Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to make some extra income on the side without having to continuously work for it? A passive income is just this. While it may require an initial investment upfront, you can sit back and let the money flow in afterwards. For freelancers who may not have a steady income, a passive income can be very useful for ensuring that some money is constantly coming in. Below are just several ways in which you can make a passive income. 

Ad revenue

If you own a blog, one way of making a passive income could be to display adverts on your blog. Every time a reader clicks on these ads, you can generate some ad revenue. You’ll have to be making a lot of traffic to make any decent ad revenue, which involves creating successful blog content. Sometimes a single viral post is all that is needed to start making you money. Ad revenue can also be earned through general websites and YouTube videos. 

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing involves promoting a product or a service for a company using a blog post or a video. You make money every time someone stumbles across your content and then buys that product/uses that service. This is measured by how many people buy the product/use the service after having clicked on your content - usually after clicking on a link leading to the product/service. The amount of commission you can earn per lead can vary. Some people have made hundreds or even thousands via an affiliate blog post (especially when it comes to expensive products, which offer higher commission). 

Renting property/land

Renting out property or land to someone is a common form of passive income. This could involve renting out an entire property to tenants, or it could involve renting a room out to a lodger or even renting your driveway out as a parking space. When it comes to renting property to tenants, it could be worth going through a tenancy agency to reduce the stress of managing tenants. 

Stocks and shares

You can make money over time by investing savings into stocks and shares. As the value of the company increases, so will the value of your share. Some companies also pay out dividends, allowing you to make free extra money simply by having a share. On top of the stock market, there are other investment options that you can look into such as venture capital for consumer brands, peer-to-peer lending or even becoming an angel investor. It depends on how much money you have to invest.

E-books

E-books can be an effective way of making a passive income. Every time someone downloads your e-book, you can make some money. Unlike a physical book, you don’t have to worry about printing off extra copies to keep up with demand, plus publishing fees aren’t as high. Of course, launching a successful e-book isn’t easy - it could be worth reading these tips on creating a profitable e-book. 

Online courses

Launching an online course could also be a way to make a passive income. Creating your course will take a lot of work, but once it’s created you can practically sit back and make money from it without having to lift a finger. This course could be on anything that you have expertise in.