You’ve most likely heard the saying “Earn money while you sleep.” This is perhaps the most compelling reason for people to generate passive income. Passive income is money that you earn without having to do a lot of “active” work to keep it coming in.
Why You Should Earn Passive Income
Whether you’re running a side business or just wanting to make a little extra money on the side, passive income can be a great approach to help you produce extra cash flow. Passive income can help you earn more during the good times and function as a buffer if you are suddenly laid off or deliberately take time off work.
How to Make Money While You Sleep
This is a lengthy list, although it is far from exhaustive. Each of the passive income ideas listed falls into one of the following categories:
- Own something that will increase in value over time
- Create or purchase something that people want to pay for
- Earn extra money by doing what you’re already doing
Most techniques for generating money while sleeping need some initial labor, but if you stick with it, you’ll soon be producing money passively.
The following are some suggestions to help generate passive income. However, do note that not every recommendation is suitable for everyone. I also recommend you conduct additional research on these passive income ideas before putting them into action.
Start a YouTube Channel
Starting a YouTube channel may be a great way to achieve financial independence and generate passive money while you sleep.
Every time somebody views your videos, you can earn money by displaying ads in your videos. You can also earn a profit through affiliate marketing and selling your items through your video content. The only secret is to attract a huge number of subscribers by uploading quality content or appealing videos. Many regular YouTubers have become millionaires simply by uploading videos on YouTube.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of several blog monetization techniques used to make money by bloggers. When a given product or firm is listed in your blog articles and a reader clicks on that link and purchases something, you earn a minimal fee, usually called affiliate revenue.
Weeks, months, or years after posting these connections, people might still click and generate income for you. Before earning money with affiliate marketing, you must first put a significant amount of time and work into your site. Before using affiliate networks, you must first expand your audience and page views to a specific level. No magic number can be found; it depends on your blog.
Dropshipping
If you have an e-commerce website that offers products of certain manufacturers, when somebody orders that product through your website, the system just forwards that order to the respective manufacturer, and you get a commission on every sale. Shopify is the most popular platform for creating online stores that offer drop shipping. The best part of dropshipping is that without even touching the product, you earn a considerable profit.
Start a Blog
One of the most popular strategies to earn a passive income is to start a blog. You will need to take some time to set up your website, buy a domain name, pay for hosting, and so on. You will also need to generate great content that people would like to read or share.
Once you’ve established a following, you may begin earning money from your blog by:
- Earning commission through affiliate marketing: This is where you promote the products or services of others on your website. Make sure that your blog’s products or services are relevant. That accounting blog, for example, might become an affiliate for accounting or invoicing software. When you discover an affiliate partner, you will be given a unique code that will allow you to earn a commission anytime a visitor clicks on that link on your site.
- Selling advertising: If your site seems to have enough traffic to be an affiliate, it could also be good enough for marketers to buy advertisements on your site. You may begin by generating less than $20 for each ad. However, you may be able to charge triple digits in the future. Again, your website must be of high quality.
- Sponsorships: This is not the same as just selling advertising on your website. Sponsorships can be as simple as a one-time piece of sponsored content or as complex as a permanent branding buried in your footer.
Create Software
Creating software may take some time at first, but because you may sell it indefinitely, your efforts have the potential to grow into a source of passive revenue. If your product adds value for your consumers, whether you design it yourself or employ a professional software developer, it may be a valuable source of revenue.
It would undoubtedly take time to build, but once it’s released on a digital marketplace like the Apple App Store, there’s nothing left to do but watch the money roll in.
Domain Flipping
In short, domain flipping entails purchasing and reselling domain names for a profit. However, you can’t do it with just any domain name. It must be a domain name with the potential to be valuable, meaning that someone would be willing to pay more for it than you paid for it.
There are four steps to flipping domains, which are:
- Search for a domain worth buying.
- Register the domain name.
- Find a buyer willing to buy the domain for more than you paid for it.
- Sell the domain once you’ve reached an agreement with the buyer.
Flipping domains is a great method to make a passive income. Some domains may fetch well over six figures.
Sell Online Courses
Selling online courses may be a successful way to generate passive money online. To get started with this passive revenue strategy, you’ll need to choose a subject that sells, and create a course that people would want to pay for. Initially, recording or writing an online course with quality content is arduous work, like creating videos, writing articles and eBooks. But once they are launched, they require no maintenance aside from updating content that might become old or irrelevant.
You will need to choose where you want to host and sell your courses online. You can use a learning marketplace platform like Udemy, Teachable, or Masterclass. You can also create membership-based courses on websites like ClickFunnels.
Webinars
These are, of course, not live but automated webinars. Automated webinars run round the clock. You need something to offer digitally. They are also used to sell things like consulting services and coaching. People pay for ticketing and join the value content.
Generate Passive Income from a Podcast
Podcasting may be a fun way to earn money and provide a new revenue stream for your business. You’ll need to put in a lot of work at first to build your audience, but after you’ve built a devoted following, it may be simple to earn revenue each month. Several methods generate money with podcasting, including show sponsors, affiliate marketing, and an associated website.
The entire process of getting started may be completed in a matter of hours, making it an excellent way to increase your passive income. To begin, you should choose a topic or specialty to discuss. Always do your research to ensure there’s an audience that wants to hear what you have to say. Choose a topic you are passionate about so that the process of producing a podcast is pleasurable.
Because your podcast would be available 24 hours a day, you will be able to earn money while you sleep, through affiliate offers and other means.
Make a Membership Group
Suppose you’ve established yourself as an authority figure. In that case, you may build a membership group for which subscribers pay a monthly fee to obtain high-quality content and information that non-members do not have access to. It will generate passive revenue through a membership group that discusses such things as how to earn money by trading penny stocks.
Author a Book
If you want to generate some passive income and enjoy writing, releasing a book may be a fantastic approach. You have to commit a great deal of time and labor to write your book, but once it’s done, you can quietly generate money every night.
If you want to self-publish your book through sites like Amazon, the financial commitment for this technique might be relatively minimal. When your book is released, you may make passive money every time someone buys it.
You can figure out how much money you can make by doing some easy calculations. If you sell five books every day and make $5 per book, your monthly total would be $750. Not bad, considering you can earn money while sleeping!
Create an App
If you know how to code, you may develop a simple app to sell on app marketplaces. You may also hire a developer and a designer to perform the work for you. Some people will work for a profit split, while others may demand money upfront. If your software is successful, you will be earning sales at all hours of the day, and anything beyond the cost of getting started is profit. Keep in mind that multiple payment mechanisms exist for applications.
You may sometimes make more money with a “freemium” model, in which parts of the software are free, rather than by charging for initial app access. You may also discover how to select the best financial app to create by examining the market prospects.
Sell on Amazon FBA
Fulfillment by Amazon (also known as FBA) is another online business strategy similar to dropshipping. You do have a product to sell here, but you are not responsible for its distribution. You authorize Amazon to distribute your goods, and they will also list them on Amazon.com.
Create an Amazon selling account and add your product listings. The items are then shipped to an Amazon warehouse for storage. Once Amazon has your items, they handle all of the distribution when they sell. It is your responsibility to market your items.
The drawback of FBA is that you must pay Amazon fees to distribute your items, but the rest of the revenue is yours to keep. You will also have to deal with customers and all of the problems that come with them (such as refunds). Nonetheless, as compared to affiliate marketing, you will get a significantly higher percentage of each sale.
Dropshipping and FBA are pretty similar, but the main distinctions are that drop shippers sell from their site and never see the items. In contrast, FBA-ers sell on Amazon and may quality control the products before putting them into the Amazon warehouse.
Launch an E-Commerce Business
Launching an e-commerce business is one of the most popular methods for many entrepreneurs to generate passive income these days. While it will take a significant amount of time and effort on your part to establish a genuinely profitable e-commerce company, you can automate all processes later on and enjoy money pouring into your bank account.
Earnings depend entirely on your product and marketing efforts; nonetheless, many e-commerce firm owners claim annual profits in the six figures. The good news is you don’t need any technical expertise to start an e-commerce firm or create your internet store, without breaking the bank.
Sell Music Rights
Do you have the ability to compose music? If so, you may be able to earn some passive money from this skill. The problem is that not everyone who can create songs wants to sing and perform them.
As a result, selling music rights is a thriving industry. When musicians are experiencing writer’s block, they are always on the lookout for exceptional songwriters to provide them with content.
If you can create music, you have the option of selling all of your music rights or earning royalties on your tunes over time. This means that even though the music will no longer be under your name, you will still receive a commission every time it is played.
Sell Stock Content
Book and magazine publishers’ websites use images like photographs, illustrations, and other artwork and pay a permission fee to the owner of that stock content. This is the price of your creativity. Stock content also includes music sound effects and videos.
Design and Sell Custom Merchandise
You may design graphics to sell on shirts, posters, coffee mugs, caps, phone covers, and other items for creative individuals seeking a way to make passive money.
Create WordPress Plugins and Themes
WordPress powers millions of websites, and they all rely on plugins and themes to power their content. You may build and sell your plugins and themes on websites. If you’re unsure where to start coding, you can outsource and still generate money from another passive income stream.
Become an Influencer
Many companies are starting to see influencer marketing value as a robust social media marketing tool. If you have an engaging following on social media, brands will often pay you to put up several posts and make videos of you, using the product. You can act as their brand ambassador. Often businesses spend a considerable amount for marketing purposes and you can offer your services.
Being a social media influencer isn’t relatively passive, but it is a side business that needs significantly less effort than regular employment.
Start an Online Print on Demand (POD) Store
Another unique way to earn money while you sleep is by a creative design printed on different products like t-shirts, cups, hats, etc., and selling them to people online or in physical stores. You only have to create a design that attracts people’s attention and get it printed.
What kinds of items can you offer using a POD model?
- Notebooks
- Cases for mobile phones
- T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies
- Bags
- Stickers
- Any other product that may be customized with a custom print
Buy Stocks
Investing in high-paid dividend stocks is one of the most frequent techniques for generating money and earning a stable income. When investing in stocks, you should look for dependable companies that pay out substantial dividend yields to their owners. Some of the stock investments will give you dividends of up to 10% each year. That is an incredible return for a completely passive income approach.
In addition to these significant dividends, there is a chance that the stock price may grow, boosting your entire worth. Some people have amassed enough compound interest to retire and live exclusively on dividend earnings.
You should then decide whether or not to reinvest your dividend profits to compound your interest. Wealthy individuals view money as a tool to help them make more money. They prioritize the payment of their assets and utilize the proceeds from their assets to purchase obligations. Their capital is safeguarded in perpetuity. As a result, they continue to amass money indefinitely.
Invest in Real Estate and Rent it Out
This is by far one of the most beneficial ways to earn money while sleeping. This technique, however, needs a bit more effort and start-up cost to get it to work for you. This approach simply entails investing in real estate. Then you rent out that real estate to people who need a place to live and are ready to pay you a monthly fee to reside in your home.
Without question, after you’ve secured property and a tenant for that home, you’ll be making money while you sleep. There will undoubtedly be days when you will need to be engaged in issues that emerge from being a landlord, but it will not be something you will have to spend hours on every day of the week. This money will be even more passive if you employ a property manager.
Here are three methods to generate money with real estate while you sleep:
- Property for Rent: With rental revenue, you may boost your monthly cash flow. This might be either residential or business.
- Fix and Flips: In this case, you buy homes that need work, then fix them up and resell them for a profit.
- REITs: That is an abbreviation for Real Estate Investment Trust. Several real estate investment companies use the investors’ money and own a collection of properties. REITs work by gathering groups of small investors and paying them dividends of profit they earn. The company generates profit by renting and then selling the property.
If you want to earn in this way, choose to invest in trusts that build apartments buildings, business complexes, and skyscrapers.
Invest in Crowdfunded Real Estate
Crowdfunded real estate is a great way to start making money without having to work.
You may invest in commercial and residential real estate through crowdfunding sites, just like you would in a rental property. Crowdfunding platforms enable you to invest in a wide range of real estate holdings to increase your money.
Open a High-Yield Savings Account
Another method to make money work for you is to put it in a high-yield savings account. A typical savings account pays approximately 0.01 percent in interest.
Meanwhile, a high-yield bank account pays a higher value of interest than a typical savings account. Check your bank to look for available options they are offering, then let your high-yield bank account work and earn you interest. These accounts are 100% more profitable than regular saving accounts when it comes to the interest rate.
Peer-To-Peer Lending
When it comes to lending, banks frequently have stringent policies in place. As a result, many firms and entrepreneurs are turned down by banks because they are judged “too risky.” Peer-to-peer lending may be a great method to generate passive money.
You may lend money to start-up firms and people via peer-to-peer lending without putting strict rules on them as banks do. Safe peer-to-peer lending sites will charge you a reasonable interest rate on the amount you owe them. You might earn money in this manner while sleeping.
Royalties
Royalties are most commonly linked with books and music, and they are received as a proportion of sales. For example, if you write a book, a publisher may offer to publish it and pay you royalties (a portion of the sale) for each volume sold. This is the most elusive of all passive income alternatives. First and foremost, obtaining a publisher or another firm to acquire and sell your creative work is difficult. Furthermore, the amount you receive every sale is sometimes relatively little, for example, a few cents on a $10 transaction. Finally, at least in the book publishing industry, royalties are often given only every 6 months and only if you have out-earned whatever advance you may have gotten. An advance is similar to a loan that must be repaid.
Self-publishing, where you are the publisher, is another alternative. Royalty fees for self-publishing an e-book through a shop like Amazon are often higher (30% to 70%) and are paid monthly. There is no advance, and you will need to spend money on editing and other book preparation services, but you may discover that you make more in the long term.
Rental of Self-Storage Units
Self-storage rental units are an excellent investment. As our purchasing habits expand, we all want more room to store our belongings. As a result, the demand for storage facilities is rapidly growing. The most excellent part about investing in storage rentals is that you will seldom need to see them personally. This is partly because customers who frequently use your services seek a location to store their belongings for extended periods. It’s one of the most appealing tricks on the list.
Though purchasing the physical facility and installing security measures takes cash, storage rents will quickly repay your investment.
Purchase an Existing Business
Existing firms already have employees with defined roles, a procedure and a customer base.
You know precisely how much profit you can expect, as opposed to starting a new business and investing your time and money in the hope that it will succeed one day. Existing firms are also already managed internally; you’d just be the owner, so your employees would essentially be doing the work for you.
However, established firms demand far more investment capital than start-ups. The cost of an established business varies from business to business, ranging from tens of thousands to a few million dollars.
Make Yourself a Product
Perhaps you’ve achieved personal success or are well on your way, and you’ve noticed a plethora of intriguing chances to market yourself as a brand. When you position yourself as the authority in your target market, you can create products and services to capitalize on this trust, while assisting those with problems you can address uniquely.
If you have an inspirational tale or successful secrets to offer, you might transform your experience into a video series, a blog, or a book to make money while you sleep. In any of these cases, you put in the hard work upfront, create a marketing mix, and then simply collect the revenue, while moving on to your next job. In addition to immediately making revenue from one of these items, you’ll realize that these products may substantially enhance your brand’s exposure, therefore increasing sales for your firm. In the end, you will not only have profited by creating a new income stream, but you will also have boosted an existing stream through any current firm operations.
Sell Physical Products
There are numerous methods to generate a passive income by selling physical items, just like a blogging site. One of the most well-known methods is to sell your old stuff on eBay or Amazon. You can sell your own products or you can dropship.
You may also use such a platform to build your e-commerce store. They provide you with everything you need to sell items online, from an entire online store to purchase buttons on your social media platforms.
Start a Vending Machine Business
Vending machines in public locations serve food and beverages to individuals on the go. If vending machines are strategically located, they may be pretty profitable. In this sector, positioning is the key to success. Vending machines are generally best positioned in public spaces where numerous people routinely pass by. The business of vending machines is almost effortless. To make it successful, place the vending machines in prominent spots and fill them with what is in demand in the respective areas.
Sell Public Label Rights (PLR)
Selling PLR is a one-time effort. Just create content like articles and videos and sell them again and again to different buyers. You can get paid many times for one piece of writing.
Rent Out Baby Gear
Infants grow quickly, leaving behind expensive gear you have no use for. Often families rent baby gear while traveling. You can earn a handsome amount of money by offering baby gear for rent.
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is another chance at investment, but first, you need to learn all the pros and cons of digital currency. Many people have failed but some investors have earned huge profits from Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Host Airbnb
Through Airbnb Experiences, you can host events, meetups, and tours in your city and receive a rental income.
