Making money while you sleep.
Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
After reading books like Rich Dad Poor Dad and 4 Hour Work Week, I became interested obsessed with making passive income.
What is Passive Income?
The common definition of passive income is income that you earn without being actively involved.
That typically means that you continue to make income with no or very little effort on your part to maintain that cash flow.
For the purpose of this article, we are going to lump passive income and portfolio income into the passive category, and active income into the non-passive category – although the IRS categorizes and treats each type of income differently.
You can see why the idea of passive income would be appealing. Typically when someone needs additional income, they get the stereotypical suggestion to “get a part-time job.”
But what if you don’t have the time or energy to put in all those extra hours?
I know I didn't. Plus, that wasn't as appealing as making money without needing to trade my time.
For that, you may need some passive income ideas – ways to make money with little investment of time and effort on your part. And a great benefit of this is if you are trying to pay off debt quickly, this can be a huge help!
Here’s a list of quite a few passive income ideas, so it’s likely that you’ll be able to find at least two or three that cater to your situation and skills.
24 Passive Income Ideas That Will Legit Make You Money While You Sleep:
1. Invest in Lending Club
There is probably no passive income that is more perfect than earning interest on safe investments, such as U.S. Treasury securities and bank certificates of deposit. The problem of course is that those instruments pay paltry returns – generally less than 1%. It may be passive income at its finest, but you’ll never be able to relax or retire on returns that are that low.
That makes now the perfect time to talk about Lending Club. It is a web-based peer-to-peer lending platform where people come to get loans, and investors – looking for high interest opportunities – provide the funds for those loans.
Lending Club provides an opportunity to earn interest rates in excess of 10% per year – which is about 10 times what you will earn on more conventional interest-bearing investments.
Now let’s be clear on one point: those high rates do come at a cost. Unlike bank investments, Lending Club loans can go bad, in which case you will lose principal. However, there are ways to minimize those potential losses. I talked to a LendingClub adviser and they recommend starting out with an initial deposit of $2500. Since you can invest as little as $25 in a single loan, you can actually buy into 100 different loans with a deposit of that level. So you don't have to worry about a single loan going bad and ruining your investment.
Despite the risk of default, it’s very likely that you will earn far more on your investments at Lending Club than you will at a bank and I have averages just under 9% during the eight years I have been investing with them. That is a nice residual income stream. Investing larger sums of money in different ways can be beneficial, whether it be where to invest 10K or where to invest 100K, we can help you get a better understanding of how to invest your money.
2. Invest with a robo-advisor
Putting money into an account and letting an algorithm manage the investments is about as passive as you can get. Robo-advisors like Betterment allow you to set your willingness for risk in the market and then manage the account for you.
The algorithm will do all the work for you and keeps your portfolio balanced. The fees are very reasonable and much less than with an account managed by a person. There are currently two main players in the robo-advisor game:
Wealthfront
My original evaluation of Wealthfront found them to be just OK, but they have made great changes over the last couple of years that make them even or better than Betterment for many people. Their strategy for reducing your tax burden is very well planned out and they have show to be competitive with any robo-advisor on the market. Their new PATH platform gives you a comprehensive view of your finances, putting them on part with Mint or Personal Capital.
What really sets Wealthfront apart from the others is that they charge you no fees for the first $10,000 that you invest with their service. This is a big deal for small investors who want to see their initial investments have the largest impact possible.
Betterment
I have been a long time supporter of betterment and even did an interview with their CEO in my Betterment investing review. Similar to Wealthfront, Betterment is great at reducing any taxes you have to pay on your investments and they work with you to give you the best financial advice through their algorithms. Unlike Wealthfront, you can actually talk to a human being if you want to. Betterment charges the same fees as Wealthfront, but does not wave the fee on the first $10,000 you invest.
My personal experience with Betterment is that their platform is really slick and the investments are very sound. I don't think you can go wrong with either service, but if I am investing a large sum to create a passive income investment, then I would go with Betterment.
3. Go Safe With High Yield Savings Accounts
Savings accounts might be the most boring investment ever invented, but they are also the safest. If you are used to your run of the mill bank where you can walk in and talk to someone, then you probably think the interest earned hardly qualifies as income.
Online banks hit the scene in the late 1990s and have been able to provide much better interest rates to their clients than their traditional cousins. Now, you can get savings account rates that are as good as a CD without locking in your money for several years.
This is also a great option to stow away your cash and create a little passive income while you are looking for a more lucrative investment option
4. Try out index funds.
Index funds are a type of mutual fund that provide you with a way to invest in the stock market that is completely passive.
For example, if you invest money in an index fund that is based on the S&P 500 Index, you will be invested in the general market, without having to concern yourself with choosing investments, rebalancing your portfolio, or knowing when to sell or buy individual companies. All that will be handled by the fund which will base the fund portfolio on the makeup of the underlying index.
E*Trade is our recommended online broker for buying index funds. They make the research and process of investing into different funds very easy.
We recommend them over other options because if you ever start to look at other types of stock or mutual fund investments (see #5) you already have the account set up and it is easy to move your money over. On top of that the cost to get your account going is super cheap and the cost per trade very affordable.
If you are not familiar with them, check out more details in our Trade King review. They have become one of my best accounts for investing.
With any broker you are free to choose a fund that is based on any index that you want. For example, there are index funds set up for just about every market sector there is – energy, precious metals, banking, emerging markets – you name it. All you have to do is decide that you want to participate, then contribute money and sit back and relax. Your stock portfolio will then be on automatic pilot.
If you are looking toward retirement with your money then we would look at opening a Roth IRA. It will shield your savings from any future taxes and you can withdraw all earning tax free once you hit 59 1/2. It is one of the best ways to save money for retirement.
5. Make money for tasks you'd do anyway
Yes, you can make some money doing some of the things you're already doing.
For example, InboxDollars allows you to make money by searching the web, shopping online, playing games, and more! Swagbucks also allows to to make money doing similar activities. It's amazing. Take advantage of the compensation plan on each of these websites and make some extra money!
You can also make your own schedule with Uber and pick up extra income by driving others around when you are already out and about anyway!
6. Get cash-back rewards on credit cards
If you're already using credit for some of your purchases, pursuing credit card rewards is an absolute no-brainer. Most top rewards cards let you earn anywhere from 1-5% back on your money, and that's with almost no effort on your part!
If you're already using credit for convenience, you can also earn a huge sum of cash in the form of a signup bonus. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® card offers one of the best opportunities out there. After spending just $4,000 on the card in 90 days, you'll earn 50,000 points worth $500. On top of that, if you add your spouse as an approved user, you score an extra 5,000 points. That works out to 59,000 points for just $4,000 of spending you were going to do anyway.
Even people who don't spend a lot can normally put that much on credit if they charge regular bills, groceries, gas, insurance, and all of their other expenses on a regular basis.
Our post on the top six cash back credit cards for 2017 offers an array of additional options to consider as well. With the right card, you could earn anywhere from 1-5% back on your money with almost no effort on your part.
If travel is your thing, we have seen people who are using bonus offers on travel rewards credit cards to save thousands of dollars on travel each year. You can really score big with these deals.
7. Put your photography to work on the web
Do you like photography? If you do, you may be able to convert it into a passive income source. Photography websites such as Shutterstock and iStockphoto can provide you with platforms to sell your photos. They may offer either a percentage or a flat fee of each photo that is sold to a site client.
In this way, a single photo could represent a residual income opportunity, since it can be sold again and again. You simply need to create your photo portfolio, put it on one or more photo platforms, and then the activity becomes completely passive. All the technicalities of the photo sales are handled through the web platform.
And yes, that's me in a stock photo you can purchase from iStockPhoto.com. My wife is a good photographer and has uploaded a few hundred photos to their platform and makes a good monthly residual income from it.
8. Write an ebook
This can be a lot of work upfront, but once the ebook is created and marketed it can provide you with a passive revenue stream for years. You can either sell the ebook on your own website or offer it as an affiliate arrangement with other websites that provide content related to your ebook.
After speaking to sever ebook authors, many of the tell me that the time spent putting these books together feels like finding free money by the passive stream of income they have today.
9. Sell your own products on the internet
The possibilities here are endless – you can sell just about any product or service that you like. It could be a product you have created and can manufacture on your own or it could be digital in nature (such as software, DVDs, or even instructional videos).
You can set up a dedicated website for this product or service, unless of course you have a website or blog already in place. Alternatively, you can also sell it on an affiliate basis, either by offering it direct to websites and blogs related to your product or service, or through a platform such as ClickBank.
If you make a lot of money in your current job and you're not sure that you can make a similar amount by selling products online, think again. Awhile back, I interviewed Steve Chou from MyWifeQuitHerJob.com. In our podcast interview, Steve explained how his wife quit her job to become a stay-at-home mom.
Now, being a stay-at-home mom is a full-time job – but Steve Chou's wife also started an online business that replaced her former salary and started bringing in a six-figure income! Wow, right?
You can learn to sell products online too and make quite a bit of money. While it's not entirely passive, it's certainly more passive than getting up and heading out the door to work every morning!
10. Invest in real estate
This probably falls more in the category of semi-passive income, since an investment in real estate is always at least a little bit of an active venture. Still, once you have an investment property that is established and fully rented, it’s mostly a matter of managing the property and keeping it performing well.
Additionally, there are professional property managers who can manage your property for you, usually for around 10% of the monthly rent. This professional management can make the investment much more passive, but will take a bite out of your cash flow.
According to Brandon Turner, an active real estate investor and co-host on the popular BiggerPockets Podcast,
“The key to success with rental properties is buying smart. Not every investment property is going to provide a good return or prove to be passive. Understanding how to analyze potential real estate opportunities is incredibly important. As the old adage goes – you make your money when you buy!”
Another benefit of investing in rental properties is the loan pay down. If you obtain a loan to buy the property, each month your tenants are paying off part of the loan. Once the mortgage on the property has been paid off, your cash flow will increase dramatically, allowing your mediocre investment to skyrocket into a full-fledged retirement program.
It wouldn't take many paid-off properties to provide a pretty great, and mostly-passive, future for you and your family.
11. Make YouTube videos
This is a venture that is growing rapidly. You can create videos in just about any area that you like – music, tutorials, opinions, comedy, movie reviews – anything you want . . . then put them on YouTube. You can then attach Google AdSense to the videos, which will overlay your videos with automatic ads. When viewers click on those ads, you will earn money from AdSense.
The keys will be to create compelling videos, to promote those videos on social media websites, and to create enough of them that your income will be coming from multiple sources. There’s a good bit of work that goes into creating videos, but once a video is done it can become a completely passive cash flow source for a very long time.
Don't think you can find success with YouTube? You sure can. Emily Eddington used her love for makeup and YouTube to quit her full-time job. She has received over 66 million views on YouTube. This former morning news anchor took her passion – makeup – and turned it into a phenomenal success.
12. Buy a blog
Thousands of blogs are created every year, and thousands are either completely abandoned by their owners sometime afterward. If you can buy blogs with a reasonable amount of web traffic – as well as a demonstrated cash flow – it could be a perfect passive income source.
Most blogs employ Google AdSense, which provides a monthly revenue stream based on ads that Google places on the site. There may also be affiliate programs generating additional revenue. Both income sources will be yours once you purchase the blog.
From a financial perspective, blogs usually sell for 24 times their monthly income. So if the site generates $250 a month in income, you can likely buy it for no more than $6,000. Translation: a $6,000 investment will buy you $1,500 per year in cash flow.
You may even be able to purchase the site for less than 24 months earnings, if the site owner is particularly anxious to get out. Some sites have good “evergreen” content that will continue generating revenue even years after the site has gone silent. So a simple $5000 investment can net you ongoing passive income.
Bonus tip: If you were to buy such a site, and then to reinvigorate it with fresh content, you may be able raise the monthly revenue enabling yourself to sell the site at a later date for substantially more than what you paid for it.
Finally, instead of buying a blog, you might want to create your own blog. My blog currently generates a nice passive income stream from content that I published years ago. It's by far one of the best business moves I've made.
This guide will show how to make your first $1,000 from blogging. You'll find access to our free Make 1k Challenge which is a free email course that walks through the steps to start your first blog and make your first $1,000.
13. Pay off a credit card (or two or three)
Reducing a fixed expense is the financial equivalent of creating passive income. This is certainly true when it comes to credit cards. Let’s say that you owe $10,000 on a credit card, on which there is a monthly payment equal to 2% of the balance, or $200 per month.
By paying the card off, you’ll be free up $2,400 per year in cash flow that would’ve gone to the monthly payments.
That’s like getting a guaranteed 24% return on a $10,000 investment. Good deal?
You can speed up this process by transferring your current balances to a 0% APR card. You can usually get the promotional rate for 15 months or more and supercharge your credit card payoff.
14. Write a book and collect royalties
Much like writing an ebook, there’s a lot of work upfront. But once that’s done, and the book goes into the sales stage, it becomes a completely passive venture.
This is especially true if you can sell the book to a publisher who will pay you royalties for the distribution and sale of the book. You’ll get a percentage of each sale made, and if the book is fairly popular, the royalties could be substantial. Just as important, the royalties can continue flowing for many years.
Mike Piper from OblivousInvestor.com did just that. He wrote a book, Investing Made Simple, which was sold strictly on Amazon. He had decent success with the first book that he created an entire series of book. Those books now net him over 6 figures per year in residual earnings. Not too shabby.
15. Set up a website selling a product
If there is a product that you are particularly knowledgeable about, you may be able to sell it on a dedicated website. The technique is similar to what you would use for your own product, except that you will not to be concerning yourself with product creation, but only with the sale of someone else’s product.
You may even find after a while that you are able to add other products that are related. Should that happen, the site could generate substantial revenues.
If you are able to have the product drop shipped to customers directly from the manufacturer, you won’t even have to get your hands dirty. That may not be 100% passive, but it’s darn close.
16. Invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs)
In #10 we talked about investing in real estate. But let’s say that you want to invest in real estate, but do it in a truly passive way. You can do that through a real estate investment trust. This is something like a mutual fund holding various real estate projects. The fund is managed by professionals, so you never have to get involved.
One of the big benefits of investing in REITs is that they typically pay higher dividends than stocks, bonds, or bank investments. You can also sell your interest in a REIT anytime you like, which makes it more liquid than owning real estate outright.
17. Become a business silent partner
Do you know of a successful business that needs capital for expansion? If so, you can become something of a small-time angel investor and provide that needed capital. But rather than offering a loan to a business owner, you can treat this as a business opportunity and take an equity position in the business.
In this way, the business owner will handle the day-to-day operations, while you will act as a silent partner who also participates in the profits of the business. You will probably want to look at some business credit card offers in order to get a feel for how to manage your business finances while keeping tracking of how your partner is handling everything.
18. Become a referral source
Every small business needs referral sources in order to maintain sales. Make a list of small business providers that you use on a regular basis and feel you can recommend to others without reservation. Then contact the owners and see if they have any kind of cash referral marketing offers available.
You can do this with accountants, landscapers, electricians, plumbers, carpet cleaning services – the list is endless. Keep a list of these businesses, and be ready to refer them to your friends, family and coworkers. You can earn a fee on each referral just from talking to people.
Don’t overlook referral programs at work either. If your company offers a referral bonus for either new employees or for new customers, then take advantage of that plan. It’s easy money with virtually no work.
19. Rent out unused space with Airbnb
Airbnb is a concept that has only been around for a few years, but it has exploded around the globe. Airbnb allows people to travel all around the world and to stay in accommodations that are a lot less expensive than traditional hotels. They do this by staying with participating Airbnb members who rent out part of their homes to travelers. By participating in Airbnb, you can use your residence to accommodate guests and earn extra money just for renting out space in your home.
Paula Pant, cubicle renegade AffordAnything.com took a stab at making extra money renting out locations exclusively through Airnbnb. Her Airbnb experiment netted her an extra $19,000 in revenue and 1 police visit! 🙂
How much you will make will depend upon the size and condition of your home and your location. Naturally, if your home is located in a high cost city, or close to a popular resort, your income will be much higher. It’s a way of earning money on space in your home that might just be sitting empty otherwise.
20. Build an app
Apps can be an incredibly lucrative income source. Think about how many people today have smartphones. Come on, it's just about everybody! People are downloading apps like crazy – and for good reason…
Apps make people's lives easier. Whether it's an app that helps people put together nice pictures for their blog or an app that keeps track of tasks, there are helpful apps out there for everyone.
You might be asking if there are so many apps out there, why would you want to attempt to create an app? Isn't there a lot of competition? Well, yes, but fresh, creative ideas can win. If you can come up with something unique, you can make quite a bit of money. Simple – yet unique – apps can be pretty passive.
Don't know how to code? No problem. First, you can learn. Check out Nathan Barry's success in his inspiring article, How I Made $19,000 on the App Store While Learning to Code. Nathan also put his design expertise to work in an ebook teaching others how they can design their own apps.
Second, you can hire a developer to build your app based on your idea. This could end up being an expensive option, although it will probably yield a professional-looking app.
The end result is an app that has the potential to make you some relatively passive income. Don't downplay the idea to build an app – it's a good one!
21. Create an online course
Everyone is an expert at something. Why not create an online course about your passion?
My buddy Ramit Sethi at IWillTeachYoutobeRich.com is an expert at creating online courses. He has made an insane amount of money selling his lessons. Most people would be happy making a fraction of what he makes online.
There are a number of ways you can produce and host your own online course. One very simple way is to use a website like Teachable.com. Teachable as over three million students and is a great way to get your content in front of others for their consideration.
Once you create an online course, it can work for you while you sleep!
What do you put in your online course? Good question. You can add video lessons, checklists for completing steps you recommend in your video lessons, small ebooks to supplement the lessons, audio files for people listening while traveling, informative interviews with likeminded experts, and a whole bunch more!
In fact, you can create several packages at different price points. Some people will want everything, so you can include ‘the works' for the highest price point and then have two lower price points so that you can receive the largest possible volume of orders.
22. Make an online guide
If writing articles or creating videos isn't your thing, and you want to make money online, try creating an online guide.
A good example of this comes from Pat Flynn's website, SecurityGuardTrainingHQ.com. On the website, he has a map of the United States that allows someone to click on any state to see the security guard requirements for that state.
By providing specific information in a guide-like format, you can make money through some of the means already addressed: advertisements through Google AdSense, affiliate links, and even memberships you can sell from your online guide. It's a fantastic idea!
23. Outsource most if not all of your business needs
If you're spending too much of your time on an existing business running it yourself, why not outsource most if not all of your tasks? Yes, it will require you to give up some control, but in many businesses it's the only way to free up your time so you can focus on other tasks that will result in more income.
If you don't want to hire employees, consider hiring freelancers who work as contract laborers. Look for freelancers with a strong work ethic who provide quality results.
Here's a list of tasks that you might want to outsource:
- Bookkeeping
- Writing
- Web design
- Editing
- Task management
- Social media marketing
- and so much more!
Yes, many people can turn their existing businesses into passive income businesses. As long as the main product or service isn't something only you can do, you can transform your business into a passive moneymaker.
24. Try affiliate marketing and make sales
This is a passive income technique that is better suited to people who have blogs and active websites. You can sign up to promote certain products or services on your site, for which you will be paid either a flat fee or a percentage of the amount of the sale completed.
This isn’t as hard to do as you might think, since there are thousands of companies in the world who want to sell their products in as many places as they can.
You can find affiliate offers either by contacting vendors directly, or on dedicated websites, such as ClickBank. It’s always best if the product or service is one that you are either very interested in or is highly relevant to your website.
25. Purchase high dividend stocks.
By building a portfolio of high dividend stocks, you can create regular passive income at an annual rate that is much higher than what you get on bank investments.
Just as important, since high dividend stocks are stocks, there is always the potential for capital appreciation. In that way, you can earn passive income from two sources – dividends and capital gains.
You can make this process very easy and affordable by opening an account with Ally Invest. They have one of the lowest fees for each trade and have been a long time top brokerage.
If you are interested in other brokerage accounts we have provided a good write up of all the different options.
I’ve purposely provided a long list of passive income ideas in the hope that there is something on this list for everyone.
Have you tried one of these or are you thinking about trying one of these ideas now? Leave a comment! I look forward to hearing from you.
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Great Article,
There were a few suggestions that I had not thought of yet, thank you!
Great Ideas 🙂
I tried all kinds of ways to make money online.
What works best for me is koocam.com
I sell my knowledge (my hobbies, DIY, tips etc)
And make good money from it!
It’s great 🙂
Highly recommended !
Hi, Jeff —
I want to thank you for the great article. I was looking online for some inspiration to re-ignite my side-hustle and breathe some new life into my existing efforts. Your ideas here are fabulous and I’ve made notes on seven of them. I already have a lot of the concepts started, but you have given me the spark I was looking for to keep moving forward. Thanks for the help!
*Laura*
I’m here to help Laura!
Hey bro! I’m Huy – a blogger from Viet Nam. I read your article and thanks so much about content. However, to get income is not easy, it so hard than my think. Therefore, I think the most important is we need to keep patience to make income.
Jeff, I think you’re onto something with your blog, but I’d encourage you to double check you writing as you had a lot of typos. It makes your blog feel less credible.
Just my honest feedback. Keep after it!
Mark
We do our best to proofread Mark. But when you write articles that are 2,000 – 3,000 words, there are going to be errors that don’t get caught. We’ll certainly try to do better going forward.
#26 Create a blog with a big name, alleging that it reveals the secret of passive income and then give the most obvious, not-so-passive income ways. All of these ideas are the most basic and obvious ideas.
The internet is unfortunately so full of these so called idea-givers with no background.
Join an affiliate program. Thanks. Which one? How? How to make it successful? At which point does it become passive, without me keeping on throwing money into Google and amending the marketing or the page?
Real Estate? How much do I need to invest? And if I had that kind of money, why real estate? Why not a container? Where to invest anyway? How?
Come on…
@Lucas so which one these “basic and obvious ideas” have you implemented?
Hi Lucas – This post is meant to be an overview only. It isn’t meant to be a deep dive into any of the ideas. As to the ideas being not so passive, the only TRULY passive investment is putting money into a bank and getting interest on it. But with bank interest rates well South of 1%, we have to look at not-so-passive to find remotely passive.
A lot of these ideas are not very passive 🙁
Wow! What an awesome list Jeff! My favorite is the stock photography as I love photography. I have some success there, particularly with one photo I make some decent income from. I think the key with stock photography is finding a shot that is high demand then find a new unique way to frame that shot. This is the reason my St. Louis Arch photo is a top 10 on both of the platforms you mentioned above. Thanks for the awesome ideas above!
– Adam
Thanks for these methods. I rented out space in airbnb. But no one is applying in that. Like that i guess other methods also look bleak to me.
Geography plays an important role with AirBNB. The results are better if you live in a large urban area, or somewhere close to business or recreational amenities. It doesn’t work with all locations.
Hey thanks for the great article! My main goal is to only have to work one day a week by the time I’m 30 and a few of these methods I hadn’t thought of. I was just wondering about the photography method, with your wife having a few hundred uploads onto the website what kind of money does she make back from that a month?
Thanks in advance
James
@James My buddy that was doing this was making between $500 to $1k per month from his stock photography side hustle.
You forgot corporate and municipal bonds
I didn’t forget them Dani, its just that the interest rates on them are pretty low.
A few things…
For anyone thinking of renting out their place via AirBnB, just check to make sure that it is legal where you live. I live in NYC and AirBnB is illegal here because a short-term rental for under 30 days is only allowed if you are a legal hotel. If caught renting or even advertising your home within the five boroughs of NYC on AirBnB, you could incur heavy fines for running an illegal hotel. Plus, most neighbors in apartment buildings don’t want strangers tramping in and out of their buildings all the time, so there could be trouble from people making complaints. So, check the laws where you live if that’s what you want to do!
I have a question about e-Books and online courses – how do you protect your work so that purchasers do not share it with people who haven’t paid for it?
Also, Mr. Rose, you have quite a number of typos in your article! I think the next person you hire should be a proofreader! Thank you for the ideas, though!
Hi Deanna – That’s a good catch! Another one to beware of are condominiums, if you live in one. The bylaws usually restrict occupancy (tightly) and you could be fined for renting out your unit to strangers. So for anyone who’s considering AirBnB, it’s always best to check out local laws or neighborhood requirements.
As to copyrights, there are various ways to minimize the likelihood of theft of your work, but none are foolproof. But rest assured that if someone were to reproduce the work under their own name, they’d face legal action. It would be obvious if they were selling the work on a widespread basis. It’s amazing the information that’s making it around the web. Theft on a large scale has a way of being discovered.
I wasn’t thinking so much of plagiarism as I was about the simple act of someone sharing and passing it along to someone else. With e-Books, for instance, although I know there are several formats for them, I assume they are mostly PDFs to download. I don’t think it’s possible to password protect a PDF for opening (I think you can do it for printing or editing), nor to have some kind of time limit on being able to open it. As for courses, how do you ensure that the link or file doesn’t get passed around and accessed for free by people who didn’t pay?
Hi Deanna – That’s always a possibility, but you can’t spend too much time worrying about it. After all, it’s common for people to read a book, then pass along to someone else. If your work can benefit someone else all the better, it isn’t all about making money. And on the brighter side, you can gain a new fan in the person on the receiving end of the ebook. It’s a problem, but not as big as you might think.
The first title says; “23 Passive Income Ideas You Can Start Today
By Jeff Rose on May 5, 2017” then a second title says; “24 Passive Income Ideas That Will Legit Make You Money While You Sleep:” yet really they give 25 ideas. I think I am the only one paying attention here. Why didnt you list Cryptocurrency? You can make the BEST passive income mining ETHEREUM and BITCOIN.
That’s more of a speculation on higher prices than it is a passive income.
For most people, cryptocurrency like Bitcoin is too complicated to figure out! And when you finally learn enough to start making sense of it, it becomes clear that it’s actually rather risky!
Deanna, that’s actually wrong. There is ZERO risk when he matter is MINING bitcoin and ethereum or any other cryptocurrency. Mining is 100% safe and guaranteed to make money, so it actually does work as a passive income as long as your electricity bills are low.
Now, cryptocurrency investing and speculation is a completely different matter, which can still be pretty profitable if you know what you are doing.
Although technically true, unless you invest in some pretty serious and dedicated mining hardware you aren’t going to see much of a return on this one.
A lot of the things mentioned above are right. there are so many opportunities to make some side money. I’ve recently been looking up different ways to create any kind of side income than can possibly help me out . I can tell you right now if your a beginner like I was, the best place to start would be signing up as an affiliate for amazon which is the most newbie friendly! Learn the game and grow. Or you can create your online store and dropship with shopify real people make thousands a week by doing this and you need little to no money to start. (Drop shipping as simple as i can put it is basically is where sell items from chines suppliers that can be dirt cheap and sell them for 2x 3x 5x the amount there being sold for)
I’ve quit my $16 dollar an hour job after 15 months to be able to work from home at 24 years old, a 2 year old with another on the way. Due to following one of my mentors, telling me that work does not have to be a hassle to my lifestyle. He has given me a great method to be able to work from home to generate more than my bi-weekly paycheck. Which was around $800 dollars a week. Not bad I know, but the actual work was very harsh to any human being ha. He also told me it would only cost my time and effort, only about 3–4 hours a day. So every since I made my transition my life has become a breeze with much less stress physically and financially.
I’m willing to pass the method on as I know that the workforce is a must to survive. Though it’s not supposed to be a hassle on LIFE in general.
I’ve explored for some time, made small investments over the years which I will say none of which panned out. I’m nearing the end of a long lucrative career as a hairdresser and honestly would love some peace at home and bring in a passive income. Would love to hear whats made your life as a mom better. Congratulations on your up and coming newest little member to your clan.
Hi Tylen,
I would LOVE to hear about what you are doing to generate your passive income…sounds intriguing! Please share 🙂
Tylen, I would love to hear more about you generate your passive income.
Tylen,
I would love to know how you’re making money at home! I’ve been looking for some time now. Thanks!
Hi Tylen, I am currently exploring a passive income opportunity but I am interesting in learning about yours as well 🙂
Karoline
Your 23 passive income ideas are really amazing. I see your all ideas.Sell your own product on online I think this one is best.
I thought this was a great article and was planning on investing using Lending Club, until I did some more research and found out more, including this:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-08-18/how-lending-club-s-biggest-fanboy-uncovered-shady-loans
How can you still recommend Lending Club as your #1 option in light of recent scandals?
@Henry
1. The “recent scandal” you cited is August of 2016.
2. My Lending Club account is still active and still making money.
Got it, I guess 10 months old means we should completely ignore it. Thanks for the courteous and professional response.
Great Information, So Helpful always try to read all your post and making more money on the internet. Thank you So much.
Hey Jeff,
Thanks for sharing this great article.
It’s funny to think that many people still don’t believe in the power of passive income and they’re still living the lifestyle of the 9-6 job.
I started working from home as an interpreter about three years ago and I also started a few blogs since then.
I’ll never regret the decision I made when I first started with this because It has changed my life and also my family’s.
Again, thanks for sharing!
Ronald
Wow, now I’m interested in earning more passive income, Thank you for wonderful tips
Thanks for this useful information there are lot of ways where I can start from to earn passive income thanks for sharing
Great post! I’m hearing REITs for the first time.
Thanks
Buying a blog or creating an e-book demand you have a creative or knowledgeable mind. It also requires you to find a certain number of hours that you ought to spend doing research and creating content. You might need some time before you succeed in reaching out to your target audience, but in the end it will fetch a good ROI.
Yes you can do, If you write an articles to direct a book, it’s not better idea.
If you read a book and all words to convert to your mind, It’s called rewriting.
The Idea is best rewriting on blog.
Old blog is very powerful.
These are all great ways to earn money online, thanks for such conclusive work. I’m at #7, #8, #14, and #23 as a Pro Blogger. Writing your own eBook and designing your own products can be very rewarding, you just need to get your work in front of an Interested Audience. This may sometimes prove a little more difficult than originally anticipated.
I’m always a fan of finding new lists for passive income. A lot of them just repeat the same things over and over but this has a few new ones I may have to try.
Awesome article. I am personally a fan of affiliate marketing. It’s a great way to leverage someone else’s business and start your own. I’ve been a part of an affiliate program for a while now where I’m earning 25% commissions on sales and it has truly been a blessing as far as my finances are concerned. Passive income is definitely they lifestyle to live. I’m hoping to upgrade soon to the 35% commission tier so that I can make enough to quit my 9-5 and really be free to live the life I want. Check it our here if your interested (queensmarketclothing.com); it’s only $10 to get started and the company is super helpful in helping you get started and marketing the products.
Very useful and interesting ideas. To make a passive income is not an easy task as someone may say. It requires responsible approach and a lot of effort.I, personally, think of generating revenue from rental properties. And I was considering Queens in NY. However, I hadn’t even thought about trying index funds before your post, but now I believe it might be a good idea. Thus, thank you for sharing.
Great tips on building a passive income ideas. My favorite passive income sources are blogging and ebooks.
Investing and affiliate marketing are probably the best ways to earn money passively nowadays.
Great article,
I tried all kinds of websites to make money online.
What works best for me i’ts Koocam.
I teach my hobbies, and sells my knowledge.
It’s great !
If you use Loyal3 don’t expect them to be an agile investment service. They have buy and sell turnaround times that are absolutely ridiculous.
I started selling my graphics & photos part time on stock agencies 6 years ago. Now it is my full time job and branching out in other areas. Best move I ever made. Great advice Jeff!
You’re welcome! So many of these ideas can work if you put in the effort, and keep working at it long enough. A lot of really good business ideas are abandoned too soon.
Hi Jeff,
Great article!..Probably already mentioned in the other comments, but there is also TURO for renting your car out(the Airbnb of car rental) for fixed periods for income..
Hi Jeff,
Since the age of 17, I have wanted to be financially free. The thought consumed me, and I was constantly reading articles. To put it brief, it was my dream. I have already started investing and have tried a few things here or there, but I haven’t really found a true fit yet. I’m 18 now, and am really looking for a mentor to steer me in the right direction. I know with a little bit of guidance I can do big things!
I would really appreciate some advice,
Tj Hunt
Hi TJ – Try some of the methods in this article for starters. But also read any of the articles on this site that talk about creating income. You’ll find something that will work for you. A lot of it really is about trying things until you find what works, and it’ll be different for everybody.
Hi TJ, Try reading books like ‘Think and grow Rich’ , ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’, ‘RichDad PoorDad’, …
Hi Jeff,
Great article! Thanks for sharing such good advice on a variety of potential income topics I’d never even considered.
Unfortunately, the editor and proofreader in me always examines the details in any article I read under a microscope.
Might want to check your math Under your Buy a Blog section though, where you wrote: “From a financial perspective, blogs usually sell for 24 times their monthly income. So if the site generates $250 a month in income, you can likely buy it for no more than $3,000. ”
24 X $250 works out to $6,000, not $3,000. Probably just a typo, but my obsessive alter-ego thought I should let you know about it. 😉
Currently reading your article How to Make Money Blogging.
Keep up the great work!
Regards,
Brian
So right Brian! Correction made! Thanks!
Nice list. Now I’m going to go through my online photo album & see if I can parse out some pics to the web 🙂
Some passive income streams just seem too over done. Like there are so many blogs out there. I dunno if that’s just me being bummed out or not. Just seems like an overload out there.
Hi Sam – Don’t dismiss the blogging idea too quickly! If you have real expertise in an area, or can bring a fresh approach to something it can work. Have you considered a blog about photography? (It’s just a thought!)
I personally like 14, 17, 20, & 23 these passive income ideas related with me. I am in blogging, SEO and make money online niche. These and many more options are there which beginners, bloggers, and marketers can use to get rich and earn regularly from the Internet.
I blog and podcast about turnkey rentals while working a full time job. Always looking to help others.
All of these are great ideas to earn a little more spending (or saving) money! I agree that investing in real estate can be passive, but it also depends where you invest in! If you invest in real estate in a college town (which has many pros and can give you a nice deal of money), in my opinion it doesn’t tend to be passive! College students (even the more responsible ones) tend to cause wear and tear, making your job as a landlord non-passive.
That is very true. Have you considered renting to their parents instead? Walah!!! Now, you have a built in real estate manager with no 10% fee.
Kevin
Hello Jeff,
Thank you for this information! I honestly did not know all of these possibilities existed for me to make income! I am despretly eager to earn money to contribute to my family and to save for the future. So… Thank you!
I am very disabled by a genetic collagen integrity condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Ht (EDS-HT)and it effects all tissue, joints, GI Tract, my heart, nervous system and much more, which creates huge challenges for me physically. I was disabled at a young age, had to quit work at 40 years old and I am eligible for $600 month. Due to the progressive syndrome, all work I have tried I could not physically sustain within only a few days.
I share this with to let you know how much your expertise and your creating this information means to me. I will now put this link to your site on the Inspire-EDNF (Ehlers Danlos National Foundation) site to help so many others like me. Living with this condition, I can become a hopeless mess. Today, THANKS to you, I can begin planning how to contribute not only to my family and savings but also to causes very close to my heart.
With Sincere Gratitude,
Heather B.
From the mountains of Colorado
Thanks for throwing some hope my way!
Number 17 is especially lucrative. I went a step further and created a website for electricians. Then i worked to rank it on google. Now i get paid every time someone calls the number and i refer it to the electrician i work with. For an idea you can look at our site…www.electricianbirminghamal.com. We arent electricians.
Very true MJ! It’s a way to create a passive income source, which is exactly what you’ve managed to do. It’s good to hear from someone who’s out there proving that these strategies DO work.
Nice! What kind of referral fee do you collect each time?
Excellent post! Never thought some of your list would make money passively. Thank you for sharing, surely i will try some of them.
Nice One, I would like to add another (and very important tip, for my opinion) idea for a passive income. Annuities. you can create yourself a Lifetime Incom Plan. it’s like a privet pensions if you do it the right way. you need to find one that is safe and affordable because lots of them are NOT GOOD (to say the least). the good ones will give you a guaranteed income for life.
so I’m calling here to everyone to learn the subject deeply.
That’s a good one Matan. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to recommend annuities to everyone, but they are a passive income source – or at least good annuities are.
I have been looking into getting onto the US scene, especially on the idea of wealth management portfolios but I’m a Bruneian and not living in the U.S. The tips you offered are great but do you have any suggestions or ideas for us international investors who would like to get a slice of that delicious cake called ‘financial freedom’ as well?
Hi Daniel – A lot of these ideas aren’t limited to US residents. You can take advantage of any of the online business ideas from your own country. And perhaps you can invest in certain businesses or real estate as a partner with a US resident. The financial investments may be limited since many brokers do require US residency.
All I can say is “Oh My God”.
Jeff this list is terrific!!!!
I can usually sale anything and with this information WOW!!!.
I am inspired & encouraged to think creatively.
I have so many ideas of how to utilize this list.
I am thrilled here. Thanks so much.
For real estate it drives me crazy how people with a lot of money and have busy jobs are lured into flipping homes. THIS IS NOT PASSIVE. So dumb.
I invest in turnkey and low hassle income rental property and it works with my busy w2 job.
I think you may be right Lane, at least in regard to flipping houses. But if you buy, hold and rent out the properties it leans more passive.
Most of these are NOT passive income. Just jobs.
Hi Sergio – You may have a point on 4, 6 and 8, but the rest involve truly passive ideas, or ones in which you create a product then market it and earn money passively from it. And even with 4, 6 and 8 you’re basically monetizing skills you have and probably do anyway.
I learned your 4,6 or 8 points,
Most of these are NOT passive income. Just jobs.
Aren’t get any passive income.
These so called expert flippers” go from town to town promising free workshops. Then they put on an emotionally charged prep rally. Before you know it, you have whipped out your check book and paying huge fees for their system. Folks read and learn. The library is free.
Kevin
I’m a South African College Lecturer and I intend on leaving my job to find a career online as I realise that I can’t continue earning an income the same way my grandmother did. So I’m on the hunt for online income generating opportunities. This article has been helpful and I have booked marked it. I have started my journey with buying bitcoins, joining a social financial community: MMM, and now am looking to add to my list Blogging, Youtubing, Creating an App/s, creating an online course, creating online guides. Your article has proven very helpful and excellent in many regards….I will use it as a reference guide. Thanks a lot.
Best and most complete list I have come across. I think I will try a few of them. Thank You for helping others get out of thier nightmare jobs.
This has been the most useful article to me. Thank you
Great passive income ideas. Thanks for sharing!
Great compilation of passive income sources. I am currently working on a few of them at this time. More specifically Dividend Growth Investing, Real Estate Investing and Website Investing. Though, the biggest thing I like with passive income is you work once at that one thing and reap from it hopefully forever.
Keep up the good work!
So far rocking out 4 of these ideas, but need to step it up as the internet is changing. Good choices and I wonder how many passive income sources the average person gets?
I have and idea for an online course, but what technology do I need to be familiar with in order to accomplish?
@Ellen Take a look at Teachable.com. By far one of the best sites you can use to build a course (I just built my first one through there). They have a free option where you can test it out and see how it works which I utilized until I was ready to sell my course.
@Ellen Take a look at Teachable. I used it to create my first course and it’s awesome.
This is an excellent list. I would like to add self directed investing in the stock options market. Depending on the system you employ it can come with a large learning curve. However the upside once you get over the curve is tremendous.
My interest in passive income began when when I was at elementary school. I’m astonished –people will actually give me money for doing nothing? I’m trying to live by passive income ever since. Not there quite yet but good right now, also your good articles and ideas put new ways in front of me.
Fereydoon –
would you care to share some of your ideas, as to how you are generating passive income? always interested in how others are achieving it.
What are your passive income resources Fereydoon?
Great article but #8 is a little light on sourcing and selling ideas for physical products: If you have unwanted clothing and/or broken/used electronics and accessories, eBay is still the top marketplace to turn that into cash. You can sell new/used electronics, toys, and books on Amazon for top dollar. If you’re crafty (get ideas from most-pinned holiday craft photos on Pinterest), you can sell on Etsy.com. Sellers on each platform can get started on a shoestring. Good luck!
Great advice Jordan.
My candid opinion many of us just refused to key in to this great wealth making machines(internet medium) for the following reasons:
1. Wanting to do all things at the same time. This is what i call scattered energy. Directionless purpose.
2.Procrastination—The biggest thief of all time, that is still at large hoping to be caught and nipped in the bud someday.
My advice =Do-It-Now.
I have done or am doing 10 of these 23–not too bad, I think! Several here that never crossed my mind and sound appealing. Thanks Jeff!
Excellent ideas! It’s always tempting to pick up a part-time job because the money is immediate. However, if you are willing to be patient and invest your time, the rewards are significantly higher.
These are really good tips that work! Personally, I am focusing on increasing my subscriber list to 10k+ and then I want to launch an ecourse. I think the online product space is really great, but I want to first have the appropriate audience. I’m always trying to think bigger because my law school debt is so big!!
Passive income streams are defnitely an area where I have not put any attention, and need to do so some day soon. Good list of ideas here, I’ll for sure be back to reference this soon!
I’m always interested in earning more passive income. One thing I did was buy a website and hire someone to run it. I keep a hands-off approach on it and only put in maybe an hour/month. It’s worked out pretty well. I’m also exploring more things like a book and I’ve already created a course.
@Cat – Where did you find were the best places to find a blog to purchase?
Thanks
Brad
Amazing. Even i am looking for some people who are interested to work with me so that we can build passive income and help people invest on earth which can go a long way in the near future.