7 Myths About Passive Income You Can't Afford to Believe

Wouldn't it be great to earn money while you're relaxing on the beach?

Few concepts are more appealing than passive income. After all, what could be better than making money without having to do any work? When you read headlines that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos currently earns over $230,000 per second, it's only natural to start wondering how you too can earn money when you're not working.

Even if you don't generate as much passive income as Bezos, an additional source of revenue could allow you to leave the daily grind of the 9-to-5 workday so you could pursue entrepreneurial dreams or travel the world.

But, generating passive income isn't as simple or straightforward as some of the world's richest people can make it seem to be. Figuring out how to generate a steady flow of cash requires a fair amount of work. Even more importantly, it requires that you dedicate your own time and investments in the right areas.

If you're serious about using passive income to increase your quality of life, you can't afford to fall for these seven persistent myths.

1. You can "set and forget" your revenue streams.

This is perhaps the most dangerous myth associated with passive income.

We all like the idea of not needing to do any additional work after setting up a blog or online store. But, real life is never so simple. Blog visitors expect new content on a consistent basis. People who enroll in an online class expect personalized support when they encounter a problem. The internet itself is constantly changing.

If you aren't doing your part to stay on top of industry changes, customer expectations and other responsibilities you'd find in any "active" business, your passive income will quickly dry up. Even when you delegate responsibilities, you'll need to check in with your team to make sure tasks are being performed up to your standards. You'll also probably need to continually fine-tune your idea to help it stay relevant.

Passive income still requires an active presence.

2. You only need a single weekend to get started.

It's easy to assume that anyone can toss together a blog or another passive income source in a single weekend. In reality, creating a source of revenue that will deliver lasting results requires a lot of research and work before you even earn a single penny.

Even something as seemingly simple as starting a blog requires extensive research and planning.

According to R.L. Adams, bloggers need to find the right niche, choose a web hosting platform and buy a domain name just to get started. After that, they still need to learn about browser caching, SEO, permalinks and more -- and don't forget about writing good content and uploading quality images!

Needless to say, you probably won't be able to do all this in a single weekend.

Be willing to take the time to learn the specific opportunities and challenges related to your idea, and put in the effort to get it right. This isn't a race. Quality will win over speed every time.

3. One solid source of income is all you need.

Another dangerous myth of passive income is that you can generate all the money you need with a single source of revenue. This is like putting all your stock market investments into a single company. If that stock does great, you'll be rich! But, if its prices fall, you could find yourself practically broke.

As with stock market investments, it's better to diversify your income sources, especially if you're planning on having these revenue streams replace your current job.

For example, bloggers with relatively low web traffic use everything from affiliate links and selling their own products to offering online courses and freelance writing services to generate extra income. By