Most people say that to make passive income you have to invest in real estate, which can be quite expensive and complicated for a complete beginner. Although real estate can be an excellent source of passive income, there are other, less ‘traditional’ ways to make passive income without real estate.
Can you make a passive income without real estate? You can make passive income without real estate, notably online. Some passive income ideas that do not involve real estate blogging, 3D printing, monetized chatbots, print-on-demand, eCommerce and dropshipping. These ideas are also much cheaper to start than real estate and are more accessible to beginners.
In this guide, we look at some of the passive income ideas that you can carry out without the overhead or hassle of real estate. We will also cover ways you can turn each one of them into a steady stream of passive income. To read more on each idea, just click on the image or the button below the text, we have full guides on our site. Like any passive income ideas or business, running any of these takes time, effort, skill, and commitment. With that in mind, let’s get started.
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1. Blogging
Many people are creating monetized blogs in order to make passive income. Running a successful blog can help you make more than $1,000 a month (source). According to Demand Metric, 67% of companies agree that blogging has played a big role in the number of monthly leads they generate to their business. You can monetize your blog in a variety of ways including affiliate marketing, eCommerce, lead generation and running ads.
Income school by Jim and Rick has some good tips on how you can become a successful blogger and make over $7,000 per month, in just 24 months. To make your blog as passive as possible, you should write evergreen content or information that will still be relevant in years to come. By posting long-form content that provides people value, and boosting your organic rankings, you can attract more traffic to your site. However, you actually have to put in hours of hard work to build up your content and start ranking. But you can save a lot of time by learning from pros in a course like Project 24 by Rick and Jim. Having multiple monetized blogs can help you add extra streams of income. Blogging is an ideal passive income ideas for those looking for a venture with a low startup cost.
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2. Chatbots
Chatbots have become a very popular way to automate workflow processes that involve interacting with clients or prospects. 80% of businesses want to use Chatbots (source) and the main reasons are to automate customer support or to generate leads and sales. Some people are put off by this passive income idea because they think they have to know how to code, but you don’t! Check out the guide on our site about making passive income from Chatbots where we show you how to create one in about ten minutes.
There are many ways you can monetize your chatbot including affiliate marketing, ad placement, lead generation, eCommerce and more. As long as your Chatbot is not spammy and provides people value, you can monetize it.
If you are looking for a passive income stream without real estate, creating chatbots may be interesting, and is a great alternative if you are looking for a low investment idea. Learn more about making chatbots in our guide.
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3. YouTube
A monetized YouTube channel is an awesome way to earn passive income. All you have to do is share your knowledge on a topic you are passionate about in a fun and engaging way. YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google and millions of users log in daily to consume their favorite video content. The company has been growing exponantially since it’s creation just over a decade ago (source). You can make money from your YouTube channel by running ads once you reach 1,000 subscribers and 4000 hours of watch time within 365 days.
When starting out, making passive income YouTube truly requires a lot of work. It takes a lot of time, consistency, motivation and effort to build an active following and meet the monetization criteria. But once you get there, there is no turning back. Not only can you make money from YouTube ads, you can also sell customized merchandise (print-on-demand), monetize with affiliate marketing, sponsorships, donations, memberships and more. This gamer is now making over $1,000 per month with her YouTube channel. A YouTube channel may require a financial little investment for equipment, but you can easily get started with a smart tablet or phone. It is a very good idea for people willing to spend small amounts of money.
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4. 3D Printing
The 3D industry has seen a lot of growth in recent years opening new ways to make passive income by taking part in 3D printing activities. The most common uses for 3D printing include prototyping, concept models, and production (source). According to Forbes, more than 90% of companies that use 3D printing are able to have a significant advantage over their competition by reducing their overall production time. 3D printing takes up a little space and it is a suitable idea for people looking to make passive income without real estate.
Sites like Thingiverse, iMaterialize, and Sculpteo allow you to download prints and send them directly to your printer. You can make money by selling prints to online buyers, leasing your printer, or teaching others how to use it. You can also decide to set up a printing service but this may be a more costly investment. 3D printing can cost a lot of money to start since the price of a good 3D printer ranges $2,000 upwards. You also need to consider ongoing costs such as filament, replacement parts, and ongoing maintenance, but costs still do not compare to real estate.
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5. Creating Niche Sites
A good niche site can help you earn consistently over a long time. Creating a niche site can help you make good amounts of passive income especially when you are looking for a low start-up passive income idea. Since niche sites appeal to a specific audience and demand a considerable amount of work to create upfront, you will find it much easier to make income if you create a site that focuses on something that interests you. Rick and Jim’s Project 24 has some excellent tips on how you can create and run a successful niche site in just 24 months.
Niche sites earn income by affiliate marketing, ads and offering memberships to its users. Following the Project 24 methodology, you can make up to $7,000/Month passively. Creating a successful niche site requires a lot of commitment as you look to grow traffic by providing high-quality content. The good thing is that the financial investment remains fairly low, and this idea is accessible to beginners (when following a course like Project 24). Making passive income from a niche site takes a lot of time and commitment to build. The level of passiveness will mostly depend on your niche decision, seasonality and the type of content you write (evergreen or not). Choosing a good niche will save you a lot of time, money and may go a long way in making your site successful. Check out our guide for some more tips!
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6. Print-on-Demand
Print on demand is a passive means of making money and is extremely cheap to start. The custom T-shirt printing market is expected to grow to about $10 billion in the near future (source). Print on demand is a good way for beginners to make money from a variety of merch available in on market today. From classic t-shirts to hats, hoodies, bags, swimsuits, pillowcases, cellphone cases and more. All you need is an online store to connect your print-on-demand (POD) service, like Ecwid eCommerce and Printful. You make income by selling your designs, uploaded to merch, to online buyers. Once a buyer makes a purchase, the POD company prints and fulfills the order on your behalf. It allows you to make money without ever having to touch the stock.
Print-on-Demand is one of the most popular ways to make passive income without real estate for those who already have an audience (ex. influencers, YouTubers, etc). Ecwid can connect to eBay and Amazon to expand your eCommerce reach if you would like to scale your sales. You can choose to create your own designs or have them made for you by freelancers. You can easily have designs made for you on Fiverr for a very low cost. Platforms including Ecwid allow you to sell your prints through some of the different social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram. For more on print on demand just click here.
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7. eBooks
Making and selling eBooks is becoming very popular today because you can easily create one for free and sell it to your audience. You can earn close to $500 dollars from selling eBooks online. Close to 266 million eBooks were sold in 2017 (source). The growing popularity of eBooks is mostly because of the growing number of publishers who are looking to publish their books digitally (source).
You can make an income by creating eBooks and then selling them to online customers. Choosing the correct niche can help you find ready buyers for your content. Identifying your target market is very important when you decide to take part in this passive income stream; your topics should also be interesting enough for people to purchase your book. eBooks are a highly passive means of making an income. Check out this guide for more information on how you can make passive income from eBooks.
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7. Ridesharing (Uber)
Ridesharing is becoming very popular nowadays, you can make passive income from ride-sharing activities without investing in real estate. More and more Americans prefer using ride-sharing services like Uber as a means of transport (source). In order to become an Uber driver, you have to meet some requirements including valid driving licenses, insurance and at least three years of driving experience before you decide to take part in ride-sharing activities. You might also need to have a car that fits into uber requirements.
Ridesharing can be a well-paying job, you can make a good income by driving people to their destinations with your car. This is a job (active income) that you can handle full time or part-time and it can be a good way to supplement your income. Ridesharing is not very passive since you have to be actively involved. You can make it more passive by offering such services on regular commutes. Customers can find you from their phones once you create an account. Learn more in our guide.
Related Questions
Can you make a living from passive income? It is possible to sustain yourself from passive income, as long as you make enough money to sustain yourself. Be sure to calculate all of your expenses, debts and future costs to ensure you can live from your income sustainably.
How long would it take before I start earning income passively? The amount of time it takes before you start earning passive income depends on your individual effort, skill, choice of niche and more. It can take months to years to build a sustainable passive income source. Although it has the reputation of being “easy money” it can take a very long time to create a passive income stream.
