I've often thought about and read countless books about how to create streams of passive income. Why? I look at all the wealthy people in this world and see where their money is coming from, and just about every one of them have multiple companies and streams of income. I've read books on the topic and learned what the wealthiest people are doing daily that the average Joe isn't.

That's why I wrote this article, to show you the top 10 ideas for passive income. Each idea has been used by myself or suggested from credible sources and experts to make money while you sleep.

If you'd like to learn more about what wealthy people are doing to make money, and what they do that the 40-hour per week worker doesn't, then read the following list.

Each topic listed below is not listed in any necessary order, but rather each is listed due to it's high potential to earn easy money while you sleep! Enjoy!

1) Write an ebook

If you don't have much money to start out with, I'd recommend this be where you start. With just a little time up front, some research on your book topic, and a couple editorial reviews you could have a book written in as little as a week!

I've even heard of people writing a book in one day! The nice thing about it is, you write it once then let it sell as you watch the money roll in.

I recommend using this to help you get started. Follow the steps taught here and you'll have your book written in no time!

If you really want to dive in to writing your first ebook, here is a bit of a step up from my first recommendation.

2) Build a blog

Next to writing an ebook, building a blog is the next best thing to getting started with passive income with little money to start. Blogs make money through ads posted on their website. When you gain a decent following over time, then your website/blog becomes more valuable for ads to be posted.

This can take time to get a following, but definitely worth it! The fun thing about this is you can even choose a topic that you absolutely love and are passionate about and writing will flow naturally.

If you've never had a blog or don't yet understand the basics, you can get access to the top educational information with step by step instructions on how to build a lucrative business…free of charge! Read more about it here.

3) Retail Arbitrage – Selling Online

What is retail arbitrage you ask? Great question. I didn't know either until I came across a similar blog post to this one. I will say the money you can make with retail arbitrage is pretty easy and lucrative if you do it right!

Retail arbitrage is simply taking advantage of the difference in prices from different markets. For example, you could go to Walmart and find a water bottle that is on the clearance rack selling for $5.00, but that exact water bottle is selling on Amazon for $19.99!

By taking advantage of this price spread, you could find some pretty high selling products and make a pretty penny. Good places to find these types of products are big box stores like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, etc. You can also find local thrift stores or dollar stores. Once you find a good product this can be a gold mine!

4) Dropshipping

I personally have made a lot of money using this method. Drop shipping is another method for selling product online through marketplaces like Amazon, Ebay, etc.

Rather than having to purchase product in bulk and hold inventory yourself, you can actually list the product and then as the orders come in, you simply pass those orders to your wholesale company. You sell the product for retail price, and purchase it from the wholesale company at wholesale and keep the spread!

That's right, no inventory needed! Most companies that offer drop shipping charge $1 – $3 per order for packaging and sending the product for you, but this is minimal.

The hardest part of this is finding a good wholesale company to connect with for drop shipping. I suggest using these guys to help you find a good supplier that will offer drop shipping and get you set up!

5) Invest in rental properties

This may not be an option for everyone due to the money it takes up front. But if you've got a little extra cash and want a VERY lucrative way of making passive income, this is for you.

Think about it, with a little cash up front, you get a mortgage and buy a house to rent it out. Say the house is $250,000. A mortgage on a home that price would probably be in the ballpark of $1400-$1700 per month. But the rental income you could charge is probably $2500 per month!

Your tenants are then paying your mortgage payment for you, plus giving you an extra $1000 on the side. Then when you sell the home, you get all that rent money back. Awesome!

Look at all the millionaires and even billionaires in the world today. You will see that they have their hand in a lot of real estate. Why? Because everyone needs a place to stay!

Don't want to worry about renting it out and the work that goes with that? No problem! Hire a property management company to do it for you for a small price. Either way, your still cash flow positive if you structure it right.

I'm currently reading this book to brush up on the subject, its great because they have a small course you can take at the end on their website. I suggest it if your looking to getting into rental properties!

6) Peer to peer lending

This is another one of my favorite options. There are tons of peer to peer lending companies out there that are great to use.

Peer to peer lending is simply loaning out your money to people who need a loan. You basically play the bank. Here is how it works: John wants a loan to update his kitchen, so he goes to a peer to peer lending company to request a loan. The company reviews his credit and income, and approves John's loan.

The lending company then turns around and puts John's loan scenario on the market, and people like you and I can help contribute to the amount that John needs, and we all get a split in the return on investment!

This company allows you to start investing in loans with just $25 minimum! That's maybe 2 lunches per month, totally worth it!.

7) Google Adsense

Google adsense is totally free to set up. But before you set up an account with google ad sense, you need to have a website or a blog in place. The easiest way to start this is just begin a blog on a topic you love.

Once you get your blog up and going, go here to set up a google ad sense account. Google will then place small ads on your website, and if any of your website visitors click on them, you get paid! The amount you make with this is very little to start, but over time as you build up traffic, you begin to see the benefits.

Now I've never tried these guys personally to be completely transparent, but I've heard great things about their content on getting up and going with google ad sense. See more here.

For more information on setting up a blog before you get your ad sense account, this is my favorite book on creating a profitable blog.

8) Email Marketing

Email marketing is sometimes said to be a thing of the past. But I'm here to tell you it is still VERY alive and well! Some of the top online marketers make the majority of their money with email marketing.

What is email marketing? Its just that, marketing through email. But you have to build a list of subscribers first. The way this is done is through creating a basic landing page, blog or website and capturing new subscribers about a topic or a free offer.

This list is then used to market to through emails you send out sporadically. The hardest part is building the list. If you can gather a good amount of true email followers, and send out information on products and content that is helpful to them, this can be very lucrative.

Aside from a landing page or a blog to gather emails, probably most importantly you need an email platform to help you gather and disperse those emails in a timely manner.

These guys have the absolute best option for setting up a landing page, creating an automated email process for new subscribers, and educating you on how to build a strong following. This is a must in your passive income streams!

9) Become an affiliate marketer

Affiliate marketing is very similar to email marketing. In fact the two go hand in hand. So if your going to try email marketing, consider this as well.

Affiliate marketing is simply referring people to products online and you get paid a small commission for it. For example if you like a product on Amazon and want to promote it on your website, you can sign up for the Amazon affiliate program for free to insert links or ads for that product on your site.

If someone clicks on it, you get paid a small commission for it. For great educational content on affiliate marketing, check out Pat Flyn's info on how to do this correctly.

10) Create an educational course on Udemy.com

Are you particularly good a something that everyone looks to you for help? Udemy.com allows you to create educational content and videos on “how to” for your chosen topic. Once your content is created, you then upload it as a seller and offer your content for $5 per download (or a price you feel reasonable).

There are some publishers that have hundreds of thousands of downloads. Think about it, $5 x 100,000 = a lot of money. Great idea, easy to start and can build your passive streams of income quickly!

This book has great reviews on how to make money on Udemy.

Get started NOW!

Some passive income streams work better for some people than others, the trick is finding something that you enjoy and just going with it! Despite where you start, it is VITAL that you start today. When is the best time to plant a tree? 20 years ago. When's the next best time? TODAY! Get started, and days, weeks, months and years later you will be very happy you did.