With all the programs available to make money under someone else’s tutelage, there is no reason to believe you cannot find a residual income program that can add to your financial resources.

Of all the residual income programs, probably the easiest and cheapest to become involved in are affiliate-marketing programs. You simply add a link to a company’s website and if someone clicks on that link and makes a purchase, you receive a small percentage of the sale amount. If you already have a website, half the work is already done.

Most websites who use affiliate programs will supply text or graphical links to them that typically you can simply cut and paste into your webpage, at a place you want them to appear. Once that is done you can simply sit back and wait for the checks to roll in.

However, one site may not be enough to improve your stature in the financial world, and probably will not generate enough income to achieve the financial freedom you are looking for. However, there is usually no limit to the number of businesses with which you can become affiliated. In choosing affiliate programs, it is wise to select those that promise the best potential for sales.

The affiliate links on your site should also have some relevance to the page on your site on which they appear. For example, if your site mainly sells automotive parts and service, odds are you will not see too many referrals to a cosmetic site or food site. Choose carefully for reputable sites as well.

There are even a few companies that serve as intermediaries between retailers seeking affiliates and the affiliates. They will allow you to sign up for programs, obtain appropriate links to the retailers’ sites and even track the sales for you. When your commissions reach a preset level they will even handle sending you your check.

This is one residual income program with which you have considerable control over which company you help to promote. With many of the free websites on the market today, in addition to the links you may add for affiliate programs, typically, they maintain control over certain advertising that will appear on your site. They may even offer opportunities for you to give away free sites that will bring income to them.

Whether it is simply a link to the provider of the free site, or to other advertisers, they usually tell you upfront that advertising is going to be part of your site. Some of that advertising may not be within the realm of your content and some may even be disagreeable to you, personally. Before you sign up to being a residual income program, investigate the offering to ensure it complies with the values established for you and your site.

Another residual income opportunity that is not directly tied to the internet would be to sell a manuscript. For all of the writers out there, creating any type of manuscript or screenplay and selling the rights to it is a manner of generating residual income. The initial effort, writing the manuscript, has been expended and will continually generate residual income for you--the royalties or dividends you receive from the sale or use of your work.

Real Estate is probably one of the most popular residual income opportunities out there. If you purchase property intending to rent it out, you are generating a steady stream of guaranteed residual income. After you have purchased the property and someone is leasing it out, the rent you collect each month is considered residual income. It does not require that you be actively involved in creating the income outside of normal duties attributed to a land lord in any other situation.

If you are active in stocks and bonds, the interest and dividends you receive from them are considered a form of residual income. It’s not always guaranteed and it is not always dependable, but the dividends that are paid to a stock holder or an account holder is income that is generated after the initial effort, which was purchasing the stock or the bond, has already been completed.

Honest residual income opportunities are not always 100 percent dependable and if you are looking to generate a flow of residual income, you will probably have to do a little bit of research. Different things work for different people but for those who are dedicated enough to doing something to improving their financial situation there are plenty of residual income opportunities that will pay off for you.