20 Passive Income Ideas to Build Real Wealth

A passive income can play an important part in your over-all financial situation.  In an unpredictable employment market, it’s a good idea to have alternate, supplementary sources of income.  Recently due to the Covid pandemic, many people have lost their primary job; a secondary source of income really helped them financially.  That’s why a passive income, such as one from RideAlike, can really come in handy.

What is Passive Income?

In the simplest of terms, a passive income is the opposite of an active income. An active income is money you receive from actual work that you perform. A passive income, on the other hand, is essentially a regular source of money that you receive without doing anything.  It just rolls in on its own when you get it established.  Once initiated, there is little requirement or work obligation on your part.  It’s an ongoing stream of income, without a big sacrifice of your time and effort. Nonetheless, if you’re bored with your current, run-of-the-mill job, consider switching to one of these five unusual career ideas.

20 Passive Income Ideas: Make Money with Little Effort

There are many ways you can start to earn a passive income, depending on what your personal situation is, and what skills you may possess.  Here’s a list of 20 passive income ideas that can build wealth. We hope one or more of them work for you.

• Share, Rent, or Swap Your Vehicle

This is a unique way of earning money with your car without having to drive yourself.  All you have to do is list your vehicle on the ride sharing service RideAlike. It’s well estblished in the Greater Toronto Area, and is expanding. 

Upon sigh-up, you set the parameters of what you want to charge, and how long your car can be rented out – a few hours, a day, a week, or more. You will soon have money rolling in regularly through your rentals.  The RideAlike app handles most of the work, proving both you and renters 24/7 customer service. Renters also receive roadside assistance as part of the deal.

• Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a great way to generate income, most often through sellers such as Amazon.  The process: You create a website that gives product reviews. Visitors to your site see the affiliate ads; when they click on them and make a purchase, you get a commission. It’s that simple.

• Stock Image Platforms

If you are skilled with the camera, editing and the technology that goes with it, there is passive income to be made from selling them on stock image platforms. People are willing to pay for quality pictures and videos.  You get paid a cut every time someone downloads your material. The same opportunity exists if you make videos or graphic designs, etc. 

• Investment

This is probably the original form of passive income – making good investments, and watching interest and dividends flow in.  These days, the lowest payback for your money is in the bank.  Withdrawing it and investing in stocks, bonds, startups, and the like is a proven passive income generator.  Be advised, however – you do need to know what you’re doing.  Poor investments are a great way to lose money, too.

• Drop Shipping Stores

This business model is where you create an online store that acts as an intermediate showcase of products of another company. This means the stock, payments, and shipments are managed by other companies, and you get a portion of the sales initiated from your site.

• Start a Blog

Finding a popular topic that generates traffic and reaction, coupled with your skill as a writer can be a way to generate passive income. One of the prominent ways of generating income from your blog is add affiliate links – generally of products or services related to your blog.  They take time to build, but significant income per month is being made by established bloggers.

• Invest in Real State

Fortunes can be made in buying and selling real estate, but the real passive income opportunity comes from the monthly rent of your tenants.  It’s another one of the original types of passive income generator.  All the landlords, apartment owners, and property managers out there prove it.

• Podcasting

Podcasting has emerged over the last few years as a major player in content creation and sharing.  Millions of people around the world download or tune into podcasts.  These platforms serve as a great way to earn passive income through advertising revenue and subscription fees.  Any topic can find its audience; offer a quality podcast, and you can earn money from it.

• Rent Accommodation

Renting extra bedrooms in your house can be a great way to earn extra money. Airbnb is the major platform people use to list their rentals, although they have several competitors out there now.  List your accommodations on one or more, and you can earn a nice income from their rentals.

• Make Money with Your YouTube Channel

There is undying thirst for video content of all types.  A YouTube channel, featuring quality content which you produce, can result in good passive income, both from Google, if you get enough views, and also from advertising revenue. Videos of all kinds – entertainment, tutorials, or vlogs, they can all earn money, if they are of high quality and catch on with an audience.

• Invest in Dividend-paying Stocks or Funds

Investing in dividend-paying stocks (or dividend funds) is an excellent way to earn money regularly. 

• Earn Interest on Your Savings

One of the easiest ways to earn passive income is to transfer your existing savings into accounts which pay higher interest. There is competition among financial institutions – look for one that pays the best possible rate.

• Sell Online Courses

Put your specific skill set to work by creating a course or program, and sell it online. From tech to household activities – there is likely a market for it. There are many platforms where you can register and sell your courses.

• Make An App

For tech-savvy types, this can be a solid passive income source. Your coding skills and imagination can be turned into an people will pay for.  You can also have others sell your app for you, while you take a cut of the action.

• Paid Instagram Posts

Instagram has become a go-to platform for posts of all kinds.  Monetize your account, by creating sponsored posts and content; a nice source of passive income, for good content.

• Selling Information Products

One way you can earn a passive income online is by creating and selling information products. E-book, video, coaching, consulting – information products cost little to produce, if you have the knowledge base on the topic.  The cost of starting a website to promote them is a small investment you’ll need to make to earn money from your info products.

• Write An E-Book

People love to read e-books.  Promoting others’, or writing your own, is a viable source of passive income.  You can focus on a single topic or offer a broad range of subject matter.

• Rent Out Your Stuff

You can turn things you already own into passive income generators, by renting them out in your neighbourhood or community.  It could be your lawnmower, your bike, or your power tools.  If you put them out there, chances are people will come to you, and you can earn some money from the rental of your stuff.

• Advertise on Your Car

There are agencies out there that will pay to have their ads on private vehicles.  The agency will want to know about your driving habits, and which geographical areas you regularly drive. If there’s a fit, they will work out a deal, whereby you get paid for carrying their advertising on your car as you drive; a nice passive income could result.

• Buy Corporate Stocks

Corporate stocks, especially the long-established, “blue chip” kind, tend to be very stable and pay solid returns.  Consider buying stock in the company you work for, along with others, to build a portfolio which pays a steady passive income in the form of dividends. 

Passive Income Opportunities are Out There

There are many legitimate passive earnings concepts around; many of them, you may not have considered or known about. It is an unpredictable world, so it’s always a good idea to have multiple sources of income, based on what you may own, or your skill set.  Take advantage of what you have to create a steady passive income.