Whether you are an individual who wants to create a side-hustle or a company that would like to make extra money using what they already have, passive income streams are the way to go. A passive income stream is something that requires a one-time set it up, a little upkeep and promotion, and then letting the cash come in. There are many different ways to earn this way, and here are our seven favorite passive income streams.
Sell Information Products
Information products are digital products such as eBooks, video tutorials, and reports that you can easily create and distribute online. Typically, these will offer the viewer/reader various tips, teaching them how to solve various problems they face.
It takes some work upfront to create these information products, but once it’s published, it creates a passive income every time a person buys it.
The beauty of this is, these can be used in a sales funnel to help “introduce” your company, or warm up a relationship with a potential buyer AND help you make money!
Affiliate marketing is basically a fancy phrase for “making a commission on a referral”. Ultimately, this involves selling the products of other vendors to your colleagues and customers. In a nutshell, you would sign up on an affiliate network, choose products that would offer value to your audience, and then promote them. Then, when a product or a service is sold, thanks to you, you will receive a commission!
Note that, sometimes the commission comes in the form of actual payment, while others may earn discounts. If you earn a discount on a service/product that you have to buy often, this IS worth it. It may not be cash money, but it is saving you money!
Podcasting
Create a podcast where you discuss topics of interest to your audience and interview experts in your niche. There are several ways to monetize a podcast including selling your own products, promoting affiliate products, selling advertising spots, or offering premium episodes.
Just note, this is one of the passive income streams that will take more time to grow. But, it can pay off big in the end. Also, you can view it as another marketing outlet, as well!
Create an App
Is there some everyday problem your audience faces that a handy app would help? Once you finish the work of creating an app and working out the bugs, you can sell it for a passive income. If you’re not a programmer, create the plan and design for your app and you can hire a programmer to develop it for you.
Now, this option could be expensive for you on the front end. I strongly suggest looking into this before you dive in headfirst! Really determine what people could use, a marketing strategy, and then determine if the possible income could outweigh the upfront fees.
Dropshipping
With dropshipping, you can create an ecommerce store to sell products in your niche. What makes it convenient is that you don’t need to hold and manage stock, which eliminates any overhead cost. When orders are placed, the supplier ships out the product directly to your customers.
This one is amazing! But you WILL need to create a good marketing campaign to boost the visits to your site, and increase the sales.
With dropshipping, you can create an ecommerce store to sell products in your niche. What makes it convenient is that you don’t need to hold and manage stock, which eliminates any overhead cost. When orders are placed, the supplier ships out the product directly to your customers.
This one is amazing! But you WILL need to create a good marketing campaign to boost the visits to your site, and increase the sales.
Online Courses
Create an online course teaching something you know how to do that most people do not. It can be anything from playing guitar to setting up an online business, getting started doing yoga or even teaching higher mathematics (students and parents alike might LOVE this one!). The key is that you create the course once, then make it available for anyone to take online at any time. There are many platforms available to sell your courses on, and they’re only growing in popularity.
Stock Content
If you like photography, you can put your photos on stock image websites like Shutterstock. You can decide how much you earn per image and businesses will purchase, download, and use them. Once you post an image there, you’ll get paid each time someone buys it.
Final Thoughts
Every type of passive income is different, but they all work in basically the same way. It takes a bit of work to plan and set up, but once you’re up and running, you’ll be able to earn extra income!
Pro tip:
Do not expect this to happen overnight, and go in with realistic expectations. You will likely not be making millions of dollars in one month. It will take time!