Any successful business person would agree that working to earn money is the worst way to make money because 1) a job means you aren’t maximizing the amount of money you could actually be earning 2) you only have so much time to trade 3) you could instead be spending your time on your own goals, spend it with your family, or spend it traveling.
We spend our time in the same way we spend our money. Just the other day a friend was saying to me “Before I buy anything I always think about how many hours I had to work to earn enough to pay for it, then I think about how many hours it will be of use to me to decide if it’s worth it,” this is what is meant by trading time for money. Some people understand this, some don’t, and most don’t know what to do to make their money work for them instead of working for the money.
A couple weeks ago I was speaking with my dad about money and business, as we do often. He told me he was finally able to take a step back from his insulation business and let his employees do the majority of the work so he could focus on another business venture. Before he did this, he was treating his business as a job; he was working for his money. He told me how much he was making on average per week, which I compared to working a job at $50+ an hour for 80 hours a week. A job like this is not very likely, but still, you would be TRADING YOUR TIME FOR YOUR MONEY!
Here are a few ways to make your money work for you with a residual or passive income:
- Invest in stocks or bonds
This one is probably usually the first one that comes to mind for most people, but we know that stocks involve a lot of risk and bonds don’t offer as large of a return on investment. Another simple way to invest your money is to go through a peer to peer lending site such as lending club.
- Rent out your extra rooms
Maybe you have a spare guest/ storage room, get rid of your junk and use the room to earn some extra cash; as far as guests are concerned, do you really want your mother-in-law staying with you? Zillow and Airbnb are both awesome and easy to use when posting rental properties
- Invest in real estate
If you have the resources to do so, buy a house, fix it up, and instead of selling it, rent it out to make passive income every month.
- Sell a subscription-based service
Many salesmen only earn money one time for each sell, but if you have awesome persuasive skills and believe you have what it takes to be a salesmen, find a product or service that you can sell and receive monthly income from just a one-time sell. One platform that does it all and if very helpful in getting your business started is Cratejoy. Cratejoy’s specialty is subscription based businesses.
- Start a blog
You have a lot of great ideas that aren’t easily searchable on the internet, or maybe you just want to create a journal of all your life stories; publish your thoughts on the internet and sign up for an advertising service such as Google Adsense and get money for clicks.
- Become a youtuber
Maybe you aren’t one for writing, but you have a lot of tips you can offer the world. Start a youtube channel and earn money through allowing ads to play before your videos.
- Become an affiliate for products or companies you trust
This ties in with blogging and vlogging. You can sign up to become an affiliate for many companies through sites such as Commission Junction, ShareASale, or Rakuten. If you have a large enough following, sometimes companies will allow you to become a direct affiliate so you can earn even more cash.