Residual income is the all the buzz in the online 'make money' crowd.
You'd think that the internet invented the idea.
Truth is, residual income has been around for a long long time.
The problem for most people has been two-fold; either you needed a lot of money to get started or you needed to create something extraordinary.
Two examples come to mind.
Residual income that requires a lot of capital to start would be owning and managing rental property.
This could be anything from rental houses, apartment buildings, hotels, marinas or parking lots.
As you have probably guessed, you need a good deal of money to purchase your rental property and the know how to manage it profitably.
We're all familiar with examples of extraordinary creative works going on to earn money years, even decades after they have been created.
Elvis Presley left the building over thirty years ago and his estate still earns more than most living recording artists still making records today.
The notion of the starving artist will probably always be with us but one notable writer escaped that trajectory.
Penniless and unable to afford heat in her apartment, J.
K.
Rowling spun a tale of a school for wizards into the Harry Potter franchise and is now one of the wealthiest people in the world (Forbes says she is a billionaire, the first person ever to reach that level on writing alone.
Ms.
Rowling disputes the calculation [source: wikipedia]).
Residual income comes in all shapes and sizes.
The opportunities for creating your own stream of recurring income are everywhere in the real world and online.
Once you get a taste of it, its difficult to think of earning the 'old-fashioned way' ever again.
The real prize is to work once and get paid over and over again for the same one-time work.
This can be accomplished by purchasing a stock which pays a dividend, renting out advertising space (whether online or off) or writing articles for websites which pay you each time your article is read.
Last but not least are the multi-level marketing (MLM) or network marketing programs that are all over the internet.
Be wary of any scheme which sounds to good to be true.
Research any company's claims by checking the internet for other people who are unhappy with a programs performance.
Bad news gets around quickly and, it seems, once a complaint has been made online, no one can make you erase it.
Before you invest your money in a MLM business, learn all you can about how to generate traffic - which will be your source of leads (unless you pay for them).
Learn what it takes to create a following online and gain the trust of others.
You can do all this and earn a few dollars learning how to blog.
It is extremely cheap to do, often free, and there is a wealth of information available to show you how to pick your topic, set up your blog, how to get traffic, different ways to monetize your blog, etc.
, etc.
Once you are earning a few residual dollars from blogging, you can use that money to invest in any other program you are interested in.
This way your out of pocket expenses stay low and your income can grow.