Why slog from nine-to-five every day to make money if you can earn an income doing… nothing? Most ways of earning a passive income require some initial effort, but soon you’ll be earning money while you sleep. While you’ll need to do some research of your own, here are some passive income ideas to help get you started.

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1. Invest in real estate
When you invest in real estate, you can make money as the value of the property increases, but you’ll only see that money once you sell the property. If you’d rather have the cash flow now, invest in real estate that will bring you rental income.

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2. Invest in crowdfunded real estate
Investing in real estate is expensive, but these days there are crowdfunding platforms like Realty Shares and Fundrise that can help you get more bang for your buck.

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3. Buy stocks that pay dividends
When you’re a shareholder in a successful company, you’ll get paid dividends – usually every quarter. They keyword here though is “successful,” so do your research before buying stocks.

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4. Buy Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
If you love to invest and love art, NFTs may be for you. By investing in these modern-day collectibles you may not only be supporting digital artists, but also can potentially earn money while you sleep if that NFT goes up in value.

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5. Write and publish a book
E.L. James wrote and self-published a piece of fan-fiction that took the world by storm and led to two book sequels and a movie franchise. The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy earned her $95 million just in 2013. Being a published author can earn you royalties, with Amazon paying every month.
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6. Consider affiliate marketing on your website or blog
If you have affiliate links on your website or blog, you can earn money every time someone clicks on them. You can also earn cash by putting ads on your site — just make sure you learn and abide by the rules for this that apply where you live.

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7. Start a drop shipping website
Canada’s Shopify is most people’s go-to platform for creating online stores that offer drop shipping. With drop shipping, you have a site that offers certain manufacturers’ products and when someone orders something through your site, your system simply sends the order to the relevant manufacturer.

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8. Get an autoresponder for your online business
With an autoresponder, you can provide good customer service without actually having to do anything. It sends an automatic response to emails and you can later follow up with the customer. You can also use autoresponders for marketing purposes.

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9. Create an online course
Creating an online course requires quite a bit of initial work, such as writing ebooks or articles and creating videos. Once these course materials are up and running, though, your system will automatically send subscribers what they need.

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10. Create a membership community
A membership community website involves people signing up for a fee to get access to extras. It’s a great way to add value to your online course and get an additional income without the extra work.

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11. Buy and sell websites
Flipping websites is like flipping houses, without all the physical work involved. You simply buy an existing site, tweak it a bit and then sell it at a profit. However, you need to do your research to buy sites that really are profitable.

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12. Become a YouTuber
Many regular people have become millionaires simply by making and uploading videos on YouTube. If your account is able to be monetized, then every time someone views one of your videos, you can make money from the ads that appear on the site. The secret is to gain a huge number of followers by uploading videos that appeal.

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13. Sell stock content
Publishers of books, magazines and websites all use stock images such as photographs or graphics as illustrations and pay a licensing fee to the people who created the images. Stock content can also include videos, music and sound effects.

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14. Sell ad space on your car
Many businesses will pay you for letting them put their advertisements on your car. While technically you’re not making money while you sleep, you are making money simply by driving around.
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15. Buy a laundromat
Buying an established laundromat business is cheaper than starting one from scratch. If you then get someone else to do the day-to-day running, which doesn’t require a lot of effort, you can simply watch the money come in.

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16. Buy a vending-machine business
A vending-machine business requires relatively little effort. For it to be successful, though, you need to get your vending machines placed in the right spots and stock them with what the customers in that area would want.

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17. Get a high-yield bank account
A high-yield bank account is one that pays higher interest than a regular savings or chequing account. Check with your bank to see what your options are, and you can let your savings work for you.

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18. Rent your possessions
You can earn a rental income from more than just your home. In fact, you can rent out almost anything on sites like Craigslist, from clothing to sports equipment and power tools. Be sure though to take precautions: make sure to ask for a security deposit and a cash payment upfront, as well as ID and proof of address, for example.

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19. Let someone else run your business
Once your business is established and making enough money, you may be able to afford getting a trusted, competent person to run it for you. Many of the world’s richest people have nothing to do with the day-to-day operations of their businesses except attending a board meeting once in a while.

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20. Consider peer-to-peer lending
With peer-to-peer lending, you lend money to people who don’t qualify for traditional financing and then make money on the interest. In Canada, this is still quite new but you can look for a secure, regulated and easy-to-use peer-to-peer lending marketplace.
See also: 20 jobs in Canada that pay over $200K.

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21. Get a job that pays you to sleep
Believe it or not, there are people who will pay you for literally sleeping on the job. The most common ways to earn money this way are to take part in sleep studies or to test mattresses and bedding. You don’t even need to worry about what to wear to work.
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