re waiting until everything is perfect. Don’t wait. Launch something small. A simple digital product, a low-cost workshop or a basic resource pack, for example.
The goal at this stage isn’t to get rich – it’s to prove the model, learn what your audience actually wants and build confidence. A $7 sale teaches you more than six months of planning.
For help with that, go here
3. A Delivery System That Runs Without You
This is where passive starts to enter the picture. Once you have an offer and an audience, you can automate the delivery – email sequences, evergreen funnels, scheduled content, automated affiliate links.
The system doesn’t replace you. It frees you to work on the next thing or simply take time off without your income collapsing.
The Tools That Help This Happen
You don’t need expensive software to get started. Here are a few tools worth bookmarking:
Kit (formerly ConvertKit): kit.com – Host your freebie, build your list and automate email sequences. Free plan available.
Gumroad: gumroad.com – Sell digital products and memberships simply, without a complicated tech stack.
Payhip: payhip.com – Another solid option for selling downloads, courses, and subscriptions.
Lemon Squeezy: lemonsqueezy.com – Handles EU VAT and global payments automatically. Worth it for the headache it saves.
WarriorPlus Marketplace: warriorplus.com – You know this one. But look beyond the launches – study which products sell consistently week after week. That’s where the real intel is.
A Quick Reality Check
Before you go and sign up for every tool above or start building a membership from scratch, let’s be real for a moment.
Passive income is not a shortcut to avoiding work. It’s a reward for doing the right work first, consistently, over time.
The people who make it look easy don’t usually show you the 12 months before it clicked into place. The failed launches…the email lists that grew to 300 people before they hit 3,000. The products that sold three copies before they found the angle that worked.
That’s normal. It’s the process. And if you’re in it right now – building slowly, learning, showing up – you’re not behind. You’re at exactly the right stage.
A question to ask yourself this week:
What’s the one small thing I could build, launch or automate this week that my future self would thank me for?
That’s your weekly challenge. Simple but powerful if you actually do it.
Fresh Resources & Further Reading
Here are some gems worth saving for your own research this week:
Substack’s Guide To Getting Paid: https://substack.com/going-paid-guide
One of the best passive income methods right now and this is an excellent guide to monetising it.
36 Passive Income Ideas For 20-26: https://www.shopify.com/in/blog/passive-income-ideas
All kinds of ideas for making passive income this year and beyond.
Here’s a comprehensive video masterclass on making passive income from Maria Wendt (who I highly rate):
Your TED Talk this week is a perfect fit for this week’s theme – and I don’t think I’ve shared it with you before.
John Doerr is one of Silicon Valley’s most successful investors, and in this talk he makes the case for something most online marketers never do properly: setting goals that are measurable, tied to specific outcomes and actually tracked.
This is exactly what separates people who build passive income from people who just talk about it.
You can watch it here:
