
Write for Content Sites
Many content sites offer performance-based or revenue share payments. This could be on top of an upfront payment or might be the only source of pay. Once a piece of content is published on that site, as long as it exists and the program is in place, that content can continue to earn money. This means that you do the work once and keep earning. If you focus on evergreen content, you have a greater chance of earning residuals for a lengthy amount of time.
Build a Blog and Post Often
Much like writing for content sites, you can also use blogs to build residual income. Place ads on the blog to earn profits. Linking from your blog posts to the articles you write for content sites can help you earn more in both places. Keep posting your original content regularly for the best results. Some choose to re-post articles they've written and still have rights to on their blogs. This can bring in some ad revenue. However, writing original posts and linking to those articles on the content sites can be more profitable.
Write for Other People's Blogs and/or Sites
Some sites or networks (like Write W.A.V.E. Media) have blogs or article categories they allow guests or members to post on. Benefits usually include linking back to your existing work or a byline. This is beneficial for drawing attention to your other writing that may earn from views. Some sites (such as ours) may also have earning options, like ad revenue or flat payments.
Use Article Marketing
Article marketing can also help increase residual income. Write articles and share them in one or more locations. The byline in the articles should link back to a central location (like your website or your profile on a content site) where readers can find more of your work. When allowed, you can also link back to other articles of yours within the article text. Blogging is one form of article marketing. But you can also share articles on more popular sites, using marketing techniques. When participating in article marketing, be sure to follow the terms and guidelines properly at each site. Getting banned for marketing improperly is not a good idea and can ruin your writing reputation.
Create Niche Blogs
Rather than having one blog for everything, try creating several niche blogs. For instance, if you know a great deal about exhaust fans, create a blog about them. Write about where to buy them, review various models, write about how they work, and more. If you also write articles for content sites, don't forget to write some on this topic. Link to them from the blog posts. Do the same for several blogs and several topics. Don't forget to put ads on your blogs to build that residual income. Niche blogs can get more attention from the search engines because everything on the page is relevant to the topic. If you post regularly, this shows the search engines that your blog is active. Activity combined with relevancy tells search engines your blog is the place to go for a specific topic.
Create Niche Sites
Much like niche blogs, niche websites also can be great for building residual income. With a website, you have even more versatility than a blog. It's also recommended to add a blog to your website to draw traffic and show that content is updated regularly. Here again, you'll need to display ads and link to any relevant content you have on the subject elsewhere on the web.
Use Social Media and Networking to Increase Exposure
Social media and networking help to spread the word about your content. Be it your website, blog, or article, you need to get it noticed. Good SEO can do the trick. But well-optimized content does even better when promoted through social media and networking. This helps to get your content out there and it also helps increase exposure to your name - your brand. The more places that people know you for your specific type of content, the better.
Use RSS to Increase Exposure
A large part of making money with evergreen web content is ensuring people know it's there. Custom RSS feeds are an excellent way to do that. Many content sites provide writers with an RSS feed of their content. You can also create RSS feeds on your own site. Blogs are naturally equipped with RSS. Submit your RSS feeds to directories (submit to each one only once) and also place them on your sites and blogs so people can subscribe. Some services, like NewsGator allow people to email content directly from a feed widget. All of this increases the exposure to your content by outside parties, which helps to build residuals.
*I originally published a version of this via Yahoo Contributor Network