Bank an Extra Income While You Sleep

Dear Money & Crisis Reader,

Yesterday, we discussed building wealth and financial security by running your wallet like a business.

In short, that means maximizing your own personal “profit margin” by spending less and making more. 

Now, before you write this advice off as “easier said than done,” let me assure you’re that I’m well aware how difficult it can be simply to “make more money” and “spend less.”

But there are strategies that make both of these challenges a whole lot easier. And I’ve successfully used many of them myself over the years.

Today, I’d like to focus on the “making more money” aspect of this strategy.

The Way of the Passive Breadwinner

Now, anyone can “make more money” by simply working longer hours or taking on multiple jobs.

However, this means sacrificing time spent with your family, leisure time and often even sleep.

Some folks are built for this kind of lifestyle and would rather be making money than enjoying their free time — and that’s good for them — but it ain’t my idea of a life well lived.

That’s where a passive income comes in.

Simply put, passive income is a regular income earned with little to no effort on your part.

It ticks away while you sleep… while you’re at your day job… and, depending on the type of income, it can net you hundreds or thousands of extra dollars a month.

Now, obviously, there’s no such thing as money for nothing and the same is true for passive incomes. The difference is you make just one big commitment upfront — whether that be time or money. After that, your income should roll in with minimal effort from you.

Sounds pretty good, right?

Below are some of the best ways to make money with a passive income.

Today, we’re going to focus on incomes where the initial effort is mostly time. Tomorrow, we’ll discuss some strategies that require capital to get up and running.

Write an E-book

Hold on.

Before you start running for the hills, I want to quickly explain the weird thing about e-books.

You don’t have to write the next great American novel to make money with e-books. You don’t even have to be an exceptional writer.

The e-book market is a strange beast, separate from the ultra-selective world of book publishing.

Folks are buying and selling short, self-published books on specialized topics.

There have been bestsellers on topics as simple as tips to deal with indigestion, how to get the most out of your severance package and all kinds of unique insider advice from some of America’s most underrepresented industries.

Right now, the five biggest publishers account for only 16% of the e-books on Amazon’s bestseller lists. While self-published books represent a whopping 31% of e-book sales.

Write a short advice book (just 50–100 pages long) based on a single topic you know a lot about and publish it through Amazon’s self-publishing service.

As long your book is selling, you’ll enjoy regular earnings from your royalties.

Write an Online Course

If you have knowledge that other people can use, create a course.

It can be anything — but information that other folks can use to make more money or get ahead in business is particularly valuable. As well as tutorials that make difficult tasks or skills easier to accomplish or learn.

Some of the most popular courses are on topics such as time management, negotiating your salary, home improvement and online marketing.

Most courses are made up of a combination of videos, reports and emails. You can use a third-party site like Teachable or Udemy to put your course together.

Sites like these will also help you automate the sale and distribution of your course (for a small cut of the profits, of course).

Rent out a Room

If you’ve got a spare room in the house, you can earn some easy passive cash by renting it out to travelers and students.

I’ve used this strategy before and it’s a great way to bank extra cash to get out of debt fast or pump up your emergency fund. But for me, this is best used as a short-term strategy to temporarily boost your earning power.

I like my privacy. And I love being able to come home at the end of the day and not have to worry about bumping into strangers in my home.

But that doesn’t bother some people. My retired mother supplements her income with this strategy and her spare room is never empty. Just last week she had a Korean couple, both of whom were police officers from Seoul, on their honeymoon.

There are a number of ways to use this strategy to fit your personal preferences…

You can simply rent a room on Airbnb, which is easy and low maintenance. Or you can net larger payments by renting colleges who bring foreign exchange students for spells of one–three months. The downside of this option is that you generally have to provide the students with breakfast and dinner.

We’ll dive into some passive income strategies that require an upfront investment tomorrow. Until then, have you discovered a lucrative passive income of your own? If so, click here to send me an email and tell me about it.

All the best,

Owen Sullivan
Editor, Money & Crisis

Editor’s note: No time to write an e-book? Check out James Altucher’s clever income-building strategy. James devised this side-income strategy to yank $3,000 out of the stock market every month. Click here and he’ll show you how to do it yourself. Don’t delay. You only have until midnight Sunday to take him up on his offer.

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