So I kept trying different things instead of depending on just one thing. Some things worked, some didn't, and some were honestly a waste of time and money lol. But every time I tried something new, I learned something from it.
I'm sharing all these things because you can also try them if you want. Just don't expect to start making a lot of money in a few days. Give yourself some time, keep trying, and don't quit too early. Maybe after 6 months you'll look back and realize you actually made some progress.
These 5 Ways to Make Money Online
Print on Demand
A few years ago, I decided to try print-on-demand by myself, mostly because I kept seeing ads for it and thought, "How hard can this actually be?" I figured I'd lean into that instead of learning something totally new. I picked Printify because it was free to start with and easily synced with Etsy. I spent maybe two or three weekends just making designs, nothing fancy, just some funny sayings and a few line-art things I thought looked good or clean.
Setting up the store itself was honestly the easy part. Uploading mockups, writing descriptions, and setting the pricing so I'd actually make something after fees, all of that took another weekend too.
The first month was rough, though. I'm not gonna lie. I think I sold maybe five or six shirts, and one of those was my dad just being nice. I learned the hard way that keywords and tags matter way more than I expected, almost like SEO for products.
Around month three, things started clicking once I found a trending but less competitive niche, some dog-breed-specific stuff. Suddenly, I wasn't just shouting into the void.
But shipping times bit me a couple of times. I had customers messaging me and asking where their orders were, and I'd have to explain that the products weren't stocked anywhere. They were made after someone ordered them. Some people just don't expect that, even when it says so on the listing.
Quality control was probably my biggest headache, honestly. I got messages from customers about the print placement being off-center, and there wasn't much I could really do except apologize and have the supplier reprint it. That ate into whatever profit I'd earned from those orders.
I never got rich from it, but I did keep it running as a side thing for about a year and a half and made decent beer money most months. If I started over, I'd probably spend way less time on designs and way more time researching what people were already buying, since that ended up mattering more than how good my art was.
Digital Products
A while after the print-on-demand thing, I decided to try writing an ebook, mostly because I already had an audience from the shop and figured, why not turn some of what I'd learned into something people could actually buy?
I picked a topic I knew inside and out at that point, basically everything I wish I'd known before starting POD, and just started writing whenever I had free time in the evenings. It took me about a month to get the first draft done, then another couple of weeks working on the formatting and making a half-decent cover in Canva, since I obviously wasn't hiring a designer for this.
I put it up on Gumroad because it was dead simple to set up, and I didn't want to deal with anything complicated for something I honestly thought maybe ten people would buy.
Turns out I was way off, in a good way.
I posted about it on the same Etsy shop and in a couple of Facebook groups I'd been active in, and it just took off way faster than I expected. In the first week alone, I sold more copies than I sold shirts in my entire first month of POD, which honestly felt kind of unreal.
The margins were the biggest difference for me. There were no printing costs, no shipping delays, and no worrying about some supplier messing up the placement. It was basically pure profit the second someone bought it.
I did get a few emails asking for updates or corrections here and there, mostly about typos, but those were easy fixes compared to dealing with a botched print run.
Looking back, I honestly wish I'd started with digital products first instead of physical ones, since the whole thing just ran itself once it was out there.
Dropshipping
A friend and I decided to try dropshipping together a while back, mostly because he'd seen a bunch of people online making it look easy and dragged me into it as a partner.
We picked a general store instead of a niche one, which, looking back, was probably our first mistake. We just threw together a bunch of random trending products we found through a supplier app and figured customers would just show up.
We split the costs for ads and a Shopify subscription, spent a good chunk of change on Facebook and TikTok ads before we even really understood what we were doing, and just kind of hoped something would stick.
It didn't go well, honestly. We got a handful of sales here and there, enough to feel like maybe it was working, but nowhere near enough to cover what we were spending on ads.
Shipping times were brutal too, since everything was coming from overseas. By the time the products actually arrived, customers were already annoyed or asking for refunds.
We had zero brand identity and no real reason for anyone to trust us over the hundreds of other stores selling the exact same products. I think that's what really killed it in the end.
After about three or four months of barely breaking even and then actually losing money, we both just kind of quietly let it die instead of officially shutting it down.
Lesson learned, I guess: just copying what looks like an easy trend without any real strategy behind it usually doesn't work out.
TikTok Monetization
I decided to make a TikTok account because I wanted to earn dollars from it. So yeah, I got stuck for a while on TikTok, like genuinely stuck, barely any views, and felt like I was just talking to my phone for nothing lol. Almost quit tbh. But I tried it many more times instead of just dropping it completely.
I kept posting even when it felt like nothing was going on my side, and somewhere around the 3 to 4 month mark, things just started picking up out of nowhere. One day it was nothing, and then suddenly people actually cared and I got attention.
Once that happened, I didn't wanna just sit on one account, so I started a few more and got some people to help me run them, editing, posting, replying to comments. I basically built a little team around it instead of doing everything solo like before.
And honestly, once it scaled like that, the money side of things picked up way more than I thought it would, definitely more than just grinding one account by myself would've ever made.
After getting more attention, I started collaborating with brands and I charge around $500 for one video, and I made good money within 6 months.
Video Editing
I started learning video editing because I was already making a lot of videos for TikTok and thought, why not make some money from it too? At first, I honestly didn't know that much. I was mostly just using CapCut and trying different things I saw other people doing. My first videos were pretty basic, just cutting clips, adding captions, music, and some effects here and there. Nothing really fancy, but after doing it again and again, I started getting better at it.
After some time, people started asking me if I could edit videos for them, so I thought why not and started doing it for some money. In the beginning, I was charging pretty low because I didn't really have much to show and I was still figuring out what people actually wanted.
Some clients were easy and some were honestly a headache, asking for changes again and again or sending the videos at the last minute and wanting them done straight away. But I kept doing it because I was getting better with every video.
After a while, I got much faster at editing and could finish videos way quicker than before. I realized the editing part wasn't really that hard, getting people to actually pay you for it was.
Once I had some videos to show people, getting more work became a bit easier. I didn't become rich from video editing or anything, but it became a useful skill for me because I could use it for my own accounts and also make some extra money from other people.
I still use it pretty much every time I post something, so learning it was definitely useful for me.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I really make money online?
Yes, you can, but it usually takes time. From my own experience, I had to try different things, make mistakes, and keep learning before I started seeing better results.
How long does it take to make money online?
It depends on what you are doing. For me, some things started working within a few months, while others took much longer. I would not expect to make a lot of money within a few days.
What is the easiest online business to start?
For me, digital products and video editing were easier to start than dropshipping because I didn't need to deal with physical products, shipping, or suppliers.
Is dropshipping still worth trying?
You can try it, but my own experience with dropshipping was not very successful. We spent money on ads, had shipping problems, and didn't have a strong brand. If you try it, I would recommend having a clear strategy instead of just copying trending products.
Can I make money from TikTok?
Yes, TikTok can become a source of income, but getting views and building an audience can take time. In my case, it took several months before things started picking up.
Is video editing a good online skill to learn?
For me, yes. I started learning video editing for my own TikTok videos and later started getting paid to edit for other people. It also became useful for my own content.
Do I need a lot of money to start an online business?
Not always. Some things I tried required very little money to start, while dropshipping required money for things like ads and the Shopify subscription. Your starting cost depends on the business you choose.
Can I make a full-time income online?
It is possible, but there is no guaranteed income. My own experience taught me that it takes time, testing, learning, and patience. What works for one person may not work the same way for someone else.
Final Thoughts
After working on all these things, I realized making money online isn't as easy as people show on TikTok or YouTube. I tried a lot of things and made multiple mistakes along the way, but honestly, I'm glad I tried them and now I know what actually works for me and what doesn't.
Some things paid me money, some lost me money, and some just took a lot of my time before I started seeing anything from them. I also learned that you can't just start something and expect money to come in right away. It takes time, testing, and a lot of patience.
My main goal was always to make my family's financial situation better as early as I can, and I'm still working towards that. I'm not saying these things will make you rich in 6 months because everyone's situation is different, but if you have the time and you're willing to keep learning, I think it's worth trying something instead of just sitting around thinking about it.
For me, the biggest lesson was simple: just start, learn from your mistakes, and keep going. You never really know which thing might end up working for you.
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