Passive Income Idea

Whenever someone needs additional income, the stereotypical suggestion offered is to “get a part-time job.”

But what if you don't have the time or energy to put in all those extra hours?

I know I didn't. Plus that wasn't as appealing as making money while I was trading time for money.

For that, you may need some passive income ideas — ways to make money with little investment of time and effort on your part.

Here's a list of quite a few passive income ideas, so it's likely that you'll be able to find at least two or three that will work in your situation.

Invest in dividend securities

Some stocks provide shareholders with regular payouts called dividends. For very large, old companies, these dividend payouts are made for consistent amounts and can amount to a substantial income if you own a large number of shares. Look for companies that are very established and have been paying dividends for a long period of time (more than 10 years). You should be able to find this information with a quick online search.

Offer advertising space

If your website is popular, you can sell space to retailers who want the people who are visiting your site to see advertisements for products, movies, music--just about anything. If you publish an e-zine or send an e-newsletter to subscribers, you can also sell space in the documents.

•             Consider using advertising platforms like Google Adsense or LinkShare to gain revenue from ads on your website.

•             Some advertisers pay "per click," meaning that you make a small commission every time a visitor clicks on an advertisement and visits the advertiser's web site.

Sell your own products on the internet

The possibilities here are endless — you can sell just about any product or service that you like. It could be a product you have created and can manufacture on your own or it could be digital in nature (such as software, DVDs, or even instructional videos).

You can set up a dedicated website for this product or service, unless of course you have a website or blog already in place. Alternatively, you can also sell it on an affiliate basis, either by offering it direct to websites and blogs related to your product or service, or through a platform such as Click Bank.

If you make a lot of money in your current job and you're not sure that you can make a similar amount by selling products online, think again. A while back, I interviewed Steve Chou from MyWifeQuitHerJob.com. In our podcast interview, Steve explained how his wife quit her job to become a stay-at-home mom.

Now, being a stay-at-home mom is a full-time job — but Steve Chou's wife also started an online business that replaced her former salary and started bringing in a six-figure income! Wow, right?

You can learn to sell products online too and make quite a bit of money. While it's not entirely passive, it's certainly more passive than getting up and heading out the door to work every morning!

Refinance Your Mortgage

This may sound strange in apassive income article, but refinancing your mortgage can be a great way to free up a lot of income and save you $100,000s over the life of your loan. That's a pretty good gain in my book.

Right now, interest rates are still near historic lows, and if you haven't checked out your mortgage lately, now's a great time to shop around and compare rates. If you can save 0.50% or more on your loan, you're potentially adding tens of thousands of dollars back into your pocket. Not many investments can beat that.

Sell Digital Files on Etsy

I’ve been into home décor lately and I had to turn to Etsy to find exactly what I wanted. I ended up purchasing digital files of the artwork I wanted printed out! The seller had made a bunch of wall art, digitized, and listed it on Etsy for instant download. There are other popular digital files on Etsy as well such as monthly planners. If you’re into graphic design this could be an amazing passive income idea for you.

Real Estate Investing

This is mostly passive once you have it all set up, but it does take a lot of work at the beginning. Real estate investing also requires occasional maintenance. Currently, we invest in a couple of rental properties and earn about $500 profit from each per month. You can read more about my rental properties at MoneySmartLife.com: How and Why I Became a Landlord.

If you don’t want to get your hands dirty, you can gain exposure to real estate investing through Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). REITs invest in real estate and mortgage, and pay out 90% of the taxable income to shareholders annually.