Passive income: YES

Starting a digital marketing agency as a side hustle has the potential to generate passive income, but it typically requires significant upfront effort to set up automated systems and processes. Costs range from $500 to $2000 for initial tools and resources. It can take 6 months to 1 year to start seeing profits, with outliers reaching passive income levels sooner. To make this hustle passive, you would need to establish efficient client management systems, automated marketing strategies, and potentially outsource certain tasks. While some individuals achieve passive income in this field, it's more common for ongoing involvement to be required for client acquisition and service delivery. Misleading expectations often involve underestimating the time and effort needed to scale to a truly passive income level.