Money for Nothing
Looking for a little extra dough each month? It might not require getting a second job. Here are a few ways to make passive income, some with relatively little effort.
Looking for a little extra dough each month? It might not require getting a second job. Here are a few ways to make passive income, some with relatively little effort.
Seems a funny way to make money, but it’s kinda a no-brainer. High-yield savings accounts help you earn more interest than a typical savings account … to the tune of 4% or more in some cases.
If you’re more than an amateur photographer but don’t do anything commercially with the photos you take, consider selling them online. Sites like Getty Images, iStock, and Alamy allow you to sell stock photos. Upload them once and you could see recurring, passive revenue.
Just like you can rent out your house through Airbnb, you can also rent out your car, assuming it’s relatively new and in good condition. Sites like Turo let you earn anywhere from $12,000 to $64,000 a year.
If you’re keen on the stock market, look for stocks that pay dividends. Not only can you make money if you sell when the price of the stock rises, but the company will also split profits with you and other shareholders.
There are advertising companies that will pay you to wrap your car with a brand’s advertising. They’ll pay you … and all you have to do is drive as you’d normally drive.
If you have a second property (maybe you inherited your Nonna’s house), it’s worth investing in fixing it up so you can turn it into a rental property. Most cities in the U.S. have seen a rise in rental prices, so you could stand to make some serious cash with your rental.
If you’ve got sketchbooks full of designs but you haven’t capitalized on them, consider uploading them to sites like Zazzle and CafePress where they can be turned into cool products like tote bags, shirts, and posters. You can also sell the products on your own website if you have one. The best part? You don’t have to deal with shipping. It’s all handled through these websites.
Likewise, if you’ve got stacks of crocheted hats, acorn people, jewelry, or any other creative endeavor lying around your house, you can sell them on Etsy. People are always looking for unique and artistic gifts, so why not sell them yours? At the right price, that is.
If you’re an expert in something, whether that’s tarot card reading, accounting, yoga, or Pomeranian dogs, there’s a course inside you waiting to be birthed. Though you invest time and money in creating an online course, the great part is that, once it’s uploaded, you don’t have to lift a finger while it sells.
Like the idea of running an ecommerce business but hate the idea of fulfilling product orders? Meet dropshipping: You list products on your own website, but the orders are fulfilled by a supplier. So all you have to do is attract customers. They’ll ship the orders, and you’ll enjoy the revenue.
If you already have a website, blog, or social media channel with a lot of traffic, affiliate marketing could be an easy way to add income. You connect with brands who will pay you to mention their products. You might get paid every time someone clicks on a link on your site, or when they make a purchase.
This is for you techies out there: there is literally an app for everything these days, and people like choice. So if you have a killer idea for an app that will train people to do more pushups, eat healthier, live better, or just unwind, spend time creating it and uploading it to app stores. Set your price (or make it free and earn your money through advertising) and watch the money roll in.
Amazon has made it easy to publish books and sell them on its platform. So if you’ve got something worth saying in book form, get it written and get it published. But also keep in mind: Book prices on Amazon are low, and they take a chunk of your profits. You can also sell your book for more on your own website.
Love thrift stores and garage sales? Are you a master at finding hidden treasures? You can take your purchases, rehab them, and then sell them. That could mean digging for designer clothes at the swap meet, painting old furniture, or scavenging for antiques that you can sell for a profit.
For people who can’t get loans with traditional banks, there is peer-to-peer lending. That’s where individuals (like you) lend money to others. As a lender, you can decide how much interest you will charge (some platforms may have limits or rules on this), so when the loan is paid off, you’ll have made a profit.
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