Firstly, there is nothing "passive" about "passive income." I want to start by debunking this myth.
There are many sponsored ads and influencers on social media that will try and convince you otherwise, but, in reality, even those people aren’t sitting back and sipping cocktails as they wait for the money to roll in!
The reality is that so-called "passive income" streams are a lot of hard work. The ideas that I give in the rest of this post are the easy part! The difficult bit is marketing those products once you’ve created them. And all the social media posts, video content, and emails take a lot of time and energy.
Having said that, I know a lot of people who have done very well by creating content to sell online. So if you want to give it a go and are happy to invest the time and energy in marketing, it can be worth it.
1. Write a book
This is a dream for many and is a great way to share your skills and resources with the world. My first book was a collection of ESOL activities that I had created for my classes. Sharing the activities with the world meant that other teachers could use them and that they weren’t hiding in a folder on my desktop.
In general, student books sell more copies than methodology books or photocopiable resources. That’s because student books sell as a class set—so let’s say 15–25 copies for each cohort. Methodology and photocopiable resource books tend to sell as one per staff room or school library. Methodology books also tend to be bought by individual teachers for a course they are taking. On completion of that course, the buyer will pass it on to a friend or sell it online. So, if you want to write a methodology book, you probably want it to become a core text in a popular TEFL training course.
2. Publish on resource-sharing sites
Digital materials are growing in popularity. Printable PDF resources (such as those on Ellii) have the benefit of offering minimal preparation. They are easy to search for by topic, and they provide flexibility in curriculum design. This means if your learners are interested in a certain subject or need extra practice with a language point, you can easily tailor lessons for them.
Websites such as Teachers Pay Teachers and Eduki let teachers share their materials and earn some cash for each download. It can take time to set up your account, add freebie samples, and promote your lessons on socials, but some teachers do make a good income from this.
3. Start a website
Having your own website will help you raise your profile and share your skills with the world. This can help potential employers or students find you more easily. There are various ways to monetize your website.
- Advertisements: You can directly sell advertising space on your site or use ad networks, such as Google AdSense, that automatically post advertisements to your site. You’ll earn money every time someone clicks on the ad. In order for this to make you money, you’ll need to have lots of traffic to your site, and that means lots of time spent creating content that people want to read or use.
- Affiliate marketing: This means promoting products or services for other companies (for example, writing a blog post about your favorite brand of board marker and then adding a link to buy the markers from an affiliate company such as Amazon). You’ll receive money for every sale made using your affiliate link.
- Product sale: Set up a shop on your site to sell resources, books, or courses. You could do this as part of a monthly membership subscription or on a product-by-product basis.
4. Get popular on socials
This is probably the hardest way to generate so called "passive’" income. To join the YouTube Partner Progam and earn money from ads on YouTube, you need at least 1,000 followers and 4,000 watch hours a year. Each ad that one of your subscribers watches earns between $0.01 and $0.03. This isn’t a huge amount if your video gets fewer than 1,000 views, but it can be significant if it is watched a million times.
In other industries, social media influencers can get paid to promote clothing and other products. In English language teaching, it is very unlikely that you’ll get paid to promote an ELT-related resource.
5. Make your money work for you
Probably the most tried and tested ways of generating passive income are by making sure your money is working for you. Ensuring that your savings are in accounts that will earn high interest or invested in (well-researched) index funds are good ways to do this. It’s also worth shopping around for the best deal on a pension and exploring the property market to build equity or rental income. In these instances, make sure to seek financial advice and explore your options as carefully as possible. Managing your finances has to work for you and your individual situation.
These are just a few ways to potentially generate "passive" income as a teacher. As I mentioned at the beginning, there is no quick fix. Each one takes time, research, and long-term management, but they are all definitely worth exploring.
Here are some other blog posts about professional development, teacherprenuerism, and ELT careers that may interest you:
- How to Be a Teacherpreneur
- Beyond Teaching: ELT Careers to Keep You Motivated
- Getting Started & Moving Forward: Professional Development for ELT
Here are some Ellii lessons and collections that will build your students’ financial and money skills:
What experience do you have of generating "passive" income? Is there anything you’d like to try or recommend here? We’d love to know.
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