How to Create a Stream of Passive Income

Passive income is money that you don't have to go to work for. Ideally, you set things up, and income starts trickling in - or streaming it, which we would of course prefer. Some ways of arranging it are:

1) Rental property. Buy a house and rent it out. The monthly rent will be your passive income. Downside: you will have to manage the property and deal with tenants, so this venue is not headache-free, unless you grow your business big enough to hire a manager who would take care of it for you.

2) Stocks, investment. You can invest your money and receive profits. Downside: this is risky, especially if you do not have much experience with the stock market. Even with a good financial adviser, it is possible to lose your money, sometimes overnight.

3) Books / E-books. You can write and publish books and receive royalties. Downside: unless you are some kind of a celebrity, finding a publisher is a pain. Self-publishing is an option, but it requires LOTS of promotion, which is a pain as well, plus it costs money.

4) Internet - Google Adsense. You can set up websites and place Google ads on them. As people click on the ads, you will receive passive income. Downside: you will not make much, especially at first, and it is easy to have your Google account terminated.

5) Internet - websites like Helium or Associated Content. This is a slow process, but you can actually set up some passive income writing content for sites like Helium. If you contribute to the site regularly, you will build up your database of articles for people to click on, which will bring you money. Somewhat similar are paid blogs (Bloggerparty.com, Blogger, etc.) where your posts will keep bringing you money as people read them and click on the ads. Downside: as I have already mentioned, it is a slow process.

6) Internet - writing product reviews. There are websites you can write product reviews for. Some pay upfront (Reviewstream.com), others pay you when people read your reviews (Epinions.com and Ciao.co.uk). There is also a new site that promises to pay by sharing revenue from advertising with the reviewers. This one, called SharedReviews.com, may turn out to be the best of all. Downside: same as in #5. You will need to have written hundreds of reviews to earn something considerable, especially with older, well-established sites. Newer sites pay better.