You’ve probably seen dozens or even hundreds of passive income ideas being shared on the internet. Some of them actually sound exciting until you try it yourself. Most of such ideas needs fancy tools, expensive software, or hundreds of dollars in upfront cost. And let’s be honest, if you had that kind of money lying around, you wouldn’t be searching for free ways to make income in the first place.
But here’s the good news! You don’t need a big budget to start building passive income. You can begin with zero dollars and still create something that pays you over and over again. In fact, the three ideas I’m about to share are ones I’ve personally tried, and they still bring in some good income for me consistently. And the best part is, you can literally start them this weekend, even if all you have is a laptop and internet connection.
So grab a coffee, pen and paper to take notes and let’s get right in.
1. Selling Books on Amazon KDP
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is one of the easiest and most beginner-friendly ways to earn passive income. I started selling on KDP back in 2017 without spending a cent and you can do the same.
Low-content books like journals, planners, and logbooks are super simple to create. You can design them using free tools like Canva or even PowerPoint. Once you upload your book to Amazon KDP, Amazon takes care of everything from printing, shipping, and returns and everything else. You just earn royalties every time someone buys your book.
To make things even easier, there are free KDP interior templates available on sites like Gumroad and Creative Fabrica. This means you don’t even have to start from scratch. You can use such templates and create your first book in just minutes, not even hours.
Extra tip: Once you start making sales, you can invest in paid tools like BookBolt (for faster book design) or Self-Publishing Titans (for keyword research) to scale your income further. If you can books on trending or interesting topics, then you can easily make anywhere from $500 to $3,000 or more per month.
2. Selling Digital Products on Gumroad along with Freebies
Selling digital products on Gumroad is another great and low-cost passive income idea to start. Some of my most profitable Gumroad products started out as freebies!
Gumroad lets you set a “Pay What You Want” price. So, you can list your product as free, but people can still choose to pay. You’d be surprised how many will happily pay $1, $5, or even $10 for something they love. So, my only suggestion to you is, create something that people need or love.
What can You Sell?
- Printable planners or logbooks,
- Notion templates,
- Canva templates,
- Checklists and cheat sheets,
- Digital wallpapers or art,
- eBooks, etc.
You can create each and every of these products using free tools and upload them to Gumroad in less than a day. Over time, those freebies can become a steady source of income. Plus, every download helps you grow your email list, so you can promote more products later.
Check out 5 Most Profitable Online Businesses You Can Start Today for Free!
3. Promoting Affiliate Products Organically
Affiliate marketing is when you promote someone else’s product and earn a commission for each sale made through your link. And no, you don’t need a huge audience to get started.
A great beginner-friendly platform to start affiliate marketing is with Medium.com. You can write helpful articles to share your personal experiences/knowledge and include affiliate links in between the articles.
The key to success in affiliate marketing is:
✅ Pick products you’ve actually used and believe in.
✅ Focus on solving problems for your readers, not just selling.
✅ Post content regularly. Treat it like a long-term project.
Many beginners fail because they quit too early or sound like a salesman trying hard to sale something. But if you genuinely help people, affiliate income can grow over time. Many creators (especially bloggers with consistent traffic) make thousands of dollars each and every month from affiliate marketing.
Final Thoughts
So, you don’t need fancy gear, expensive tools, or a massive following to start building passive income.
Amazon KDP, Gumroad, and affiliate marketing are all things you can start this weekend with no upfront cost. The real secret is to choose one, stick with it, and keep improving.
Remember, passive income isn’t going to start coming overnight. But the small steps you take today could end up paying you for months or even years later on. So, why not start this weekend and see where it takes you?
