10 Most lucrative passive Income ideas (2025)

Rich people almost all have one thing in common: they have multiple sources of income. But that doesn’t mean they have multiple jobs either. 

On the contrary: they especially know how to take advantage of what is called “passive income”. That is to say, they make money all the time… even while sleeping!

Passive income is an excellent solution to be able to leave time for more fulfilling projects or to enjoy life and the things you love. It is a concrete form of freedom and financial independence.

Note that creating passive income doesn’t mean “earning money without doing anything”: rather, it is about setting up an activity that will allow you to continue to earn money even when you are not making an effort in particular.

It, therefore, means that a starting effort will often be necessary on your part. The amount of effort you’ll need to put in at the beginning varies depending on the type of passive income model that you have chosen. Hence, it can be more or less. But, as with many things, the benefit is in the long run. 

If you are looking to have multiple streams of income through earning passive income, take some time to go through this article; as I explain the top ten ways you can earn passive income. 

The best passive income ideas

Here are the best passive income ideas:

1. Affiliate Marketing 

Affiliate marketing connects you with an advertiser who wants to increase the visibility of their business and attract new customers. This will generally provide you with promotional tools (banner, emailing kit, etc.) that you will use to promote it on your various communication channels.

One of the best and highest-paying affiliate programs is PrimeXBT. With this affiliate program, you get up to 70% revenue share, which can amount to about $1200 per client that you refer to PrimeXBT.

If you have a quality followership on social media like Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or you run a quality blog or YouTube channel with a quality dedicated following, you can promote this brand and make good money.

Here is what this means, if you put in work with your articles, status or videos to refer 20 clients per month. That could be a potential $3600 per month or $432, 000 per year. Please note that the quoted number is just for guidance, it could be more or below, depending on the quality of clients that you refer.

If you feel lost, they have a lot of resources to help and a very responsive team willing to answer questions and help you succeed. You can sign up as an affiliate on their website.

In summary, affiliate marketing is illustrated below.

When you succeed in bringing him or her a new client, you receive a commission on the amount of the sale made. For example, if a user who clicked on an affiliate link posted on your blog or social media and purchases a ₦20,000 product, you will earn around ₦6,000 if the commission is 30% and ₦10,000 if the commission is 50%.

Note: The commission % varies from one service to another.

To maximize your earnings and benefit from a comfortable and regular passive income, you can enter into partnerships with several companies.

2. Launch and monetize your Blog 

You can make an additional income by starting a blog. This is a popular online income stream. If you do it right, you will be almost guaranteed to be able to make ends meet for the month and cover your expenses.

Before embarking on the creation of a blog, keep in mind that blogging is above all a passion. To succeed in this profession, you must be willing to share your knowledge with others. 

You should also choose an area in which you feel comfortable. For example, if you love cooking, you can create a blog to introduce your audience to original and easy-to-make recipes. This will ensure that you do not lack inspiration a few months after the launch of your platform.

Plus, writing about things you’re familiar with encourages you not to give up after a few struggles. In other words, revenue will be the icing on the cake. 

It is also essential not to try to please everyone. For instance, you will have a better chance of succeeding in earning a living with a blog giving tips for creating good dishes for people with diabetes. You need a specific target!

Read: How to create a blog in less than 20 minutes

How to monetize your blog

To monetize a blog, several solutions exist. For example, you can advertise for advertisers via your platform. This option will be really profitable only if your site attracts a lot of visitors.

You will have the choice between cost-per-thousand advertising (paid according to the number of times an ad is displayed) and click-through advertising. 

Live advertising is also widespread. It consists of negotiating directly with publishers, advertisers, or companies to offer them advertising space on your blog. The remuneration may be monthly and fixed, or proportional to the traffic brought as the case may be. Renting space on your live site is much more profitable than Google Ads.

Another monetization technique that you can use to earn money passively with your blog is affiliate marketing. It consists of highlighting a product or service on your site by adding a link to the seller’s platform.

See: How to make money blogging

3. Start a YouTube channel

This is also very much like launching a blog. When it comes to YouTube, creating a channel won’t cost you anything. However, you will need to provide quality equipment (tripod, microphone, etc.) to offer content that will appeal to your subscribers. 

Here too, the choice of your theme must be made carefully. If you already have a blog, you can support it with your YouTube channel. Your readers will be delighted that you offer them a different type of content to enrich their experience.

This will allow, for example, blog readers to have embedded videos and your YouTube subscribers to have written support with your sources on the blog.

Over time, they’ll bond with you, and you’ll have built a community that’s committed to your cause. The passive income that you will be able to generate will mainly come from your paid products, sponsored articles, and advertising.

Read: How to make money on YouTube

4. Create an online training 

Offering online courses is also a good way to generate passive income. If your training is very well developed, you can sell it in the long term, as long as the theme covered is relevant. It can be sold as an electronic file via your website. If you don’t have a website, you can also offer your training on specialized platforms.

To be marketable, the courses you create must meet current needs and have practical utility.

See: How to make money creating and selling online course

5. Sell digital products 

Apart from online courses, there is a multitude of digital products that you can sell on the internet to earn money: e-books, Books, Templates, etc.

You can create an ebook to answer a specific problem of your visitors or to present practical tips in a specific area. Comics, printables, novels, and audiobooks are also popular products for Internet users.

As with online courses, the sale of created digital products can be done through your website or a specialized platform.

6. Rental Investment 

Rental investment is very effective for making money automatically over the long term. It consists of buying a property (a house, shopping complex, etc) for the purpose of rental. Once the investment has been made, you will only have to collect your rent monthly or annually. After a few years, you will have recovered your invested capital.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be rich to consider this type of investment. In reality, it is even possible to make a real estate investment without personal contribution (or almost). there are options like crowdfunding, loans and more.

7. Create an e-Commerce site for Dropshipping 

Here is another online business that can allow you to earn money passively, without spending a lot upfront. Dropshipping is a sales system that connects three parties: the seller, the buyer, and the distributor (also called dropshipper). The latter takes care of the marketing of the products sold by the supplier but does not take charge of deliveries or inventory management.

All you need to do dropshipping is an online store to showcase the products available from your partners. When a customer places an order, all you have to do is send their details to the seller so that they can take care of the delivery. Ultimately, you earn a commission on every sale made.

Read: How to create online shop very easily with Shopify

8. Buy and resell domain names for profit

Reselling domain names for profit is a source of regular passive income that can be very interesting if you know how to do it. To do this, you don’t even need to have a website.

All you have to do is expand your portfolio of domain names. Target names with high market potential that sell quickly at attractive prices. Think about popular keywords and extensions.

Also, turn to expired domain names. Once you have a significant number of domain names at a profit, you can proceed to put them up for sale.

See: How to make money flipping domains

9. Selling Printables on Etsy 

If you have some artistic talents and are looking for a profitable business that can guarantee you passive income, then the world of printables is open to you. Many internet users are interested in original craft creations produced at home or abroad. 

On the Etsy platform, for example, you can sell printable images made by you. These original creations can cost between $5 and $7 depending on the motif represented and the dimensions offered.

Setting up a shop on Etsy won’t cost you much. On the contrary, you will benefit from a large community of buyers to sell your products all over the world.

10. Create a mobile app 

Earning money “while sleeping” is possible if you can innovate by creating a mobile application. If you are a developer, you can get started on this project. Internet users will necessarily be interested in applications that offer original concepts and that tend to improve their daily lives. For example, you can upload an entertainment application or a game.

If you are not a developer, you can still earn through this way by hiring a developer if you can afford it.

Conclusion

Creating substantial and lasting passive income can change your life. If you are tired of your current job or if you are in an unstable professional situation, the few ideas presented in this guide will help you start a profitable business without spending too much.

If you have a well-paying job, you can also combine it with a passive income-generating activity. The main thing is to choose an activity that suits you and an area that doesn’t hold many secrets for you.