Do you
remember in the past we were warned to be careful about being in debt because
interest never stopped charging us, interest never slept, never took a day off,
never took a holiday. Well the reverse is true, as well.
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 11 ways that you can actually earn money while you sleep.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Peer-to-peer lending.
Companies
like LendingClub, Propser,
and Harmoney 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.