It’s easier than ever before to start an online business even without any formal education or business experience.
If you’re looking for a list of online business ideas for beginners, I’ve got you covered.
Nah, we’re not talking about little side hustles here. Although, you can make legit money online with a side hustle.
In this post we’re diving into viable businesses that allow you to be your own boss.
I’ve marketed websites professionally since 2005. In 2013, I transitioned to full time online entrepreneurship. Over the years, I’ve learned what types of businesses work well online and those that don’t.
I currently have two affiliate businesses, a B2B ecommerce startup and I co-own a marketing agency. Though that’s where I am now, that came on the heels of failure.
In the beginning, I had a wholesale retail brand with a partner. We found that we were selling other brands at such a low price to compete that we slowly killed our profit margin. You won’t find wholesale or retail arbitrage on this list.
- Start a Blog
Even if you don’t consider yourself a tech whiz, you can start your blog with little to no website design experience. If you know how to monetize it, you can build your blog into quite a lucrative source of income. That doesn’t mean you can build a blog and expect money to come in overnight.
You must create content consistently and develop a way to sell something through the blog, whether it be sponsored posts, coaching services, ad space through networks like Google AdSense, affiliate products, or even digital products that you make yourself.
It’s a pretty simple business model. The more quality blog posts you produce, the more revenue you can make. As long as you are able to build links to your blog.
The most successful blogs tend to be what many call a niche blog. By focusing on one core area of content you are passionate about, you’ll be able to attract more targeted readers to your blog posts, who are likely to buy the products and services you recommend.
- Sell Feet Pics Online
It sounds weird, sure, but selling feet pics online can be a lucrative venture. You don’t have to have “pretty” feet to get started, since there are a ton of niches to work with. And you’re not limited to selling to people with foot fetishes – you can sell to stock photo sites and marketing agencies, too.
Start a Subscription Box
Subscription boxes are everywhere you look these days, it seems so why not take a piece of that pie for yourself? No matter what you’re interested in, chances are there is an ecommerce subscription box service out there for it. Think about Dollar Shave Club, Loot Crate, Bawdy Bookworms, and Hunt a Killer. All of these are monthly subscription services that cater to entirely different audiences.
Bawdy Bookworms launched with a quarterly box, but added a lower cost monthly option to its business model. In less than one year, Bawdy Bookworms was able to double its sales by adding a smaller, more frequent option for its customers.
To boost your earning potential even more, you can open a separate online store where you sell past boxes or items that were in past boxes. It’s a great way to get rid of overstock and capture customers who aren’t ready to commit to a full subscription.
Want a sales team out there working for you without having to pay them a dime until they make a sale? Start your own affiliate marketing program so that others can promote your products and ideas.
Start an Advertising Network
If you have a group of niche blogs with decent traffic, you can sell ad space. Once you have a decent number of advertisers participating, you can invite other website owners and bloggers to join your advertising network to earn money with ad revenue.
Affiliate Marketing
As an affiliate marketer, you earn a commission when you promote someone else’s product. You can do this with information products like ebooks, video series, membership sites, etc., you can earn up to 50% in commission sales, and there are relatively low barriers to entry. You can become an Amazon affiliate and earn with the Amazon Associates program. To be successful, you need a knowledge of SEO in copywriting, but that is relatively easy to learn with a bit of research online.
Affiliate marketers often use various marketing strategies, including SEO, social media, frequent blogging, and pay per click ads to generate traffic and sales. If you’re not familiar with any of these, it can be a good idea to hire an SEO consultant to help you as you are starting an online business. This way, you can take your time as you learn the skills yourself.
If you’ve got an idea, chances are there is a business online already that you can use to make money with their affiliate programs. Once you get one business up and running, you might want to explore other affiliate marketing programs in different niches to increase your earning potential.
Ad Management
Take a look at all of the local businesses in your area. Chances are, the majority of them would love to get more customers but don’t know how to do it. You come in and help them work on Facebook Ad or Google Ad campaigns to increase their business. Many small business owners are willing to pay for help learning about and managing pay per click ads.
Digital Marketing
As digital content and digital marketing demand continue to grow, many businesses can’t afford a full digital marketing department. As such, they reach out to digital marketing firms. Start your own just by taking some free online courses on digital marketing.
Search Engine Optimization
SEO is a crucial part of bringing people to your website online. It’s what helps you rank better in search engines. In an SEO consulting business, you analyze websites and give webmasters feedback on what they can do to improve their rankings. Keep in mind, however, to be a successful SEO consultant, it’s about more than just throwing keywords in the right places.
Lead Generation
Businesses are always looking for new leads because they are the lifeblood of business. When you work as a lead generator, you match customers to potential companies they would like to work with to solve their problems.
Social Media Management
If you love Facebook, Instagram, and various other social media platforms, a social media management business may be the answer. If you’re good at creating content and engaging with your audience, you can work as a social media manager to help other businesses do the same. Thanks to scheduling tools, this business is great for scaling.
Become an Influencer
Whether you become an Instagram influencer or use another platform like YouTube, you can use your status to earn through sponsored posts, advertising campaigns, events, and more. Many businesses use influencer marketing to reach their ideal customers. With sites like:
