People seriously working from home are usually freelancers. Web designers, writers, computer programmers, and linguists are just some of the professions that are filled by freelancers. And these people typically work from home because the cost of office space cannot be justified. However, in order for a freelancer working from home to earn any sort of reasonable income, they must have multiple revenue sources. But just how much work can one person do? At some point, the law of diminishing returns will overtake a freelancer in terms of just how much work can be done in a reasonable timeframe. The law of diminishing returns basically says that by a freelancer taking on more work it does not necessarily mean that the same person will be able to complete that work. This is why a person working from home needs some passive income where direct labor on the freelancer's part is not required but it provides a steady revenue stream. True residual income will allow you to make money 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. It does not require constant monitoring by you. There may be a little work getting everything set up initially but after that it should run on its own requiring some periodic maintenance and of course oversight of the billing and invoicing.

If you know a little about computer and web technology, you can become a web hosting reseller. A web hosting reseller buys a block of web hosting space and then sells a portion of it to customers looking to host their websites. You, in a sense, become a web hosting company yourself. You can charge what you need to in order to make a profit and you handle the billing and invoicing to your clients. The hosting company you buy the space from is, in a sense, selling you the space at wholesale and you are retailing it. You'll need to identify the level of customer support you will need to provide. Be careful because you may not have the resources to provide a good level of customer support if you are too busy. Some providers of reselling plans such as Godaddy.com will actually do the billing and customer support for you.

If you are good with software and have some products in your library, you can sell those from your web site. If you do this, you are going to need to have a way for your customers to pay for the software the download. If you offer trial software with a predetermined trial period then you will need to also have a web portal for customers to upgrade and pay for a fully-licensed copy. What you will need to do is get a credit card merchant account so that you can accept credit cards online in order to purchase software products.

Another way to make passive income is through affiliate programs. These programs offer you a commission for paid subscriptions to their services. These services can be web hosting services, website builder services, online support services, and freelancer services. One particularly interesting service is that of the build-your-own-website service. And there are companies who offer you a commission for each new member who signs up. That is passive income because you really do nothing but just point people in the direction they are looking for. Many small businesses want a web presence but could not even afford to hire a web developer.

So the internet has created many opportunities for passive income. Of course you need to follow the usual safety practices and not get linked up with companies who are not legitimate. And of course never pay money to someone to be in their affiliate program. Remember, you are doing a service for them.