I first heard about passive income about three years ago when I was reading a lot about monetizing my blog and making money without having to do a whole lot of work. Sounds great, but not as easy in reality. I got turned down by a group to host ads, as I didn’t have enough traffic, and they didn’t see quilters as a big draw – despite the fact that I had done my research and talked about a 4 billion dollar industry.

Rather than spend the time trying to get everything up and running to make money, I was still stuck working in the classroom, and I just didn’t have the energy after work. I started doing what I could. And now…I find I actually am getting some passive income three years later, with more possibilities in the works.

First, I receive a commission when someone buys materials from licensing expert Tara Reed. I’ve bought a number of things from her, and I love her work – all the detail and information is exceptional. Every time I mention her in a blog post, I usually make a sale, and consequently I get a few pennies.

I just uploaded my first pattern to PatternSpot.com, and hopefully I will begin to sell patterns there, through Etsy, and on our website. Every little penny helps! I have digital marbling images on Fine Art America. The work there is to figure out the site and get the photos uploaded. Once work sells, they do everything else.

Amazon and Google Adsense are two other outlets for monies. At one time I was getting regular checks from Amazon for books I recommended, and I need to do more of that. Google Adsense is about to send a check, as the clicks on the site are getting up to the minimum for a payout.Part of my issue with Google Adsense is making sure the ads that show are applicable to the site – Jockey underwear isn’t going to exactly get click-through’s….

Surfing Amazon!

So, it takes a while, but getting notices from Paypal about money in your account are very nice. You just have to be patient!