With the boom in the Internet, starting an online business is more practical than ever. Potential customers are spending more time online than ever before, and many companies require internet-related services. You can run an online business part-time or full-time, and the range of options is extensive. Here are a few possibilities to explore.
1. Blogging for money
Anyone can design a website with a blog, and there’s a variety of ways to approach blogging for money. Here are some typical ways that bloggers earn money:
- Traditional advertising: Companies buy ad space on the blog, and these ads links to the companies’ sites. You can sell ads by yourself or use advertising networks to put ads on your site that pay you every time someone clicks an ad link.
- Affiliate marketing: Set up affiliate accounts with companies selling things your readers may want. They may be from a large online retailer niche products from up-and-coming brands that offer affiliate programs. This can be an easy way to earn extra money as long as the affiliate is a good fit for your readers. If they don’t use your link to click and buy, you don’t get any money.
- Sponsored posts: Writing a post that’s paid for by an advertiser is another way you can blog for money.
- Merchandising: You can use your blog to sell products, whether those are physical goods or information products such as e-books. By automating the sales and fulfillment processes, this can bring in income even when you’re sleeping or on vacation.
2. Drop-shipping products
Drop-shipping is a term for selling items that aren’t in your possession and having them delivered to your customer from a third party that supplies the product, like a wholesaler or manufacturer. With drop-shipping, you don’t have to spend money acquiring the products and storing them.
There’s usually no financial outlay of money before the customer orders the product. You do need to spend some time figuring out what you want to sell, finding suppliers and getting a software system in place to track and handle your ecommerce end of the supply chain. However, once you do, this type of online business can provide you with more freedom than some other online businesses.
3. Providing technology services
You might also use your skills to provide online services that are in high demand or create a small agency by outsourcing work via work-at-home job posting sites. Some options include:
- Building websites and apps: If you’re computer savvy, use your skills to create websites and apps for companies.
- SEO services: For websites and blogs to draw viewers, they often need to use search engine optimization, or SEO. SEO improves the placement of a website in search engine rankings and can boost brand awareness.
- Social media consulting: Do you enjoy Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? Help businesses build their social media presence by offering your social media services. Businesses need social media for publicity, and many owners don’t have the time, interest or knowledge to do it themselves.
Launching an online business can be a great career move. It can give you the opportunity to earn extra money and assume greater control over your professional life. But starting any venture presents challenges that you need to be ready for. Nationwide has resources that will help you prepare and to make your experience a successful one.
