Are you familiar with the concept of “residual income?” Today, many people are used to receiving money through a linear type of income, where direct payment is paid once for the time put in or for overall job performance.

To be paid by the hour or receive a salary is what is known a linear income. Residual income is derived from accrued earnings from a down-line or from repeat payments from a previous sale such as an insurance policy sold by an insurance agent, or when a recording artist receives income from a recording that was done 10 years ago. It keeps coming in month after month, and year after year for work you do just one time.

While most people will not make a ton of money through residual income, this is not the main purpose. Residual income is that extra bit of money that you keep getting, which allows you to stay focused on other projects. Another plus regarding residual income is that it continues to come in - all on its own. It isn’t necessary to perform any maintenance or expend any additional effort because all of the work is already complete.

There are a number of different ways to make a residual income online. Some people publish creative works through online publishers, and receive a small percentage of the cover price every time a product is sold.

Others create informational products, like ebooks, set up a marketing method for them, and wait for people to buy their product. Since the book’s already been written, and the sales method created, the money generated by sales is residual income, free of any need to keep working on that project.

Another way of making a residual income online is a membership program. You’ll receive residual income for recommending other people to the program, and performing jobs like reading email, clicking links, and visiting ad pages. Like most forms of residual income, you won’t get rich quick. However, you can add a little more padding to your pocket for small luxuries.

Internet marketing service providers such as Web Space and Helpful Tools frequently ask for assistance in marketing their services. So if you sell their product to a customer, and that customer continues with the service beyond the original sale, then you will be earning a commission from the original sale and residual income for each month they continue service.

There are numerous ways of creating residual income using the Internet and a multitude of affiliate programs to help you to this end. Learn more by doing online research, you can gain knowledge and insight of the opportunities available by reading articles, blogs and marketing sites. Online residual income is a good way of creating an additional income that can provide you with the extra that you need.