Are you trying to find the most reliable sources of income? We got you!
When it comes to making money, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. What might work for others may not work for you, and the same is true when it comes to sources of income.
That’s why it’s important to search through all your options and find the ones that work best for you.
Here, we will see the 19 most reliable sources of income.
The 20 Most Reliable Sources Of Income
1. It’s never too late to start a YouTube channel
YouTube is one of the most reliable sources of income. According to Prensariozone, YouTube is used by 81% of adults in the United States, which is a lot of people to get in front of for passive revenue.
What’s the catch? It requires a lot of work upfront for little to no initial payoff.
However, if you’re a long-term thinker who doesn’t mind frontloading your work, a good YouTube channel may bring in a lot of money.
As you amass content, clicks, and views and expand your following, affiliate sales, partnerships, branded integrations, and ad money will pile up quietly.
2. List that extra room on Rent
Is there a spare room in your house? Or are you planning a three-week road vacation and don’t want to leave your home unoccupied?
If so, you can rent out your spare space by partnering with a rental provider like Airbnb.
Airbnb allows home and property owners to rent out their spare rooms while earning a good amount of passive income.
In fact, according to Airbnb, 90% of Airbnb hosts rent the homes they live in on an occasional basis, and nearly half the income they make from it is spent on living expenses such as rent, utilities, and other bills. So can you see the potential this has?
And if you want to generate even more money via Airbnb, you can purchase multiple properties just to rent them out.
However, you should note that renting out your space generally requires some upfront work. Before renting out your spare room, you may need to equip or refurbish it.
3. Offer digital products for sale
Digital products are the ones that can be downloaded and used electronically. They include items like e-books, online courses, software, and stock photos.
If you have any expertise in a particular subject matter, you can create a digital product related to it and sell it online.
Thanks to their huge profit margins, digital items are excellent passive income sources.
You have to create the asset once, and you can sell it online as many times as you want. There is no inventory or storage requirement.
You have complete control over how many digital products you sell. Many designers supplement their revenue by offering fonts, graphics, and other creative assets for sale on their websites.
And according to Kim Garst, in the last year 79% people have bought a Digital product so you can see how in-demand this thing is.
4. Have a knack for writing? Start blogging
Although starting a blog might be difficult, the blogging business model is becoming increasingly popular as a source of passive income.
You don’t need to be a writing whiz to start a blog, but it helps if you have some writing experience.
The main way by which bloggers make money is through affiliate marketing and advertisements.
Infact, according to Semrush, Bloggers who make between $7,500-$25,000 per month get 42.2% of their revenue through affiliates.
So you can also generate revenue by selling digital or physical products on your blog or partnering with brands and businesses in your niche.
Pivoting your blog into a podcast is another great way to make money. You can charge for sponsorships or run ads on your podcast episodes.
If you build up a large audience, then you may be able to score brand deals and partnerships.
5. Earn easy money by taking online surveys
While not as lucrative as the other sources of income on this list, online surveys are still a reliable way to make some extra cash.
Companies are always looking for feedback from consumers, and they’re willing to pay for it.
Many online survey companies allow you to take surveys in exchange for money.
The amount of money you can make varies depending on the company you sign up with, the type of survey, and your demographics.
According to CBS news, on a typical day, you can expect to make $1 to $5 a day or $50 to $250 a month by taking surveys.
You are not going to get wealthy by taking online surveys, but you can easily make a few dollars every month if you’re consistent.
6. Have an extra skill? Start freelancing
According to Zippia, Freelancers contribute $1.3 trillion to the economy of the United States each year and make $28 an hour on average. So Freelancing is a cool way to earn extra cash with or without your full-time job. Some examples of freelancing gigs that you can take are:
- Graphic Designing
- Video editing
- Content writing
- Data entry
- Transcribing
- Translation
- SEO
- Website Designing
To get started with your freelancing journey, you simply need to:
- Make a list of skills or services that you can offer & research about it a little.
- Start building a portfolio of your work.
- Start applying for gigs on freelancing platforms like Fiver, Upwork, etc., Or find clients on Linked In, Twitter, etc.
7. Create your own course
If you have in-depth knowledge on any topic, for example, the stock market, graphic designing, etc.
Or if you have a certain skill, for example: playing guitar, songwriting, etc., then you can create your own course and sell it online on platforms like Coursera, Udemy, Skillshare, etc. and make passive income.
This option has so much potential in it. In fact, according to LearnWordls, the e-learning market was worth $107 billion in 2015, and $190 billion in 2018, and is expected to cross $319 Billion by the year 2029.
So if you want to earn money by utilizing your skill then creating a course is a great way to do it.
8. Have a good following? Do affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing allows you to earn money from the commission when people purchase products using your given link.
You can use affiliate marketing if you have a YouTube channel, blog, or good following on social media platforms.
According to Kinsta, 81.2% of affiliate marketers are making more than $20,000 a year and you can too.
9. Write an e-book
If you have a knack for writing and expertise on a certain topic, then you can create your own e-book and sell it online on platforms like Amazon.
According to The Money Snowball, one ebook could earn you more than $500 per month that too in passive income!
An e-book can be as short as 30-50 pages and can be very cheap to create.
Apart from this, you can enjoy low publishing costs and a wider distribution channel network on Amazon to sell them.
10. Invest in Crowdfunded Real Estate
In a Crowdfunded Real Estate, experts pick out real estate, and then you can invest in it from anywhere between $10 to thousands of dollars, depending on your capacity.
Did you know according to The Pinnacle List, Crowdfunding real estate investment is expected to grow by $196.36 billion from the year 2021 to 2025? So now might be the best time for you to invest in it.
11. Earn from Dividend stocks
A lot of good companies pay their shareholder’s high dividends from time to time.
However, to make a decent amount of money from dividend stocks, you will need to have a considerable amount of investments.
According to Hartford Funds, the average dividend payout ratio over the past 95 years has been 56.6%.
So if you have the money and knowledge to put your money in the stock market, then dividend stocks are a great way to earn money some extra money from time to time.
12. Learn more about REITs
REITs are another investment option to make a lot of money. REIT is basically a name for a company that manages and owns real estate.
You can put money in REIT just like how you wouls in stock, and in return, you get to enjoy returns on your real estate investment.
According to The Motley Fool, REITs have outperformed stocks on 20-50 year horizons. So now is a good time to make money from REITs.
13. Build an App
This might sound intimidating, but it is not. You can build your own app. It can be a gaming app or any other thing that interests you.
If your app becomes a hit after going public, then you can make money from every user that downloads your app.
In fact, according to BuildFire, 16% of Android developers earn over $5,000 per month, and 25% of iOS app developers make over $5,000 from their app earnings.
14. Advertise on your car
If you want to earn some money by simply driving around your car, then advertising on it can be a great way to do this.
For this, you simply need to contact an advertising agency in your area, and after evaluating in what areas you drive, what are your driving habits, etc., they will wrap your cars for zero cost.
According to Financebuzz, drivers make between $175-$250 per car wrap advertising campaign which is not bad at all.
15. Sell on Etsy
You can make a lot of money by selling on Etsy. You can sell your digital artwork, paintings, and home decor items, among a lot of other things.
According to Sale Samurai, the average successful seller on Etsy earns anywhere between $43,000 -$46,000 per year which is fantastic.
The platform will charge some commission on whatever you earn, but the platform is great for reaching a lot of potential customers.
16. Rent your car
If you have a car lying around that you do not use much, then you can rent it out and earn money from it. You can rent your car on platforms like Turo, Carvertise, Uber, etc.
According to Zippia, the global car rental industry is expected to see a CAGR of 6.7% from the year 2020 to 2027. So renting out cars starting this year could be a great way for you to earn money.
17. Become an Influencer
Today, short reels are trending on Instagram & even on YouTube. So if you have something to share, be it fashion-related advice, entertainment-related, or even finance related.
You can become an Instagram influencer by creating reels and can monetize this through affiliate marketing, ads, partnerships, etc.
According to Neal Schaffer, an average influencer earns between $30,000 and $100,000 annually through product promotion. So becoming an influencer can help you earn a lot of money.
18. Make intelligent use of AI
Yes, you heard it right! Using AI like ChatGPT, Openai, etc. you can create content be it ebooks with images, digital art for sale on etsy, etc.
You can utilize for a number of things and earn money using it.
19. Sell Photos Online
If you are good at photography, then you can make a decent amount of extra income by selling your photos online on sites like Shutterstock, iStock Photo, Dreamstime, Alamy, etc.
According to Envira Gallery, you can make 20% to 30% of whatever your image sells on different platforms.
Reddit Users Share Their Ideas
Simple Ways To Make Simple Passive Income?
by u/LongDrawn in financialindependence
How To Make Passive Income With No Money?
Here’s how you can make passive income with no money:
- Choose a skill-based area: If you do not want to put money, then you can build a passive income area where the only thing required is a skill. This includes freelancing, such as being a content writer, logo designer, transcribing, etc. Another area where you do not need to put money is if you decide to teach online- it could be a subject or a language.
- Upfront Opportunity: If you have some amount of money to invest in your passive income, then you can choose to create a course, write an e-book, become an Instagram blogger, etc. These things require very little investment but more time to see results.
Wrapping Up
With the right approach, anyone can start generating passive income. However, it’s crucial to remember that there is no such thing as truly “passive” income.
But if you’re willing to frontload your work and maintain a long-term focus, you can build a solid foundation for generating reliable passive income streams.
FAQ
How much money can I make from passive income?
The money you make from your passive income depends on your passive income source. Some people make only a couple of bucks each day, while others make $100,000+ each year.
How can I make passive income?
Here are a few more passive income options:
- Sell handmade goods
- Start a dropshipping store
- Sell digital products
- Stock market investing
- Teach online
- Teach a language
How many passive income source should you have?
There is no thumb rule for the number of passive income one should have. This solely depends on your resources, skill, and time. You can have as little as one or a lot of passive income sources.
Shefali Jain is a Content Editor & Writer at National Planning Cycles.
After completing her graduation in hospitality, Shefali decided to follow her passion and started writing. Shefali has been writing for two years now and contributes to our website as a skilled editor and content writer with strong research skills. Writing product and service reviews, biographies, and book reviews are some of her key areas, among many others in which she specializes.