Starting and managing a successful online business today is not an easy task, business search far and near for the secret that will help them achieve success. After a while, some just assume that there is no secret to online business success.

If you have started an online business and you are looking for the secret formula to your online business success, you have come to the right place. This article will mention the secret to online business success and the kind of online business that will be more profitable for you. Let’s get into it.

• What is the Best Online Business to Start?
• 11 Secrets That Make an Online Business Successful
• How can I Start an Online Business?
• What is the Best Low Cost Business to Start?

What is the Best Online Business to Start?

The internet today provides a lot of online business ideas for you to make money from, some are so easy that you can even start them immediately for the comfort of your home. But the abundance of business ideas might pose a challenge. How do you recognize the genuine online business to venture into?

Read Also: How to Make Money Online in India

A lot of research is needed to make a reasonable conclusion, you want to find out whether the online business is legal, is it profitable and can it stand the test of time? We put all of these factors into consideration while choosing the best online businesses mentioned below.

1. SEO consultant

If you know the ins and outs of search engines and have technical skills in platforms like Google Ads and Google Analytics, becoming an SEO consultant could be a lucrative option for you. Many small business owners don’t realize how much of an impact search engine optimization (SEO) can have on their business.

Start your online consulting business by educating those business owners on the power of SEO to help transform their websites and increase their conversion rates.

You could use your marketing skills to show business owners the benefits of using analytics data, strategic keywords and content structure to gain more organic web traffic.

Keep in mind that Google’s algorithms are always changing, so you will need to continue your education on SEO to stay relevant and successful in this field.

2. Small business consultant

If you have a great deal of business experience and knowledge, why not create a business that helps aspiring entrepreneurs find success?

As a business consultant, you could use your skills to help new business owners get off to a good start and help experienced entrepreneurs keep up with demand. Your chances of success are greater if you focus your strategy on a niche aspect of business consulting. 

To add to your credibility, demonstrate your expertise and bring in clients, it is helpful to be present in the digital business community. You can contribute to small business communities like business.com or write business articles on platforms like LinkedIn.

3. Social media consultant

Larger enterprises can hire an agency or full-time staff member to run their social media accounts, but small businesses often have to handle their own social media marketing.

With so many responsibilities, business owners are often too busy, overwhelmed or undereducated about the importance of a social media presence to spend time developing and implementing a great social media strategy.

As a social media consultant, you can help small businesses determine the best tactics, posting schedules and content for their target audience. As their follower count grows, so will your business.

Facebook and Twitter are still the top business networks, but businesses often tend to struggle with more visual platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr and Snapchat.

All of these platforms have huge consumer audiences, but many businesses don’t realize how big they are, how effective they can be and how to make them work for their brand.

If you have a background in social media marketing and a passion for photography, focusing your consulting business on one specific platform, like Instagram, can be a great way to make money while helping other businesses improve their content and achieve their business goals.

4. Niche market e-commerce retailer

There’s an audience for everything, even if it’s as specific as dollhouse furniture or organic dog food. With a niche e-commerce site, you can reach customers who seek specific products. 

Building a business in a niche market can help you differentiate yourself from other brands and build your credibility and expertise. Look to social media or your own consumer needs to come up with a product to sell on your online store.  

To get your e-commerce business up and running, all you need is a web hosting service with an integrated shopping cart feature or e-commerce software. To simplify the shipping process, you can work with vendors to ship products to customers on your behalf. This can reduce the amount of inventory you need to keep onsite.

5. Web designer or web developer

If you are a creative, digital professional who thrives on forming the layout, visual theme, font set, and color palette of a website, freelance web design may be a good path for you. If you have little to no experience in this field, you can learn the basics of web design and master the tools you’ll need for success, like Adobe XD, Chrome DevTools and text editor software. 

If you are more interested in the coding side of building websites, freelance web development might be your wheelhouse. If you already know HTML, CSS or JavaScript and have a good eye for solving problems with creative solutions, you can launch a service to build attractive, easy-to-use websites for small businesses.

If you need to learn the basics of web development before launching your full-stack career, you can take a simple beginner’s course to get started.

Put your technical and creative skills to good use for business owners who want to take their online presence to the next level. Build a comprehensive portfolio, and then create your own website to show it off and attract a steady stream of clients.

6. Blogger

Blogging may seem like an outdated business strategy, since nearly everybody already has one, but the competition should not deter you from starting this online business journey. If you love writing or have important information to share, blogging may be a profitable business for you.  

Starting a blog as a business is very simple with website builders like Weebly and WordPress, but the key to success is consistency and quality. To gain a steady following, you must continually write and produce high-quality content that provides value to your readers. Content that educates, informs or entertains your readers gives them a reason to follow you.

Once you’ve mastered the creation of consistent content, you can make money through your blog by selling products like online courses, digital coaching, e-books or webinars. You can also sell ad space or sponsored posts. This business strategy may take a little more time and effort to monetize, but it can be very profitable in the end.

7. Virtual assistant

Do you have impeccable organizational skills and task management abilities? Maybe it’s time to put those skills to good use by becoming a virtual assistant. VA services typically consist of basic administrative tasks like entering data, making travel arrangements, and answering phone calls. Previous experience in this field is ideal but not required.  

Platforms like TaskRabbit and Zirtual make it easy for VA professionals to find jobs. They allow you to create an online profile and sign up for tasks you want to complete – such as data research, virtual assistance or basic errands – and begin building clientele. 

8. Affiliate marketer

If you love leaving customer reviews on sites like Amazon, you may want to look into affiliate marketing as a source of income. Word-of-mouth advertising is still a huge lead generator for many companies, and many businesses are willing to share a portion of their profits with persuasive individuals who will promote their products to the public.

Affiliate programs break down into different levels of involvement: unattached, related and involved. Unattached affiliate marketing is a basic pay-per-click campaign that requires little to no involvement with the product you are promoting.

Related affiliate marketing requires you to have some authority and content on the product you are marketing, but you don’t personally use the product. Involved affiliate marketing is perhaps the most effective, as you’ll be marketing a product that you actually use and enjoy.

If you have a personal website or social media presence with a large following, affiliate programs may be a profitable approach for you. PR reps are always seeking out brand advocates and influencers they can send free samples to.

9. Remote tech support

Many small businesses don’t have room in their budgets to hire a full-time IT employee, so when their systems go on the fritz, they usually call a computer-savvy friend or family member. If you are tech savvy and have experience working on computers and networks, you can eliminate their need to call in a favor by offering immediate remote technical assistance.

Although some businesses may prefer you to have a technical degree, many will look to your experience and knowledge instead. You can start to build your remote tech support business by reaching out to friends, family and local business owners about their tech support needs. You can also find freelance tech support gigs on job boards like Upwork.  

10. Handmade craft seller

As merchants switch their sales to e-commerce, online marketplaces for handmade goods, like Etsy and ArtFire, make it extremely easy for artisans who can produce a steady supply of quality handmade products, such as crocheted blankets or unique painted glassware.

If you have a unique craft, selling your products on an e-commerce site is a good way to earn income while you’re at home, doing what you love.

Startup costs for this business idea are extremely low if you purchase your creative materials in bulk from a craft supplier. If you can create and sell your artwork quickly on an online store, you’ll be making a profit in no time at all. Local artisans find higher success when they promote their businesses on social media.  

11. App developer

Mobile applications are more popular than ever, with people willing to pay good money for ways to manage their lives from their smartphones. If you have a great new idea for an app and know how to code, you can run with it and create your app yourself. You can also become an app developer for businesses that need to create specific apps.

Both options require you to know the basic elements of software design and at least two common programming languages, such as SQL, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby on Rails or iOS.  

If you have an app idea but don’t know the ins and outs of coding, there are plenty of software developers looking to collaborate with people on app creation. Depending on your situation and know-how, you may be able to make a lucrative business out of app development.

12. Search engine

Google and Bing are ubiquitous, but they don’t necessarily address all users’ needs. If you’re an expert in a certain field, build your own search engine that helps people with less knowledge find what they’re looking for.

Your chances of success might be higher if your search engine gives users opportunities to insert parameters, such as subtopics and source type, rather than just conducting a general search.

13. Dropshipping

If you want to run an e-commerce site, you might be worried about storing inventory. With dropshipping, you can take customer orders on an online store and send them directly to a third-party retailer for fulfillment.

As long as your business model involves selling items at a price higher than what you’ll pay to the third-party retailer, your dropshipping business will be set for success. 

14. Tutoring business

Just because somebody is taking classes in a subject doesn’t mean they understand the material well. If you’re great at explaining things to somebody in a one-on-one setting and have ample experience and knowledge in a subject, consider starting an online tutoring business in that field.

You can use video chat tools such as Skype to conduct tutoring sessions remotely and offer your knowledge to anybody, anytime, anywhere. Consider incorporating a budget for ads on Craigslist and Fiverr into your business model.

15. Digital courses

Similarly to tutoring, people all over the world might benefit from you sharing your expertise with them. Starting an online business that offers digital courses to anybody interested in the topic can easily earn you money – you can sell prepared written materials or other downloadable content for a fee.

16. YouTube channel

YouTube makes starting an online education business especially easy. Upload videos of yourself educating viewers on any subject, whether beginner or advanced, and use social media to spread word of your channel. As your number of viewers grows, you’ll be able to monetize your videos and make a profit from them.

17. Skype coaching

Some people looking for one-on-one help might want something more than lessons. People who want help advancing their careers, improving their nutrition or finding more meaning in their lives could benefit from your coaching through Skype.

Rather than giving exercises and grades, as a Skype coach, your goal is to offer advice, guidelines and support for your clients. If you run a blog for your business or regularly post to LinkedIn about the topics in which you’re coaching, you’ll appear more trustworthy and knowledgeable.

18. Podcast network

The past several years have seen an explosion in podcast availability and listenership, and you can capitalize on that by starting your own podcast network.

You can populate the network with any podcasts you record, but if you give other people – whether friends or strangers from the internet – opportunities to contribute their own podcasts, your network will likely grow more quickly. As your network grows, you can increase the price per podcast download.

19. Technical writer

The internet is full of copywriters for hire, but only a few of these copywriters have the technical background to properly write an instruction manual for a large machine or properly convey scientific results.

If you have a background in science and can write about it, start an online business through which people can hire your technical writing services. Advertise yourself on LinkedIn, Fiverr and other platforms to draw in customers.

20. Resume and cover letter writer

Almost everyone has sought help from other people when writing resumes or cover letters. Offer your expertise in crafting compelling resumes and cover letters to anybody willing to hire you.

Provide examples of not just other people’s resumes and cover letters with which you’ve helped, but successful resumes and cover letters of your own to increase your chances of successfully starting an online business.

11 Secrets That Make an Online Business Successful

Now that you know some of the genuine and profitable online business to venture into, another challenge is how to make it successful. Know these secrets is one thing, however, the implementation will determine the outcome of your online business.

We have carefully selected 11 secrets that can make your online business successful. They are listed below.

1. Organize Your Web Assets

This extends much further than just organizing your business. Your web assets are everything from your website to your social media profiles to your hosting account. These need to be in order.

All relevant assets should be optimized for your brand. For example, your social media and webpages should have the relevant keywords. They should fall into an integrated marketing plan. And they should be completely updated with the latest information about your company.

2. Maintain Customer Records Safely

One problem business owners have is that they need to be able to keep records safely. You have a legal obligation to protect any customer information obtained online. For example, you should store information on separate devices and have a number of secure backups.

Your systems must be kept updated and controls should be implemented and access should be restricted only to specific employees.

You should have a system in place to destroy things like credit card details securely when they’re no longer needed.

3. Know your competition

Any good business will know its competition. You need to know who you’re competing against so that you know why customers choose you over others, or vice versa. Nowhere is this more important than in the online world.

You should be aware of social media channels your competition is using. And you should inspect keyword usage from all your competitors using the variety of tools Google provides.

4. Protect Your Brand’s Online Reputation

Online business is all about reputation. The slightest mistake can taint your brand forever. The key is control. Setup a Google Alerts notification for your brand. That way, you’ll be able to inspect any mention of your brand.

Have a firm set of branding and social media guidelines, so anyone posting on behalf of your brand is aware of what you expect from them. Learn to deal with customer complaints and adopt a mindset of solving problems; even if the customer is wrong.

5. Invest on a good internet connection

If you are online, you need a good internet connection. Sometimes, I’ve sacrificed on a good internet connection, only to realize I couldn’t act fast on important orders. Without a fast internet connection, you could miss out on orders and customer questions. In short, your business could be paralyzed.

6. Stay On Top of the Latest Trends

The online world is one that is constantly changing and evolving. It evolves faster than anything you’ll see in the real world. Furthermore, you’ll see social media trends evolving all the time.

You need to be on top of this so you can be on the cutting edge of online marketing and branding.

7. Be Persistent

Few businesses become overnight success stories. This is something you’ll have to accept if you want to enter the business world. Persistence will pay off in the end if you continue to do all the right things. You need to be consistent and stay focused on your goals.

Did you know most startups take three to five years before they start turning in a profit?

8. Know When to Call It Quits

Sometimes an idea will fail. The biggest challenge for an entrepreneur is to know when an idea has failed. It’s no point trying to revive a dead duck. So don’t be scared to change course if necessary.

9. Rely on your team

Everyone needs people who have complementary sets of skills. Entrepreneurs are an optimistic bunch, and it’s very hard for them to believe that they are not good at certain things. It takes a lot of soul searching to find your own core skills and strengths.

After that, find the smartest people you can who complement your strengths. It’s easy to get attracted to people who are like you; the trick is to find people who are not like you but who are good at what they do–and what you can’t do.

10. You must be passionate

That means you’re willing to sacrifice a large part of your waking hours to the idea you’ve come up with. Passion will ignite the same intensity in others who join you as you build a team to succeed in this endeavor. And with passion, both your team and your customers are more likely to truly believe in what you are trying to do.

11. Success comes only from hard work

We all know that there is no such thing as overnight success. Behind every overnight success lie years of hard work and sweat. People with luck will tell you there’s no easy way to achieve success–and that luck comes to those who work hard.

Successful entrepreneurs always give 100% of their efforts to everything they do. If you know you are giving your best effort, you’ll never have any reason for regrets. Focus on things you can control; stay focused on your efforts, and let the results be what they will be.

How can I Start an Online Business?

1. Find a niche

Before you start offering a product or service, you need to find the right product with the potential for serious profitability. You’ll learn how to research different niches and even examine your own life to find problems that can be solved.

2. Evaluate market viability

Now that you have a business idea, it’s time to dig deeper into product viability. Think about the kind of details that can make or break your business, like number of SKUs and shipping weight.

3. Conduct market research

Validate your product using tactics such as keyword research and evaluating trending products or services.

4. Conduct competitive analysis

Find out what’s working — and what can be improved upon — from your biggest competitors. This will tell you more about how to define your branding and positioning in the market.

5. Learn online business laws

Shipping restrictions, zoning laws, and trademark considerations. These can all make or break your business. With this list, you can avoid the ecommerce landmines that derail your business before it gets off the ground.

6. Analyze your target market

This is where you dig even deeper to understand your ideal shopper. Who are they? What do they like? How can you tailor both your product and your website experience to appeal to your perfect shopper?

7. Source the product or service you want to offer

You know you have the right product, who your customer is, and how to set up your business. It’s time to get the physical product. We’ll walk you through different ways to source your product and how to avoid common pitfalls.

8. Create an online presence

Once you’ve got your business up and running, learn the leading organic traffic driving tactics to get more visitors to your business or blog.

9. Measuring online success

Success is nothing without analytics to prove it. We’re here to walk you through all of the key performance indicators (KPIs) you need to pay close attention to and to best leverage your data insights.

10. Insights directly from the industry’s top experts

The difference between operational and successful is in mastering man’s greatest nemesis — time. Get firsthand accounts from successful entrepreneurs who have grown their home-based business into online behemoths.

What is the Best Low Cost Business to Start?

For many people with an entrepreneurial spirit, the No. 1 reason why they don’t pursue their business dreams is because of the significant costs associated with starting a business. However, there are many businesses you can launch today with little or no funding, so long as you are dedicated and put in some good old-fashioned hard work.

If you want to start a low-cost business, these 25 ideas will help inspire your entrepreneurial passion.

1. Content creation

Social media and the 24-hour news cycle have created the perfect storm of opportunity for creative professionals like writers and graphic designers, who can use their talents to create high-quality, shareable content for businesses and media outlets.

Thanks to a growing gig economy of freelance and contract workers, it’s easier than ever to market yourself as a professional service provider.

2. Personal or virtual assistant

Along those same lines, those who have good organizational skills are in high demand for other entrepreneurs who are growing their businesses and want to focus on high-return tasks.

A personal or virtual assistant performs many of those secretarial or front-desk functions without being onsite. These individuals often work from home for many different clients, keeping track of calendars, making flight arrangements and doing clerical work.

3. Event planning services

If you’re a highly organized, detail-oriented individual who loves putting parties together, you might have the right personality to launch an event-planning business. Working for weddings, birthday parties and class reunions, event planners make it easy for others to host an exciting party.

Planning a few pro bono events will help give you the proper experience. Use LinkedIn and cold calling to build up a solid database of vendors and contacts so you can help your clients orchestrate the event of their dreams.

4. Errand/concierge service

Between caring for their children and handling their professional responsibilities, most working parents have very little time to take care of personal errands like grocery shopping, making returns at the mall or mailing packages.

A driven individual can take care of these time-consuming errands for clients and free up their days for the important things in life. Account for travel expenses when determining your rates, which can be hourly or by the task.

5. Professional reviewer

Yes, this is really a thing. The importance of good reviews has not been lost on companies large and small. Many companies provide products and services to individuals so they can write a review of the company. They want a good review but, more importantly, an honest one.

They pay for your time or by the review, and you get to try new things, read new books, experiment with the latest technology and much more, all while getting paid.

6. Social media consultant

Larger companies can hire an agency or full-time staff member to run their Facebook and Twitter accounts and blogs, but small businesses often have to take care of their own social media marketing. With so many other responsibilities, business owners may be too busy or overwhelmed to come up with a great social media strategy.

As a consultant, you can help them determine the best tactics, posting schedules and content for their target audience. As their follower counts grow, so will your business.

7. Etsy shop

Etsy is a popular online marketplace that hosts thousands of at-home retailers and larger productions, like the highly rated Wildflower + Co., selling jewelry, patches and DIY merchandise. Starting an Etsy shop is incredibly affordable. It’s free to join the site and start a shop, though there are three selling fees: the listing, transaction and payment processing fees.

8. Online courses and tutoring

What are you passionate about? Yoga? Baking? Web design? If you know something inside and out, you can help others enrich their lives by offering virtual classes.

Create downloadable instructional packets and videos, or schedule real-time Skype lessons with clients. Another option for aspiring educators is to start a virtual or home-based tutoring service.

9. Digital marketing services

If you have experience in the marketing field, a solo digital marketing agency is a low-cost business idea you can get up and running in no time. If you don’t have a background in marketing but are interested in the field, you can take affordable online courses to develop your skills.

Read Also: How to Make Money With Online Courses

One of the best yet most challenging things about marketing is that it is always evolving. Therefore, if you have a knack for storytelling and learning, a digital marketing firm is a business you can start quickly and cheaply.

10. Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is easy and cheap to start, but it takes dedication and a long-term vision to be successful. Essentially, affiliate marketing involves you promoting other companies’ products and services, earning a commission on generated leads.

All you need to get started is a blog or website and a specific product or service you would like to promote. However, to be successful in affiliate marketing, you have to attract a lot of visitors to your website and get them to purchase products or services from your affiliate partners.

Final Words

As you will have noticed from this article, there are secrets to a successful online business, and they are not difficult to implement. You just need to know the right things to do at the proper time.