The Passive Income Strategy That Can Pay You In Your Sleep

Earning passive income means making money with little to no effort. While there's usually some work involved leading up to making a passive income without real estate, once you put in the time, you can bring in money while you sleep. Many people picture real estate tycoons and Wall Street investors when they hear about someone with a significant income stream that allows them to work only when they want to. But a surprising new passive income strategy that can pay you in your sleep is something attainable by almost anyone. Creating digital products and selling them online is helping people earn the passive income they need, giving them the ability to live the life they desire. "I'm seeing people creating digital products," financial planner Akeiva Ellis told Business Insider. "Whether that's a printable they sell online, or a worksheet, or a guide, or an ebook or an online course, it's those kinds of things that people can set up once, and that requires little to no maintenance."

These types of digital products give you a chance to share your knowledge and expertise with others, and so are popular among passive earners. And when you sell them online, you can reap financial rewards from doing something you're passionate about. But is it possible to earn enough income to put you in the top 5% of Americans by selling digital products?

Whether you can generate passive income by selling a digital product depends on several factors. It may sound easy to write an ebook and upload it onto a platform like Amazon, then wait for the money to roll in. However, the reality is that you have to put in some work up front. Business Insider recently wrote about stay-at-home mom Niki Puls earning thousands of dollars every month selling an ebook, training course, and template on her own website, and she claims to work only five hours a week. But first, she had to write the book, then create the course, and now she spends her time marketing her products on social media.

On Life Hack, you can read about 30-year-old man "Alex Rivera" making $1.8 million a year publishing books through Amazon KDP. The number is impressive, but read the details and you'll discover he put in effort to find a niche he could write about that would pay off. Plus, he still writes and publishes books on the platform to keep money coming in.

Jungle Scout reports that 40% of Amazon sellers make $1,000 to $25,000 a month. While these earners aren't all necessarily offering digital products, many are, and that kind of extra money could make a big difference in your life. Keep in mind that earning a passive income rarely means you never have to work again, but selling digital products online can help you go from middle class to millionaire if you're willing to make the effort.