Like many I have a normal 9 – 5 job. For years and years, I have caught on the train to work season after season working the same job for some time, I got burnt out. I, therefore, decided to pursue alternative jobs to bring in some passive income mainly to derive some freedom. The thought of spending 30 more years working 60 hours per week was too much to bear.

It was at this juncture that I started thinking of generating passive incomes. I read several books such as Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Millionaire Mindset, Think and Grow Rich and the 4-Hour Work Week to name a few. I got to know how to make money without necessarily working full time. I am now glad to share with you my experience.

For a start, passive income is that money which is received with minimal effort possible. It does not require one to be actively engaged in any activity as opposed to full-time employment. The trick is to make earn money while you sleep when this happens your life dreams will change.

BENEFITS OF PASSIVE INCOME

Some of the benefits of passive income are:

Greater Freedom

This perhaps is the greatest of all the benefits. By deriving much of your income from passive sources, you get to enjoy greater freedom. You are absolved from the need to operate on stringent timeframes and be under the constant surveillance of the supervisor. You also obtain much time to pursue other chores that matter to you.

Reliable

Passive income sources are generally more reliable than other income sources. That is because it does not subject you to problems such as job insecurity, layoffs, salary cuts, or structural adjustments to the economy.

Diversification of Risks

By choosing to derive some of your income from passive sources, you get to diversify your income sources. This way, you reduce the risks that may naturally arise from holding ordinary jobs. You also stand to receive a regular flow of income regardless of the prevailing economic conditions.

Accelerated Financial Independence

It is almost impossible to attain financial independence by relying on salaries alone. Supplementing your salary with passive income accelerates your financial independence.

Prevents Indebtedness

By supplementing your regular income with passive income, you avoid getting into too much debt. For instance, you avoid contracting too much credit card debt as would ordinarily be the case.

Higher Returns

Generally speaking, passive income generates higher returns on investments. This is mainly because it does not depend on the hours you put in. It also requires limited attention, follow-up, supervision, and maintenance.

NB: It is not easy to get started with passive income. Doing so requires months and in some cases years of hard work. You also require some self-motivation to achieve the feat.

COMPARISON BETWEEN PASSIVE INCOME AND OTHER INCOMES

Active Income

This is income which you derive by performing a given chore. It includes commission, salaries, tips, and extra cash. It is inferior to passive income in the sense that it requires you to actively participate in the generation of the said income. It is thus time-consuming and brings along fewer returns. You are never paid what you are really worth, and the owners pocket the profits of your labor.

Residual Income

Residual income is that which you obtain from an existing investment. These include royalties from copyright, movies, books, and songs. It also includes those incomes that are obtained from business investments and real estate.

It is similar to passive income in the sense that it does not require you participate actively in generating the income. It requires plenty of starting capital though and is therefore not free for all.

“If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die – Warren Buffet”

PASSIVE INCOME IDEAS

As a general rule, you are advised to try out at least two ideas; one that requires some little work and another one which does not. In the course of so doing, you will find one that you either enjoy a lot or generate plenty of income. Once you identify that one, focus all your energy and attention on it. Below are some of the ideas you might want to consider:

Start a Blog

Do you have a passion for current affairs, science, sports, and just about everything? If yes, then you might consider starting a blog and generate money by drafting relevant articles regularly. You may thereafter monetize your blogs by adopting several measures.

Blogging is currently one of the best ways to make passive income. If you can find the right niche and create good content you could do 6-9 months work and sit back and reap the rewards.

If you don’t know what a blog is, I have you covered here

Create an Online Store

Start an online store and sell goods and services via the internet platform. You may also wish to try out Shopify instead of creating your entire website from scratch. This site basically allows you to create an account which you subsequently use or sell goods and services online.

Everyday Hobbies

You may also convert some of your everyday hobbies into avenues for generating extra income. These include testing products, proofreading books, searching the internet, and so on. Some sites that might help you out are Amazon, Swagbucks, Ebates, and Inbox Dollars.

 Affiliate Marketing

You may wish to enroll in an affiliate marketing scheme. Such schemes allow you to earn money by acting as a middleman. You sell or promote the products of the parent company and receive some commission for every purchase. eBay and Amazon are perhaps the two most common affiliate marketing companies.

FlexOffers

FlexOffers is an affiliate platform which is great for personal finance bloggers. You earn money by basically recommending financial products on your blog. It is also free to join.

ShareASale

ShareASale is pretty similar to FlexOffers above. It only offers fewer products though. Their products perform better though. It is also free to join.

iGain

iGain is a network that promotes paid survey sites. You simply join the site and promote those products which you have already tried out in the past.

You also get to update old blog posts concerning those products or create brand new ones. Each time a reader accesses your blogs, you earn some passive income. Alternatively, you also promote the products via Facebook or Twitter as opposed to active blogging.

Affiliate networks like Clickbank, Max Bounty, Peerfly, CJ are good networks to join find great offers and products to promote and get paid

E-mail Sales Funnel

Sales funnel is a method of converting your contacts into prospective buyers. It requires a great deal of time and investments. It yields higher returns though because of the trust and goodwill that already exists between you and your contacts.

To build a sales funnel, you need to create a list of as many targeted clients as possible. You may wish to give out certain incentives to the targeted clients in exchange for their contacts.

You then proceed to sign up for professional services like ConvertKit. You thereafter have to create a sequence of e-mails with a sales funnel. Start out with cheaper products and then advance to those that are more expensive.

You can start a MailChimp account for free  and email up to 2000 email addresses

Sell your own Information Products

In the case you are an expert or possess special technical skills or in-depth knowledge of a given product, you may consider converting that knowledge into a money-making scheme.

Write a course, buying guide, product guide, or an e-book. Visit the Amazon page to see what is currently hot in your niche for some inspiration.

Create ever green content that doesn’t grow old quickly this means it stay relevant longer. A guide on the latest IPhone would have a shelf life of 2-3 years if that before it is useless.

A guide on growing roses would be ever green as this will hard ever need changing for years or decades.

Write Kindle eBook

If you have a passion for writing, convert that passion into money by writing a Kindle e-book. Sell the Kindle e-book through the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing program.

The amount of royalty you are entitled to depend on the price of the book. Those books priced at $2.99 – $9.99 attract 70% royalty whereas those priced below or above the stated range attract a paltry 35% commission.

Sell Stock Photos

hotography is yet another source of passive income. In case you are a freelance photographer, or just take photos for fun, you may earn passive incomes online from it.

There are tons of sites in which you may submit your photos to. Their commission and other terms of references vary widely. The market is quite huge though.

Review Books

Some sites such as Amazon affiliate links provide an avenue for making money while reviewing books. You get paid by the number of reviews you generate or the visits that you review attracts over a given duration of time.

Create and Post YouTube Videos

YouTube allows any video enthusiast to create informative video contents and post them for free online. The genre may be on any subject matter such as movie reviews, comedies, opinions, tutorials, and experts.

You can make money by attaching Google Adsense to the videos. This Google Adsense overlays your video with the automatic advertisements. Each time the advert is clicked, you earn money from Adsense.

To leverage this money-making channel, you have to generate as many videos as possible. You also have to popularize them to attract as many visits and impressions as possible.

Creating evergreen content works here.

Stream Online Games

Online gaming is yet another way of making passive incomes. In case you are a seasoned gamer, you may make extra income by streaming videos of yourself playing games. Do this on a gaming platform like Twitch. You make money whenever your video is accessed.

Refer Apps

Some apps offer commission or credit points whenever they are referred to third parties. Examples of these are Everlane clothes, Seamless foods, Lyft and Uber ride-sharing, among others. You may wish to try your luck on any of them.

Build an App

Other than referring an existing app to other would-be clients, consider also building your own. Think of any task you would wish to have your Smartphone perform and make an app for it.

Sites like Code Academy have simplified the programming and coding learning. You may make money by selling it via the Apple Store or Google Store. Alternatively, you may also make money by allowing ads to run on it.

Be a Guinea Pig

A guinea pig is a person who voluntarily agrees to take part in an experiment. Beauty brands and pharmaceuticals carry out testing of their products before releasing them officially in the market.

They recruit volunteers whom they pay to try their products out before rolling them officially. The most prominent example is the Rimmel, L’Oreal Consumer Testing Program to name a couple. You may wish to enroll in the program.

Design Stuff

Are you art a design enthusiast? Put your skills in making money by designing eye-catching goods and services. Sites like Cafepress allow you to submit designs and generate incomes in the process. For best results, settle on a niche you are more comfortable with.

Participate in Consumer Research

Whenever companies plan to improve their products, they accept a lot of input from their would-be customers. They carry out consumer research to be able to receive this needed input.

You may wish to enroll in such a mission. Some of the tasks you anticipate carrying out are testing products, checking the availability of products, and so on. The dScout app allows you to sign up and participate in these missions.

Write and Sell Music

Do you have a passion for music? Can you compose a tune, jot down a chorus, or even synthesize music? Well, certain sites allow you to sell your music online simply. These include Amazon and iTunes.

Popularize your music through several platforms by, for instance, signing up on SoundCloud. You will thereafter earn money whenever clients download or listen to your tracks.

Offer Local SEO Services

In recent times, 1 out of every 3 internet searches has been on local businesses. As such, this form of internet search provides a convenient and lucrative way of making money passively.

You may take advantage of local lead generation model and the rank-and-rent SEO websites to make money this way. Alternatively, you may use the technology to boost the visibility of your existing business.

CLOSING REMARKS

In closing, there are indeed tons and tons of ways and means of generating passive income. It, therefore, goes without saying that the ones we have identified and stated above are not all that may help you out.

We, therefore, urge you to carry out further research to familiarize yourself with the remaining ones. This way, you will be able to make even more money or find one that uniquely suits your preferences and abilities.

Please like, share and comment to let me know how you are making a passive income.