Is
your money making money while you sleep? Does it sound too good to be true?
Since we still live in the age of the interest, it’s not that difficult to earn extra money on
the side.
With
that in mind, here are 10 ways that you can actually earn money while you
sleep.
10. Start a blog.
Perhaps
the most popular way to earn a passive income is by launching your own blog. It
only takes a couple of minutes to setup and is cheap to start - just purchase
your domain name and pay for hosting.
After
that, start creating amazing content that people would be interested in reading
or sharing. For example, if you’re an accountant that has helped small business
owners with their taxes, then that could be your blog. I personally have my invoicing blog to
help customers know everything there is to know about invoicing. This draws
thousands of signups a month.
Make
sure the topics you write about are popular. If you still love your pet
rock, I doubt there would be enough people visiting your our site to monetize
it. But, you never know.
Once
you’ve gained a following, you can start making money from of your blog by:
Earning commissions as an
affiliate. This
is where you push other people’s products or services on your site. Make sure
these products or services are relevant to your blog. For example, that
accounting blog could become an affiliate for accounting or invoicing software.
Once you find an affiliate partner you’ll be given a unique code so that
whenever a visitor clicks that link on your site you’ll earn your commission.
Sell-advertising. If you’re site has
the traffic to become an affiliate, then it may also be good enough for
advertisers to purchase ads on your site. You may start off small, like making
under $20 per ad. But, you may eventually be able to charge triple digits.
Again, you site must be quality.
Find sponsors. This is slightly
different than just selling ads on your site. Sponsorships may be a one-off
piece of sponsored content or permanent logo embedded in your footer.
10. Sell your own
information product.
If
you’re knowledgeable in a certain area, then you can start creating products,
such as eBooks or videos, and selling them on your blog. It may take a lot of
work to create and market your products, but once all the leg work is over, you
can just set back and collect the proceeds.
9. Earn royalties.
If
you’re a talented musician, actor, or author, then you could earn royalties
from your work. In other words people will pay you for using your work or
creative assets.
If
you aren’t talented enough, but still interested in earning royalties, then
check out Royalty Exchange. It’s a marketplace where you can buy and
sell royalties.
8. Create a membership
community.
If
you’ve proven yourself to be a authority figure, then you can create a
membership community where you pay a monthly fee to receive additional
high-quality content and information that’s not available to non-members.
One
of my favorite examples is Timothy Sykes who makes more than $100,000 per month in
passive income through his membership community which discusses how people can
make money in trading penny stocks.
7. Install an autoresponder.
Another
common online business model is using autoresponders to sell services,
products or memberships. This is where people leave their email address on
your site and then they’ll receive an automated email containing the link to
download products or quality information you have to offer, as well as
follow-up with a series of emails.
You’ll
a need service like OptinMonster to make this possible. I also recommend you
read this Quick Sprout guide
to get started with autoresponders.
6. Flip websites.
If
you’ve put in the time and effort in building a website and you have gained a
lot of traffic, then you may be able to sell it to an interested party by
listing on marketplaces like Flippa.
I've bought and sold a lot
of sites here and made a lot of money.
5. Sell physical products.
Just
like with a blogging site, there are several ways to earn a passive income by
selling physical products. Probably one of the best known ways is by selling
your old junk on eBay. But even if you don’t have anything left to sell you can
start drop shopping. This is where you sell products for a company on eBay or
Amazon and they’ll take care of the rest - including shipping.
You
can also launch your own eCommerce store by using Shopify. They literally give you everything you need to sell
products online from a complete online shop to including buy buttons on your
social media channels.
4. Invest in stocks or
shares.
When
you invest in stocks you become a stakeholder. That entitles you to a share of
their profits. Investing in stocks has been a popular way to earn a passive
income for years, and thanks to the internet, it’s easier than ever to research
and invest in stocks on your own.
Keep
in mind that the stocks you invest in can change
throughout the various stages of life. For example, I look for investments that
can benefit my daughter, such as a CA529 plan that will go towards her
college tuition.
3. Peer-to-peer lending.
Companies
like LendingClub, Propser, and Harmony have created a new industry where
anyone can become a lender. They will then match you with a consumer who either
prefers or has trouble securing a loan from a bank. You can earn a higher
interest rates on the loans you issued since you’re dealing directly with the
borrower.
2. Rent out property.
Thanks
to Airbnb, you can rent out your home while on vacation or your vacation home
when not in use. You can also rent out your garage, parking space, or unused
office space. It’s a nice supplemental income without really doing anything
except placing an ad.
1. Hire a middleman.
This
is also known as arbitrage and is basically where you have someone else do the
work for you. For example, you could start a dog walking service or web design
firm, but outsource the actual dog walking or coding to someone else. You’re
much better doing anything except being the middleman who is in charge of
marketing these services.