How I Started Making Passive Income Online With Almost No Money

I remember when I first came across the idea of making passive income online; I was looking for some legit ways that required no upfront investment.

That’s when I started a free blog on BlogSpot and began creating content.

But it failed, mainly because I was a total beginner and knew nothing about blogging and SEO.

Then I learned about PTC (Pay-to-Click) sites, joined a ton at once, and ended up making no money.

I was doing all this while having a 9–5 job, and like many people, I wanted to quit that to have the freedom of both time and money.

Long story short, after back-to-back failures, I finally found something that worked for me.

In this post, I will share how I started building my first passive income stream and then a couple of others.

My Turning Point (What Made Me Start)

I still remember it was April of 2016 when I came across the idea of creating and selling eBooks on Amazon via their Kindle Direct Publishing platform.

I also enrolled in a course by Stephen James (I rerolled a trial that cost around $7 for one week). I followed the course and created and published a couple of eBooks.

My eBooks started selling, and began making some money.

Fast forward to April 2017, I purchased a $10 eBook (can’t remember the exact title) about creating and selling medium content books on Amazon.

But this time, I was not creating eBooks; I was creating and publishing paperback books via CreateSpace.

I made my very first royalties during June/July 2017; it was a tiny amount of $1.44. The next month, I made around $13.

That was a turning point for me. I finally found something that worked for me, and I kept working on it.

I created almost 10 writing prompt journals and some coloring books and was making around $100 to $200 per month after 3 to 6 months.

At the time of writing, I still create and publish books on Amazon KDP and earn a decent passive income.

Here, I want to mention that as I was a beginner, my early books were not that great. They had spelling and grammar issues and just okay book covers.

But I kept learning and improving my design skills, which helped increase my income over time.

I also learned that creating a few high-quality books is far better than creating hundreds of journals, notebooks, or sketchbooks.

So, now I only create one book every two or three months. This is also because I have a couple of other side hustles too.

What Other Side Hustles I Have

Along with self-publishing books on Amazon, I also started promoting affiliate products.

These include KDP tools, book interiors, and other resources I use to start and scale my self-publishing side hustle.

In addition to these, I also create and sell digital products on Gumroad, which too makes me passive income every month.

Side hustles that didn’t work well for me include selling t-shirts on Amazon, printables on Etsy, and a couple of others.

These ideas didn’t work for me, mainly because I didn’t give much time and effort to them.

Now let’s talk about my passive income workflow.

My Passive Income Workflow

My passive income workflow is very simple; you can copy this, tweak it, and make it work for yourself.

It goes something like this:

1. Find an interest: I had an interest in writing and design. That’s why designing book interiors and covers appealed to me. You can make a list of your interests and pick the one that you love the most.
2. Learn or improve a skill: Once you pick an interest, you can turn this into a skill. It works well if you already have some experience with it. In my case, I had some experience with design and writing content. I just improved it over time.
3. Pick your main platform: I first started with CreateSpace, which later on got merged with KDP. For affiliate marketing, I picked YouTube. Just like me, you can pick one platform. I love writing, so Medium is the best platform for you.
4. Start small projects: This is where many beginners fail. They start multiple income streams at once and end up quitting everything. To avoid that, pick a passive income idea and focus on it for at least 3 to 6 months.
5. Expand later: Once you start making money with the first side hustle, you can add a second one and then a third, and so on…

Passive Income Ideas You Can Start With No Money

Now let’s talk about some passive income ideas you can start with little to no money, like I did.

#1 — Start a YouTube Channel (Faceless or Tutorial-Based)

I kept this on top of the list because it’s something that helped me build other passive income streams. It helped me with affiliate marketing and digital product selling.

You don’t need to show your face; all you need is a laptop or cell phone and a microphone. You can do screen recordings, do basic editing and upload on YouTube.

#2 — Create and Sell Digital Products

This is one of my favorite side hustles. The best part is, it costs you nothing. You can get started for free on Gumroad.

Start with a very simple product to learn the process; later on, you can add more complex products.

#3 — Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is another very good passive income idea that worked and can work for you too. You can get started for free with a YouTube channel or you can set up a free blog using Google Sites or Canva sites.

Start simple, join one or two affiliate programs, and create helpful content in the form of videos or blog posts.

# 4 — Sell Edu Printables on TPT

I have been doing this part-time. I was not consistent, yet I get 5+ sales almost every month.

Teachers Pay Teachers is a very popular platform where teachers and parents purchase educational printables, including activity books, lesson plans, workbooks, and a lot more.

You can use the free version of Canva to create helpful educational printables and sell them on TPT.

#5 — Self-Publish Books

I love creating and selling books on KDP. This is something that I have the most experience with. But it’s not for everyone; it requires more time, effort, and skills compared to other methods.

With that said, it can work for you too, and you can start this with little to no upfront money. However, you need to spend more time finding book ideas and creating actual books.

Just pick one idea that appeals to you and aligns with your skill level, and do it for a longer period of time. Remember, these are not get-rich-quick schemes by any means.

Almost all passive income ideas require you to front-load a lot of work to see any meaningful results.

The Lessons I Learned

I learned a lot while starting and scaling my online side hustles; here are some of the biggest lessons:

1. I learned that there is no push-button system that can make quick cash. Rather, it’s a process that involves adding value to the marketplace and getting paid.
2. I learned that money is a tool for transferring value and so you should focus more on delivering value and think less about making money.
3. I learned that starting too many things at once is one of the biggest mistakes. It not only slows down your growth but also leads to burnout.
4. I also learned that relying on one stream can be a mistake. What I mean is that you should build one passive income stream; when it starts making decent money, start another very closely related idea. In this way, you will be diversifying your online income and creating a backup.
5. And here is the big one: passive income is not 100% passive. Rather, you need to maintain it on a regular basis; otherwise, it dies off over time.

Final Thoughts

Passive income is all about focus, patience, and consistency. You can learn something that interests you, turn it into a skill, and monetize it.

For example, if writing is your thing, learn to be a good writer and start writing. Your skill will keep improving with every piece of content you write.

Once you learn and master a skill, you can monetize it in many ways.

Just start today!

I hope you loved reading this post 🙂

Talk soon,

Subha