passive income online

The internet has allowed for some of the greatest passive income opportunities of our time. If you know what they are and how to build them, you can make incredible passive income streams of revenue that can completely replace your active income.

How can I make passive income online? There are many ways you can make passive income online. Some online passive income ideas include eCommerce, chatbots, blogging, affiliate marketing, gaming, selling eBooks, stock photos, videos and flipping domain names.

If you are a beginner looking for passive income ideas that you can undertake online, you are in the right place. In this article, we uncover 13 beginner-friendly ways you can make passive income online. Click on the button or the image in each section to read the full guide on our site on each topic. Let’s dive right in.

1. Blogging

Everyone always suggests blogging… But there is a reason why we added it to this article. Watch the video below to learn more about why.

You have probably heard of blogging so many times that you don’t believe that it’s possible to make passive income from this idea. Maybe you even gave blogging a try and it didn’t work out. The thing that is often missing for beginners who want to try making passive income blogging, is the methodology required to actually do it. Most beginners when they start out blogging confuse blogging with “vlogging.” Although vlogging is a video format of blogging, most vloggers talk about themselves in their content. However interesting you may be, If you would like to make passive income online from blogging, the best approach is to write about things people are actually looking for in search engines like Google.

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A well-built and monetized blog can easily make 1k passive income with 30k page views. This is attainable following the project 24 methodology. Jim and Rick from Income School provide the tools beginners need to make over $7,000/month passive income in 24 months. You can learn more about their methodology in this blog post. There are different ways to monetize a blog including ads, selling your own products, affiliate marketing, or making it into a membership site. It is important to choose the right niche when starting your blog because it may determine how successful you become. For a more in-depth look at this topic, check out this guide.


Learn More About Project 24 & Making Passive Income Blogging

How passive is blogging? Blogging can become a very passive way to generate income. You can earn consistently over long periods but the startup speed will be slow. Search engines like Google may take a while to index your content. But by following the methodology in Project 24 to the letter, you can expect excellent outcomes! Rick and Jim have built many highly profitable blogs over the last couple of years, and are still building them today. In 2018 they made over $1M from their blogs. Just check out Project 24, we guarantee it will make you see the potential of blogging for beginners in a new light.

2. Chatbots

Chatbots are increasingly popular today (source) as more businesses look for ways to improve the efficiency of their services. And the best part is, you don’t have to be a developer to be able to create one! Making chatbots is super easy with existing tools. All you have to do is open an account, create your chat flow by dragging and dropping elements, and then activated on your website or Facebook Page.

There are many different ways that you can make money from a chatbot. some of these ways include selling the chatbot, using the Chatbot for affiliate marketing, to generate leads, to conduct surveys, or for eCommerce. Another way of making money from a Chatbot is by creating it for free and earning money through commissions on sales or generated leads from the companies you made it for. For more on this, make sure to check out our guide.


Learn More About Passive Income from Chatbots

How passive are Chatbots? A Chatbot is a highly passive way of making income. These highly interactive and social sites can generate a consistent stream of income for a long time If the chatbot is built correctly. Definitely take your specific audience into consideration when building a chatbot. What does the audience that you’re talking to actually need? what are they looking for? What are the questions that the chatbot can respond to with value, for both yourself and your audience? If you want to make the most from your Chatbot, make sure to tailor the chatbot to the audience.

3. eCommerce

eCommerce offers so many different ways to make passive income online. eCommerce can not only consist of the sale of physical products, but also digital products, drop-shipping, print-on-demand, and more. You can sell other people’s products or your own products. Are most favorite tool to sell online is Ecwid eCommerce. We love a good because it can plug into practically any existing website. It also allows you to do everything that we listed above. Learn more about Ecwid eCommerce here.

You could also flip items online using eBay or Craigslist for example. Creating an online store is super easy these days. The hard part is actually marketing it. Generating consistent traffic is something that a lot of eCommerce merchants struggle with. Although the Project 24 methodology for blogging is more tailored to niche websites, there is still a lot to learn for eCommerce merchants from that course. Creating a blog on your eCommerce site that actually replies to people specific questions related to your products, and providing them courses and ebooks that can take their learning further is an awesome way to use eCommerce to make passive income online from your traffic. Our beginner guide to eCommerce is a great place to start. You can make passive income by selling products online, affiliate marketing, drop shipping, and selling digital goods.


Learn More About Passive Income from eCommerce

How passive is eCommerce? The level of passiveness highly depends on which form of eCommerce you choose to engage in. Some forms of eCommerce are more passive to others. For example, flipping physical products online is much more time demanding than selling digital goods. When you sell a digital product the entire process is automated. But when you are flipping physical products online, you actually have to deal with shipping, handling, and returns. Keep this in mind when considering how you would like to make money from eCommerce.

4. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing can create good levels of passive income. Some affiliate programs (ex. some SAAS products) even offer monthly recurring revenue. It is easy to get started and it can be an excellent source of passive income for beginners. Kind of like for eCommerce, the harder part of affiliate marketing is getting your link in front of the right people. One of the best ways to do this is by building an audience. You can do this with a YouTube channel, or with a blog.

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To become an affiliate marketer, you have to sign up for an affiliate marketing program and help generate sales through your links. Definitely sign up two programs that have to do with things that you are interested in, and preferably actually use. The best affiliate marketers are people who are passionate about what they talked about. Every program is different, but the way you usually get paid is a commission on sales.


Learn More About Passive Income from Affiliate Marketing

How passive is affiliate marketing? Affiliate marketing can be a very reliable way of making income passively if you have a large audience. You can learn how to build a large following on YouTube or by blogging in Project 24. This form of making income usually does not require any investment and is very easy to start.

5. Niche Sites

Running a niche site is a good and reliable way to earn passive income online. A niche site is just a website that covers a very specific topic. Let’s take Rick & Jim’s websites for example. Some of their niche sites talk about dirt bikes, cabins, and RVs. If you have a specific topic that you’re passionate about, and others are searching for online, you may be able to monetize your niche knowledge. The really cool thing is that a profitable niche site can also easily be sold for a high ticket price. If you have a lot of traffic and are generating substantial income, it will be easy to flip the website when you’re ready.

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Niche sites are becoming very popular today, as more people are searching for info online. According to Project 24, a niche site that is generating 30k views per month should expect to earn $1,000/month following their methodology. And if you carry out their methodology and follow their timeline for 24 months, you can generate $7,000 per month. You can boost the income on your niche site by combining some of the ideas that we have talked about so far. For example, by promoting products (eCommerce), using affiliate links, facilitating sales with a chatbot, etc.


Learn More About Passive Income from Niche Sites

How passive are niche sites? Niche sites are a very passive way of making money. Once you are able to generate enough traffic to your site, you will find yourself spending less time on it. A good niche site should provide more value than any other website in that niche. You can learn more about how to build a profitable niche site in Project 24.

6. Selling eBooks Online

This idea has to do with e-commerce, but selling digital products rather than physical ones, and more specifically ebooks. Selling your own ebook is one of the easiest ways of making passive income online. You can make a good amount of an initial effort. Making an ebook is easy, especially if you love to write. It really isn’t as complicated as it seems, and you can access all the tools you need to create your ebook for free. Watch the video below where we demonstrate how to create your free ebook in 10 minutes.

You can make the process even more passive by outsourcing the writing on Fiverr for example. It might cost you more for this but it will definitely save you the hustle of having to write your own content if it’s not something that you enjoy doing. Once your ebook is ready, you can sell it on your website using Ecwid. One of the best ways to facilitate ebook sales is by using a chatbot, by having a blog, Youtube channel, or a niche site. You will need a large audience to be able to make money from this idea.


Learn More About Passive Income from eBooks

How passive are eBooks? Making passive income through eBooks is a very reliable way of making money if you have a large audience that is interested in the content you have to offer. If your ebook contains evergreen content, meaning content that will still be valid in 5 to 10 years from now, then you will not have to update the book too often making it very passive.

7. Gaming

You probably know you can make a living off gaming online. The gaming industry is one of the most lucrative investments in recent times. Beginners with a lot of motivation and dedication can easily make $1,000/ month from gaming. This will take a couple of months to build, but once you make it there’s no turning back to active income. Learn more about how Toasted Gamer Boutique went from being a cashier to a full-time YouTuber in less than a year.

If you are good at playing video games, you can make quite a decent amount of monthly passive income. Different online platforms such as YouTube and Twitch allow for live streaming of video games where millions of people can watch you play. You can then monetize your YouTube account and earn through ads. Use popular platforms like Google trends to look for the most popular games on the market and remain in touch with your viewers. Check out our full guide below on how to start making passive income from gaming.


Learn More About Passive Income from Gaming

How passive is online gaming? Online gaming is a moderately passive way of making income. It will require constant interactions with your viewers and a high level of commitment. However, if it’s something you love and are passionate about, gaming is a very profitable way of making money online.

8. Selling Your Stock Photos or Videos

You can make passive income by selling high-quality stock photos and videos online. Many websites will gladly pay for your high-quality photos. Earning money from your photos will require you to have impressive photography skills. Income school has a full and in-depth photography course on how you can improve on the quality of your photos and videos.

Some popular sites like Crestock have strict quality checks for photos before allowing them on their pages. After taking your photos and videos, you have to choose the platform on which to upload them. Different platforms will pay differently based on their popularity. Some platforms will allow you to sell to different websites, while others might prefer to remain exclusive. Check out our passive income selling stock photos or videos guide for beginners below to learn more.


Learn More About Passive Income from Stock Photos

How passive is selling your photos online? Making income from selling your stock photos and videos is highly passive. Especially if you are good at photography and uploaded images that are popular and sell easily. If you are looking to make the most from your photos, you should ensure that the platform you choose relates to the photos that you have. For instance, you are more likely to sell nature stock photos on a nature site. Learn more in our beginner’s guide.

9. Flipping Domains

Buying and selling domains has become an increasingly popular way of making passive income online. Today there are numerous domains available, with new ones cropping up each day as more people are creating more and more websites. Reputable sites such as namecheap.com provide excellent support for those looking to buy new domains. If for instance, a domain costs $10, you can buy a couple, store them and resell them later at a much higher price.

You can use sites like Google trends to help you learn about new trends in the market. You can make quite a substantial amount of passive income from flipping domains. Learn more about how you can make passive income by flipping domains in our guide for beginners.


Learn More About Passive Income Flipping Domains

How passive is flipping domains? Flipping domains is moderately passive. You still have to spend time and money on research and purchasing domain names when you get started. This form of passive income has a very high-risk factor because there is always a chance that you do not sell your domain names. If you are looking for more info on this topic, just check out our guide.

10. Copywriting

You can make quite a good amount of passive income through copywriting. Becoming a copywriter is easy, and it will require little capital to start. There are two main ways in which copywriters make money. One is by creating your own blogs and earning by monetizing traffic to your site, or by becoming a freelance copywriter and writing for others. 

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You can start by copywriting for other people to make active income (trade your time for money). Once you make enough money, you can invest in a course like Income school’s Project 24 and learn how to make your own monetized blog that can earn you passive income. Another way of making passive income from copywriting is by creating an agency, or outsourcing the work to others, to help you run your blog or your service offering more passive.


Learn More About Passive Income Copywriting

How passive is copywriting? The level of passiveness in copywriting will vary. As a freelance copywriter, you will find yourself actively involved in the writing process. Make this idea more passive, write for your own blog, or create an agency and outsource the work.

11. Membership Sites

Building a niche membership site is a very profitable way of generating passive income online and they are becoming more and more popular today. A niche membership site is a niche site that offers a membership. Members can access more exclusive information, such as video guides, podcasts, ebooks and more. Membership sites earn by collecting membership fees from their subscribers. One of the key steps you have to consider while building your niche site is the type of audience you want to attract. For instance, if you are looking for travelers try and narrow your niche down further. A business traveler for example may join your niche site if you only talk about business travel. You should also relate to your audience and cover some of the interesting topics in your niche.

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A good example of a niche site is Income School. They offer online courses to members on how to make passive income, not only by creating niche sites, but also from YouTube, photography, and by podcasting. Rick and Jim go above and beyond in their course by also offering a weekly podcast, vlogs, and a very active community of people who are also learning how to make passive income online. You can learn more about their course Project 24 here.


Learn More About Passive Income from Membership Sites

How passive are niche membership sites? Making and running a membership site is moderately passive. You will have to put in a lot of effort before your membership grows, and you will have to continue providing your members value over time or they will not renew their memberships. Try to remain motivated by looking for topics that you find interesting over a long period of time. We have a much more detailed guide covering on this topic here, feel free to check it out.

12. Making and Selling Audiobooks

Making and selling audiobooks online is a very good passive income opportunity. This means of making money has grown exponentially over the last few years. Audiobooks can help you earn passive income in two main ways. You can choose to narrate other people’s eBooks and be paid for doing so (make sure to be doing this for the author with their authorisation, and not on your own terms). If you have your own eBooks, you can choose to narrate them and sell your narrations’ through some of the popular platforms such as ACX and Awesound. The most profitable option is by selling your audiobooks from your own website.

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According to the Audio publishers association, one of the most efficient ways of reaching your audience would be by using podcasts to promote your content online (source). More than 50% of audiobook listeners have listened to podcasts. Check out our guide on Audiobooks if you want to learn a bit more about this topic.


Learn More About Passive Income from AudioBooks

How passive are audiobooks? Audiobooks are a relatively passive way of earning income. The level of passiveness will depend on what form you choose and how well the book sells. Narrating other people’s audiobooks for free and making a commission on sales can be a very passive way of making money if their book is very popular.

13. Print on Demand

Print on demand is a business model that can make you a considerable amount of passive income. It allows you to sell your designs on merch directly to your customers. Once your customer makes a purchase, the order is sent to a fulfillment company that prints and ships the items to them. It is an easy way of making money and does not require you to have any physical stock to sell your products. You can print on a number of things including sweaters, t-shirts, hoodies, phone cases, pillows and more.

You can using print-on-demand services like Printful, redbubble and teespring. The big bulk of the work on your end will be promoting the products to your audience. Learn more about how to in our print-on-demand guide.


Learn More About Passive Income from Print on Demand

How passive is print on demand? Print on demand ranks as one of the most passive ways to make income. You can sell products without having to touch them. Most print-on-demand companies also deal with returns, and most of them do not require you to pay anything to get started. With a very low-risk factor, this means of generating income can be highly profitable. For more information on print on demand, make sure to check out our guide here.

Related Questions

How can I make passive income online? Some ways you can make passive income online include eCommerce (selling physical or digital products, dropshipping, print-on-demand), chatbots, blogging, audiobooks, affiliate marketing, gaming, and flipping domains. Making passive income online requires a certain level of commitment to get started, but can be very profitable in the long run.

How can a beginner make passive income? Beginners can make passive income in a variety of ways including eCommerce (selling physical or digital products, dropshipping, print-on-demand), chatbots, blogging, audiobooks, affiliate marketing, gaming, and flipping domains. Making passive income online requires a certain level of commitment to get started, but can be very profitable in the long run.

See even more passive income ideas on this page on our site.

More Passive Income Ideas