Working in the tech sector can lead to flexible career opportunities. There are a few avenues you can investigate if you are interested in ways to earn easy passive income for programmers. It’s possible to earn more than what you’re currently earning in your day job by putting some passive income strategies in place.
If you love coding, there are many opportunities for you to make extra money by using your skills. An excellent side income is a great way to help make ends meet. This article will be perfect for you if you’re wondering how to make passive income for programmers.
What Is Passive Income?
A passive income is a means of earning money with minimal effort. You’ll need to invest a little spare time, money, or resources in the beginning, but once established, it will help to increase your annual revenue.
The most common passive income ideas are investing in real estate and dividend stocks. You can also generate a passive income through affiliate programs, rentals, and selling items you no longer need.
Passive Income Strategies for Programmers: Types of Passive Income
Whether you are a hobbyist or a professional looking for a side hustle, there are lots of ways for you to start earning extra money. Keep reading to learn more about some strategies you can follow to start a passive income stream.
Build a website
Either code your own website or build a website through popular platforms like Wix and WordPress. Post useful things on your websites like step-by-step tutorials and programming tips. There are ways to build up your SEO ranking so that your website is easily found. Your online presence will increase as well as chances to attract advertisers and sponsorships.
Online Business or Dropshipping
With 65 percent of the US population shopping on Amazon at least once a month, selling online is one of today’s huge business trends. A benefit of ecommerce is that it allows you to sell to customers worldwide. Dropshipping is a great passive income business idea as you don’t need to manage the inventory, packaging, or shipping.
Selling Digital products
There are many digital products you can start selling online. Digital products are intangible products like music, videos, photos, and software. A benefit of selling something digital is that you can create a single product once and sell it multiple times to different clients.
10 Best Passive Income Ideas for Programmers
As a programmer or software developer, there are endless possibilities for alternative sources of income. Maybe it won’t be an overnight success, but if you are consistent and dedicated, you will begin to see the benefits. Read on for a few examples of passive income ideas that may help you put a new strategy in place for earning extra cash.
1. Sell Software Programs or Mobile Applications
This is the best passive income idea for programmers. Not only can you apply your programming skills, but you can also earn extra income. Most people haven’t spent time learning software development. If you have these skills, you can develop and sell your own products. This can be a mobile game, educational software, or business software.
2. Start Blogging
If you have good writing skills, start a programming blog that gives tech advice, trends in computer programming, the best programming projects, and other useful tech topics. Google AdSense pays bloggers when a user clicks the ads appearing on their blogs.
3. Create a Tutorial Youtube Channel
Create high-quality video content with step-by-step guides to coding a simple program. Look for topic trends or popular searches to guide you. YouTubers earn money primarily through advertisements and sponsored posts. You’ll need to increase your following to attract both of these forms of income.
4. Sell Web Themes or Templates
Programmers, especially web developers, can create unique and stunning web templates with simple HTML and CSS code. Identify your target audience and their needs and stay updated with the latest trend in UX/UI design elements. Web themes can cost up to $200 each, and you can look at platforms like Theme Forest, Templamatic, and Fantero to sell your templates.
5. Sell Stock Photos and Videos
If you enjoy photography and you’re skilled in editing pictures and video clips using software tools like Photoshop and PowerDirector, you can make money with your photos and videos. You could earn anything from $0.35 up to $99 per photo and $200 per video, depending on the video resolution. Research platforms like Shutterstock, iStockPhoto, and Adobe Stock.
6. Sell Graphic Designs
Not every business owner is a talented graphic designer. If this is something you enjoy doing, put it to good use by creating business images to promote brands. Create fonts, mockups, wallpapers, and UX/UI tools to sell online. Platforms Fiverr, DeviantArt, and 99Designs should help with selling your graphic designs.
7. Create SaaS Projects
A SaaS project helps companies save time by taking a manual operation and automating it. Many businesses have gaps between software and applications, and these are problems that need solutions. If you develop this skillet, it could eventually end up creating a good passive income.
8. Chatbots
Chatbots are popular in the web industry. Chatbots are computer software designed to perform conversations with humans. They are commonly used in customer assistance, FAQs, and gathering user information. Chatbots use programming languages like Lisp, Clojure, Python, or Java. Many companies would be interested in buying your chatbot software.
9. Create a Niche Membership Site
A niche website includes exclusive content for a specific or smaller group of people. A niche website member usually pays a yearly or monthly subscription to access the site’s content. Niche sites have several business models such as community model, premium model, and course model. Your chances of success lie in finding an exciting niche topic.
10. Create and Sell WordPress Plugins
WordPress is a popular platform for digital marketing. Many small and large businesses use WordPress for advertisements. Website owners use plugins to add features to their websites that fit their services.
Before you create a plugin, find what most users need. Visit WordPress forums or blogs to gather information and sell your plugins to several platforms like CodeCanyon, WordPress.org, and ThemeSnap.
Other Ways to Make Extra Money as a Programmer
If you want more ways to earn extra money, below is a list of other active forms of income for software developers and programmers. With some dynamic thinking and impressive tech skills, there are many ways for you to make some cash on the side.
- Apply for a Part-time Job Online. Online jobs have increased exponentially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Several tech experts can find work online such as software engineers, programmers, web developers, systems analysts, and SEO specialists. Look for job opportunities on online job sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor.
- Look for Freelance Projects Online. Programmers are some of the most popular freelancers and can work on websites, mobile apps, and any other software application. Some of the popular sites for freelancers are Upwork, Fiverr, and PeoplePerHour. According to Glassdoor, the average salary of a freelancer is $52,417.
- Take on Outsourcing Tasks. Most companies hire third-party services for customer support, human resources, and IT support. The difference between outsourcing and freelancing is that you work for another company in outsourcing. In freelancing, you work independently. Some of the best outsourcing websites are Upwork, Guru, and DesignHill.
- Invest in The Stock Market. This is the process of buying a share of ownership in a company. You’ll need to open an investment account like a brokerage account. Think carefully about how much you’d like to invest and choose a long-term investment.
- Get Into SEO Consulting. SEO is an essential skill in digital marketing. An SEO consultant establishes an effective SEO strategy for clients. If this sounds like something you’d like to do, invest your time in studying digital marketing and learning SEO.
How to Make Passive Income for Programmers
You can have financial freedom with a career in programming. As you spend more time developing your skills, you’ll learn other ways of earning a passive income. It just takes creativity, determination, hard work, and resourcefulness, to not only establish a stable career in programming, but to earn extra money on the side while you get there.
Passive Income for Programmers FAQ
According to PayScale, the average salary of a software programmer is $80,198 per year. Entry-level jobs can earn an annual wage of $68,535 while experienced software programmers can earn as much as $97,328 per year.
You’ll need a good knowledge of software development, problem-solving skills, mathematical skills, and a proficiency in programming languages such as Python, C, Java, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. A keen eye for detail, organizational skills, and good communication skills are a plus.
One of the easiest ways to learn programming is through bootcamps. Coding bootcamps offer on-site and online courses that teach you the most updated programming skills using the latest software tools. This is a great opportunity for you to earn practical experience and hands-on training that can help you in your programming career.
Having a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or another related field can definitely open more doors for you. You could also get a job as a programmer if you are self-taught or have attended programming bootcamps. Your employer would like to know your capabilities and if you have the skillset to do the job that’s required.
About us: Career Karma is a platform designed to help job seekers find, research, and connect with job training programs to advance their careers. Learn about the CK publication.
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