Let’s face it—most online income strategies people talk about are far from lazy. Filling out surveys, being a virtual assistant, selling on Etsy, or even running a YouTube channel with your face on it all require ongoing, repetitive effort. They may be effective, but they’re not truly passive.
What if there was a smarter, lazier way to make money online that didn’t involve:
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Showing your face or being an influencer
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Creating your own product, course, or service
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Spending thousands on ads or inventory
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Doing the same tasks over and over again
And best of all, what if it had long-term earning potential—something you could set up once and keep earning from for months or even years?
Well, there is. In this article, I’ll walk you through the best lazy way to make money online using affiliate marketing and YouTube automation. Don’t worry—no need to get on camera, and you can stay completely behind the scenes.
Why Most “Lazy” Money-Making Methods Aren’t Really Lazy
Before we dive in, it’s important to understand what doesn’t work if your goal is true lazy, passive income:
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Online surveys: Low pay, repetitive work, and zero passive potential.
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Freelance jobs: Great for fast income, but if you stop working, the money stops too.
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Selling courses: High potential, but you have to build the product, market it, and support customers.
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Dropshipping or Amazon FBA: Still requires order management, ads, and customer service.
So, what is truly lazy? It’s building digital assets—like YouTube videos—that keep working for you long after you’ve created them.
Let’s get into the step-by-step process.
Step 1: Find an Interest That Aligns With a Profitable Niche
The first step is to find a topic you enjoy that also has proven market demand.
Here’s how:
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Open a Google Doc and write down at least 20 topics you’re interested in. These can be:
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Hobbies (e.g., fitness, cooking, gaming)
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What you read or watch for fun
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Topics you know a bit about (even casually)
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Compare your list with popular profitable niches such as:
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Health & Fitness
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Wealth & Investing
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Online Business
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Technology & Software
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Personal Development
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Productivity & Time Management
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Cross out any interests that don’t align with these major demand areas.
This step ensures that the content you’ll create later is not only easy for you to make but has real money-making potential.
Step 2: Choose a High-Payout Affiliate Product
Now that you’ve picked your niche, it’s time to find a ready-made product you can promote and earn a commission from. You won’t be creating your own product—you’ll simply partner with someone else’s.
Go to one of the following affiliate marketplaces:
Look for a high-ticket product, ideally one that sells for $500 or more and pays at least 40-50% commission.
For example, if a product costs $1,000 and you earn a 50% commission, you make $500 per sale. You’d only need one sale every two days to earn a comfortable $7,500/month.
Once you find a product that aligns with your niche, grab your unique affiliate link (also called a “magic link”). This is the link that tracks sales and ensures you get paid for anyone who buys through it.
Step 3: Create Lazy, Scalable YouTube Content
The next step is to create traffic-generating content that leads people to your affiliate product. But we’re going to do it without ever showing your face or filming anything fancy.
Here’s how:
1. Research Content Ideas
2. Create Written Scripts From the Top Videos
3. Turn the Script Into a Slideshow Video
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Go to YouTube
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Search your niche (e.g., “productivity hacks” or “tech reviews”)
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Find the top 3 channels in your niche
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Click their “Popular” tab
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Write down the top 10 video titles from each channel (30 total ideas)
These videos are already proven to work—you’re just going to remake them in your own way.
Open the most successful videos and watch them at 2x speed. Summarize the best points in your own words. Make sure the content is original (use Copyscape to check) and feel free to combine points from multiple videos.
You now have a script for your own video—without writing from scratch.
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Use Google Slides (free) to create a simple presentation.
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Add icons from Flaticon and free stock photos from Pexels or Pixabay.
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Use OBS Studio (also free) to record your screen while reading your script.
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If you don’t want to speak, hire a voiceover artist on Fiverr for $10–$20.
Now you have a complete video—without needing a camera or complex editing.
Step 4: Upload and Optimize for Views
Upload your video to YouTube and follow these tips to get traction:
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Use keywords in your title (e.g., “Top 10 Productivity Hacks”)
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Write a compelling description that includes your affiliate link
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Add your link as a pinned comment
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Create a simple thumbnail using tools like Canva
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Share the video on relevant forums or subreddits
Repeat this process to create and upload 3 videos per week. After a year, you’ll have 144 videos—and some of them will continue to bring in views and income for years.
Potential Earnings Breakdown
Bonus: 3 Ways to Make Even More (Without More Work)
1. Promote Subscription Products (Recurring Commissions)
2. Use Animated or Screen-Recorded Video Tools
3. Hire a Team to Do It All for You
Final Thoughts
Let’s run some numbers to show what’s possible with this lazy method:
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144 videos uploaded in a year
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10% (just 14 videos) become semi-viral
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Each of those 14 videos gets 10,000 views/month
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That’s 140,000 views/month total
If just 0.004% of viewers (about 1 in 25,000) buy your affiliate product…
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140,000 views = 56 buyers/month
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56 × $250 commission = $14,000/month
Obviously, results vary—but the potential is huge, and it requires no recurring labor once videos are published.
Some products—especially software—offer monthly commissions. For example:
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TubeBuddy
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VidIQ
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Email marketing tools
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Website hosting
When someone signs up through your link and stays subscribed, you get paid every month.
If you're in the tech, education, or motivational space, you can automate even more:
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Use VideoScribe or Animaker to make whiteboard-style explainer videos
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Use OBS Studio for tech tutorials or walkthroughs
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Reference channels like TechGumbo or Philosophies for Life that generate millions of views using these methods
Once you start earning, reinvest your profits to build a system:
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Hire a scriptwriter
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Hire a voiceover artist
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Hire a video editor
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Hire a thumbnail designer
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Manage the process in Trello for free
Now your business can run while you focus on strategy—or just relax.
This isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. It’s a build-once, earn-for-years system that rewards smart work, not hard work.
By creating value-packed videos around a niche you enjoy, promoting high-ticket or recurring affiliate products, and leveraging tools and outsourcing, you can build a real passive income stream that grows over time.
And best of all? You don’t have to show your face, create a product, or constantly trade your time for money.
This is, in my opinion, the laziest and most scalable way to make money online today.
