5 ways to make money with AI (and where to start each, free)
Hey, it's Cindy 🌱 These are the five paths from the reel, with every link. Each one comes with the exact free place to begin.
btw the waitlist for AI System Club is now open! If you're keen on using AI to automate your content, video editing, job search, business or build AI agents, feel free to sign up (only if you want to hehe). Ps. the waitlist gets first dibs:)
The one rule that decides whether this works. Do not try all five. The reason most people make nothing with AI is that they hop between all of these and go deep on none. Pick one this week, commit to it for 90 days, and ignore the other four until it is working.
5 paths
The 5 paths, lowest barrier to biggest ceiling
🛒 Sell tiny AI products. Prompt packs, Notion templates, small AI tools. The lowest barrier because you can ship one this week. Start free on Gumroad, which costs nothing until you actually make a sale, so there is no risk to launching.
💼 Freelance your AI skills. Do the AI task businesses do not have time for. On Upwork, demand for AI skills jumped 109% year over year, and AI video is one of the fastest-growing gigs on the platform (Upwork In-Demand Skills 2026). Set up a profile and pitch one narrow service.
🎬 Make faceless AI videos. Build a niche channel where AI does the heavy lifting and you never show your face. Adam Del Duca teaches the whole faceless YouTube playbook for free (search his name on YouTube), which is more than enough to start.
🏢 Automate local businesses. Sell simple automations to the gyms, clinics, and salons near you. Nick Saraev walks through the exact cold email and the build, free on YouTube at @nicksaraev. Higher ceiling because these clients pay real retainers.
🚀 Build an AI automation agency. The biggest ceiling: recurring clients, real systems, a team eventually. Liam Ottley's free Skool has a 57-video course and over 300,000 people doing exactly this (AI Automation Agency Hub).
pick one
Not sure which one is you?
The paths are ordered by barrier and ceiling, but the right one depends on your time, your comfort on camera, and your current skills. Let Claude match you honestly:
🎯 match me to one path
I want to start making money with AI but I keep jumping between ideas. Here is my situation: I have about [X hours] a week, I am [comfortable / not comfortable] on camera, my current skills are [list], and I would like to earn my first [amount] within 90 days.
Based on these five paths, selling AI products, freelancing, faceless video, local business automation, and building an automation agency, tell me the ONE that fits me best and exactly why. Then give me the first three steps to take this week and the single free resource to learn from, and tell me which paths to ignore for now.
ship this week
4 first offers you could launch this week
If you picked selling products or freelancing, here are four things simple enough to put out in days, not months.
A prompt pack 20-30 genuinely useful prompts for one specific job (real estate agents, teachers, coaches). Sell it on Gumroad.
A Notion template An AI-powered tracker or content system. Templates sell well because buyers want the structure, not to build it.
A 15-minute AI audit Review a small business's workflow and hand them three automations to run. Easy first freelance offer.
One done-for-you automation Pick a single painful task (follow-ups, lead replies) and sell the setup. Narrow beats broad when you are starting.
Momentum comes from shipping one small thing, not from planning the perfect business. Launch the tiny version this week, get one real bit of feedback, and improve from there.
the waitlist is now open
AI System Club is launching soon
Build AI systems with me through recorded lessons you can follow at your own pace. Join the waitlist for first access and the founding price.
btw this list gets first dibs the moment doors open :)