Today, AI has taken over the mainstream, making it easy to enjoy passive income streams without much physical or mental effort past the initial set. Whether you’re a beginner investor looking to diversify your stock portfolio, exploring crypto staking and dividend stocks, or a photographer leveraging AI stock photography to flip thousands of custom images for profit and build an audience, ElitePersonalFinance will show you the way forward.

Today, AI can manage everything from installing an AI chatbot for your business to intercepting hundreds of customers at a time to automating Airbnb pricing for maximum gains. Let’s not forget about traditional passive income streams like selling one-off digital products or affiliate marketing, all use cases AI is good for.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about how to use the best AI tools to your advantage. Hopefully, over time, you’ll be able to supplement your income and replace your current part time or full-time job.

AI Tip 1: Social Media Automation

• Difficulty Level: Easy
• Rationale: Not a lot of technical knowledge is required. Build skills around scheduling posts, optimizing content, and tracking user engagement.
• Skills Needed: Basic social media marketing, content building, scheduling posts, and analytics.

One way to generate passive income is through social media automation. Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, or your favorite social network, AI can assist with content creation, scheduling, and user engagement without lifting a finger. For example, these tools can automate tedious tasks like identifying and converting affiliate products, analyzing post effectiveness, and scheduling content at optimal times for maximum reach and engagement.

Tool #1: FlexClip

FlexClip is one of our favorite video editors, utilizing a suite of AI tools and 6,000+ templates that rely on a single prompt, article, or URL to generate content. It even has text-to-speech capabilities, script writing, a background remover, and subtitling/translation features, all at the fraction of the cost of hiring an editor to work Final Cut Pro.

Tool #2: Hootsuite

Arguably the most popular social media management tool, Hootsuite specializes in automated content scheduling. It can optimize post timing, monitor trends and hashtags to generate new ideas, and even integrate AI chatbots into your social media platforms to handle customer inquiries. One of its best features is its ability to integrate with multiple social media platforms, creating a one-stop shop for all of your social networking admin tasks.

Tool #3: Buffer

For one of the best AI-powered content optimization and scheduling tools on the market, look no further than Buffer. Like Hootsuite, it helps individual entrepreneurs and business owners optimize content performance, suggest the best posting times, generate AI-powered captions/hashtags, and provide deep analytics to determine which content achieves the best reach and engagement metrics.

AI Tip 2: Dividend Stocks

• Difficulty Level: Moderate
• Rationale: There’s a learning curve with assessing risk tolerance, selecting a properly balanced portfolio, and understanding dividend yields.
• Skills Needed: Basic investment knowledge, risk assessment, and financial planning.

One of the better-known ways to generate passive income is by investing in dividend stocks, which can yield a solid monthly or quarterly return. Stocks like AT&T or Brookfield Properties are popular choices. Suppose you start investing $50,000 with a safe return of 5% per year. In that case, you can earn $250 annually or potentially more using high-risk strategies, reaching $2,500 in yearly passive income depending on your portfolio, risk tolerance, and AI tools.

Today, AI-managed portfolios can do everything from mimicking expert traders’ dividend stock strategies to employing algorithms that identify the best stocks to own with a heads up on when to purchase.

Tool #1: Zignaly

Zignaly is one of our favorite AI copy trading tools, allowing investors to mimic expert traders’ dividend stock strategies. Its proprietary algorithm assesses hundreds of criteria, including profitability and risk factors, ensuring only the best traders are shown on the platform. All you have to do is pick a trader, invest a set amount, and keep 70% of the profits they earn before cashing out or reinvesting.

Tool #2: Wealthfront

Unlike Zignaly, Wealthfront is a more traditional robo-advisor that automates dividend stock investing by presenting users with different portfolio types, from “safe” to most aggressive.

Based on your risk tolerance, the platform automatically selects dividend-paying stocks for you, with additional features like tax-loss harvesting, portfolio rebalancing, and automated dividend reinvestment to grow your margins over time. Plus, it offers other useful financial products, like a 4.00% APY (as of this writing) on short-term savings accounts through partner banks.

Tool #3: Tickeron

Tickeron offers a robust set of stock forecasting tools that provide real-time alerts for open trades, stock identification, and predictive analytics that project growth over time. It also includes AI-backed investment strategies, allowing you to find ideal entry and exit prices using its algorithm and confidence levels.

With Tickeron, you can set up and manage portfolios with minimal effort by automating stock selection and investment. Instead of manually managing a portfolio, you can rely on AI-driven expert strategies and automatic reinvesting so you can make money while you sleep!

Hypothetical: John, a 41-year-old account executive, used Zignaly and Wealthfront to build a passive income stream of $2,400 per year. He copied an expert trader’s strategy on Zignaly while also investing $1,000 in an aggressive dividend portfolio. Plus, John took advantage of Wealthfront’s 4% APY savings account, where he parked $15,000, earning an extra $600 per year in interest. By leveraging both platforms, John is well on his way to generating upwards of $15,000 per year—all while letting AI do the heavy lifting.

AI Tip 3: Rental Income from Airbnb

• Difficulty Level: Difficult
• Rationale: Although AI-powered tools facilitate pricing optimization, bookings, and guest management, it requires an initial investment and ongoing property management, hiring cleaners, and (on occasion) customer service personnel.
• Skills Needed: Property management, customer service, and dynamic location-based pricing optimization to achieve the highest yield possible.

In recent years, one of the most popular forms of passive income is generating rental income from Airbnb, VRBO, and similar booking platforms.

For example, a $100,000 investment with a 6% annual return can generate $6,000 a year in rental income. If you reinvest, you can see an additional $4,000 to $10,000 in yearly returns, depending on your property, market conditions, and your AI-powered pricing optimization strategy.

Here are three of our favorite AI tools for maximizing your occupancy rates and profit:

Tool #1: Airbnb Smart Pricing

Airbnb’s own Smart Pricing, allows you to adjust your rental price dynamically depending on demand, location, and other economic factors. Rather than setting the cost yourself, the algorithm ensures you remain competitive with optimized pricing while increasing your chances of booking most days in a month. It does so by analyzing local market trends, determining seasonality, and increasing or decreasing the rate during peak and non-peak times, all to help you make better decisions.

Tool #2: Guesty

Another popular tool Airbnb owners use is Guesty, which focuses more on guest management by automating pre- and post-stay messages, managing bookings across multiple platforms, and using AI to optimize your property listings. We’re also big fans of its automatic cleaning schedules, maintenance logging, and other administrative tasks, allowing you to earn passive income without manually calculating ROI or working with third party cleaners.

Tool #3: Beyond Pricing

A third tool Airbnb owners use to strengthen their passive income is Beyond Pricing. This platform focuses on analyzing competitive pricing and making automatic price updates based on demand, location, and other factors. Like the other two platforms, it uses proprietary algorithms to ensure your unit remains profitable, along with a robust set of reporting tools to track rental performance.

In short, renting out an Airbnb property while relying on automated AI tools like Airbnb Smart Pricing, Guesty, and Beyond Pricing allows you to remove much of the mental legwork involved in determining ROI, optimizing listings, and more.

Hypothetical: Amanda, a 29-year-old real estate investor, turned a $320,000 property in Connecticut into a $30,000 yearly passive income stream by leveraging Airbnb Smart Pricing and Guesty. With Smart Pricing, she maintains competitive rates using its dynamic pricing feature, while Guesty manages all guest communications with pre-built templates and scheduling options, cutting down the time it takes to track guests by more than 50%. She was also keen on adjusting pricing based on seasonal demand. Now, she can reinvest her profits into other AI-powered businesses, setting the stage for passive income to eventually replace her full-time job.

AI Tip 4: Peer-to-Peer Lending

• Difficulty Level: Moderate
• Rationale: Understanding lending risks, market conditions, interest rates, and the possibility of loans entering default.
• Skills Needed: Basic financial literacy, short- and long-term investment strategy, and familiarity with loan agreements.

One of the best ways to earn passive income is through interest generated by loans that you offer to prospective borrowers, essentially becoming your own bank. Excellent platforms include LendingClub and Prosper.

You can earn 7% in annual returns by investing $5,000, which equals $350 in interest. Plus, your returns can increase by as much as $1,500 annually (using the same principle) with AI-powered tools that help analyze trends and determine risk factors. Of course, this also depends on the number of loans you originate.

Tool #1: LendingClub

LendingClub is a peer-to-peer platform that automates loan selection. Define your risk tolerances, pick across a diverse set of investments, and use powerful AI tools like predictive analytics and automatic reinvestment to maximize your short- or long-term earnings.

Tool #2: Prosper

Prosper is one of our preferred AI tools for generating passive income through investments.

It also offers an investment program boasting an average 3-year rolling return of 5.6%, along with tax-deferred IRA investment options for even more monthly passive income opportunities. It has helped its members generate more than $26 billion since 2005, largely thanks to its preset target investment mixes or custom investment portfolios.

Prosper’s accolades include an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, a Financial Inclusion Award from FICO, excellent Trustpilot reviews, and more.

Hypothetical: Benjamin, a 52-year-old entrepreneur, invested an initial $5,000 in LendingClub, where he has enjoyed 7% annual returns, earning roughly $350 in interest from his principal. With its predictive analytics feature, he can assess the risk level of his investment strategy and tweak it to achieve lower or higher returns. He also uses Prosper to achieve a 5.6% return on stocks, allowing him to continually grow his portfolio with two platforms, without needing a financial advisor who charges exorbitant fees.

AI Tip 5: Sell Digital Products (Ebooks, Templates)

• Difficulty Level: Moderate
• Rationale: Once you have your ebook or other digital product created, scalable passive income is easy with minimal effort, as it can be published on various platforms for sale.
• Skills Needed: Initial content creation, basic eCommerce knowledge, and optimization strategies.

If you create a digital product, you can generate passive income by selling it over and over. Add it to an online platform and watch the sales roll in. Expect to make anywhere from $500 to $2,000 monthly in passive income with a single ebook or a set of templates within a few months after listing. As you add more products, expect to scale even more.

Canvas AI, Writesonic, and Etsy are three of our favorite tools for generating passive income through digital products.

Tool #1: Canva AI

If you don’t want to hire creatives or design templates and social media graphics yourself, Canva AI is an excellent choice. We appreciate its robust algorithm that auto-generates design suggestions, adapts designs to multiple formats using its Magic Resize tool, and provides AI-powered text and image edits to create visually stunning graphics for everything from t-shirts to invitations.

Become an artist without going to design school!

Tool #2: Writesonic

If you’re looking to generate powerful ebooks and template sales copy, we highly recommend Writesonic and its suite of AI writing assistant tools. These tools do everything from generating layouts to expanding existing text. For example, if you have 100 products to sell, it can quickly generate 100 product descriptions in seconds.

Tool #3: Etsy

Arguably the most popular platform for selling digital products, Etsy is highly popular for digital downloads like templates and ebooks. Features include AI-generated keyword optimization, trend analysis, automatic price recommendations, and built-in analytics that allow you to track product performance.

Hypothetical: Patrick, a successful entrepreneur, started selling ebooks on how to make money using AI. He used Canva AI to create social media graphics for Facebook and Instagram. Then, he leveraged Writesonic to generate an ebook and a sales page, allowing him to push his product to market quickly. Lastly, he used Etsy’s AI-driven keyword tools and trend analysis to boost sales. By integrating these tools, he has created a passive income stream, earning hundreds of dollars a month without hiring anyone.

AI Tip 6: Affiliate Marketing

• Difficulty Level: Medium
• Rationale: Extensive legwork identifying high-margin products before casting marketing expenses and analyzing top pages in your niche for SEO optimization.
• Skills Needed: SEO optimization, content creation, a basic understanding of social media marketing, and analytics.

One of the best ways to earn passive income is through affiliate marketing, where you earn commissions on a percentage of sales on everything from products to services. Depending on the offer, visibility, content creation efforts, traffic, commission rates, SEO optimization, and similar factors, you can see passive income anywhere from $500 to $5,000 per month.

To maximize earnings, we recommend leveraging the following tools for automated content generation, optimizing content for SEO, generating ideas, and more.

Tool #1: Jasper AI

Calling itself “the AI that your marketing deserves,” Jasper AI is a powerful generative AI content generation tool that allows marketers to employ AI chatbots and perform lightning-fast image editing. Its robust setup tools can be incorporated into your marketing, e.g., PR in communications, content marketing, performance marketing, and more.

The service inspires trust with many esteemed clients, including HarperCollins, Prudential, and Cushman & Wakefield.

Tool #2: Surfer SEO

Hands down, Surfer SEO is our favorite AI-powered SEO tool, to a much higher degree than other tools we’ve tested: Frase, MarketMuse, and Clearscope. Thanks to its robust AI platform, Surfer SEO quickly analyzes top-ranking pages within a niche and provides full keyword reporting, real-time SEO scores, relevant keywords for your articles, and AI-assisted suggestions on optimizing your content structure.

However, the tool was designed with competitor analysis, a more effective way of tailoring your SEO. You no longer need to pore over extensive keyword worksheets and manually adding them to an article. Now, you can optimize articles directly through the platform in a fraction of the time.

Tool #3: ChatGPT

Unquestionably the most popular AI to date, ChatGPT can generate blog topic ideas and create strong affiliate pitches for your affiliate marketing efforts. It can also analyze your marketing copy, assessing a grade based on persuasiveness and other criteria.

ChatGPT is one of our favorite AI tools for passive income generation, from learning audience engagement best practices to SEO optimization.

Hypothetical: Bob, a 26-year-old smart home device blogger, can quickly build a $6,000-per-month affiliate marketing business by promoting high-commission products like cameras, televisions, and more. He can earn as much as 10% per sale, focusing on products priced between $200 and $400 or 500 units in monthly sales, which could earn him $10,000. After marketing costs, the profit could be reduced to $5,000 to $6,000.

He used AI tools like Jasper AI and Surfer SEO to produce SEO-optimized articles that rank high in search engines for organic traffic. Before you know it, he has turned his smart home affiliate marketing business into steady passive income.

AI Tip 7: License Photography and Music

• Difficulty Level: Medium
• Rationale: Becoming an amateur or professional photographer takes a steep learning curve depending on your certifications, level of education, etc.
• Skills Needed: Photography, videography, music production, and market trend analysis.

Imagine earning passive income through photography and music, where you can earn recurring revenue every time someone downloads or uses your material. AI tools like Shutterstock, Bēstock, and AudioJungle do an excellent job of managing imagery and improving search visibility by applying editing, learning content trends, and much more.

If AI is appropriately used, expect to earn royalties ranging from $500 to $3,000 monthly, depending on usage and the number of downloads.

Tool #1: Shutterstock

A top-three stock photography site on the web, photographers and other creators can monetize their work with AI-powered tools like keywording and tagging (auto-generation of relevant keywords to improve SEO), automated image enhancement, smart cropping, and even AI-assisted music categorization, which allows you to tag photos with appropriate musical scores.

Tool #2: Adobe Stock

Like Shutterstock, Adobe Stock is another stock photography service, with a key distinction being its integration with Creative Cloud. It also offers auto-tagging, automated background removal, AI noise reduction, and smart upscaling, where image resolution can be improved without sacrificing image fidelity. It also includes music remixing, mixing, and looping.

Tool #3: AudioJungle

AudioJungle is one of the best places for creatives to license their videos and other visual work. One of its key features is AI-enhanced audio using tools like LANDR, automatic genre tagging, and AI-driven market predictions, which analyze profitable music styles. We also appreciate its brightness and metadata optimization to keep discoverability fresh with well-written track descriptions and tags.

Hypothetical: Adam, a professional photographer, used Shutterstock and Adobe Stock to list photos and help people find them, using smart upscaling and auto-tagging to make his images pop. He wanted to pitch musical tracks separately, so he used AudioJungle’s extensive genre tagging and automated metadata optimization platform to ensure people could easily find his work. By leveraging these tools, Adam can earn anywhere from $500 to $3,000 a month with minimal effort.

AI Tip 8: Create a YouTube Channel

• Difficulty Level: High
• Rationale: A decent level of creativity is required to analyze text and convert it into videos using AI. Along with all of the advanced SEO tools and automated tagging platforms, you will need to rank high within YouTube search results.
• Skills Needed: Videography, optimization, content strategy, and engagement analytics.

One of the best ways to generate passive income is by starting a YouTube channel. We highly recommend using AI-powered platforms like Pictory, TubeBuddy, and Descript to speed up the video creation process through helpful features like script-to-video, automatic subtitling, AI voiceovers, and automated video summarization that automatically cuts longer videos into shorter, more digestible clips. All this generates that precious ad revenue while you’re sleeping.

Remember, the more your channel grows, the higher your earnings; expect to earn anywhere from $500 to $10,000 per month, depending on views, engagement, and reach.

Tool #1: Pictory

With “the easiest way to create professional videos for everyone” splashed on its homepage, it uses algorithms to instantly convert text and URLs, PowerPoint presentations, and other formats into videos using a series of prompts. You can also convert long-form videos into shorter clips and add captioning to create professional-looking videos without spending thousands of dollars on a professional videographer.

Tool #2: TubeBuddy

Calling itself the ultimate growth tool for YouTube channels, brands like Fox Sports and MrBeast use TubeBuddy, which employs a combination of advanced SEO, powerful analytics, and automated features that recommend relevant tags, perform A/B testing on thumbnails, and allow creators to discover trending topics within their category that they could leverage.

We also appreciate its video optimization tool, which automatically applies video title, description, and tag updates to multiple videos.

Tool #3: Descript

Descript makes it very easy to edit YouTube videos with helpful features like overdub voice cloning, automated transcriptions, background noise removal, and advanced video editing features. It has many fans and is used by companies like the BBC, The New York Times, CBS, NPR, Spotify, and Figma.

In short, look to Pictory if you want to convert text-based content into videos. TubeBuddy is better for optimization, and Descript combines video and audio editing. Professional editing with minimal effort has never looked better.

Hypothetical: Andrew, a beginner content creator, wanted to study passive income streams using only blog posts. He used Pictory’s powerful script-to-video conversion platform to convert blog posts into videos, along with TubeBuddy to perform A/B thumbnail testing to ensure maximum visibility within YouTube. He used Descript AI voice cloning to create promotional videos, saving hours of manual labor. Now, he enjoys $12,000 a month by converting blog posts into YouTube videos for a more agile passive income stream in case blog traffic falters.

AI Tip 9: Write and Publish an eBook

• Difficulty Level: Moderate
• Rationale: Since writing an eBook requires expertise within the given subject area, you need to become a master in the subject area plus have basic knowledge of writing, marketing, and eBook publishing.
• Skills Needed: Writing, marketing, and eBook publishing.

You can distribute eBooks for recurring income, such as photography and other intellectual property.

With tools like Scrivener, Writesonic, and KDP, you can generate royalties of $100 to $10,000 a month, depending on your content type, marketing strategy, and advertising.

Tool #1: Scrivener

One of the best writing software out there, Scrivener allows you to break down your large manuscript into key adjustable parts that can be repurposed into eBook format. We appreciate its export format support and robust administrative features, which allow you to track character development and plot lines. Plus, it offers one of the most intuitive user interfaces ever.

Tool #2: Writesonic

Like Scrivener, Writesonic is an AI-powered writing assistant that helps authors generate new ideas. It can spit out AI-generated content to spark imagination and customize the tone of your writing to match a preferred writing style or brand voice. Along with suggested phrases and edits, authors can turn around a 300-page manuscript faster.

Due to its robust features, Writesonic has customers like Pfizer, Roche, Regeneron, HP, Square, and Microsoft.

Tool #3: Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)

Although not quite an AI tool, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) helps scale your eBook business by allowing you to upload it and instantly gain access to millions of potential fans. Its royalty rates are respectable, but its distribution network is its calling card. Members can earn up to 70% royalties on eBook sales, all easily managed using a simple and highly intuitive interface.

In short, look to Scrivener to amplify your writing (generating eBooks even faster), Writesonic for idea generation, and Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for the distribution network you need.

Hypothetical: Robert, a freelance writer with 12 years of experience, always wanted to publish his eBook and reach a broad audience. He started his journey by using Scrivener to create a manuscript and develop characters, supported by Writesonic for faster editing without needing a professional editor. Lastly, he took advantage of Amazon’s KDP 70% royalty rates and extensive distribution network to reach a wide range of customers and enjoy a passive income stream. Within a year, he earned an average of $5,000 a month thanks to these tools.

AI Tip 10: Invest in Index Funds

• Difficulty Level: Easy
• Rationale: With no need to hire a traditional financial advisor to manage your portfolio, AI-powered index fund tools like Wealthfront make it easier to do this all with a hands-on approach.
• Skills Needed: Basic financial knowledge.

Like dividend stocks, investing in index funds is one of the best ways to earn passive income, mainly when using AI robo-advisors like Betterment. You no longer need to handpick your investments. Instead, you can choose from a preselected portfolio with auto-optimization to save time and money, avoiding financial advisors only looking to earn commission fees.

Three of our favorite AI tools for investing in index funds are Betterment, Wealthfront, and Vanguard.

Tool #1: Betterment

Betterment is one of the more popular AI-powered robo-advisors out there. Its proprietary algorithms automatically rebalance your portfolio and suggest proper asset reallocations so that you can minimize risk and generate 10% annual returns. For example, if you’re putting away $10,000 a year, you can earn $1,000. It also offers personalized financial advice, no fees, and high diversification.

Tool #2: Wealthfront

Like Betterment, Wealthfront offers a slightly more aggressive approach to managing your investments through ETFs. Features include tax-loss harvesting and robust financial planning tools that allow you to plan for retirement, set aside money for mortgages, and more. Plus, fees are manageable, starting with a flat 0.25% annual fee.

Tool #3: Vanguard

Vanguard is one of the more popular brokerages in the world, leveraging AI to create personalized investment strategies. Many investment strategies can start with simple index funds or ETFs. Kudos to customized retirement planning and a wide range of index fund options that allow anyone to diversify their investments with long-term retirement goals.

Hypothetical: Alejandro, a 28-year-old sales professional, used Betterment, Wealthfront, and Vanguard to refine his investment strategy beyond your typical 401k and IRA. Betterment worked to rebalance his portfolio to his desired rest tolerance for 9% annual returns, whereas Wealthfront provided advanced financial Planning tools that made the forecast retirement easier. His brokerage is Vanguard, which allows him to maintain a diversified portfolio with individual stocks, ETFs, and long-term retirement funds. Thanks to these three investment optimization tools, he does not need to hire a financial advisor, generating a nice passive income stream for the years and (even better) decades to come.

AI Tip 11: Dropshipping

• Difficulty Level: Moderate
• Rationale: Requires expertise in identifying the right product and becoming knowledgeable to inform others about it.
• Skills Needed: Basic e-commerce knowledge and marketing

With dropshipping, you can sell items without having a warehouse in your home or business place. Many of our favorite AI-powered tools can help you find the right products, optimize prices, and manage hundreds of customers using easy-to-use interfaces.

Three of our favorite dropshipping AI tools are AutoDS, Oberlo, and Shopify.

Tool #1: AutoDS

AutoDS is a versatile AI-powered dropshipping automation platform that allows you to research products and fulfill orders. We appreciate its intelligent algorithms, which keep users abreast of trending products so that you don’t have to sort through long wholesale lists to identify high-margin items. It integrates with AliExpress, Amazon, Walmart, and other e-commerce retailers.

Tool #2: Oberlo

Specific to Shopify, Oberlo makes it easy to dropship items from AliExpress, keep track of your inventory, and automate your orders. One of our favorite features is its AI-powered product recommendations, which help you identify high-margin products you can resell for a big profit. Plus, we appreciate its extensive resources section, which works very well for beginners.

Tool #3: Shopify

Unquestionably one of the world’s largest and most popular e-commerce platforms, Shopify has slowly started integrating AI. Now, you can generate product descriptions using AI and employ intelligent chatbots to interact with customers. Not to mention its extensive analytics on all your products to identify which ones are selling best.

In short, AutoDS works best for full automation, whereas Oberlo (specific to AliExpress) and Shopify are our preferred e-commerce platforms for integrating all these tools.

Hypothetical: Emma has always dreamed of starting an online business but lives in a one-bedroom apartment with limited shelf space. To avoid handling products, she relies on AutoDS, which helps her identify trending items and automate the order fulfillment process across participating vendors like AliExpress and Walmart. She also uses Oberlo to stay on top of high-margin items and Shopify to drive her e-commerce operations. With all of these tools, she does not have to touch an actual physical product, generating a passive income stream from the comfort of her home.

AI Tip 12: Selling Online Courses

• Difficulty Level: Moderate
• Rationale: Like publishing ebooks, it requires a high level of expertise within the given subject area.
• Skills Needed: Teaching material, building courses, and marketing via subscription or one-time purchase

Selling online courses is one of the best ways to make passive income. With a good strategy, you can sell everything from copywriting best practices to crypto investing guides. All you need to do is generate content and develop a robust marketing strategy to release your product, allowing recurring income through ongoing subscriptions or flat-rate use.

Three of our preferred AI tools for selling online courses are Teachable, Thinkific, and Kajabi.

Tool #1: Teachable

Serving more than 30 million students, Teachable allows you to create your online course. Its AI-powered tools enable you to do everything from content structuring to marketing. Plus, you can adjust your pricing models to make it membership-based, payment-plan-based, or a one-time purchase. To take it to the next level, it includes built-in analytics that help you track student engagement over time.

Tool #2: Thinkific

Thinkific is a versatile online course builder that allows you to customize courses without coding using drag-and-drop tools. It offers extensive AI-driven automation, so you can effortlessly enroll students, issue certificates, and assign classes based on modules for even more recurring income.

Plus, it integrates seamlessly with popular email management and analytics platforms like Mailchimp and Google Analytics, making it easy to track performance. There are no transaction fees on course sales, making it very cost-effective to start.

Tool #3: Kajabi

Kajabi is an excellent all-in-one platform that allows you to set up fully branded websites with payment systems, incorporate deep analytics, and create custom-branded mobile apps for your online course. It’s a favorite among Instagram content creators looking to take their content to the next level.

If you’re a beginner, look at Teachable. If you need advanced customization, go with Thinkific. For an all-in-one solution that includes email marketing and sales funnels, Kajabi is the best choice.

Hypothetical: Bobby, a 24-year-old swim instructor who wants to become a digital marketer, launches an online course about surfing best practices. He uses Teachable to help him generate AI-powered outlines, set pricing, and dive deep into analytics to learn more about his audience. He also pairs it with Thinkific, which manages student enrollment and certification tracking. In turn, Kajabi is used to set up a branded website and create sales funnels with Facebook and Instagram ads to drive traffic.

As a result, he has earned roughly $7,500 a month in recurring revenue. Bobby hopes to transition into digital marketing full-time thanks to these AI-powered tools.

AI Tip 13: Blogging

• Difficulty Level: Moderate
• Rationale: Required expertise within the given subject area, made it easier with the use of AI tools.
• Skills Needed: Writing, SEO optimization, and marketing.

Over the past decade, blogging has been one of the early pioneers in earning passive income. With the addition of AI tools, you can even optimize content for SEO on a higher level. That’s why let’s assist with content creation for better monetization.

Three of our go-to AI tools for blogging are Surfer SEO, Jasper AI, and Rank Math.

Tool #1: Surfer SEO

Surfer SEO allows you to instantly compete with competitors in your niche, working to analyze search engine results pages to help optimize your content through extensive keyword analysis and content auditing. It also includes on-page optimization suggestions for preferred keyword density and backlink strategies. It can also be used to optimize existing content.

Tool #2: Jasper AI

Unlike Surfer SEO, Jasper AI is an AI-powered content generation tool that allows you to create SEO-optimized posts with ease. One of its best features is that it provides different templates for different types of content, which you can use for everything from blog posts to email campaigns. Plus, it integrates seamlessly with Surfer SEO so that you can generate powerful SEO-generated content.

Tool #3: Rank Math

Working specifically for WordPress, the RankMath plugin works well, providing keyword suggestions and readability analysis. Remember that adequately formatted pages with logical breaks assist with SEO optimization. Plus, it also works with Google Analytics and Google Search Console so that you can continually monitor your SEO performance and ensure that it’s optimized for ranking.

When evaluating the use of these tools, know that each serves a different purpose. For example, Surfer SEO is best for optimizing existing content, whereas Jasper AI works to generate new content. Both are different from Rank Math, primarily a WordPress plugin with a slightly more hands-on approach to optimizing.

Hypothetical: Michael owns a profitable blog and has started ranking highly in search engines. He relies on AI-powered tools like Surfer SEO to help refine his keyword strategy, Jasper AI’s ready-to-use templates for email campaigns, and Rank Math to provide additional trending keyword suggestions. By combining all these three tools, Michael’s blog has tripled its traffic and quadrupled revenue.

Now, he earns roughly $8,000 monthly, generating a nice passive income stream with minimal effort.

AI Tip 14: AI Voiceovers

• Difficulty Level: Moderate
• Skills Needed: Basic familiarity with audio editing to work and how to push content.

Our 14th way to earn passive income is through AI voiceovers. Now, you can accompany voiceovers with video-based content comprising ads, audiobooks, and more. AI voiceovers can be a valuable addition if you need an earnest narrator for a financial course or a Pepe voice for your YouTube videos.

Three of the best options for AI voiceovers are Murf AI, Speechelo, and Lovo AI.

Tool #1: Murf AI

Murf AI offers ultra-realistic voiceovers that rely on proprietary algorithms to make them sound identical to human speech. Users can fine-tune everything from pitch to tone, and it offers excellent integration across different video editing tools for synchronization. Plus, it even gives AI voice cloning, where you can replicate specific voices. Of all the AI voiceover tools we’ve tried, Murf AI voiceovers sound the most realistic.

Tool #2: Speechelo

If you’re looking for quick and affordable YouTube voiceovers, Speechelo is it. Its easy-to-use interface lets users generate a voiceover in two or three clicks. It offers several tone options, from regular to severe, enabling you to adapt the voiceover to different content. You can even integrate special effects like breathing, making a more natural speech sound. Kudos for its multilingual support and one-time payment model versus a subscription fee to keep your costs down.

Tool #3: Lovo AI

If you’re more creative, then Lovo AI is your voiceover tool. There are more than 180 voices on the platform across different languages, my friend, and the voiceover is slightly more expressive than the first two options. We like this tool for audiobooks and character-driven work that relies on uniqueness.

If you’re deciding between the three, go with Lovo AI for an even mix, whereas Speechelo is more cost-effective, and Lovo AI is beneficial for expressive voiceovers.

Hypothetical: Joseph, a former police officer with a beautiful voice, wants to start a new business by selling voiceovers for YouTube videos. To get started, he uses Murf AI to create ultra-realistic voiceovers with customizable elements and Speechelo for added special effects. He also relies on Lovo AI, which offers a more expressive voiceover than the two options above for a separate product line comprised of audiobooks and fictional stories.

Now, he sells voiceovers and offers voiceover services on freelancer marketplaces like Fiverr, allowing him to earn over $2,000 monthly in passive income.

AI Tip 15: AI-Generated Music for Licensing

• Difficulty Level: Moderate
• Rationale: There is no need to have proficient musical knowledge but a basic understanding of the differences between background scores, complete musical composition, tempo, instrumentation, and other sound elements to build a compelling soundtrack.
• Skills Needed: Basic audio editing and knowledge of the different licensing platforms.

Another area where you can excel with passive income is by producing music for licensing. Today, millions of creatives need royalty-free tracks for a company, their videos, apps, and more. It can be made anywhere, from background scores to musical compositions. Forget needing a musical background to create your favorite scores, as it’s all here for you. Three of our favorite AI-generated music for licensing tools are Aiva, Amper Music, and Soundraw.

Tool #1: Aiva

Aiva leans heavily on orchestra and classical music, making it an excellent choice for films and short dramatic clips. Users can make customizable arrangements with tweaks to tempo, instrumentation, and much more. We especially like it for game developers who need memorable and emotional music scores, no matter the game type. MIDI Twilight’s brilliant support allows you to integrate with digital audio workstations for an even greater range.

For high-quality classical and cinematic compositions, and if you’re interested in creating more sophisticated tracks without having to manually compose (which can easily take dozens of hours), look no further than Aiva.

Tool #2: Amper Music

Amper Music is another excellent choice if you’re looking for fast, customizable music creation. It’s better suited than Aiva, focusing less on classical and cinematic compositions and more on background and corporate music for ads, podcasts, and videos. We appreciate its easy drag-and-drop interface, royalty-free licensing structure, and cloud-based software with real-time editing capabilities.

Tool #3: Soundraw

For one of the best AI music generators on the market, look no further than Soundraw. It’s an excellent tool for making your songs, and users can adjust the length, tempos (slow, normal, fast), mood, theme, and genre across multiple types, such as hip-hop, trap, ambient, rock, acoustic, electro, dance, and a lot more.

Plus, it works on a subscription-based model with unlimited downloads, making it an easy choice for people who need to generate a lot of music quickly.

When evaluating these free musical composition tools, look to Aiva for classical music, Amper Music for quick, customizable background scores, and Soundraw for deep customization options.

Hypothetical: Feliz, a 28-year-old traveling musician, wants to produce tracks for corporate videos and license his professionally made tracks on royalty-free music platforms like AudioJungle. He also wants to create music for films. He uses Aiva for orchestra scores and Amper Music to create background music for corporate videos. Plus, Soundraw has produced additional customized tracks with greater control over tempo, genre, and dozens of other elements that make his projects unique.

As a result, he now offers exclusive and non-exclusive licensing deals to companies, allowing him to earn $50,000 a month thanks to AI.

AI Tip 16: Domain Name Flipping

• Difficulty Level: Moderate
• Rationale: Need to identify trends and profitable domains for resale with a Buy-Low and Sell-High approach
• Skills Needed: Market research and SEO optimization

Another area where passive income enthusiasts can excel is domain name flipping. Choose profitable domain names and flip them for a profit. It’s not uncommon to purchase a domain name for a hundred dollars and resell it for thousands, depending on current news and other popular themes.

Use AI to choose the correct domain names and sell them for profit.

Tool #1: Squadhelp

Squadhelp is one of our preferred options for naming businesses and purchasing and selling premium and essential domain names. One of our favorite features is AI-powered recommendations, which disclose plenty of available domain names for users to resell or use independently.

Tool #2: Namecheap AI

Namecheap AI performs exceptionally well with keyword analysis, and instant suggestions can be made based on current search trends and other criteria. That way, users can identify profitable names before they hit the market. If you’re looking for a cheap way to discover domains with strong resale potential, then Namecheap is a good option.

One of its strongest features is the ability to adjust alternative name suggestions. If you can’t find the domain you’re looking for, alternative name suggestions can be an excellent start.

Tool #3: Flippa

Flippa is another excellent service with an extensive buyer network and an auction-style sales process where domain names go to the highest bidder. Plus, there’s no shortage of evaluation tools that help you understand how much a domain can be worth before placing it on the market. Its robust search volume and market demand tools allow domain investors to engage with domains more effectively.

If you want branding and a strong recommendation engine, go with Squadhelp. If you’re looking for discoverability and a robust set of keyword analysis and trend tools, go with Namecheap. Meanwhile, Flippa is the best marketplace for purchasing these domains in an easy-to-understand auction-style interface. Combining all these tools to quickly find and resell high-value domains is not a bad idea.

Hypothetical: Arianna, a tech entrepreneur, wants to earn passive income by flipping domain names. She uses Squadhelp to identify profitable domains with high resale potential and Namecheap for keyword analysis. She flips her domains on the auction-style marketplace of her choice, which allows her to target many buyers.

Now, she earns up to $15,000 a month in passive income.

AI Tip 17: Crypto Staking

• Difficulty Level: Advanced
• Rationale: Extensive knowledge is required to understand all of the different blockchain networks and the types of rewards available
• Skills Needed: Knowledge of cryptocurrency and how to evaluate risk between different investments

Crypto has long been considered one of the best ways to earn passive income as long as you purchase low and sell high. However, you can also receive rewards and returns for owning crypto. This means securing transactions and validating blocks for tokens with two primary staking options: flexible unlocked staking and asymmetric staking. Each differs significantly regarding risk tolerance and the need for liquidity for short-term or long-term gains.

Three of our favorite crypto staking tools are Binance Earn, Nexo, and Coinbase Staking. Let’s explore what each does and what sets it apart.

Tool #1: Binance Earn

If you’re looking for flexible crypto investment options, Binance Earn is one of the best platforms. You can earn passive income by staking savings and liquidity farming on fixed and flexible terms. Plus, it supports many currencies, including the mainstream players Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

You can earn high-interest rates on specific coins or flexible deposits; all use an easy-to-use interface that works equally well for new and experienced investors.

Tool #2: Nexo

If you want to focus more on crypto lending and earning interest, then Nexo is the way to go. You can earn up to 12% interest on crypto deposits, including stablecoins. Plus, it offers a credit line to borrow against your crypto holdings and crypto-backed loans to earn interest. Consider one of the best ways to earn passive income as long as you’re experienced.

Plus, there’s an extra layer of security with insurance on your crypto-backed assets.

Tool #3: Coinbase Staking

If you’re looking for a solid staking platform, then Coinbase Staking is another option for you. You can enjoy staking rewards on key coins like Ethereum, Solana, and Algorand using an easy-to-use interface. Plus, there’s no minimum required for many tokens, which is especially useful for automatic staking.

With a flexible rewards payout schedule that can be as frequent as every few days, it’s a neat way to earn passive income. Thanks to its intuitive platform, it’s one of the better beginner options.

Binance Earn and Coinbase Staking are your best bets if you’re looking for the most flexibility. If you’re more focused on earning interest while maintaining your liquidity options using crypto-backed loans, consider Nexo.

Hypothetical: John, a web developer, has expressed interest in crypto staking for passive income. He relies on Binance for flexible crypto investment options and Nexo to earn interest on deposits. He also uses Coinbase Staking for actual diversification and regularly pitches it to beginner traders, as it’s much less sophisticated than Binance. Now, he earns anywhere from $15,000 a month to $25,000 a month in passive income.

AI Tip 18: AI-Generated Stock Photography

Difficulty Level: Beginner
Rationale: No photography skills are required to build compelling and visually striking images
Skills Needed: Basic image editing and how to work with different licensing platforms like Shutterstock

The 18th way of generating passive income through AI is through stock photography. Now, anyone from photographer entrepreneurs to beginners can create and sell images, and images can be produced in bulk. For example, you may have a Tumblr website where you constantly provide customers with new ideas. Plus, you can even take advantage of original stock photos that are meant for commercial use.

Three of our favorite AI-generated stock photography tools are Runway ML, Artbreeder, and Shutterstock.

Tool #1: Runway ML

Runway ML is an excellent place to start if you want to generate custom stock photos. Some visuals are the most stunning, and the platform can accommodate different styles and teams. It also works with animations and videos. As a bonus, teams can collaborate to create an edit that works for more significant projects managed by more than one person.

Plus, it’s very easy to integrate with Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Pro and works equally well for beginners and professionals.

Tool #2: Artbreeder

Another winner in the AI image generation space is Artbreeder. Users can work together to blend different AI models for more customized images, including portraits, landscapes, and abstract art. You can even collaborate with other users to remix and share art. It’s an excellent place to get customized images for your website or social media ads.

Tool #3: Shutterstock

Shutterstock has one of the largest collections of stock photos, including AI-generated images. Now, you can create stock images on the platform and access millions of AI-generated and traditional stock photos.

Hypothetical: Gilbert, a 20-year photography business veteran, wants to expand his business and sell AI-generated stock photography to supplement his income. With Ruway ML, he can create custom stock photos across different themes for all formats, including website backgrounds and social media posts. Plus, he’s expressed interest in working with other collaborators on sponsorships within the platform. He also uses Artbreeder to focus on portrait and landscape-based imagery, allowing him to add them to personalized websites. Lastly, he can pull AI-generated and traditional stock images from Shutterstock, licensing them for profit. Now, he earns roughly $10,000 a month in passive income.

AI Tip 19: AI Chatbots for Business Leads

Difficulty Level: Advanced
Rationale: Depending on the level of complexity across different formats like websites and mobile applications
Skills Needed: Chatbot design, how to build leads and analyze customer engagement metrics for SMS, social media, and websites

AI chatbots are a great place to start if you want a faster way to generate business leads and interact with all your customers.

Three of our top recommendations are Salesloft, MobileMoney, and Botpress.

Tool #1: Salesloft

Promising 30% more Pipeline with 30% less work, Salesloft specializes in AI-driven chatbots that help you capture leads, assist customers, and sell your product. It can answer all your questions and qualify your leads using its patented AI platform (powered by GPT), which integrates with all of the popular CRM platforms to make managing your sales funnel easier.

Arguably, its number one attribute is its focus on real-time communication, so you don’t need live sales representatives to provide any support.

Tool #2: MobileMonkey (Customers.ai)

Since being rebranded as Customers.ai, it allows you to place all of your Anonymous Shoppers into an email ad and direct mail funnel for retargeting. All you need to do is launch Meta and Google ads, activate your remarketing ad audiences, and expand your reach by targeting them in other ways for increased revenue with targeted flows depending on what they do (e.g., New versus returning customers).

It also works with direct mail, where you can identify visitors’ home addresses and send personalized postcards, drawing users back to your website.

Tool #3: Botpress

Telling itself to complete the AI agent platform, Botpress is an open-source development platform that allows marketers to customize their customer service chatbot experiences highly. For example, it offers pre-built templates and robust MLP capabilities to take it further.

One of the best things about Botpress is that it is compatible with popular chat platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.

In short, if you’re looking for a conversational marketing focus, go with SalesLoft. Suppose you’re looking for a single-use interface with a chat box that allows you to interact with customers browsing multiple platforms like websites and social media. In that case, MobileMonkey is the way to go. Botpress is better served by developers requiring more advanced AI capabilities through complex workflows and deep NLP needs.

Hypothetical: Bob enjoys a 12,500 monthly passive income stream by automating leads using AI conversational marketing to do everything from lead capture to building the sales pipeline for his business. For example, Salesloft helped him increase the sales pipeline by 40% using an AI chatbot that simultaneously answered dozens of customer inquiries, allowing him to free up resources for other parts of the business. He also leveraged Customers.ai to target Anonymous Shoppers and retarget them. Can we target shoppers through email campaigns to drive them down the funnel? The developer suggested even greater functionality and reach across WhatsApp and Telegram.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much money can I make with AI?

The money you can make on AI depends on the national tool you use, your developed expertise, and your monetization efforts.

For example, potential earnings on AI-generated stock photography can net you anywhere from $500 to $5,000 a month, and you can earn licensing fees anywhere from a dollar to $200 per image. It’s not uncommon for many artists with popular portfolios to make thousands of dollars per month, especially with a substantial marketing boost supported by other AI tools.

On the flip side, if you focus on domain name flipping, you can earn $500 to $50,000 monthly. The amount you earn is directly proportional to your ability to absorb information, identify trending domain names, buy them at rock-bottom prices, and resell them for as much profit as possible. In many cases, premium domains have even sold for at least $100,000.

Lastly, consider maintaining an AI chatbot for customer support. Potential earnings range from $2,000 to $15,000 a month by helping businesses install, build, or sell AI chatbots, where you can earn off of setup and ongoing maintenance fees if you’re a web developer.

The passive income you can earn with any AI opportunity depends on your strategy and dedication to the craft.

How much do I need to invest to make money with AI tools?

It depends on the type of tool you’re using. For example, if you’re into AI-generated stock photography, all you need is domain hosting in a subscription ranging from $10 to $100 monthly. However, if you’re looking more toward AI chatbot development using tools like Drift AI, there may be a higher upfront fee to set it all up.

Are AI-generated businesses passive income?

A hands-off or fully hands-on approach depends on the type of AI business you’re running. For example, stock photography and domain flipping only require building a portfolio or securing a list of profitable domain names and listing them on the marketplaces, where you may occasionally have to interact with customers. Others, like blogging or AI voiceovers, require more legwork integrating other AI tools like Surfer SEO.

If you consider dividend or stock investing, you will see that it is a higher-level source of passive income since all you need to do is purchase the stock and wait in line with your risk tolerance and investment goals.

In short, it all depends on the business. Some businesses are more automated than others.

What is the best AI business for beginners?

If you’re new to the world of AI business, then we recommend pursuing your passion, considering other factors like startup costs, scalability, demand, and earnings potential.

For example, blogging and affiliate marketing are good choices for low startup costs and high scalability.

However, if you’re more focused on earning passive income with a growing portfolio, then stock, dividend, or AI-generated stock photography may work.

Domain flipping could work if you’re looking for quick flips and turnarounds.

Lastly, AI chat development could benefit you if you want much higher earnings potential with moderate to advanced technical expertise.

In short, it all depends on your specialty, your passions, and the types of tools you’re willing to use.

How do I market and sell AI-generated products?

Several ways to market your AI-generated products include but are not limited to freelance platforms, marketplaces, and affiliate partnerships.

Places like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, and PeoplePerHour make offering all your AI services, including voiceovers, chatbots, and more, easy. We recommend creating a professional keyword-optimized profile with competitive pricing (especially if you’re a beginner) and a robust portfolio. For example, include at least 20 sample clips if you’re selling AI-generated voiceovers. And if you’re selling an AI chatbot, produce at least two or three demo videos.

Other AI-generated businesses rely more on marketplaces like Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, and AudioJungle, which you can use to sell your AI-generated images, stock photography, and music for licensing. This way, you generate passive income every time someone downloads your content.

Conclusion

There are virtually endless opportunities to make money with AI. Determining how passive your income is depends on your chosen niche, your level of expertise, and how you market your product or service. Remember that some business models have higher earnings potential and a lower or higher degree of automation versus a hands-off approach.

By marketing your product effectively through the appropriate marketplaces and refining your marketing strategy with an open willingness to adapt to changing scenarios, you’ll be on your way to earning a steady stream of income no matter what level of the game you’re at.