Side hustles are all the rage these days. It’s an excellent way to bring in extra cash, whether you’re a teacher, doctor, digital marketer, or just someone with an entrepreneurial spirit.
Contrary to what its name suggests, a side hustle doesn’t always require demanding work. There are ways to increase your earnings without ever having to leave your couch.
One method is through selling on Amazon—the playground of opportunity for anyone in pursuit of passive revenue streams.
If that sounds like an avenue you want to explore, read on. We’ll go over how to make passive income on Amazon, so you can get one step closer to financial freedom.
What is Passive Income?
Passive income can be defined as revenue earned with minimal day-to-day involvement. That means you could be making money while walking the dog, skiing in the Swiss Alps, or simply sleeping. The sky’s the limit when you’ve got a business venture that keeps the cash flowing in. Passively, of course.
Can You Make Passive Income on Amazon?
Absolutely. In fact, anyone can. Just bear in mind that it will require some initial planning, research, and ongoing maintenance. With a little perseverance and patience, however, you can achieve a semi-passive or more hands-off approach to making money.
The only thing left to do now is get started. In the next sections, we’ll delve deeper into the potential paths you can take when selling on Amazon.
Understanding the Amazon Ecosystem
Earning passive income from Amazon takes on many forms. There’s Amazon Associates, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Amazon Handmade, plus dropshipping on Amazon. And that’s only naming a few of the programs the e-commerce powerhouse offers.
No matter which one you choose, be sure to consider the pros and cons first. You don’t want to end up selling a product or service that doesn’t align with your goals, interests, and expertise. With that being said, let’s explore how to make passive income with Amazon’s many platforms in greater detail.
6 Ways to Make Passive Income on Amazon
1. Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
Fulfillment by Amazon, or Amazon FBA, is a program in which Amazon manages the order fulfillment process for sellers. That includes everything from storage and packing, to shipping and customer service.
Amazing, right? You won’t need to worry about the logistics when it’s already covered for you. The service gives you more time to focus on other parts of your business, like locking in on profitable items to sell. Check out our product-finding tips below to set yourself up for optimal Amazon FBA earnings.
Determine what type of product you want to sell
Kitchen gadgets might be the niche for some, while garden tools could appeal to others. Ultimately, your area of expertise and interests will determine the best fit for you. To help you hone in on a potentially profitable idea, use a product finder like Product Discovery from Viral Launch. You’ll be amazed at the amount of data you can get on customer demand and competitors in seconds.
Validate all product ideas
Because no idea is good to go until you’ve done your due diligence. Leveraging Viral Launch’s Market Intelligence can be a huge help during this step. You’ll not only receive an overview of the current market, but also get insights into high-performing keywords and market trends. Having this information on hand will put you miles ahead of the competition.
2. Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM)
Amazon FBM is similar to Amazon FBA in that a third party can handle order fulfillment and customer support for you.
Inventory management can also be easier with FBM. Depending on the business model you choose, you may not need to keep whatever you sell in stock at all.
Dropshipping is a prime FBM example that doesn’t require upfront inventory. Anytime a customer makes a purchase, you submit the order to your supplier, and they arrange for the products to be shipped directly to the customer. You essentially act as the middleman between the two parties.
3. Amazon Associates Program
If selling products online isn’t for you, give Amazon Associates—Amazon’s affiliate marketing program—a try. It’s an awesome method for generating passive income if you’re already a blogger, content creator, or publisher.
The process is fairly simple. Once you become an affiliate, you’ll receive a customized link to promote Amazon products on your platform. When someone clicks on that link and makes a qualifying purchase, you earn a commission.
As mentioned above, this Amazon passive income tactic is ideal if you run a blog. But if you don’t, there’s never a better time to start than now. Here are some best practices to follow, with examples.
Disclose your affiliation
Transparency is the name of the game, especially in an age where consumers want to know when creators are being paid to promote certain products. In the example below, the author is clear that they included affiliate links in their recipe post.
Choose relevant products
Promote products or services that not only resonate with your audience and niche, but are things you genuinely believe in. Consumers can easily sense when creators lack authenticity in their promotions.
Going back to our example, the author recommends an item that they frequently use when making cookies—a cookie scoop. Notice how the affiliate links are integrated into the content naturally. It doesn’t look forced.
Create quality content
Give your audience what they crave—informative, engaging content that provides substantial value. Remember, they’re coming to you to learn something new, so make sure to deliver on all fronts.
Our chocolate chip cookie recipe returns once again to demonstrate what that looks like for this particular audience. It contains step-by-step instructions paired with visuals and a comprehensive FAQ section.
Engage with your audience
Connect with your followers on a personal level to establish a sense of trust and loyalty. This is the perfect opportunity to address any questions and concerns, or just check in with everyone.
Looking at the comments section of the chocolate chip cookie recipe, the author regularly interacts with their audience.
Optimize your content
A key ingredient for this passive earning tactic to work is getting your content in front of your audience. You can do this by adding high-performing, relevant search terms to your content to drive organic traffic.
Let’s revisit our chocolate chip cookie recipe one last time. Out of ~248,000,000 search results, the page ranks as number one for the keyword “chocolate chip cookies.” The author clearly optimized their content so that baking enthusiasts could easily find the recipe and see why it’s the best!
Abiding by these affiliate marketing guidelines may sound tedious, but think of it as a long-term investment. Creating high-quality content now means you can use it to continuously drive sales and earn even more commissions down the road. This also holds true for Amazon influencers, which we’ll get into next.
4. Amazon Influencers
Have a knack for social media? The Amazon Influencer Program may be right up your alley. It’s a part of Amazon Associates, and is another viable option for making passive income on Amazon.
An example of an Amazon storefront
Here’s how it works:
- See if you qualify for the program. You can also reference our Amazon influencer guide to learn more about the requirements for eligibility.
- Build an Amazon storefront of all the products you’ve tried, tested, and want to promote to your followers. You’ll then receive a personalized URL to share across your social platforms.
- Create engaging content around the products you want to recommend and know your followers would love. Again, only endorse products that you stand behind. Authenticity always wins.
- Earn a commission every time someone makes a qualifying purchase using your storefront link. If you’re curious about what the commission rates are, Amazon has them listed here.
5. Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
Calling all aspiring writers and established authors! Our next method for earning money passively involves the art of storytelling.
With Kindle Direct Publishing, you can easily get your work out into the world without the hassles of traditional publishing. The platform grants you access to free tools to self-publish in print and digital formats on Amazon. Plus, every decision made regarding your book—design, content, price, advertising—is done on your own terms.
Now, you will have to dedicate time to actually writing the book (obviously the most important part!) and promoting it to your audience. But once it gains enough traction, you’ll start to see that glorious Kindle passive income show up in your bank account.
For more details on how to write your way to financial success, read our comprehensive article on KDP. We go over everything you need to know, including the type of content you can publish, how you get paid, and how to sign up.
6. Merch by Amazon
You might have seen this platform referred to as Merch On Demand, too. It’s an Amazon print-on-demand service that lets you express your artistic side through designing and selling merchandise. This typically includes items like t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, phone cases, posters, and tote bags.
Like KDP, there are no upfront costs to sell merchandise on Amazon. What there is, though, is a bit of preliminary work, but it’s nothing you can’t easily do yourself or with a graphic designer.
You’ll just need to upload your designs, select your product type, and add a product description. The e-commerce site will take care of the production, shipping, and customer service whenever a consumer buys your product.
To ensure you have a lucrative product offering, follow these six steps:
- Learn the basics: Topics like “how to create a Merch by Amazon account” and “how much Merch by Amazon sellers get paid” are good places to start. You can find the answers to both in the Viral Launch Merch by Amazon guide.
- Channel your inner artist: Create eye-catching designs that strike a chord with your audience. Humans are visual creatures, after all.
- Pick out your products: Do you want your artwork on a sweatshirt or a water bottle? Take your time with this step—it’s crucial that your design aligns perfectly with the items it will be printed on.
- Craft an A+ product listing: Highlight everything great about your product through the power of words and high-quality images. Keep the content accurate, brief, and benefit-focused.
- Take optimization seriously: Even for the shirts with silly phrases. Include relevant keywords in the title, bullets, and description of your listing to get your item in front of existing and potential customers. We recommend using the Keyword Research tool by Viral Launch to help you identify the right search terms to use.
- Promote on social media: Use these platforms to increase the chances of your product capturing the attention of consumers. Upon hitting it big with your designs, you’ll get to reap the monetary rewards of your efforts in the form of royalties.
Final Thoughts
Opportunity is everywhere when it comes to learning how to make passive income on Amazon. With so many options to choose from, you’re bound to find something that falls within your wheelhouse.
That could be writing the next best-selling book with Amazon Kindle publishing or endorsing your favorite Amazon products on a blog. Regardless of the route you take, make sure that:
- Your method of making passive income reflects your interests and skills.
- You are ready to do the upfront work and regular, but minimal maintenance required to build a sustainable passive income stream.
- You leverage the right tools at each stage in the Amazon seller passive income journey. If you’re looking for an all-in-one toolbox for selling on Amazon, consider Viral Launch. We offer a variety of solutions to help you develop, launch, and scale your business.
Remembering these pointers will not only help you generate passive income, but also live the life you want to live.
