People are making serious money online—figures you might not even believe.

Some are earning $10,000 a month, others $100,000, and a few are pulling in $5 million each month. Then, there’s Iman Gadzhi, reportedly making $80 million monthly.

You might be wondering, how is this possible?

Then you are in the right place.

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My story

I’m a professional blogger and YouTuber. 🖥️📹

My journey started back in 2013 when I used to wonder who created all the content we see on the internet. 🤔

It turned out to be bloggers and content creators.

So, I decided to become a blogger myself, writing articles about technology and software. 💻

But, like many beginners, my initial blogs were failures. 😅

Through those early struggles, I learned a lot about content creation and decided to shift focus and become a blogger for bloggers.

That decision changed everything. 🚀

It led to my first real success, allowing me to drop out of university in 2015 and pursue blogging full-time.

During this time, I also took on freelance writing for various blogs and experimented with different strategies in the online space.

After a decade in the industry, I know what works and what doesn’t 😉

👉 When you consistently create valuable content, people start to like and follow you. This allows you to build a loyal audience, nurture them, and eventually, create products that solve their problems.

But remember, while getting views is easy, building a real audience is tough.

It’s not just about going viral or chasing fleeting fame, like many TikTokers do.

It’s about making genuine connections with your audience, which is crucial for long-term business success.

Best online business models

Working for a brand

When you graduate from college, you might find yourself wondering what to do next.

🤔 Before jumping into starting a business, it’s important to ask yourself, “What skills can I learn?”. For example, if you’re interested in coding, you could become a website developer. If you lean more towards the creative side, skills like graphic design or video editing might be the way to go.

Spend 3 to 6 months honing your skill until you’re confident you can add value to a business.

Let’s say you’ve learned video editing and are also passionate about fitness, following a few fitness YouTubers.

While watching their videos, you might notice areas where their editing could be improved. That’s your opportunity.

Reach out to them with a personalized email.

Start by complimenting their channel, then point out the problems you’ve noticed and how they’re missing out by not addressing them.

Offer your services as the solution and maybe even edit the first two or three videos for free to show what you can do.

By doing this, you increase your chances of being hired as a video editor. And since you’re both a video editor and a fitness enthusiast, your pitch is even stronger.

Service business

Once you’ve worked for a few brands, you can start building a service business.

Initially, you might work as a freelancer, handling multiple clients and editing videos for them.

But freelancing can feel like you’re trading hours for dollars, which can be draining.

To scale up, you could start a video editing agency.

Hire a team of video editors and serve more clients.

Your role would shift to managing the team, ensuring that the value you deliver remains consistent.

Over time, you might decide that running an agency isn’t for you.

Digital products

Digital products are an excellent way to scale your business without worrying about manufacturing or inventory.

You can jump straight into creating digital products, or it can be a natural progression from other business models.

Think about a problem you’ve faced and solved.

For example, I’m an avid user of mind maps.

I use them daily to organize my tasks, map out books I read, and even plan out this very blog post. This skill might seem simple, but it’s valuable to the right audience like students and even avid learners.

Maybe you’ve got a skill like this!

🔑 The key is to focus on the problems your skill can solve for others, whether it’s helping students study better, aiding professionals in organizing their thoughts, or showing book readers how to retain more from what they read.

Position yourself as a coach, not just a freelancer.

You don’t need to work for others first, you can go directly into coaching if you’re confident in your skills.

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is a great way to earn money by promoting other people’s products.

You share a special affiliate link, and when someone makes a purchase through that link, you earn a commission.

Depending on the product, commissions can range from 40% to 50%.

For example, on my main blog, BloggingX, we focus on content marketing and course platforms.

We help people make informed decisions when buying software.

This blog earns between $10,000 to $14,000 per month entirely from affiliate marketing.

📦 But remember, affiliate marketing shouldn’t be your end goal. As you grow, you’ll want to create your own digital products, whether it’s training courses, coaching sessions, or even consultations. Owning your products gives you more control and higher profit margins.

Ad and sponsorships

Ads and sponsorships are a pretty common way to make money online.

If you start a YouTube channel, you can sign up for AdSense and run ads on your videos.

You’ll get paid based on the number of views and clicks.

You can also secure sponsorships from brands in your niche.

Many YouTubers rely on this method, especially those with a large following.

But here’s the thing:

👇 While some creators earn big from ads and sponsorships, they’re often missing out on a bigger opportunity.

Take Ali Abdaal, for example.

He used to earn $12,000 per month from Google AdSense.

But when he launched his training course, Part-Time YouTuber Academy, he made $294,000 in 2020 alone.

Lesson?

This shows that ad revenue should be seen as supplementary, not the main source of income. The real money is in creating and selling your own digital products directly to your audience.

Physical products

I was initially hesitant to include physical products in this list because, after all, we’re talking about digital businesses.

Selling physical products involves managing inventory, dealing with manufacturing, and handling logistics, which can be complicated.

However, dropshipping offers a way around some of these challenges.

With dropshipping, you source white-label products, often from manufacturers in places like China and sell them under your own brand.

You don’t need to keep any inventory yourself.

The manufacturer ships the products directly to your customers.

👉 Take the example of Boat, a popular headphone brand in India. They source white-label headphones from China and sell them under their own brand to a premium market segment.

This strategy is similar to how perfumes are sold at airports. Manufacturing costs are low, but with the right branding at the right place, you can sell them at a much higher price.

If you go this route, building a strong brand and targeting the right audience with effective marketing is crucial.

Software product

If you have a background in development, creating software products can be a lucrative online business model.

For instance, Sam Ovens, who was a coach at consulting.com, sold his business and fully committed to developing Skool, a community-based learning platform.

It’s like a Facebook group, but designed specifically for learners and coaches.

However, running a software business comes with its challenges.

You need a team for development, ongoing technical support, and constant innovation to stay ahead.

The biggest risk is disruption.

For example, when ChatGPT was introduced, it impacted language learning apps, coding apps, and even tools like Grammarly.

These companies faced a downturn because new technology made some of their features obsolete.

The software business can be rewarding, but it requires rapid growth and a large market presence.

If you’re not ready to scale quickly or manage a team, it might not be the best fit, especially if you prefer a more life-centric approach rather than a business-centric one.

Conclusion

As you’ve probably noticed, I have a strong bias toward content creation as a business model.

I genuinely believe in the power of creating valuable content, building an audience, and solving their problems with your products or services.

This is the path I’ve taken, and it’s one that allows you to create, connect, and make a real impact.

If you believe you have unique skills and want to create content, build a community, and monetize it, you should consider joining a community of like-minded individuals, together can help accomplish goals and grow businesses.