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25+ Passive Income Sources to Make

Money While You Sleep
LAST UPDATED AUGUST 18, 2020 BY DYLAN HOULIHAN5

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Passive income is the dream, right?

Warren Buffett even says it himself:

“If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.”

But honestly, what is passive income? Is it money earned for doing nothing?

That's what some people seem to think, but if it were that easy everybody would be sitting on a
tropical island right now sipping pina coladas.

Here's the real definition of passive income:

Passive income is money that you earn on a regular basis that requires little to no effort to
maintain.

That means it could take you an entire year (or longer) to set up a passive income source,
but after that, it could generate revenue for years without much maintenance.

It doesn't mean that passive income requires little to no effort to achieve. If someone tells you
otherwise, run the other way.

Now, does this mean that in order to create a passive income stream you need to neglect your
family and friends and start working 80 hours a week? No. You can if you want, but you don't
have to.

Why?

Because some passive income sources are easier and quicker to set up than others. Some require
a lot of money, some require a lot of time, and some require both.

That's why I've split the passive income ideas in this article into 5 different categories:

1. Get Started With Passive Income Investments (Good for people with money but not a lot
of time)
2. Generate Passive Income With Real Estate (Good for people with money and a bit of
time)
3. Create Your Own Passive Income Sources (Good for people with a lot of time but not a
lot of money)
4. Rent Out Your Stuff to Generate Passive Income (Good intro into passive income)
5. Other Passive Income Sources (Won't earn you a ton, but they're easy)

As you go through each category you should get an idea of what suits you best.

Get Started With Passive Income Investments

If you've got money saved, one of the best and quickest ways to start generating passive income
is to invest that money!

1. Robo-Advisor
By far the easiest way to get into investing is to use a robo-advisor.

A robo-advisor invests your money for you, automatically. You simply choose how much risk
your willing to take, and the robo-advisor takes it from there.
But what about the fees?

Luckily with most robo-advisors, the fees aren't too bad if you consider the convenience a robo-
advisor brings. The average fee for a robo-advisor is anywhere from 0.25% to 0.9% per year.

That means if you have $10,000 invested you're going to be spending anywhere from $25 – $90
per year on fees. That's a pretty small amount to pay for the convenience and awesomeness of
having your money invested for you automatically. It's also a lot cheaper than a traditional
investment advisor.

That's why, in my opinion, robo-advisors are the way to go.

Here are my favorite ones:

WEALTHSIMPLE

 Annual fee: 0.4-0.5% of the account balance

 Minimum account balance: $0

I've been using Wealthsimple for a few months now and it's been great. Signing up was a breeze,
my investment account transferred over smoothly and the customer service has been excellent so
far. I highly recommend Wealthsimple as a robo-advisor.

Sign up for Wealthsimple here.

BLOOOM

 Annual fee: $10
 Minimum account balance: $0

Blooom is the best (and pretty much only) robo-advisor for managing your 401k. When you sign
up they'll show you the current health of your 401k and then tell you how you can optimize by
cutting hidden fees and improving diversification.
Get your free 401k check-up with Blooom.

2. Dividend Paying Stocks

Certain companies give a portion of their profits to their stockholders. This is known as
a dividend.

Investing in dividend-paying stocks is a great way to earn passive income, but there is a fair
share of risk involved as well (just like any investment). For example, companies can lower their
dividend yield, or stop paying dividends altogether, which can cause the stock price to drop
rapidly.

That's why, just like with any other investment, you must always do your research.

Just because a stock is paying dividends doesn't mean it's a solid investment.

Resources to learn more:

 Understanding the Dividend Yield on a Stock

 Dividend Investing Guides

3. Peer to Peer Lending

People need to borrow money all the time, but not everyone can get accepted for a loan at the
bank. That's when they might turn to peer to peer lending, which is exactly what it sounds like:
people lending money to other people.

You can earn passive income through these sites by acting like the bank and lending your money
to people who need it. The amount of interest you earn on your money will depend on the
borrowers' credit score.

Learn more:

 Beginners Guide to Peer to Peer Lending

Peer to Peer Lending Sites:

 LendingClub
 Prosper

WANT AN EXTRA $1,000 A MONTH?

Take the FREE 15-Day Guide to Making Money Online and learn how you can make $1,000 a
month or more from home with little to no investment.
You can unsubscribe anytime. Spam is lame. 

START THE JOURNEY!

4. High-Interest Savings Account

Your traditional bank is probably paying you under 1% interest each year. That means your
money is losing value due to inflation being somewhere around 1.9%.

To simplify:

$100 in your bank account may be able to buy 100 bananas today, but next year it might only be
able to buy 95 bananas.

Now I'm not saying you shouldn't save money, that's ridiculous. Instead, you should save your
money in a high-interest savings account so that you can beat inflation.

There are several different savings accounts you could sign up for, but I always
recommend Wealthsimples high-interest savings accounts.

5. Certificate of Deposit
A certificate of deposit (or CD) is a relatively safe investment opportunity offered by banks and
credit unions. How they work is simple:

You give your money to the bank for a specific period of time, and you get more money back
when the time is up. The bank or credit union will tell you exactly how much money you'll get
back when you apply.

The catch is that the money you put into a CD will be locked up until the term is over. If you
withdraw early, you'll be penalized and you might actually end up losing money.

To get started, contact your bank or credit union.

Find More Investment Opportunities:

Generate Passive Income With Real Estate

There are a few different ways to generate passive income with real estate:

6. Crowdfunded Real Estate

If you want to invest in real estate but you don't want to go at it alone, one option you have is to
invest in crowdfunded real estate.

Crowdfunded real estate works just like other types of crowdfunding:

1. A company finds a real estate opportunity

2. A group of investors pools their money together to fund the project
3. Any profit generated by the project is then distributed among the investors

If you want to get started, here are some of the best and most trusted real estate crowdfunding
companies:

 Fundrise
 Prodigy Network
 Realty Mogul
 Realty Shares

7. REITs
Another way to get into real estate investing without all the risk of doing it on your own is
through a REIT or Real Estate Investment Trust.  A REIT is a company that owns or
finances income-producing real estate.

When you invest in a REIT you get a share of the profit produced by the real estate the REIT
owns (a bit like a dividend paying stock). These profits typically come from rental or interest
income.

If you want to learn more, go here:

 REIT Basics

8. Purchasing Rental Properties

So, you're ready to invest in real estate on your own. Welcome to the big leagues! This is where
some real passive income can be made if it's done right. If done wrong, a lot of money can be
lost.

But won't I have to deal with tenants and property repairs? How is this passive?

Property managers. They are your key to passive income. If you can find and hire a good
property manager, you are golden. They'll handle the property management, and you can focus
on finding new investment opportunities.

Learn more:

 28 Tips for Buying Your First Rental Property

 Real Estate Investing for Novices
 Property Investment for Beginners

Create Your Own Passive Income Sources

These passive income sources are a bit different than real estate or investing because they require
a different resource: time. 
Get started early though, and they will pay off massively in the future.

8. Start a Blog

Blogs blogs blogs. You see them everywhere, and you're reading one right now. They're one of
the best ways to create a massive stream of passive income online.

How? Well, there are several different ways to monetize a blog:

1. Advertising
2. Affiliate marketing
3. Digital products
4. Physical products
5. Services

Of those 5 different blog monetization methods, the first 3 can make you money without your
presence. People could be reading your blog earning you advertising money and purchasing
products all while you're sleeping or walking your dog. How awesome is that?

Want to learn more? Let me show you how to start a blog.

9. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing involves selling someone else's product for a percentage of the commission.
For example, Amazon offers a popular affiliate program where, if you direct a customer to
Amazon and they make a purchase, you get a percentage of the sale.
This is definitely most effectively done with a blog or a Youtube channel, but there are other
ways to do it, too.

For example, Facebook is a popular place to post affiliate links, just make sure you're not
spamming. The key to affiliate marketing is to always provide value.

Some other ways you could promote an affiliate offer would be to post in forums or use pay per
click advertising.

10. Write an e-Book

This may seem like a daunting task, but think about it:

An eBook may take some months to create, but once it's finished it can be sold over and over
again with no physical presence required.

Now you may be thinking – what am I going to write a book about?

Don't worry, you don't need to write the next Harry Potter. The real money is in the non-fiction
section. You know, the books that teach you something or help you solve a problem. These types
of e-books kill it because people have problems and they're willing to pay for a solution.

If you decide to write an eBook, there are two popular publishing routes you can go down:

Kindle publishing – This is the easier route and it gives you access to Amazon's Kindle users.
The downside is that you won't make as much money as Amazon takes a cut of all your sales.

There are other publisher platforms as well that work similarly to Kindle.

Blog publishing – If you go this route you'll have to learn how to set up your own website, but it
will be worth it as you get to keep 100% of the profits. You can also build your own audience
with a blog and monetize them in other ways, or with more eBooks later on. This route will most
likely be more profitable in the long run.

Related: How to Start a Blog

11. Create an Online Course

Creating an online course is similar to writing an E-book except with an online course you'll be
filming videos instead of writing chapters.

The key to making a good online course is to do your research. Before you start creating a
course on anything, make sure there's a demand for it.

To start:

Think about your current skills and what you might know that people would pay to learn. Try to
think about what people ask you to help them with, or the things you do for fun.

If you really can't think of anything, find something that you'd like to learn and create a blog
around it. By writing about it regularly on your blog you'll start to become an expert in your
chosen niche and you'll be building an audience of potential customers at the same time.

Learn more:

 How to Create an Online Course

 How to Make Money With an Online Course

Sites to create your online course:

 Udemy
 Teachable
12. Dropshipping
Drop shipping is when you run an online store but you don't hold any product.

If this is your first time hearing about this, it probably sounds a bit silly. How is it possible to run
a store with no products?

Well, there are products, they're just with the suppliers. When a customer orders a product from
your store, you put the customer's details into the supplier's store, and they handle the rest.

Here's the broken down version of it:

1. A customer places an order on your website

2. You receive the order and the customers shipping details
3. You go to your supplier's website, input the customers shipping information, and
purchase the product
4. Your supplier ships the product to your customer

That's the basis of how dropshipping works, and it's generally risk-free because you don't have
to purchase a product until someone actually orders it.

Learn more:

 DropShipLifestyle.com

13. Start a Youtube Channel

This 6-year old makes 11 million dollars a year from reviewing toys on Youtube. Just let that
sink in. 11 million.

Isn't that mind-blowing? He's just one example too, there are many other YouTubers making a
good living just from Youtube ad revenue.

How do they make so much?

Well, the average Youtube ad revenue is $2 per thousand views. That means if you have 50
videos each getting 1,000 views per day, you're making $100/day. On top of that, there are a lot
of other ways to monetize a Youtube channel such as sponsored videos or merch.

In order for all of this to work though, you need to be willing to make videos. Choose a topic
that interests you and get to work!

14. License Stock Photos

If you've got photography skills then licensing your photos could be a passive income idea that's
right up your alley.

The way it works is simple, you upload your photos to a stock photo site, and each time someone
downloads one of your photos you get paid.

Since content marketing is so huge, there are millions of photos downloaded every day from
stock photo sites. That's potential money in your pocket!

Best stock photo sites:

 Shutterstock
 iStock
 Gettyimages

Rent Out Your Stuff to Generate Passive Income

15. Rent a Spare Room
If you've got a spare room that you don't use, why not rent it out for some easy passive income?

People rent from Airbnb all the time looking for better rates than hotels, and you'd be surprised
at how much money you can earn just by renting your place out a couple times per month.
It's free to list your room on Airbnb, so give it a shot. Airbnb will even give you an estimate on
how much you can earn from each rental.

16. Rent Your Car

Just like renting a spare room on Airbnb, you can rent your car on Getaround or Turo. It may
sound like it's not worth the time but it's possible to make $1,000s per year by renting out your
car!

Worried about the risks? Don't be. Both Turo & Getaround screen every renter and cover you
with insurance and 24/7 customer assistance. Both platforms are completely free to use as well!

Ready to list? Head over to Turo or Getaround (or both) and start generating passive income with
your car.

17. Rent Out Your Parking Spot

Parking in some areas is getting ridiculously expensive. Luckily for us, that means opportunity.
You can make some extra cash passively by renting out your driveway, garage, or parking spot
to drivers in need. This works especially well if you live in an area where parking is hard to
come by.

You can rent your space out either daily or monthly, and you control the availability as well.

Get started with JustPark.

Other Passive Income Sources

18. Turn Your Car Into an Ad
Did you know that you can make money by turning your car into a moving advertisement? It's
called car-wrap advertising, and it's a great way to earn passive income for doing something
you already do: driving.

In order to become a driver you'll need to have a car that's 2008 or newer, and you'll have to be
someone who does a fair amount of driving. Those in busier areas will get more advertising
offers since advertisers want to show their ads in specific places.

Here are the top two companies for car wrap advertising:

 Carvertise
 Wrapify

19. Use Ebates

You're already shopping anyway, so you might as well earn some cash back while you're at it.
It's basically free money.

Ebates is a cash back app/service that can get you large amounts of cash back on purchases
at over 2,000 stores. Also, if you download the Ebates browser extension, you'll get notified
whenever cashback is available, making it super passive and easy.

You can also attach your credit card and get cash back while you shop in-store without even
thinking about it.

Sign up for free here.

Related: 16 Amazing Apps That Pay You to Shop

20. Get Paribus

We've all experienced it before:

You buy something and a week later it's being sold for a lower price. How frustrating.

This actually happens all the time but 90% of the time we don't even notice the price drop. That's
when Paribus comes in to save the day.

Paribus tracks all your online purchases and if it notices a price drop, it will contact the store and
attempt to get you a refund… for free!

So for example, if you purchase a basketball online from Walmart for $10 and a week later it
drops to $5, Paribus will contact Walmart for you and get them to refund the difference. How
sweet is that?

Sign up for free here.

21. Sign up for Trim

Trim is a personal finance app that has a ton of amazing features that help you manage your
money more easily, but their best feature has to be their automatic bill negotiation.

Yes. Trim can contact your service providers (internet, cell phone, car insurance, etc.) on your
behalf and negotiate your bills to a lower price automatically.  It's pretty cool.

If Trim successfully negotiates your bill and gets you a better deal, they take 33% of the savings
(eg. if they save you $10/month for 12 months they take $40). If they aren't successful, it won't
cost you anything.

Sign up for free here.

22. Join the Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel

By joining the Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel you'll be helping improve online products and
services, and you'll also earn some easy passive income.

How it works is simple:

1. Sign up for free

2. Download the secure and safe Nielsen app to your registered devices (smartphone, tablet,
etc.)
3. Earn up to $50/year in passive income while you browse the web on your registered
devices

It's really that easy! Sign up for free here.

23. Download the Survey Savvy App

Survey Savvy is similar to the Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel:

You download an app to a device (desktop, smartphone, or tablet), and earn passive income each
month just for having the app installed.
Each device you connect with Survey Savvy earns you $5/month and you can connect up to 3
devices. That means you can earn up to $180/year in passive income.

Sign up for free here.

24. Get Paid to Walk

Walking is something you've already got to do every day, so why not get paid for it?

Download Sweatcoin (or read my full Sweatcoin review to learn more) and you can start earning
rewards – and even cash – while you walk.

Related: 5 Free Apps That Pay You to Walk (actually)

25. Invest Spare Change

We've already talked about some different passive income investments, but this is a more hands-
off approach. There are two main apps that you can use to invest your spare change:

 Mylo (For Canadians like myself) ($5 Sign up Bonus) (Full Review)

 Acorns (Available in the US and Australia) ($5 sign-up bonus)

How both of these apps work is simple:

For example, if you buy a coffee for $1.50, the app (whichever you choose) will automatically
round up your purchase to $2.00 and invest the $0.50 for you.

This may not seem like much but it really adds up! Best of all, you won't even notice the money
leaving your account.
Final Thoughts
Although many internet marketing gurus like to promote passive income as this magical, make
$10,000 fast while you sleep sort of thing, that couldn't be further from the truth.

Most passive income ideas are very long-term, and if you don't stick with them until the end
you're not going to see very good results. That's why I encourage you to pick one that interests
you and get started on it today. Not tomorrow. Today.

The earlier you start, the more time your asset has to grow.