Whether it be out of desperation or out of desire or both, we all have the thought “should I open an online business” at some point in life. If you haven’t had it yet, then you wouldn’t be here… reading about online businesses.
Well, I am a big fan of working from home, building my online business and truly working for myself. Truly having the freedom to be there for my kids and enjoy the little moments that most miss.
After 5 years of trying every online business venture you could possibly imagine, I have come up with the top 5 online business ventures that actually turned a pretty solid income.
The List
1. Blogging
2. Drop Shipping
3. Online Teaching, Mentoring or Training
4. Internet Marketing Affiliate
5. Virtual Assistant
Now these are NOT the ONLY ways to building an incredible online business. There is always outsourcing, offering telemarking, building apps and so much more. These are just the top 10 methods that were (in my experience) easiest to begin, easiest to find clients, brought in the most income and were the easiest to maintain.
1. Blogging
There are over three hundred and fifty million websites on the internet, today. What does that mean for you?
There is a HUGE demand for content!!
If you have the experience or expert skills in a niche or target market, use it! Start offering a blog posting service specifically to the niche or niches that you know. You could get paid by the word or per article.With quality focused, keyword seeping projects, you could earn as much as $50 for 1,000 words.
Sites like “People Per Hour” and “Elance” are great to begin building a portfolio while building up paid gigs. But don’t shy from building your own website. A simple, one-page site or portfolio site could really up the game for you.
Don’t want to write for other people? Why not start your own blog? Wealthy Affiliate is an incredible resource that shows you just how simple starting a blog can be.
Really, all you need to make money from your own blog is a large about of traffic from one specific niche.
Some methods of bring in traffic are:
– Adsense
– Selling Banner Ads
– Affiliating to sites such as Amazon or eBay
– Offer premium services for a Member’s Area
Again, Wealthy Affiliate is an incredible source to learn how to harness these (and many more) tools to increase the income and value of your blog.
2. Drop Shipping
There is good and bad to be said about drop shipping, but I firmly stand my ground when I say “There is money to be made through drop shipping!”
Now, drop shipping is kind of similar to running an affiliate store, but you earn 100% of the profit, instead of whatever your affiliate commission may be.
As a drop shipper, you act as the connect between the customer to the warehouse. You never actually purchase any of the products upfront, nor do you handle any shipping/handling or inventory.
Finding the right wholesale company or drop shipping company is the key to being successful. Be sure to really do your due diligence and pick a company that you trust, enjoy communicating with and are passionate about their products.
3. Online Teaching, Mentoring or Training
What’s that? You have been knitting since you were 12 and everyone is always asking for help or advice on your methods… Capitalize on your knowledge!!
If you are an expert in just about anything you can create a simple, online class that teaches people what you already know.
You can use:
1. A simple screen recording with your talking
2. Actual video, using editing methods to help navigate and entrain
3. PDF documents that go along with video
4. Or a combination of any of the above!
Creating these online classes are not too difficult, but they are time-consuming. I always recommend to take about one month before selling your online courses. Remember, you’re trying to only have to make it once, so you can earn from it for life!
Publishing your online courses are simple, as well. You can use an online platform (like Udemy) or your own website.
Not only are there online classes, but you can offer online tutoring sessions via Skype or Facetime. Even live, online trainings with seminars or webinars.
The teaching/learning possibilities are endless.
4. Internet Marketing
Haven’t you seen those people who make money or referring others to try a product? That’s called “being an affiliate”. Almost everything has an affiliate program these days.
Much like drop shipping, as an affiliate you have no inventory management or anything like that. You usually use a given link (that’s tracked) and direct potential buyers (through that link) to the business’s website. If they buy, you get a commission. Simple as that!
I use a program called Wealthy Affiliate, which has top notch training, as well as 1 on 1 support. It comes with a completely free trial so I so suggest you give this a try.
Click here to try Wealthy Affiliate for FREE!
5. Becoming a Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assistants (VA) have the most flexible job of all!
You’ll need to be able to manage multiple clients at once, but if you can, you’ll be able to work as little or as much as you need. Elance or Upwork are incredible sources to find clients, or you could pair with an Agency like Zirtuals.
Sometimes, VAs are working on the tedious tasks that business owners just don’t have time to do. Administrative tasks, marketing tasks, writing tasks, transcription and just about anything else you could do online.
An experienced VA could earn $25 – $40 per hour whereas a beginning VA could do $10 per hour. It really does depend on the task, client, and your experience.
Get to Work!
As you can see, there are some incredible and flexible online businesses that could meet your needs. But remember, working from home or beginning an online business is not a “get rich quick” type of venture.
Opening an online business takes focus, passion, knowledge and time. Most of all, time.
Be patient and work hard… but of all, believe that you can do it. It all starts with your mentality!
I hope you can find something that can work for you, but I do recommend starting your own site the most. It is not as hard as you think and it is truly YOUR own business.
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as I can. to whatever it is you do, good luck!
– John
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