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Everyone wants to make money, but just a few people want to put in the work to get it done. Of course, we’re all busy, which makes finding a passive income stream a little bit harder.

We’re living in expensive times, so if you can make some extra cash on the side with zero capital to invest and just a little time and effort, why not try?

It sounds like it belongs in a story with unicorns, but it’s actually far more do-able than you might think. All it takes is a little thinking outside of the box to come up with passive income ideas with no money.

I still remember (before I started PIW) how I used to daydream about passive income, and how my life would change if I could make it work. In fact, that was one of the motivations to start this website. You can read my story here.

A few years later, today, I can say that my life changed… and quite a lot! I went from an entry junior job (and struggling to pay my bills) to buying a 3-floor house, getting married, traveling around the world, and starting a family!

I must admit I wouldn’t have been able to make it happen if it wasn’t because of passive income.

To show you how possible it can be, let’s check out 5 ideas you might like to try for yourself.

Passive Income Ideas With No Money

If you are short on money or simply don’t feel like investing anything upfront, these 5 passive income ideas are for you.

To make a passive income you don’t need any cash to get things started. It’s true that an initial investment can help speeding up the process, but it’s not a requirement.

You can always compensate for it with extra work – or a clever idea!

Create a Digital Product to Sell

This idea takes a little work at the start, but then it basically rolls on its own.

Can you write an informational guide, a course, or an ebook? If you’re an expert in a particular field you could do this and then sell it online. You basically have one product that you’re selling constantly, earning money pretty quickly as a result.

For instance, if you create an online course and drum up enough interest, you could earn a few thousand pounds if it does well!

Of course, it depends on how many people buy it, but if it’s high quality and you choose your niche, to ensure it’s in demand, you could be looking a real money spinner. This is one of the best passive income ideas in terms of potential earnings.

Self-Publish eBooks

Moving on from the digital product idea, how about becoming a bestselling author?

We all know that writing a book and getting published is extremely difficult, but self-publishing has opened this niche up to anyone who has the time and patience to write their own book. This could be fiction, non-fiction, anything you like.

Amazon’s KDP program, Kindle Direct Publishing, is extremely easy to work with and it helps guide you through the whole process of formatting, creating a front cover, and publishing it. It’s free to do and you receive royalties on the number of books you sell.

Of course, Amazon takes a cut of this, but for a book priced between $2.99 to $9.99, you receive 70% of the royalties made. Not bad going! Or you can sell it directly in your blog and get all the profit for yourself.

If you are you looking to generate passive income by selling ebooks, but don’t know where to start, you can enroll in Ebook Bestseller Bootcamp, a step-by-step signature video course, and learn how to write, launch and sell your first (or next) bestselling eBook! 

Below is a snapshot of how much Ana (the creator of the course) made the first month after publishing her first eBook. Impressive! You could make it too.

Disclosure: This course costs money ($147), but you actually don’t need it to self-publish an eBook.

Passive Income Selling Photos

If you love snapping away on your phone or your professional camera, you can sell your photographs to a stock website and earn cash for it.

For those who are always taking photos, this is a great way to make money with zero effort and of course, zero cash to start with. Your photos have to be high quality, but it can be a fun pastime and you can learn as you go along.

There are countless sites you can use and they will give you different rates for your photos, so be sure to shop around and find the one, or ones, that suit you.

Of course, a stock photo is purchased several times over, by many different people, so you’ll keep earning commission for it every time someone buys it!

Give Your Opinion on Surveys

Picture the scene – it’s winter, it’s cold, you don’t want to go outside, and you’re sat at home, bored. Why not grab your phone or laptop and do a few surveys?

You could earn cash as you do them, therefore getting paid for ticking a few boxes and telling people what you think. Sure, you’re going to have to do quite a few to earn a considerable amount but some surveys pay more than others, so it’s simply a case of looking for the right sites to use.

My latest favorite survey sites are American Consumer Opinion and Swagbucks. You should give them a try.

Most survey sites pay out when you have hit a certain amount of earnings, whilst some pay out monthly. Decide which is best for you and go with the site that gives you what you need.

You can check the top 100 survey sites list.

Have a Major Clear Out

When was the last time you completely cleared out your home and got rid of all the junk you’ve been hoarding? Chances are that you have more clothes in your closet than you need, and your garage is packed with items that never see the light of day.

It’s a great idea to clear them out and list them on eBay! You can earn money and clear out at the same time. If you find you have good success with it, you can become an eBay seller over the long term.

This means looking for items to sell in charity shops or car boot sales, or purchasing items online for a low price and then selling them on at a profit. It’s a great way to pass the time and one of the best passive income ideas with no money.

Whilst these five ideas aren’t going to make you a millionaire, they may help you to line your bank account with a little more cash than it sitting there currently. There are countless passive income ideas with no money, and it really comes down to being creative and thinking in an innovative way.

Passive Income Ideas With Little Money

If you are willing to invest a small amount of money, the money-making possibilities multiply. For as low as what a Starbucks coffee costs you can start your own blog.

But let’s explore them more in-depth. 

Start A Passive Income Blog

Below are some reasons why starting a blog can be the best thing you could do in 2020.

Flexibility – There are no restrictive schedules in blogging. You can work whenever you want to, you can pick up your kids from school at your most convenient time and take as many breaks as you want. Flexibility is something I value a lot and blogging provides it.

You are your own boss – Who doesn’t want to be their own bosses? Since I started my blog, I own my own business. My whole life I’ve been working for companies, but since I started blogging, I have more motivation than ever. My blog is my company and I don’t mind putting some extra effort into it. It’s a great sense of achievement!

It’s an asset –The moment you start your blog, it has a value in the market (like a property). The more you work on your blog, the more it will worth. You can sell your blog any time in one of the hundred platforms on the internet. I would never sell my own blog but if one day I really need the money, I know I have an asset that worth money.

You can blog from anywhere – Every month my wife and I travel to a different country (we want to travel as much as we can before having babies). Guess what, we also blog during our trips. You can live anywhere in the world and you can still run your blog. I have blogging friends around the world from places like Australia, France, South Korea, Italy etc.

It makes you money – This is the main reason I love blogging so much. By having your own blog you have the potential to make lots of money (I’m talking about four figures per month). I’m making over $1,500 after six months blogging part-time. Just imagine what could happen if YOU go full-time for over a year.

In my case, thanks to this blog, I’ve been able to generate a good stream of passive income (in the range of 5 figures).

If you feel like starting a blog but don’t know how to start, I’ve created a step by step tutorial on how to start a blog with WordPress.

Additionally, you can enroll in my free blogging course below.

Affiliate Marketing

You actually don’t need any money to make a passive income from Affiliate Marketing. However, I listed it here because it’s recommended to have a blog first.

Did you know that you can start making passive income with affiliate marketing? In fact, last month I made $1,200 passive income only with my affiliate marketing.

The truth is that many other bloggers are earning the same or even more through affiliate marketing. Michelle is one example. She is making over $100,000 a month from her blog. As a matter of fact, I learned how to make money blogging through her course.

If I could make a small fraction of what she was making, the course would pay for itself. And it did! In less than a week! And that’s how I went from $302.58 to  $1,023.18 in less than 3 months.

You can read here my post about I tripled my affiliate income blogging.

Rent Out with Airbnb

This is another semi-passive income. Airbnb is getting more and more famous recently and some people are making even a full-time income out of it.

Do you have a spare room at home that you hardly ever use? You can become an Airbnb host and make some semi-passive income. The reason why I say semi, is because you’ll need to do some maintenance (washing bed sheets and vacuuming the floor).

However, if you want to make it 100% passive, you can automate the process.

Suggested article: How to make passive income with Airbnb

The Thing To Remember About Passive Income Ideas With No Money

Many people find that once they set up their passive income method, it pretty much runs itself. That is certainly the case for digital products and ebooks. Once the original piece of work is completed and edited you simply keep on selling it and watch the cash roll your way.

Online courses are certainly in demand in the current learning climate we live in, and because many people don’t have the time to go to night classes, online courses are a great way to learn new skills and knowledge, whilst still maintaining regular employment and carrying out all the duties you need to in your regular routine.

Whichever passive income method you choose, be sure to let those dollars (or pounds) mount up in your bank account and use them for something big, or at least useful!

Are you planning to make passive income? Do you have any other ideas on making passive income with no money? Share it in the comments below, I would love to read it.