When most of making money, they tend to think of it the old-fashioned way: exchanging your time and effort for a wage or salary. If you work harder and for longer, you’ll make more money.
But, imagine for a moment, that you didn’t have to put in a lot of work or miss out on time with your family and friends to increase your income. That’s where passive income comes into play.
Passive income, at its simplest, is earned without the active participation of the person bringing in the money. This doesn’t mean it comes without effort entirely. But, after putting in most of your work upfront, you can largely sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. There are a lot of ways to go about generating passive income but a few stand out as particularly effective.
Digital Products
If you have access to a computer with an internet connection, you can create and sell digital products. This is a great passive income stream for creatives, who can put their talents towards prints and other artwork, like coloring pages, patterns for crochet, cross-stitch, or knitting, or printable planning sheets. You could even make and sell stock photos to bring in more income. But you don’t need a graphic design background or artistic ability to utilize digital products to generate passive income. Other options include online courses, ebooks, or even apps and software.
Real Estate
It’s not for everyone, but managing a rental property (or several) is one of the best passive income ideas there is. Even a spare room can bring in rental income if you don’t want to invest in an entire property upfront. The biggest key to being successful at using real estate investments to generate extra income is to keep your tenants happy. Too many landlords fall into the negative stereotype of collecting rent, avoiding repairs and concerns, and generally neglecting the wellbeing of their renters. Don’t be the landlord that no one likes: check in with the people living in your rental property, respect their privacy, and fix any issues promptly. This might require a little more effort than some passive income streams, but it will pay off with happier tenants who are easier to deal with.
Investing
One of the most passive of the passive income streams out there, a smart investor can make an initial investment and promptly begin collecting extra income. Not sure of how to get started? Finding the right investment platform is key to the best experience with the greatest return. For example, Yieldstreet tailors its products to your life and income generation goals. If you want to bring in more money with only passive activity, their alternative investments will offer a generous, innovative income stream with minimal effort.
Affiliate Marketing
By utilizing affiliate marketing, you’ll promote other people’s products in exchange for a commission. Essentially, you’ll create an audience through a platform like a blog, podcast, YouTube channel, or social media profile. Include your affiliate links (and the required disclosures) on your site or other platforms to drive sales to the product, and you’ll earn based those sales. For an extra boost to your passive income, consider adding advertisements to your platform of choice—you’ll earn based on clicks or views.
Purchases Generating Income
If you have funds to spare you can invest in a product that will then generate passive income on your behalf. For example, a vending machine placed in a high-traffic area will catch the eye of passersby to generate sales. This can be as large or as small an investment as you like: an automatic carwash will bring in passive funds following significant investment, while making your regular purchases through a cashback site or app will generate a small profit for no more cost but what you would have spent otherwise.
Done right, passive income ideas like these can make as much money as your full-time job brings in, with less time and effort on your part. Revamp your personal financial situation with passive income and your cash flow will quickly grow.
