Introduction
Hey everyone, it’s Tom here with this OnlineWorld.com. Hope you’re all having a fantastic day today! So in today’s video, I’m covering seven legit and out-of-the-box passive income ideas that can actually change your life in 2025.
This video is going to include a mix of passive income ideas that require some upfront work to get started as well as some that are completely passive and you can start right now. Some of these passive income ideas also have full-time potential, and one of the ones I’m covering in this video has made someone nearly $500,000 in about 2 years, so you don’t want to miss this one. There are tons of ideas for both beginners and experienced passive income earners alike. So let’s get to the ideas!
1. Parasite SEO Affiliate Marketing
What is Parasite SEO?
Starting off with one passive income stream that can change your life in 2025 and beyond is affiliate marketing with parasite SEO. I guarantee no passive income video right now is talking about this, but I think it’s super cool, which is why I wanted to start the video with this idea.
I’ve covered affiliate marketing on this channel before, but what exactly is Parasite SEO? Well, it’s been all the rage lately and it involves publishing content on other third-party websites to rank on Google faster than if you published the content on your own website.
Examples of Parasite SEO
People are doing this right now on websites like LinkedIn Pulse, Medium, Quora, Reddit, and more. It’s a way to hijack these websites, put some affiliate-heavy content on them, and get clicks and views faster than if they built their own niche blog.
Let me show you a few examples of some parasite SEO plays making money with affiliate marketing that I found. There are thousands of these examples out there. For instance:
- A Y Sense review found on LinkedIn Pulse includes affiliate links, and the author is earning a commission when people sign up through the link.
- Another example is a Best VPNs in Canada article on Outlook India, stuffed with affiliate links.
Many affiliate marketers take advantage of this strategy, skipping the hard step of building their own websites and leveraging existing traffic on platforms like Reddit, LinkedIn, etc.
How Passive is Parasite SEO?
This passive income idea requires some upfront work. You need to create content, apply to affiliate networks, and get into them. But once a piece of content is ranking, it can earn you passive income for months or years to come.
2. Invest in Businesses
The second creative passive income idea that can potentially change your life is to invest in small businesses. You don’t need to be a millionaire to do this. For example, there are now tons of crowdfunding platforms in the United States that let you buy shares of existing profitable businesses.
Crowdfunding Examples
- Mainvest is one example, and it lets you invest in businesses like restaurants, bars, food trucks, coffee shops, and more, starting with just $100.
- FranShares is another similar concept that lets you become a passive investor in franchises, starting with only $500.
These platforms let you buy shares in businesses generating revenue every month, and it’s fully passive. You’re not involved in the business operations at all.
Additional Opportunities
You could also look for private deals or become an angel investor. Even with a small amount of capital, you can invest in businesses or bootstrap one with friends.
3. Sell Digital Downloads
The third passive income idea you can try is selling digital products. People talk about selling digital products or print-on-demand all the time in passive income discussions. I tried selling meme mugs on Etsy back in college, but there’s so much more potential out there.
Success Story
I came across a story where someone made almost $100,000 in 3 years selling Excel and Google Sheets templates. This person made nearly $100K off about 500 orders and around 10,000 views. That’s almost a 5% conversion rate, which is pretty impressive!
Once a product ranks on Etsy, it can get recurring views and sales for months or years to come. You can also drive traffic through Pinterest, Reddit, email marketing, or even a YouTube channel.
4. Peer-to-Peer Lending (P2P Lending)
The fourth passive income idea you can check out in 2025 is peer-to-peer (P2P) lending. This is a more creative, riskier, and somewhat crazy idea, but it can work.
How Does P2P Lending Work?
In P2P lending, you act as the bank and loan money to people for a certain period, charging interest on the loan. Prosper is one of the most common P2P lending platforms, where you can start with as little as $25.
Prosper rates how risky the loan is, and depending on the risk, it offers higher or lower returns. On average, Prosper has returned about 5-7% annually, but of course, the earnings depend on the risk level.
Informal P2P Lending
If you want to go even crazier, you can lend money to people informally through Reddit’s r/peerlending. However, it’s more informal, and there’s much higher risk involved.
5. Use Passive Income Apps
Coming in at number five on this list is to use different passive income apps. This is a simple idea that anyone can start, and it pays you right now with little to no upfront work.
My Go-To Passive Income Apps
Here are some of the best apps for passive income in 2025:
- Mobile Performance Meter
- Mobile Expression
- Neelon Panel
- Dosge
- Pogo
You can easily earn gift cards or PayPal cash every month by using these apps. I cover all of these apps on my website, OnlineWorld.com, if you want to search for them.
Additional Apps
There are also other apps that turn your phone into an auto-surfing device or pay you to watch ads.
6. Rent Out Assets
Number six on the list is renting out your assets to earn passive income. This doesn’t mean you have to be an Airbnb host or super rich; there are tons of different assets you might have and not even realize you can rent out.
Examples of Rentable Assets
- Parking spaces: Websites like SpotHero let you rent out your parking space for a monthly fee.
- Storage space: Platforms like Neighbor allow you to rent out extra storage space in your home, such as a garage, attic, or spare room.
Additional Rental Ideas
You can even rent out your vehicles through platforms like Turo or Getaround. Some people even build fleets of cars solely for renting out on these platforms.
7. Invest in Fractional Real Estate
The seventh and final passive income idea you can try in 2025 is investing in fractional real estate. This is similar to investing in businesses but involves buying shares of income-generating real estate instead.
Real Estate Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding platforms like Fundrise let you invest in income-generating real estate without needing a massive down payment or dealing with landlord headaches.
You can start investing with just $500 on Fundrise, and it pays quarterly. The platform has averaged 8-12% annual returns and has both good and bad years.
Other Real Estate Options
If you’re not in the United States, you can find other similar platforms in your country, or invest in REITs or ETFs focused on real estate.
Conclusion
That wraps up this video on seven out-of-the-box and creative passive income ideas you can use in 2025 and beyond. I know I cover quite a few passive income ideas on this channel, and I wanted this video to be a little different. I threw in some unique ideas like parasite SEO and selling digital products.
At the end of the day, you could pick one or more of these ideas and probably start earning passive income this year. Of course, nothing’s wrong with investing in stocks or bonds or just parking your money in a high-yield savings account, but I wanted to share some creative ideas with you.
As I mentioned, I’m now sharing my portfolio on Blossom, so if you live in the United States or Canada, you can download it, follow me, and we can start sharing more investing and passive income content.
Thanks for watching, and don’t forget to check out OnlineWorld.com for more unique ways to make and save money. Catch you guys in the next one!
