If you’re tired of the 9-5 rat race and looking for the best way to make money online, then we’ve got good news. 

We’ve been researching the industry thoroughly and came up with a list of the best income stream ideas for starting an online business this 2023.

If that sounds like something you’d like to know more about, read on!

How we sourced our top income stream ideas

To find out which are the best income stream ideas for this year, we used our experience and knowledge of the online business industry to examine 20 different websites, including industry-recognized blogs and user review sites. 

The following 5 income stream ideas were chosen based on their popularity and demand, as well as the amount of money they can generate for those who implement them successfully.

Below you’ll find the results, plus a detailed breakdown of each income stream’s idea highlights and our overall impressions. 

The best part about this list is that it offers all kinds of solutions for every type of person. 

Whether you’re a student looking for a way to make some extra cash or a parent in need of a secondary income, there’s an option here for you.

We hope you find these ideas helpful — we certainly did when we were creating this list!

Top 5 income stream ideas for 2023

1.Lead generation

Lead generation is one of the most popular income streams for a reason: It’s one of the most lucrative and stable forms of passive income. 

In fact, lead generation has grown into a $20 billion market in the US alone, according to Marketo.

It’s also one of the easiest ways to start making money online.

But, what is it?

Lead generation is a process of generating leads, or potential customers. 

Generating leads is important for companies because it’s one of the most cost-effective ways to grow revenue — especially in today’s world of digital marketing where search engines and social media provide free access to millions of potential customers at any time.

So, you can sell lead lists, rent out your email list and sell ad spots on your website. All the while, you’ll be building up your own database of leads that you can use to earn money from in the future.

Here you have a step-by-step guide to make money with lead generation. 

Earning potential

$800 to $10,000 per month, or more. How much you can make depends on how many leads you can generate and how effective you are at selling those leads to companies.

What it takes to get started

This is a great side hustle for anyone with an interest in sales, marketing or business development. You don’t need any special skills or expertise — just a willingness to learn and the ability to follow through on your commitments.

We highly recommend you to try a coaching program first, before going all-in with this business model. 

This will help you get the clear roadmap, resources and mentorship you need to get started with the right foot. 

Check our top recommendation here. 

Pros

• It doesn’t require any previous experience or technical skills.
• It can be automated and scaled over time, so there’s a huge opportunity to turn this into a passive income stream
• You can make money with very little capital invested as well. You just need to pay for some basic things like domain hosting and email marketing software, but you don’t have to spend a lot on inventory or shipping costs that many businesses do when they first start out.

Cons

• The biggest “con” is that it takes time and effort to build an effective lead generation system from scratch. It can take months before you start seeing any return on your initial investment.

Best for

People who like sales and want the freedom of working from home.

2.Dropshipping

Dropshipping is one of the most popular ways to make money online. It’s also a great way to get started in ecommerce with little to no money. 

Let me explain how it works:

In dropshipping, you don’t actually own any inventory. Instead, you act as the middleman between a supplier and a customer. 

You buy products from the supplier for less than what you sell them for, add your own markup and then ship them to customers.

The best part is that there are no upfront costs or risks involved in this business model because you don’t have any inventory to store or ship. 

All you need is an internet connection and some basic computer skills — plus a website where people can buy your products!

Earning potential

The dropshipping earning potential can range from $400 per month up to $10,000 per month depending on what niche you go into and how much effort you put into it.

What it takes to get started

You simply create a website to sell products and then dropship them directly from the manufacturer.

If you’re interested in learning more about dropshipping and how it can help your business grow, read this guide. On it, we discuss what you need to do in order to start your dropshipping business plus some tips for getting off on the right foot.

Pros

• Dropshippers don’t have to worry about logistics or managing inventory — which makes starting an online store easier than ever before!
• You don’t need any experience running an online business either – all you need is good research skills and some basic knowledge about marketing and advertising online

Cons

• It might take several months before you see any real results from your efforts, making it difficult to measure ROI early on.
• It takes time to find good products and learn how to market them effectively on Shopify. This can be difficult if you don’t have much experience with dropshipping platforms like Oberlo or Skubana.

Best for

People who want to make money with no high upfront cost. It’s also a great business model for people who are new to ecommerce, don’t have a lot of capital and want to try out multiple products before picking one to focus on.

3.Amazon FBA

If you are an entrepreneur and looking to start a business, Amazon FBA is one of the most popular business ideas to start with. The reason is simple: it is easy, cheap and scalable.

Amazon FBA makes it possible for anyone to sell products on Amazon, whether they know anything about e-commerce or not.

The only requirement is that you have to source your products from China or other countries and send them to Amazon warehouses in the US, Canada and Europe where they will be stored until they are sold. 

Once they are sold, Amazon will handle all shipping logistics and customer service from start to finish.

Earning potential

You get paid a percentage of the sale price (usually around 15% to 20%), but depending on how well your business performs, you can get anywhere from $500-$10,000 per month.

What it takes to get started

The main thing you need to get started with Amazon FBA is an account with Amazon Seller Central and a good supplier, who can provide you with products that sell well on Amazon.

Once you have those two things, it’s just a matter of listing your products on Amazon and waiting for sales to come in.

For a more detailed overview of the process of starting an Amazon FBA business, check out our Amazon FBA guide for beginners.

Pros

• You don’t need any inventory or storage space.
• You don’t need to hire employees (unless you want to).
• You can use your existing supplier relationships or connect with new ones through Amazon’s marketplace (which makes it easy for them to sell on Amazon too).

Cons

• You need some capital to invest upfront
• You’ll need to learn how to find products that are in demand and will sell at a profit

Best for

It’s a great option for people who don’t have any knowledge of selling online or ecommerce. Amazon has everything set up for you, so all you need to do is add your products and ship them out when orders come in.

4.Investing/Crypto 

Investing is one of the most common ways of creating an income stream in 2022. 

Similarly, cryptocurrencies are also gaining popularity among investors who want to create an income stream in 2022 as well as other generations who are looking for alternative investments outside traditional assets like stocks and bonds that offer a fixed return on investment (ROI).

Earning potential

With this time of income stream, the earning potential is pretty unpredictable. But if you play your cards right, they could earn you millions of dollars over time.

What it takes to get started

There are many ways you can make money through investing in cryptocurrencies. 

For example, you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum through online exchanges like Coinbase and Binance. 

When you buy cryptocurrencies, they increase in value over time, just as stocks do. If you sell them before they reach their peak value, then you could make some money right away. 

If you’re interested, you can check this guide on trading with cryptos for newbies.

Pros

• Cryptocurrencies are easy to buy and sell.
• You can invest even small amounts (like $100).
• No need to open a bank account or get a credit card.
• Crypto transactions are anonymous, so you don’t have to disclose your real name, address or financial history when buying them.

Cons

• It’s a volatile market and it’s easy to lose money
• Lack of regulation

Best for

There are plenty of ways to make money online without having any experience or skill with computers or technology — just check out this list of side hustles! 

But investing in crypto is not one of them — it requires a lot more expertise than other ways of making money online because you have to understand how the market works and have good instincts about when it’s time to buy or sell something. 

If you don’t have these skills already, then spend some time learning them first. 

5.Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is another popular method for earning money online because it’s so easy to get started with little or no startup costs required aside from your time and effort — once again, it just takes a bit of hustle on your part. 

You can make money through commissions on products sold through your links. Commission rates vary depending on the merchant and product category, but they usually range between 5% and 50%.

Earning potential

The average affiliate marketer makes $5,000/month, but some earn as much as $60,000/month.

What it takes to get started

It’s relatively easy to get started with affiliate marketing. You just need a website (or blog) and an audience (ideally, thousands of email subscribers). 

Once those are in place, you can sign up for an affiliate network like ClickBank and start promoting products from a wide variety of vendors across multiple verticals. 

The only real requirement is that you must sell something people want to buy.

We’ve written a whole step-by-step guide on starting your affiliate marketing business –check it here!

Pros

• Affiliate marketing can be used as a full-time business or as a side income stream that supplements your main source of income.
• It’s easy to get started and very low-risk because you don’t need any startup capital or inventory

Cons

• It’s hard to find products that are proven to convert well into sales; this means that you will have to invest time in researching and testing different products before starting promoting them online
• Affiliate marketing takes time, effort and patience before reaching the first payout point (when your commissions exceed what was invested). There are no shortcuts here.
• High competition from other affiliates and brands

Best for

Anyone who has an audience they can convert into customers (or sales leads). This includes bloggers

Bottom Line – Which income stream should you choose?

The key to choosing an income stream is to make sure that it’s something you can get excited about, and that it will provide enough money for you to achieve your financial goals.

There are lots of ways to make money online, but not all of them are right for everyone. Take some time to think about your skills and interests, what you want out of life, and how much time you want to put into earning an income. 

You can then use any of our guides as a starting point in your search for the perfect online job.