The internet is a terrific platform for entrepreneurship. Anyone can start an online business, all you need is a computer with Internet access. Starting up a business online is not as hard as you think. In fact, it is much easier and doable than a brick-and-mortar business. Best of all, you can start without spending much money because there are so many free and affordable services available. For example, you can try this all in one website builder by Exabytes for as low as $4.99/mo.
In reality, what’s hurdling people from starting an online business most of the time is they don’t have a business idea! So, here’s 5 ideas that you can consider about and how to get it started.
1. Event Planning
Everyday, there’re innumerable events happening around the world. Weddings, birthday parties, anniversaries, corporate events, bachelorette parties, conference and the list goes on. If you think you are meticulous and have sharp project management skills, then you can go for event planning. There’s a lot that you can do, for instance, consulting services, decorations, game packages, customized gifts and more. A successful example will be What A Bash, a young event company that startup online.
2. Stock Photography
If you love taking photos and travelling around. Then, stock photography is your thing! So, what is stock photos? They are licensed images used by businesses, media organizations, publications and so on. Many freelance photographer can make a fairly good money from selling them, depending on quality of the photos. Stock photography agencies that you can submit your photos to include Shuttershock, Getty Images, Photocase and many more. You just snap and sell!
3. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a business which requires very little to zero startup capital. If you don’t have the interest or lack of the ability to come up with your own product or service, then this might be your best option. Here you help to promote other businesses products or services by creating quality content that will entice your audience to click on your affiliate link. Then, you’ll earn commissions when a purchase was made through your link.
You can begin your affiliate marketing journey with this Affiliate Program. But before starting, get to know some useful strategies first. Here’s 3 Useful Strategies that Affiliate Marketers Need to Know.
Now that you have the ideas, the BIG question is how to get started?
No matter what you’re selling, be it products, services or contents. Before you run your business, build your website first! It’s important to build your presence online, because it helps you establish credibility as a business. Here’s a step-by-step on how to create website:
- Register a domain name for your business.
- Choose a web hosting service that suits your operation.
- Design your website
Next, attract and retain your customers by promoting your business across social media and adopt online marketing to reach more people, such as Search Engine Marketing (SEM). That will bring us to our next business idea.
4. SEO consultant
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) refers to getting a website to rank higher for certain “search terms” in search engines like Google and Yahoo. When a website ranks higher, it will get more relevant traffic and in turn, can make more revenue.
This is another highly valued skill in the internet marketing world especially to business. Use your skills to show business owners how to read and use their analytics data the right way, and how to properly use keywords and structure content to get more traffic. That being said, it can be a bit difficult because Google is always changing its algorithms. With it, some of the rules of search change. You always have to be on the leading edge, learning and testing new strategies.
5. Social Media consultant
This consultant is different from the previous one, as this is focus more towards social media platforms only. Name 3 biggest social platform we have right now. That’s right, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Larger companies can hire an agency or full-time staff member to run their Facebook and Twitter 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 under-educated about the importance of social media to spend time developing and implementing 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 count grows, so will your business.
Lastly, a kind advice to all.
“THERE’S NO OVERNIGHT SUCCESS, BE PERSISTENT AND WORK CONSISTENTLY ON YOUR BUSINESS.”
