Make money without doing much sounds too good to be true. In most cases, it is. However, making passive income without much effort is possible if you know how to approach the problem. If you’re in need of some extra cash but don’t have the time to pick up part-time gigs, testing out passive income streams can make a huge difference.
Before we take a look at various ways to make money while you sleep, keep in mind that most passive income streams are never really passive. You might not spend a lot of time working on it, but the ones I’m about to tell you still does take a little bit of effort to set up. If done successfully though, you can hopefully set it, forget it, and watch the money roll in. Let’s take a look at six ways you can start earning passive income today:
Invest in Real Estate
Investing in a real estate property can be a great way to earn semi-passive income, though it can also be the toughest and riskiest. Real estate investments take a lot of work up front and require some upkeep but there can also be huge upside. Aside from rental income, potential property value appreciation can provide a significant return to your capital too. The key is to do the homework and only buy cash flow positive properties from the get go, or else you might be in a world of hurt.
Write an eBook
If you’re an expert in something, consider writing an eBook. Selling an eBook online is fairly easy to set up, either on your own website or through Amazon and requires little to zero effort after the book is done. The more focused and niche the topic is, the better since you will have less competition.
You’ll need some way to market the book though. Many people successfully promote their work naturally through their blog. Word of mouth is also a great way to increase book sales. A book can be an awesome additional stream of income for those who are already building a name for themselves through their primary line of work.
Rent Out Your Things
You probably have plenty of tools and appliances lying around you don’t need or rarely use. There are plenty of people looking to rent out these types of items, particularly if they only need it for a short time and don’t want to spend the money buying their own. Listing expensive tools for rent on Craigslist can get you some extra cash, so take the time to dig out your collection and start charging rent!
Create an Online Store
Setting up an online store may seem like a lot of work at first glance, but it really depends on what you want to sell. To create passive income from an online store, you can consider drop shipping. That’s when vendors will ship the products direct to your customer. You sort of act as the middle man, hosting the site and making sure it runs smoothly. If you can set it up correctly and find products with a high demand, it can be a very effective stream of passive income.
Get Cash for Online Searches
Almost everyone searches online for something everyday. Next time you do it, try going through an online rewards program like Swagbucks. Companies like these will give you cash or gift cards for searching through their website. The amount you earn for each search will be small, but it can add up over time.
Start a Blog
Running a blog is not always passive. In fact, it can take a lot of time. But there are certainly ways you can leverage a blog to create passive income, such as writing and selling an eBook we mentioned earlier. Articles can consistently generate income through Google Adsense or affiliate programs. The key is creating content that users need and will search for.
Editor’s Note: I’ll be the last to tell you that running a blog is passive income, because I’ve spent a massive amount of hours building MoneyNing.com. Yet, some people manage to build websites that keep earning income with only a bit of upfront effort. Income is mildly correlated with effort, but it doesn’t mean that the build and forget strategy isn’t viable.
What is one passive income stream you’ve tried? Was it a success?
Editor's Note: I've begun tracking my assets through Personal Capital. I'm only using the free service so far and I no longer have to log into all the different accounts just to pull the numbers. And with a single screen showing all my assets, it's much easier to figure out when I need to rebalance or where I stand on the path to financial independence.
They developed this pretty nifty 401K Fee Analyzer that will show you whether you are paying too much in fees, as well as an Investment Checkup tool to help determine whether your asset allocation fits your risk profile. The platform literally takes a few minutes to sign up and it's free to use by following this link here. For those trying to build wealth, Personal Capital is worth a look.
{ read the comments below or add one }
I am 66 and have no retirement.Looking for passive income,can you help?
Great article about finding (mostly) passive forms of income. I’ve been looking for more passive ways to increase my investment portfolio, but haven’t yet taken the plunge into buying a second property- it’s on the list though! I like the idea of renting out expensive tools/items on Craigslist, though I would like to hear from someone who has tried it and how successful it was…ie. how many items come back broken…
frugalrockfinance.blogspot.com
Property management can be lucrative but it’s not for everybody. I will stick with my REITs and deal with the volatility for now. 🙂
I’ve worked full time as an engineer for over two decades, and the only side-income I’ve ever pursued is from stock trading. Not day-trading, I aim for long-term mean-reversion bets on thinly traded small cap stocks whose share price has collapsed. My rationale is that market efficiency scales with market cap, so there’s little opportunity in the index-fund names where analyst coverage is dense. The opposite end of the size spectrum has what I think are the greatest rewards– and risks from adverse selection.
I’ll bet over the years I’ve spent more time reading through financial statements on Edgar than you have setting up your blog, so mine isn’t really passive income either, although I don’t take any active role in the companies whose shares I buy. I would say, though, that unlike writing for a blog, I enjoy digging through the numbers on income and cash flow reports and deciding what to speculate on. It’s nice to diversify my analytical bandwidth doing something that is completely separate from my day job.
Success-wise I’d say it’s mixed– I think I’ve beaten the index averages, but by only a small margin so my return on hours spent is pretty low. But at least it’s better than the negative returns I’d be getting entertaining myself at the shopping mall!
It’s nice to hear from someone who is able to beat the averages. One good news you should know is that even though your effective “wage” is pretty low for your pursuit for higher returns, there’s also entertainment value with the time spent and that counts for something.