Getting paid to advertise for companies is one of those side hustles that can look very different depending on how you approach it – and how much time you want to put in.
Some options are as simple as sharing a link with a friend or downloading an app, while others – like building a blog or a social media following – can eventually turn into serious, passive income.
Either way, the options below cover everything from quick wins you can start today to longer-term strategies that pay off big once you put in the groundwork.
If you want to get paid to advertise long-term, building a blog is hands down the most lucrative option on this list. Stupid Simple Blogging‘s free masterclass walks you through the exact framework the course creator used to hit 700,000 page views a month.
- Free training – no catch
- Step-by-step framework from a real blogger
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Ways to get paid to advertise online
Most of the best opportunities these days are online – and that’s especially true if you want something that can scale over time.
The options below range from social media to blogging to simply sharing apps with friends, so there’s genuinely something here for everyone.
1. Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the most effective ways to get paid to advertise online – and with enough effort upfront, it can work as a genuine passive income stream.
The concept is simple: you recommend a product or service, and when someone signs up or buys through your link, you earn a commission.
Once you’ve written an article with affiliate links in it, that article can sit on the internet generating clicks – and income – for years with minimal ongoing work.
That said, it’s not as simple as dropping a few links into a blog post and calling it a day – you’ll need to build an audience that trusts your recommendations first.
The best way to shortcut the learning curve is to learn from someone who’s already doing it well.
Worth bookmarking: If you want to learn affiliate marketing from someone who’s been making thousands from it for 10+ years, the Pinteresting Strategies affiliate marketing course is one of the best-value options out there – it covers the real, practical strategies that continue to work today.
2. Run ads on your website
Running a website and allowing ad networks to display ads on it is one of the most well-known ways bloggers make money – and the earning potential is genuinely impressive once your traffic grows.
The key thing to know is that different ad networks have different traffic requirements, and the harder they are to qualify for, the more they tend to pay per visitor.
- Google AdSense has no minimum traffic requirement, so you can technically start earning from day one – but the rates are low enough that most bloggers hold off and focus on growing their traffic first. Personally, I wouldn’t bother.
- Journey (Grow) by Mediavine kicks in at just 1,000 monthly sessions, serving as an early entry-level on-ramp to Mediavine’s premium ad technology well before you reach their main 50,000-session tier.
- Monumetric requires 10,000 monthly page views and pays noticeably more than AdSense, though there’s a one-time $99 setup fee that comes out of your early earnings.
- Raptive (formerly AdThrive) has loosened their requirements to now only need 25,000 monthly page views, letting even smaller blogs get in on the action now.
- Mediavine requires 50,000 sessions a month – and this is where ad income starts to get exciting, often reaching several thousand dollars a month for established blogs. They’re who I use on this site and the money, frankly, has been great.
Good to know: Getting a blog to ad-network level doesn’t have to take years. This free blogging masterclass breaks down the traffic-building strategies that work right now, including what most new bloggers get wrong.
To get started with a blog, Bluehost is the hosting provider I’d recommend first – it’s beginner-friendly, includes a free domain name, and costs less than $3 a month.
3. Instagram influencer marketing
Instagram remains one of the biggest platforms for getting paid to advertise for brands, and you don’t need millions of followers to start earning.
Brands now actively seek out micro-influencers – accounts with anywhere from 5,000 to 50,000 followers – because their audiences tend to be more engaged and their rates are more affordable.
Sponsored posts, brand partnerships, and affiliate commissions are the main income streams here, and the rates vary hugely depending on your niche and engagement rate.
Platforms like IZEA and AspireIQ are good starting points for connecting with brands looking for Instagram creators.
4. TikTok content creation
TikTok has grown into one of the most powerful platforms for advertising, and brands are paying creators at every level to promote their products.
The algorithm on TikTok is unusually friendly to new creators – a single video can go viral with zero existing following, which means there’s a genuinely lower barrier to building an audience here than almost anywhere else.
Beyond brand deals, TikTok’s Creator Marketplace connects businesses with creators directly, and the TikTok Shop affiliate program lets you earn commissions on products you feature in your videos.
Not yet on TikTok? Download the app through this link to get started – and if you haven’t yet, it’s worth setting up a creator account sooner rather than later given how quickly the platform rewards consistency.
5. YouTube monetization
YouTube is now one of the most-visited sites in the US, and there are a few different ways to make money advertising through it.
The YouTube Partner Program lets you earn from ads played on your videos once you hit 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours – but you can also earn through affiliate links in your video descriptions and sponsored content deals with brands.
Sponsored videos tend to pay particularly well – a brand will pay you to feature or review their product in a video, and rates typically scale with your subscriber count and average views.
6. Pinterest marketing
Pinterest is a little different from other platforms in that it functions more like a search engine than a social network – which means content you post there can drive traffic for months or even years.
You can earn through affiliate links embedded in pins, sponsored pins with brands, or by using Pinterest to drive traffic back to a blog where you earn through ads and affiliate marketing.
Free resource: These free pin templates let you create 10+ pins from a single design in just minutes – and they come with video guidance on what makes a pin actually get clicked.
7. Facebook
There are two main ways to make money advertising on Facebook.
The first is getting paid by brands to post sponsored content to your Facebook page or group – similar to Instagram influencer marketing, this becomes more viable once you have a decent following.
The second is running your own paid ad campaigns to drive traffic to something you own – like a blog, an email list, or a product – with the goal of generating income from that traffic.
The second route takes more upfront investment, but once you figure out a profitable formula it can scale quickly.
8. Snapchat
Snapchat has a particularly engaged younger audience, which makes it attractive to brands targeting that demographic.
Snapchat’s Spotlight feature rewards creators for popular content, and brand deals work similarly to Instagram – you get paid to feature a product or service in your stories or snaps.
9. Sponsored posts on your blog
Once your blog has a reasonable audience, companies will start paying you to write articles featuring their products or services.
Rates typically start around $250 per post for smaller blogs and go up significantly as your traffic grows – and this income sits on top of whatever you’re already making through ads and affiliate links.
The key is only accepting sponsored posts for products you’d genuinely recommend – your readers will notice if something feels out of place, and your credibility is what makes the whole model work.
10. Build and monetize an email list
An email list is one of the most underrated advertising assets you can build – and unlike a social media following, you own it entirely.
Once you have a list of subscribers who trust you, you can earn through affiliate recommendations, sponsored emails from brands, or promoting your own products.
The trick is building the list around a specific niche – a focused list of 5,000 people interested in personal finance will consistently outperform a generic list of 50,000.
Tip: Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is the email platform I’d recommend for anyone building a list around a content business – it has a free account for up to 10,000 subscribers and is genuinely easy to use even if you’ve never set up email marketing before.
11. Start a podcast
Podcasting has become a legitimate advertising platform in its own right, with brands paying for pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ad spots in episodes.
You’ll need a decent listener base before brands start approaching you, but affiliate marketing works well from day one – simply mentioning a product with a custom code or link in your show notes can earn you commissions even with a small audience.
12. Work as a freelance ad specialist
Plenty of small businesses know they need to advertise on social media but have no idea where to start – and that’s an opportunity for you.
As a freelance social media ad specialist, you’d manage paid campaigns on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok on behalf of other businesses, getting paid for your time and results.
You’ll need a solid grasp of how ad platforms work, how to read performance data, and how to advise clients on strategy – but these are all learnable skills, and demand for this service is only growing.
Sites like Freelancer are a good place to find clients when you’re starting out.
13. Work as a graphic designer making ads
If you have an eye for design, creating ads for companies is a natural fit – and it’s a skill that’s in constant demand since businesses always need fresh creative for their campaigns.
Build a portfolio of sample ad designs (you can create these speculatively for fictional brands to start), then find clients through freelancing platforms or by reaching out to local businesses directly.
AI design tools have made this field more competitive in recent years, but brands that want high-quality, brand-consistent creative still rely on human designers – especially for anything more complex than a basic banner.
14. Refer friends to apps that pay you
A lot of apps will pay you a referral bonus when someone you recommend signs up – which is technically advertising for them, just through word of mouth.
This is one of the lowest-effort options on the list and can add up quickly if you have a network of people who’d genuinely benefit from the apps.
Best referral bonuses right now: Swagbucks gives you a $10 welcome bonus plus $3 for each friend you refer, and you earn 10% of whatever they make going forward. InboxDollars has a $5 welcome bonus plus $1 per referral and 30% of their lifetime earnings.
15. Record voiceovers for ads
Voiceover work is a form of advertising that many people overlook – but companies pay real money for voices to narrate their radio spots, video ads, and promotional content.
To get started, you’ll need a decent microphone and recording setup, a demo reel of your voice, and a profile on a voiceover marketplace like Voices.com or Voice123.
AI has made some inroads into this space, but voice-over clients who want a natural, expressive delivery – especially for brand advertising – still strongly prefer human voices.
16. Get paid to advertise on your car
Car wrap advertising has been around for years and it’s one of the most genuinely passive ways to earn money – you just drive around as normal and get paid for the ad on your vehicle.
Wrapify is the most well-known company for this, with earnings of around $450 a month depending on how much you drive and the size of the wrap.
The stickers are removable with no damage to your paint, and the company will repaint your car at the end of the agreement if needed – so there’s no real risk on your side.
17. Get paid for ads on your phone’s lock screen
Apps like Slidejoy display ads on your phone’s lock screen and pay you a small amount each time you unlock your phone.
It’s genuinely passive – you don’t have to do anything differently – and payments come via PayPal or gift cards once you hit the minimum payout threshold.
The earning potential is modest, but it’s one of the truly zero-effort options on this list.
18. Get paid to wear clothing for brands
Wearing branded clothing for companies is a form of advertising that mainly works for people with some level of social media presence – but the barrier is lower than you might think.
Some brands run campaigns where they pay or reward people for posting photos wearing their products, and micro-influencers on Instagram or TikTok are often the perfect fit for this kind of deal.
It’s worth reaching out directly to brands you already wear and love – many smaller or mid-sized brands are open to gifting arrangements even with modest follower counts.
How much can you realistically earn?
The range here is genuinely huge – from a few dollars a month for phone lock screen ads to hundreds of thousands a year for bloggers with major traffic.
Car wrap advertising might bring in $300-$450 a month for minimal effort, while a sponsored Instagram post from a micro-influencer typically earns anywhere from $50 to $500 per post depending on engagement.
Blogging sits at the high end of the spectrum – established bloggers regularly make $5,000-$50,000+ per month through a combination of affiliate marketing, display ads, and sponsored content.
None of the higher-earning options happen overnight – but with consistent effort on the right strategy, they’re absolutely achievable.
Tips for making the most of these opportunities
Whichever route you take, a few principles hold true across almost all of them.
Only advertise what you’d genuinely recommend. Your audience – whether it’s blog readers, Instagram followers, or email subscribers – will tune out fast if your recommendations feel paid-for and hollow.
Build your audience first, then monetize. It’s tempting to add ads and affiliate links from day one, but focusing on producing genuinely useful content first means you’ll have a much more engaged (and much more valuable) audience when the time comes.
Always disclose paid content. FTC guidelines require you to clearly disclose when you’ve been paid to advertise something, whether it’s a sponsored Instagram post, a blog article, or a TikTok video.
Stack your income streams. The most successful people in this space don’t rely on one income stream – a blogger might earn from ads, affiliates, sponsored posts, and their email list all at once, and each one compounds the others.
The post 25 Brilliant Ways to Get Paid to Advertise and Make Real Money appeared first on LogicalDollar.