Laziest Way to Make Money with AI in 2025: 5 Proven Strategies to Generate AI Income

If you’re curious about how to make money with AI in 2025, especially as a beginner starting from zero, you’re in the right place. Drawing from years of experience as an internet marketing technologist, I’m sharing the five easiest, laziest ways to generate AI income. These ideas rely on AI to do most of the heavy lifting and are real, sustainable business models — not get-rich-quick schemes.

In this article, I’ll walk you through each method, explaining the cost, effort, and earning potential. Plus, I’ll give you actionable steps on how to find customers and close deals. Whether you want to design, write, build, or automate, there’s something here for you.

1. AI Thumbnail Design: Cash in on YouTube’s Visual Goldmine

You’ve seen those eye-catching thumbnails on YouTube that make you click, right? Designing these high-converting thumbnails using AI tools like Midjourney, Photoshop, and Canva AI can be a surprisingly lucrative way to make money with AI.

Here’s the reality: it’s not just about throwing any prompt into an AI image generator and calling it a day. Successful thumbnail design requires analyzing what works, creating quality images, and iterating based on trends. The barrier to entry is low, effort is moderate, and the income potential is high.

On the low end, you can make around $50 a day by designing five thumbnails at $10 each. On the high end, professionals invest in 4 to 8 thumbnails daily at $50 each, earning $200 to $400 a day.

Why do people pay for this? Because YouTube pros understand that thumbnails drive views and revenue. I once visited a friend’s company and met a dedicated thumbnail designer working on five channels simultaneously — proof that this is a real and scalable business.

How to Get Started with AI Thumbnail Design

1. Analyze Viral Thumbnails: Use tools like One of Ten and View Stats to study dozens of viral thumbnails in your niche. Trends shift, so staying current is key.
2. Build a Portfolio: Collect your favorite thumbnails as reference and inspiration for your own designs.
3. Model Best Performers: Use ChatGPT to upload your portfolio and generate new, improved thumbnails based on proven winners.

Finding Customers: The Audit to Deal Process

1. Pick a Niche: Automotive, personal development, doctors, running — the riches lie in niches you care about.
2. Scrape Leads: Build a targeted list of potential clients through LinkedIn and other research.
3. Run an Audit: Review their YouTube channel, provide actionable suggestions in a short Loom video, and show what you’d improve.
4. Offer Your Service: Provide a low-risk, fast-action offer or guarantee to get your foot in the door. Once paid, deliver great work and upsell ongoing services.

2. AI Blog Generation: Create Content That Ranks and Converts

Content is still king, and AI-powered blog generation is a smart way to make money with AI by creating highly specific content that drives awareness and sales for clients. The trick is to create content for every stage of the funnel — top, mid, and bottom — and optimize it for AI search engines.

With AI becoming the new search interface, companies want their content to rank inside AI language models like ChatGPT so they get recommended for relevant queries. Starting costs are minimal, effort is low, and potential income is medium. While AI can pump out multiple blogs quickly, the human touch is still needed for storytelling and originality.

On the low end, expect to make $200 to $500 a day. One client of mine, Timmer, uses AI to create SEO blog posts from podcasts and makes over $100,000 a month doing this.

How to Start AI Blog Generation

1. Model Then Modify: Use tools like SEMrush or Ubersuggest to find the top blogs in your niche and identify patterns.
2. Create a Portfolio: Use ChatGPT to write sample blog posts inspired by the best blogs without copying.
3. Rank in Search: Use tools like Rank.ai to optimize posts for Google and AI language models.

To find paying clients, use the same audit to deal process by showing potential clients how you can improve their SEO and content strategy.

3. Faceless YouTube Channels: Build Passive Income with AI-Generated Content

This one surprised me. Faceless YouTube channels — where no one is on camera — are thriving. These channels use AI-generated scripts, voiceovers, and b-roll footage to create engaging content that can earn tens of thousands of dollars monthly through ads and affiliate links.

Costs and effort are medium because you need editing software and storytelling skills. The potential is high: smaller channels might make $10–$50 per day, but established ones can earn $500 or more daily.

How to Launch a Faceless YouTube Channel

1. Pick a Niche: Choose categories with high CPMs or affiliate opportunities.
2. Create Scripts: Use ChatGPT to outline narratives and develop your unique voice and video style.
3. Build Your Avatar: Use tools like Synthesia or Eleven Labs for AI avatars to narrate your scripts without showing your face.
4. Post and Iterate: Focus on continuous improvement — each video should be 1% better than the last.

4. AI Website Building: Build and Scale Websites for Small Businesses

Every new business needs a website, and with 22 million small businesses in North America alone, the demand is huge. AI-powered no-code website builders let you create websites faster and cheaper than ever before, while still charging premium prices.

Costs are low, effort is medium (you’ll need some technical skills like hosting), and potential income is massive. On the low end, you can make $100 per day building one site, and on the high end, $500 to $1,000 daily by managing multiple clients and upselling SEO, hosting, and automations.

How to Get Started with AI Website Building

1. Pick a No-Code Builder: Get proficient with tools like Framer AI, Bolt, or Reeloom.
2. Generate Custom Copy & Visuals: Use ChatGPT for copywriting and Midjourney for imagery.
3. Build Sample Websites: Create two to three demo sites to showcase your skills to potential clients.

Use the audit to deal process again to approach businesses and show them the value you can provide.

5. AI Automation Agency: Streamline Business Workflows and Get Paid Handsomely

This is the hottest opportunity right now. AI automation agencies help businesses reduce complexity by automating repetitive workflows using AI and software integrations. The cost is medium, effort is medium (there’s a learning curve), but the potential is very high.

I even taught my twelve-year-old how to build automation workflows. Anyone willing to learn can do this. Automation frees people to focus on creativity and results by offloading routine tasks to AI.

On the low end, you can make $200 a day with one or two small clients. On the high end, you could earn $1,000 to $2,500+ daily by integrating complex systems, improving lead generation, and optimizing backend workflows for bigger clients.

How to Start an AI Automation Agency

1. Create a Course of Action: Ask ChatGPT for detailed startup steps for an automation agency.
2. Master One Use Case: Focus deeply on one area like cold outreach, onboarding, or bot building — specialists earn more.
3. Join a Community: Surround yourself with others learning automation, such as Dave Ebelar’s or Steven Pope’s communities.

Instead of audits, offer to fix problems for free in exchange for case studies and testimonials. Deliver great results, and clients will keep you and refer you.

Suggested Tools & Resources:

Straico — Multi-LLM AI tool that we use for almost all of our projects!
AppSumo — Get LIFTIME deals on the latest AI and Marketing Tools!

Final Thoughts: Start Small, Use AI, and Build Your AI Income

Making money with AI in 2025 doesn’t mean you need to build complex software from scratch. Whether it’s designing thumbnails, writing blogs, running faceless YouTube channels, building websites, or automating workflows, AI can be your powerful partner.

Pick a niche you love, leverage AI tools, and use simple but effective sales processes like the audit to deal method to find and close clients. Remember, the most successful AI entrepreneurs combine human creativity with AI efficiency.

So get started today, keep pushing forward, embrace AI, and watch your AI income grow.