10 Best Passive Income Ideas for Teachers to Make Money Online

As a teacher, you spend most of your days nurturing your students into respectable persons in the world. There’s no denying that most teachers don’t get paid for the value they bring considering the workload and working conditions. Maybe you’ve been looking for ways to earn extra money on the side to supplement your income.

Fortunately, there are multiple ways to use your knowledge to create multiple sources of income that will need less time and effort so that continue with your noble work stress free. And the best part is that you don’t have to change your career.

This article shares some of the best passive income for teachers that are effective in earning you extra money every month.

What Is Passive Income For Teachers?

Passive income is any work that you do that generates income without the need for your physical effort or time. It is anything you can do or create once and get paid for it without putting in more effort. This is different from your day job where you have to go to school and teach for you to get paid.

When working full time, passive income ideas for teachers come in handy to earn extra income. These ideas need little or no time or effort and you can set them up once and earn an unlimited number of times. They also help you to expand your skill set and improve your earning potential in the digital space

10 Best Passive Income Ideas for Teachers

Passive income is ideal for teachers to help them earn extra money to pay extra bills, save up for a rainy day or build their investment portfolio. Let’s look at the best passive income ideas for teachers that you can try.

1. Sell lesson plans

In your day job you already have experience with creating lesson plans for your classes. Did you know that you can sell lesson plans and get passive income?

Create lesson plans and sell them to other teachers who would pay to make their work easier. The good news is that once you create a lesson plans you can sell them unlimited times. Which is a good way to earn passive income as a teacher? You do the work once and earn from it for life.

Aside from your website, you can also sell the lesson plans on online marketplaces such as Teacha!, or TeachersPayTeachers.

2. Sell eBooks

Use your knowledge and expertise to write books and make passive income selling them online. You can either sell on social media, on your website or book selling platforms such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Kobo.

The advantage of selling on your website is that you get to keep all the profit. However, you may have to do a lot of marketing initially. Publishing on online platforms that are already established, you will get access to their audience that has been built already so that you can focus on writing the books. The downside is that the platforms such as Amazon pay you about 30-70% of royalties per sale and keep the rest.

Some of the topics can include helping students to study, life skills and how parents can help their young ones. Whatever you decide to write as long as you have expertise on it will sell.

3. Build an educational app

This is one of the best passive income ideas for teachers because it is easy to scale. Some of the ideas for educational apps could be teaching language, math or sciences. You will only need to market the app initially and then sit and wait as you earn passive income.

To get started, hire experienced programmers to create the applications and manage any technical issues.

4. Start a YouTube channel

There is never a shortage of learners or parents who would benefit from tips from an experienced teacher. Start a YouTube channel if you love to make videos or connect to an audience. Share helpful tips on relevant topics that would add value to your target market. This will help you build a personal brand as a teacher and reach a larger audience who can buy your programs.

You can monetize your channel once you meet the threshold of 1000 subscribers and 4000 public watch hours in 12 months. The platform will pay you to add ads to your videos and pay per views and clicks which is a good passive way to earn money. You can also earn through sponsored videos or by adding affiliate links to your video descriptions.

Another way to monetize your channel is by creating an exclusive membership where those who want more educational content pay a small fee for it.

In the long run, YouTube is one of the best passive income ideas for teachers because you do the work once and you get paid every time someone views your videos.

5. Start dropshipping

Before you say that drop shipping is not working in 2024, I want to assure you that it is still working. All you need is to set up an e-commerce store and link up with suppliers of education products such as books or educational toys.

Once a customer buys from your website the supplier ships the products directly to the customer with your address and you keep the profit.

6. Create an online course

The digital era has opened up the learning space. Learners from the globe can benefit from your expertise through a self paced online course that you create once and earn for life.

There are great online platforms you can use to set up your course such as Udemy, Teachable or Thinkfic. As a teacher, you already have a lot of knowledge that you can share.

Choose a subject area that you are efficient in, create an outline and create detailed tutorials on the topic. Include quizzes, step by step tutorials and assignments to make it engaging.

For example, if you teach English, you can record the lessons and hire an expert to do the initial set up and payment getaways. Then market the course on social media and to parenting groups and you’re good to go.

7. Sell printables

Printables are an easy way to share your knowledge and earn from it are good at design or are willing to learn. Some examples of printables include worksheets, flashcards or activity books that you can sell on your website on online marketplaces such as Facebook, Etsy or Creative Market.

You can also create materials for student teachers, parents who are homeschooling or students who want more help on different subjects. Selling printables will give you the flexibility to earn as you work fulltime because you only need to set it up once. And sell unlimited time.

8. Start a blog

Just like a YouTube channel, a blog is a good way to share helpful content about your expertise. This is among the best passive income ideas for teachers who are passionate about writing. You will need to register a domain and pay for hosting. This would cost about $30 per year. Then start posting high quality blog posts consistently. Share the posts on social media for a wider reach and optimize them for SEO to appear in search results on Google or Bing.

Once you start getting traffic you can earn through ads or affiliate marketing. You can also get paid to do a sponsored post or sell your digital products such as lesson plans, worksheets and activity books.

Another way to monetize your blog is by writing reviews on products that learners use. Then use affiliate links where you get a commission once anyone buys through your link.

For this method to work you need to put in effort in the beginning to boost traffic before you can start earning.

9. Start an ecommerce store

As a teacher, you are aware of the high quality products your students need and it gives you an edge to select the most needed and those that will earn you a good profit.

Dropshipping (read above) is a good model because you can scale into an online business once you learn which products sell best. Then in the long run purchase the same products in build from suppliers and resale them on your website to get a higher profit margin.

The advantage of an e-commerce store is that you will control your earnings and can charge prices depending on the needs of your target audience.

10. Create a personal brand on social media

As a teacher, you already have excellent public speaking and communication skills. Use your skills and expertise to create educational content on social platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.

This helps you to be known as the expert in your field and opens up multiple ways to earn online. You will make a lot of money by collaborating with brands that sell teaching materials or related products. You can earn money through sponsored posts, promoting brands or selling your own digital products or tutoring services.

This is one of the best passive income ideas for teachers because it gives you a platform to sell all the other ideas already on this list. Although you have to initially create content and push your brand to be known, once you start making money you can hire freelancers to help with content creation so that you can concentrate on your full time job.

FAQs

• What is the best side hustle for teachers?

The best side hustles for teachers include online tutoring, creating online courses, blogging or freelance writing.

• How can I make extra income as a teacher while working full time?

You can make extra income as a teacher while working full time by doing online jobs such as freelancing, online tutoring, or blogging.

• Can teachers be a millionaire?

Teaching is one of the top careers that has unlimited earning potential aside from engineers, accountants, lawyers and marketing professionals. Build multiple sources of income by selling lesson plans, eBooks or printable online.

Final Thoughts

The digital landscape has unlimited opportunities for teachers who wish to earn extra money online. We have explored the 10 best passive income ideas for teachers that cater for different skills and interests. Choose one or two ideas that suit your expertise, skill level or passion and start immediately.

You can always add more passive income streams as you go on. Don’t keep pushing the start date. Start today and increase your earning potential. Make use of the online platforms to improve your skills and your earning potential. The future is unlimited.

Happy earning!

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