8 Best Ideas and Assets That Generate Passive Income

Sprouts growing on coins

Assets that generate passive income range from a blog post to an apartment building you can rent out. In fact, anything you can monetize over time might be considered an asset that will produce income with no active participation on your part aside from acquiring that item. It never ceases to amaze me how many opportunities for making money through this method there are and how few of them people actually use. I hope this post will give you some ideas that you can put to use right away.

8 Assets That Generate Passive Income or Best Money Making Ideas to Use Now

1.      Mobile app

Smartphone apps are on the rise with the total number of downloads last year alone reaching nearly 197 billion. Estimations have that number climbing up to 352.9 billion by 2021. Developing an app isn’t easy but if you have a good idea, you can hire a professional to do this for you. It doesn’t matter if you are the one to actually develop the app. As long as you possess the rights to it, the application can be classed as one of the assets that produce passive income.

2.      E-books and audiobooks

If you have a blog, you can compile your most popular posts add to them a bit to produce a cohesive text and turn it into an e-book. You can also write a variation of self-help books based on your own experiences and opinions. For example, Mark Manson’s controversial anti-self-help book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck instantly became a bestseller. Namely, it took #6 in the New York Times Bestsellers list. Not a bad showing for a blogger who specializes on lifestyle, relationship, and personal development advice.

To take this project further, you can create an audio version of your book. This will double your assets that generate passive income and allow you to enter a different market with basically the same product.

3.      Online course

If you have any skills you can teach, be sure to launch a course of your own. Online courses do not require immediate supervision, so you won’t have to become a full-time teacher. You can create a course using platforms like Teachable and launch it on Udemy and other popular online education hubs.

4.      Real estate

Rental real estate is one of the most valuable assets that generate passive income and one of the best investments you can make. Sadly, it does require a major investment. However, as this type of business remains rather stable even during crises, you might get financing with relative ease.

Note that you can also use Airbnb rental service to turn an unused room in your current residence into a source of passive income. And that won’t require a major investment.

5.      Video tutorials

To continue the topic of online education, you can create video tutorials for anything, including simple things like cooking or even playing your favorite games. Launch them on YouTube for free and use one of the platform’s many options for monetization. You can also consider streaming and subscription services, like the super popular today Twitch and Patreon.

6.      Photos

Even if you aren’t a professional photographer, you can sell good shots online. There are large digital markets you can offer them to as well as portals where you can sell images styled into wallpapers for both mobile and desktop devices. Check out iStockPhoto and ShutterShock to see how you can turn your photos into assets that produce passive income.

7.      Investments

In this case I mean investing through peer-to-peer funding platforms like FundingCircle and LendingClub. Of course, you’ll need a capital for this. However, you can also use these platforms as a source of capital to fund your other ventures aimed at obtaining assets that generate passive income.

8.      Blog

Today you can buy a blog the way you would any other business. You can invest in a popular one and have a team of copywriters and guest writers developing content to fill it with. Your level of involvement into the blog itself will depend on your personal choice. You can combine this idea with the e-book and audiobook project mentioned above.

Do not forget a blog can make money passively through ads and links.

Assets That Generate Passive Income: Opportunities Are Limitless

These are only a few of the basic ideas that you can use for obtaining passive income. There are also common avenues of business, like buying and then renting some equipment, reselling some goods, affiliate marketing, etc.

All of these options boil down to the same thing, you either create or purchase an item that can bring you money. Next you set it up in a way that will automate the monetization process, for example, launching your app on Google Play or iTunes so you only have to wait for your part of the money from its downloads.

I’d like to remind you again that there is no limit to what you can turn into assets that produce passive income. So take some time evaluating all the assets you own or can own and start arranging your passive income flow right now. The sooner you start, the more money it will generate over time.


4 Comments

  • Avatar

    Mohammed

    March 22, 2018

    Interesting article. I have been renting out my second apartment through Airbnb for a couple of years now, and I haven’t had any problems yet. The place was passed down to me after the loss of a relative, but it was too big for just me and my partner. This way I get to make a bit of money from it, and when I’m ready to upgrade, I can then move back into it.

    • Avatar

      Daniela Bucatele

      March 22, 2018

      I think Airbnb is a great prospect for situations such as yours. In fact, I know of a couple of friends who travel regularly for work and use Airbnb as a means of additional income, meaning they always have their place to come back to when they need to return home for a few weeks.

      • Avatar

        Mohammed

        March 23, 2018

        Maybe an Airbnb article is on the cards, Daniela?

        • Avatar

          Daniela Bucatele

          March 24, 2018

          Great idea Mohammed! Perhaps yourself or anyone else with experience would like to offer a blog post on this topic?

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