This article is contributed by Gilbert Zammit.

Is it possible to earn money while you’re sleeping? Yes, it is possible, which is why there is the concept of “passive income”.

There are many reasons why anyone would want to know about passive income. Here are the benefits:

1. Your bank account keeps increasing even when you’re inactive.
2. You are your own boss and nobody’s breathing down your neck.
3. You can work the hours you want.

With the advent of technology and the internet, people can now work from the comfort of their homes. Plus, there are dozens of options to pick from.

Let’s have a look at the top 7 ways to create your passive income online.

1. Start an Affiliate Blog

Affiliate blogging is a great way to kickstart your passive income online. If you know how to sell products online, then turn to affiliate blogging.

For instance, if you are a guitar enthusiast with in-depth knowledge about guitars, then you can create a guitar site such as this one and get paid a commission when you refer online customers to online guitar stores.

Also, you can become an Amazon Associate (like Jacob) and write product reviews, e-guides and how to articles on your blog to earn commission through Amazon which ranges from 4% to 7% per sale.

• Setting Up a Blog: While you have the option to start one for free (WordPress.com), we recommend that you get a paid domain due to its benefits.

You can get web hosting (storage space for your blog) for as low as $3.95/month on BlueHost. (Jacob has a great article on how to set up your website here) As for a domain name (address/name of your blog) you can refer to BlueHost or GoDaddy.com and pay a registration fee to get a domain name.

Once ready, get WordPress, which can be installed with just a click, and you’re good to go.

• Choosing A Niche: Choosing a specific niche is vital to make a blog successful. You need to determine what you’re good at. Are you a tech geek, fashion enthusiast or simply an avid reader?

You can choose a niche according to what you think you can explain best. This is because you will have to post quality content on your blog, which is only possible if you know about the topic.

• Set-up Your Blog and Go Live: Now, make first post on your blog and add links as required, and wait for some traffic.

How Will I Make Money? You basically earn money whenever someone makes a purchase through your site via affiliate marketing. Moreover, you can even have your own ecommerce store and start to sell products online. Other than this, if you have a good amount of traffic, you may even monetize your blog and earn through Google Adsense.

2. Create Software that Solves a Problem

Prolo, shown above is a store locator software that Jacob worked on, with a team at Ammirati.

If programming is your thing then you need to pick up your laptop and start coding.

This is the era of informational technology, and companies are always on a lookout for better and affordable programs. If you are capable enough of creating one, go ahead, make it and put it up for sale.

How Will I Make Money? You can sell your software through your own site or sell it to another name. There are many ways to earn money, you may make money through royalties on every purchase or via a monthly or yearly subscription fee.

See what works for you the best and work accordingly.

3. Create an Email Newsletter

Email marketing is a powerful tool to connect with people. People are always on the lookout for discounts and other sexciting offers and this provides you with a great opportunity. You can start your own e-mail newsletter service to let people know about the latest events, discounts, happenings etc. while making a cut. See here for how to win at email design.

Allow people to subscribe to your newsletter for free, and once you have enough subscriptions, you can begin to charge them a small monthly or yearly fee for your services, or just make a cut from affiliate marketing.

» See here the Complete MailChimp Email Marketing Course

4. Creating Online Courses

Today, a lot of people turn to the internet to get education because it’s convenient and affordable.

If you have skills, then you can create tutorials for learners and post them on websites such as Udemy. Such websites pay you for teaching online without you having to sit in front of a computer giving lessons.

How Much Money Will I Make? Udemy and other such sites charge a specific fee, which may be up to 10%, for every sale you make. The amount you make will be based on the number of students you have and refer. The good thing is that you can continue to add more courses and increase your customer base.

» See here for a course on how to create a best-selling online course.

5. Create WordPress Themses or Plugins

Creating WordPress plugins or themes can earn you loads of money, if done right.

You can create plugins that provides useful features such as a plugin that advertises specific products on a website. Other than this, you can also create WordPress themes and put it up for sale.

About 25% of all websites on the internet today operate on WordPress, and the number is only growing which means there are more opportunities for you to make money.

How Will I Sell? WordPress allows you to sell your plugins and themes via its own website or your own.

How Much Money Will I Make? This depends on the price tag. Ideally, you should offer a free version of your plugin or theme with limited features so people have to pay to get the full version in order to get all the features.

» See how a real life case study and tips for selling WordPress themes.

6. Building an eCommerce Store

According to latest figures, more and more people are turning to online stores now due to the benefits they have to offer. You can cash in on this opportunity and start your own ecommerce store.

This can be done easily with the help of ecommerce themes on WordPress that allow you to not only setup your own store but even set up payment and other relevant services.

However, remember that competition on the web is tough and the investment is heavy. You will not only need high quality products to sell, but you will also have to promote your ecommerce store by working on SEO and other such techniques.

What Can I Sell Online? You can sell everything from your artwork to digital products such as eBooks and even music.

How Will I Make Money? You will make money for every purchase you make, minus service fee charged by your payment partner. You may use PayPal, 2Checkout for this purpose.

» See here for a course on how to Start your own Ecommerce Store.

7. Trading Stocks Online

This is the most risky option on the list but one that can be very rewarding. If you know about stocks, you can try CFDs where you get a profit when the stock you pick goes up. But beware, you may also have to deal with a loss if the stock falls.

CFDs trading can be learnt as stock prices are largely affected by internal and external forces.

This option is great as it also offers you leverage trading that allows you to play with more money than you have.

How Can I Start: Join a website like market.com, get your identity approved and start trading after depositing your money. You should, however, try the demo account first to understand how it works.

How Will I Make Money: It is easy, let’s say you purchase Facebook stock at $245. The price goes up to $250 tomorrow. This means you will make a profit of around $5 on each stock. However, if the prices fall to $240, you will have to face a loss of $5, but in such cases a loss or profit is not finalized until you close a position.

» See here for a Stock Trading Foundation course.

The Final Verdict

These are 7 top ways to help you create a passive income online. Having said that they all require time and effort so do not leave your full-time job until you’re confident enough that you can make enough money.