How to Actually Make Money Online: 5 Passive Income Ideas to Start with $100

Cult Insight

Learn how to start a print-on-demand business with less than $100 - a passive income stream you can build while working full-time, without managing inventory or upfront costs.  DISCLAIMERS & DISCLOSURES  This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only. I does not provide tax or investment advice. The information is being presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance, or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.   Thank you for your support!  *T&C's apply

Transcript

00:00Hi, I'm Nisha. I'm a qualified accountant and a former investment banker, and I used to think

00:04that you needed thousands to start making passive income. Turns out, I was completely wrong. So in

00:10this video, I'm sharing five ways you can start building passive income with less than $100.

00:16I'll show you exactly how to get started, what to expect, and how much you can realistically

00:21make from each one. Starting with number one, passive income through investing. This is probably

00:27the most boring one on this list if it's also the most accessible and the most passive, and that is

00:34high interest accounts and investing. And you might be watching this thinking, Nisha, how is a saving

00:40account going to make me rich? It's not. I'm not going to lie to you. It won't make you rich. But

00:45this is about building the habits, realizing how passive income feels, because once you get a taste

00:50of it, you'll want to keep going. And that's really what this is about. Getting started and proving to

00:55yourself that your money can work for you, even if it is just $100. So let me break down the two

01:00options for you and tell you exactly what you need to do step by step. First, the high interest

01:05savings account, also called high yield savings account. They're basically bank accounts that

01:09actually pay you decent interest. We're talking 45% annually right now. And this is mostly for online

01:14banks. Compare that to the 0.01% most traditional banks give you, and it's a no-brainer. Then there's

01:21investing. But I'm not talking about trying to pick the next stock. I'm talking about putting small

01:24amounts, maybe it's $20, $50, $70, whatever you can manage, into something like an all-world fund

01:30or the S&P 500 that has historically generated between 8% to 10% annually over different 10% to

01:3520% year timeframes. Both of these are passive in probably the truest sense. Your money is literally

01:42working while you sleep. So how do you get started? For saving accounts, go on websites like Bankrate

01:47or Money Saving Expert and compare their rates. Look for accounts with no fees, government protection

01:54and easy withdrawals. Most of these accounts have a cap to how much you could put in or how much they'll

01:59pay you interest on. So if you have quite a lot of savings, then you want to split up your savings

02:03across different accounts and maximize the amount that you're going to make interest on. So using real

02:08numbers, if you put $100 into a 5% high interest savings account, you'll earn about $5 per year.

02:13Small, but completely risk-free. Scale that up to $10,000, that earns about $500 per year. And that's

02:19purely passive. My high interest savings account pays me daily. So the interest is the same, but it

02:24pays out daily. And so that really feels like I'm making a quick win every single day. It's tangible.

02:29I could see it growing. For investing, there are loads of apps, Vanguard, Invest Engine, Trading 212.

02:35Choose the diversified funds like the ones I mentioned. And let's say you use an app that

02:39automatically invests $1 per day. That's about $365 per year you're investing. Over 20 years,

02:45assuming a 7% annual return, that goes to nearly $15,000 or from what's basically spare change.

02:51If you want to go from complete beginner to having a diversified portfolio and a roadmap to financial

02:56freedom within six weeks, then I am hosting an Investing Accelerator Bootcamp. The waitlist is about

03:03to close. You can find out all the information in the link in the description. The second one is

03:08print-on-demand. If you've been wanting to start an online business, but you don't want to risk money

03:13on inventory, this one is perfect. And for that, I want to introduce Gelato, which is today's sponsor.

03:19Gelato is a print-on-demand platform that lets you design and sell all kinds of custom products from

03:24t-shirts, mugs, photo books, calendars, posters, with no upfront costs and without ever holding inventory.

03:30So when someone orders from your store, Gelato handles everything from the printing,

03:36the packaging, and the shipping. What makes Gelato stand out is they produce locally in over 30

03:40countries. So if a customer orders in London, the product is printed and shipped from the UK.

03:46If another orders in Sydney, it's produced and shipped right there in Australia. That means

03:50faster delivery, lower costs, and a much smaller carbon footprint compared to traditional manufacturing.

03:55So how do you get started? Super easy. First, you need to sign up. It's completely free.

03:59Gelato.com forward slash Nisha. Then connect your store, whether it's Etsy, Shopify, TikTok shop,

04:05or even Amazon. After that, pick your product from Gelato's huge catalog, upload your design,

04:10and create your mock-up using their magic mock-ups feature. Set your description, decide your price,

04:16and then publish to your store. In less than 10 minutes, you could have your first product ready

04:20to sell. And if you want to check quality beforehand, you could order samples to your door.

04:24They let me trial out the platform, and I ordered this product. It was a really smooth process.

04:29Calendar is great quality. I even got my name on it. The thing is, with print-on-demand,

04:34you never know what's going to take off. So it takes trialing and testing with as many designs you

04:39can and seeing what lands. I recommend picking a niche that lines up with your interests because

04:43you'll be the one creating the content and promoting it. So the more it fits you,

04:47the easier it is to keep going long-term. An example of someone who's done this, Rachel Roffey,

04:52who's an early print-on-demand entrepreneur, she shared how one of her mug designs sold thousands

04:57of units and has generated more than 4 million in sales, according to an article online.

05:02So if you've been waiting for the right time to start, this is it. Head over to gelato.com

05:06forward slash Nisha to sign up for free. And with a link in the description, you'll also get 50%

05:11off your first order within two days of signing up. Thank you so much, Gelato, for sponsoring today's

05:16video. Next, moving on to number three, and that is rental properties. Now, when most people think

05:20about real estate investing or property investing, they picture buying a whole property with tens of

05:25thousands on a down payment, if not more, getting a mortgage, dealing with tenants, but you don't

05:30need tens of thousands to invest in real estate. And like the title of this video says, you can start

05:35investing in real estate now with as little as $100 or whatever money you have through REITs. That is

05:42real estate investment trusts. These are essentially stocks in companies that own a lot of real estate.

05:48So instead of owning a property directly yourself, you just buy stock in a company that owns a lot

05:55of properties. It's kind of the same thing. So here's what makes REITs really interesting.

05:59They're legally required to pay out 90% of their profits to shareholders in the form of dividends.

06:06So when these companies collect all the rent payments, they're going to pass on 90% of that

06:10to you. REITs are a good option because instead of one property, you get exposure to thousands of

06:14different properties that gives you a huge amount of diversification. Plus the REIT has professional

06:20management, so they know how to manage huge portfolios of real estate. So you kind of get

06:25the benefit of professional management, passive income, diversification, and you don't have to do

06:30anything yourself. It's very different to actually owning real estate. There are REITs that invest in

06:34apartment buildings, in commercial properties, like shopping centers and data centers. There's even ones

06:40that invest only in things like storage facilities or specific sectors. The dividend yield can range

06:45anywhere between 2% to 6%. And you're also getting the potential appreciation when the stock price

06:50goes up. So it's a nice thing to have in your overall portfolio. A lot of platforms let you invest

06:55in REIT with as little as $50 to $100 or the equivalent for whatever currency or country you're in.

07:01Moving on to number four, and that is affiliate marketing. And I'll be honest, this one gets a bit of a

07:07bad reputation because all the videos out there that says I'll make $10,000 a month from affiliate

07:12income and things like that. That said, when I started creating videos online, affiliate income

07:18was my only income stream for a very long time. And I would say as a content creator, it's actually the

07:24most accessible income stream. You don't need many followers at all to start earning a little bit from

07:30your affiliate income. Unlike sponsors or selling products, it takes building an audience to be able to

07:36monetize those two. Or even YouTube ad sets, you need a thousand subscribers to start making money

07:40from YouTube. But affiliate income, the barrier to entry to start making money for affiliate income

07:46is a lot lower. I definitely wasn't making thousands from this. I was making maybe $20, $30, $40 or

07:51equivalent a month from recommended products I actually used. With this, the easiest way to scale it is you do

07:57have to create content, maybe blog posts, newsletters, TikToks, and include links to products that you

08:03actually use. So when someone clicks your link and buys something via your link, you get a small

08:09commission off of that. That's how affiliate income works. So breaking this down for you, you can start

08:14this completely for free if you start a newsletter, subscription through Medium, Substack, or even you

08:19start posting content on TikTok. I suggest starting with a niche that you know really well. Don't try to

08:24review random products that you've never used. Choose something you use daily, maybe finance apps,

08:29productivity tools, books you're reading, whatever you're already spending money on anyway. And then

08:34the more aligned your content is that you're creating, the more likely it is that someone

08:37who's watching your content will end up clicking on the link to check out whatever it is that you're

08:42recommending. In terms of affiliate programs, loads of companies have them. Amazon Associates is the

08:47most obvious and most popular one. Apply to three to four programs in your niche. Banks and investment

08:52platforms are another one. Plum, Trading 212, Notion, they all have affiliate links. And then start

08:57creating some useful content around it. So to give you some real numbers so you know what to expect,

09:02Amazon pays around one to three percent commission in most categories. So if someone buys a $50 item

09:07through your link, you might earn 50 cents or $1.50. And you might also get a percentage on anything else

09:12that they buy within that 24-hour time frame. But again, with the idea of this video, it is just

09:17seeing what's possible, building the habits, and understanding how passive income works. Because once you get

09:23that feeling, you're going to want to do it more. Some of my first videos still earned me small

09:27commissions years later via Amazon links, and I've done absolutely nothing to maintain them. And so

09:32if you are looking to potentially start on the content creation or start your own newsletter or

09:38start a blog, then this is one of the most accessible ways to make money before waiting for

09:43sponsors or before making your own product or before relying on any other stream of income, which

09:49usually takes a lot longer to monetize. And number five, creating and selling digital products.

09:55This one is one of my favorite because I do it myself. And it's also a way to package whatever

10:00knowledge that you already have into something that is very scalable, accessible, and can get to

10:07people in all parts of the world. So how this works, you create a product once, maybe it's a PDF,

10:12it's a guide, it's an ebook, it's a video course, and then you could sell unlimited copies without

10:17any extra work. There's no printing, no shipping, no stock to manage. Whether 10 people buy or 10,000

10:24people buy it, the effort really stays the same. Digital products sound amazing, and I really do

10:29think they are, but there are a few downsides to know about. First is saturation. Because it's so

10:34easy to create, lots of people are doing it. You're not competing with a handful of local businesses as

10:39you would with physical products anymore. You're competing with people all over the world. That means your

10:44product has to solve a very specific problem or stand out in a very crowded space. The second

10:50downside is copying. On marketplaces like Etsy, if you make something good, chances are someone will

10:56just buy it and copy it and tweak it and then sell their version. You'll lose some profit here and there

11:01and it's part of the reality. And then third is the perception. Some buyers still don't value digital

11:07products in the same way they value physical ones. That's why pricing here really matters. The flip side,

11:13however, is the margins are incredible. With physical products, even if you've got healthy

11:18profits, you're still covering things like materials, packaging, shipping. With digital,

11:23once you've made the product, every extra sale is basically pure profit. And because you don't have

11:27to fulfill the orders, you also free up your time and location. You literally can make sales while

11:33you're asleep or away on holiday. And that's the kind of freedom that physical products don't really

11:38match. So if you're a beginner here, the best way to start is to keep things very simple.

11:41Don't overthink it. Cut down the options and pick one product you actually understand.

11:46Build on what you already know. Look at things you've bought recently or problems you've sold.

11:51And then ask yourself, could I package this solution for others? Stick to the basics. Make

11:56sure your product clearly solves a problem. Your photos stand out and your listing is easy to find

12:01through search. And if it's your first time, start on a very beginner-friendly platform like Etsy.

12:05It already has buyers built in, which makes getting traction much easier than starting from scratch

12:11on your own site. You're no longer trading time for money. You're selling the knowledge once and

12:15then you're getting paid for it again and again. And there's nothing quite like getting a notification

12:19for a sale while you're asleep or away from your desk. And then I wanted to round up this video to say

12:25passive income is one of those buzzwords that gets thrown around a lot. Usually with a palm tree in the

12:32background and someone telling you that they make $50,000 a month while sipping cocktails on a beach.

12:36The idea that's often sold is that you set something up once, you walk away and money just

12:40flows into your account forever. But the reality is nothing is truly passive from day one. You've got

12:46to write that ebook. You've got to create that content. You've got to research those funds and

12:51those REITs. You've got to set up those systems. The passive part only comes after you've put in the

12:56effort. And even then it's not completely hands-off. You'll need to update things occasionally. You need to

13:01respond to questions. You might need to hire a team to manage some of the stuff for you. What makes

13:06these income streams valuable isn't that they're effortless. It is that they can eventually earn

13:11you money whilst you're doing other things. And a lot of my business model has turned from active

13:16income to passive income. It's still a lot of work. Don't get me wrong, but there is something

13:20very rewarding about making money that's not necessarily tied to you or your time. And that's what

13:25this video really is about. You might think, oh, it's just $20 or another $50 here. But when you're

13:30doing this, when you start making passive income, what you're really doing is learning how you can

13:34make money work for you instead of you always working for money. You're building skills, you're

13:39understanding markets, you're creating systems, and some of these will work for you and some of them

13:43won't. And that's totally fine. The goal isn't to get rich. It's just to start somewhere and then

13:48build something that grows over time. Because even if it takes a year to earn your first $500 in

13:52passive income, that's still $500 you didn't have to trade your time for. So it's absolutely worth

13:57exploring. Thank you so much for watching. If you haven't already, don't forget to subscribe

14:00and see you in the next one.

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