10 Legit Ways to Get Paid to Advertise for Companies in 2025

Some of these options allow you to earn passive income after the initial setup, while others require a little more work.

So, whether you’re looking for a full-time gig or just some extra cash on the side, there’s an option for you.

In this post, I’ll show you legit and profitable ways to get paid for advertising, covering everything from influencer sponsorships to completely hands-off opportunities.

Why Would Companies Pay You to Advertise?

So why would your favorite clothing company pay you to promote their brand when they can hire specialists who know the ins and outs of advertising and how to market products to turn potential shoppers into lifelong customers?

It all comes down to visibility and trust!

Companies know that personal recommendations (or what feels like one, since it’s coming from your online “friends”) grab our attention much more than traditional ads do, especially since we develop ad “blindness” after seeing the same ads over and over again.

Best Ways to Get Paid to Advertise

So now we know how and why companies are willing to pay you to promote their products and services.

But how do you get started making money with this?

Well, there are plenty of options. All of them fall into two major categories:

• Active advertising: This requires you to do some work, like promoting brands on social media, making YouTube videos, or referring friends to services. The more engaged your audience, the more you can earn.
• Passive advertising: With this one, you earn without much ongoing effort. Examples include renting out ad space on your blog, wrapping your car in an advertisement, or even wearing branded merchandise. Once set up, these methods generate income with little to no work.

Below, I will cover all the best ways you can get paid for promoting brands.

1. Social Media Sponsorships & Brand Deals

Number one way for everyday people to make money by promoting brands is through social media platforms.

And no, you don’t need to have millions of followers to make it work!

Sure, the more followers and engagement you have, the more money you can make. But you can still make money even with a few hundred or thousand followers.

For example, if you have a fitness channel on YouTube or share your videos on TikTok, Instagram, or any other social media platforms, you can get paid to promote health supplements, workout equipment, gym memberships, etc.

How to find sponsorships

There are two main ways to get sponsors: influencer platforms and direct outreach to brands.

• Influencer Platforms: Websites like AspireIQ and Upfluence connect brands with influencers and content creators. This is a better option for you if you don’t have a huge following yet. Once you sign up, you can browse available opportunities, apply for brand deals, and start earning.
• Direct Outreach: This works best for those with a massive number of followers since you can leverage that to negotiate better deals. All you need to do is research companies in your niche and contact them directly. Although, in most cases, as soon as you become known in your niche, companies will start contacting you themselves.

How much can you make?

As I mentioned, it really depends on how many followers you have and your niche. But to give you an idea of just how much you can make, here are a few examples:

• 1,000 – 10,000 followers: $50 – $500 per post
• 10,000 – 50,000 followers: $500 – $2,000 per post
• 50,000+ followers: $5,000 – $10,000 per post (depending on engagement)

2. Affiliate Marketing

Next up on our list is affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is a great way to get paid by advertising.

It is one of the original ways website owners and bloggers used to (and still do) make money.

To get started, you will have to join an affiliate marketing network. Then you will be given a unique URL that you can place on your site, social media posts, or anywhere you can place a link. Anytime someone clicks that link and buys the said product or service, you get a commission for that sale.

The beauty of affiliate marketing is that you don’t need a huge social media following to make money.

How much can you make?

The commission you earn for each varies based on many factors. Obviously, the more expensive products get you more commissions. In general, you can expect anywhere from a few dollars to hundreds and even thousands per sale.

Best affiliate programs for beginners

• Amazon Associates: Great for beginners, especially with a wide range of products to promote.
• ShareASale: Offers thousands of different brands and products, making it easy to find something that suits your niche.
• Rakuten Marketing: Known for high-quality brands and products, ideal for niche markets.

3. Wrap Your Car with Ads

I love this one. It is as passive as making money by promoting brands can get!

Car wrapping is a unique and simple way to make money by turning your car into a mobile billboard.

I am sure you have seen cars in your area wrapped with the RedBull logo and branding. Your car will look like one of those. Basically, they will wrap your car with a brand’s advertisement.

All you have to do is drive around like you normally do.

Legit companies that pay for car wraps

• Carvertise
• Rapify
• Free Car Media

How much you can make

• You can earn anywhere from $100 to $500 per month depending on the size of the ad and how much you drive. Some companies even pay more if you drive in highly trafficked areas.

4. Sell Ad Space on Your Blog/Website

If you have a blog or website that gets traffic, selling ad space is a great way to monetize your site.

It’s the easiest way for you to make money advertising on your website.

All you do is sign up with an ad network, then add the code they give you to your site. You earn money every time someone views or clicks on any of those ads.

It’s not a lot, but the more visitors your site gets, the more people see the ads, which increases your profits.

There are a few legit ad networks. But in my experience, Google AdSense offers one of the easiest ways to get paid to advertise for companies.

You don’t have to do anything except sign up and put some premade code on your site. It’s so simple.

Best ad networks to monetize traffic

• Google AdSense: A popular choice for beginners with websites.
• Mediavine: Ideal for bloggers with mid-level traffic (25,000+ monthly visitors).
• AdThrive: Perfect for large-scale websites with a dedicated audience.

Warning: DO NOT ever click on your own ads. Adsense will ban your account and you won’t get paid anything. And that’s beside the fact that you’ll be cheating advertisers of their money when you click on their ads when you have no intention of buying the product or at least learning more about it.

5. Referral Programs

One of the easiest ways to get paid to advertise for companies is through referral programs. It is a lot like affiliate marketing, except you work directly with the brand.

To start, find a brand you like to promote, sign up for their referral program (these days, almost every company has one!) to get your unique referral link. Then share that link with other people.

Brands will pay you a commission for every sale you send their way.

To promote your referral link effectively, you can share your referral link on your social media profiles, website, and blog. Use email marketing to send referral links to your followers or subscribers. You can also create content that highlights the benefits of the service or product you’re promoting.

6. YouTube Video Sponsorships

If you have a YouTube channel, video sponsorship is one of the best ways to get paid for advertising. Brands often pay YouTubers to create dedicated videos or to feature products in their videos.

You can either find and contact sponsors (with products related to your channel) directly or use a service like YouTube BrandConnect (formerly Famebit).

YouTube BrandConnect is a platform where YouTubers can find sponsorship opportunities. The site also offers opportunities to Instagrammers.

How much brands pay for video ads

• Smaller YouTubers can earn around $100 – $500 per video.
• Bigger creators may earn anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 or more per video depending on the brand and audience size.

7. Paid Advertising on TikTok & Instagram Reels

Most of us are familiar (and spend way too much time watching them, lol!) with short videos. Short-form video content is incredibly popular right now.

If you are one of those creators, you can use your short-form videos to make money advertising for companies.

How?

By using TikTok and Instagram Reels!

Brands love using these platforms to advertise because the content feels more authentic and organic.

So instead of just making a short video showing how you dunk a basketball from your neighbor’s roof, brands will pay you to create videos that showcase their product in a fun or creative way. For example, a fitness brand might pay you to show how you use their new product in a 15-second TikTok video. Maybe you can make a video dunking that basketball wearing the brand’s sports apparel!

Best platforms to connect with brands

If you are just starting out, try using these platforms that make it easy for creators to make money by promoting brands

• TikTok Creator Marketplace
• Influence.co

How much you can make

It really depends. And by now you know that generally, the more engagements and followers you have, the more you get paid!

But to give you an idea, generally, you can earn anywhere from $50 to $2,000+ per video.

8. Wear a T-Shirt (Sell Branded Merchandise)

Some people make money wearing t-shirts and other items of clothing for brands.

Jason Sadler for example made $100,000s wearing t-shirts for businesses.

He founded I Wear Your Shirt in 2009, a website that used t-shirts to advertise businesses.

Sadler made $70,000 in his first year of business wearing t-shirts.

Awesome, right?

Sadler wore different shirts for each day of the year, and he advertised for the companies by taking photos and uploading videos about them online. I Wear Your Shirt closed in 2013.

But, it shows that there are companies out there who’ll pay you to wear their t-shirts.

Where to get started

During my research I found one site called Teespay.com that claimed to pay people to wear t-shirts.

After scouring reviews on Reddit and other sites though, it seems like people never actually got paid for wearing the t-shirt, or they received no t-shirt in the first place.

So, it’s likely not worth your time.

What’s the alternative?

Well, you could start your own online business where you offer to wear a company’s t-shirt. You could advertise your services on Fiver or Craigslist.

Contact your favorite brands, and see if they’d be willing to sponsor you to wear their t-shirts.

Another option is to contact small, local businesses and let them know that you’re offering to advertise their company by wearing a t-shirt with their logo on it.

Offer to take quality photos of yourself wearing the t-shirt and upload them to social media platforms, like Instagram. You can also let companies know that you’ll wear their shirt at busy places and events to increase their brand’s visibility.

The more you offer, the more the brand will be willing to work with you.

9. Review Brand’s Products

Companies want their products to be seen and recommended, and one of the best ways to do this is with reviews.

When you buy something online you probably check the reviews first, right?

I know that before I buy stuff on Amazon, I always have a quick read of the customer reviews.

People tend to trust reviews from other customers, more than they do the claims made by the company itself.

Companies know how important customer reviews are to other customers. That’s why they’re willing to pay you for reviews.

Now, not all companies will give you money for reviews. Some will give you free stuff instead.

Where to get started

Here are a few places where you can make money or get free stuff by reviewing brands’ products and services:

• ReviewStream
• PinchMe
• Tryazon

10. Get a Tattoo

Yes, you read that right.

Companies will pay you to get a tattoo of their logo.

Now, one thing to mention is that I’m not talking about your lasts a lifetime type of tattoo.

No, these are temporary tattoos.

Still though, this form of advertising certainly isn’t for everyone. I don’t think I’d give it a go, but if you’re more of an extrovert, it could be the perfect opportunity for you.

Where to get started

Visit LeaseYourBody.com if you’re interested. The site pays you to wear temporary tattoos, which display a company’s logo, in exchange for cash.

Update: It seems like LeaseYourBody is no longer online!

How Much Money Can You Make?

The amount of money you can make promoting products for companies depends on lots of different factors.

Each method I listed above pays differently.

Also, for things like creating sponsored content and being a social media influencer, how many followers you have can make a big difference.

Bloggers and influencers with big followings are likely to make more money.

The same goes for affiliate marketing. The more people who see your affiliate links, the more clicks, and sales you’ll get, which means a higher income for you.

You could make anywhere from $100s to tens of thousands each month advertising for companies.

Vox reports that people can make $100,000 for posts on YouTube and Instagram.

Start Getting Paid for Promoting Brands & Products

There are plenty of ways to make money advertising for brands. And, what’s great is that the opportunities are so varied.

If you’re a bit of an introvert and don’t really have a large following on social media, give affiliate marketing a try.

Or, if you’re a social butterfly on Instagram, leverage that following as a social media influencer.

There are so many opportunities now to make money from brands that anyone can get started with it.

So, give these methods a try!

Have you ever been paid to promote a company? What method did you use, and what was your experience like?

Let us know in the comments below!