How I Built a Passive Income Bot on My Phone With No Coding Experience
Six months ago, if you’d told me I’d be earning extra money each month from automated bots running on my phone, I’d have laughed. I’m a teaching assistant from Manchester with absolutely zero coding knowledge. The most technical thing I’d ever done was set up a complicated email filter. Yet here I am, with three different automation bots quietly working away in the background whilst I get on with my life.
This isn’t a get-rich-quick story. I’m not going to promise you’ll be sipping cocktails on a beach within a month. What I can share is exactly how an ordinary person like me figured out how to use AI and automation tools to create genuine passive income streams – all from my smartphone, without writing a single line of code.
Why I Started Looking Into Automation
Like many people in the UK right now, I was feeling the squeeze. Energy bills had gone through the roof, the weekly shop was costing more than ever, and my savings account was earning a pittance in interest. I needed to find ways to bring in extra income, but I didn’t have time for a second job.
I started researching side hustles online and kept stumbling across terms like “automation,” “AI tools,” and “passive income bots.” Most of what I found was either too technical or felt a bit scammy. But I persisted, and eventually discovered that there were genuine, accessible tools that everyday people could use.
The key realisation was this: you don’t need to know how to code to use automation tools. Modern apps and platforms have done the hard work for you. Your job is simply to set them up and point them in the right direction.
My First Bot: Automated Reselling Alerts
My very first automation was embarrassingly simple, but it worked. I set up a bot to monitor deal websites and send me instant alerts when specific items dropped in price – items I knew sold well on reselling platforms.
The Tools I Used
- IFTTT (If This Then That) – A free app that connects different services together
- Google Sheets – To track my purchases and profits
- Telegram – To receive instant notifications
I created what IFTTT calls an “applet” – essentially a simple rule that says “if this happens, then do that.” Mine was: “If a new post appears in this RSS feed containing these keywords, send me a Telegram message.”
Within the first week, I’d spotted a deal on some Bluetooth headphones that were selling for £15 but typically went for £35-40 on eBay. I bought three, sold them all within a few days, and made about £45 profit after fees. Not life-changing, but it was proof that this actually worked.
Levelling Up: Content Automation
Encouraged by my early success, I started exploring more sophisticated automations. I’d heard that content creation could generate passive income through affiliate marketing, but I barely had time to write shopping lists, let alone blog posts.
That’s when I discovered AI writing assistants and automation platforms like Make (formerly Integromat) and Zapier. These tools let you create “workflows” – chains of automated actions that can do quite complex things.
My Content Bot Setup
- I use an AI tool to help me draft content ideas based on trending topics in my niche (budget home tech)
- The draft gets saved to a Google Doc where I review and edit it
- Once approved, another automation formats it and schedules it to my simple WordPress blog
- Social media posts are automatically created and scheduled to promote each article
I want to be completely transparent here: I still spend about 2-3 hours per week on this. The AI creates drafts, but I always review, edit, and add my own voice. The passive bit comes from the scheduling and promotion – that all happens automatically whilst I’m doing other things.
The blog now earns around £150-200 per month through affiliate links to Amazon and other UK retailers. It took about four months to get to this point, and the first two months earned virtually nothing. Patience is essential.
The Investment Bot: Proceed With Caution
This is where I need to be especially careful with my words, because this involves real financial risk.
I’d read about automated investment tools and was curious. In the UK, we’re fortunate to have access to several FCA-regulated platforms that offer automated investing features. These aren’t dodgy trading bots promising 1000% returns – they’re legitimate services that use algorithms to manage diversified portfolios.
What I Actually Did
I opened a Stocks and Shares ISA with one of the popular robo-advisor platforms available in the UK. These platforms ask you questions about your goals and risk tolerance, then automatically invest your money across a diversified range of funds. They also automatically rebalance your portfolio over time.
Important points about my experience:
- I only invested money I could genuinely afford to lose
- I started with just £50 per month to test the waters
- I chose a relatively cautious risk profile
- The platform I use is fully authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
After six months, my portfolio is up about 4%. But here’s the honest truth: it could just as easily be down. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results, and the value of investments can fall as well as rise. I’ve accepted that this money is locked away for the long term – at least 5-10 years.
The “automation” here is that I’ve set up a direct debit to invest £100 per month automatically. The platform handles everything else. It’s genuinely passive, but it’s not magic money – it’s investing with all the risks that entails.
Tools That Made It All Possible
For anyone wanting to follow a similar path, here are the main tools I’d recommend exploring:
Free or Low-Cost Automation Platforms
- IFTTT – Perfect for beginners, with a generous free tier
- Zapier – More powerful, with a free tier that’s good for testing
- Make – Very visual workflow builder, great for more complex automations
AI Assistants
- ChatGPT – Brilliant for brainstorming, drafting content, and problem-solving
- Claude – Excellent for longer writing tasks and analysis
- Google’s AI tools – Increasingly integrated into products you might already use
UK-Regulated Investment Platforms
- Look for platforms authorised by the FCA
- Consider whether a Stocks and Shares ISA makes sense for your situation (up to £20,000 per tax year, with gains sheltered from tax)
- Research robo-advisors that suit your risk appetite
What I’ve Learned Along the Way
Building these automations has taught me several valuable lessons that I wish I’d known at the start:
Start smaller than you think. My first successful automation took about 20 minutes to set up. You don’t need a complex system to begin generating results.
Passive doesn’t mean zero effort. Every “passive” income stream requires setup time and occasional maintenance. The goal is to minimise ongoing effort, not eliminate it entirely.