How to Create Multiple Streams of Income in Your 20s - 7 Top Ideas - Earning Sides (2024)

Introduction

In this article, I want to share with you guys an idea of how to create multiple streams of income in your 20s, the seven streams of income I’ve built over time. These are my streams of income that I’ve built up over the past couple of years, and each one pays me at least a couple thousand dollars each month in semi to entirely passive income.

Why Passive Income is Important

Since they worked for me, they can work for you too. Now, before you go skipping through and looking at each idea, there’s a reason why I think having passive income online is so important. In August of 2019, I ended up quitting my full-time job before I could make any money online. I felt like I had to cut ties and never look back. This ended up being the best decision that I’ve ever made. But that doesn’t mean it’s a responsible decision for you.

A much more logical conclusion would be to start a side hustle and ease out of my full-time job. Once the income from the side hustle allows it, instead of taking a crazy leap of faith, having just one income stream will enable you to make your own decisions without risking everything. Nevertheless, these seven streams of income have allowed me to take my income into my own hands.

Earn far more than I could at any job with any education level my age. I don’t have to work a job. I hate that I don’t have to rely on an employer for money or pay raises, and I have location freedom, so I can work from anywhere in the world, even though I end up sitting at my desk most of the time. So here’s what worked for me and how you can do the same.

1- Digital Products

The first online income source that worked for me is the first one I recommend to beginners: selling digital products. This was the first ever income I made that gave me the confidence to feel like I could make some money online. A digital product could be an ebook, a course, an application, a guide, a checklist graphic art template, or anything you can use digitally. Then you have to post it for sale and get people online to find the product and think it’s valuable enough to buy.

There seems to be a misconception that you need a big following or a brand-new idea to sell digital products, but that’s not true. I started by making real estate resources, guides for first-time home buyers, and checklists. This made sense to me since I had gotten my real estate license instead of going to college and because I noticed they were already selling on Etsy. The digital product doesn’t need to be a complex notion template or a hand-painted masterpiece.

You take a little bit of what’s already working. Add some sauce to it and list it for sale. So, without any graphic design experience, I opened up Canva and started putting together these guides and checklists. I made my first six digital products and listed them for sale on Etsy, and a few days later, I got my first sale for five dollars and 21 cents. What stuck out to me was that I chose to sell on Etsy. I didn’t have to do any marketing or any advertising.

All I had to do was post the products for sale, even though this was a tiny amount of money. I followed my intuition and made various digital products, such as digital map prints, which people could download and get printed themselves pre-made maps, which sold passively downloadable graphics checklists, and so on. After sticking with it, I got my digital products to make a decent monthly income.

Nowadays, you can even use AI tools to help you make certain products. This is the easiest for beginners because there’s no marketing to figure out, and there’s no order fulfillment. All you have to do is make the product and post it for sale, and Etsy handles the rest. We’ve no upfront costs.

2- Print-On-Demand

I still get paid to this day for digital products that I made and posted for sale back in 2020. Still, once I had successfully sold digital products, I decided to apply my newfound design skills to the world of print-on-demand, a business model. When you work with a supplier who offers blank white-label products, you’ll upload a design and then list it for sale online whenever a customer buys it. It’s then printed out and shipped directly to the customer without you ever having to touch it.

All you’re doing is making the design and applying it to the product, and the print-on-demand company handles everything else. Since I was already designing and selling digital products, I figured I could take some of those designs and repurpose them into physical products, like a mug. I would take one of the ideas I was already making, upload it to the mug, and post it for sale on Etsy. This was my first six-figure business idea.

Once I understood how all this worked, selling print-on-demand mugs was easier than digital products because the mug itself has more value since customers are getting a physical product. I slowly built up a catalog with hundreds of mugs with funny sayings, map designs, and anything else I could think of that would sell passively every day. I was running a one-product shop with the designs, all targeting different interests.

Nowadays, with AI, you can make entire wraparound designs for mugs entirely from scratch without any previous design skill whatsoever if you can slowly, over time, create many designs for a single product and keep posting them for sale. Eventually, you will make sales while it evolves. I still sell mugs, and it’s another income source I’m happy to build out.

3- Posters

After the mug business started to take off and I made a good income, I wanted to expand my operation by opening a new store. This time, I sold posters again, using the print-on-demand business model. This time, all I would have to do is make some artwork or design for the poster posted for sale and wait for customers to buy, repurposing as many designs as possible from my mug shop.

I discovered that posters can be sold as digital downloads and physical print-on-demand prints. This meant that from my one self-taught skill set. I built three different streams of income. I had a shop selling digital products and a shop selling mugs. Now, it is a poster business that sells funny sayings, custom apps, and public-domain art.

This diversified my income. So, when my mugs didn’t sell as much, my digital products and posters continued selling, keeping my income consistent since everything, besides the custom orders, was fulfilled. Automatically running multiple shops is no more complicated than running one.

4- T-Shirts

Now, at this point, I was making an excellent income online for a 20-year-old. I thought it would be a good idea to expand my operation again by selling T-shirts, supposedly one of the most competitive products on the market. But that means it’s among the best selling within the first three months. After starting, I managed to match what I was making in my other three shops with just my t-shirt business alone, which was over 10 thousand dollars a month.

Again, I followed the same process using funny sayings, graphics, and repurposed designs that I could upload onto print-on-demand t-shirts and then list for sale on Etsy. The more designs I made, the more my income grew. This was the first time in my life that I felt like I had any money. T-shirts also became the most accessible product to make designs for because there are so many successful shops from which to learn.

So, after just a few months, I went from never making a design to owning four businesses that generated income daily. The good thing about these side hustles is that you need nothing besides a computer and an internet connection to get started. You open up your laptop and sell it from anywhere in the world for free.

5- Social Media Content

My next stream of income started within the past year, and that was by making social media content. My whole approach to social media is to share things I know and learn entertainingly so that they’re digestible for anyone to watch. There are many ways you could approach making content and growing an online following, But for me, it’s all about providing value. I see value in insights entertainment or any blend of the two. From my observation, you can have boring videos that do well.

If you have a lot of insight value to offer, or you could be on the other side of the spectrum, equally as successful in providing pure entertainment, finding your place depends on how you fill the need for authenticity and transparency. The mental barrier to entry is the only thing standing between you and a social media business. The difficulty is overcoming the mental barrier and fearing the judgment and criticism you might get.

A content business opens up a lot of income streams that you wouldn’t usually have access to, mostly with ad revenue sponsorships or selling products without diving into exactly how all of these work. Since it’s relatively obvious, the creators can make good money. The main thing to remember is that you have to put the audience first, and then the money will come. Of course, you are monetizing with sponsors and courses. It is going to keep you going and growing your operation.

For example, I have a six-figure storefront course, which teaches everything I know about growing an online business from scratch. Like the ones I’ve built, the course is as detailed as possible and provides much more insight than I can share on YouTube. When people buy a product, they are more likely to make it work than just trying to piece together YouTube videos. Since my students can use the material to make back their money, it’s a win-win for everyone involved.

If you don’t monetize, someone else will. As long as it provides value to both parties, it’s that positive. I think that a lot of people would enjoy making content. It’s just that initial hurdle of getting over your fear that holds many people back. Since people only care about themselves. Overall, creating content is such a profitable income vehicle. I don’t see why you’d leave it off the table if you’re serious about making money online.

6- Affiliate Marketing

Income stream number six is my favorite right now: affiliate marketing. It’s like being a referral for a product or service and collecting a commission from someone you refer buys. I can share an Amazon affiliate link if someone wants to know what laptop I use to write articles. When they buy it, there’s no additional cost to the buyer, and I collect a commission. Affiliate marketing becomes more profitable by having more people see and click your links, but you can start at any point.

When I started, I only made maybe 200 a month from Amazon. Now, I’m on track to making six figures from it this year. If you’re growing a personal brand, this will be the easiest way to promote affiliate links. But you can also build faceless websites and blog posts or post content to Instagram and Pinterest to get people to see and click your links. There are so many different affiliate programs. There, pretty much, no matter what interests you have, there’s an affiliate deal for you.

You have to find the deal and devise a clever way to get people to sign up after clicking your link. For example, if you wanted to start a print-on-demand shop, when you sign up for Printify using my link, it gets trapped, and you start making sales and ordering products through Printify. I can keep a small percentage of the printing profit as a commission. Again, it’s a win-win-win. Because when I teach something that works and gets results, you, the viewer, start making money.

Printify gets new business, and I also get a small kickback for putting it all together. There’s no additional charge for the person signing up using the link. As I said, this is one of my favorites because it allows me to see that what I teach works for my readers. Regarding income, it’s almost as passive as it can get.

7- Credit Card Bonuses

The following income stream I’ve used for several years now, even before I had my businesses, is using credit card bonuses by signing up and using specific credit cards. I can unlock many cool tax-free bonuses by using that credit card to buy things I already buy. I use credit cards to make passive income by using specific cards to make particular purchases. So, for example, I’ll use the PayPal credit card for all of my print-on-demand product purchases, and when I spend money fulfilling orders, I get three percent cash back.

So this year, I think I made over 15,000 dollars in cash back. Well, that’s not a ton. It’s enough to make using the credit card worth it. I can use my Chase card on all my grocery purchases. Then, I can use those points to redeem towards travel or some new Apple products for this to work. You don’t have to spend much money to get good rewards. You must use the card whenever you spend money on a category that pays off. Each card has different types of rewards. Of course, don’t go into credit card debt.

Bonus Tip for How to Create Multiple Streams of Income in Your 20s

Now, that leads me to a bonus tip on how to create multiple streams of income in your 20s: don’t go after various income streams. One of the only reasons I could build up my income is because I focus on one thing at a time. Even though it probably sounds like I grew all of these businesses at the same time. I was locked in and focused on increasing one at a time. I wouldn’t have been as successful had I split my focus. I also think it’s essential to start from the perspective of starting a side hustle.

Then, slowly, over time, it transitioned into an entire business. That makes a good income. instead of just jumping into the deep end. You can quickly start something on the side and work to the point where it can replace your full-time income. Remember, you’ll only fail if you give up ultimately. Otherwise, the obstacles you encounter are just bumps in the road on your path to success.

I hope you will learn something from today’s article, and if you want to start a business and don’t know how to start or do not have any experience, you should read our article with the title I Want to Start A Business But Don’t Know What – Best Businesses to Start in 2024.