Making Money Online: What Actually Works in 2025 (Tested by a Broke Student)
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Making Money Online: What Actually Works in 2025 (Tested by a Broke Student)
I’m gonna be completely honest with you.
Six months ago I Googled “how to make money online” and got 2 billion results. Every article promised easy money. “Make $5000 your first month!” “This one trick changed my life!” “Passive income while you sleep!”
All BS.
I was broke. I had $150 in my bank account and rent was due in 10 days. I needed real money, not promises.
So I started testing everything. Surveys, freelancing, dropshipping, affiliate marketing, content creation, you name it. If someone said it worked, I tried it.
Over 6 months I tested 15 different methods. Most were garbage. A few actually worked.
Here’s what I learned.
The Stuff That Was Complete Garbage
Let me start with what doesn’t work, because nobody talks about this.
Surveys: I tried 4 different survey sites. Swagbucks, Survey Junkie, InboxDollars, and one other I can’t even remember.
Spent about 10 hours total over 2 weeks. Made $23.
That’s $2.30 per hour. I could literally pick up cans on the street and make more money.
Paid-to-click sites: These are websites that pay you to click on ads or visit websites. Made $4 in 3 hours. Never again.
Data entry jobs: Found one on Upwork. They wanted me to copy data from PDFs into spreadsheets. Paid $0.50 per page. Each page took 10-15 minutes. That’s $2-3 per hour.
Dropshipping: Everyone on YouTube makes this look so easy. I spent $400 on Facebook ads. Made 5 sales. Lost money. The “gurus” don’t tell you that ads are expensive and most products don’t convert.
Crypto trading: Lost $250 trying to “time the market” based on Reddit advice. Just don’t.
The Stuff That Kinda Worked (But Wasn’t Worth It)
Some methods made money but weren’t worth the time or effort.
Affiliate marketing: I made a blog. Wrote 12 articles. Made $47 in 4 months. Takes way longer than people admit to build traffic.
YouTube: Made 6 videos about “student productivity.” Got 180 total views. Made $0. You need 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours to even monetize. That takes months or years.
TikTok: Posted 20 videos. Got 2400 total views. Made $0. TikTok doesn’t pay unless you’re in their Creator Fund, which requires 10k followers.
Instagram theme pages: Grew an account to 3000 followers over 3 months. Made $80 from shoutouts. Not worth the daily posting.
What Actually Worked
Okay, here’s the stuff that actually made me real money.
Freelance Writing
This was my first real success.
I’m not a professional writer. I’m a college student. But I can write clearly and I know how to research.
I started on Upwork. Bid on 30 projects. Got rejected from 28. Got 2 clients.
First client paid $50 for a 1000-word article. Took me 3 hours. That’s $16.67/hour. Not amazing, but better than surveys.
Second client paid $100 for a 1500-word article. Took me 4 hours. $25/hour.
Here’s what I learned: don’t write generic content. Write about what you know.
I’m a psych major. So I started pitching mental health blogs, self-help sites, student wellness platforms. “Hey, I’m a psych student. I can write about stress, anxiety, study habits, whatever you need.”
Got way more responses. Made about $600/month doing this.
Virtual Assistant Work
Second thing that worked was being a virtual assistant.
I found a client on Belay. They needed someone to manage their email, schedule meetings, and do basic admin stuff.
Paid $18/hour. Worked 15 hours a week. Made about $1080/month.
The work was boring. Really boring. But it was reliable income and I could do it between classes.
Did this for 4 months. Then quit because I found better opportunities.
Selling Digital Products
Third thing that worked was selling digital products.
I made Notion templates for students. Class schedules, assignment trackers, study planners. Listed them on Gumroad for $10-20 each.
Made my first sale in 3 days. Then more. Then it became consistent.
Made 8 templates total. Now I make about $400/month from templates I built months ago. Completely passive.
Also tried selling Canva templates on Etsy. Made Instagram story templates, resume templates, social media graphics. Made about $150/month.
The key with digital products is you make them once and sell them forever. That’s real passive income.
Freelance Services
Fourth thing was offering specific services.
I learned basic web development from YouTube. Not enough to build complex apps, but enough to fix broken websites.
Started offering website fixes to small businesses. “Your menu doesn’t work on mobile. I can fix it for $150.”
Did that 8 times over 3 months. Made about $1200 total.
Also offered automation services. If someone had a repetitive task, I’d write a Python script to automate it. Charged $50-100 per script.
Made about $300/month doing this.
What I’m Doing Now
Right now I’m making money online in 4 ways:
Primary (20 hrs/week): Freelance writing. Making about $800/month.
Secondary (10 hrs/week): Website fixes and automation. Making about $400/month.
Passive: Digital products (Notion and Canva templates). Making about $550/month.
Occasional: Virtual assistant work when I need extra cash. Making about $200/month.
Total: $1950/month average.
That’s way more than any part-time job would pay, and I work on my own schedule.
The Real Timeline
People always ask “how long until you make money?”
Here’s my real timeline:
Month 1: Made $180 (mostly from VA work)
Month 2: Made $420 (added writing)
Month 3: Made $680 (templates started selling)
Month 4: Made $1,100 (more writing clients)
Month 5: Made $1,600 (templates became passive)
Month 6: Made $1,950 (current average)
The first month sucked. I made barely any money and questioned if it was worth it.
But it got better every month.
What Actually Matters
After testing 15 different methods, here’s what I learned actually matters:
Skills over luck: The methods that worked required actual skills. Writing, basic coding, design. The methods that didn’t work were just clicking buttons or hoping to get lucky.
Solving problems over consuming content: I made money when I solved problems for people. I didn’t make money watching videos or clicking ads.
Active over passive (at first): Real passive income takes time to build. You need to do active work first. I spent 3 months building templates before they became passive.
Boring over exciting: The stuff that made money was boring. Writing articles, managing emails, fixing websites. Not sexy, but it pays.
Common Mistakes I Made
Mistake 1: Trying everything at once. I wasted so much energy jumping between methods. Should’ve focused on one thing.
Mistake 2: Believing the hype. “Make $5000 your first month!” is BS. Real money takes time.
Mistake 3: Undercharging. I started at $20/hour for writing. Now I charge $40/hour for the same work.
Mistake 4: Not asking for testimonials. Social proof matters. Should’ve collected testimonials from day one.
Mistake 5: Waiting to be “ready.” I spent 2 weeks “preparing” before I started. That was stupid. You learn by doing.
What About AI?
Everyone’s talking about AI replacing jobs. Here’s what I’ve noticed:
AI is great for generating ideas and first drafts. But it’s terrible at understanding context, adding personality, and solving specific problems.
I use ChatGPT to help with research and outlines. But I still write everything myself because clients want human writing, not AI slop.
Same with coding. AI can generate basic code, but it can’t debug complex problems or understand specific requirements.
AI is a tool, not a replacement. If you know how to use it, it makes you more productive. If you rely on it completely, you’ll produce garbage.
How to Actually Start
Don’t try everything like I did. Pick one method and focus on it for 30 days.
If you can write: Try freelance writing on Upwork or Fiverr.
If you’re organized: Try virtual assistant work on Belay or Fancy Hands.
If you’re creative: Make digital products and sell them on Gumroad or Etsy.
If you have any tech skills: Offer services on Fiverr or directly to small businesses.
Start small. Don’t expect to make $5000 your first month. Aim for $200. Then $500. Then $1000.
Look, I spent weeks trying to figure out which online method would actually work. Eventually I built a tool to help students find making money online opportunities that match their skills. It’s not perfect but it beats endless research.
The Stuff Nobody Tells You
It’s not passive at first: Even “passive income” requires active work upfront. I spent 3 months building templates before they became passive.
You’ll fail a lot: I failed at 10 out of 15 methods I tried. That’s normal. You only need one or two to work.
It takes longer than you think: Most methods take 2-3 months before you see real money. Don’t give up after 2 weeks.
You need to actually be good at something: The “make money with no skills” stuff is BS. You need to be good at writing, design, coding, organizing, something.
Taxes are real: If you make over $600, you’ll get a 1099. Set aside 25-30% for taxes.
Should You Try This?
If you’re broke and need money, yeah try it. But be realistic. You’re not making $5000 your first month.
If you’re doing fine financially, maybe just focus on your classes or get a regular part-time job. This takes real time and energy.
For me it was worth it. Not just for the money, but because I learned actual skills. I can now write professionally, manage projects, build digital products, and sell services. That’s gonna matter when I graduate.
Final Thoughts
Making money online isn’t a scam. But most of the advice about it is.
The stuff that works is boring. It requires actual skills. It takes time. It’s not passive at first.
But it’s real. I’m making almost $2000/month. That’s real money that pays real rent.
The first month sucked. I made barely any money and questioned everything.
But month 2 was better. Month 3 was better than that. Now it’s actually working.
If you’re reading this because you’re stressed about money, I get it. I was there 6 months ago.
Just pick one method. Focus on it for 30 days. Actually try, don’t just think about it.
You might surprise yourself.
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