If you’re in the process of getting your first website up and running, you probably already know a thing or two about passive income. You might have also learned that creating, building, and optimizing a website takes a great deal of both time and money. From SEO to content to design to marketing; there’s a lot that needs to be done.
And just like starting any small business, the more time and money you have to invest in your website, the more you’ll achieve in a shorter period. So, while grinding away at another job may leave you with more money, it’ll also take up your time. This is where passive income streams come in handy.
It’s worth mentioning that no passive income method can really be lucrative without an initial investment. But, once you have things up and running, it’ll provide a steady stream of capital that you can use to fund your website as it grows.
Let’s take a look at nine tried-and-tested passive income methods.
Real Estate Crowdfunding
Investing in real estate is no cheap affair, and you usually need to be an accredited investor with a high net worth. Fortunately, there are more affordable ways to put your spare cash into the real estate market. If you have $5,000, you can start investing through Realty Mogul.
Take a zero off, and you’ll be eligible for Fundraise, a real estate crowdfunding project with returns ranging between 8.7% and 12.4% on your $500.
If you prefer to start even smaller, Rich Uncles offers a $5 student housing crowdfunding investment offer that’s great if you simply want to test the method out.
Selling a Course
Platforms like Udemy and Skillshare allow people with a teachable skill to make money selling courses through their website. This can include playing an instrument, learning a programming language, video or photo editing, writing, and much more.
Once you’ve put together a decent course and performed some marketing, there isn’t much else to do but wait for the money to start streaming in.
Drop-Shipping
The biggest challenge that comes with starting an online buy-and-sell business is the often massive investment required to get your first batch of stock. Drop-shipping is free from this challenge, as you’ll only be buying a product from your supplier when a customer pays you.
Your supplier will also be handling all the shipping logistics, thus saving you even more time and money. Take a moment to browse through Chinese e-commerce stores like Alibaba and Taobao. Chances are you’ll find something that you can sell to Western markets for a handsome markup.
Dropshipping can even prove to be a lucrative work from home opportunity once you really get into it. There are countless learning resources and tools that can help you take the right approach to dropshipping.
For example, this profit margin calculator will help you determine the optimal price to sell your products.
From here, you’ll need to take some time to build a website and do some marketing. But once you have the initial requirements in place, this can prove to be a great passive income method.
For any additional work, such as dealing with suppliers and handling payments, you can eventually outsource it and make dropshipping a completely passive income.
Renting Out
If you have a spare parking spot, you can use apps like Rover to rent it out. Turo is a popular service for renting out your car, while Airbnb allows you to rent out a spare room in your home. Most people just need a place to stay for the night, so even your living room will do. Check out Neighbour if you have spare storage space to rent out.
Cashback
Aside from credit card cashback rewards, there are also a variety of apps and websites. You can use these to get a little more bang for every buck you spend.
This is a great zero-effort method that’ll add a few extra dollars to your bank account for simply doing your usual shopping.
For example, the Dosh app automatically provides cashback rewards to your credit or debit card when you shop at one of their partners.
Ebates works on a similar principle, with rewards ranging from 1% to 40% back on your purchases. Simply download their extension and use their portal when shopping at one of their countless partner stores.
If you have an established social network or a few friends who aren’t aware of these services, you can earn more money by referring them through your affiliate link.
Additionally, websites like Ebates can help you save money by listing current specials and discounts. Check those out whenever you plan on buying something expensive.
Micro Investing
Apps such as Acorns allow you to invest without really putting any money in. Instead, it works by rounding up your purchases to the nearest dollar and putting it into the app.
Acorns can also invest your spare change into a low-cost exchange-traded fund to further grow it on your behalf.
The service does cost $1 per month, but college students can use it for free. There aren’t any fees to withdraw your money, and you can invite friends with your affiliate link to further boost your income. It’s a great way to get your feet wet in investing without having to put much effort in.
Research Companies
Companies such as Neilsen and UpVoice will pay users around $50 and $75 per year respectively for installing their software on your smartphone and computer.
Keep in mind that the latter is only available to U.S. residents at the moment. Both companies emphasize valuing your privacy and not taking in any personal data.
Video Royalties
Major news outlets and media websites are constantly scouring the web for the next viral video. More often than not, it’s something funny, shocking or interesting that someone took on their smartphone. In other words, it doesn’t have to be a professional production.
Take a look at the videos on your phone and see if there’s anything particularly newsworthy that you can sell. Newsflare, Rumble, CNN, Associated Press, and Yahoo often purchase video licenses. Raw footage is what really sells, so be sure to avoid doing any professional editing.
Writing an eBook
If you don’t have any ideas for a course, consider writing an eBook on a topic you’re particularly knowledgeable on. Think about a common problem or question that people would be willing to pay for a solution or answer to. If nothing springs to mind, perhaps you have an interesting story to spin together.
Granted, it’ll take some time to realize a prim-and-proper eBook fully. Once you have your eBook listed on a popular website like Amazon, you might need to do a bit of marketing to bring some attention to it. From here, it’s about as passive as an income gets.
Conclusion
As you might have noticed, there are countless ways to start making a passive income. Choose one that suits the amount of time and money you currently have available – and don’t forget to go for those that don’t require any investment.
With a bit of effort and some creativity, you can passively earn hundreds to thousands of dollars a month in no time. This is going to give you all the resources you need to build the website of your dreams.
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