Many like to say that recurring income is like making money while you’re sleeping. In some cases, it is the case. But, there is no such thing as free money. Since money is an exchange of value, you’ll need to provide some value to make recurring income. So, don’t expect you’ll have to do nothing while making a lot of money.
We’ve made a list of the best ideas that will allow you to generate some passive income. Some of them need a lot of investment of either time or money at the beginning. For others, you will need to invest very little time but constantly during the project. But, if you stick to them and give it your best, you’ll be making money pretty soon.
Invest in stock or shares
The quickest way to make a recurring income is to invest in stocks or shares. But, while it is fast it doesn’t mean it’s easy. First off, you’ll need a lot of skills to ensure you get your money back. If you want to earn real money on the stock market, you’ll need to be very good. But, if you can be patient and invest in some of the less risky funds you can make real money. Investing in index funds is a good move in general. Putting your money in S&P 500 will divide your investment across 500 of the richest companies in the world. This is a pretty safe bet since the stock value of S&P 500 has grown by 10% every year for the past couple of years.
Second, no matter how good you are at investing, the stock market comes with many risks. There’s no guarantee that your investments will work out. So, you should be wary of how and when you invest. You can check out some of our money making tips. They will help you get a hang of the mentality you’ll need to increase your recurring income.
Start a YouTube channel
You can generate a lot of recurring income through YouTube. It is very easy to start! You just need a camera and something to say. You can make money on your mobile phone if you use it for filming. The challenge is that it takes a lot of time and effort to start earning money from it.
To monetize your channel on YouTube, you’ll need:
- 1000 subscribers
- 4000 hours of material
- 50,000 views on your videos (to make around $100/month)
This is not an easy task at all. Most people get there after a year of creating content for YouTube. You can reach these numbers before that, but the money will be coming in slowly. You’ll need over 2 million subscribers and tens of thousands of hours of material to make a living from YouTube. But, this can still be a nice little recurring addition to your budget.
Start a podcast
If you don’t like to edit videos for hours on end, podcasts might be a better option for you. You can make passive income from advertising products on your podcasts. It will not be 100% passive since you’ll have to come up with new material for your podcasts. But, it is easy once you start and easy to maintain.
The main challenge for podcasts and YouTube channels is the audience. Getting people interested in what you have to say is tricky. There are a few things you’ll need to do.
- Offer something that’s not out there already. – Originality is the most important factor for success.
- Approach familiar subjects in a new way. – You don’t have to talk about original material but present it in an original way.
- Have a sense of showmanship. – If you’re charismatic, you’ll have a better chance of getting an audience and making recurring income.
- Provide facts and information in addition to your opinions. – You can’t just make stuff up. You’ll need to do research.
- Appreciate your audience. – To succeed you’ll need to nourish and respect the people listening to you.
Affiliate marketing can generate a lot of recurring income
You can earn passive income by engaging an audience is to market other people’s services or products. Like the previous ideas we talked about, you’ll need an audience for this. But, if you already have a presence on channels or social media, it will be easy. You just need to get affiliate links for products or services. Promote these on your accounts and get people to buy them. If they use your affiliate links, you’ll get a commission from each purchase.
Make a digital product
We live in a digital world. An average person spends more time on their phone or computer than away from them. So, you can earn money by making digital products that will make everyone’s life easier.
Create apps for recurring income
We use apps for everything nowadays. If you have an interesting idea for an app, you can make a lot of money from it. But, the initial investment is very big for this. You’ll need to know how to code and be prepared to wait a long time for your app to be approved. But, after that, you can earn money every time someone downloads your app.
Write an ebook to make recurring income
This is a perfect medium if you have a lot to say and you’re looking for the perfect way to get an audience. Writing an ebook takes almost zero initial investment. You just have to put in the time to write it. But, once you complete the writing, that’s it! The book will make money every time someone buys it. This is an easy and reliable way to make passive income. You’ll just have to write a book that people will buy.
Create and sell a course
Creating a course will make you more money than an ebook. But, it is much more difficult, too. You’ll need to have a set of skills that people want to learn about. Also, you’ll need to be a good teacher and know how to transfer your knowledge. These are the major challenges of this passive income-generating idea.
Make recurring income with websites
There are a lot of money-making websites that give you a chance to make money. You would be doing things you usually do, such as researching, browsing, or watching videos. They would just pay you for it. With a little time, you can automate these things and generate income while doing nothing.
Do online surveys
This is not passive income like most of the list. But, it can help you earn recurring income because the surveys are common and come in steadily. All you’ll need to do is find a reliable survey website. You can even find more than one and increase your income from this source.
Answer the surveys truthfully to get better results and more surveys in the future. Many businesses use them to do market research and product design. So, you’ll be helping create new and interesting products and influence their appearance and purpose.
Make recurring income from real estate
Generating passive income will be easy if you have the money to invest in a piece of real estate. Real estate is one of the most secure ways to do this. But, it takes a lot of investment to start. You’ll need to buy a property and make it rentable. Once you do this, it’s just profit until the end. Renting a property brings a stable income on a regular basis.
Earn recurring income from short-term rent
Renting out your home on a short-term basis will make you even more money. Platforms like Airbnb allow you to rent out your home for someone’s vacation. You can rent it out for a period of up to a month and make more money than you would with regular rent.
The risks are that you’d rent it to different people. Some of those people may not be as nice as your long-term renters.
Rent out real estate for storage purposes
If you don’t want to invest in furnishing a property you can still make passive income from it. Rent it out as a storage unit. You don’t need a single piece of furniture, just some study locks. You wouldn’t want anyone to break in.
Improvise with what you’ve got
You’ll have the best chance of generating recurring revenue with no investment by using the skills you already have. Think of what you’re good at and make use of it. It will be easy to make a recurring income doing something you’re an expert at. Also, it will take less time since you’ll already be very good at it.
In addition to this, you’ll want to spread your income across as many sources as possible. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. Keep in mind that you can always enroll in free online courses to upgrade and/or improve your skills. This way you’ll have a backup if one of your projects doesn’t pan out. And if they all work out it’s even better. You’ll have constant income from many sources. This will give you a better chance of earning more income and starting new projects.