If you don’t already have money, property, or a bunch of investments, you can’t just snap your fingers and start collecting rent checks or stock dividends. The game is rigged that way. Most “passive income” requires an *initial investment*. And when you’re broke, your investment is usually *time*, *skills*, and *creativity*.
So let’s talk about realistic ways to build passive income from the ground up — starting with *nothing but hustle and a phone*.
**1. Create digital content.**
I know, I know — easier said than done. But here’s the thing: you can make YouTube videos, eBooks, online courses, or digital art that sells over and over again. The hard part is in the beginning — the setup, the learning, the patience. But once it’s out there, it can earn you money for years.
**2. Affiliate marketing.**
If you’ve got social media, a blog, or even a small audience, you can promote products you actually use and earn a small commission. You don’t have to buy anything — just talk about what works for you.
**3. Sell print-on-demand items.**
Sites like Redbubble, Teespring, or Etsy let you upload a design or slogan and they handle the printing, shipping, and payments. You make a few dollars every time someone buys something — and you never touch the product.
**4. Write or record what you know.**
Maybe you’ve lived through something — a skill, a story, or just some good old-fashioned wisdom. Turn that into a guide, a blog, or a short book. Amazon Kindle and YouTube are wide open for that.
**5. Invest small, think long.**
Even if you can only afford $10 a week, there are apps that let you invest tiny amounts. It’s not going to make you rich overnight, but it’s a start. It’s *your* seed money for future passive income.
Look, passive income when you’re poor isn’t about quick cash. It’s about building something — slowly — that keeps paying you back later. It’s planting a tree even if you can’t sit in the shade just yet.
So yeah, passive income might *start* as active income — you working your tail off, learning, experimenting, failing, and trying again. But every video, every design, every idea you put out there can turn into a small stream. And a bunch of small streams? That’s a river.
Because even if the system wasn’t built for us — we can still build *our own* version of passive income. One idea at a time.
Don’t wait for “extra money” to start. Use what you’ve got — your voice, your story, your time — and turn it into something that works while you rest.
Income for poor people Dawn you need to reword this. It’s just not right I think people will come after this.
My son donates plasma twice a week for extra cash. My sister and my daughter used to clean houses for extra cash.☮
These are actually great ideas! We rent out our RV. and have considered renting out a room.
Know a guy at work, makes decent money there, but he is 55, and does not have a pot to piss in. He said, I wrote a book Bill. Ok, I said, bring a copy to work. Took him months before I got a copy to read, it was quite good. Every time, I see him he goes on about it being listed on Amazon and eventually it will take off. It hasn't. It has been months now. As workmates, we all tell him you got to do this and that. Promote It! He has about ten copies and almost had to twist his arm off to buy one off him!
He still has another nine copies unsold. I believe in leg work. I was self-employed for twelve years. When I started, we were only doing 500, 000 in sales. When I left, we were doing 3 and a half million in sales. Why? Leg work! I love women's legs, but I'm not going to buy in unless they are moving.
Great Ideas 👍👍👍
Passive income requires time and consistency. I created art online for many years that still earns income today. Plus investing in low cost sp500 index funds has worked out really well. But get rich quick rarely works.
Loved the video. I've watch a lot of your videos. I did start my YouTube channel @livingwithladymadison. If you have more tips for newbies, I would love to see it.
I know it's not a passive income, but it helps with cashflow and that's growing your own vegetables. This morning I harvested a cauliflower and broccoli, saving us $10 in those two things.
I have set up the 3rd bedroom of this house into a guest room with microwave, fridge, desk/eating table, bed, bookcase and water cooler for filtered water. I'm hoping the owner of this house who is also my roommate landlord will consider listing it on furnished finder for traveling nurses. I'm a retired nurse myself. The house across the street did exactly that and currently is renting to a traveling hospice nurse for a few months @$700 month. Ive been friends with my landlord roommate since 2011 and lived here since 2018.
I don't know if this is passive income but we opened a high yield savings account online. My husband is self employed so we have to save for taxes every month. We put all our tax money, money for insurance and any extra we have into that account. We have been earning close to $100 each month, which isn't much, but it's 100 more than we were getting from our bank savings account. We also opened a rewards credit card, which I was hesitant to do because we don't use credit cards, however, it has worked out well. Two of our daughters live out of state and we just got back from visiting one of them for 10 days. We had earned enough points to completely pay for our Airbnb stay. I also budget using the envelope method and so I had enough cash put away in my vacation envelope to pay for the pet sitter as well. We spent less than $200 while there plus around $150 in gas to get there and back. It was very helpful not to have to come up with the money for the Airbnb.