The digital world offers countless business opportunities. But as a beginner looking to start making money online, you might feel unsure about what to try and how likely you’d be to succeed.
To help you out, this article looks at different ways you can make money online. Whether you want to launch your own business, monetize skills you already have, or take on side gigs for extra income, here are 25 ideas on how to make money online for beginners.
25 ways to make money online as a beginner in 2025
From selling products online to taking online surveys and offering valuable services, this list contains something for everyone looking to start making money online.
1. Sell print-on-demand products
This is a beginner-friendly business model that doesn’t require major capital to get started but offers a good profit potential.
With POD, you create designs and sell products on your online store. When someone orders an item, your POD partner fulfills and ships the order to your customer. Most POD companies offer hundreds of products to customize, from custom t-shirts and other apparel to wall art and laptop sleeves, so you can sell pretty much anything.
How easy it is to start: Easy, minimal skills needed
Starting capital: Low (ecommerce platform fees)
Best for: Creative individuals, artists, designers
Time commitment: Can take weeks to set up and see sales, ongoing customer care, marketing, and store upkeep needed
Earning potential: Depends on your niche and marketing skills
2. Start a dropshipping business
If designing products isn’t your bag, but you like the idea of setting up your own online store, you can try dropshipping. It’s similar to POD, except you don’t customize the items you sell.
The dropshipping business model lets you offer trending products without buying them in bulk, so you don’t risk being left with unsold inventory when the trend fades away (remember fidget spinners?). You’ll need to do thorough research to find reliable suppliers and get a good idea of how to market your products—finding an audience and competing with other sellers can be tricky in a crowded market.
How easy it is to start: Moderate, requires selecting products and suppliers
Starting capital: Low (ecommerce platform fees)
Best for: Entrepreneurs, those interested in ecommerce
Time commitment: Weeks to set up, ongoing store upkeep needed
Earning potential: Depends on your niche and marketing skills
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3. Become a freelance writer
If you have a way with words, one of the best ways to make money online is to become a freelance writer. You can help companies with blog posts, emails, social media posts, creative pieces, and other content creation.
To get started, create a portfolio that showcases your writing style and decide on your rates. Then, consider where to promote your freelance services. There are different freelance websites to join, like Upwork and Fiverr. You can also look for potential customers in your network—share a post on LinkedIn or other social media platforms that says you’re available for freelance work.
How easy it is to start: Easy, if you have writing skills
Starting capital: None
Best for: Writers, editors
Time commitment: Hours to days, depending on content pieces
Earning potential: Depends on your rates
4. Sell your crafts on Etsy
If you love knitting, crocheting, or doing other crafts, you can earn money online by selling the items you make on Etsy, one of the most popular platforms for handmade products.
Handmade earrings on Etsy. Source: Etsy
Another bonus of Etsy is that it’s a relatively easy platform to get started with compared to other online marketplaces like Amazon. Etsy’s tools for listing products and communicating with customers are intuitive and tailored for beginners. While there’s a learning curve when it comes to ensuring your products get noticed, many tutorials are available to help you.
How easy it is to start: Easy, if you have items to sell
Starting capital: Materials for products and listing fees on Etsy
Best for: Craft enthusiasts, hobbyists
Time commitment: Days to set up, ongoing page upkeep needed, plus the time to make handmade items
Earning potential: Depends on demand
5. Sell digital products
You can also sell digital downloads, like sewing, knitting, or crocheting patterns, print designs, planner templates, and more. A significant advantage to selling digital products is that once you’ve created it, there’s an unlimited number of times you can sell it at no additional cost to you. However, a digital product pattern will sell for a much lower price than a finished item.
Source: Etsy
How easy it is to start: Moderate, requires creating digital products
Starting capital: None, if self-designed
Best for: Creatives, graphic designers, craft enthusiasts
Time commitment: Days to create, then website or page upkeep, plus marketing
Earning potential: Depends on demand, great for passive income
6. Test websites and apps
Before a company launches a new website, app, or feature, it conducts user tests to see if everything works as intended. Online platforms like User Testing and Userpeek let you sign up to become a tester.
When you get an assignment, you’ll have to visit an app or website, complete some tasks, and share your thought process as you move along. The downside of this type of gig is the unpredictable income—you compete with many other testers, and there’s no guarantee of steady work.
How easy it is to start: Very easy, just requires signing up on testing sites
Starting capital required: None
Best for: Beginners, tech enthusiasts
Time commitment: Minutes to hours per test
Earning potential: Good for extra cash in your spare time
7. Take surveys
Similar to website and app testing, you can sign up to complete online surveys. Product developers, students, academics, and other researchers often require large groups or specific types of respondents, and usually, the easiest way to reach them is via online survey sites like Prolific.
When you sign up, you’ll have to fill out personal details to match you with the right online surveys, and then you need to stay alert for when a new survey pops up. Complete it, and you’ll get paid once the researcher confirms they’ve accepted it (watch out for questions that test how carefully you read the survey instructions!). The downside is that there’s a lot of competition with other survey-takers, and you’re unlikely to make big bucks this way—a quick 2-minute survey will get you only a few cents.
How easy it is to start: Very easy, just sign up on online survey sites
Starting capital: None
Best for: Beginners, anyone with extra time
Time commitment: Minutes to hours per survey
Earning potential: Good for small supplemental income
8. Try affiliate marketing
Another way you can make money online is through affiliate marketing. If you have your own website or a decent social media following, you can share products on your platform and earn a commission whenever someone buys an item through your affiliate link.
Source: Buzzfeed
To make money online this way, you’ll need to accumulate an audience that reads your posts and would be interested in the items you promote. As an affiliate marketer, you’ll face fierce competition, so stay up-to-date with the latest digital marketing trends, including search engine optimization tips, ad placements, etc.
How easy it is to start: Moderate, requires setting up a blog, social media accounts, etc.
Starting capital required: None to low, depending on ad spend
Best for: Content creators, bloggers, influencers
Time commitment: Weeks to months to build an audience
Earning potential: Can grow significantly with the right audience and traffic
9. Start a blog and earn through ads
If promoting products through your content doesn’t appeal to you, you can still monetize your blog by selling ad space. This way, your posts can stay free of affiliate links, but other businesses can buy ad banners on your site to promote their products. A potential pain point is that you may need some knowledge of web development to set up ads on your blog, and if you can’t do it by yourself, you may need to hire someone else to update your site.
How easy it is to start: Moderate, requires writing skills and consistency
Starting capital required: None
Best for: Writers, those interested in long-term income
Time commitment: Months to build traffic, plus time to negotiate ad deals
Earning potential: Depends on monetization strategies, potential for passive income
10. Become an online tutor
If you’re an expert in a particular field (language, math, etc.), you can share this knowledge with others through online tutoring. Online teaching enables you to reach a global audience, increasing your pool of potential customers. You can join general freelance work sites like Upwork and platforms specializing in tutoring services like Preply, or you can advertise your offer on your social media. Making money online through tutoring doesn’t require any major investment from you. You will need to prepare materials for your lessons, but many free tools are available to help you (for example, a simple Google Form can work if you need to make a quiz).
How easy it is to start: Easy, if you have the relevant knowledge
Starting capital: None, if using existing platforms
Best for: Educators, subject matter experts
Time commitment: Hours to set up and prep materials
Earning potential: Depends on your expertise and subject demand
11. Launch an online course
Creating an online course is another way to make money online with your expertise. While tutoring means time spent on each individual student, a course that’s available online lets you teach many students simultaneously, multiplying your earnings. You can also create self-guided courses on demand, turning this into passive income. However, preparing a whole course is time-consuming, and you may need to invest in video creation, your own website, hosting fees, etc.
How easy it is to start: Moderate to difficult
Starting capital: Low, depending on equipment needed and where you host your course
Best for: Experts in specific fields
Time commitment: Weeks to months for course prep
Earning potential: Depends on subject demand, potential for passive income
12. Publish an ebook
In addition to selling online courses, you can share your knowledge by writing and publishing an ebook. You can also publish your creative writing this way. With tools like Kindle Direct Publishing, creating an ebook has become relatively simple. Like online courses and other digital products, an ebook can be sold countless times without any production costs.
Source: Kindle Direct Publishing
How easy it is to start: Moderate, if you have a book idea
Starting capital required: None, if self-published
Best for: Writers, experts, educators
Time commitment: Weeks to write and publish
Earning potential: Good passive income source if you market effectively
13. Become a virtual assistant
If you enjoy doing various admin and support tasks, you can make money online by becoming a virtual assistant. This can include email management, appointment scheduling, research, data entry, customer service, website management, etc. The benefit here is that you can be hired and work from anywhere—you don’t need to go into an office like a regular assistant when working remotely.
How easy it is to start: Easy, only need basic administrative skills
Starting capital: None
Best for: Organized individuals, admin workers
Time commitment: Can take weeks to secure customers, then it depends on the tasks you’re assigned
Earning potential: Reliable work with potential to grow through specialization
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14. Offer editing or proofreading services
You can also narrow down your services, focusing only on editing and proofreading. With the rising popularity of AI writing tools, the work of editors and proofreaders is particularly crucial to ensure good quality content. If you have a solid grasp of grammar and writing skills, you can help polish texts written by others and make money online this way.
How easy it is to start: Easy, for those with editing skills
Starting capital required: None
Best for: Grammar enthusiasts, writers, editors
Time commitment: Hours to days for editing, depending on the content pieces
Earning potential: Steady earnings, especially with regular customers
15. Launch a paid newsletter
If you’re passionate about a particular subject and enjoy writing, you can launch a paid newsletter through platforms like Substack or Patreon. To make money this way, you’ll need to accumulate an audience of readers willing to pay for your thoughts, so this won’t be the quickest way to earn. However, if you already have a popular blog, creating a paid newsletter as bonus content can be an excellent way to earn extra income.
Source: The Molehill
How easy it is to start: Moderate, requires consistent content creation
Starting capital required: None
Best for: Writers, industry experts, influencers
Time commitment: Weeks or months to build subscribers, ongoing work for new content
Earning potential: Depends on the audience you can amass
16. Sell second-hand items
If you have a large wardrobe, collection of shoes, or other items in good condition, you can sell them second hand and make money this way. Popular places for second-hand shopping include Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Vinted, and others. When you run out of items to sell, you can thrift vintage clothing and upsell it online.
How easy it is to start: Very easy, just list items on online marketplaces
Starting capital: None, if you sell your own items
Best for: Anyone with items to sell
Time commitment: Minutes to list, customer care and order fulfillment required, plus more time if you thrift and upsell
Earning potential: Varies by item value and sales volume
17. Rent out your clothing or other items
Remember Tom Haverford’s Rent-A-Swag business on Parks and Recreation? This is the same idea, except online. If you have expensive dresses or suits that others might like to rent for a special occasion instead of buying, you can let others borrow them for a fee. You can also rent out tools like electric drills, power saws, or anything else. The risk here, of course, is getting the items back in good condition to rent them out again.
How easy it is to start: Easy, list items on rental platforms
Starting capital: None, if renting out your own items
Best for: People with high-quality items
Time commitment: Ongoing marketing and customer care efforts, plus the time to clean items after getting them back
Earning potential: Depends on demand
18. Create a YouTube channel
If there’s a subject you’re passionate about and could talk about for hours, consider launching your own YouTube channel, which offers monetization possibilities. If you accumulate a large audience, you can earn money from YouTube ads, or by promoting products in your videos, and adding affiliate links in your descriptions.
Read more: How to Make a Profitable YouTube Channel
Source: Mina Reads
How easy it is to start: Moderate, requires content creation
Starting capital: None, if using a phone camera
Best for: Entertainers, educators, content creators
Time commitment: Weeks or months of creating content to gain traction, plus new content creation
Earning potential: Depends on the audience you can amass
19. Become a video editor for content creators
If standing in front of the camera is not for you, but you enjoy video editing, you can offer your skills to other content creators. With the rising popularity of platforms like TikTok and YouTube, millions of videos get published daily, which means video editing skills are in high demand.
How easy it is to start: Moderate, requires video editing skills
Starting capital: None, if using free software
Best for: Video enthusiasts, editors
Time commitment: Hours to edit each video, ongoing work
Earning potential: Good income with consistent projects and specialized skills
20. License your photos
If you enjoy taking photos and have good-quality images you’re proud of, you can license them to stock image websites like Shutterstock, Alamy, and others. You can also sell your photos on your site, but in this case, you’ll need to watermark them to ensure they’re not stolen.
How easy it is to start: Moderate, if you have photography skills
Starting capital: None, if using existing equipment
Best for: Photographers, creatives
Time commitment: Hours to upload, ongoing work to take new pictures
Earning potential: Great for passive income
21. Manage social media accounts for small businesses
A social media presence is a must for any business these days, and if you’re skilled in social media management, this can be a great way to make money online. While major companies have dedicated teams to run their social media accounts, a small business might be happy to outsource social media management to a skilled professional for a reasonable fee.
How easy it is to start: Moderate, requires social media knowledge
Starting capital: None
Best for: Social media enthusiasts, marketers
Time commitment: Customer acquisition may take weeks, then you’ll need to manage the accounts
Earning potential: Dependable earnings with long-term customers
22. Sell custom designs
Source: Fiverr
If you’re a skilled designer, you can create images others can use for things like company logos, print-on-demand designs, social media visuals, etc. You can join platforms like Fiverr and Upwork or advertise your work on your site and social media platforms.
How easy it is to start: Easy
Starting capital: None, if using free design tools
Best for: Designers, creatives
Time commitment: Days to start, new design creation
Income potential: Depends on demand
23. Offer transcription services
This can be a particularly profitable way to make money online if you speak a language other than English. While the transcription tools for English are advanced, transcription for other languages usually requires a person to do it. The downside is that transcription services are typically not highly paid, but if you’re looking for a simple way to earn extra income, this can be a good option.
How easy it is to start: Easy, but you’ll need good typing skills
Starting capital required: None
Best for: Typists, beginners
How much time it takes: Minutes to hours per job
Earning potential: Depends on your rates and demand
24. Offer voice-over work
Another option for making money online is to offer voice-over work. Often, when companies create tutorials or other types of videos, they require voice-overs, and if they don’t have anyone in-house to do it, platforms like Voice123 let them choose a narrator from their database. Add your voice, and you could be hired as a voice actor. However, you’ll need good equipment at home to ensure your recordings are high quality.
Source: Voice123
How easy it is to start: Moderate, requires a good microphone
Starting capital required: An investment in equipment
Best for: Individuals with a unique or clear voice
How much time it takes: Hours per job, ongoing work
Earning potential: Depends on demand and your rates
25. Buy and sell domain names
Another way to make money online is by buying and selling domain names. The idea is to purchase domain names that might be in demand later by someone else who wants that domain for their online business. In this case, you’ll need some upfront investment to purchase the domains, and there’s the risk that these purchases might not pay off if no one’s interested in the domains you’ve acquired.
How easy it is to start: Moderate, requires research and patience
Starting capital: Domain purchase costs
Best for: Digital marketers, entrepreneurs
Time commitment: Weeks to months to find buyers, plus domain research
Earning potential: Can be profitable in the long term
Start making money online today
We’ve shared 25 ideas on how to make money online, so now it’s up to you to explore the options that work best for you. The most important thing is to arm yourself with patience and determination because any business takes time to get off the ground. But once you’ve found your groove, earning money online can be profitable and fun.
This, of course, is not a complete list—let us know in the comments if you have other profitable ideas for making money online!
