Passive Income Archives

Examples

An example of an extension that adds functionality to all websites is Grammarly. This extension helps you improve your writing by analyzing what you type into form fields on the websites you visit. Everything from Facebook to Gmail, Grammarly checks your spelling, punctuation, and phrasing to help you write more eloquently. At the end of each week, it even sends you a report of how much you wrote and where you scored in comparison to all other Grammarly users.

It’s a free extension that offers a base level of features. When you pay for a monthly subscription you unlock additional features. This “Freemium” approach is a very popular pricing model for extensions.

A website specific example extension is Smart Share From eBay. This extension lets you create affiliate links for eBay items as you browse the site (a passive income opportunity itself). It only works on the eBay website.

Building Chrome Extensions

Building an extension requires either knowing how to code the extension yourself or hiring a developer to build an extension for you. In either case, there is a step by step approach to follow during the development process. This is what you must do to build and launch your Chrome Extension.

Create a Chrome Developer Account

There is a one time, $5 registration fee to become a Chrome Developer.
You must be a registered developer to publish extensions to the Chrome Web Store.

Build the Chrome Extension

This requires knowledge of JavaScript, Google APIs, and web applications
Build it yourself or hire a developer skilled with building extensions

Publish your Extension

Create a package for your extension. You will upload this package to the Chrome Web Store after you’ve set up your extension.
Set up your extension in the developer console. You’ll provide a name, description, artwork, and pricing information for your extension.
Upload your extension package
Publish your Chrome Extension

Wait for your Extension to be Approved

Google evaluates each extension to make sure it meets their quality and usability criteria.
It usually takes approximately 24 hours for a new extension to be approved. It can take longer, sometimes up to several days.

How to Monetize Your Chrome Extension

In the Chrome Web Store, you can make your extension either a free or paid extension. You can also charge for content inside the extension as well. If you are building an extension that allows paying users access to additional features you will need to program the extension to detect users that have paid and unlock the features they have paid for.

You set the price in the developer console and determine which countries you want to sell the extension in.

Step by Step Guide

This post is a brief introduction of what is involved in building a Chrome Extension to add passive income to your revenue portfolio. I am currently writing a step by step guide that covers each step in depth. If you want a hands-on walkthrough of how to build your own Chrome Extension this will give that to you. You can pre-order it now for the pre-launch price of $9.95 (regular price $49.95).

What’s the difference between Passive Income and a Side Hustle? Just looking at the names gives you a pretty good hint. Side hustles are all about activity. Passive income is about sustained flow with minimal intervention.

Side hustles are in the moment, usually finished quickly. Passive income is much longer term.

Examples for Comparison

An example of the difference between passive income and a side hustle is the difference between a yard sale and a consignment shop.

A side Hustle example would be having a yard sale.

There’s the prep of organizing everything you are going to sell: collecting it, cleaning it, pricing it, and arranging it for the day of the sale. Then there’s the sale itself where you are involved in being present while shoppers browse through your items, haggling over prices, answering questions, and collecting payments for purchases.

Yard sales are hands on all the time until they end; just like side hustles.

Passive income is more like selling in a consignment store. You find the items, deliver them to the store, and when they sell, you collect your consignment payment. None of the marketing or hands on administration of the sales process itself.

Income Flow Comparison

With a side hustle there is a quick income spike and then income drops back to the pre hustle level. The day the yard sale ends you have a cash box full of money.

For passive income, there is a more consistent level of income over a long period of time. The consignment shop sells an item every day or so. You get paid incrementally over time. By keeping the number of items you have in the consignment shop at a consistent level, you’ll realize a continuous rate of income.

Methods for Expanding Income Compared

How do you increase the amount of income in each example?

With a yard sale you have to have more yard sales. You have to acquire a large collection of items to sell, organize them, etc., etc. Eventually you run out of capacity on your own and hit an income ceiling or, you have to start hiring people to help. When you have to hire you add more work to the process and reduce your profit margins.

With the consignment shop example you simply increase the number of items you have in the shop. It is much simpler to build a system to purchase and deliver the items to sell than in the yard sale example. Once you have the process automated, your involvement shrinks to close to zero.

Compare and Contrast

Here are two books I’ve read on the topics of Side Hustles vs. Passive Income. Both are excellent guides on their respective topics. I recommend reading both and seeing which you feel the most connected to.

Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 days

By Chris Guillebeau

The 4-Hour Work Week

By Tim Ferris

NOTE: The links above are affiliate links. If you click on them and make a purchase I will receive a commission payment. That said, I only recommend things that I’ve used myself and think will be helpful to you.

Tag: Passive Income

Chrome Extensions: Earn Passive Income

What are Chrome Extensions?