5 Online Passive Income ideas That Actually Work in 2024

Muhammad Qasim
Be Open
Published in
7 min readApr 28, 2024

Make money online in 2024!

Photo by Faizur Rehman on Unsplash

It’s 2024 but many people still aren’t aware of the concept of passive online income, that not only allows you to diversify your sources of income but also adds flexibility to your finances.

The best thing about an online passive income is that it requires minimum effort and can easily fit in your 9–5 routine, since most of them don’t have fixed timing.

Lately, much criticism has been revolving around the subject. This might be due to a couple of reasons.

Like the rise of online scams, or setting unrealistic pictures of these sources that can leave a person disappointed with the results, when it doesn’t work according to their expectations.

Having a passive source of income can come in handy during difficult times and give you an easier time managing your finances, however, it’s important to utilize your time and efforts correctly.

Here are five sources of online passive income that actually work in 2024, and it might be time for you to consider them.

1. Affiliate Marketing via Blogging

Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular ways to earn passively in 2024.

You utilize your marketing skills to promote the products and services of other brands and organizations. In return, you earn a share of the profit earned by selling the product or service.

With the right strategy and effort, you can make up to 50,000 dollars a year and even more.

Only by acquiring this simple skill, which can be learned through a variety of platforms on the internet that are offering different programs and courses at affordable prices.

The best thing about this program is that it requires minimal investment, to start up a blog and become part of an affiliate program which ensures a long term passive income in return.

Choose a niche you would like to work in, before selecting an affiliate program of your interest where you’ll have to do a bit of research on the incentives they have to offer.

Then promote their products on social media accounts or blog by the affiliate link they have provided where you generate an income for every time a consumer clicks on the link and buys the product.

However, there are some things you need to be aware of before starting affiliate marketing.

The income generated by affiliate marketing is mostly unpredictable, especially in the beginning.

This is mostly due to factors such as changes in affiliate program terms, fluctuations in traffic, or shifts in consumer behavior.

Besides that, there are a lot of external factors influencing your success ratio, like changes in search engine algorithms, platform policies, or market trends which can leave you financially vulnerable.

The affiliate marketing landscape is also quite competitive, especially in popular niches, so you need to make sure your content is unique and one that drives attention.

However, despite these potential cons, many bloggers continue to find success with affiliate marketing since they have got an extra source of income they can actively rely on during times of financial distress.

If you want to try your hand out at affiliate marketing, you should go for it, but it’s imperative to be aware of the basics of the skill and to continue developing it to stay relevant to your audience.

2. Online Courses

Got a skill or subject that you’ve got a sturdy grip on, enough to pass on the knowledge to others?

Well you can create an online course through which you won’t only gain recognition but would also be able to generate a steady passive income by teaching it to others.

Once created, online courses can be sold to an unlimited number of students without significant additional effort on your part.

You have the flexibility to create and sell courses on your own schedule, allowing you to work from anywhere and earn income while you sleep.

However, there’s a considerable amount of planning and effort required to ensure the quality of your course.

The market of online courses is pretty saturated since there is a variety of courses available by other tutors so you need to make sure that you produce the best content out there.

You also need to be vigilant of the information you provided in your course and make sure it doesn’t include outdated knowledge and that it is still relevant to the audience.

Since access to information is incredibly easy, it wouldn’t take long for people to disapprove of your course as inadequate, if it includes outdated information.

If you want people to buy your course, you need to continuously improve your method and delivery, while updating the information to ensure it grants you a steady passive income.

3. Youtube Channel

YouTube forms one of the highest paid side hustles for content creators, in many parts of the world, thanks to the high income they generate through their partnership with the platform.

Artists get a share in the earnings of YouTube based on the views on their videos and the revenue generated by ads and can even partner up with brands to produce sponsored content to gain additional income.

Starting up a YouTube channel comes with a variety of growth opportunities, but they are not without their fair share of challenges.

Perhaps, the biggest is the highly competitive environment you may have to face against other YouTubers especially if you are working in the same niche.

The popularity of your channel also depends on the niche you have selected, where some niches are more popular than others.

Ad revenue on the platform is variable and unpredictable, depending on factors like ad rates, viewer engagement, as well as the ever-changing policies of the platform that make it difficult to rely on YouTube as a sole source of income.

Despite these challenges, YouTube is one of the fastest growing platforms for content creators willing to showcase their talent and earn some good bucks out of it.

The fact that top YouTubers were once just ordinary people who were passionate about their art serves as an inspiration for the whole lot of us to try out our luck on the platform.

4. Selling Digital products

Selling digital products allows you to create and sell products that can be delivered electronically to customers without the need for inventory or shipping.

Digital products include ebooks which you can write on topics you’re passionate about which can be sold through platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

Digital downloads such as templates, worksheets, printables, can also be sold to help ease the workload of your customers as well as software, applications, and even art that you can sell digitally and earn a steady income through sales and subscriptions.

Membership site or programs can form a more reliable way of earning money digitally since an amount is due every month once a user has subscribed to your program.

Sounds much like starting your very own business, doesn’t it?

Well, like a business there are risks associated with the whole process, but to a much lower extent, since the cost of production and distribution is quite lower than physical products.

Your products are more vulnerable to piracy, unauthorized sharing, and copyright infringement, which means you’ll need to go to greater lengths to protect your assets.

You may also need to develop your technical skills since you are working with digital products and so developing and maintaining them may require expertise and resources, which is a hectic process in itself.

Besides that you never know which direction the market might move in, so updating your products on a regular basis is important, otherwise they might fall out of trend and you don’t want that.

Despite these potential drawbacks, one might find the benefits significantly outweigh the cons, to a much larger extent.

Especially when comparing traditional bricks and mortar business to selling digital products, as we see many young entrepreneurs paving their way towards success.

5. Dividend Paying stocks

By investing in dividend-paying stocks, you can earn passive income in the form of regular dividend payments, which provide a steady stream of income without the need for active involvement in the company’s operations.

Some stocks may also offer the potential for capital appreciation over time, as the company’s earnings and dividends increase, and the stock price appreciates.

The income generated by dividend paying stocks is taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income, making them an attractive option for taxable investment accounts.

While dividend-paying stocks are generally considered less risky than non-dividend-paying stocks, they are not immune to market volatility or economic downturns.

Before investing, it’s better to conduct thorough research to minimize risk.

The dividend yield is the annual dividend payment expressed as a percentage of the stock’s current price.

Which is often the peak point for investors who look for stocks with a high dividend yield, but it’s essential to consider other factors like the company’s financial health and dividend sustainability.

Investing in dividend paying stocks serves as a prime example of your money working for you.

There’s a minimum amount of risk associated with the investment, with a high chance of success since these stocks are normally associated with stable organizations and companies.

Final words:

Having a passive income is important if you want to avoid surviving from paycheck to paycheck lifestyle.

It’s true that most of the ideas discussed in this video may not be very reliable but that’s why it’s called passive income; an additional source of income that grants you more flexibility with your finances.

Where you have the opportunity to save, invest, or spend to your heart’s content.

Hi I am Muhammad Qasim. Follow me and subscribe to my profile.

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Muhammad Qasim
Be Open
Writer for

I write about life, exploring the dynamics of making money, business, and cultivating a mindful money mindset.