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The rise of the internet has created a wealth of opportunity for people wanting to set up a new business.
In this blog, I’ll demonstrate how spirited individuals are taking advantage of the Internet Revolution and the rise of digital industry. We’ll also discuss what your responsibilities are as an internet entrepreneur.
To get started on the right foot, let’s clearly define what a business model is:
A Business Model…
…is a clearly defined process illustrating how a company will generate enough revenue to sustain its operation.
With this in mind, let’s examine the top 7 online business.
1. Advertising Websites
One of the strongest online business models available is that of the advertising site.
Advertising sites are popular among those looking for a model that’s simple to implement:
It typically consists of a blog or content based site that can properly display products or services that need advertising.
Keep in mind that an advertising website will not do well if the advertisements aren’t visible:
All your advertisements need to be visible or searchable in Google, Yahoo, Bing, and the various other search engines.
As much as possible, make it your goal to rank first in SEO so companies will choose you to advertise their product for them.
Also, be knowledgeable about the search terms or keywords that potential customers use. Know how to drive lots of people to your website.
This type of online business model was the most popular during the early days of the Internet, so it tends to be a saturated and harder to break through the fray. Having said that, it doesn’t mean an advertisement site won’t be successful, you just need to have tempered expectations at the onset.
Stay confident and committed. Remember in 2013 online advertising businesses tallied almost $43 billion dollars in revenue.
Recommended Tool: Google Adsense
2. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is when your website sells other people’s products and a commission (your revenue) is earned for every sale.
The model usually consists of an ecommerce site, mini-sites on a small niche, and one-page sites for a specific product.
Aside from using these sites, affiliate marketers will tap into Facebook, YouTube and other social networking sites to drive more traffic.
Most affiliate marketers will also focus on building an email list to readily and repeatedly target specific audiences for product sales.
Annual revenue from affiliate marketing isn’t usually big. In fact, almost 40% of affiliate marketers earn less than $5,000.
But 3.3% earn more than $500,000 a year.
Keep that in mind before taking a pass on an affiliate marketing model.
Recommended tool: Clickbank
3. Ecommerce Sites
An ecommerce site is an online store where you either sell your own product, drop-ship products from other vendors, or sell products as an affiliate. In this type of business, transaction security is of the utmost importance to both you and your customers.
What does it take to build a successful ecommerce business?
It starts with having a high-quality, well-maintained website.
Why is it important?
In this type of business model, your website is your store.You don’t want potential customers to leave for your competition simple because your website isn’t user-friendly.
In 2013, the ecommerce industry netted $61.8 billion in revenue. That’s a lot of dollars and cents to go around.
Recommended Tool: Amazon Affiliates + Woocommerce (WordPress Plugin)
4. Provide Services
One of the quickest ways to make money online is to offer your services, usually done by freelancing your talents via a website like Elance or Freelancer, to the world at large.
Write articles and eBooks, design graphics, sell programming skills, or charge for virtual assistant services.
If you have a great deal of experience in one area, sell coaching services.
Freelance work isn’t only a benefit to the freelancer.
The hiring client can minimize their expenses by having only part-time or on-demand workers. The workers tend to do the same number of tasks as a full-time employee, but with half the overhead cost in terms of salary and benefits.
Researchers anticipate more than 40% of Americans, more than 60 million people, will be freelancers by year 2020.
Recommended tool: Vcita
5. Membership Sites
Membership sites require customers to engage in a recurring payment in exchange for regularly provided content or service.
Memberships can be continuous or for fixed timer periods.
For fixed monthly earnings, this is the best online business for you.
Recommended Tool: Wishlist Member
6. Flip Sites
Similar to the notion of flipping a house, flip sites are built or renovated by aspiring entrepreneurs with the sole purpose of selling.
Not every company or individual wants to build a website from scratch. Some want to buy a ready, out-of-the-box product. These individuals are the target clientele of website flippers. For business owners lacking in tech savvy, flip-sites are a huge time saver.
The sites are usually sold in a bid or auction format.
Recommended Tool: Flippa.com
7. Information Products
Online entrepreneurs also sell information products that they create, including eBooks, guides, software, informational videos and other products to which they can sell the rights. The sale of informational goods is usually done with the assistance of an affiliate marketer. This is usually done with the help of affiliates that do the legwork for them.
Recommended Tool: Come to our webinar 🙂
But of the seven online business models mentioned above, how someone determine which is the right one to use?
Pay attention to your gut:
Which of these seven business models stand out?
Why did it stand out?
Evaluate that solutions in detail and see if it really meets your needs. Also determine if you have the skills, perseverance and resources (money) to do what it takes to see the project through.
