7 ways to make money while you sleep

What's passive income and why does it matter?

Passive income is income you can make with some upfront work and little, if any, ongoing work.

Most income is generated through active work. For example, if you work at a typical 9 to 5 job, you need to be present at the office (or at least online) for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. If you receive income from coaching, you have to physically show up for each coaching session you are booked for. If you do consulting, you are typically paid by the hour or for the outcome, which both require a set amount of intensive work.

Passive income, in contrast, requires some of your time in set up but afterwards, you receive regular income with little or no additional work. In short, passive income lets you "make money while you're asleep." Who doesn't love that? 🤑

How can you generate passive income?

Passive income sounds great! But how do you get started?

Harness your knowledge 🧠

Find the intersection of what you know and what your fans are interested in.

Maybe you're a weight lifting pro, and your fans want to know how to get started with strength training. You could create a series of 5-10 YouTube exercises videos, a spreadsheet of exercises people can try, or even an app combining the videos and spreadsheet.

Or maybe you're a writer, and your fans want to know how to launch their own newsletter. You could write an eBook with an end to end guide on everything someone needs to know to start a newsletter. You could create a template for people to use when writing their first newsletter posts.

Or maybe you're a guitar player, and your fans want to know how to play guitar. You could launch an online course covering guitar 101 for all aspiring guitar players.

Or maybe you're a photographer, and your fans want better access to your photos. You could pick your best photos and sell digital versions for people to use to decorate their homes, add to greeting cards, or have as their phone background.

From eBooks to online courses to templates to tools, you can create digital assets once and sell access to your expertise to unlimited fans!

Creating a blog ✍️

In a similar vein, consider launching a YouTube channel or blog to share your knowledge. Even if you don't charge for access to these resources, you can get advertising income if you let companies place ads on the side bars of your blog or interspersed throughout your YouTube video.

Selling merch 👕

Make designs for shirts, hats, laptop stickers, tapestries, notebooks, mugs, water bottles, socks, sweatshirts, jackets, and more.

Create an online store front and sell your designs using drop shipping!

Selling used products 🏪

Have furniture, clothes, shoes, jewelry, home decor, bags, or books that you no longer use? Sell them! Take stock of and upload your inventory to second hand marketplaces and watch the sales roll in.

Becoming an ambassador 🎁

If you have a meaningful social following and enjoy creating content, you could become an ambassador for brands and be compensated through an affiliate marketing program where you receive a cut of the products you help sell.

See if your favorite skincare, clothing, snack, or furniture brands are looking for ambassadors. Even if they haven't posted publicly about an ambassador program, you can always reach out via Instagram or Facebook direct message to inquire.

Becoming an ambassador is a great way to deliver value to your fans through exclusive discounts, get free products, and make some passive income!

Renting out spare space 🏠

Have a bedroom, basement, garage, or car you're not using regularly? List it on a sharing economy platform and start monetizing your extra space.

Sitting pets 🐈

Love animals? Next time your neighbor, friend, colleague, or family member goes out of town, offer to pet sit for them. You can spend most (or at least half) of your time pet sitting working on setting up the passive income streams discussed in this blog 😉

Passive income can be instrumental for people in gaining more financial freedom and transitioning from their 9 to 5 job to full time work on their passion project. Whether you're looking to make some extra money for an upcoming home purchase or looking to buy yourself some time while you set up your new company, these ideas will help you get started.

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