This Amazon Side Hustle Made $140K per Month in Passive Income

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Side hustles are grander and more lucrative than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic opened the door to money-making opportunities — side work like delivery driving, freelance writing, online sales, teaching or virtual assisting.

People stuck at home and interested in supplemental income had much of the world available as potential sources of income, whether it’s someone who needs content edited, groceries delivered or language tutoring.

Some of these side hustles go viral for their ability to provide even more money than traditional employment. Jenny Woo’s choice of hustle was Mind Brain Emotion — card games designed to foster emotional intelligence through a variety of topics like interpersonal skills. She sold these decks on Amazon and ultimately brought in $1.71 million in 2023, which averages out to $142,700 per month in passive income; she created the product and then continued to make money from it.

How To Build a Lucrative Side Gig

Of course, it’s important to note that these stories go viral precisely because they’re unique. While this shouldn’t discourage you from pursuing something you believe in, keep in mind that Woo has five degrees and over a decade of professional experience. Your burgeoning side hustle can start off small and still find long-term success, though.

Here are some tips on how to get started building a side hustle.

1. Focus your ideas on things you have a passion for or have a decent or greater amount of experience in.
2. Plan out the potential expenses required to begin. Review if you need a certification or have to purchase a service.
3. If it turns out that you’ll end up in debt before you’ve really started, try a different side hustle.
4. If need be, you can always begin with something more affordable, perhaps creating a podcast while you work out the details of your greater ambition.
5. Avoid paying for services that cost hundreds of dollars with a promise to provide you with the utmost-valued advice. It’s another way to unnecessarily lose your money while benefiting someone who’s created a hustle based on scamming people.

To recap, consider the skills and dedicated time required, the initial investment versus the profit potential and any risks. These ideas for side hustles could be what you need to make a steady stream of passive income.

1. Engage in affiliate marketing and promote other people’s products. You won’t be bogged down by handling inventory or fulfilling orders and you can instead focus on spreading the buzz.
2. Make your own digital product. You can easily sell this online, whether it be artwork or a workbook. As a digital product, your profit margin will be greater than physical products, you don’t need to pay for storing inventory and the notion of shipping becomes moot.
3. Publish E-Books on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). You don’t have to pitch your idea to a publisher and you have the potential to earn up to 70% in royalties from the corporate monolith’s millions of users. Still, publishers exist for a reason, so make sure you have someone competent review your work to better your odds that the book gets recognition among the nearly 1.5 million other self-published books.

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