15 ways to make money online without selling anything: Simple strategies with examples

Way back before social media was a thing, the first real way to make money online was ecommerce. You source a product, store it in a warehouse, and ship it to customers. But we’re long past that now. Ecom is still a viable way to make a lot of money online...but it's not the only way.

I’ve compiled 15 of my favorite and most lucrative ways to make money online without selling anything. They’ll require you to put in the time and effort, but you won't need to manage the logistics and problems that sometimes arise with traditional ecommerce.

The winner and the runner-up

best way to make money online without selling anything

The best way to earn money online without selling anything is—hands down—to create digital products.

Digital products aren’t your traditional everyday products.

You create them once, sell them to hundreds or thousands of people, and get the best margins. Often your only overhead is occasional platform fees.

Think of digital products as courses or paid memberships for online communities. Running a community is nowhere near as stressful as running a store. Creating a course does require time upfront, but you don’t have to spend any more time after that besides marketing and maintenance operations.

Coming in close second is affiliate marketing.

You’ll need an audience first, sure. But, once you’ve got some loyal followers, you can present them with valuable products or services and earn a nice commission when they make a purchase.

Now, I only know of one platform that allows you to do both, and that is Whop.

On Whop, you can get affiliated with some of the best online communities and digital product sellers. All you’ll need is to grab a link, share it with your followers, and see the money rolling in each month.

If you want to go down the entrepreneur route, you can create your very own whop, where you’ll be able to present your digital products to the world. Whether that is a community, a course, or a simple guide, you can sell it all on Whop.

A few minutes is all it takes to set up your whop, so you can do that right now and come back here to choose what your next step is gonna be.

Create your whop

While selling digital products and affiliate marketing may be my two favorites, others might suit you better. Luckily, there are plenty more ways to earn a living online without selling anything, and Whop can help you out with almost all of them.

Let’s get into it.

The 15 best ways to make money online without selling anything

I’ve specifically split these up into 3 sets of 5.

The first 5 are all about creating your personal brand and should be one of the first things you do to make money online.
The second 5 are the ways you can make the most money online with your existing audience.
The last 5 are some barebones ways that require no selling or audience.

1. Become an online creator

One of the easiest ways you can make money online, in general, is by becoming an online creator.

Everyone can do it, and you get to learn tons of skills while building your brand. You should start with some of the most popular platforms, like YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok. Hell, give LinkedIn a try if you want to take a more “professional” approach.

The great thing is that you can start making money from your very first few posts or videos. All these platforms have some monetization methods, be they ads or subscriptions.

Of course, you can also try becoming an online creator directly through Whop. If you already have a digital product in mind but no following, simply create your whop and sell access to it through the “Discover” page.

Whop will take a 30% cut from every sale that comes directly from the discover feed, but only 3% if visitors come straight to your whop (i.e from a link in your bio). It’s a great way to get your feet wet and make much more than you’d get with YT ads or IG subs.

2. Start a blog

Blogging isn’t as popular as it used to be, but many people are still making quite a few bucks from their personal blogs. You just have to choose what you’ll write about, spend $100-$150/year on domain and hosting, and you’re set.

Choose something that you’re really passionate about or have expert knowledge in. For instance, if you know how to build the best gaming rigs, post guides about it on your blog.

Keep in mind that while this is pretty easy to start, you’ll need to consistently post content for a few months before the money starts coming in. Most blogs get paid through affiliate content and/or ads, but you can also pivot to some of the ideas I’ve mentioned in the next set (#6-#10)

3. Become a live streamer

A nice way to take advantage of your skills and personality is live streaming.

Yes, you’re technically going to be a content creator, but streaming is quite different. You’ll have to actively engage with viewers for a few hours each day on platforms like Twitch or Kick instead of just posting short-form content.

This might not sound as easy, sure. But there’s a lot more to earn here. You can make money through Twitch subs, and Kick pays you for every hour you stream without you needing to sell anything to your viewers.

4. Try freelancing

Now, we get into my bread and butter. Freelancing is, to me, one of the best ways you can make money online without selling any products. While you don’t traditionally build a personal brand, freelancers have portfolios that act as their brand.

Essentially, you can become a freelancer in any industry you like. Coding, writing, graphic design, the list goes on.

You just have to build a portfolio (either through paid work or personal projects) and start reaching out to potential clients or sharing your portfolio across social media.

Whop can help you with this. You can host your entire freelance biz right here. You just have to create your whop and share it with potential clients instead of getting leads from the “Discover” page. In this case, Whop will only take 3% of your total revenue.

Of course, there are also plenty of communities and courses here that can help you get started with freelancing. Find them through the Discover page.

5. Start a podcast

Starting a podcast has more or less become a meme nowadays. That’s because everyone has one. And there’s a reason for that. If you execute the project well, it can bring in a lot of money through tons of different methods.

For starters, though, you’ll need to consider what you’ll be talking about on your podcast. Is it going to be self-improvement, business tips, or trading? It’s totally up to you.

Once the first few listeners come in, you can get sponsorships or even just earn from Apple Music or Spotify per download or subscription.

Whop can also help you in a different way by putting your podcast behind a paywall. You simply upload every episode to your whop and sell it to your listeners.

Okay, don’t upload EVERY episode, but put the more premium/exclusive ones behind a paywall. This can be very lucrative, especially if you sell access to individual episodes.

6. Sponsored posts

Now, we get into the more in-depth moneymaking methods. Again, you’ll need some sort of following for these to get the most out of ‘em, so keep that in mind. This first one is a great example.

Sponsored posts are one of the easiest ways to make a bunch from just one post.

Essentially, brands reach out to you and give you an offer based on how many followers you have. Then, you just make one post tagging the brand and talking about their offerings, and you get paid.

This might sound too easy to be true, but it really is that simple. You just need to have a lot of followers to get the best deals.

7. Give affiliate marketing a shot

Instead of doing individual sponsored posts, you could try out affiliate marketing. In general, affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to earn money recurrently without ever making a sale. Your audience will do that for you.

With affiliate marketing, you’ll have to get affiliated with companies and creators and bring your followers to their brands. For every sale they get, you get a commission.

Best of all, Whop has an incredible affiliate program where you can get affiliated with tens of thousands of different creators selling courses and memberships on the platform.

Whenever your followers get access to a whop through your link, you’ll get a nice commission out of it.

8. Start a community

And here’s where the entrepreneurial me takes over.

Instead of bringing your audience to other brands, why not create something yourself and funnel them to it?

A community is the best way to go about it, and it’s hands down the best way to make money without selling anything.

Essentially, you start a community around a topic or niche you know about. If your YT videos are about sports, and you’re a sports betting fan, start a community where you sell your sports picks. You’re basically going to make money off of something you’d already be doing on the daily.

And, there’s no better place to sell memberships to your community than Whop. Considering the example I just mentioned, your whop can have a “Chat” app for the community and a “Sports” app to upload your picks.

You can also use the “Guess The Score” app to get even more engagement within the community.

9. Accept donations

Donations are one of the few ways that you can earn without doing anything. It’s up to your followers to decide whether they want to support you or not.

You just have to go about posting your regular content and simply mention that anyone can donate a couple of bucks to you to show their support.

Accepting donations is super simple, especially if you do it through Whop. All you have to do is set up your whop and add the Tips App.

Voila. You can now start accepting donations from your audience.

I’m a huge fan of newsletters, both from a personal and business perspective. One newsletter I follow, for instance, gives me all the daily updates on US economic data and what each one means for the stock market.

From a business standpoint, you’ll have to put in some effort and time.

Essentially, you’ll be presenting the info that one can’t find from your regular, free content. So, if you’re posting TikToks about fashion trends, you can create a paid newsletter for specific clothing items your viewers should buy and where they can buy them from.

This opens up two main monetization methods.

You can either get affiliated with the stores selling these and earn a commission or simply place your newsletter behind a paywall. Remember to keep the price at a reasonable level, based on how much value you offer and how often you send these out. Hot tip: You can create newsletters through your whop! Just add the Newsletters App.

11. Take surveys

Taking online surveys is such an easy way to make some money online that I consider it almost passive. You don’t need any unique skills, and each survey usually won't take more than 20-30 minutes of your time.

The only thing to keep in mind with surveys is that you won’t be able to make much.

It’s often going to be in the $40-$100/month range. But you don’t have to sell anything or build a brand to start, and you can gather up some money to reinvest in some of your other side gigs.

12. Dropshipping

Now, dropshipping does technically entail that you’ll sell products, so why have I included it here? Well, considering that you won’t have to manage stock and shipping yourself, you’re essentially not selling anything directly.

Plus, I really wanted to include it, as it can be a huge moneymaker if done right.

Since you’re not handling any of the hard tasks of traditional ecommerce, it’s also rather easy to do if you're good at paying attention to detail.

The great thing is that there are plenty of communities and courses on Whop that are all about dropshipping. So, if you really want to get started, you’ll find all the tips and tricks you need to make sure this venture is as successful as possible.

13. Build an app

If you’ve got some coding skills, you might have already built an app in your spare time as a personal project. The thing is, you can actually earn a lot of money from it if you do it right.

The trick here is to create an app that speaks to a very specific audience. Once you’ve built it, you just have to sell it through the App Store or Google Play Store for free and then add some premium features for a fee.

You’ll also be able to monetize it with ads, and it's rather passive compared to most moneymaking methods.

14. Try online coaching

Knowledge sells, and online coaching is one of the best ways to monetize your knowledge and skills without having to sell a thing. Essentially, with coaching, you’re helping folks learn new skills or scale their businesses.

Whop can help you out a lot here, as you can sell and host your coaching sessions directly through your whop. You can do 1-on-1s or group sessions, it’s totally up to you.

15. Publish an ebook

Most professional writers have that ultimate project, which is usually an ebook. There are so many different niches, so you can really write an ebook about anything and self-publish it.

Again, as with dropshipping, you’re technically selling something to others. But these are ebooks, so there’s no stock management or shipping involved. You just have to find the right platform to sell your ebook.

Whop can be that platform. You can simply upload the file to your whop using the “Files” app and place it behind a paywall. It’s that simple. If you want to take this further, you can also turn your book into an audiobook through platforms like ACX, or even do the voiceover yourself.

How Whop can help you make your first dollar online

While I did mention how Whop can help you with all the methods above, I get that it might have been a bit overwhelming. I think it’s worth going a bit more in-depth about how your whop works and how you can best use it to make your first buck online without selling anything.

So, let’s start with the basics. Regardless of what digital product you want to sell or what method you’ve chosen, your whop can host it. This is done with the help of the 20+ apps you can find on your whop.

For instance, if you want to sell a course, you can add the dedicated “Courses” app with a few clicks or taps, upload the modules and lessons, and you’re set.

What about communities? Simply add as many chats as you’d like using the “Chat” app. One for each tier, multiple ones for different topics, it’s all up to you.

“That’s all great and all, Alex. But, how can I get people in? How will I make my first buck?”. Valid questions, but Whop’s got the answer for them as well.

The moment your whop is up, you can create your storefront that will be shown to your followers or any of Whop’s huge userbase. We are talking millions of visitors a day. Your dashboard will also have all the statistics you’ll need to scale your new moneymaking method.

And, as for payments; well, it’s simple. You can use Whop Payments, either directly through the platform or with the help of checkout links. The best thing is that you’ll get to keep up to 97% of every dollar you make without having to pay any membership fees to Whop.

What are you waiting for?

Make money with Whop

That’s not the only thing you can do with Whop, of course…

Learn money-making skills with Whop

There are tons of ways to make money online, and most don’t even require you to sell anything. Here’s the thing, though. Some of you are ready to start selling right now.

You’ve got an idea ready, you’ve got your whop ready; all that’s left is to get people in.

However, many of you might not be at that point yet. And that’s alright. You already have a starting point with all the different moneymaking ways I mentioned above. Now, it’s time to learn.

And, you can do that right here on Whop. There are thousands of communities across tons of industries that are hosted by experts sharing their knowledge. They’re also full of like-minded folks who, just like you, want to go from info to idea to execution.

So, if you’ve got your starting point, check out Whop to find the right community to help you learn more. When you’re ready to create your whop, it’ll only take you a few minutes to set it up. Till then, find the community that fits you best and become a member.

Find a community on Whop

Making money online FAQs

What’s the easiest way to make money online without selling anything

The easiest way to make money online without selling anything is by taking surveys. They only require some of your time, and you’ll be able to earn a few bucks. If you want to earn more, an equally easy way is affiliate marketing, but you’ll need to build an audience first.

How can I make money with a website without selling anything

The best way to make money with a website is through affiliate marketing and digital products. You can either get affiliated with respectable creators/businesses in your niche or create digital products, like paid communities or newsletters, and funnel your website visitors to them.

15 ways to make money online without selling anything: Simple strategies with examples

The winner and the runner-up