7 ways to earn money online in 2025: One of the most hotly contested subjects in finance is passive income. Some people say that it’s real, others say it’s a total myth. But in today’s article, I’m going to share exactly how I made over $800,000 in passive income last year alone. I will cover seven ways that I’ve made passive income that actually work.
I’ll explain them here on camera and then switch over to my computer so you can see real examples of each. Before we get into it, I like to pack as much valuable information as possible into these articles. For each passive income stream, I’ll share the biggest piece of advice I wish I had when starting out. So if you want a real article on how to make passive income, this is it. Let’s get straight into it.
Easiest Passive Income Stream: High-Yield Online Savings Accounts
Investing in a high-yield online savings account is the simplest approach to generate passive income. If you’re not familiar, this is a bank account like checking or savings, but the bank pays you a higher interest rate, often around 3.8% to 4.0%. Many people don’t realize these accounts exist. A quick Google search for “high yield online savings” will show many banks offering these. The catch is you need money to deposit to earn passive income here.Ally Bank (3.8%), Betterment (4%), and Capital One’s Performance 360 account (3.8% interest) are my top picks. These are reputable and easy to open accounts, especially if you already bank with them. Just transfer your savings and watch your money grow passively.
Second Easiest: Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
Next is Amazon KDP, where you create and sell books on Amazon, but not traditional books. You create low-content books like journals or word search puzzles. Amazon handles printing, shipping, and customer service. Once your book is uploaded, it remains on Amazon forever, and you earn royalties whenever someone buys it. I started this in 2018, and it’s been making passive income even during times I didn’t touch it. Anyone can start for free, from anywhere. The best category for sales is word search books, which many sellers don’t know how to create, so competition is low. I also have a full step-by-step tutorial on my YouTube channel for those interested.
Amazon Merch on Demand: Selling T-Shirts on Amazon
Similar to KDP, Amazon Merch on Demand lets you design and sell t-shirts. Amazon prints, ships, and handles customer service, so it’s passive once your design is uploaded. This business model I started even before KDP and it still generates income. T-shirts typically have higher profit margins than KDP books, but there’s more competition. My best advice is to research small niche markets that others have overlooked and create designs for those. I also have a comprehensive tutorial on how to start and succeed with Amazon Merch on Demand on my channel.
Medium Difficulty: Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a long-standing passive income method that you might have done unknowingly. It involves using company referral programs to earn commissions for recommending products. Offline it’s not very passive, but online it can be automated. You can create a blog that reviews products with affiliate links, but my best advice is to create a YouTube channel instead. article content performs much better today since about 70% of internet traffic is article. Creating articles recommending products and including affiliate links can earn more commissions than blog posts. Although there’s a learning curve, it’s a highly effective passive income stream.
Medium Difficulty: Creating a YouTube Channel with AdSense
You can also create passive income by running your own YouTube channel and monetizing it with YouTube AdSense ads. The type of content is one of the variables that affects ad revenue.Educational content pays more per view than entertainment content, so focus on teaching something valuable. articles continue to get views organically for many years, sometimes over a decade, which means long-term passive income. Creating educational articles can also help your viewers, making this a rewarding path to passive income.
Medium Difficulty: Selling Digital Downloads
Another proven passive income method is selling digital downloads—files people purchase and download instantly, such as templates, spreadsheets, or invitations. Etsy is a popular marketplace for these. For example, wedding invitation templates let buyers customize and print themselves, saving them time and effort. The key advice here is to create digital products that save people time or solve problems, leveraging skills you already have, like graphic design or spreadsheet expertise. Once listed, sales and delivery are automated, providing ongoing income.
Hardest Passive Income Stream: Creating and Selling Online Courses
Finally, the most difficult but highly profitable method is creating online courses on platforms like Udemy or Skillshare. These courses require you to have expertise on a subject to teach it well. The course is a structured, step-by-step learning experience for students. Although time-consuming to produce, online courses can generate passive income long term. My biggest advice is to consider your career skills or hobbies—these usually provide enough knowledge to create a valuable course. Many YouTubers are now using courses to add a strong passive income stream.
Conclusion
In summary, passive income is absolutely achievable, but it requires choosing the right methods that fit your current resources, skills, and willingness to learn. From the easiest option of high-yield savings accounts to the more complex online courses, there is a path for everyone. I encourage you to pick one method that resonates with you, start small, and stay consistent. Don’t forget to check out the free, detailed tutorials I’ve created for all these methods on my YouTube channel—they walk you through every step. Remember, passive income is not about “get rich quick” but about building reliable income streams over time by doing the work upfront. You can achieve long-term financial freedom tomorrow if you work hard today. Follow for more updates on Online Earning.
