Our era of technology changes the whole concept of ‘education equals stable revenue’. In fact, a student or a housewife can raise an impressive sum of money just using their laptops.

With an online job market, we depend less from such factors as our age, experience, location, credentials, special skills or training. The thing is that having enough desire to learn, you can discover ways to raise money online and even start your first business.

• Which Online Business Should I Start?
• What it Takes to Successfully Launch And Run an Online Business?
• What Resources do You Need When Starting a Business?
• Which Online Business is Best to Start?
• What Are The 7 Steps to Starting an Online Business?
• How Can I Start a Small Business Online With no Money?
• What Are The Online Business That is Profitable?
• What Resources do You Need to be Successful?
• What Online Resources And Utilities do You Use to Help You Manage Your Business?
• What Are The 3 Business Resources?
• What Are The Top 3 Online Businesses?
• How do I Start a Small Business Online From Home?
• How Can I Start a Business From Home Without Investment?
• How Can I Grow my Business Online?
• Which is The Easiest Business to Start?

Which Online Business Should I Start?

Here are a few recommendations to understand how to omit some pitfalls on your way and choose the most appropriate source of generating income.

1. Data entry

Generally, your main task will be to type information taken from the records of any character. You won’t have to understand the meaning of all sentences, however, the accuracy is fully required.

Read Also: 7 Legal Requirements When You Start A Business

The most difficult about this job is data entry of the low-quality audio. However, it can be paid better especially if you get a part-time job in a large IT company. But be aware of the scam and use only trusted freelance websites like Fiverr, UpWork, etc.

2. Online tutoring

Unlike data entry which requires good typing speed, online tutoring is more challenging. Of course, you will need specialized education, at least little experience and a sort of talent to transmit information to other ears. To become the part of tutor’s community you should visit such a website like Preply. Add your profile of a tutor and if you don’t have such, read profiles of current tutors.

You can create it describing the skills and knowledge you’ve got while studying at the college. In reality, online tutoring requires a lot of self-organization, planning, and preparation. The last can take the half of your time because each lesson should be different from the previous one.

Unlike other jobs, tutoring requires more efforts and time, however, it has own amazing benefits. The one you might like the most is when your students begin speaking their second language with your help.

3. Blogging

This is a bright example when you don’t need to be a professional writer with a university degree to blog. Your area of expertise will be enough to gather the first dozen of followers. However, it is far from being an easy job because you need to find those topics that catch the reader’s attention all the time.

Hence, what we recommend for blog novices is to start from guest blogging to learn on own mistakes. Besides, it can help you figure out what blogging strategies are the most efficient. Do not expect quick and easy money from this source as well, it still requires a lot of your contribution and potential.

4. Affiliate marketing

If you are good in one of these advertising methods, organic SEO, PPC (pay per click), content marketing, and email marketing, you can become an affiliate and receive money from each customer or visitor you’ve attracted to the website. As a beginner in this business-reward system, you can simply start from publishing the partner’s reviews of products, service, etc.

What it Takes to Successfully Launch And Run an Online Business?

Let’s zoom in on the operational aspects of starting an online business. Here’s a step-by-step overview: 

Determine Your Niche and Business Idea

A business niche stands for your “focus area” — a market segment and target audience you primarily cater to. This can be anyone from sports enthusiasts (e.g. gymnasts) to hobbyists (e.g. post stamp collectors) to professionals (e.g. software developers). 

You need to pick a niche for your new business. How do you find a good one? Check that your target audience has: 

• A problem no-one else is solving well-enough.
• Willingness to pay for a solution to that problem.
• Sufficient discretionary income to afford the solution. 

Avoid niches that don’t meet all three criteria.  Because building an online business is already hard. When you go after people who don’t need your products, can’t afford them or aren’t interested, you make things even harder for yourself. 

Conduct Product Research

You can sell three main types of ecommerce products online. Each has its own pros and cons.

1. Physical goods.

As the name implies, these are material objects that need to be manufactured, stored in a warehouse and shipped to customers. Selling physical goods can be lucrative, but the profit margins can be low if you don’t manage your operational costs well. 

2. Digital downloads. 

You can also sell digital products — anything a customer can download to their device such as 

eBooks, audio courses, online courses, etc. 

Digital products have higher profit margins (compared to physical goods). But pricing them can be tricky because they are often perceived as having a lower value than physical products.

3. Services.

Almost any service available remotely can be sold online. Selling services is the fastest way to starting an online business (and turning a profit). But it’s a business model where you are selling your time. This means that your earning potential is limited since you have a finite amount of hours each day. That is unless you scale into an agency. 

Learn About Online Business Laws

Small business owners may assume that because they are running an online business, traditional business laws don’t apply to that. That’s not true.

While an online business requires fewer licenses and permits compared to a brick-and-mortar operation, you still need to sort out several important legal details. Specifically: 

• What kind of business license (if any) do you need to start operations?
• What legal structure makes the most sense (a sole proprietorship, limited liability company or a corporation)?
• Are there any permits that you need to obtain?
• Are there any inspections that you need to pass?
• Do you need a sales tax license?
• Are there any specific regulations applicable to online businesses only?
• What are the laws regarding hiring contractors and hiring employees?

NB: Each state and country has its own laws. Always verify information with local authorities. Also, seek professional legal help if you can afford to. 

Conduct Market Research

Learn what your target audience wants, needs or lacks by conducting online market research. 

Market research is an essential step in starting your own online business. It helps determine the depth, competitiveness and profitability of the selected business vertical. Because the last thing you want to do is launch an offer no one’s keen on buying. Also, market research helps validate your product idea, pricing and demand. 

Here’s how you can get started with market research:

1. Check the SERPs.

Look up the variations of your product/service keywords and analyze the search engine result pages (SERPs) for them. What type of content is currently ranking on the first page? What businesses are paying to advertise on top of organic search results? 

Doing so will help you pre-assess your competition. Plus, get information for a preliminary SEO and digital marketing strategy, based on the content your target audience prefers.  

2. Research competitors. 

You also want to take a closer look at your main competitors (beyond SERPs). What are the biggest business ventures in your niche? How much money are they making? What are their strengths and weaknesses? 

By putting a microscope over other players you can figure out what could give you a competitive edge over them. 

3. Track high-performing keywords. 

Analyze how the demand for different products is changing in your niche and what content ranks best by monitoring niche-relevant keywords. 

The good tools for that are:

• Google Trends (free)
• Google Keyword Planner (free)
• Ahrefs (paid) 
• Semrush (paid) 

Define Your Target Audience

To solicit sales and then scale your business, you need to perfectly understand who’s your target audience. To learn about their needs and preferences, research both demographics and psychographics data. 

1. Demographics. 

Demographic data includes basic socioeconomic characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity, income, job title, etc.

2. Psychographics. 

Psychographic data includes various psychological characteristics such as values, beliefs, interests, opinions, etc.

When combined, these insights help develop a thorough understanding of your ideal buyer needs, preferences and purchase triggers. 

Source Products to Sell Online

You can’t run a successful online business if your products are meh. Because you’ll then hit the trending pages on social media…for all the wrong reasons. Thus, spend extra time considering your product sourcing strategy. 

1. Make your own products. 

This option is relatively easy if you plan to sell digital products. But physical product manufacturing involves a lot of hard work in terms of design, interactions, material selection, etc. Also, the financial costs are higher too. But manufacturing will always give you an advantage over competition quality, product range and brand-wise. 

2. Find a dropshipper. 

You can find a manufacturer that allows you to dropship their products. Many small business owners negotiate dropshipping deals with overseas manufacturers (mainly Asia-based) to offset the business costs. 

3. Work with a wholesaler. 

Or you can find a wholesaler to provide you with a range of products to purchase and curate in your online store. Also, you can find a wholesaler to distribute your products for you too (if you plan to manufacture them). 

Evaluate Product Viability

You want to holistically evaluate your product(s) viability before purchasing or manufacturing a big order. To do that, ask these questions: 

• Is there a successful online business already selling products like that?
• Is the demand for this product sustainable? Or is it temporary?
• Does the math behind this product make sense? Can you sell it at a profit?

Remember, it doesn’t matter how cool the product seems. What’s important is that it’s viable from a business perspective! 

Define Your Brand and Image

A brand is the overall “vibe” of your business. You want everything from your business name to your web design and copy to convey a consistent visual image and ideas. The same also applies to your off-site presence — social media, email newsletter and even packaging. 

As you work on your brand identity, pay attention to your:

• Logo.
• Color scheme.
• Page layouts.
• Typography.
• Graphics and photos.

Your brand image should be a result of all these elements working together. 

Launch Your Online Store

The next step in your business plan is preparing for the launch. This means setting up and configuring your ecommerce website. 

1. Choose your ecommerce platform. 

An ecommerce platform is a technical backbone for selling online. Such software provides you with all the features you need — from a product catalog to payment processing. 

Here are a few popular options:

• BigCommerce. An open-SaaS platform, providing a wide range of native commerce features, yet poses no limits on extensions or customization. The out-of-the-box functionality of BigCommerce can save merchants roughly $5,800 – $30,000+ per year in app subscription costs, compared to Shopify. 
• WooCommerce. An open-source platform you can mold into any type of store you need. 

WooCommerce has hundreds of extensions you can install to facilitate shipping, accounting, marketing and much more. But, you’ll have to purchase hosting separately, plus pay a developer to set up and design your store.

• Shopify. Shopify is a SaaS platform with a good range of native features and over 4,100 integrated apps (separate subscription fees apply). It also has over 70 professional and responsive themes to design your website.

Select a platform that provides all the features you need for a price you can afford. 

2. Add your products. 

Once you have chosen a platform and a store theme, add products to your catalog. As you, do pay special attention to:

• Product images. Provide high-def visuals, featuring the product from different angles.
• Product descriptions. Don’t line up features — focus on benefits the customer will get.

Product images and product descriptions have a huge impact on the conversion rates of your product pages. So take the time to get them right!

3. Choose how you will do your shipping. 

Fast and free shipping is the number one driver for making an online purchase and has been for six years in a row!).

Ensure that all the products will get to your customers without any delays. You have several shipping strategies for that: 

• In-store pickup
• LTL freight carriers
• Same-day or next-day delivery
• Free shipping

4. Make sure everything works. 

Finally, once your ecommerce store is live, triple-test all the facets. Verify that:

• All pages look good across devices (desktop, tablet, mobile).
• The website functions well in multiple browsers (Chrome, Brave, Firefox, etc.).
• All buttons are clickable/connected to the correct apps.

If you have a budget, hire a QA specialist to run the test for you and report on the findings.

Grow Your Business

Once everything is set up, it’s time to start driving traffic to your ecommerce store. Prioritize the following channels:

• Paid ads. Allocate an ad budget for PPC (pay-per-click) ads on social networks and in search results. That’s the quickest way to improve brand awareness for a new store.
• Influencer marketing. Partner with social media influencers to promote your products.  This is another quick way to get them in front of your target audience.
• Social media marketing. Complement paid campaigns with organic traffic by building audiences on Instagram and Facebook.
• Search engine optimization (SEO). Ensure that all your website pages are SEO-optimized. Then create a content marketing strategy for your blog.
• Email marketing. Build an email list by capturing the email addresses of the people who visit your ecommerce store. You can then promote your products to your email subscribers.

What Resources do You Need When Starting a Business?

Starting a business can be daunting, but many people open successful businesses each year. Those who do succeed typically spend significant time raising capital, doing market research and developing a realistic business plan before launching their new company.

Of course, careful preparation isn’t an absolute guarantee of success, but it can improve your chances enormously. Take stock of your resources and be prepared to meet the challenges you’ll encounter.

The resources you need to start a business can be broken into five broad categories: financial, human, educational, emotional and physical resources.

Financial Resources: Funding 

The most important element in starting a business is funding. Even the most basic home business incurs a multitude of startup costs, including registering a business name, obtaining a business telephone line and printing business cards.

Financial resources can be obtained from a variety of sources, the easiest being from the personal accounts of the company’s founder.

Alternatively, loans and lines of credit may be granted from financial institutions, friends and relatives, private investors and even the United States government. In addition, many grants are offered from private and public sources to entrepreneurs of all demographics and personal situations.

Human Resources: Employees

The success of an organization is heavily reliant on the talent and strength of its employees. The hiring of experienced professionals with track records of excellence within their area of expertise ensures that the mission and goals of the company will be carried out efficiently and with competence.

Strong team members can be recruited using a variety of methods. Staffing agencies and executive search firms specialize in placing talent of all levels within every industry. An alternative is to find employees through referrals from individuals whose judgment is trusted.

Educational Resources: Industry Know How

Perhaps the greatest thing an entrepreneur can do when establishing a new business is to gain as much education possible. By understanding her competition and gaining an in-depth knowledge of her industry, she will be better prepared to make smarter decisions regarding the direction of her firm.

Educational resources can be found through professional trade associations that are geared toward her industry, her local chamber of commerce as well as the Small Business Administration.

Physical Resources: Premises and Equipment

Whether a small home business or a retail operation with multiple locations, every organization must have the appropriate physical resources to survive. This includes a proper work space, working telephone line, adequate information systems and effective marketing materials.

This aspect of business planning can be one of the costliest. As such, it is important for an entrepreneur to realistically assess his needs before making any purchases.

Emotional Resources: Support Systems

Starting a business can be an extremely stressful endeavor for an entrepreneur to undertake. To maintain her sanity as well as stay motivated, it is important she have a support team that can give her inspirations and guidance as needed. This team may be composed of friends and family as well as a mentor or professional group.

Which Online Business is Best to Start?

If you need some inspiration on which innovative business ideas might be right for you, below is a list of the best online business ideas, with what you need to get started in each.

1. Ecommerce: selling goods online

• Investment capital: cost of supplies, cost of website
• Necessary resources: trade tools
• Skill set: expertise in whatever you’re making

First, let’s start with one of the more obvious online business ideas: selling your own products, art, food and crafts. If you have created a genius new product or you’re a painter, fashion or jewellery designer, woodworker or even chef, you can easily sell what you make online.

The hard part is knowing how to make something; after that, all you need is time, a website and an understanding of how to ship your products. A professional-looking website can be the key to success for new ecommerce businesses, so make sure your website and all your customer-facing profiles look top notch.

Because they’re your own goods, you can modify them to fit whatever niche is available. For example, a lot of people sell homemade jewellery, but very few sell homemade banana lockets with a tiny monkey inside. If you understand your niche, you’ll be able to offer the products they want but can’t find elsewhere.

2. Social media influencer

• Investment capital: low
• Necessary resources: successful social media account
• Skill set: social media skills: knowing what to post and how often, what to say in comments, etc.

A lot of people dream about being a social media influencer without understanding the work aspects. It’s one thing to use social media for fun; it’s another to use it as your job.

You may have a natural talent for trending, but when you do it professionally there’s also technical aspects like researching what time periods have the highest traffic per platform, choosing which hashtags to use and knowing the right responses for a variety of different comments.

If you think you got those down, you can monetize your social media success by accepting sponsors and promoting their products. However, having a strong connection with your niche is essential—you’ll only attract sponsors who are trying to reach your follower group, so the more specialized they are, the better.

3. Writer & blogger

• Investment capital: none
• Necessary resources: none
• Skill set: writing and editorial skills, search engine optimization (SEO)

Content writers create the blog articles, books and ebooks and website copy that we all read on a daily basis. This job is the spiritual successor to print journalism of the past, and as such relies on the same skill set.

Bloggers create this content for their own website in order to grow traffic and eventually monetize their blog through things like affiliate links, sponsored or gated content and consultations.

The main requirement to becoming a professional writer is writing ability. If you can write something that people enjoy reading, that’s enough to get your foot in the door. However, to maximize your success, you’ll also want to learn techniques for SEO, or how to get articles or websites to appear high up in search engine results like Google.

As always, it helps to focus on specific niches. You can specialize in certain topics (i.e. advice, industry news, DIY how-tos) or certain writing styles (i.e. humorous essays, dry legal copy).

4. Videographer or photographer

• Investment capital: varies depending on the scope of the project
• Necessary resources: HD camera, camera accessories (i.e. boom mic, lights), editing software
• Skill set: filmmaking and film-editing

The internet loves videos, from cats to comedy sketches to news clips. Someone with a good eye who knows how to put a film together can make a lot of money creating content for brands who need it, from social media posts to product videos.

The downside is the expenses. First and foremost, you usually need your own film equipment, which certainly isn’t cheap. Ambitious projects also require hiring a film crew, potentially with professional actors, not to mention additional fees like studio space or props.

5. Dropshipping ecommerce

• Investment capital: website or shopping platform
• Necessary resources: none
• Skill set: sales and marketing

Compared to traditional retail, dropshipping ecommerce is far simpler. In dropshipping, the supplier handles all the storage and shipping of goods—the seller only focuses on making a sale, and then forwards the sales order to the supplier for fulfillment. The downside, though, is that the supplier takes home the bulk of the profit, leaving the seller to get by on what’s essentially a commission.

If you love the selling and marketing aspects of ecommerce but hate the shipping logistics, dropshipping is a perfect fit. The dropshipping seller focuses on sales strategy, promotions, outreach, advertising, customer service and branding—the customer-facing side of retail only. However, because you’re sharing your profits, you have to sell twice as much to make a comfortable living.

6. Podcasting

• Investment capital: media host, marketing funds
• Necessary resources: professional-grade microphone, recording and editing software
• Skill set: speaking skills

If content writing is the spiritual successor to print journalism, then podcasting is the modern equivalent to talk radio. It’s the career of choice for people who not only like to talk, but also are good at it.

To succeed in podcasting, you must create something worth listening to, which requires excellent speaking skills. Good podcasts are entertaining, emotional and informative, so figure out a niche where you can achieve all three.

If you can, leverage your following from other online outlets like social media or YouTube. If you have friends in podcasting, guest star in each other’s shows to reach new audiences. It may take awhile to develop a large enough following to monetize, so be patient.

7. Selling services online

• Investment capital: none
• Necessary resources: website
• Skill set: any special skills

This online business idea is all about the special skills you have that others don’t. Whether you’re a speaker, bookkeeper, consultant or coach, you can sell your services online. If you’re an expert in your niche, all you have to do it is find the clients that are in need of your services.

You can do that through word of mouth and recommendations, using online freelancing platforms or reaching out to potential clients via email. You can also advertise your services on Google or social media or you can start a website or blog to attract clients organically.

The key to selling your services is presenting your business online. You need to showcase your unique skills and why you’re the right person to do the job. The easiest way to do that is creating a professional-looking website with plenty of convincing examples of your work and some great customer testimonials.

What Are The 7 Steps to Starting an Online Business?

Many digital startup businesses don’t require much (or any) initial investments, which makes them very attractive to the newcomers. If you’re looking to start your own online business, make sure you read through the crucial steps that will guide you on this journey.

Find Your Motivation

Before venturing into any business, take a moment or two and question your true motivation. Why do you want to start an online business?

Perhaps you’ve just left your regular job and are looking for some steady cash flow. Maybe you have an amazing idea that you want to show to the world, or you simply want to try your luck in ecommerce with WordPress.

Whatever it is, make certain you are in tune with it, because your motivation will help you persevere. Business ventures requires patience and focus, so think about all the benefits you might get out if it and they might keep you going.

Develop An Idea

Obviously, every good business relies on a good business idea, so you have to have one at the start. Of course, these ideas don’t come in the form of a heavenly revelation. Most of the time, you’ll need to actively think about it and brainstorm online business ideas.

You can start by choosing the industry you want. Obviously, since you’re looking to make money, find a list of the most profitable ones in the current year.

Do Your Research

Once you finally decide on the business idea, it’s time to do the research. This is, no doubt, one of the most important parts of the process. Research your idea, find your competitors and, most importantly, discover your target audience.

CoSchedule states that knowing who your target audience is “will help you focus not only on creating great content but on creating the right content.” Narrowing down your content production will make you seem more relevant in your field and rank you better on Google.

Craft A Business Plan

So, you have a good idea, you’ve researched your field and found your target audience – what’s next? Now you need to formulate a proper business plan that will articulate your idea in detail, define the structure of your business and clearly establish all of your goals.

Bplans emphasizes the fact that your business plan should be short and functional because people still need to read it. It is also a good idea to hire a professional writer to write this for you in a professional way.

Determine A Corporate Identity

Considering how there is quite a lot of competition on the internet, it is necessary to find a way to stand out from the crowd. A good online business has an easily recognizable presence on the web, including a strong corporate identity, clear authoritative voice and an inspiring logo design.

When choosing a logo, make sure you research that year’s design trends to make sure that your design is modern, interesting and, of course, memorable.

Build A Reliable Team

This step obviously depends on the type of online business you’re making but pretty much any business can use a good team. Analyze your work and think about how it can be divided to be most efficient.

Remember, however, that it’s much better to have a couple of people working for you who specialize in certain areas than having just one employee who does a lot of different work. You might think that the second option is much more cost-efficient, but it doesn’t pay off in the long run.

Just Keep Working

Even when you finish the above steps and establish your online business, the work is far from over. A good entrepreneur never relaxes or puts the guard down. Instead, they are constantly working on the business, thinking about ways to innovate, upgrade or expand.

In addition, take the time to manage your employees well and invest in their growth, too. For example, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh introduced a controversial holacracy system, which empowers employees to take charge and cultivate leadership skills.

How Can I Start a Small Business Online With no Money?

To help enterprising entrepreneurs generate business ideas, we asked business leaders and CEOs for their best ideas. From web designing to social media marketing, there are several suggestions that may help you start an online business with no funding to begin your entrepreneurial journey.

Leverage Your Technical and Creative Skills in Web Design

Freelance web design may be an excellent path for you if you are a creative, digital expert who thrives on developing the layout, visual theme, font set, and color palette of a website. You may study the fundamentals of web design and grasp the tools you’ll need for success, such as Adobe XD, Chrome DevTools, and text editor software, even if you have no prior expertise.

Take advantage of your technical and creative skills to help business owners to expand their internet presence. Create a thorough portfolio, then showcase it on your website to attract a constant supply of clients
– Alisha Taylor, Alisha Taylor Interiors

Help Businesses in Your Industry as a Consultant 

People always need help and advice, and if you’ve got experience in a certain field, why not offer them your expertise as a consultant? There are no startup costs with consulting. 

All you need to get started are your experience and skill set. Who you’re able to consult for depends on your background, but I guarantee there are those in your field who could benefit from your help.
– Vicky Franko, Insura

Get Your Start in Online Retail

If you want to sell something, make sure you understand how to start a home-based business, have a space to store your items, and create an online account with the post office to make mailing as streamlined as possible. Begin researching platforms that make selling online simple. To start, you might want to look into BigCommerce, Wix, Shopify, and Weebly
– Lior Abady, Boho Magic

Start a Virtual Assistant Service

There’s no shortage of business owners, parents, leaders, and more with full schedules. With solid time management skills and a knack for organization, you’re primed to lend a (virtual) helping hand. When starting, consider focusing on one segment so that you can grow your skills and distinguish yourself from others. 

You can assist entrepreneurs running e-commerce sites, real estate agents managing multiple clients, or marketing firms in need of support. The client options are vast. So dust off that resume and start reaching out to see who could benefit from your services.
– Claire Routh, Markitors

Use Your Website for Affiliate Marketing

If you already have an established website, joining an affiliate program, such as Amazon, can give you a significant silent income boost. Anyone can do this by selling products that are connected to their niche — in our case — diving equipment. Monetizing your website in this way gives you a decent ROI without the headache of the majority of the hard work involved.
– Alain Sobol, Red Sea Diving College

Offer Sitting Services Online

You can start a pet, baby, or house sitting service online as a way of making extra money. There are numerous websites online where you can register as a sitter for free. Such sites will connect you to clients looking to pay for sitting services. You do not require extensive experience for these jobs, and the hourly rate for sitting services is often higher than the average minimum hourly wage.
– Patrick Crane, Love Sew

Monetize Your SaaS Idea

You do not need much money to start a SaaS (software as a service) business as long as you’re able to put together a sufficient website. Software is all online, so you wouldn’t be developing a tangible product. 

There are many tools in the world (including ours!) that can help you put together a great product even if you don’t know how to code. This is a good way to start a business without a lot of money, especially if you have a great SaaS idea that you’ve thought through in terms of filling a gap in the market so that people will want to use it frequently.
– Joaquín Roca, Minerva

Sell Paid Online Courses

We have seen a lot of people sell their online courses without even creating a website. You can start selling your courses or services directly from social media handles by creating an audience. We believe it is the easiest way to earn some money online. While covering this topic, we would recommend beginners avoid surveys and ad-clicking sites as they are not sustainable for long-term earnings.

Take your skill and create a guide, course, or how-to e-book and start selling it to your audience online. The process will take some time, but you can create a reliable online business with this strategy.
– Lynda Fairly, NumLooker

Become a Social Media Influencer

Social media marketing is an online business idea that anyone can start even with no money. Netizens who position themselves as influencers earn monetarily from their social media platforms through “likes,” “shares,” and subscriptions for their entertaining content.

Social media influencers can significantly promote products and services only through a stable internet connection and reliable mobile phone. Businesses realize how effective social media marketing is, and they reach out to influencers for brand partnerships and to improve brand awareness of their offerings.
– Michelle Ebbin, JettProof

What Are The Online Business That is Profitable?

With a little knowledge of digital marketing and social media, almost anyone can launch a business online and get it up and running in only days.

Below is a list of the most lucrative online business ideas anyone can start in Nigeria with a very little capital investment.

1. Become a professional blogger

In the past, we’ve written an article about how to start a profitable blogging business in Nigeria. Launching your own blog doesn’t require a great deal of technical or computer skills.

If you’re passionate about writing and creating super-rich contents on the internet that is capable of grabbing the attention of your audience, then you are only a few steps away from earning money doing what you love.

Having a blog that has an extensive number of followers will allow you to gain profit by attracting advertisers that are willing to pay you some money just to place adverts on certain pages of your blog.

2. Make money selling products online

E-commerce and Dropshipping are two popular ways to make money selling high demand products online. Online platforms like Shopify and WordPress have made it insanely easy for anyone to set-up an online e-commerce store in minutes.

On the other hand, Dropshipping is when you create an online store to sell other people’s products. Then, you get a commission for each sale. The advantage of this over traditional e-commerce business is that you don’t have to risk buying up stock in a product and losing money if it doesn’t sell.

If you are looking to follow this route, you can start by researching some of the fastest selling online products in your geographic location. It is also important to give more priority to products that are unique and less competitive.

3. Start your own YouTube channel

Top YouTubers like Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg the owner of the most-subscribed YouTube channel called PewDiePie (currently has 89 million subscribers) has made more than $15 million creating and publishing video contents on YouTube.

As a YouTuber, you make money on YouTube each time Google (YouTubes parent company) shows ads contents before or after your video has finished playing. Make sure your videos are high quality and you upload them consistently for the satisfaction of your audience.

The best part is, you don’t even need to go out and buy an expensive new camera – as long as you have a smartphone with a quality camera lens, you can start filming your first video right now!

4. Create and sell online courses/e-books

If you’re already an expert in any topic, you can package that knowledge into a high-value course or e-book and sell it online to people that are seeking the knowledge that you’ve acquired.

This type of online business is best regarded as passive income because you continuously make money for years even after publishing it. Once the upfront time and effort is put in, with just a bit of regular upkeep and marketing you’ll be able to continue to sell and make money from them.

If you don’t already have an audience, it might be better to self-publish on websites such as Udemy and Amazon first. That way, you can validate your idea and grow your fan base.

5. Start trading Forex and stocks

Most people see currency trading (also known as FOREX) and investment as a very risky business to start. Even though this statement is true if you start out small and invest your time into researching you will gain knowledge and experience that might just bring in the rewards you’re after.

Unlike Forex, Stock exchanges provide a transparent, regulated, and convenient marketplace for buyers to conduct business with sellers. The stock market is immensely popular, but it is exceeded in size by the Forex market, which is the largest financial market in the world.

Nowadays, the internet has made things easier. You can start trading forex or stocks by sitting in front of your computer in the comfort of your bedroom with a glass of cold juice or wine.

What Resources do You Need to be Successful?

As a leader, raw talent will only get you so far.  To help you become a more successful leader, here are the six most critical resources you will need to earn and foster  throughout your career.

1. The Trust of Advisors

This resource goes well beyond mentors. These are advisors that you have earned the right to know both personally and professionally – trusted relationships with people that will share their wisdom without keeping track of how many times they have helped you. 

Your advisors are people that understand your business and are keenly aware of your strengths and weaknesses. They have observed you along your career path and witnessed your growth as a leader – as well as all your vulnerabilities. They are the ones that stuck with you during your failures and always had your back.

Because no one is keeping score, don’t give your advisors any reason to change their mind. Be extremely respectful of their time and be mindful to reciprocate – by sharing your momentum and success as you deem it to be of benefit to them.

2. The Knowledge  from Failure

Failure is the most powerful experience you can lean on. If you haven’t failed enough, you can never earn the knowledge from this invaluable resource. Failure is the most powerful source for know-how and understanding.

It teaches you about survival, renewal and reinvention – of yourself and the organization you are leading. Failure ultimately shapes you as a leader and without it; you will lack the mental toughness to navigate through difficult times.

3. The Diversity of Thought from Your Team

You don’t have all the answers and if you think you do – you will frequently make bad decisions. As such, you must build a team that’s made to last. Earn their respect   by being transparent enough to share difficult issues, and you will enable a crowdsourcing environment of problem solvers.

Diversity of thought is an inherent dynamic that exists within great teams. Know how to find it and you can pull great things from this powerful resource. Take the time to identify the diversity that lies within your team(s) and learn how to put it to good use. 

As a leader, this requires patience, careful listening and observation. Earn the right to leverage the value and intelligence of your team and you will soon find good fortune on your side.

4. The Fresh Perspectives from Think-Tanks

Broaden your observations and learn about new and different ideas and best practices that will make you a smarter and wiser leader.   When you earn your way into a think-tank or any organized networking group of leaders representing multiple industries, you can’t help but be exposed to fresh perspectives, ideas and ideals.

The ultimate goal is to make the world a better place by advancing community and commerce. You leave every event with a different experience and a plethora of fresh perspectives.

5. The Wisdom Inherent in Unwritten Rules

Successful leaders have earned the right to know “the unwritten rules” that exist within the organization they serve. Many times, understanding these unwritten rules is the difference between success and failure. Those who are unaware of these rules have not been invited into the “circle of trust” and thus are at risk of falling into a trap of stifled advancement and opportunity.

The culture of your organization is fueled with unwritten rules – those things that you should or should not do or say if you want to get noticed, discovered or taken seriously by senior management. 

6. The Sound Judgment From Your Instincts

Successful leadership requires sound judgment – and that  often comes from your own instincts.   Your instincts can be your most powerful resource, once you trust yourself enough to go with your gut. This is the result of learned behavior and sound judgment that becomes unconscious and automatic over time.

Instincts are a by-product of your experiences and they strengthen throughout your leadership journey.  As such, your ability to trust yourself is a learned skill. It requires a deep understanding and acceptance of who you are and what you represent. It allows you to enable sound judgment from your instincts at the right place and time.

Leadership success ultimately boils down to the sustainable impact and influence that you can create. These six resources will enable your best – and in turn, you will be able to enable the best in others.

As the collective efforts of individual strengths are unleashed in ways that come most naturally, you will increase your ability to effectively and efficiently see and seize opportunities for the betterment of the organization.

What Online Resources And Utilities do You Use to Help You Manage Your Business?

1. Website Builder from Wix

If your small business needs a website (and the answer to that for most businesses is a resounding “yes, it does”) and your website building needs are basic, then try using a free website builder such as Wix, which offers a free account. Wix can help you create a full-featured, mobile-friendly website that won’t break your budget.

After using the free plan for a while, if you realize that your business would really benefit from all the features a web hosting provider can provide you, then you can opt for a paid web hosting service such as HostGator Web Hosting.

2. Virtual Private Network from CyberGhost

Small businesses that concerned about security (and you should be) need to implement personal virtual private network (VPN) services. These services hide online activity from snoops, and limits who can and can’t access network content.

Most VPNs are pay-to-play but there are a few services, such as CyberGhost ($75.60 for Two Year Plan at CyberGhost VPN) , that give you a bit of protection at no cost.

CyberGhost is the best free VPN service on the market. It offers reliable connection speeds and excellent network security, plus it works on most modern operating systems (OSes).

It’s somewhat difficult to configure, especially for really small businesses; and if you need Mac or Linux support, you’ll need to upgrade to the paid version. But if you just need something simple, easy, and free, then CyberGhost is a great tool.

3. Endpoint Protection from Avast

What’s the point of growing a business if it can be shut down by viruses or hackers? Avast’s endpoint protection comes in a free and a premium ($75.60 for Two Year Plan at CyberGhost VPN) version, both of which protect your network well.

If you opt for the free version, keep in mind that you won’t have access to proactive controls, a firewall, or data shredding. However, you’ll still get access to solid malware blocking, security scanning, and rescue disk functionality—all of which will come in handy at some point.

4. Project Management from Wrike

Wrike’s ($75.60 for Two Year Plan at CyberGhost VPN) project management solution is one of the best on the market regardless of which tier you choose. The free version supports up to five users, an unlimited number of collaborators, and 2 GB of free storage. With this plan, you can manage tasks, share files, and monitor your group’s activities in a real-time feed.

If you need customizations and reporting, you’ll have to upgrade to a higher tier. But if you’re just getting started and your team is small, the free project management tool will be perfect for you.

5. Video Conferencing from join.me

If you’re looking to connect with clients, prospects, and remote workers, you’ll need a reliable video conferencing solution to help you get the job done. Join.me ($75.60 for Two Year Plan at CyberGhost VPN) offers a free plan that lets you invite up to 10 video participants, share screens, and supports up to five video feeds.

Join.me isn’t the most robust offering on the market, but it’s definitely a strong competitor among the free solutions. If you don’t have money to spend, and you need the cream of the free crop, try join.me.

6. Applicant Tracking from Zoho Recruit

Small businesses that don’t have job openings often will love Zoho Recruit ($75.60 for Two Year Plan at CyberGhost VPN) . This applicant tracking tool gives you access to one recruiter and up to five open positions at once. You’ll be able to input, publish, and track jobs until you find the right candidate for your company’s specific needs.

You’ll also be able to send emails to applicants via five free email templates, which will make your life easier if you have to send the same (or similar) messages over and over again.

7. Human Resources Management from Deputy

Once you’ve found the right candidate, you’ll need to track his or her progress via a human resources (HR) management tool. Deputy ($75.60 for Two Year Plan at CyberGhost VPN) offers a starter plan that costs just $1 per employee per month. Yes, I know, this isn’t free. But at only $1 per month, it’s an incredibly solid investment.

Deputy will allow you to schedule employee shifts, make company announcements, and manage tasks, all within one easy-to-use tool. Unfortunately, at this price tier, you won’t be able to add timesheets or payroll integration. For that, you’ll have to spend an extra $2 per employee per month.

What Are The 4 Business Resources?

All businesses, both for-profit and nonprofit, need resources in order to operate. Simply put, resources are the inputs used to produce outputs (goods and/or services). Resources are also called factors of production.

Natural Resources

Natural resources have two fundamental characteristics: (1) They are found in nature, and (2) they can be used for the production of goods and services. In order to provide benefit, people first have to discover them and then figure out how to use them in the the production of a good or service. Examples of natural resources are land, trees, wind, water, and minerals.

A key feature of natural resources is that people can’t make them. They also tend to be limited. New natural resources—or new ways of extracting them (such as fracking, for example)—can be discovered, though.

These natural resources can be renewable, such as forests, or nonrenewable, such as oil or natural gas. It’s also possible to invent new uses for natural resources (using wind to generate electricity, for example). Resources that are cultivated or made with human effort can’t be considered natural resources, which is why crops aren’t natural resources.

Labor

Labor refers to human resources (also called human capital)—physical or intellectual. You’re adding to your own human resources right now by learning. You may possess certain human resources already—perhaps you have an athletic gift that enables you to play professional ball to earn a living, for example—but you can also develop them through job training, education, experience, and so on.

The word labor often calls to mind physical labor—working in a factory or field, constructing a building, waiting tables in a restaurant—but it can refer to any human input (paid or unpaid) involved in the production of a good or service.

This broader definition of labor is particularly important in today’s technology-driven business environment, which has come to rely much more on the intellectual contributions of the labor force than the physical labor required of, say, working in a production line. Intellectual contributions include experience in and out of school, training, skills, and natural abilities.

In order to remain competitive, businesses place a premium on employees who bring these “soft skills” to the table. Many of the advances in our world today are the result of the application of intellectual human resources.

Finally, labor brings creativity and innovation to businesses. Businesses use human creativity to address changes in consumer preferences and to invent goods and services that consumers haven’t even imagined yet. Without creativity, innovation would stall, and economies would stagnate.

Capital

Before we discuss capital, it’s important to point out that money is NOT a resource. Remember that resources need to be productive. They have to be used to make something else, and money can’t do that. Money certainly helps the economy move along more efficiently and smoothly, like grease for the economic machine.

But in and of itself, it can’t produce anything. It’s used to acquire the productive resources that can produce goods and services. This confusion is understandable, given that businesspeople frequently talk about “financial capital,” or “investment capital,” which does mean money.

In contrast to natural resources, capital is a resource that has been produced but is also used to produce other goods and services. This factor of production includes machinery, tools, equipment, buildings, and technology. Businesses must constantly upgrade their capital to maintain a competitive edge and operate efficiently.

In the last couple decades or so, businesses have faced unprecedented technological change and have had to meet the demands of consumers whose lives increasingly take place in a virtual world. Almost every business has a Web presence, and many customers are more accustomed to interacting with a virtual version of the business than a brick and mortar store.

Entrepreneurship

Thus far we have looked at natural resources, human resources, and capital as three inputs needed to create outputs. The last one we need to consider is perhaps the most important: entrepreneurship. This resource is a special form of labor provided by an entrepreneur.

An entrepreneur is someone who is willing to risk his or her time and money to start or run a business—usually with the hope of earning a profit in return. Entrepreneurs have the ability to organize the other factors of production and transform them into a business. Without entrepreneurship many of the goods and services we consume today would not exist.

What Are The Top 3 Online Businesses?

Whether you are looking to become a full-time entrepreneur or just to start a part-time business for passive income, your product or service should fulfill a specific consumer need.

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. If you are unfamiliar with SEO or want to brush up on your digital marketing skills, you can refer to Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO. 

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. 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.

3. 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. 

How do I Start a Small Business Online From Home?

Step 1: Start a business that fills a need.

Most people who are just starting out make the mistake of looking for a product first, and a market second.

To boost your chances of success, start with a market. The trick is to find a group of people who are searching for a solution to a problem, but not finding many results. The internet makes this kind of market research easy:

• Visit online forums to see what questions people ask and what problems they’re trying to solve.
• Do keyword research to find keywords that a lot of people are searching, but don’t have a ton of competition with other sites.
• Check out your potential competitors by visiting their sites and taking note of what they’re doing to fill the demand. Then you can use what you’ve learned and create a product for a market that already exists — and do it better than the competition.

Step 2: Write copy that sells.

There’s a proven sales copy formula that takes visitors through the selling process from the moment they arrive to the moment they make a purchase:

1. Arouse interest with a compelling headline.
2. Describe the problem your product solves.
3. Establish your credibility as a solver of this problem.
4. Add testimonials from people who have used your product.
5. Talk about the product and how it benefits the user.
6. Make an offer.
7. Make a strong guarantee.
8. Create urgency.
9. Ask for the sale.

Throughout your copy, you need to focus on how your product or service is uniquely able to solve people’s problems or make their lives better. Think like a customer and ask “What’s in it for me?”

Step 3: Design and build your website.

Once you’ve got your market and product, and you’ve nailed down your selling process, now you’re ready for your small-business web design. Remember to keep it simple. You have fewer than five seconds to grab someone’s attention — otherwise, they’re gone, never to be seen again. Some important tips to keep in mind:

• Choose one or two plain fonts on a white background.
• Make your navigation clear and simple, and the same on every page.
• Only use graphics, audio or video if they enhance your message.
• Include an opt-in offer so you can collect e-mail addresses.
• Make it easy to buy — no more than two clicks between potential customer and checkout.
• Your website is your online storefront, so make it customer-friendly.

Step 4: Use search engines to drive targeted buyers to your site.

Pay-per-click advertising is the easiest way to get traffic to a brand-new site. It has two advantages over waiting for the traffic to come to you organically. First, PPC ads show up on the search pages immediately, and second, PPC ads allow you to test different keywords, as well as headlines, prices and selling approaches.

Not only do you get immediate traffic, but you can also use PPC ads to discover your best, highest-converting keywords. Then you can distribute the keywords throughout your site in your copy and code, which will help your rankings in the organic search results.

Step 5: Establish an expert reputation for yourself.

People use the internet to find information. Provide that information for free to other sites, and you’ll see more traffic and better search engine rankings. The secret is to always include a link to your site with each tidbit of information.

• Give away free, expert content. Create articles, videos or any other content that people will find useful. Distribute that content through online article directories or social media sites.
• Include “send to a friend” links on valuable content on your website.
• Become an active expert in industry forums and social networking sites where your target market hangs out.

You’ll reach new readers. But even better, every site that posts your content will link back to yours. Search engines love links from relevant sites and will reward you in the rankings.

Step 6: Use the power of email marketing to turn visitors into buyers.

When you build an opt-in list, you’re creating one of the most valuable assets of your online business. Your customers and subscribers have given you permission to send them an email. That means:

• You’re giving them something they’ve asked for.
• You’re developing lifetime relationships with them.
• The response is 100 percent measurable.
• Email marketing is cheaper and more effective than print, TV or radio because it’s highly targeted.

Anyone who visits your site and opts into your list is a very hot lead. And there’s no better tool than email for following up with those leads.

Step 7: Increase your income through back-end sales and upselling.

One of the most important internet marketing strategies is to develop every customer’s lifetime value. At least 36 percent of people who have purchased from you once will buy from you again if you follow up with them. Closing that first sale is by far the most difficult part — not to mention the most expensive. So use back-end selling and upselling to get them to buy again:

• Offer products that complement their original purchase.
• Send out electronic loyalty coupons they can redeem on their next visit.
• Offer related products on your “Thank You” page after they purchase.

Reward your customers for their loyalty and they’ll become even more loyal.

The internet changes so fast that one year online equals about five years in the real world. But the principles of how to start and grow a successful online business haven’t changed at all.

If you’re just starting a small business online, stick to this sequence. If you’ve been online awhile, do a quick review and see if there’s a step you’re neglecting, or never got around to doing in the first place. You can’t go wrong with the basics.

How Can I Start a Business From Home Without Investment?

Want to start a business but not sure where to start? Here are some low-investment business ideas you can get off the ground quickly.

1. Start a dropshipping business

With a dropshipping business, third-party supplier stores and ships inventory to customers for you. It’s an easy and cheap business to start because you don’t need to buy or store inventory yourself. All you need to do is find the right supplier and market your business.

The dropshipping model works well with product categories such as:

• Apparel
• Accessories
• Beauty and lifestyle products
• Homewares
• Tech gadgets

2. Create a digital product

A business based on intangible products tends to be cheaper to start because there aren’t costs such as manufacturing, inventory purchasing and warehousing to worry about. The question is: what expertise do you have that would translate into a compelling digital product?

Popular ideas include:

• Online courses such as web design, music, development etc.
• Design and photography templates
• Blogs
• eBooks, tutorials and guides
• Apps
• Podcasts

3. Sell a service

With a service-based business, the biggest investment you’ll need to make is time. If you have an in-demand skill, selling a service can be a lucrative business model, and you can even offer your services while supplementing your income by selling complementary products.

Depending on your skillset, you could cost-effectively build a business around:

• Writing, graphic design, photography or creative arts
• Digital services such as résumé writing 
• Professional coaching 
• Pet-minding or babysitting
• Tutoring
• Accountancy or bookkeeping
• Interior design and real estate consultancy

4. Join an affiliate marketing programme

Affiliate marketing is a strategy where businesses pay people (‘affiliates’) to promote and sell products for them. Every time an affiliate brings in a new customer, they receive a commission. 

If you already have an established following online via a blog, website, social media or other community, joining an affiliate marketing programme could be a quick way to make extra money as a side hustle.

To get started:

1. Find a programme on sites like ShareASale, Solvid Affiliate, or Amazon Associates
2. Choose the offers you want to promote
3. Get an affiliate link
4. Promote that link across your website, social media etc.

Once you’ve signed up, you’ll earn a commission any time someone registers or makes a purchase through your link. Commission rates depend on the business and the offer, but can range from 5% to as much as 50%.

5. Start an online membership programme

Like affiliate marketing, online membership programmes are best for entrepreneurs who have an established online following. What’s unique about online membership programmes is they’re subscription-based, so customers make recurring payments in exchange for a digital product or service.

Examples of popular online membership programmes include:

• Fitness programmes
• Clubs and communities
• Creative arts 
• Coaching

Depending on your business, membership programmes can include downloadable content, exclusive live streams or a mix of both. 

How Can I Grow my Business Online?

If you want to make it big in the online world, we’ve got a few tips and tricks that might help you plan new strategies to grow your business digitally.

1. Specify Your Niche And Develop A Unique Brand

Anyone with even basic marketing knowledge will tell you that identifying your niche is what can make or break your business. 

The more specific this niche or micro-niche is, the better it is for your company.

Once you have specified your niche, you can successfully tap into this target market and grow your business by giving customers what they want. 

Knowing your market will help you develop structured and detailed plans and strategies on how to grow your business.

It also helps to have a unique brand. However, you have to ensure that your unique brand has adequate demand in your niche market for it to be successful. It is essential to stand out in the online market. 

However, if there is no real niche that you are marketing to, your business might take a hit after the initial hype dies down.

A successful and unique online business needs to have a well-defined purpose, value proposition and come up with innovative solutions. 

Only once these criteria are met, your business will have a strong online presence and flourish like never before.

2. Know Your Audience Well

For an entrepreneur to be successful, they have to know who their target audience is. 

The more you know your audience, the better you will be able to cater to them, and the more they will turn to your business. 

This, in turn, will help you to develop a robust digital strategy and increase your online sales.

Entrepreneurs and marketers go to great lengths to understand customer behavior and preferences. However, even preliminary market research will tell you plenty about what kind of customers you will be catering to.

You can use this information to create a buyer persona to have a clear idea of what kind of individuals your online business is targeting. 

Through this, you can deduce what their likes and dislikes are and come up with new and innovative strategies to grow your business.

Charting customer journeys reveals clear trends that entrepreneurs can use to create a tangible digital strategy to increase their market demand and get people interested in their business.

3. Focus On Content Marketing

Content Marketing is a massive up and coming field that is rapidly gaining tremendous importance. 

As more and more entrepreneurs transition into an online business, they need superior Content Marketing skills to ensure that their business flourishes.

High-quality content, coupled with good Digital Marketing, can help businesses build authority online and improve their digital footprint. The best part is that good quality content requires very little investment but has huge payoffs. 

Some ways you can market your content is:

Creating A Blog

Unlike some may think, blogs are not going anywhere. In fact, according to Demand Metric, companies with blogs attract an average of 67% more leads every month when compared to companies who don’t.

A blog is a great way to gain followers for your online business. These followers can then be used to market content. Also, blogs are relatively easy to create. 

You can use social media platforms or even a website or webpage to develop and operate an online blog. 

Since blogs are often quite specific in the type and category of content they put up, they are bound to attract potential customers. These individuals create the perfect market for entrepreneurs to tap into and grow their online business.  

Keep in mind that, for your blog to be successful, you need to optimize it to rank well on Google. Also, make sure the topics you are addressing fit your target audience doubts.

Having A Social Media Presence

As mentioned earlier, a blog can also be operated or at least propagated through online social media networks. 

Depending on the platform used, this will create an excellent opportunity for Content Marketing.

Being consistent with social media is vital when it comes to gaining a larger online presence. The more you engage your target audience, the more loyal they will be, and the more your followers will grow as well.

The payoffs of having a good social media presence are huge. All of your followers have the potential to become paying customers. By increasing your social media presence, you are indirectly growing your online business as well.

Using Email Marketing

Email marketing is not new. This Digital Marketing strategy has been around for a while and has only grown in popularity with time. 

Email marketing has good reason to be a digital marketer’s favorite tool.

It is one of the few strategies to grow your business that actually work. In email marketing, both prospective and existing customers get emails targeted specifically to their micro-niche. 

Since these emails are often customized to fit the reader’s needs perfectly, they have higher chances of converting people into regular customers.

Email marketing is an excellent way to market content by tailoring it to the customer’s specific needs and increasing the chances of gaining additional customers.

4. Invest in Video Marketing

One of the most efficient ways to successfully grow your online business is through video marketing. 

Customers respond much quicker after watching a video advertisement than with any other kind of advertisement.

In fact, a whopping 64% of customers are likely to respond after watching a branded video ad. It is also estimated that entrepreneurs grow 49% faster with video advertisements than without.

Video marketing is an efficient and effective Digital Marketing strategy mostly done through platforms such as YouTube and webinars.

Webinars

Webinars are an effective way to put your information online. You can upload lectures, workshops, or video presentations online through webinar software.

These interactive videos allow entrepreneurs to put all of their business-related content online for customers to see.

Since webinars are quite thorough, customers are usually well satisfied by the end of the session and respond to the product or service being offered. 

YouTube

YouTube is one of the largest and oldest social media platforms to exist. Every day there are about two billion users who watch videos of varying lengths on YouTube.

So as is obvious, the website is one of the most popular platforms with numerous users. By having a channel and posting on it frequently, you can reach many more people than through any other medium.

Whether you want to run an advertisement or dabble into affiliate marketing, YouTube has a lot of potential to help you grow your online business. 

For this reason, Digital Marketing through YouTube channels should definitely be a part of every entrepreneur’s digital strategy.

5. Use Paid Media To Increase Your Reach

Paid media is an excellent tool to increase your business’s reach online. A small investment will result in a large number of people being made aware of your business.

Paid media, for example, Instagram and Facebook ads, target the right market for you and help you grow without you having to lift a finger.

Of course, the ad you run needs to be catchy and of good quality for people to consider investing in your business. 

So, if you are investing in paid media marketing, it would do you well to focus on the type of content you are putting out.

However, the one thing paid media does, regardless, is simply to get the word out. The more the number of people who know about your online business, the more your business and online sales will grow.

6. Establish Partnerships

Partnerships are an excellent way to share the burden of content marketing. 

You essentially piggy-back on the success of another business and take advantage of their customer base. Of course, it needs to be a win-win situation.

Besides this, you essentially double your reach with minimal extra effort. There are numerous types of partnerships that you can look into if you want to grow your business, whether that is through collaborative content, co-marketing, joint webinars, and even events. The possibilities are endless.

The more innovative you are in your approach to sharing content marketing, the more beneficial it will be for your business.

7. Count On Online Solutions To Achieve Scalability

Numerous entrepreneurs entering the world of online content marketing are often amazed at how many solutions and tools are available to help them grow their business online.

Achieving scalability online is a whole different ball game and a much easier one at that. 

Thanks to technology, everything is automated now. You can use various tools such as Inbound Marketing software and services such as online business platforms to help distribute products and services online.

The best part is how easily this can be done. You don’t have to have any prior knowledge to successfully market your online business because there are inexpensive options that can do this for you automatically.

Don’t Forget To Measure Your Results And Apply Improvements

As is true for all businesses, you will never be truly successful unless you learn from your mistakes and work on improving them.

Entrepreneurs have to set up Key Performance Indicators according to their business to measure their growth. 

It is also essential to understand that all strategies to grow your business online can have positive and negative repercussions.

You have to figure out what works best for your online company. By tracking your business’s performance, you can make better and more effective strategies to grow your business online.

Again, thanks to technology, even measuring your business’s performance is an easy task that requires only a few minutes. All you have to do is download this free spreadsheet that will allow you to calculate your business’s results automatically!

Which is The Easiest Business to Start?

Pet Sitting

More and more people are looking for someone to care for their pets when they can’t. Professional pet caregivers come into the home to feed, walk, and play with the animal(s) while the owner is away.

If you love animals and are knowledgeable about them, this could be a great business for you. According to the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters, in-home pet-care is one of the fastest-growing industries in North America today.

Requirements: Knowledge of and affinity with animals, good time-management skills. Currently, accreditation and special training are typically not required (although some states require a license). You should be ​bonded and insured.​

Residential Cleaning Services

Having your house cleaned by someone else is no longer only for the rich With everyone getting busier all the time, more people than ever are willing to pay to get the benefits of a cleaner home and more free time to do things they consider to be more important.

Residential cleaning services are normally provided on a once-a-month or once-a-week basis. All you need to start this business is some basic cleaning supplies. If you’re an organized person who can build a clientele, you could do extremely well if you start a cleaning business.

Requirements: Knowledge of cleaning products and procedures, the ability to attract and keep reliable staff, and strong scheduling and organizational abilities.

Variations on the theme: Specialized cleaning services, such as blind cleaning.

Delivery Services

Talk about an easy business to start—a vehicle and a good driving record and you’re good to go. We’re all familiar with the big names in the delivery industry, but that doesn’t mean that there’s no room for the little guy (or gal). If you can deliver things quickly and efficiently in your local area at a reasonable price, this may be a good business idea for you.

Requirements: Clean driving record and good driving skills, strong organizational skills, and a suitable vehicle—it may be necessary to transport large items.

Grass Cutting and Snow Removal Services

Some people still mow their own lawns or shovel their own snow. But many would rather pay someone else to keep their yard looking good. The great thing is that in many places, you can combine lawn care and snow removal and have a viable business all year long.

Requirements: Equipment, such as power mowers, edgers, etc. You need to be prepared to trim as well as to mow. You’ll also need trucks equipped with blades for snow clearing, and basic mechanical knowledge to run and repair equipment.

Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking has changed a lot in the digital age, but it’s still a popular craft and a business idea that could be very profitable. Many people want a tangible collection of their favorite photos more than ever. You can start a business as a creator of original scrapbooks or by becoming a consultant for a scrapbook business that’s already established.

Read Also: 10 Business Ideas for Stay-at-Home Parents

Requirements: Artistic talent, knowledge of scrapbooking (which you can get through research and experience or by taking scrapbooking courses), materials to make scrapbooks, digital know-how if you decide to offer digital scrapbooking.

Hauling Services

Ever try to fit a sheet of plywood into the back of one of those new compact SUVs? Then you know why the demand for hauling services is on the rise. Besides the size issue, there’s are materials and goods that people don’t want to haul in their own shiny vehicles, such as yard waste or loads of compost for the garden. All the things they don’t want to or can’t haul could turn into money in your pocket.

Requirements: A suitable vehicle or vehicles and a clean driving record. A strong back is handy if you’re loading the material yourself.

Variations on the theme: Specializing in hauling a particular product, such as delivering loads of compost or soil for gardeners.

Bottomline

To start your own online business, figure out what skills you obtain and what services you can offer to the today’s consumer. Perhaps, you’re good with translations or graphic design or you can promote people’s social media profiles. Use any background you have and always learn to stay competitive since there is already someone who comes with the same offer to your audience.