Whether you are a creative professional, app developer, or fitness trainer, you can expand your client base by setting up a successful online business that will become a source of recurring income. Even if you lack the necessary skills, you can outsource some services to third parties to ensure that your customers will get top-level results.
In this article, we have rounded up the best ideas to help you get started and scale up your company. Focus on an industry you are genuinely curious about. It will guarantee that you won’t lose your interest. As there are over 26 million eCommerce sites all around the world, you need to find a way to make your business stand out among the rest. Find out about the easiest-to-implement ideas that you may use to create a profitable company and expand your online presence.
#1 Start a Dropshipping Business
If you still don’t know What Dropshipping Is, it’s time to learn, as according to some estimations, the size of a global dropshipping market is expected to reach $243.42 billion in 2023. As eCommerce sales are expected to reach $7.4 trillion by 2025, this business niche has a huge potential to explore. To start your business, you need to buy stock, package it, promote it online, and send products to your clients. If you use this business model, storage and shipping will be managed by third-party companies. However, it might be a daunting task to choose a reliable supplier and shipping provider.
Unlike other online business ideas, it doesn’t require significant investments. To make your business succeed, make sure to select fast and reliable shipping options, promote your products on social media, and incentivize your clients to subscribe to your newsletter.
42% of clients want to be able to select a 2-day shipping option even if it costs more. By catering to their needs, you can increase the efficiency of your business. You can build the authority of your brand by asking your clients to write detailed reviews.
#2 Sell Digital Assets or Online Courses
Creative professionals can build a profitable business by offering audio recordings, online courses on a variety of topics, as well as handy templates that can be customized depending on the project. The key advantage of this type of business is that it doesn’t require you to pay manufacturing or shipping costs. It allows you to increase your profits with minimum investments.
The most challenging thing that you might face is the choice of a product. If many people want to learn how to build a responsive website or use a specific photography technique, you can help them master new skills. Using dedicated apps that facilitate digital downloads, you can improve the accessibility of your digital products.
#3 Become a Service Provider
If you are offering services offline, it’s time to expand your online presence and increase your client base by going digital. Such online sales business ideas will come in handy to every professional who has skills that remain in demand. Whether you specialize in digital marketing, web development, or UX design, you will easily find your clients online. Besides, this idea will be useful for those who provide cleaning services or can perform a variety of other tasks. Psychologists and educators can benefit from launching an online business as well. By using convenient scheduling tools, they can facilitate the process of making an appointment and improve the client’s journey.
Thanks to popular digital marketing tools, you can advertise your services across multiple social media channels. To further increase your online visibility, create an account on Upwork and other marketplaces that help clients connect with service providers.
#4 Monetize Your Social Media Presence
If you have a strong followership on social networks, write a successful blog, or created a YouTube channel with thousands of subscribers, it’s time to think about how you can convert your success into a source of stable revenue. This idea will be especially useful for those who promote their services across multiple channels. You can post sponsored ads promoting products that your followers might like. In case your audience is interested in your way of life, there is a high chance that you will become a successful influencer.
Digital artists, writers, bloggers, and columnists could also benefit from creating a Patreon account. It will allow them to get donations from their loyal clients and readers. The best thing is that you don’t need to wait until you get millions of subscribers. You can make your online business profitable if you manage to establish long-term relationships with your audience and boost the engagement rate.
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#5 Become an Affiliate
If you are interested in doing business on the Internet, keep in mind that you can earn money by joining an affiliate program. It will allow you to get commissions from brands for advertising and selling their products. You need to be highly knowledgeable in digital marketing to promote products and drive your potential clients to place an order.
To make your business succeed, you can advertise products on your site and social networks. Demonstrate how a product can be used and shoot detailed video reviews to show all its advantages and disadvantages. This business doesn’t require significant investments. You can start it as a source of additional income and gradually turn it into the main source of your income without risking your money.
It might be a daunting task to select a suitable affiliate program unless you know what to look for. This is why it’s better to analyze the offers available on such platforms as ShareASale or LinkShare. After getting an affiliate link, you can promote it on your platforms. You will earn money every time someone places an order after clicking your link. Commissions typically range from 5% to 50%, which makes such businesses quite profitable provided you have top-level advertising skills.
#6 Sell Your Photos and Prints
If you have top-level photography skills, it’s time to think about how to earn money selling your photos and photography prints. While some people mistakenly believe that such businesses are mostly created by successful wedding photographers, the truth is that you can easily find your target audience even if you specialize in urban, landscape, and aerial photography as well as many other genres.
If you prefer family and wedding photography, you can build a site advertising your services for local-based customers. In case your photos have artistic value, you can sell high-quality prints of various sizes, mint NFTs, or sell your photos on popular stock websites, such as Unsplash. Many stock platforms allow you to license your images under the condition that your name will get mentioned. It will help you advertise your brand and make your business more profitable.
#7 Promote Your Landscape Design Services
If you are passionate about gardening and landscape design, you can scale up your business by creating a website and promoting your services online. There is no need to look for a local company that might want to hire you as you can create an easy business online. Whether you specialize in lawn care or know how to cut trees and take care of flowerbeds properly, you can earn loads of money by providing landscaping services.
As many people dream about a beautiful house in a suburban area, the landscape design market in the U.S. is expected to grow in the coming years. You can turn your passion for creating mesmerizing landscapes into a well-paid job due to low competition. While this type of business requires you to regularly update your online portfolio and get detailed client reviews to build the authority of your brand, it will allow you to earn a living by doing what you enjoy most.
#8 Build an App Testing Business
Those who have testing skills can hugely benefit from launching a business that helps companies to check whether their apps are ready to hit the market. Poorly tested apps fail often and might affect the reputation of a brand. While app development is also a great niche to consider, app testing is more popular among those who want to establish their presence on the market.
By providing a full range of end-to-end mobile app testing services, you can build a company that will generate income for years to come. According to some estimations, the total revenue of this market is expected to increase to $20.3 billion by 2029. As there is a growing demand for app testing among businesses of all sizes, you can leverage this trend. The popularity of this service is explained by the quick development of the eCommerce market. Many businesses want to increase their sales by providing their clients with easy-to-use mobile apps. You can help such companies find the issues that hinder app performance and build reliable applications.
#9 Become Beauty Service Provider
The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the shift in the beauty market. These days, clients prefer buying top-quality products. While weekly makeup usage decreased by 28%, customers became more interested in high-end brands. After the initial decrease in demand during the first year of the pandemic, beauty businesses adapted to the new reality and managed to pull through. Companies offering a range of eCommerce services proved to be the most successful. The most profitable companies focus on selling premium-quality and natural beauty products that are in high demand.
In addition, eCommerce companies managed to increase their profits by selling personal care products and sanitizers. There is a stable demand for such items as smart mirrors and massage guns as well. To save money, many customers started to purchase face masks and other beauty products that help them maintain their beauty routine regardless of the circumstances. If you want to succeed, make sure to learn more about the best ways of Starting an Online Beauty Store.
#10 Sell Handmade Items
In case you enjoy making crafted items, it’s high time to start selling them to your clients online. There is a stable demand for such items as they are highly valued by those who appreciate how much effort it takes to produce them. Besides, they are unique, which makes them perfect for owners of private collections. Whether you have a talent for embroidery, making jewelry pieces, or creating stylish pieces of furniture, you will find an online buyer willing to pay for your items.
To increase the visibility of your store, you can set it up on Craigslist or Etsy. It will allow you to manage all the orders more efficiently and communicate with your clients. As it’s not a full-time job, you will have a flexible schedule. The most important thing is to be passionate about what you do as it will help you create handmade items that stand out among the rest.
#11 Provide Social Media Management Services
As many people these days want to build an online business, they require professional assistance when it comes to improving their digital presence. You can either invite them to take part in educational seminars to help them improve their skills or offer to manage their social networks.
Successful online businesses may need to publish updates across multiple channels, including YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Many advertisers become increasingly interested in TikTok as well. It means that you can build a profitable business by creating engaging content and managing social media profiles. If you have professional videography skills, you can create video recordings as well. Besides, you may help your clients manage user feedback, write engaging articles, and perform other tasks that will help them establish their digital presence.
#12 Build Sites for a Specific Niche
To stand out among your competitors, you need to demonstrate that you have a high expertise level in the area you specialize in. Hone your skills first by working on basic websites. Then, you will need to learn how to use advanced site builders, such as Shopify, to create solutions that will fully meet the requirements of your clients. If you are a beginner, you can start by promoting your services on UpWork, Fiverr, and other similar services. Ask your clients to write reviews as it will help you build the authority of your brand.
As the web development industry expands every year, you can quickly establish your presence on the market. When working in one niche for a long period, you can create customizable templates to save time. Make sure to get some UX design and digital marketing skills as it will allow you to offer all-in-one solutions to your clients.
#13 Start an eCommerce Business
Building, setting up, and promoting your eCommerce store doesn’t require a significant investment. Such a start up online business will quickly become profitable if you analyze the market and the demands of your target audience. Whether you opt for Etsy, eBay, or Facebook Marketplace, you can make your efforts more effective by creating listings with detailed information and high-quality photos. By adding secure payment methods and a choice of shipping options, you can make your online store more appealing to an average client.
The key advantage of large eCommerce platforms is that they allow you to drive more traffic to your store with little to no effort. You just need to keep track of your stocks and analyze which products sell better. It will enable you to find your business niche and focus on those products that bring more profit. You can also offer discounts to your clients to incentivize them to write reviews and ask for their emails to set up a newsletter. Make sure to learn more about How to Add Payment Gateways to your Shopify store to facilitate the process of order placement.
#14 Provide Virtual Assistance Services
These days, many businessmen opt for hiring virtual assistants to organize their daily routines in the most efficient way. If you have some experience with organizing the lives of other people, you can offer a range of services to your clients, from appointment scheduling to ticket booking. Find clients who work in the area you are interested in. Whether you prefer to work in the travel or IT industry, you can expand your pool of clients by providing other services as well.
After building such a company, you can improve your networking skills by communicating with clients from all over the world. You need to have a stable internet connection in your area. If you decide to scale up your business, you can hire a team of virtual assistants who will work under your guidance. It will allow you to boost your profits and start to provide services all across the globe.
#15 Launch a Clothing Line
Such online sales ideas are suitable for designers who aren’t satisfied with working for fashion houses and want to release clothing pieces under their own brand. To bring it to life, you need to have some creative ideas and a lot of free time. When working on your clothing line, you can use such services as Printify or Printful. They allow you to design products with custom prints, decide on where you are going to sell them, and entrust printing and shipping to professionals. This option is suitable for owners of Shopify stores who want to get access to a variety of shipping options and streamline their workflow. Read our recent article to learn more about starting an Online Clothing Store.
Using print-on-demand services, you can save money on designing and printing custom pieces of clothing. They will allow you to save a lot of time and start earning real money without any delays. You can begin selling T-shirts with custom designs and then switch to selling other pieces of clothing, including tote bags and hoodies if you see that your prints are in high demand. The best thing about it is that you don’t need to have any design skills to do it as you can outsource this task to professionals on Fiverr, 99Designs, and other similar platforms.
#16 Start a Translation Agency
If you have a MA in translation and are tired of working for other companies, it’s time to start your own business. What makes it different from other online website business ideas is that you don’t need to have loads of money right from the start. The only thing you need is to have a laptop, a stable Internet connection, and professional CAT tools. Then, you can start looking for potential clients. Depending on your needs, you can try your hand at literary translation or practice simultaneous translation. Translation services are in high demand, so if you know some less spoken languages, you are sure to find your business niche quickly.
To improve your online visibility, you can register on popular platforms, such as Gengo or UpWork. It will allow you to drive more traffic to your website and get your first orders. Some services let you indicate your prices while others have fixed prices. To create such a business, you don’t need to do any additional investments or pay for expensive marketing campaigns. Many companies are looking for experienced translators and beginners so you will easily find orders that meet your requirements.
#17 Write a Book
Even if you don’t have advanced writing skills but have a story to tell, it’s highly likely that you can write a good book. Besides, you can compile a book of your favorite recipes, publish a photo book, or even write a novel. Using online platforms, such as Amazon, Lulu xPress, and Blurb, you can sell your eBooks and printed books quickly and ship them to clients from all over the world. If you write in a simple language, you can create short stories for those who are studying your native language. To make your book appealing, use the right tags and order a visually-appealing cover design.
While you will need to spend a lot of time writing and proofreading your book, once it gets published, you will be able to get a steady income for years to come. You can also try using print-on-demand services in case your clients are interested in printed copies. This option will be especially useful for authors of popular blogs who can ask their followers to support them by buying a book.
#18 Set Up a Thrift Store
This idea will be especially useful for creative personalities who enjoy spending their free time in thrift stores looking for treasures. You can create an online store selling unique items found during your expeditions. Many customers don’t want to waste their valuable time on shopping, which is why they will be pleased with an opportunity to quickly find what they need in your store.
An Internet business is a great way to monetize your passion for vintage items. Besides, there are plenty of true treasures in thrift stores that you can sell with a huge profit margin. Make sure to look for interesting information about your items and take high-quality photos to make your listings more appealing. If you regularly update your catalog with new finds, you will be able to build a community of loyal clients and increase your profits.
#19 Create an Accounting Business
Due to an increased demand for accounting services, you can create a highly profitable bookkeeping business offering a range of related services. These days, many companies outsource accounting services instead of hiring an in-staff accounting team. This is why you can succeed in this niche provided you have the right education and experience.
To speed up your workflow, you can use dedicated software. When your client base begins to grow and you get positive reviews, more clients will follow the lead. This type of business doesn’t require a lot of investment. It will allow you to set up your own schedule and get a stable source of income after building a database of loyal clients.
#20 Become an Online Coach
In the wake of the pandemic, many people are looking for a way to take yoga, fitness, or language classes online. You can create a native app to make it easier to book an appointment. To succeed, you can also offer online membership plans with generous discounts.
Make sure to promote your services using social media. You can organize live streams to engage your followers and increase your profits. When you become a successful coach, you will be able to sell your books and textbooks as well. Besides, you can offer individual consultations to your clients. If you want to make your business even more profitable, you can record tutorials that will provide you with a source of steady income.
Final Thoughts
By using these ideas, you can build an online business that can become the main source of your income. Make sure to use the available digital marketing tools to promote your products and services and increase the visibility of your brand. You need to build a loyal client base to ensure that your customers will make repeat purchases. When selecting a suitable idea to implement, choose the one you are truly passionate about. It will help you keep going despite inevitable issues that you may face at the beginning. Hurry up and start building your business now!
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