18 Easy Ideas You Can Start Today and Make Money as You Sleep

What if I told you that you could make money as you sleep? With a passive income stream, this can become your reality. Here, I present to you 18 ideas to start earning money while you dream the night away.

Write a Book

Many people have made a fortune by writing books. For example, Tony Robbins’ books have made him and his publishers more than half a billion dollars over the years. He has made even more money through fees he charges to be a keynote speaker at conferences. While speaking can’t be done while you sleep, book sales can go on 24/7.

You too can make money by writing a book about a topic that you love. If you are so good at what you do, no matter the niche you decide to focus on, you will make money. The secret is to find a niche you are passionate and knowledgeable about, start writing, then find a publisher, or self-publish on Amazon. The sky is the limit.

Start a Niche Site

Many companies are focusing on the millennial market because of their size and spending power. As a result, traditional retailers are struggling, and companies like Sears and Target are closing hundreds of stores. E-commerce, on the other hand, has taken over with big companies competing with small brands.

Niche sites are websites that focus on a singular niche and advise people on what to buy. Successful niche sites make money by referring customers to e-commerce platforms to buy products. Others are so successful that brands pay them to advertise their products on their website.

The benefit of starting a niche site is that after you become successful and draw in lots of web traffic, you don’t need to do much. Just a few hours of maintenance a week.

Invest in Real Estate

Real Estate has always been a popular niche because people are always buying and selling property of some sort. If you can afford to put up some apartments or other rental houses, then you can be assured of good income every month.

However, if you can’t afford it, there are other ways to go about it. Some startups like Realty Mogul and Fundrise help people with little money to invest in crowdfunded real estate projects. With this model, you don’t have to spend a lot of money and time sourcing for land and money. The company will do it for you.

To be successful in this, I recommend that you do your due diligence for every project you fund. Also, diversify your investments across different projects.

Start a Podcast

Podcasts are becoming more and more popular today. Every day, millions of hours of podcasts are listened to by people from around the world. As a result, podcast producers are making a fortune from advertisers like Blue Apron.

Podcasts are very competitive and so, to succeed, you need to do things differently. First, focus on a niche idea like pets. Second, grow your subscribers by having a good social media presence. Third, invite well-known guests to your show. Finally, build relationships with other podcasters.

If you are successful in this, you will only spend a few hours every week researching and producing your podcast.

Peer-to-Peer Lending

Most of us hate banks. We hate the hidden charges, the queues, and the high-interest rates they charge us.

One way you can avoid approaching a bank for a loan is borrowing money from peer-to-peer marketplaces like Lending Club and Prosper. These platforms take money from investors and then lend it to borrowers who pay back the money with interest. As an investor, you can invest as little as $250 and watch the money grow, and after investing, you don’t have to do anything.

Create a Course

You can also create a course and make money from it. Around the world, there is a high demand for some of the skills you might have. If you are good at Math, you can create a course and sell it online. The same is true in other fields like entrepreneurship, business, languages, and software development that you might be interested in. After creating your course, you can sell it on Amazon and Udemy. Alternatively, you can sell the course on your own website, though this will be a bit difficult for you.

License Your Photos

If you are good at photography, you can license your photos online and make money from it. The benefit of this is that you don’t need to do a lot of work. All you need to do is to take quality photos and then upload them to platforms that distribute them. Some of the most popular platforms are Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, and Getty.

YouTube Videos

Every day, hundreds of millions of people visit YouTube. This creates a big opportunity for content providers who can make a fortune from Google. You too can do it. The secret to YouTube success is to find a niche that you are good at and then create quality videos. For example, every day, tens of companies including Apple and Samsung send new products to Unbox Therapy who has created a huge following. Apart from the money he makes from Google, Luke is also paid to feature and review these products. Ensure that your YouTube videos stand out. Also, ensure that you build a relationship with your viewers.

Start a Local Business and Let Someone Run it

If you are employed, you can start a local business and let another person run it. You can start a small beauty parlor or a small restaurant and hire someone to run it. The benefit of this strategy is that you don’t need to do a lot. You won’t spend your days running your business. The secrets to success in this area are to open a business that is in high demand, hiring the best person to run it and to regularly visit it to see how it is operating.

Start a franchise

You can start a brand and make money by licensing it to other people. The benefit of this is that if your brand is successful, you will make money from franchise fees and the portion of revenues you will receive from your franchisers. There are many examples of franchises like McDonald’s, KFC, and Burger King that make billions of dollars every year. You can get franchise ideas from Entrepreneur’s 500 ranking.

Licensing Products

If you are an innovator, you can make money by coming up with products and licensing them to bigger brands. For example, if you come up with a revolutionary and patented drone concept, instead of building your own drone manufacturing plant, you can license the product to a company like GoPro. Also, if you come up with a good home security product that is patented, you can license it to a company like ADT. By licensing, you will get the original licensing fee and then get paid for every unit sold.

Build a software, app, or game

Microsoft and Apple have a big desktop market share worldwide. In their Operating Systems, they have built video players, but despite this, the most popular video player is VLC. The person who developed VLC continues to make a lot of money through donations while not doing much. The same is true with developers like Mozilla and Spotify. You too, if you have experience in software development, you can make a lot of money by coming up with an app, game or software.

Open a High Yield Account

You can also make money by opening a high-yield savings account with a bank. However, since interest rates are a bit low these days, this strategy won’t make you a lot of money. But, in the long term, the compounding effect of these savings will make you good money. I recommend that you put your money in an FDIC-insured bank. Also, I recommend that you take time doing your research about the best yielding banks. Finally, I recommend that you respect your savings account and not make unnecessary withdrawals.

Dividend Income

This is another strategy that can make you good returns. It involves buying shares of a company with a good dividend yield. By investing in such a company, you will make money as the stock price appreciate and as the company pays dividends. However, you need to be careful here. Before you invest in such a company, you need to have a good understanding of the company.

For example, General Electric is one of the best dividend yielders that has consistently paid a dividend for more than 100 years. This week, however, the company reduced its dividend which led its stock price to fall. I recommend a few things. First, do your research about any company you invest in. Second, create a diversified basket of dividend companies and finally, carefully monitor your investments.

Drop Shipping

There is a strong demand for quality products. You can fill this gap by starting a drop shipping company. This is an e-commerce company where you don’t own any inventory. Instead, the items listed on your website are sold by other companies. So, when you make a sale, the product will be fulfilled by the seller, and you will make a commission.

To succeed in drop shipping, you need to find a niche that has demand. Then, you should create a good e-commerce website. Also, you need to build relationships with your buyers. You can also build your brand by coming up with an eBook.

Robo-Investing

You can also make money by investing your money in robo-advising companies. These are companies that automate the investing process by creating diversified portfolios based on your risk appetite. Some of these companies are Betterment, Wealthfront, and Acorns.

Since these companies are a bit new, I recommend that you spread your investment across several companies. By spreading your investment, you will be spreading your risk in case one investment fails.

Follow Your Passion

In his book, Fooling Some People all of the Time, David Einhorn wrote this:

“To me, it isn’t even really work. Compared to hard work like manual labor or dealing with a difficult boss, my work is fun.”

What if someone paid you for doing what you love? That would be fun. If you are passionate about writing, you can write and make money from it. If you are passionate about spoken word, you can do it. Think of anything that you are good and passionate about and therein, lies a passive income opportunity.

In this, you can make money using Patreon, a platform that allows people to fund people that do their favorite work.

Rent your Stuff

You can make money by renting your stuff. For example, you can buy a good car and rent it using platforms like Getaround and Turo. You can even rent your spare room using Airbnb and even your clothes using Style Lend.

In short, there are many ways to make passive income, no matter your profession. However, to become successful in any of them, you need to put in your hard work. For example, if you want to run a podcast, you must work very hard to research your topic. The same is true if you want to start a niche site. You must work hard to build your viewers.