9 Passive Income Ideas for 2024

My Top 9 Passive Income Streams That Work in 2024

7 min readJan 13, 2024

Nine Passive Income Streams That Work

I’ve been making money online for years, and in this article I’m going to share my top 9 passive income streams that genuinely work in 2024. I’ll provide real results for each method to prove they work for the average person.

We strongly recommend that you check out our guide on how to take advantage of AI in today’s passive income economy.

My #1 Method: Paid Online Communities

One of the most powerful and easiest ways to earn passive income online is by creating a paid community. I have my own community where I share tips on making money online, and it earns me thousands per month.

Just yesterday alone I made over $1,300 from monthly subscriptions. And today so far I’ve already made around $1,000. These earnings are from members who pay on a recurring basis each month.

You can create a community on any topic — finance, cooking, sports, etc. The key is to find a niche with demand. You don’t need to be an expert, just passionate about the topic.

Some use Circle or Mighty Networks, but the most successful communities are on Discord since it’s free. Once you have members joining and engaging, you can start charging a monthly fee.

To get your first members, list your community on sites like Discord Me. You’ll find communities range from $25-$150 per month. I’d suggest starting free, then raising your price over time.

An easy way to get more paying members is to offer an affiliate program. Pay your current members a commission for each new member they refer. This helps explode your community.

Method #2: Domain Parking

Domain parking is a fantastic passive income stream that hardly anyone talks about.

The idea is to buy expired or misspelled domains that still get web traffic. You can turn these mistakes into earnings.

For example, weather.com gets over 1.4 billion visits per month. But weather.co (with an ‘s’) gets 40,000 visits from mistypes.

The owner displays ads and makes money from the traffic. To find available typos, use the free Domain Typo Generator tool. Type in a popular domain and get suggestions.

Another way is to find expired domains on ExpiredDomains.net. Sort by traffic levels to find gems. I found tropicsclub.com, getting 12,000 visits per month, available for $40.

You have options to monetize the traffic. One is search arbitrage ads via networks like Tonic. You earn when people click.

Or just redirect your domain to an affiliate offer. I taught this and a student made $400+ sending typos to a Clickbank product. Simple yet effective.

Method #3: Affiliate Marketing

What’s a passive income article without mentioning affiliate marketing? This is still one of my favorites.

For those unfamiliar, affiliate marketing is promoting other company’s products for a commission. You get a unique link and earn a % of each sale.

The key to passive income is promoting recurring products like software or membership sites. Get one signup, and you can earn monthly commissions as long as they remain a customer.

To show you real results, one of my top earning partnerships is with the website builder Builderall. I haven’t even promoted it in years, yet I’ve generated over $350,000 total so far.

Here you can see I have over $2,000 available right now. And I earn every month without lifting a finger, thanks to residual commissions.

It’s never been easier to get started as an affiliate. With tons of free traffic sources, you just need to create content reviewing or demonstrating recurring products.

Post your affiliate links on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, or Medium. When people click and buy, you make passive income.

A tip to get started — promote free trial offers. This way you don’t need to hard sell. Just get signups and the company does the rest.

Method #4: Amazon Influencer Program

This next method allows you to earn from product reviews without a following or showing your face.

It’s Amazon’s Influencer Program. You can post video reviews of products on Amazon. When shoppers watch, you earn commissions.

For example, say I’m browsing this green screen on Amazon. Below I see video reviews from normal people. If I watch and end up buying, they earn a commission.

The videos are simple quick reviews made on a phone. No fancy equipment or editing required. Just demonstrate or review products you bought.

Post enough reviews and the passive income starts rolling in. I see people sharing results of hundreds per month. I’m personally setting this up now.

One downside is it can be tough getting approved for the program. Make sure to thoroughly read Amazon’s requirements before applying.

Method #5: Amazon KDP — Selling Notebooks

Here’s another more basic but proven passive income maker — selling blank books on Amazon KDP.

KDP allows you to self-publish books on Amazon. But you can sell blank books like notebooks and journals too.

Just upload a basic cover design. When someone buys on Amazon, they handle printing and shipping. You collect a royalty and do nothing else.

I tried this and made 5 journals in my spare time. As you can see I’m earning small amounts daily, totaling over $170 lifetime so far.

That’s from barely trying with just 5 books. Some people make this a full-time business with 50+ designs. But blank books are a bit saturated now.

To stand out, get creative with your designs. For example, make budget planners, fitness logs, or journals about specific hobbies.

I recommend the Book Bolt cover designer for eye-catching graphics formatted exactly for KDP.

Method #6: Selling Online Courses

Next up is selling online courses or “elearning.” This can earn big money but does take more upfront effort.

For proof, I sell an affiliate marketing course on my website. Total so far I’ve made over $630,000 in profit. That took time to make the course, but now it’s hands-off income.

Obviously I have a following, so what about beginners? Here’s the thing — you don’t need to be an expert to sell courses.

Udemy is a course marketplace where anyone can share their knowledge. Look — someone made a basic ChatGPT course, priced at $12. It has 24,000+ enrollments equaling $250k+ minimum.

ChatGPT is free and simple to use. But this person packaged it into a course and sells it for big passive income.

Other examples — a Canva course (easy graphic design tool) has 7,000+ reviews. Or teach simple skills like cleaning or tying shoes. Information sells.

Once your course is made, it’s passive income for years to come.

Method #7: Digital Downloads & Printables

If you don’t want to make full courses, consider selling digital downloads or printable templates.

I’ve made over $10,000 on Etsy just selling printable wall art, planners, etc. These are just PDF files customers download instantly.

Find templates on Canva to tweak or create your own in an in-demand niche. Upload to Etsy or Creative Market and cash in.

Planners and wall art are saturated though. Use Etsy keyword research tools like Erank to identify untapped opportunities. Then design products to meet that demand.

It only takes a few hours to make, but each download earns you money around the clock.

Method #8: Print on Demand (POD)

Print on demand takes a bit more work up front, but earns totally passive income.

POD is selling printed products like t-shirts, mugs and more online. You design, list for sale, but a print provider handles production and shipping.

I use Printful to make thousands passively on Etsy. Upload designs once, and earn monthly sales years later.

For example, I made this phone case design over a year ago. I still get sales each month, $5–10 each time, all without touching it.

The hardest part is finding winning designs. Look on Etsy for proven best-sellers in each product category. Model your own designs after those.

Mimicking existing top designs helps ensure your own creations will also sell well.

Method #9: YouTube Ad Revenue

What article about passive income would be complete without YouTube? YouTube is king when it comes to hands-off money.

Once your videos are uploaded, you earn income from ads placed on them. The more views, the more you make. Sit back and let the checks roll in.

Just from my channel last year, I made over $70,000 from YouTube ads alone. And I barely post anymore — most income is from old videos still getting views.

Case in point, this 2 year old video of mine recently passed $118,000 in lifetime earnings. And the revenue grows daily without me lifting a finger.

YouTube has never been easier to grow on thanks to Shorts. New channels blow up in months. Choose a niche, start uploading, and build passive income.

Wrapping Up

I hope this gives you some proven passive income ideas to pursue this year. The methods shared here all genuinely work — I provided real examples from my own results.

Don’t let doubts hold you back. With hard work up front putting systems in place, you can eventually step back and