Bitcointalk has been active for over a decade and is still getting better everyday
They are the best forum when it comes to Cryptocurrency and Blockchain but there are other popular forums that are popular and still existed before Bitcoin was created, some of these are Reddit, 4chan, Quora, and many more
So my advice for we Newbies is start thinking of a way of improving this forum first before earning.
You can do both by helping this forum to improve and at the same time make money, if you are a designer or a writer you can offer a service, you need not rank high to offer your service, and you can start as a newbie while working your way to rank.