The idea of earning money while you sleep might seem like something that can only happen in your dreams. Luckily, that dream can become a reality when you build passive income streams.
Unlike active income, such as a regular day job or gig work, passive income involves building or buying an asset that earns money regardless of if you are asleep or awake.
We’ve found some of the easiest and most lucrative ways to make money while you sleep.
How To Make Money While You Sleep
The ability to create passive income streams is a game-changer for your personal finances. While these opportunities can take some effort to start, the rewards are well worth it.
In alphabetical order, here’s a closer look at some of the ways you can make money while you sleep.
1. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing involves pocketing a commission on sales that you directly encouraged.
For example, let’s say you write a blog post that promotes a particular product you believe in. If you work out the details ahead of time with the company that sells the product, they may send you a portion of the sales revenue.
To become a successful affiliate marketer, you need a platform to promote the products or services you are marketing. Whether it’s a blog or social media, you need a way to share your affiliate link so you can earn income.
It can take time and energy to successfully build an income stream through affiliate marketing. However, there are affiliate marketers earning thousands of dollars each month, so this is a viable passive income opportunity.
2. Alternative Investments
When you think of investing, it’s likely that your mind jumps to the stock market. Although many investors opt for the stock market, that’s not the only way to invest.
The reality is that there are other investment opportunities that can help you earn money while you sleep.
A few examples of alternative investments include:
- Farmland
- Tax liens
- Precious metals
- Cryptocurrency
Through each investment, it’s possible to create a passive income stream. Just be sure to do your due diligence before investing in these assets to ensure you minimize your risk of losing money.
3. Amazon FBA
If you have items to sell, Amazon FBA might be a great option for you.
Amazon FBA, or Fulfillment by Amazon, is a platform where the company stores and ships your inventory to customers. As a seller in the program, you can send your items to the warehouse.
Since Amazon handles shipping, you’ll have to pay a fee. But, if you have a high volume of sales, using Amazon FBA means that you can make money while you sleep.
If you want to try this option, you may decide to get your hands on your own product. However, another solution is to try retail arbitrage, which involves buying popular products at a low price and selling them at a higher price.
Related Article: 15 Ways to Make Money on Amazon
4. Build an App
In our digital world, almost everyone uses apps on a daily basis. If you have the skills to create an app that users love, you could start to earn money while you sleep.
Once the app is created, you can earn money every time someone downloads or uses it. You could even sell advertising space on the app to make money.
Start brainstorming about what kind of app you and your friends would love to use, then get to work developing it.
5. Create Online Courses and Webinars
We are living in the information age. If you have a question about anything under the sun, someone has likely created an online course about it.
Of course, you benefit from this as a learner. However, if you have knowledge to share, you can package it up to sell as a digital course.
Typically, selling an online course or webinar works best for those with an audience. For example, bloggers or social media influencers might find online course creation to be a lucrative opportunity.
You can host your course or webinar on your own website or use popular platforms like Udemy to share it with a wider audience.
6. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a strategy that involves selling products that another company creates.
For example, you might build a website that sells linens. Instead of manufacturing the product yourself, you would send the order directly to the product manufacturer when you make a sale. Then, the manufacturer sends the item to the customer.
With this model, you avoid purchasing inventory upfront and dealing with shipping logistics.
7. Invest in Fine Wine
Fine wine is a high-end asset that might work well for your portfolio.
In the past, this asset involved storage headaches. More recently, wine investment platforms have made their way onto the scene. With that, investors now have a hands-off opportunity to invest in wine.
If you are interested in a passive way to make money from wine, consider looking into a platform like Vint or Vinovest.
8. Launch a YouTube Channel
It’s possible to make millions on YouTube. The highest-earning YouTubers often make money from ads, working as an influencer or landing sponsorships for their channel.
Although building an audience won’t happen overnight, YouTubers with a strong following can fall asleep knowing that the cash is rolling in. However, you’ll need to be prepared for the journey to take some time.
That said, if you create content that resonates with people, you might have this passive income stream up and running in no time.
9. Live-Stream Yourself Sleeping
Believe it or not, people have earned money by live streaming while sleeping. It’s strange but true.
For example, some Twitch gamers are earning money overnight by leaving on a live stream of their bedrooms while they sleep. Some gamers have even earned thousands of dollars while sleeping.
If you have a big following on TikTok or Twitch, this is one intriguing option to consider.
10. Open a High-Yield Savings Account
A high-yield savings account is the perfect place to park cash that you want to be able to access at any time. Unlike a certificate of deposit or investment account, you can access the funds anytime.
Sticking your savings in a traditional savings account might mean that your hard-earned cash is collecting little more than dust. But opting for a high-yield savings account means that you’ll earn a bit more interest for your savings.
An alternative is opting for a no-penalty CD. The interest rates on these can be higher than a high-yield savings account, plus you have the flexibility of withdrawing your funds penalty-free at any time.
11. Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
Real estate is a popular way to build an income stream. Through a real estate investment trust (REIT), you can avoid the usual headaches that come with owning a physical property since you don’t have to deal with tenants or repairs on your own.
When you invest in a REIT, you are purchasing a piece of a company that owns income-producing properties. You can find these as publicly traded companies, which makes it a relatively liquid investment opportunity.
12. Rent a Room in Your Home
If you have an extra room in your home, renting it out can help you earn money while you sleep.
You’ll have the option to find a long-term roommate or stick to short-term tenants through a site like Airbnb. Typically, the short-term model requires more work, but you’ll have the option to keep the space to yourself when you need it.
In either case, you’ll create a handy income stream that will keep producing revenue while you are asleep.
If you want to take this strategy a step further, consider house hacking. House hacking involves intentionally purchasing a home or multiple-family building and covering the mortgage by renting out your extra space.
13. Rent Your Stuff
Most people can look around their homes and see tons of things that they rarely use. If you have items you don’t use but also don’t want to sell, you could turn them into an income stream by renting them to others.
A few things you can try to rent out include tools, party tables, chairs and household equipment. There’s even a market for bigger items like RVs and ATVs.
Or, if you aren’t using your car, you can easily rent it out through a site like Turo or Hyrecar.
Related Article: 5 Ways to Make Money Renting Out Your Car
14. Secured P2P Loans
Peer-to-peer lending involves loaning out funds as an investor. When you loan funds, borrowers will sign a contract to pay you back with interest.
Typically, borrowers with good credit scores represent less of a risk and are rewarded with a lower interest rate. Alternately, high-risk borrowers with lower credit scores might be willing to pay higher interest rates.
Of course, there is a risk that the borrower won’t repay the funds. That said, if all goes according to plan, this is an easy income stream to cultivate.
15. Sell Print-on-Demand Products
Selling print-on-demand products involves creating graphics and uploading them to a site that will print them on t-shirts, mugs and more.
Since the platform that sells your designs will handle printing and shipping the item for you, all you have to do is make some great graphics. They’ll even handle any customer service questions.
At the end of the month, you’ll get a check with your cut of the profits.
16. Sell Stock Content
If you have a knack for photography, you can sell your photos as stock content.
For example, you could upload your pictures to a site like Shutterstock. Once uploaded, the website handles collecting payment and customer service. Each time someone downloads your photo, you’ll get paid.
Typically, you’ll need to upload a lot of pictures to see worthwhile returns.
17. Start a Blog
With multiple ways to monetize a blog, it can turn into a passive income machine. You can generate an income from your blog through ads, writing a book, obtaining sponsors and more.
Once the blog is live, anyone can visit it. As you get more visitors, you’ll start to earn an income from ads.
Of course, there is a lot that goes into building a blog on the front end. But it’s possible to reap the rewards for years to come.
18. The Stock Market
Investing in the stock market, specifically dividend-producing stocks, is a popular way to build an income stream.
If you own a stock that pays dividends, you’ll get a cash payment each time that the company distributes profits to its shareholders.
Typically, investors that go this route start with the Dividend Aristocrats list. The companies on this list have a solid track record of paying out dividends.
19. Turn Yourself into a Product
Turning yourself into a product means that you build an audience of fans who want to hear what you have to say. Once you have an audience of followers, you can start to create products that reflect your thoughts.
For example, you could create a video series, books and more to share your advice with followers. With the right audience, you could build a significant passive income stream.
20. Write an eBook
The advent of self-publishing technology has essentially removed all barriers to publishing a book on your own. Of course, the difficult part is actually writing the book.
Once you have the book written, it is an asset that can continue to earn money for you in perpetuity.
Although you might need to take it upon yourself to engage in marketing activity to boost the sales of your book, it’s possible that your book will fly off the shelves with little or no involvement on your part.
Summary
If you can learn to make money while you sleep, it will transform your finances. Imagine how different your life would look if you could earn an income while doing anything, even taking a nap.
Although you can go all in one option, there’s nothing stopping you from creating multiple passive income streams. The more income streams you build, the more protected your overall finances will be.