5 ways I'm earning over $2,500 a month in passive income (2024)

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• As a solopreneur, there are a finite number of hours I can earn money. So passive income is key.
• I'm earning passive income from cash-back rewards and investing in small businesses.
• I'm also doing peer-to-peer lending and offering print-on-demand merch on my website.

One of my biggest financial obsessions is around how to make more passive income every month.

As a solopreneur, there are only so many hours in the day for me to work and bring in income. With passive income streams, I can collect cash payments every month that can be used to pay off debt, fund my retirement account, and give my savings account a healthy boost.

I've been making passive income for the past five years now in a variety of ways, from selling digital courses to putting my money in high-yield savings accounts. Recently, I've added a few new ways to position my money so it's actively working for me and bringing in returns on a monthly basis.

Here are five ways I make over $2,500 in passive income every month.

1. Cash-back rewards

An easy way I've been making passive income lately is through cash-back credit cards and websites.

I decided to get a cash-back credit card to use for my everyday purchases. I get unlimited 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, my streaming subscriptions, and at grocery stores. I usually find myself getting around $30 to $50 a month in cash back from using this card.

I also use cash-back websites, like Rakuten and TopCashBack, for online shopping. All you do is shop through their portals, and when you buy an item from a store, you can get anywhere from 1% to 30% cash back.

2. Investing in small businesses

As a small business owner myself, I wanted to find a way to invest in other entrepreneurs and make passive income as their businesses begin to take off and see profit. I decided to invest a small percent of my income every month in businesses that agree to share a percent of their future revenues until this investment is paid off.

While my monthly passive income from this route will pick up over time, it's allowed me to become an investor in businesses for the very first time. If you're interested in doing this, you can start with a small amount ($100 even) and do it through a platform like MainVest.

3. Peer-to-peer lending

Another way I decided to diversify my investment portfolio and make passive income was through peer-to-peer lending. This is when you loan money to borrowers who might not qualify for traditional loans.

Since I'm just getting started doing this, I'm using a website called PeerStreet, which lets you lend capital to people who are real estate borrowers. They then pay monthly interest on these loans and I receive a share of those payments.

4. Print-on-demand merchandise

I decided to create a product for my business that would generate passive income and not require much of my time. I did this by selling print-on-demand merchandise.

After I designed hats and T-shirts and listed those items on my website, whenever a person went to buy an item, the print-on-demand store would print it and ship it to them. I don't have to think about making the product, putting it in the mail, or even handling refunds.

If you have a current business or brand, you can set this up by designing the item for free using Canva, and then hosting it on a website like Amazon Merch or Printful, where they take care of the details after the purchase is made.

5. Selling ads

After years of building my platform (social media followers and email subscribers), I decided to make passive income off the people who consume the content I create for my different businesses and brands. Every month, I sell ad space for people to market their businesses on my newsletter and podcast. I pick the brands I believe my audience will enjoy hearing from and get paid through a one-time fee. This is different from an affiliate model where you get paid based on how many people buy a product.

This generates close to $1,000 a month in passive income for my business. If you're looking to get started doing this, put together a media kit that outlines your platforms and metrics. Then, reach out to brands with your media kit and pitch them on advertising on your social media, blog, newsletter, or podcast.