I Tried 5 Ways to Make Money Online — Here's What Actually Worked

Before I landed on selling digital products, I tried five different online income models. Not half-heartedly — I genuinely committed to each one for at least a few months before drawing conclusions.

Here's the honest breakdown of what each model was like, what it produced, and why I'm still doing what I'm doing.

Model 1: Freelancing

What I did: Offered writing and content strategy services. Found clients on Upwork and through direct outreach.

What happened: I got clients. I made money relatively quickly — within the first month I had paying work. At peak, I was earning $3,000-$4,000/month from freelance clients.

The problem: It was completely time-for-money. I had a ceiling: my billable hours. And every month started from zero — if I wanted $4,000 next month, I needed $4,000 worth of client work next month.

I also didn't own anything. The relationships were with the clients, not with me as a business. If I stopped working, income stopped immediately.

The lesson: Freelancing is one of the fastest paths to online income and the worst path to leverage. It's a job with more flexibility, not a business with compounding returns.

I still do occasional consulting, but I treat it as supplementary income, not the core model.

Model 2: Dropshipping

What I did: Set up a Shopify store selling niche home goods sourced from suppliers. Ran Facebook ads to drive traffic.

What happened: I spent about $800 in ad spend over three months. Made about $600 in sales. Net: negative.

The margins were thin, the ad costs were brutal, and the differentiation problem was real — I was selling the same products that hundreds of other stores were selling, with the only variable being who could spend more on ads.

The problem: Dropshipping requires significant upfront ad spend, very tight operational discipline, and margin management that's hard to sustain without scale. The people making real money in dropshipping are running highly optimized ad funnels at volume — not something a beginner can replicate cheaply.

The lesson: Dropshipping is a real business, but it's operationally complex and capital-intensive. It rewards expertise in paid traffic and supply chain management. Neither of those was my strength.

Model 3: Affiliate Marketing (General)

What I did: Built a review site in the personal finance space. SEO-focused content, Amazon affiliate links, comparison content.

What happened: This one actually worked — slowly. After about eight months, the site was generating $400-$700/month from affiliate commissions.

The problem: The income ceiling felt limited. Affiliate commissions are typically low, and the product isn't yours — the merchant can change commissions, discontinue products, or build their own competing site. I'd built traffic that I didn't fully control the monetization of.

The lesson: Affiliate marketing works, but it's better as a supplementary income source than a primary model — or it works extremely well when you're promoting high-ticket offers that you've genuinely used and believe in.

I still do this — part of why this site exists. But I pair it with my own products so I have multiple revenue streams, not just commission income.

Model 4: Content Creation (YouTube + Social)

What I did: Started a YouTube channel in my niche. Published consistently for about four months.

What happened: Slow growth. About 800 subscribers after four months, minimal AdSense revenue, some brand inquiry emails but nothing paid.

The problem: YouTube has a long monetization ramp. You need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours just to qualify for AdSense, and AdSense revenue at small channel sizes is genuinely insignificant. The real money in YouTube comes from sponsorships and selling your own products — which requires scale first.

I also discovered that video production takes significantly more time than writing. A 10-minute video could take me 4-5 hours to script, record, and edit.

The lesson: YouTube is a legitimate business model for people who are willing to invest 12-18 months before seeing meaningful income. It wasn't the right fit for my skills and time available. If video is your medium, the compound effect is real — but the ramp is long.

Model 5: Selling Digital Products (Where I Landed)

What I did: Created a series of ebooks and template packs in the online business and productivity space. SEO-driven blog for traffic. Email list for conversion.

What happened: Slower start than freelancing. But by month six, I had consistent income that didn't require my active presence for every sale. By month twelve, the income exceeded what I was making from freelancing — and took less time to maintain.

Why this model won for me:

The leverage is real. I make something once and sell it many times. The work-to-income ratio improves over time, not stays flat.

The assets compound. A blog post I write today drives traffic six months from now. A product I create today sells for years. I'm building equity, not just billing hours.

I own the relationship. My email list is mine. If the platform changes, I can move my business. If a traffic source dries up, I have alternatives. Freelancing clients belong to the client relationship, not to me.

The income doesn't start at zero each month. Once you have recurring buyers, a ranked content library, and an email list — you have a base. Each month builds on the last.

The Honest Comparison

Digital products aren't the fastest path to your first dollar. Freelancing wins there. But they're the highest-leverage model I've tried — and leverage is what creates an income that grows while you sleep.

The Platform I Use

For digital products specifically, the platform I landed on is MadeThis. I compared the main options — see the MadeThis vs Gumroad comparison and the Shopify comparison — and the all-in-one model at a flat fee made sense for what I was building.

If you've been bouncing between models trying to figure out what actually works, I'd start here. Not because it's easy — the timeline is real — but because the compounding is also real.

MadeThis is where I'd set up the infrastructure for digital product sales. The platform handles the operational side; you focus on the content and product creation that actually drives the model.