There’s probably an online version of every business you can think of. You too can make money online with that brilliant idea on your mind. While reminiscing about which best online business you would go for, here are a few examples of online businesses:
1. Affiliate marketing:
The internet is a great tool for marketing. It is cost-effective and doesn’t necessarily take too much of your time. Affiliate marketing is one of the ways you can make money online by promotion and advertising. You can use existing accounts on social media platforms, your blog, or other online presence to promote other businesses’ products or services for a fee.
There are three basic levels of involvement. You can be an unattached affiliate marketer i.e. you do not directly involve yourself with the product or services you are promoting. You can also be a related affiliate marketer that has some related content or authority on the product but you haven’t directly used the exact product. As an involved affiliate marketer, you’ll have to use the product you promote.
Expertnaire is one of the best affiliate marketing platforms I can recommend to you whether you have a website, a blog, WhatsApp, or any other social media. Expertnaire is a popular website for buying and selling information products. Even if you are new to affiliate marketing, you can find many lucrative affiliate products you can make money off on Expertnaire. You can start by becoming an affiliate on Expertnaire for just N10,000 (about $25) for a year. You also get N3,000 referral bonus on every affiliate that joins using your link. On this platform, you can make as much as N20,000 (about $50) on a sale.
2. Business consultation:
If you are well versed in business consultation, you can broaden your horizon through online business consultation. You can reach a wider range of young entrepreneurs through the internet. This way, you can help them with your vast experience and knowledge while making money. You would be surprised to know the number of people that go online for business advice.
This is a great business opportunity to use your business skills to help new online businesses get off to a good start. Build your credibility, show your expertise and reel in clients. You are guaranteed success in the digital business community. In addition to being a business consultant, you can be a startup consultant for individuals looking to start an online business.
3. SEO consultation:
Though it is technical, SEO is not hard. Search engine optimization requires you to know the minutiae of search engines. If you possess this knowledge, SEO consultation is a very lucrative business. This is a business with an everchanging tool – the search engine algorithm. Understanding this algorithm is a game-changer when you are in the SEO business. A lot of online businesses do not release the importance of SEO in their business. So, you can set up your online business to help others businesses understand how SEO works and how it can transform their online business. You can make money by helping businesses generate traffic through strategic keywords, analytics data, and content structure. You can also help businesses with platforms such as Google Analytics and Google Ads.
Check out – Reasons to learn a tech skill
4. E-Commerce:
E-commerce is one of the examples of online businesses. It is just another word for buying and selling over the internet. The internet is filled with e-commerce business but guess what! There is still room for more. You can find a niche market to sell your products. You might need to find an e-commerce software or a web hosting service that offers an integrated shopping cart feature.
5. Dropshipping:
A talk about buying and selling often springs anxiety in most people especially when the transaction is over the internet. If you are one of these but you still want to be in the game, you can opt for dropshipping. You do not have to worry about storing inventory. All you have to do is list products on your online store. When a customer orders for the product, you send the order to the retailer which fulfills the order. You make your profit by listing the product higher than the price the retailer is offering you.
6. Social media consultation:
Another lucrative online business is social media consultation. The fancier version of this business is being a social media manager for big businesses. It could be full-time or you could be on a contract. Another way you could go by it is to consult for smaller businesses. Managing social media presence is not a thing business owners can manage themselves as full-time work, therefore, they need social media managers. Even when they do manage their social media themselves, they often need a professional to help them make the most out of it. The truth is that most people are familiar with the use of Facebook and Twitter but struggle with the use of Ads and other graphical social media platforms such as Tumblr, Snapchat, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube.
7. Virtual assistance:
Virtual assistance is one of the examples of online businesses. It may not seem like it but virtual assistance is an online business – a thriving one at that. This is a great business opportunity for you if you possess task management and organizational skills. Just like a regular assistant, you would perform duties such as basic administrative tasks like data entry, answering phone calls, replying to emails, and making travel arrangements. You can find virtual assistant jobs on platforms such as Zirtual and TaskRabbit. All you need is to create an account and take on the task you want to complete.
8. Tech Support:
Yes, it is a valid online business. There are so many digital problems that can be solved over the internet without any physical appearance. Remote technical support assists businesses or individuals with any IT issue. Both online and offline businesses often do not have enough budget to employ a full-time IT employee. Whenever they run into trouble, they often opt for remote tech support. Having a degree or a professional certificate is ideal but not a must, knowledge and experience are what this business need the most to flourish. You can start this business with people in your immediate circle or sign up for tech support gigs on job boards.
9. Tutoring and digital courses:
Yes, virtual school is a thing now. You can tutor, mentor, or teach individuals entirely over the internet. If you are good at explaining difficult topics, you can make it into an online business whereby you break down difficult courses into simpler bits. This can be done live over skype, zoom, teams, or other platforms. You can also make a recording that people can pay to get access to or download. You can also offer digital courses. This is a sure way to earn money easily through well-prepared materials.
10. Writing business:
Another example of online businesses is the writing business. There are still a lot of people that write in black and white but the number is nothing compared to people that write online. In this age, many people resort to the internet to get their writeups. The internet is rich with more than enough writeups and more writeups are added every second. You can start and run a writing business entirely off the internet. You can also become a technical writer, resume and cover letter writer, article writer, and content writer for blogs, online news, and websites. You can also check out this article where I spoke on how to write great content for your blog as it might help in the writing business.
Conclusion
Running a business has its appeal despite its peculiar challenges. To be candid with you, starting a business is hard work. However, the good news is that the internet has made starting and running a business easier. Go ahead and use any of these ideas to start making money for yourself!