20 Best Passive Income Ideas and Sources to Build Wealth

Wealth does not just fall from the sky. You have to be hardworking, build an audience, and also deliver the best products. If you want to be a business owner someday, you should be ready to put on more time, invest some cash here and there and be willing to go the extra mile. This article is going to take you through the best passive income-generating ideas.

Passive Income

This is money that you earn from doing very little work. More work is put in upfront. Passive income sources include: Selling products online, teaching, investing in mutual funds, or even renting out your car. Passive income is commonly known as a side hustle.

For example, if you have a business that requires a lot of logistics, and are looking to earn some extra money without requiring the logistics part of it, take a look at the below ideas. 

1. Start a Dropshipping Store

One of the best ways of earning money through passive income is through drop shipping. You can earn up to $100,000 per year with little effort. How is this done? 

This method entails having an e-commerce store where instead of having warehousing inventories and purchases from clients, everything is done online even without physically seeing the product you are selling.

Here you act as a middle man between your supplier and the buyer. The supplier will handle everything from manufacturing to shipment.

Its main advantage is that. There is a low cash risk. The supplier receives payment when the buyer pays. The other advantage is that you sell goods that have been ordered meaning, the risk of selling goods that are not on the market and incurring losses is off the table.

2. Print on-demand-store

Are you an entrepreneur, a designer or an artist and are looking for a passive income-generating activity? Well, look no further. If a customer wants a customized t-shirt all you have to do is forward the requirements to the supplier and they handle the rest. Easy right?

For some reason, print-on-demand is similar to dropshipping in the sense that the supplier is paid after the buyer has paid for the goods that were ordered. Another advantage is that no warehousing is needed since there is no inventory.

That said, print-on-demand is a low-risk business idea that only requires less of your time in setting up and also low cash.

3. Sell Digital Products

It involves selling products that can’t be touch physically. They can only be downloaded or streamed examples are Kindle books, templates, plugs-in, and PDFs.

Having a downloadable file or asset means you can sell it numerous times without making it again. No inventory is required which makes it an ideal passive income-generating idea.

If you are a creator, design and sell printables, files, and kits. UX kits assist companies and platforms in the designs by selling personas, flowcharts, and wireframes.

4. Teach Online Courses

Over the years, learning has been made easier through the technological advancement that has emerged. If you are a teacher, you do not have to appear physically in school to pass on knowledge. You can sell the courses online and earn good money while at it.

Just like selling digital products, you can sell these courses repeatedly without making the courses again. All you need is to create your content and make it downloadable. That way, it is easier to share via social media and other platforms.

The founder of Yegi Beauty, Yegi Saryan started Yegi academy by first creating a beauty brand that focused on eyelash extension products. When it became a success, she founded the academy that assisted beauty entrepreneurs around the world in growing their businesses.

If you are looking for little or no human interactions teaching online courses got you covered!

5. Blogging

Starting a successful blogging career can be a pain. But once you overcome the challenges that come with it you will be in for a smooth ride.

You don’t have to be a famous person to start this venture, you only need a laptop, an audience, and content. 

If your content is exceptional, you can earn good money just by blogging. For you to achieve that, your marketing skills have to be top-notch. Using an SEO marketing strategy can make a huge difference in terms of attracting more fans.

6. Selling Handmade Goods

There are over 4.6 billion people connected to the internet today. If you have a good passive idea like selling handmade goods online, you can never go wrong. The market is always there; you only have to be smart and ambitious.

There are many online platforms where you can sell your products. Begin by identifying your target audience, then look for an online store that keeps your products.

They include sites such as:

• Amazon
• eBay
• AliExpress
• Handshake

7. Affiliate Market Business

This type of passive income involves marketing a product to your audience. You earn a commission for recommending the product whether the product is purchased or not. Being a growing industry, entrepreneurs opt for affiliate marketing jobs for these reasons.

• Less work required. All you have to do is the marketing part. The development and fulfillment of the orders are done by the company.
• It is pocket friendly. Starting an affiliate business does not require you to cash in money. Create links from sources that your audience can click from. Remember, the more the clicks, the more the commission.
• It is efficient. Meaning you can sell other new products while still earning money from the previous products you have been marketing.

8. Sell Photos Online

One major concern of this idea is that it is tedious. For a photographer, you have to be physically available to do shoots which can be exhausting.

But if you don’t mind the time-consuming part you can generate revenue from the pictures you take provided they are of good quality.

Here are some of the sites that will pay you for high-quality photos

• Pexels, 
• Shutterstock, 
• Unsplash, 
• Pixabay

The main advantage is that no inventory is required. You only need a camera and a laptop to upload the photos.

9. Invest in Becoming an Instagram Influencer

Can you believe earning a million dollars per Instagram post? you heard me right ONE MILLION DOLLARS! This is the amount Dwayne Johnson makes per Instagram post.

You don’t have to have abs and over 200 million followers like him to earn on Instagram. In case you want to become an Instagram influencer, create an Instagram account, and identify your niche this will be easier in building trust with your community.

If your audience is comic fans, post what’s new in the Marvel or DC shows, and if it’s sports, update them on the current affairs regarding sports.

How do you earn passive income from this? By partnering with brands and posting their products to your followers or you can sell your products.

10. Rental Property

One of the oldest ways of creating wealth is real estate investing. Whenever you have some cash lying idle somewhere and are looking to invest, try buying an apartment and renting it out.

Managing these apartments can be tedious but it doesn’t have to be since property managers got you covered. Their work will be to manage the apartments and ensure that the rent is collected and your work would be to pick checks.

However, if you don’t have money to buy the apartment, you can purchase real estate assets using companies that allow you to do that and still earn.

11. Leasing or Rent out your Room

Ever wondered what to do with the extra room you have? Well, there are companies you can approach to help you with renting it out. 

A company like Airbnb which is an American company will help rent your space for as long as you like. Thinking of going out for a three-week trip and still making a few bucks? Rent out your space.

These companies have become more popular in recent years because they are cost-effective compared to hotels. Apart from renting your room you can purchase an apartment and make it an Airbnb this will earn you more money.

12. Rent out your Car

This type of passive income idea goes hand in hand with renting out your room. The same idea applies. You can offer up your car to service providers like Uber or Wrapify.

If you are not open to the idea of driving the car yourself, look for someone who will drive the and agree on the amount of money he will give you.

13. Start a YouTube Channel 

We have all come across YouTube at some point in our lives. In the US 74% of adults use this channel, so it’s not too late to start your own.

If you are committed, ambitious, and have talent, you can make millions on YouTube. Creating a channel is not a challenge. The challenge comes in converting your content into money. How can you achieve this? You can make money through marketing both your products and other companies’ products, sales, and sponsorships. The more creative content you have the more the viewers.

Ali Abdaal who is a UK doctor is making more from YouTube than his salary. You can be the next Ali when you put your mind to it.

14. Invest in REITs

REITs or real estate investment funds are companies that own or finance income-generating properties. They can be of great help to small investors who want to channel their money and afford a property in the future.

If you are looking for a long-term investment, investing in REITs is a good idea. For more than a decade more people have been investing in REITs to a point where the average annual return was 9.5% 

Before investing your money, do profound research on the companies offering the best deals.

15. Invest in Cryptocurrencies

Since crypto was discovered its popularity has grown. Now crypto can make you earn between 5%-10% without much struggle.

Start by doing solid research on Crypto to familiarize yourself with the field then get a Crypto wallet (this is a secure place where you can store your it).

Then learn about the coins to know which to invest in. Once you are done with the process, you just have to wait for the returns from your investment.

Remember, there are a lot of cryptocurrencies today. To get better returns, you have to invest in the best. So the more you research, the more knowledge you acquire.

16. Sell Designs Online.

There are many markets where you can sell your designs. Websites like 99designs, ThemeForest, and Creative Market are just a few.

These markets will help you sell anything from logos, illustrations, templates, and even fonts. The good thing is that there are ready markets. 

In the US graphic design is a billion-dollar industry. It is estimated to be $ 13.1 billion and still climbing. If you are a web designer and want to sell your product on Creative Market, all you have to do is apply. You will be given a storefront where you can market and sell your products.

17. Sell NFTs

NFTs or non-fungible tokens are digital assets that represent real-life objects like music, art, and even videos. The main advantage of NFTs is that you never know what is valuable and basically anything can.

NFTs have for a while been the trending topic. Why? They are simple to create you only require to open an account and follow the steps laid out for you in the minting process.

Like any other investment, there is a fee that you will be required to pay for the minting process. The other drawback is it also requires a lot of time at the start.

Being a new industry, the sales have surpassed the $ 10 billion mark giving hope to beginners that it is an industry that will be here to stay.

18. Advertise Jobs for Companies.

If you have a website, you can use the platform to advertise jobs from companies. That way, you are paid a commission for any advert you do.

Currently, jobs are not only advertised on newspapers and radios like in the old times. Right now any social media platform can be used to advertise jobs. From Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

Create or buy a job board and post the jobs you have. Your fans can also be job seekers. Finally, market your job board. If you are ambitious you will see clients lining up at your job board.

19. Digital Guides

If you are knowledgeable in an area or topic. Use your expertise to create a digital guide that will help others in the area. This is a simple and less expensive way to start a passive income-generating business.

Do research on the things people are interested in, Use Google suggestions in order to know the keywords that have been used repeatedly.

After the research, you can now create the guide, post it on your storefront and let all your hard work pay.

20. Invest in vending Machines

Vending machines can be a lifesaver especially when you need a snack or two. Have you ever wondered who stocks these machines? Well, the owners of these machines earn a semi-passive income from the snacks you buy.

Surprisingly, the vending machine business is an $8.6-billion-dollar industry and it is still growing.

Starting this passive income business is not rocket science if you put your time and money into it this can be your side hustle.

Wrapping this up, there are many passive income-generating ideas you can choose from particularly if you are an indoor person or you need some other type of income other than your salary. Adding these sources can be a game changer, it can be the difference between you going on vacation in the Maldives or staying at a nearby hotel. Whichever the case, you can never go wrong when it comes to investing in passive income.