Earning passively is one of the easiest, most convenient ways to make money today. Passive income refers to the money you earn without having to do a lot of “active” work.

In other words, you create a service once, and it keeps generating money for you with or without your input. Other than adding a few updates now and then to keep your service relevant, you’re simply “watching and earning.”

The great thing about passive income is that you can earn so much in so little time. If you choose the passive income ideas to invest in well, how much you earn passively could even outdo how much you earn working actively.

Below are the top passive income ideas in the UK worth exploring today with their pros and cons.

1. Trade and Invest in Cryptocurrency

One of the most popular ways to earn passively in the modern age is by trading and investing in cryptocurrency. By “profitable,” we mean trading in digital currency with real potential in the cryptocurrency market. However, to be a proficient cryptocurrency trader or investor, you must learn how to trade and maximize the fluctuating prices of cryptocurrencies – like the Ethereum price as an example. If you already have the crypto coins you can use automated marketing to reach your real target audience and start selling and earning, but be aware that your investments may be at risk so you should follow beginner tips for building wealth.

2. Write a Book

Book writing is one of the best passive income ideas out there – and one of the easiest, if you get it right. Anyone can write a book and self-publish it these days, but even if you can’t, you can always hire someone to write and publish it for you – just look for a suitable freelancer on trusted freelance platforms. Then, sell that book over and over to different people at different times. Often, update the content of your book to ensure its information is trendy and consistent with recent changes.

3. Start and Monetize a Blog

Blogging is another one of the top ways to generate a passive income. While it may take some time and work to build a successful blog, it is highly profitable once it runs. Once set up, blogging can be an asset to different and many streams of income. You can earn passively with your blog through affiliate links, selling books, selling cryptocurrency courses, putting up sponsored posts and ads, and many other ways. You can even become an influencer and offer influencer marketing.

4. Sell Online Courses

Another good way to make a passive income is by selling an online course, especially if you’re an expert in a specific field. You can create a course and sell it through your website if you have one. If you don’t have a website, you can sell it on online learning platforms like Udemy. There are thousands of people on online learning platforms willing to pay whatever’s necessary to access your content – if it is valuable and marketed effectively.

5. Have a Print-on-Demand Store

E-commerce is one of the most popular ways to make passive income, which explains why print on demand is on this list. Opening a print-on-demand store lets you sell custom graphics on products such as bags, clothes, and mugs. The best part is that you can create your branded products, although you need good knowledge of graphic design to start, but you can hire graphic designers for support. Once you create a winning design with free prints for example, you’ll be reining in huge profits consistently daily and you can sell customised items on online shopping sites like Etsy or Shopify to scale and reach more customers.

6. Build an App

You can earn passive income from building an application if you’re a programmer or developer or if you have an unique app idea such as Playdate as featured in our magazine to see how the process can work. Once your app has successfully launched and is used regularly by thousands of people, you can either sell your app to people who are interested in it or allow in-app purchases in your application. These are just two ways you can monetize an application, but an app can offer further monetisation opportunities through partnerships etc.

7. Get into Real Estate

Real estate can be a great way to make a passive income, although the quantity of profits depends on where and when you buy. For example, you can buy pre-constructed condos or some lower-cost properties with the potential for an increase in value when it is built. Then, you can sell the property once it is completed. You can also invest in buy-to-let properties to achieve a regular rental income. If you’re new to the property investment industry, you can hire an agent to help and consult an accountant or mortgage advisor and you can check out tips for new landlords.

8. Do Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a profitable passive income idea where you can earn from working with big companies. Big brands usually have an affiliate program, which means there are popular products or services you can sell to earn commissions. The only downside is that making a commission on sales depends on the sales price and percentage you receive. It’s therefore wise to compare the commissions and terms first, before signing up to any affiliate scheme. You may need a website to qualify for many affiliate schemes and you can read this affiliate marketing guide to understand the prerequisites better.

9. Invest in Web Properties

Many are still new to this concept but apart from investing in real estate one can also invest in virtual properties and this is known as domaining. With billions of domains and websites out there, many are up for sale daily either as expired domains or via domain auction platforms. You need to understand what makes a valuable domain, how to analyse a domain and how to purchase a web property that will most likely increase in value for the price you can afford. You can then build a web property portfolio and monetise it through running ads, affiliate marketing, sponsorships etc. Or you can sell it again at a later stage when it has increased in value, which however doesn’t happen by just sitting on it. It will require maintenance and optimisation just as a real estate property does. You can learn more about it in this beginner domaining guide.

There are many more passive income ideas in the UK worth exploring, but these are a good place to start. If you’re not sure how to go about it, you can take a course on how to make a passive income or read books and guides about it. Creating a passive income opportunity can be the break you’ve been looking for from your 9-to-5 job.