How I'd Make $100k In 2025 (How To Make Money Online 2025)

In 2025, the internet is brimming with opportunities to make money, whether you’re looking for a side hustle or aiming to build a full-time business. With the right strategies, tools, and mindset, earning $100k in a year is absolutely possible. While it won’t happen overnight, the good news is that there are numerous scalable online business models and side hustles that can get you to this goal.

In this post, I’ll walk you through how I would approach making $100k in 2025. By combining multiple revenue streams, leveraging automation, and staying consistent, it’s very achievable.

1. Start an E-Commerce Business (Dropshipping or Print-on-Demand)

E-commerce is still one of the most profitable ways to make money online. By starting an e-commerce business in 2025, I could easily scale up to $100k with the right products and strategies.

How to Get Started:

• Dropshipping: This model allows you to sell products without holding inventory. By partnering with suppliers who handle fulfillment, you can focus on marketing and customer service. The key to success in dropshipping is finding trending or evergreen products and running effective Facebook or Instagram ads to drive sales.

• Print-on-Demand (POD): POD businesses allow you to create custom products like T-shirts, hoodies, and mugs without holding any stock. Platforms like Printful and Teespring integrate with Shopify and Etsy, making it easy to start. With the right designs, marketing, and audience targeting, a print-on-demand business can easily generate $100k in a year.

Earning Potential: With a successful e-commerce strategy, it’s possible to earn between $5,000 and $15,000 per month depending on the scale of the operation. By scaling up marketing and expanding your product range, reaching $100k is very achievable.

2. Offer Freelance Services (Content Creation, Web Development, or Marketing)

Freelancing is one of the most flexible ways to make money online, and if I wanted to hit $100k in 2025, I’d offer in-demand services like content creation, web development, or digital marketing.

How to Get Started:

• Content Creation: Writing articles, blogs, or producing videos for businesses and websites. Websites like Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer are great platforms to find clients.

• Web Development: If I had skills in web development or UX/UI design, I could offer these services to businesses that need websites, e-commerce stores, or app development. The demand for web development is growing, and experienced developers can charge anywhere from $50 to $150+ per hour.

• Digital Marketing & SEO: Offering SEO services or running paid ad campaigns on Google, Facebook, or Instagram. Many businesses need help with digital marketing, and by offering a full-service solution, I could easily scale up to six figures.

Earning Potential: By charging $50-$150 per hour and consistently taking on projects, a freelancer can generate $100k in a year by working 20-30 hours per week, depending on the rates and clients.

3. Build a Passive Income Stream with Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing allows you to earn commissions by promoting other people’s products. It’s a great way to build a passive income stream, which would be essential to reaching the $100k goal.

How to Get Started:

• Create a Blog or YouTube Channel: To succeed in affiliate marketing, I’d start by creating a blog or YouTube channel around a specific niche (e.g., personal finance, fitness, tech). By reviewing products and recommending services, I can insert affiliate links into my content.

• Use Affiliate Networks: Platforms like Amazon Associates, ShareASale, and CJ Affiliate offer thousands of products to promote. The key is to focus on high-converting products and optimize your content for SEO or YouTube’s algorithm.

• Email Marketing: After building an audience, I would use email marketing to promote affiliate products. By offering free value (such as eBooks or courses), I could gather subscribers and then promote affiliate products through automated email sequences.

Earning Potential: With well-placed affiliate links, it’s not uncommon to make between $500 to $2,000 per month from affiliate commissions. Scaling this income stream with consistent content and traffic can help reach $100k annually.

4. Create and Sell Online Courses or Coaching Programs

With the rise of online education, creating and selling online courses or offering coaching is one of the best ways to make money in 2025. If I had knowledge or expertise in any field, I could easily create a course and sell it on platforms like Teachable or Udemy.

How to Get Started:

• Identify Your Expertise: This could be anything from digital marketing, personal finance, cooking, fitness, or language learning. The goal is to create a course or coaching program that provides value to people looking to learn.

• Course Creation Platforms: Platforms like Teachable, Udemy, and Skillshare make it easy to create, host, and sell courses. Once your course is live, it can generate passive income with little ongoing effort.

• Coaching: Alternatively, I could offer one-on-one coaching services. Many people are willing to pay for personalized advice and training, especially in niche industries.

Earning Potential: Selling an online course for $100 and attracting 1,000 students can generate $100k. If I offered high-ticket coaching or masterminds, I could make $10k per month by working with just 10 clients.

5. Invest in Stocks or Cryptocurrency

While it’s riskier than other methods, investing in stocks or cryptocurrency has the potential for high returns. With the right strategy, I could grow my wealth passively.

How to Get Started:

• Stock Market: Start by learning how to invest in stocks. You don’t need to be an expert, but understanding the basics of stock investing and diversification is key to minimizing risk.

• Cryptocurrency: Investing in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other altcoins can be a way to see big returns. However, it’s important to do thorough research and only invest what you can afford to lose.

• Dividend Stocks: Focus on dividend-paying stocks that offer a passive income stream. Reinvesting these dividends can help grow the portfolio over time.

Earning Potential: If I started investing with a solid strategy and targeted high-growth assets, I could see returns of 10% or more annually. By leveraging compound growth, it's possible to reach $100k, especially in the long term.

6. Sell Digital Products

Creating and selling digital products (eBooks, printables, design templates, music, etc.) is another way to make money online in 2025. These products require an initial investment of time but generate passive income once created.

How to Get Started:

• Create Your Product: Whether it’s an eBook, digital artwork, design templates, or printables, creating a product to sell online is relatively low-cost. Tools like Canva or Adobe Creative Cloud can help design digital products.

• Sell on Marketplaces: Platforms like Etsy, Gumroad, or Creative Market allow creators to sell their digital products to a global audience.

• Promote Your Products: Use social media platforms or blogs to promote your digital products to potential buyers. Social proof, reviews, and testimonials can help increase sales.

Earning Potential: If I sold 1,000 units of a digital product at $50, I could make $50,000. Scaling this to $100k would be achievable with multiple products or by increasing the price.

Conclusion: Making $100k Online in 2025

There are countless ways to make money online in 2025, and reaching $100k in a year is entirely possible with the right mindset and strategies. Whether you start an e-commerce business, offer freelance services, create an online course, or invest wisely, the opportunities are there.

The key is to pick a business model that aligns with your skills, interests, and lifestyle, and to stay consistent. By diversifying your income streams and scaling your efforts, you can achieve financial freedom and hit your $100k goal by the end of the year