- 2 months ago
Want to make money online as a student or beginner? In this video, I’ll show you the best way to make your first $10,000 fast—even if you’re starting from zero. Whether it’s freelancing, selling products, or building passive income, I’ll break down what side hustles actually work in 2025 and how to scale $10,000 into real wealth.
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00:00If you don't want to be like everyone else,
00:02broke, stressed, and stuck in a never-ending cycle,
00:06you need to focus on one thing,
00:08making your first $10,000.
00:11When I was 18, I had no money and no qualifications,
00:15but I did have big ambitions.
00:18Instead of worrying about making millions,
00:20I set myself the smaller, more achievable goal
00:23of making 10K.
00:24Now, as a self-made millionaire,
00:26I can tell you that first $10,000 was the hardest to make,
00:31but once I hit it, everything changed.
00:34It wasn't just about the money,
00:35it was about proving to myself
00:37that making money is a skill and not luck.
00:40Once I figured out how to make 10K once,
00:42I knew I could do it again and again,
00:45and eventually scale it into real wealth.
00:48So if I had to start from zero
00:50and make that first $10,000 all over again,
00:53this is exactly how I do it in three steps.
00:56Most people make this way harder than it needs to be.
01:02They jump into crypto
01:03because their friend made money from it,
01:05or they try day trading
01:07because some guru promised it would make them rich.
01:10The problem is both these methods
01:12need huge upfront cash reserves and crazy luck.
01:15These aren't side hustles,
01:16and they should never be seen as your main source of income.
01:19Instead, think of them as tools to multiply your money.
01:23When you're just starting out,
01:24you need something that requires a small amount of money
01:27to begin with and constantly puts cash
01:29in your pocket every day.
01:30When you strip away all the noise,
01:32there are only really four options.
01:34I've tried all of these and take it from me,
01:37this choice is crucial
01:39because some options offer higher scalability,
01:42while others are more limited.
01:44In the same way, some generate quick cash,
01:46while others take more time to make money.
01:48Option one is selling in-person services.
01:51Look, you've probably heard of these before,
01:53but I'm talking personal training,
01:55delivery driving, dog walking, nail designing,
01:59barbering, videography, and so many more.
02:02Although these services sound so common and basic,
02:05they're actually one of the fastest ways to make money.
02:08So don't overlook them as they give you a way
02:11to get paid immediately.
02:13It's also pretty cheap to get started.
02:15All you need is some skills and maybe a few tools,
02:18which means you can get up and running very quickly.
02:21If you choose to do this,
02:22then please don't mess around trying to build a website,
02:25run ads, or make a logo.
02:27Just get out there, find some customers in your local area,
02:31deliver the service, and get paid.
02:34I even did this when I was in my teens.
02:36I used to walk around rich neighborhoods
02:38and offer to wash people's cars.
02:40I'd look out for tidy gardens, but dirty vehicles.
02:44Now, this might sound strange.
02:46However, I was betting if they were obsessed
02:48over keeping their garden tidy,
02:50they'd also want a nice shiny car on their driveway
02:52to impress their neighbors.
02:54Because these kinds of services are limited
02:56by your local area,
02:57it meant my demand was pretty up and down.
03:00Some months were busy,
03:01and others I struggled to make anything.
03:04When I was busy,
03:05I was only able to work with one person at a time,
03:08which kept how much I could make in a day.
03:10So in-person services are great to get started with,
03:13but you can quickly feel like they're limiting your potential.
03:17That brings me onto option two, which is local products.
03:21This is selling things like home-baked goods,
03:24handmade items, artwork, fresh produce, and much more.
03:28This can be a great way to make money,
03:30but it's not something that happens overnight.
03:33Unlike services where you get paid as soon as the job's done,
03:36selling local products takes time.
03:38I gave this a go using some of the profits
03:40from my car washing business.
03:42I bought some cheap model plane parts,
03:44then spent some time building each one up,
03:46and then sold them to people at the RC Flying Club,
03:49which I went to on the weekends.
03:51However, I quickly realized I was putting a lot of work in
03:55for very little money.
03:56This was hard for me to come to terms with,
03:58because I really enjoyed building them.
04:01Most of my earnings were being eaten up
04:03by the cost of materials.
04:04And on top of that, my customer base was very limited,
04:08as there weren't enough people willing to pay what I needed
04:11to make it worth my time.
04:12So selling local products can be fun,
04:14and it's definitely worth it if you want to make some money
04:17from something you love.
04:18Option three is global products.
04:21This includes starting a clothing brand, drop shipping,
04:24sneaker reselling, print on demand, and so much more.
04:28Unlike in-person services or local products,
04:31going global means you have access
04:33to a much larger customer base,
04:35which gives you more opportunities to make money.
04:37You're not limited to just the people in your town or city.
04:41Anyone, anywhere can buy from you.
04:43I was so excited about launching my own global products.
04:47I even flew all the way to China
04:49to partner with a manufacturer
04:51to produce my model airplane designs
04:53and sell them worldwide.
04:54Of course, you don't have to do this
04:56if you choose to go down the drop shipping
04:58or print on demand routes.
05:00However, this wasn't really an option when I started.
05:02If I'm honest, things started off pretty slowly for me,
05:06because I had to keep reinvesting my profits
05:08back into new products to sell.
05:10Every sale required more investment.
05:12Once I sold 10 items,
05:14I then needed to buy 20 more to keep up.
05:16Instead of pocketing the profits,
05:18my money kept getting trapped
05:19in this endless cycle of restocking.
05:22Ultimately, was it worth it?
05:24One hundred percent.
05:25However, you should only do this
05:27if you have the patience to wait one to three months
05:30for everything to start kicking off.
05:32So when this is up and running,
05:33it is probably the most passive,
05:35laziest way to make money that actually works.
05:38So that brings us on to option four,
05:41selling online services.
05:44This option wasn't actually possible for me
05:46when I was younger,
05:47but this is such an advantage nowadays.
05:49There are so many different online services you can offer.
05:52These include copywriting, video editing,
05:55thumbnail design, running ads, social media management.
05:59The list goes on.
06:00Selling online services actually combines
06:02the two biggest benefits from the in-person services,
06:06and global products.
06:08This is because you get the global reach,
06:10but the profit margins of a service.
06:12With products, you might make 20 to 30% margin
06:15that needs to be reinvested.
06:17With services, you're looking at 70 to 80% margins
06:21that go straight into your pocket.
06:23Plus, you can start making money from day one.
06:25Look, all of these are fantastic ways
06:28to make $10,000 as a student,
06:30especially these last two options.
06:33However, if I wanted to start making money
06:35as fast as possible,
06:36then I'd go with option four,
06:39selling online services.
06:41So now we need to figure out exactly
06:44what online service to offer.
06:46So start by asking yourself three questions.
06:49What are you really good at?
06:51What do you enjoy learning about?
06:53And what problems do businesses
06:55consistently struggle with?
06:57The sweet spot is where your answers overlap.
06:59Most people get stuck at this stage
07:01as they spend months or even years
07:03trying to perfect their skill
07:04before offering it to anyone.
07:06That is totally backwards.
07:08You need to start getting real world experience
07:10as quickly as possible.
07:12So start by setting your prices
07:14under the normal market rate.
07:16Your main aim here
07:17is to earn and learn at the same time.
07:19Now let's take this one step further.
07:24This is the skill pyramid,
07:26made up of four elements
07:28that when mastered together,
07:30transform a high income skill
07:32into a $10,000 income.
07:34Miss just one and you'll stay stuck at the bottom,
07:37working hard, but never breaking through.
07:40Element one is positioning.
07:42You see, not all online services are equal.
07:45The real money is in offering
07:47to help businesses make more money.
07:49That's because businesses
07:51think about money differently to individuals.
07:53When a business is making $50,000 a month,
07:56spending $2,000 to solve a problem isn't a big deal,
08:00as long as it helps them make more money.
08:02And take it from me,
08:03they have a lot of these problems.
08:05They need more customers, they need better systems,
08:08they need to stand out from their competition,
08:11and they need to convert more leads into sales.
08:13These problems never go away,
08:16and businesses are always willing to pay to solve them.
08:19On top of this,
08:20some industries simply have more money to spend than others.
08:23And if you think about how you can reposition yourself,
08:26you'll start making real money faster.
08:28Here are some ideas to get you thinking.
08:31Instead of being a video editor for small YouTubers,
08:34you could edit videos for an entrepreneur
08:36who sells a product.
08:37If you make random thumbnails for clients,
08:40you could instead aim to become the main designer
08:43for an established creator.
08:44And if you're a copywriter, don't write cheap articles.
08:48Instead, focus on optimizing landing pages.
08:51This isn't about learning more skills,
08:53it's about putting yourself where the money's being made.
08:56Element two is leverage.
08:58You'll never make $10,000 without leveraging value over time.
09:02Businesses don't pay for effort, they pay for results.
09:06If you stop charging for the hours you work,
09:08and instead for the return on investment you provide,
09:11you'll instantly make more money.
09:13Let's say you choose to run Facebook ads.
09:16If you charge per hour, you're stuck with a fixed rate,
09:19and the client will always wanna keep your hours low.
09:22But if you charge based on the money
09:24you bring in for the business,
09:25suddenly, they're not thinking about cost,
09:28they're thinking about profit.
09:30And when they see that your work
09:31is directly making the money,
09:33they'll happily pay you more for it.
09:35The same goes for if you decide
09:36to offer social media management.
09:38If you just schedule posts and reply to comments,
09:40you're replaceable.
09:42But if you can prove that your strategy
09:44is bringing in more engagement, more leads, and more sales,
09:48you become a valuable asset, not just an expense.
09:51Trust me, the moment you shift your pitch
09:53from what you do to what they gain,
09:55you'll find a lot of people are suddenly willing
09:57to pay a lot more.
09:58Element three is reach.
10:00One of the biggest mistakes people make when starting out
10:03is thinking they always have to chase clients,
10:06but that's not how the game should be played.
10:09Right from the start, you need to be thinking about
10:11how to make clients come to you.
10:13Recently, I was looking for a graphic designer
10:16for a specific task, making movie style posters.
10:20So the first thing I did was look on TikTok
10:22for people who made these kinds of designs.
10:24And one person dominated the search results.
10:28So I reached out to him and asked him for his prices.
10:30He told me he was just posting some of his designs
10:33for fun on TikTok.
10:34He wasn't even doing it as a side hustle
10:36so politely declined.
10:38However, his videos kept growing in popularity
10:41and his inbox was flooded with DMs asking to work with him.
10:44A few weeks later, he reached back out to me asking
10:47how to start getting paid.
10:49I helped him set up a proper business
10:51and now he works for me and many other clients.
10:54This just goes to show that you should always be putting
10:56your work out there online, even if you're just starting out
11:00or just doing something because you enjoy it.
11:02You never know what opportunities might come from it.
11:05So if you edit videos, show before and after clips
11:08to highlight how much better your edits make the content.
11:11If you design thumbnails, explain why your design got more clicks.
11:15And if you're learning social media, document how you're growing
11:19an account from scratch.
11:20Element four is automation.
11:2395% of people that try to start a side hustle or business
11:26fail before they even really get going.
11:29Here's why.
11:30After working with countless copywriters, thumbnail designers,
11:34web developers and video editors,
11:35I can tell you that 95% of them promise to deliver on time,
11:39then completely miss their deadlines.
11:42The thing that will make you stand out the most
11:44isn't talent or charisma, it's reliability.
11:47And overlooking this is the biggest mistake
11:49young people make when starting out.
11:51The people I've ended up paying thousands to
11:54aren't always the best at what they do,
11:56but they're the most organized.
11:57They never miss deadlines, they always communicate clearly,
12:01and they make working with them effortless.
12:03So take it from me, being good at what you do is one thing,
12:07but being reliable is what gets you paid again and again.
12:10So how do you do this?
12:12Well, the most successful people I know
12:14don't rely on memory or messy notes.
12:16They use automation.
12:18And if you're thinking about making money online,
12:20you need something to help you keep track of everything.
12:22That's why I recommend using a CRM system.
12:26Odoo CRM is great.
12:27It helps you remember who you talk to, what they wanted,
12:31and what you need to do next.
12:32Instead of scrolling through emails or DMs,
12:35trying to find what the client said,
12:37everything is in one place.
12:38I mean, you can visualize all your opportunities
12:41with this cool board,
12:42which helps you see the expected revenue at each stage,
12:45so you know where to focus your efforts.
12:48You can also use it to schedule calls
12:50and meetings effortlessly.
12:52Plus, with your emails, notes, and files all in one place,
12:56staying organized is very easy.
12:58You can use it to easily track your clients and projects,
13:01so you never miss a deadline.
13:03You can set reminders to follow up with people,
13:05so you always look professional.
13:06At the end of the day,
13:07clients don't just want someone skilled,
13:09they want someone they can count on.
13:11As I was planning on talking about them anyway,
13:13I reached out to Odoo to see if they wanted to sponsor
13:16this portion of the video, and they agreed.
13:19They also offer your first application completely free,
13:22with unlimited support and hosting.
13:24So, if that interests you, I'll drop a link
13:26in the description.
13:29I don't care how much money you make,
13:31until you see at least $1 million in your bank,
13:34you shouldn't be wasting it.
13:35The supercars, the designer clothes, the nights out,
13:38none of it matters,
13:40unless you can turn your income into long-term wealth.
13:42The rich see their income as something to spend,
13:45whereas the wealthy use it to make more money.
13:48So, how do you do this?
13:50Well, you need to start investing.
13:52In front of me, I've got a risk scale,
13:54and I'm gonna walk you through the four key areas,
13:57where I put my money,
13:58starting from the safest investments,
14:00all the way up to the highest risk plays.
14:03Remember, I'm not a financial advisor,
14:05I'm just sharing what's worked for me over the years.
14:08Let's kick this off with my high interest savings account.
14:11They call it a high interest savings account,
14:12but honestly, at 3%,
14:14I have no idea how to get away with that name.
14:16Now, sure, you can find better rates
14:19if you're willing to lock your money away for a set period,
14:21or agree to strict deposit limits each month,
14:24but I don't want my savings held hostage.
14:27I want access to my money when I need it,
14:29not stuck behind some rule that says,
14:31I can only withdraw on the first Tuesday of every leap year.
14:34And I know what some of you are thinking,
14:36Mark, this isn't really investing,
14:38this is just holding cash.
14:40And yeah, you've got a point.
14:42But having some cash on the sidelines means
14:44you're not forced to sell investments at the wrong time.
14:47Imagine the market crashes
14:49and you suddenly need money for an emergency.
14:52If you don't have cash saved up,
14:53you'll have no choice but to sell stocks at a loss,
14:56and that's the fastest way to lock in a bad decision.
15:00A high interest savings account
15:01is like your financial safety net.
15:04It's not about making big returns,
15:06it's about having a buffer,
15:07so that when life throws unexpected expenses at you,
15:10you're covered without wrecking your long-term investments.
15:13Investment two is index funds.
15:16Have you ever heard the saying,
15:18it only takes the price of a coffee a day
15:20to become a millionaire?
15:21Well, that's down to index funds and ETFs.
15:24I've made a lot of money
15:25from simple long-term index fund investing,
15:28and as an added benefit, it's extremely low maintenance.
15:31There are tons of different index funds and ETFs,
15:34but the most popular buzzword of course is the S&P 500,
15:38which is 503 of the top publicly traded companies in America,
15:43all packed into one easy investment.
15:45Even though this is the biggest index fund
15:47in my portfolio by percentage,
15:49I do also invest into a total stock market fund.
15:52The best I found for US investors is VTSAX,
15:56and for the UK people is the VWRL ETF.
16:00Additionally, I think it's important to have some money invested
16:03in an emerging market index fund.
16:05The best I found in the USA is the VWO,
16:09and in the UK is the VFEM ETF.
16:12But there are lots of other emerging market funds available,
16:15so it's worth having a bit of a look around.
16:18If all those index fund names made you glaze over,
16:21then here's an awesome fact to wake you up.
16:24The average return of the S&P 500
16:26over the last 10 years has been over 10%,
16:29which means if you invest just $5 instead of buying a coffee
16:33every single day from the age of 18 to 67,
16:37and achieve the same return,
16:38then you'd retire with over $1 million.
16:41And if you don't wanna wait until you're 67,
16:43just invest more money.
16:45That's what I've done for many years,
16:46and it's worked really well for me.
16:48Investment three is individual stocks.
16:52Now, this is where things get exciting.
16:54Individual stocks can be a great way to start investing,
16:58especially with smaller amounts of money.
17:00They allow you to get hands-on experience with the market
17:03in a way that index funds don't.
17:05When I first started, I really enjoyed picking stocks
17:08and learning how to read companies' financial statements.
17:11Honestly, if I hadn't actually invested my own money,
17:14I doubt I'd ever have been motivated
17:16to understand how it all worked.
17:18That's why, when you're starting out,
17:20individual stocks can feel more engaging.
17:22Of course, they also come with higher risk.
17:25But if you're only investing a small amount,
17:27it can be a useful way to learn how the market moves
17:30without putting too much at stake.
17:32Another big advantage is that you get direct exposure
17:35to specific companies.
17:37With index funds,
17:38even if a company's performing incredibly well,
17:41it may only make up a small part of your portfolio.
17:44With individual stocks,
17:45you get to experience those gains more directly.
17:48But of course, this means more ups and downs,
17:50which is something to keep in mind.
17:52By the way, Trading212 are currently giving away
17:55a free fractional share worth up to 200 pounds
17:58when you use the code Tilbury and fund your account.
18:01So if you want to pick that up,
18:02I'll leave the link in the description below.
18:04Investment four is cryptocurrency.
18:07When Bitcoin first came out in 2009,
18:10I, like a lot of people, just assumed it was a scam.
18:14I was used to investing in real tangible assets
18:17like property and stocks,
18:19things backed by actual companies.
18:21The idea of some digital currency with no one in charge
18:24seemed way too risky.
18:26But as time went on, I started paying more attention.
18:29By early 2019, I decided to dip my toes in,
18:33and over the last few years,
18:35I've been steadily buying more Bitcoin than Ethereum.
18:38Looking back, it's been a solid move,
18:41and it's made me a decent amount of money.
18:43Now, I won't deny that altcoins and mean coins
18:46can make people crazy returns,
18:48but they're also way riskier.
18:50For every person who makes a fortune,
18:52there's plenty who lose it just as fast.
18:55These days, I'd say I'm a lot more bullish on crypto,
18:58but I'm still playing it smart,
19:00building my position slowly, dollar cost averaging,
19:03and making sure I'm not just jumping in at bad prices.
19:06Of course, crypto is super volatile,
19:09and like any investment, it carries risks.
19:11That's why it's important to do your own research
19:14and only invest what you can afford to lose.
19:16If you're ready to learn how to invest in everything
19:19I just talked about,
19:20then I'll leave that video right up there.
19:22But don't click on it just yet.
19:24Make sure to subscribe if you wanna grow your wealth, okay?
19:27I'll see you over there.
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