How To Create A Passive Income – 10 Ideas For You To Try

You know what a blog is –  you are currently reading one! what you may not have noticed is that there is an advert on the page. By having a self-hosted WordPress site I’m able to put my own adverts on the site. I’ve used Google’s Adsense program but there are other programs out there. Adsense gives you a great level of control and easy reporting to see how you are doing. By having Adverts on my blog I’m able to receive a tiny bit of cash from every page view. It isn’t lots of cash and can take a while to reach your first payout but I get my small bit of cash every time any of the blog posts are viewed. The pinnacle of passive income dreams!

When you sign up to many websites they often give you the chance to refer friends. When you do this you might get a discount on your next order, a free month’s membership or sometimes they will give you cash. When you blog about a company or a website you can include links that have your referral code. It doesn’t affect the site people see but if they purchase after clicking your link, you could get something back. A popular website for giving out a referral code is TopCashBack as they have regular offers which help entice people to join up as new members.

Its not all about websites and online earnings! Do you have a spare bedroom in your property? If you do you can earn £7500 a year TAX FREE by renting that room out. This is an easy life-hack that can net you a considerable sum every month. Only if your total income from renting is more than £7500 do you have to start paying tax. You can read more about the Rent-A-Room Scheme here. This isn’t for everyone and might be considered stretching the term ‘passive income’ however I’ve included it as it is something that many people can do and it gives you income without you have to spend any time/money to generate.

As a saving scheme, stock and shares aren’t for everyone. There is a risk with them that not everyone is comfortable taking. The passive income from Stock & Shares come in the form of dividends. This is a payment that the Board of the company agree to pay their shareholders. There are 3 different types of dividend;

The Interim dividend  is usually paid before a company has declared its full year earnings. It could be seen as a half-yearly dividend but it could be paid at any time. The Full dividend is paid after a company has declared its yearly results. Special dividends are non-reoccurring payments made outside the standard dividend profile of the company.

Not all shares pay out a dividend so if you want to get a passive income from the stocks & shares you need to find companies with a good dividend history. All this information is available online for free and the web is your friend when it comes to choosing stocks. A good rule of thumb is to find companies involved with infrastructure – National Grid is a good example. The individual share price is higher than many but you are looking for a regular repeatable dividend and everyone loves a regular dividend so the share price remains high. This does mean its not a huge swinger and you wont make loads when the share price changes but you will – or more correctly ‘should’ – get a regular dividend.

7. YouTube Videos

This one involves time and a video camera. Think about things you are interested in or passionate about. They don’t have to all be on the same subject (although this will help you build a following) as all you are looking to do is create videos other people might search for. Make sure your videos have great descriptions and interesting featured frames. Once you have had over 10,000 video views you will be able to monitise your video and they will earn you money. This is Google’s Adsense system so it will link with item 3 on this list to help increase your money. Every view of your monitised video will earn you money. Not loads (think 100th of a penny) but its money you being paid with no outgoing.

8. Affiliate Schemes

Different to ‘refer-a-friend’ schemes, affiliate schemes allow you to link to items on your blog and get paid when people click on them. Most Affiliates have some HTML you can copy into your blog that automatically converts any relevant links so there is little effort required on your part. Write the blog post, click ‘post’ and the code does the rest. Like a refer-a-friend scheme you can check your progress and have a bit more control on when you are paid out but most Affiliate schemes payout cash, where RAF schemes might pay in vouchers or free products.

9. Write a Book

I’m a great follower of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and writing a book can be a great way to get passive income. NaNoWriMo happens in November and encourages people to write a whole novel in just one month. I really do suggest you check it out if you have any desire to be a writer. Once you have written your novel you can use Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing to get your book out there and start earning. This is a passive income from Amazon but who knows, maybe your book will get picked up by a physical publisher for more passive income.

10. Rent out your Parking Space

A little like the rent-a-room scheme mentioned above but for your drive! YourParkingSpace allows you to offer space on your drive for other people to rent. Depending on your location this could be a considerable sum every month. You don’t need to do anything for this so it is a great passive income! Websites allow you to choose when you want your parking space to be offered out so there is no danger of not having your spare space when you need it.

Your Passive Income Journey

There are 10 passive income ideas for you. Not all of them will be ones you can do, not everyone has a spare room or a parking spot! However, there is no reason why you can’t start on a few of them. If you have any questions then do ask below. I am doing a few of these myself and I’m always on the look out for other recommendations so if you do something that isn’t on the list, let me know!