31 Passive Income Ideas to Build Wealth for Beginners!

31 Passive Income Ideas to Build Wealth for Beginners (2024)

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The phrase “making money while you sleep” sounds good, doesn’t it? After all, one of the goals of financial independence and financial freedom is to build wealth that doesn’t take up too much of your time, so you can enjoy life and do the things you want to do.

In reality, building a passive income stream isn’t usually easy at first. Either time, money, or skills are needed, or all three. But where to begin?

The first step is to save money that you can use later.

This is your retirement fund. We’ll talk about this again.

A short-term benefit of building multiple passive income streams is that it can make you more resilient and better able to handle economic shocks, like the housing crisis in 2008 or the COVID-19 pandemic.

Table Of Contents
  1. Passive income is a long-term choice that requires trade-offs in the short term.
  2. How does Passive Income work?
  3. The most important rule for passive income is to take care of your time.
  4. What Doesn't Qualify as Passive Income?
  5. Examples: What is and isn't passive income?
  6. How to Begin Generating Passive Income
  7. 31 Passive Income Strategies
  8. 1. Purchase and Invest in Real Estate
  9. 2. Peer-to-Peer Lending
  10. 3. Invest in High-Yield Savings Accounts
  11. 4. Invest in the stock market in a passive way
  12. 5. Put money into CDs
  13. 6. Purchase a Blog or Website
  14. 7. Invest in a Company
  15. 8. Create a Blog
  16. 9. Make an online course or a guide.
  17. 10. Sell an E-book:
  18. 11. Offer Stock Photos for Sale
  19. 12. Music Licensing
  20. 13. Create a product or app that you can sell.
  21. 14. Establish Yourself as a Social Media Influencer
  22. 15. Instacart delivery
  23. 16. UberEats delivery
  24. 17. Rent a Car
  25. 18. Lease Your RV
  26. 19. Rental Income from Your Residence
  27. 20. Work as a Rideshare Driver
  28. 21. Use Your Car to Advertise
  29. 22. Participate in Opinion Polls
  30. 23. Network Marketing
  31. 24. Sleep Studies Pay You to Sleep
  32. 25. Sell Items on eBay
  33. 26. Amazon Dropshipping
  34. 27. Refinance Your Home or Pay Off Debt
  35. 28. Look for Online Rebates
  36. 29. Rent Your Tools 
  37. 30. Buy and Sell Domain Names
  38. 31. Provide Lesson Plans for Teachers
  39. 5 Services to Assist You in Outsourcing Your Business
  40. How Do You Make Passive Income?
  41. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Passive Income
  42. More from the Wealthy Creative blog:
Build Wealth Without the Hustle: 31 Proven Passive Income Ideas and Strategies for Beginners!
Small Steps, Big Results: Your Roadmap to Passive Income as a Beginner!

Start Investing in Real Estate with ONLY $5 by using an app called Landa. Click Here to Start Investing with Landa Today!

Passive income is a long-term choice that requires trade-offs in the short term.

If you are willing to put your money and time into the steps and ideas below, you could easily earn residual income for many years.

You just need to know where to start and how much money you are willing to put into your ideas for passive income.

In this post, I’ll explain what passive income is and show you how to set up multiple streams of passive income.

Let’s get going now. Putting money into real estate is the best way to start making money without doing anything. When you look at the richest investors around the world, real estate is one of the things they own most often.

It’s okay if you don’t have millions or even thousands to start out. You only need $5 to begin investing in real estate using an app called Landa! Or, you can invest as little as $10 in a company called Fundrise and start making money right away.

How does Passive Income work?

Passive income is money that someone makes without doing much. It can come from any business that doesn’t require much work or upkeep every day.

Let’s look at that in more detail:

  • Passive: means that you don’t have to spend much or any of your most valuable resource, time, on it.
  • Income: is the flow of money that you use in your daily life or put back into the economy.

You should be able to get a full-time job that takes up most of your working hours and still be able to run your passive income streams.

The most important rule for passive income is to take care of your time.

Time is the most important thing when it comes to passive income. You can make money in many ways, but not all of them are passive.

I’m all for you actively building a business or side gig, but for the income stream to be truly passive, it must require less and less effort to make money, until it requires no effort at all (or very little to maintain).

For example, if it takes you two hours to make $100 today and the same two hours to make $100 next week or in a year, that stream of income is not passive because it requires the same amount of work (money, time, etc.).

On the other hand, it takes some work to open an investment account today. But as that account grows and I check it four times a year, my returns go up and my work goes down.

If I make an online course, it’s the same. At first, I’m not making any money, and I’m putting in a lot of work. But at first, I put in a lot of work.

Click here to make extra money and build a passive income stream by creating an online course and selling it on Udemy!

Once the course is done, I do a little bit of marketing and client support every week, which takes only a few hours, and sales keep coming in month after month.

Do you see what I mean? Let’s talk about what passive income is not.

Protecting your time is what passive income is all about.

What Doesn’t Qualify as Passive Income?

1. Your job.

Obviously. This is real money. The point of passive income is to help you make more money or to help you quit your job so you can retire, travel, or spend more time with your family.

2. Side Hustles

Side jobs are a great way to make extra cash, but not all of them are passive. Side jobs are usually active, but if you can get them to work like a machine, you might be able to turn them into passive income streams.

If you have to keep putting in the same amount of time (or more) to get the same amount of money, the venture is not passive. Remember that at first, a passive income stream might cost more time, money, or work than it brings in.

You have to think about how the chance to make passive income will work out for you in the long run.

3. Consulting

Consulting is just another job. It’s great as a side gig, but it’s not exactly a passive way to make money. For consulting to be passive, you’ll need to build your business with other people and be able to leave the work behind at some point.

4. Value Investing

This is where I disagree. I don’t think of stock investments that only go up in value as passive income. Why? Because the value of a stock going up is not income.

On the other hand, a passive income strategy is to invest in stable companies that pay dividends.

The difference is whether you get a return on your cash or only when you sell the investment.

Price speculation is also done with investments like cryptocurrencies and commodities. There are times when these investments should be a part of your portfolio. However, unless you get yields or use grit bot trading, this is not a stable way to make passive income.

What is passive income, and what isn’t passive income?

Examples: What is and isn’t passive income?

Active Side Hustle IncomePassive Income
Consulting by the hourA course on your area of expertise that you sell online
Freelance computer programmingBuilding a program, you can sell over and over
Freelance writingWriting a book
Working constructionInvesting in real estate
Driving for UberRenting out your car
Photography sessionsBuilding your photog Instagram account
Build Wealth Without the Hustle: 31 Proven Passive Income Strategies for Beginners!
From Zero to Income Hero: Your Beginner’s Guide to Passive Income!

How to Begin Generating Passive Income

There is no magic trick that converts your time into money. Instead, you plant seeds to ensure that your money grows even while you’re sleeping or walking your dog in the park.

The first time you invest in passive income can be as involved as starting a blog or as simple as logging into a robo-advisor platform and putting $100 into an investment

You can make passive income if you have a good business plan, are talented as an artist, or just have extra money to invest.

1. Start putting money away

Recall how I said you needed time, money, or skills to generate passive income. Start with the topic of money. Open a high-yield savings account and deposit even $100 there. 

Open a high-yield savings account and deposit even $100 there. Boom, you just made passive income!

Even though the amount may not be large, you will still earn interest on it, and many online banks even give cash rewards for new account openings.

2. Evaluate your expertise

I was a Certified Financial Planner when I founded WealthyCreative, and I wanted to expand my clientele and address common client inquiries. I realized that I could use these abilities to produce excellent content online and that, over time, I could earn money from this blog.

Friends of mine who once traded stocks now run online forums dedicated to their trades or contribute to financial publications. Other friends are developing career websites now that they have mastered management.

What do you excel at? What do you feel strongly about? Make a quick inventory of your skills and look up how others have used them to create income streams.

3. Calculate the cost in time, money, and effort. Be practical in your commitments.

Time is challenging because it is the most limited resource we possess. Attempting to make more money or generate passive income can be a time-consuming trap because it often requires learning new topics or skills. In the short term, you may need to bite the bullet, but your long-term objective is to minimize your time investment.

Are you completely dedicated? Current work, family, and social obligations consume a great deal of time. If you’re short on time, you’ll need to focus more on investing or hiring someone else to complete the task.

In this guide, we’ve labeled each suggestion with a level of effort from 1 to 5, with 5 requiring the most effort, to help you match your current skills with the suggestion.

4. Think and decide

The final step is to write down some ideas and decide how to start. We’ve compiled this list of suggestions to help you get started. Cheers to your wealth and independence

31 Passive Income Strategies

Earn Passive Income Through Financial Investment (Effort Level: 1-2)

1. Invest In Real Estate From The Sofa

2. Peer-to-Peer Lending

3. High-Yield Savings

4. Invest Passively in the Markets

5. Laddering of CDs

6. Purchase a Blog

7. Invest in a Company

Produce Passive Income Through Time Investment (Effort Level: 3-5)

8. Create A Blog

9. Create a guide or online course

10. Sell an E-book

11. Offer Stock Photos for Sale

12. Music Licensing

13. Create a product or app that you can sell

14. Establish Yourself as a Social Media Influencer

Opportunities for Part-Time Income with Minimal Effort

15. Instacart delivery

16. Postmates Delivery

17. Rent a Car

18. Lease Your RV

19. Rent Out Your Property

20. Ridesharing

21. Use Your Car to Advertise

22. Get Paid for Your Opinions

23. Network Marketing

24. Sleep Research

25. eBay Seller

26. Amazon Drop Shipping

Simple Ways to Increase Your Income or Start Saving

27. Debt Refinance

28. Online Discounts

29. Rent Your Equipment

30. Buy or sell domain names

31. Sell lesson plans (to teachers).

1. Purchase and Invest in Real Estate

Level of Effort: 1

Investing in real estate is the best way to generate passive income.

When you look at the world’s wealthiest investors, one of the most common assets they own is real estate.

For a long time, real estate investing has been used to build wealth. It used to require a significant amount of time, personal capital, and expertise, but that is no longer the case.

Real estate investing apps, on the other hand, have democratized access to this asset class, making it easier for you and me to generate no-work, passive income.

If you’re interested in real estate investing, here is an article on how to start investing in real estate that you can read.

Real estate investing resources I recommend include the following:

Fundrise

It’s okay if you don’t have millions or even thousands of dollars to start an investment property. Because you can invest as little as $10 in a company called Fundrise and immediately begin earning passive income.

Fundrise is a REIT (real estate investment trust) specialist. If you live in a high-cost city or don’t have the time to manage a rental property, REITs are a good option.

REITs own and manage income-producing properties, and the profits are distributed to investors. Investing in REITs used to be expensive and time-consuming, but Fundrise has changed all of that.

Fundrise’s minimum investment is only $10.

→ Invest in Real Estate with Fundrise

Roofstock

Here’s another real estate platform for some extra cash. Roofstock is a marketplace where you can buy turnkey single-family homes. The term “turnkey” implies that the numbers have been crunched, the home may have been rehabbed, and tenants may already be present!

All you have to do as the investor is put up the money. Once you buy the house, it is completely yours, and the rental income is paid directly to you.

PURCHASE SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES

RealtyMogul

RealtyMogul is a good middle ground between Fundrise’s REITs and Roofstock’s single-family homes.

Realty Mogul is a real estate crowdfunding platform that pools investors’ funds to buy large-ticket properties (office buildings, retail space, and so on). The starting point is $5,000.

Real estate investing is the best way to generate passive income!

BEGIN WITH REALTY MOGUL

2. Peer-to-Peer Lending

Level of Effort: 1

Peer-to-peer lending, or P2P lending, is one of my favorite types of lending. The concept is to loan money to individuals or businesses. They then pay you back, plus interest.

Assume someone requires a $10,000 loan to consolidate their debt. They open an account with Lending Club, for example, and are given an interest rate on the loan based on their credit history, income, and other factors.

The investor (you) also opens a Lending Club account and purchases the debt. The principal and interest are paid to you in your Lending Club investment account when the borrower makes monthly payments.

P2P lending is underwritten by several companies; some, like Lending Club, facilitate personal loans, while others, like Worthy, facilitate business loans (the process is the same).

Returns are expected to be in the 5% range (depending on platform and loan type). While not exactly stock returns, 5% or higher is significantly higher than most national bank interest rates.

3. Invest in High-Yield Savings Accounts

Level of Effort: 1

Savings accounts may be the most boring investment ever devised, but they are also the most secure passive income option.

To see any real action at 0.15 percent or lower interest, you’d need to exceed the FDIC-insured $250,000 account limit.

However, online savings accounts offer rates that are significantly higher than those offered by traditional banks. Even better, these rates are competitive with CD rates without tying up your money for years.

UFB Direct is currently our favorite high-yield savings account option.

4. Invest in the stock market in a passive way

Level of Effort: 1

Investing in publicly traded stocks and bonds is the most common way for people to accumulate long-term wealth and passive income through their retirement plans or brokerage accounts. The data is good; however, the average person, like you and me, should invest in passive income through ETFs, mutual funds, or index funds with low fees.

You can accomplish this in two ways:

A robo investment advisor allows you to set it and forget it.

Allowing an algorithm to manage your investments is about as passive as it gets. Betterment and other robo-advisors allow you to set your risk tolerance and then sit back and let the income flow. And the fees are significantly lower than those charged by a human account manager. Below is a rundown of a few of the leading robo-advisor platforms.

Betterment has long been a favorite of mine, here is a Betterment investing review you can read.

Betterment is great at lowering any taxes you have to pay on your investments, and their algorithms work with you to provide the best financial advice.

Betterment, unlike other robo-advisors, allows you to speak with a human being if you so desire. Betterment has the same fees as Wealthfront but does not waive the fee on your first $10,000 investment.

>>> GET STARTED WITH BETTERMENT

Select your own Dividend Stocks or ETFs using an online brokerage such as M1 Finance.

By assembling a portfolio of high dividend stocks, you can generate regular passive income at a much higher annual rate than bank investments.

Also, because high dividend stocks are stocks, there is always the possibility of capital appreciation. 

As a result, you can generate passive income from both dividends and capital gains. 

Open an account with any of the brokerages listed below to make this process simple and affordable. Most brokerages no longer charge trading commissions, which saves us a lot of money!

Online brokerages give you more options for selecting which ETFs (and individual stocks) to invest in. Existing online brokers such as TD Ameritrade and E-trade have done very well with low fees for individual stock and bond trades.

M1 Finance, on the other hand, is currently my favorite online broker. They make it extremely simple to invest passively in ETFs and are expanding their portfolio of services to give you seamless access to your money.

GET STARTED WITH M1 FINANCE

5. Put money into CDs

Level of Effort: 1

CDs (or certificates of deposit) are straightforward and simple, and to be honest, they aren’t one of the most exciting passive income ideas or investment strategies available.

However, if you want to make money while you sleep, there is nothing more passive than CDs. Investing in a certificate of deposit is a great low-risk way to earn interest without taking any risks.

CDs are similar to savings accounts, but there is a catch. You can’t touch your funds until they reach maturity, which is determined by the time frame you set when you open the account. This time span can vary from months to years.

Make sure to purchase your CD from an FDIC-insured financial institution (up to $250k is insured), and shop around for the best CD rates. The higher the interest rate paid by the financial institution, the longer the duration of the CD.

FIND THE BEST CD RATES HERE

6. Purchase a Blog or Website

Level of Effort: 2

My partners made several wise investments a few years ago by purchasing blogs created by others and then “monetizing” themWhile it’s not as easy to find a steal these days, there are thriving resell marketplaces for online businesses that connect buyers and sellers.

Every year, thousands of blogs and websites are abandoned by their owners.

If you can buy blogs with a reasonable amount of web traffic and a proven cash flow, it could be an ideal passive income source.

To get the most out of your new blog or website, you’ll need some knowledge of digital marketing. Most blogs use Google AdSense, which provides a monthly revenue stream based on ads placed on the site by Google. There may also be affiliate marketing programs that allow you to earn money online.

In terms of money, blogs typically sell for 24 times their monthly income. So, if the site earns $250 per month, you can probably buy it for less than $6,000.

In other words, a $6,000 investment will generate $3,000 in cash flow per year.

Some sites have good evergreen content that will continue to generate revenue even after the site is no longer active, so a $5,000 investment can net you ongoing passive income.

Bonus tip: If you purchase such a site and then revitalize it with new content, you may be able to increase monthly revenue and sell the site for significantly more than what you paid for it.

Where can you purchase a blog or a website? I recommend purchasing a blog through Flippa. Here are a few quick facts about this fantastic marketplace:

  • This includes everything from small sites to those with millions of visitors.
  • There are currently over 2,000 web-based businesses for sale.
  • Based on a bidding system and completed by the Flippa Escrow program to ensure the safety of your money and business.

My partners continue to purchase web-based businesses through websites such as Flippa and Empire Flippers. There are apps, blogs, SaaS businesses, and online retailer opportunities on those websites that could help you earn extra money.

7. Invest in a Company

Level of Effort: 2 

If you dislike the stock market, investing in tangible assets that you can see, understand, and watch grow over time is a better way to generate passive income.

My preferred method is to invest in a small business. Entrepreneurs are a unique breed, and when you find the right one with the right idea, there is no doubt that money is in their future!

So, how do you get on board? It’s simple: Give them the resources they need to grow.

The platforms and websites listed below connect entrepreneurs and businesses with investors looking for a return.

WORTHY BONDS

  • Details
  • Fixed 5% return by way of bonds

LEARN MORE

STREETSHARES

  • Details
  • Loans focused on Veteran-run business

LEARN MORE

Private business investments are frequently reserved for “high net worth” individuals, but there are other ways to invest in a business. You probably know a local business or two that could benefit from some capital, assistance, or both. You can provide services such as social media consulting or operational consulting in exchange for a percentage of the company’s cash flow. You can purchase a percentage of the company if you have the necessary capital and qualifications.

I’ve made both passive and active private business investments in a variety of industries, including venture capital and local small businesses such as restaurants. This is a fantastic opportunity for passive income!

8. Create a Blog

Level of Effort: 5

My personal favorite! This is how I eventually generated passive income for my family – I started Wealthy Creative!

Blogs and websites are fantastic sources of passive income. However, there is more to making money with a blog than simply posting good content. 

If you’re looking for a low-cost yet highly scalable way to generate passive income for yourself, you should think about starting a blog.

Did you know that you can start a blog for as little as a penny for the first month and only a few dollars per month after that?

Take me to the blog guide!

Here’s the idea: If you can consistently use your blog to provide a lot of value to a lot of people, you can generate a lot of passive income. Whether you put in any extra time or not, your site will start bringing in traffic as you post more and more to your blog.

A blog is the most cost-effective way I’ve found to create a truly passive income stream. Your blog is working for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

What’s the catch? It takes time to get things going. That’s all. The sooner you begin, the sooner you can start earning money.

You should also check out our Make $1k Challenge, a free email course that walks you through the steps to starting your first blog and earning your first $1,000.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR FIRST $1,000 BY BLOGGING

The first step is to register a domain and choose a blog hosting plan. To begin, I recommend Namecheap.

9. Make an online course or a guide.

Level of Effort: 5

Online education is a burgeoning business opportunity. You can create a course on almost any topic. How to tie a fishing knot, groom a cat, and converse with girls (or guys). My friend has taken a successful course on how to become a freelance writer.

How?

Teachable.com is a very simple platform for creating and sharing your course. Teachable has over three million students and is an excellent platform for getting your content in front of new audiences.

What will you include in your online course? That’s an excellent question. 

You can include:

  • video tutorials
  • checklists for completing the steps outlined in your video lessons
  • to supplement the lessons, small ebooks
  • audio files for people to listen to while traveling
  • interviews with experts who share your interests
  • and a whole lot more!

Expert Advice: Make a variety of packages with various price points. Because some customers want everything, you can offer “the works” for the highest price point and two lower price points to draw in the most customers.

Try creating an online guide if you want to earn money online but don’t enjoy writing or making videos. The website SecurityGuardTrainingHQ.com of Pat Flynn serves as a good illustration of this source of income. Anyone can click on any state on the website’s map to view that state’s security guard requirements.

You can generate income online by providing specific information in a format akin to a guide, including through affiliate marketing, display ads powered by Google AdSense, and even paid memberships to your website.

It’s a great concept!

10. Sell an E-book:

Level of Effort: 5

Soldier of Finance was created to assist my clients and others who were dealing with the same financial issues over and over.

While not an ebook, it is available on Kindle and paperback; this book continues to generate passive income for me years after I wrote it. To sell on Amazon, you must first create a Kindle Direct Publishing account and then sell your book. This does not require you to be a major publisher!

11. Offer Stock Photos for Sale

Level of Effort: 3

Are you a photographer or someone who likes to take pictures? Put your talent to good use! 

If you want to earn extra money from your photos, consider selling them as stock photos. Enroll in a third-party site such as Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, Alamy, Unsplash, or others to sell your photos as stock photo images.

If you have the necessary skills and resources, you could also sell your stock images on your own website.

12. Music Licensing

Level of Effort: 3

Are you interested in making music but not in performing it live? Or have you tried performing live but not made enough money? One option is to license your music.

Licensing your music means that people and businesses pay you in exchange for the right to use your music in a project. Here are six different ways to supplement your income by licensing music:

  • YouTuber
  • Wedding Videographer
  • Indie Film Soundtrack
  • Indie Film Trailer
  • Company video
  • Advertising video

These are all passive ways to make money as an online creator, where your initial time investment is repaid in the form of royalties.

13. Create a product or app that you can sell.

Level of Effort: 5

You can build an app or create a product to sell if you have a skill or service that you can share with others. For example, if you are passionate about fitness and have experience designing workouts, you could develop a workout app.

If you prefer, you could create a physical or digital product, such as a course, ebook, or physical book, instead of an app.

Hiring someone to develop an app for you can be costly. If you are willing to learn, you could create your own app or barter services. Developing an app or product is an excellent way to generate passive income!

Selling your own products can also be very profitable. Sites like Etsy allow you to sell your handmade, custom, and one-of-a-kind items, both physical and digital. It’s simple to set up a storefront and get started!

There are also websites, such as Kickstarter, that can assist you in bringing your creative projects to life. You can use Kickstarter to start your own project or to support the projects of others. This platform is a fantastic way to get your ideas out there, see if there is a market for your product, and get funding! Since Kickstarter’s inception in 2009, 18 million people have contributed to projects.

It has never been easier to create and sell a product online. Hundreds of thousands of people have created products, books, or courses that they are selling online to generate passive income. Shopify, for example, provides everything you need to set up an online storefront, accept payments, and build a community.

For example, during the Covid pandemic, my friend Mike built Quotebook with his kids as a way to keep track of all the hilarious things his family says to each other.

Check out his fascinating origin story for Quotebook.

Mike set up his online store with Shopify in just a few days and primarily drives traffic through connected social ads and his email newsletter. After the product was created and the website was launched, sales became mostly passive.

14. Establish Yourself as a Social Media Influencer

Level of Effort: 3

Did you know you could get paid to post on social media?

As a social media influencer, you can earn money in a variety of ways. You can collaborate with businesses to create sponsored posts/content for which they will pay you. Rates for sponsored posts are typically determined by the number of followers you have and your engagement rates.

As a social media influencer, you can also earn money by sharing affiliate marketing links, writing sponsored blog posts, or hosting/attending events.

To begin earning money as a social media influencer, create a media kit that highlights your social media accounts, niche, and samples of your work. 

15. Instacart delivery

What is Instacart?An Online Grocery Delivery Service
Level of Effort Required2
Extra Income BenefitsPaid Weekly, Pick Your Own Hours, Earn Tips, Special Earning Bonus’s
Learn More or Get Started with Instacart:Instacart website: Click here. | Instacart Mobile App: Click here.
Click here to go to Instacart.

Level of Effort: 2

If you’re looking for a flexible way to supplement your income, Instacart is a great option. Instacart is an online grocery delivery service that collaborates with local supermarkets to deliver groceries to your door. As an Instacart employee, you would go grocery shopping and then deliver the groceries to the customer’s door. Instacart shoppers are in higher demand than ever before.

As a shopper, you will be paid weekly, have the ability to work your own hours, possibly earn tips, and be eligible for special earning promotions.

Instacart has also recently introduced new features such as contactless delivery and in-app incident reporting.

16. UberEats delivery

Level of Effort: 2

UberEats is a goods and food delivery service that allows customers to order virtually anything, including personal items, groceries, and restaurant meals.

Signing up to deliver for UberEats is completely free, and Postmates delivery drivers keep 100% of what they earn after each delivery.

UberEats delivery drivers appreciate the freedom to work whenever they want. UberEats pays weekly and has a very simple onboarding process.

17. Rent a Car

It used to seem strange to rent out a spare room to a stranger or to stay in the home of a stranger when on vacation. These sharing economy services, such as Airbnb and others, have shown us that it’s not so scary!

So, how do you feel about renting out your vehicle?

Consider this. Rental car companies (such as Enterprise, Avis, and Budget) are inconvenient and overpriced.

Turo has disrupted the industry in the same way that Airbnb has disrupted the hotel industry. 

People all over the country make money by lending their cars to strangers. 

If you won’t be using your car for a few days, or if you have one lying around, simply sign up for Turo’s free platform, list the car, and charge whatever you want for the day.

18. Lease Your RV

RV rental marketplaces like Outdoorsy give the ride-sharing idea a distinctive twist. If you own a travel trailer or motorhome, you can make passive income by renting it to individuals who require an RV for a family camping trip or summer road trip.

The fact that you can decide on your RV’s price and availability is the best part. And you can earn a good living. You can charge $200 or more per day if your RV is nice. You might generate enough passive income to pay for the expenses of owning an RV! 

19. Rental Income from Your Residence

If you want to make money in real estate but prefer a more hands-on approach, renting out your vacation home, house, apartment, or even a single room can be a great way to earn money passively.

Airbnb

Airbnb enables people to travel all over the world while staying in accommodations that are significantly less expensive than traditional hotels. Their website categorizes rentals into three types: private rooms, shared rooms, and entire homes.

Airbnb charges a 3% booking fee for their services, but you can set the nightly rate to whatever you want. Airbnb is generating impressive passive income for people all over the world.

VRBO

VRBO has established itself as a legitimate service for renters and owners alike, with over 2 million rental properties, the majority of which are entire home rentals.

VRBO charges a 5% booking fee, plus an additional 3% if the guest pays with a credit card. However, as previously stated, you can set your own rate and easily make these fees worthwhile.

Vacasa

Vacasa is a company that manages vacation home rentals. In other words, you can’t use Vacasa to rent out a spare room in your house like you can with Airbnb, but do you have an extra home in a vacation destination? 

Then Vacasa is a great way to generate passive income because they do all of the work for you.

Reviewers are the key to your rental’s success. The more four and five-star ratings you have, the more people will rent your space (and the more money you will make).

20. Work as a Rideshare Driver

While not entirely passive, rideshare driving makes the list due to its versatility. With Uber, you can set your own schedule and earn extra money by driving others around while you’re already out and about!

I’m assuming you’re familiar with Lyft, Uber’s ridesharing competitor. Lyft is less expensive, and I have had better experiences with drivers.

How would you like to earn a $1,000 guarantee to become a Lyft driver? Yup! That is what the company is currently offering.

It is a component of the Earnings Guaranteed program. Drivers will earn a guaranteed amount within a certain time frame, according to the Lyft website. If the driver does not make the guaranteed amount within the time frame, Lyft will make up the difference!

And the guaranteed amount is currently $1,000! Easy money.

Work as a Lyft driver

Don’t own a car? Not a problem! HyreCar is a marketplace for car rentals that are pre-qualified to drive for Uber and Lyft!

21. Use Your Car to Advertise

Carvertise: You can earn up to $1200 per ad campaign with Carvertise and can usually expect to earn around $100 per month just by using your car as ad space. Check their website to see if they’re advertising in your area right now.

Wrapify: Wrapify works similarly to Carvertise but differs in how you are compensated. Wrapify allows you to track your mileage and location. The more you drive, the more advertisements you qualify for and the more money you make, which can amount to $200 per month.

Vugo: Vugo is an excellent way to supplement your rideshare earnings. All you have to do is connect a phone or tablet to your dashboard and the app will work with Google Maps and Waze. 

Drivers can earn up to $200 more per month by playing the ads, and there is an integrated driver tipping feature.

22. Participate in Opinion Polls

Did you know you can be compensated for taking online surveys? You could earn money simply by surfing the web from the comfort of your couch. There are numerous excellent survey sites available, some of which offer a bonus simply for signing up.

MAKE MONEY FROM SURVEYS

23. Network Marketing

Network marketing is a business model in which independent contractors invest in a business. They are then paid a commission on the products they sell. Many people are drawn to network marketing because it allows them to be their own boss, set their own hours, and be flexible.

There are numerous network marketing firms. Popular brands include Mary Kay, DoTerra, Pampered Chef, and Rodan & Fields.

There are several ways to make money with network marketing. You can profit by recommending the company’s products to others, using the products yourself, and recruiting others.

24. Sleep Studies Pay You to Sleep

I’m not exaggerating. If you’re in good health, get plenty of rest, and live in an area where a sleep study is being conducted, you might be able to earn the most passive income of all.

If you meet the requirements, you could earn thousands of dollars in just one study. 

Once you’re in, you’ll probably have to take a physical and a mental test to make sure you’re up to the job. Did I mention you get paid every step of the way?

However, keep in mind that these studies have their own challenges, such as isolating you from the media and your social life and requiring you to be watched and studied for the duration of the experiment.

You may also have to sleep for long periods of time in positions that could be uncomfortable. However, the pay is very good.

Search ClinicalTrials.gov for sleep and other medical and psychological studies, and filter results by location, age, and other factors.

25. Sell Items on eBay

Flipping goods on eBay and making money is a simple equation. The formula is simple: buy low, sell high, and repeat.

To begin, you will need to create an eBay store. Then you must research the items you intend to sell. You don’t want to buy items to flip blindly because you don’t know anything about them. You must conduct research on market price, profit margin, and shipping/packaging.

Items to flip can be found on Craigslist’s “free” section, your local Goodwill, or eBay! Then, using the above equation, buy the item for a low price, list and sell it for a higher price, and repeat.

26. Amazon Dropshipping

Dropshipping is defined as “shipping goods directly from a manufacturer or wholesaler to a customer rather than to the retailer who took the order” by Merriam-Webster.

As a vendor, you can make money dropshipping on Amazon by purchasing items at a discount from a wholesaler. The difference between the initial item cost and whatever price you sell the item at becomes your profit.

Within 24 hours, you can have your Amazon store up and running and ready to accept orders! Just as with eBay flipping, it is critical to conduct research when deciding which items to dropship. It’s best to start with a product that has a high demand but little competition.

27. Refinance Your Home or Pay Off Debt

Debt reduction is a less obvious way to increase your net worth! 

Mortgage Obligation

It is another option to consider if you have not yet refinanced your mortgage. If you can save 0.50% or more on your loan, you could potentially save tens of thousands of dollars. Not many investments can compete with that.

COMPARE MORTGAGE RATES WITH Quicken LOANS

Student Loans

Do you not have a mortgage? If you have student loans, make sure to refinance if you qualify. It could end up saving you thousands of dollars in the long run! When it comes to debt repayment, the math is simple: if your loan is currently at 7% and you refinance at 3%, you’re getting a 4% return on your investment!

>>> COMPARE STUDENT LOAN RATES TO CREDIBLE RATES

Debt on credit cards

Credit card debt is steadily increasing in the United States as consumers feel stretched at the end of the month. If you have credit card debt, I strongly advise you to implement a plan to pay it off as soon as possible.

>>> LEARN MORE

28. Look for Online Rebates

You can get a rebate from Rakuten when you shop at various online retailers.

This is how it works:

  • Create an account with Rakuten.
  • To activate the Rakuten browser extension, follow the instructions.
  • Shop online as you normally would.

Cashback percentages range from 1% to 22% (and sometimes higher)! Every month, you’ll receive a check, PayPal payment, or gift card to your favorite store.

You can earn a lot of money if you buy a big-ticket item like a refrigerator or a smartphone, or if you do your grocery shopping online.

29. Rent Your Tools 

Nowadays, you can “share” almost anything. What about the tools in your garage that you rarely use? Sparetoolz apps connect tool owners with people who need them. Seasonal items are always popular.

Renting out your snowblower, lawnmower, or heavy-duty cleaning equipment such as a Wet-Vac or industrial vacuum cleaner can provide you with passive income. It’s a fantastic side hustle for passive income. 

30. Buy and Sell Domain Names

Did you know that website domain names can be traded like stocks on the stock market? As trends shift, so does demand for various topics and related keywords.

You can search for and purchase domains using domain registrar services such as NameCheap or GoDaddy in the hopes of later selling them for a profit.

Check out this story about a friend who DECLINED a $45,000 offer for one of his domain names! He believes he has made more than $50,000 trading. 

31. Provide Lesson Plans for Teachers

Here’s an excellent passive income opportunity for teachers. Teachers Pay Teachers, an online marketplace dedicated to educators in need of pre-made lesson plans, allows you to create printable lesson plans and sell them to teachers all over the world.

There is some effort involved in creating the content, but once it is published online, it becomes a truly passive income source.  

5 Services to Assist You in Outsourcing Your Business

If you already own a business, outsourcing will allow you to focus on other tasks that will generate more income. If you don’t want to hire employees, consider hiring contract laborers as freelancers. Look for freelancers who have a strong work ethic and deliver high-quality results.

You can turn your business into a passive moneymaker as long as the main product or service isn’t something you can only do.

I recommend starting with the following companies: 

  • CloudPeeps: CloudPeeps does an excellent job of connecting businesses with skilled, vetted freelancers who can handle everything from public relations and marketing to web development and administrative tasks.
  • Fiverr: Fiverr, like CloudPeeps, provides hand-picked freelancers for all of your business needs.
  • Guru: Guru provides services similar to Fiverr and CloudPeeps but emphasizes flexible payment options such as hourly pay, recurring payments, payment by milestones, and payment by project.
  • PeoplePerHour: PeoplePerHour offers a legitimate pool of talented artists to outsource to, with an advanced AI system that matches the project needs of the perfect freelancer and has been featured on Forbes, CNBC, and BBC.
  • Upwork: Like the other freelancing networks, Upwork connects you with freelancers in a variety of industries and boasts hires from companies such as Microsoft, with short-term, full-time, and recurring opportunities.

How Do You Make Passive Income?

Passive income can work for you whether you have millions of dollars to invest and no spare time, or $0, plenty of free time, and a spark of ingenuity.

While it may take some capital and guts to get started, the moneymakers on this list will continue to pay you long after you’ve put in the effort.

So consider your options: set financial goals and decide how much time, effort, and money you’re willing to invest in your venture.

If you choose to invest, buy a business, outsource your own, or get paid for your daily routine, you can prosper from passive income.

What exactly are you waiting for? Plant the seeds with one of the ideas on the list today.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Passive Income

Is passive income subject to taxation?

There is no clear answer to this question because it depends on the specifics of how the passive income was made. However, most forms of passive income are taxable. 

For example, dividends are a common form of passive income that is taxed, though at a lower rate.

How can I make $1000 a month passively?

There are several ways to earn $1000 per month passively. One option is to invest in assets that will generate income for you month after month, such as stocks, bonds, or real estate. Another way to generate passive income is to start a business that doesn’t require a lot of your time or effort to run, such as a blog or an online store. Finally, you might come across an investment opportunity that pays out regular dividends.

What is the simplest type of passive income?

Rental income is the most straightforward form of passive income. Rental income is considered passive because it does not require you to actively work to earn it. You simply own the property and charge your tenants rent.

Is it possible for a beginner to earn passive income?

It is possible for a beginner to earn passive income; however, some initial investment and effort will be required. Opportunities for passive income abound, but not all are created equal.

Some may necessitate a larger initial investment of time or money, but can provide consistent returns over time. Others may require less effort but provide lower returns. Before investing in any type of passive income stream, it is critical for beginners to conduct research and understand their options.

What is the most profitable form of passive income?

There are numerous methods for generating passive income, and what is profitable for one person may not be profitable for another. Real estate investing, dividend investing, and business ownership are some of the most common ways to generate passive income.

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