Passive income ideas

Passive income is often highly sought but misunderstood. Most people tend to think that passive income is the money earned while sitting down on the beach sipping cocktails. However, it involves a lot of work but is a great supplementary source of money for a lot of people. It comes in handy especially during tough times like the recent coronavirus pandemic, a recession or during other tough times. Passive income keeps some cash flowing when you lose your job or go through some financial difficulties. How many passive income streams do you have? Can they match your expenses if you were to retire? Make passive income a priority as early as you can so you can earn for long even before you retire.

For those people who are constantly worried about saving enough to meet their retirement goals, passive income might be a good strategy. With some of these ideas, you don’t have to do it alone. Get a partner and invest. If you aren’t sure about what you are indulging in, a certified financial planner can help you out. Did you know people have used passive income in the past to build wealth? It is possible but you have to think of ideas that won’t disrupt your normal job or your work life. This is good news even for car owners with a passion for driving and have time to spare.

What is passive income?

Passive income are the regular earnings coming from another source other than the main employer or contractor. It is the income that comes from a business where one doesn’t have to be actively involved in such as stock dividends or book royalties. These don’t require constant and heavy effort or input but they are guaranteed sources of income.

Unlike what many people think, passive income is not getting something from nothing. It is not a get rich quick scheme or deal but it involves work. Only that this time you have to put in the work upfront.

In some passive income practices, you might be required to do some or all the work upfront. However, this isn’t enough as the passive income will require additional labor along the way as well.

Passive income ideas

Below, we have a number of passive income ideas that might help you out when financial hardships hit. These might make you extra money while you sleep but they are passive income streams that require you to put in some effort. Otherwise, your bank account won’t feel the change. Become an investor today.

1. Blogging

Running a blog is one of the most popular ways to earn passive income. Countless entrepreneurs (including me) have taken advantage of earning through affiliate links, sponsored posts, courses, book deals, products and more.

Blogging requires a lot of dedication and takes a lot of upfront work to help build a successful blog. If you are a creative writer or you have a topic you are so passionate about and good at, blogging will be fun for you. You get to enjoy it and earn from it. If your blog proves to be a reliable source of information, your blog can bring in four figures a month and you also get to keep in touch and help people. Did you know that you can use social media to enhance blogging as your income stream?

2. Rental income

Building rental properties or real estate investment probably one of the most popular and practiced way to generate passive income. It is one of the best income options but it requires more than people think. With real estate investing, you get a side hustle that puts cash in your pocket per month.

You have to take some time and learn how to make it a profitable venture first or you risk losing the investment. If you want to earn from rental property, start by determining these things:

• The returns you expect on the investment

• The total cost and expenses of the property

• The risks associated with owning the property

Ask yourself if there is a market for your property. What happens if no one is able to rent your property, what if the clients pay late or damage your property? These might significantly dent your passive income. Real estate investment trust is a perfect place to start with your search for information.

3. Create a Course

An online course is one of the best passive income ideas. Some of the best selling courses go for thousands of dollars online. Why not create yours? It takes a lot of work to create a course and you have to be really good at what you are teaching. However, after creating the course no matter how long it takes, all you do is sit down, maybe promote the course and earn a passive income from it.

To make good sales, your course has to be highly valuable and marketable as well. Take people through a course that will help them earn or at least make their lives better. This is what makes a course valuable which in turn generates you a fair amount of passive income. You can create an online course and get started on this investing platform.

4. Selling digital informational products

Information is worth a lot. Establishing an informational product such as a video or audio course or an e-book is a good strategy to get some passive income. If you have the skill, you can create a something based on what you are good at and start small with an e-book maybe and move forward.

While this might sound simple, it takes a lot of effort to create a significant product that people are willing to pay for. To make good money from the product, it has to be great and excellent. You won’t earn from trash but you can make money easily after some time.

5. High yield savings account

What if you could make your money sitting in a bank somewhere make you more money? With a this account, you get an enticing interest rate that helps you earn money on your savings. The interest rate might not be so high such that you wont get wealthy from it but you get free money with no monthly costs.

High yield savings accounts are located in banks and to make it better, they are FDC insured. The interest rates on these accounts have been rising which means the more money you put in the accounts, the more income you earn. Starting with personal finance is a great way to streamline an income strategy. Earning from an investment you did years ago feels so good.

6. Buy property

This is another great way to make money but it requires This depends on when and where you buy. In popular growing cities such as Toronto where there has been a rapid increase in property value, you can make a decent amount of passive income. For example in the past five years, property value in Canada has increased by 44%.

Venture into the property market and buy pre-construction condos at a lower price. These are the properties whose value will increase once the property is finally built. This allows you to sell the property once it is complete and for a profit. It however has risks associated with it so talk to a real estate agent if you are new to help you make better and informed decisions. Before you undertake any construction projects as income investments,

7. Stocks

Take a look at some of the world’s richest people. Stocks have played a major role in increasing their wealth. Did you know that Warren Buffet reads 500 pages of business’ annual reports? By reading these reports, he understands which businesses are performing well and which ones aren’t. This information helps him know the companies with dividend paying stocks and the ones to avoid.

Investing in dividend stocks as a passive income idea is passive but the research you have to do is active. Just like Warren, you have to do a lot of research and understand the stock market. Improve on your ability to invest in shares every day. This is a long term way to earn. You can also choose to become a reader like Warren and make shares one of your ways to make an extra dime.

8. Host Airbnb

Technology has made things easier for people who love to travel. With Airbnb, one can rent a space for a day or two depending on the time they travel. The interesting thing with Airbnb is that you don’t have to buy new property to make Airbnb a passive income. You can rent a spare room in your home or apartment and still earn from it.

The good thing with this idea is you can turn it on and off as you please. If you want to make some extra money, you rent your space or if you are using the spare room, you switch it off.

9. Affiliate Marketing

This requires that you have a website, blog, or any other platform where you can promote other companies otherwise known as affiliates. With affiliate marketing, you post different products and their links on your platform. When one clicks on the affiliate link and goes ahead to purchase a product or sign up for a service, you earn a commission of the total sale amount.

Find affiliates that work in your niche and capitalize on them. With affiliate marketing, the aim is to get as many people as possible to visit your page and click on those links. This means you have to do some upfront work looking for ways to have an audience organically to make this a passive income stream.

10. Displaying ads

Think of the billboards you see on the side of the highway. They display ads and the owners earn a good amount from them. Now think of your website or blog as the billboard. This is your online property and you can earn a passive income from it in so many ways. Companies pay for ads to be featured on your website. However, the website in question has to be valuable and have a fair amount of organic audience to get these paid advertisements. The advertisers pay to promote their products on your website.

Earning passive income is money pumped in your pocket from an investment maybe you started years ago. The passive income ideas from this list can help you out even if you are looking to quit your 9-5 job and become an entrepreneur. If you want to get paid, you have to get started somewhere.