Three Ways You Can Generate Passive Income — All from a Website You Write Yourself
By Nick Usborne

Hi, Nick Usborne here.

Recently, I wrote about the pleasures of making money online as a writer, without having to work with clients.

Client-free, stress-free, deadline-free passive income.

And all from writing about a topic that already interests you.

I’m a coffee lover, so my website is about coffee. Maybe you’re a dog lover, gardening lover, hiking lover, knitting lover, home décor lover …

Choose your passion, and then just start writing.

How can you then turn all that writing into a regular, monthly income?

Let’s get into that … in a moment.

But first, I want to talk a little about “passive income” and why it’s so amazing.

Let me define the term “passive income” for you, using my coffee website as an example.

With my audience of coffee lovers, I could sell them my own branded coffee and maybe some coffee-making equipment too.

But I choose not to. Why not? Because that wouldn’t be passive income — it would be the opposite.

I’d have to get my coffee roasted and packed in bags. I’d have to arrange for shipping every time someone ordered a bag of coffee from my site. I’d have to deal with returns and other customer service issues.

In other words, I’d be tied to my desk. I’d be taking care of my business seven days a week. It would be a full-time job.

Maybe it would make me a ton of money. I don’t know. I’ve never tried it.

Because what I want from my website is a source of completely PASSIVE INCOME.

With passive income, I don’t have to be at my desk. I don’t have to deal with products or customers.

I can walk away from my desk for a day, a week, or even several weeks without it making any significant difference to how much money my website makes.

This is passive income. And it’s wonderful.

Here are three ways you can do this …

#1. Make passive income through Google AdSense ads.

When you do a search on Google, the first four results are ads. These are known as AdSense ads.

As the publisher of a website, you can sign up with Google and place these ads on the pages of your site.

Take a look at any page on CoffeeDetective.com and you’ll see up to three AdSense ads. Some are text-only, others are graphic with photos or other images.

Do they generate passive income? Absolutely. When I build a new page, I add a short piece of code that Google gives me. I add that code once, when I create the page. After that, I do nothing — ever again.

I have pages on the site that have been up there for 10 years now. I copied and pasted the Google code into those pages when I first created them.

Since then, I have had to do nothing … except enjoy the money I make every single time someone clicks on one of those ads.

That’s passive income. Copy and paste once … and then no further work.

#2. Make passive income as an affiliate.

Perhaps the best-known affiliate program is the one run by Amazon.

Here’s how it works.

I write a coffee maker review on my site. I don’t sell coffee makers myself, but Amazon does.

So at the end of my review, I might say something like, “If you can’t find this coffee maker locally, you can get it through Amazon.com here.”

Those last few words are linked to a product page at Amazon where you can buy the brewer.

I have signed up with Amazon and have an affiliate number and code. And my code is embedded in that link to the page where you buy the brewer.

This means Amazon knows I was the person who referred that visitor. And if the visitor buys the brewer, or anything else during that visit, I get a commission on the sale.

Same thing as with Google AdSense. I add the code once and then there’s nothing more for me to do … ever. I just sit back and wait for my commission check each month.

#3. Make passive income selling e-books.

I’m only selling one e-book on my coffee site right now. But I know other website owners who have written several e-books on their topic and make a lot of money selling them.

Selling an e-book is passive income because it’s a digital product that people can buy and download … even if you’re on a beach in the Caribbean at the time.

You don’t have to pack it, address it, or ship it, because it’s digital.

Sale and delivery are automated.

Once again, just sit back and wait for the money to flow into your account.

Why passive income is the BEST income

It’s the best because it gives you freedom.

You’re never tied to your desk or an office. You’re never being told what to do and when to do it by anyone else.

No bosses!

Just put in the time you want, when you want.

Tomorrow we’re going to look at how you can go about choosing a topic for your own Money-Making Website.

In the meantime, allow yourself a little time to fantasize about how it would feel to make enough money in passive income to pay your major bills … and still have a little cash left over for that beach vacation in the Caribbean!

And don’t forget to add your thoughts, questions, and comments about how you can make passive income below.