Buying expired domains isn't a get rich quick scheme unless you stumble upon a domain that is the next big thing. Most of the time it requires work that may take months or years of effort to build until it becomes profitable. But you have to start somewhere in order to get somewhere, and starting with a cheap domain name and some of these ideas down below could be the start of a lucrative business venture.
Affiliate Links
Affiliate links are partnerships with other companies or brands, where if you promote their product, you get a share of the profit if someone makes a purchase though your link. An example of this is down below and in my affiliate links section at the bottom of the page:
Clicking this link will take you to the NameCheap Auctions site link, if you purchase a domain I'll get a small commission from the purchase.
Many big name brands have affiliate programs, these affiliate programs can consist of a link to a website, limited time offer coupon codes as well as banner and branding ads. Marketing also plays a big factor in affiliate links as the more people click on your link, the more income you can earn.
Domain Flipping
Another avenue of income is domain flipping, where you try to buy a desirable domain and sell it for more money than you bought it for (remember to factor hosting costs into your sale price as well). You can also buy a domain on one registar and transfer the domain to another registrar to sell, but be aware that the sale price of a domain is usually set as a fixed price and not as auction style bidding.
Brand Creation
Brand creation as income is probably one of the hardest recommendations in this article. You've bought the domain, but now you need to flesh out the idea with planning and building a website, and then try to convince people through SEO and social media marketing, that your idea is worth giving a damn about. Sometimes you hit on a fad that goes viral, your popularity skyrockets and everyone is over at your house partying it up. Then, the next new thing comes along and everyone suddenly needs to go home because they think they left the stove on. In reality, they've gone to next new thing's house, and your once profitable website is now barely making cents. Of course it doesn't always soar and then crash down to Earth, some ideas have the potential to generate steady and slowly increasing income over time. This mainly applies to the realm of ecommerce where you can establish and manage an online store. If your store is successful, you can build monthly sales revenue and eventually sell the established business for a nice profit when you want to move on to other things.
Selling Advertising space
Selling advertising space on your website was once a viable passive income option, advertisers would pay you a small amount per click. Unfortunately this tactic has mostly been made obsolete with the rise of ad blockers. If you don't want to develop your domain, you can list it as a parking page. A parking page is where advertisers display their services on your domain's landing page and you get a cut of the ad revenue when someone clicks on an ad.