Did you know that there are ways to make money while you sleep? Passive income can make all the difference between an okay financial year and one where you’re genuinely happy with your financial situation. Here's 6 tips that will help you get started.
1drop Shipping/E-Commerce
Anyone can set up a website for e-commerce, but if you’re looking to get into something with less overhead, drop shipping may be your ticket. With drop shipping, you pair up with an online retailer and ship products directly from their inventory. This is as simple as ordering products online, printing off an address label and sticking it on a box before handing it over to UPS. Drop shipping is ideal for those who have retail space or can fit a warehouse into their budget.
2 affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a way of making money on other people’s products. It involves promoting someone else’s product or service through your own content (blog posts, social media, videos etc.). The beauty of affiliate marketing is that you don’t have to create anything. You just need to promote other people’s stuff and get a commission when they make sales using your special link. For example, if you sign up for Amazon Associates and promote their products on your site, then when someone buys something from Amazon using one of your links, you get paid a percentage as part of their buying fees. This can be very lucrative if done right!
3 investing (real estate, stocks, etc
Investing is a great way to put money away for future goals, whether it’s your retirement fund or a college fund for your children. But before you take any risks with your investments, be sure you know what you’re doing. The stock market can be wildly unpredictable, but real estate is much more stable (and also often more profitable). If you do decide to invest in stocks, there are countless online resources that will help get you started. And don’t forget about bonds—they aren’t as sexy as their stock counterparts, but they provide steady returns and tend to be less volatile than other investment options. Just remember: Don’t make investing decisions based on emotion; if you lose some of your investment, don’t panic and sell everything! Instead, sit back and assess how well each investment has performed so far and if it makes sense to hold onto them or move forward with something else.
4 Create an app on the side
If you have a decent amount of programming knowledge, consider doing what many millennials are doing: take your skills and turn them into cash. It’s easier than you think, but it does require some coding know-how—luckily there are tons of online tutorials for beginners out there. Check out these resources from Treehouse, Code School, and Free Code Camp for more information. Many also offer scholarships for women developers.
5 start a blog
The single biggest key to making passive income while you sleep is starting a blogging business. The reason why it is so powerful is because your website is an asset that will keep bringing in money even when you are not working! It’s like having a printing press for money! Unfortunately, not all blogs are profitable, but for some, it can be their ticket out of poverty. Even if you start with just one or two posts a week, every little bit helps. If you have any extra time, work on building up a large library of content on your site (more than 50 pages). If nothing else, use your writing as a way to improve your skills and build up experience that may lead to higher paying jobs in the future.
6 podcasting or Youtube Videos
Hosting a podcast is an excellent way to create passive income. Whether you have something interesting and informative, or just enjoy speaking in front of people, podcasting can be a fun and profitable hobby that can be started with very little investment. Just do a quick search online for how to start a podcast and you’ll find plenty of resources that will show you how. Likewise, creating videos on YouTube can also help you make money while sleeping. If your videos are short enough they may even go viral on their own! And if they don’t go viral (which most likely they won’t), at least you still have some great content to share with friends and family.