The Only 25 Ways to Make Money in 2026 — Transcript
Full transcript
- 0:00I know for a fact that you're tired of
- 0:02searching the internet for the best ways
- 0:04to make money online. Every day,
- 0:06thousands of internet gurus tell you to
- 0:08try affiliate marketing or drop
- 0:10shipping, and they're all full of
- 0:13Those things don't work in 2026,
- 0:15especially not in the new era of AI. In
- 0:18my AI venture studio, Martell Ventures,
- 0:20I've created dozens of companies that
- 0:22now generate millions, and I can tell
- 0:24you there's only a few real ways to make
- 0:26money online. To make it simple, we're
- 0:28breaking everything into four buckets.
- 0:31Trash, the stuff you shoulding run away
- 0:33from. Easy, businesses you can launch in
- 0:36under three months, earning 5 to 10K a
- 0:38month. Medium, skills that can be
- 0:41profitable within a year, making 10 to
- 0:4350K a month. And hard, long-term plays
- 0:46that may take more time, but can make
- 0:48you millions if done right. I'll tell
- 0:50you the income potential, difficulty,
- 0:53how long it'll take to make money, and
- 0:56who is best for each bucket. So, without
- 0:59further explanation, let's get into the
- 1:01real ways to make money in 2026. [music]
- 1:04Starting with bucket number one, the
- 1:06trash bucket. The income potential for
- 1:09this bucket is zero or even worse, could
- 1:11be negative. Difficulty, I mean, it
- 1:13looks easy, but it gives you nothing
- 1:16back. time frame wastes months [music]
- 1:18before you realize it was dead on
- 1:20arrival. Who is it best for? No one. NFT
- 1:24flipping. The hype is freaking done.
- 1:26Look at all the projects that launched.
- 1:28Nobody made money. The ones that thought
- 1:30they made money have lost money. And if
- 1:32you're going to start there and you
- 1:34haven't made money ever online, that's a
- 1:36losing recipe. Next, crypto trading
- 1:40moves really fast. Most people don't
- 1:42have the patience and it's [music]
- 1:44without any crazy skill. Unless you're
- 1:46the person that tries to frontr run the
- 1:48whole freaking trade, most people lose
- 1:50money every freaking day. Next,
- 1:52multi-level marketing. If the way you
- 1:55make money is getting paid to recruit
- 1:57people to join your thing and you don't
- 1:59shape the business and you don't
- 2:01actually sell anything and you actually
- 2:03spend more money to buy product to try
- 2:05to get up the leaderboard, that's not a
- 2:06business you want to be in. Most of
- 2:08these are scams. Next, basic caption or
- 2:11subtitles. [music] Now, AI does it
- 2:13faster, cheaper, and way better. After
- 2:16that, we have low-level data entry. This
- 2:19is wild to watch that people still think
- 2:22they're going to make money on this
- 2:23because AI tools have replaced this work
- 2:25completely. Fiverr Microtask, my
- 2:28favorite website on the internet 5 years
- 2:30ago. Trying to make money this way. It's
- 2:33not the worst on the list, but it has
- 2:35zero long-term growth. Next, we got
- 2:37print ondemand. Here's the thing, it's
- 2:40really crowded and everyone sells the
- 2:43same stuff. And last but not least, my
- 2:46favorite, day trading. Here's the deal.
- 2:48If you're not completely into it,
- 2:50obsessed on it, and just want to just
- 2:52live the day trading life, it is way
- 2:55easier to lose money than to make any.
- 2:58Basically, all these are like trying to
- 3:00race across the ocean in a car. [music]
- 3:02You keep drowning because you need a
- 3:04different vehicle. So, to make sure your
- 3:07idea isn't in this bucket, I need you to
- 3:09run your idea through the trash filter.
- 3:12Three simple questions. One, is AI
- 3:16already replacing this? Two, is the
- 3:19industry shrinking or going obsolete?
- 3:22Three, is it easier to lose money than
- 3:25to make money? If you answer yes to any,
- 3:29move on immediately. Now, let's talk
- 3:32about the first bucket that actually
- 3:34pays real money. Bucket number two, easy
- 3:37bucket. The income potential, 5 to 10k a
- 3:40month, no problem. The difficulty, low,
- 3:43simple skills, fast turnaround. Time
- 3:46frame, 30 to 60 days to actually get
- 3:49paid. And it's best for beginners trying
- 3:52to gain some momentum and build some
- 3:53skills. You don't need a degree for
- 3:55these. These just need basic execution
- 3:58and learning how to talk to customers.
- 4:00Just get your first dollar online. Build
- 4:02some confidence and learn how clients
- 4:04work. Here are some examples. The first
- 4:06one, basic short form editing. If you
- 4:09haven't seen all the people that have
- 4:10like these clipping accounts and people
- 4:12like edit these short form videos all
- 4:14over social media, I mean, the demand is
- 4:16[music] huge. Every person now seems to
- 4:18be a content creator and AI makes it
- 4:20incredibly easy. So, it's easy to get
- 4:22paid fast. Love this one. [music] Next,
- 4:25we got social media copywriting. Every
- 4:27business in the world needs to learn how
- 4:29to use words to get customers to buy and
- 4:32they need somebody to help them. And the
- 4:34tools are getting so good. Just get the
- 4:36client, do the work, get paid. Next,
- 4:39we've got the AI chatbot setup for small
- 4:42businesses. I love this one because
- 4:44every small business needs more time
- 4:46back. And if you can be the person that
- 4:48comes in and help them set this up, they
- 4:50will pay you money because it's easy for
- 4:52them to redeploy their time to make more
- 4:54money than what they paid you. use this
- 4:56one. Next, we've got the AI
- 4:58receptionist. Along those same lines,
- 5:00it's crazy today when you can use tools
- 5:02like your.com that you can get paid to
- 5:05set up for small businesses to take all
- 5:07the inbound calls to qualify, [music]
- 5:09sell, fill up schedules, answer
- 5:11questions, and it'll do it without being
- 5:14upset, complain, take time off, or call
- 5:17in sick. Helping businesses do this is a
- 5:20great way to make money. Next, we've got
- 5:22UGC content. Brands want to pay for real
- 5:26people showing their products, not
- 5:28professional models. Helping a brand
- 5:30connect with a creator and you're the
- 5:32middleman and you get a piece of this.
- 5:34My buddy in Dubai, this is his whole
- 5:36business and they're already doing 100K
- 5:37[music] a month. So, you can make 5 to
- 5:3910 starting with this one. And last, the
- 5:42virtual or executive assistant. It's one
- 5:44of my fave categories cuz I wrote a book
- 5:46called Buy Back Your Time. See, rich
- 5:47people hate wasting time and they'll pay
- 5:50you to get it back. The best part is you
- 5:52get paid to hang out with smart people
- 5:54that can teach you about life to help
- 5:56them get done. Nob brainer. A great
- 5:59example of this bucket is my buddy Mark.
- 6:01No background, no experience. He decides
- 6:03to start approaching companies to help
- 6:05them take long form content that they
- 6:06were creating using AI to break it down
- 6:09into short form clips. And that simple
- 6:12process of using AI tools, making it
- 6:15repeatable, and turning around really
- 6:16quick has scaled now. Whereas a
- 6:18freelancer, he earns $30,000 a month
- 6:20with only seven clients. This bucket is
- 6:22about learning how to master a high
- 6:24income skill. Because if you already
- 6:26knew how to make millions, you'd be
- 6:28making millions. Which means you're
- 6:30going to have to invest in yourself to
- 6:31develop the skills to add value to the
- 6:33world. If you want to try any of these
- 6:35ideas, follow these specific [music]
- 6:37steps. First, create your outcomebased
- 6:40offer. Don't sell your time. Map to a
- 6:43pain the customer already has. help them
- 6:45make money or save time around an area
- 6:48that they're really in pain around
- 6:50because pain is a perfect way to figure
- 6:52out what they're willing to pay for.
- 6:53Make a promise that's specific around a
- 6:56result in a very specific time frame.
- 6:59That's how you create a compelling offer
- 7:00and then just remove all the risks. Just
- 7:02tell them what the guarantee is and then
- 7:04say, "Because it's just you, [music] you
- 7:06can only take so many clients, so I'm
- 7:07only looking for three or five clients."
- 7:09That creates urgency and it'll get them
- 7:10to buy right away. And for what it's
- 7:12worth, if you [music] want to make this
- 7:13super easy, I can send you my exact
- 7:16offer template. So, all you have to do
- 7:18is copy and paste it. It'll save you
- 7:20hours of tweaking and adjusting and
- 7:22testing. Just DM me the [music] words
- 7:23YouTube offer on Instagram or click the
- 7:26link in the description below and I'll
- 7:27send it over. So, once you have your
- 7:29offer, just do one daily outreach.
- 7:32That's a non-negotiable. If you want to
- 7:33make money online, set it and forget it.
- 7:35It's just a habit. So, reach out to one
- 7:37potential client every day until you get
- 7:40customers. But you just have to have a
- 7:41clear offer. That's what this bucket
- 7:43will teach you. That skill of crafting
- 7:45an offer, getting somebody to understand
- 7:46it, and paying you. [music] This will
- 7:48get you the best chance to be successful
- 7:50in this bucket. That being said, if you
- 7:52already have experience [music] or you
- 7:54want income that's more consistent, the
- 7:56medium bucket might actually be better
- 7:58choice.
- 8:00Bucket number three, the medium bucket.
- 8:02Essentially, the income potential is 10
- 8:04to 50K per month minimum. Difficulty
- 8:07level, it's medium, but multi-kill work
- 8:09tied to real business outcomes makes you
- 8:11money. You're not just doing task
- 8:13anymore. You're solving revenue and
- 8:15growth problems for businesses. And the
- 8:17time frame to make real money could be 3
- 8:19months, maybe worst case 12 months, but
- 8:22you're setting up your future. And it's
- 8:24best for people that have some skill but
- 8:26want more stability and scale. When I
- 8:29look at Sam on my media team, Sam didn't
- 8:31ask for a step-by-step instruction to be
- 8:33successful. He just framed the outcome.
- 8:36He took ownership and he delivered.
- 8:38Because of that, he got opportunities to
- 8:40step up. That's why you've probably seen
- 8:42the video of me giving him his dream
- 8:44car, a Porsche GT4. It wasn't because he
- 8:46was doing little tiny tasks. [music]
- 8:48It's because he actually delivered the
- 8:49outcome. And for me, that became vastly
- 8:52more valuable. And that's what's
- 8:54different about this bucket. You're no
- 8:55longer just doing the skill. You're
- 8:57actually tying your pay to an outcome.
- 8:59The only way for your clients to make
- 9:01more money is for them to focus on
- 9:02solving bigger problems which mean you
- 9:04come in and take the smaller [music]
- 9:05problems off their plate. So what are
- 9:07some examples in this category? The
- 9:09first one automation agencies. This
- 9:11one's the new hotness. Why? The demand
- 9:13for this alone makes it a fantastic
- 9:16opportunity and it makes you bulletproof
- 9:18for the future. businesses are literally
- 9:21drowning in opportunity to automate and
- 9:23it makes them money quickly and it saves
- 9:25them time at scale and it's going to
- 9:27futureproof [music] you for other
- 9:29companies. Next, we got LinkedIn growth
- 9:31systems powered by AI. Every CEO or
- 9:34leader out there, they need more reach.
- 9:36They need people to know who they are.
- 9:38They need people to know, like, and
- 9:39trust them. And if you're the kind of
- 9:40person to come in and own that outcome
- 9:42of getting that attention, that
- 9:44audience, that trust, [music] they will
- 9:46pay you to help them grow. Next, we've
- 9:48got micro SASS, near and dear to my
- 9:49heart, and really AI tools for small
- 9:52businesses. These are like really small,
- 9:54tiny tools that help save people time.
- 9:56So, you can have like a plugin, an
- 9:58extension, an app for a marketplace,
- 10:01[music] but the cool part is you charge
- 10:02monthly for simple, clear value, and
- 10:05that's how you stack revenue. Next,
- 10:07we've got an AI content agency. This one
- 10:10is super fun, especially if you love
- 10:12content. I mean, brands are always
- 10:14looking for more content that's aligned
- 10:16to help them create associations [music]
- 10:18to help their business. So, you use AI
- 10:20to produce high volumes without
- 10:22shooting. It's crazy. So, look into like
- 10:25Hey Genen, 11 Labs, and other tools like
- 10:27that that'll make this job easy. And for
- 10:29these last two options, just take a
- 10:31screenshot for all the AI tools that I
- 10:33put up on screen so that you can make
- 10:34this option way easier. And last, we
- 10:36have highquality motion graphic [music]
- 10:38designers. The more AI can do all kind
- 10:41of lowquality stuff and like people are
- 10:43shooting more and more content. What's
- 10:44missing is somebody to understand how to
- 10:46do motion graphics. This is the
- 10:48separator. This is where you make
- 10:50content [music] look pro. So you want to
- 10:51learn After Effects plus all the AI
- 10:53tools that help you make and deliver
- 10:55premium assets fast. And for these last
- 10:57two options, take a screenshot of all
- 10:59these AI tools that will make it so much
- 11:01easier for you. If you fall in love with
- 11:03this bucket, here are two pro tips that
- 11:05you need. One, build three to five
- 11:08measurable case studies that you can
- 11:10tell to other people. That way, it'll
- 11:12allow you to sell to more clients fast.
- 11:14So, if you're just starting off, maybe
- 11:15you find people that represent your
- 11:17ideal customer profile and offer to
- 11:19either do it at a discount or free. I
- 11:21don't love free, but let's say discount.
- 11:22And in return for that discount, they
- 11:24agree to let you use their project as a
- 11:27case study to talk to other customers
- 11:28about. Two, sell outcomebased monthly
- 11:31retainers instead of one-off projects. I
- 11:34still see people in today's age that are
- 11:36selling their time for [music] money.
- 11:38You have to disconnect from that. Don't
- 11:40get stuck in it. Don't start there.
- 11:42Don't get in the trap. When you can sell
- 11:44outcomes, especially like monthly
- 11:46retainers for a specific outcome, that
- 11:47creates predictability and reoccurring
- 11:50revenue in your business. And that is
- 11:51the most beautiful place to get. And
- 11:53that is how you make real money online.
- 11:56But if you want to build something way
- 11:58bigger than yourself, something that
- 11:59could actually [music] change your
- 12:01entire life, the hard bucket is where
- 12:03it's at. Bucket number four, the hard
- 12:05bucket. The income potential here could
- 12:08be like a million plus a month.
- 12:10Honestly, millions. The difficulty level
- 12:12though is high cuz it's going to require
- 12:14systems, leadership, and honestly
- 12:16long-term thinking. It's hard to get
- 12:18into and it may need some capital or
- 12:21expertise, but you will see a massive
- 12:23return. And the time frame to get to
- 12:25this level, if you start from zero,
- 12:27could take two to 10 years or more,
- 12:29depending on your level of effort. It's
- 12:31best for people who want to build
- 12:33something bigger than themselves.
- 12:34Essentially, an asset or even better, an
- 12:36empire. [music] And the reason why is
- 12:38because you're building something that
- 12:40someone else might actually buy. The
- 12:42people in this bucket are my kind of
- 12:44people. So, let's run through some
- 12:46examples. The first, [music] investing
- 12:48in AI first founders. This is my world.
- 12:51See, back in the day, I've been doing AI
- 12:53investing for over seven years.
- 12:55Companies like Flex Pay or Intercom,
- 12:57etc. These are all companies I was
- 12:59involved in in the early days. And
- 13:00what's cool about it is that if you have
- 13:02the capital and you invest in them, when
- 13:04they win, you win. When you get equity
- 13:06without running the company yourself,
- 13:08you get a lot of time back. So, this is
- 13:10a great way to create leverage and
- 13:11create an empire. I've personally
- 13:13invested in over a 100 companies using
- 13:15this method. And starting from 2026,
- 13:18this is going to get way bigger. A lot
- 13:20of people are going to be able to do
- 13:21this one. Next, we got software AI
- 13:23products. Essentially, this is my world.
- 13:25This is what I build at Martell
- 13:26Ventures. We have built or partnered
- 13:28with people that have launched a new AI
- 13:30company every month for the last year
- 13:32and a little bit. And I'm telling you,
- 13:33this one has made me more money than
- 13:35anything I've ever done my whole life.
- 13:37The key to make it work is you got to
- 13:39build tools that solve real problems in
- 13:41a way that's unique. Most of the
- 13:43applications that I'm working on,
- 13:45honestly, the AI [music] isn't powerful
- 13:47enough yet for it to work. Not only is
- 13:50it a great way to generate reoccurring
- 13:52revenue because it's software, but you
- 13:53build some value where people will pay
- 13:55you 10 [music] to 50 times more than
- 13:58your topline revenue for the business.
- 14:00Next is buying small businesses and
- 14:02using AI to automate 30 to 50% of it.
- 14:05It's so crazy how there's like these
- 14:07really simple businesses that are still
- 14:09stuck in the 80s. My friend Jason bought
- 14:11a campground a couple years ago and all
- 14:13he did was put in AI powered booking
- 14:15software, management software,
- 14:17maintenance software, and the thing
- 14:18prints cash today, but buying a boring
- 14:21business that somebody else is done with
- 14:23using AI is a great way to create real
- 14:25wealth. Next, we've got personal brand
- 14:28or content machine for deal flow. I
- 14:30break it into content and commerce.
- 14:32You've seen this with Mr. Beast and
- 14:34Feastables. You've seen this with Logan
- 14:36Paul and Prime. You've seen [music] this
- 14:37with all these content creators. But if
- 14:39you can build a personal brand, build
- 14:41distribution, then you have a way to
- 14:43introduce customers to a product that
- 14:46creates equity, that creates enterprise
- 14:48value, and this is in the hard bucket
- 14:50because most people are willing to stick
- 14:51with it. It takes time. It takes
- 14:53commitment. It takes dedication. You got
- 14:55to be consistent. Most people would
- 14:57rather take the easy way. That's why
- 14:58it's in the hard bucket. Next, we've got
- 15:00subscription communities powered by AI
- 15:03curation. I've seen so many of these
- 15:05online communities now where essentially
- 15:07people pay every month to be part of a
- 15:09group so that they have access to
- 15:11knowledge and experience and the AI is
- 15:13designed to answer their questions to
- 15:15support them. It's faster, it's easier,
- 15:17and you can build a business from it.
- 15:19And last, licensing AI playbooks. This
- 15:23is where most companies don't realize
- 15:25their system prompts is their new IP,
- 15:27their intellectual property. So, if you
- 15:29have a business that has created these
- 15:31playbooks that are AI powered, you can
- 15:33copy paste those and sell them to other
- 15:34businesses by making them passive
- 15:37income. Like, just go look at all the
- 15:38custom GPTs you can buy. A lot of people
- 15:41are like creating innovation inside
- 15:42their own business and licing it to
- 15:44other companies [music] and making a ton
- 15:46of money. This is a really cool one that
- 15:47I think a lot of people are sleeping on.
- 15:49The hard bucket is near and dear to my
- 15:51heart because it's a reflection of my
- 15:52life. I mean, a lot of people see me
- 15:54today and they see all the success and
- 15:55the accolades, but they don't know where
- 15:57I started. I started as a software
- 15:59programmer at 17 writing code and it
- 16:02took me almost seven years to finally
- 16:04find any software any traction what I
- 16:07was doing and eventually at 28 I sold my
- 16:10company and I became a multi-millionaire
- 16:12and it's the thing that ultimately made
- 16:13me financially successful but better
- 16:15than anything it created the confidence
- 16:17in my abilities that I could then apply
- 16:19to my other companies. So don't forget
- 16:22you don't get the hockey stick without
- 16:23the flat first year. So, you have to
- 16:25learn how to invest and reinvest and
- 16:28recommmit if you ever want to be
- 16:30successful. Here's [snorts] how you do
- 16:31this for yourself step by step. One, tie
- 16:35your strongest skill to a fast growing
- 16:38industry. If you don't know what that
- 16:40is, ask AI. It'll tell you. Second is
- 16:43systematize your service. Don't sell
- 16:45your time. Sell an outcome so that you
- 16:48can build the system around delivering
- 16:50that outcome and create automation so
- 16:52it's systematized. Third is build a
- 16:55small team slowly. Surround yourself
- 16:57with killers. I believe the first 12
- 16:59people that come into your business will
- 17:00dictate your success. You want to be
- 17:02slow on making sure they're the right
- 17:04fit for what you're trying to do. And
- 17:06for what it's worth, avoid adding
- 17:07headcount where AI could do the job for
- 17:10you. Number four, layer AI into your
- 17:13operations to increase your margins. Get
- 17:15rid of the cost. Get AI to build that
- 17:18automation. And last, use content to
- 17:20create inbound deal flow. If I would
- 17:22have known when I started creating
- 17:24content that not only would bring
- 17:25opportunities to me, but it would bring
- 17:27talent, it would bring friendships, it
- 17:29would bring invites to things that you
- 17:31couldn't even pay for, I would have
- 17:33started a long time ago. So, no matter
- 17:35what you decide to do in this bucket,
- 17:36just make sure you create content around
- 17:38it. None of this matters. If you fall
- 17:40into the trap that destroys more
- 17:42businesses than anything else, the shiny
- 17:44object syndrome. Most people fail not
- 17:47because they were in the wrong bucket,
- 17:49but because they switch buckets every
- 17:51few weeks. I got a friend, he's the same
- 17:54age as me. I've watched him go from like
- 17:55one idea to the other idea to the next
- 17:57idea to another idea, and he hasn't
- 18:00found any traction. Why? He keeps
- 18:02resetting every time. Every 2 or 3
- 18:04years, it's like, "Oh, that didn't work
- 18:06cuz of this. I'm going to do this now."
- 18:07Here's why. When you start from scratch,
- 18:10you can't be wrong. If you stick long
- 18:11enough with something it doesn't work,
- 18:13then it can feel demoralizing. But the
- 18:15real way to win is to stay in the game
- 18:17long enough to win. See, winners lose
- 18:19more than losers by definition of being
- 18:21a winner. I know it sounds crazy, but
- 18:23that's what it's going to take. So,
- 18:25don't get distracted. Focus. Follow one
- 18:28course until successful. Pick one of
- 18:30these options out of these buckets and
- 18:33execute. Just remember, you can do
- 18:35anything, just not everything. So,
- 18:37here's how you avoid the shiny object
- 18:39syndrome. One, commit to a,000 days of
- 18:42focus. Don't stop. Be consistent. Two,
- 18:46document [music] the journey. Put it in
- 18:48public. Build in public. It'll actually
- 18:51hold you accountable because everybody's
- 18:53going to be waiting to see what you're
- 18:54going to post next. If you just do these
- 18:56two things, it'll increase your
- 18:58probability of success more than
- 18:59anything else you could do. And the most
- 19:01important thing is that you commit.
- 19:03Don't just hear all of this and do
- 19:05nothing. The separator in 2026 is the
- 19:09people that show up and do. And those
- 19:11are the folks that make it this far. So,
- 19:12if that's you, I want a commitment. Type
- 19:14commitment below. Look me in the eyes
- 19:17and let me know you're one of the people
- 19:18that are different. You're the one
- 19:19that's not just going to do shelf help,
- 19:21listen to a lot of stuff, and put it up
- 19:22on a shelf, but you're actually going to
- 19:24focus until you get results. And
- 19:26remember, if any of you are
- 19:27entrepreneurs out there and you want my
- 19:29exact offer template to help you get
- 19:31clients, just DM me the word YouTube
- 19:32offer on Instagram or click the link
- 19:35below and I'll send it right over. And
- 19:37if you want to learn how to scale any
- 19:39business from absolutely very beginning
- 19:41to the end, click here and I'll see you
- 19:43on the other
About this transcript
This page contains the full transcript of The Only 25 Ways to Make Money in 2026 by Dan Martell, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 3,902 words across 561 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.
What you can do with it
Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.
Free YouTube transcript tool
YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.