Below are 07 practical online business ideas that have proven to be effective for many entrepreneurs. I've done all of the first three, and made decent money from each. I'll also tell you which one will probably make you the most money and be the best long term strategy.
Money really can be made online, but it's not all the bells and whistles that you see guys promoting as the game changing system to revolutionize your bank account. The strategies outlined below are simple, effective, and will still be around for decades. Any method of making money online will take some time to see results, so be sure to plan on putting in at least a couple months of solid effort!
- Amazon Product Review Website
- Niche Website
- Authority Website
- B2B Niche Website
- Paid Traffic + Display Ads
- Selling T-Shirts Online
- Amazon FBA
01. Amazon Product Review Website
Amazon is a great place to start in affiliate marketing because you can find every product imaginable there, and as a member of their affiliate program, you can promote anything on the site.
There are lots of tools to help you get Amazon products on your website, and plenty of people use this strategy, so there's lots of documentation, support, and more experienced people to learn from.
I think this is great for someone who wants to create a website about some activities they do or a ‘lifestyle' blog. Basically, you can add things that you buy and like, want to buy, or are related to an industry you are familiar with. It's easy to just plug in an Amazon link and make some money off of your website/YouTube traffic.
Since you can find anything on Amazon, you can make commissions from anything too.
The downside is low commission rates (to begin with), and their affiliate program isn't available in some areas of the world (including some states in the US).
02. Multiple Niche Sites
A ‘niche site‘ is a website that targets an audience in a very specific industry. It can be as specific as you like, and the case is usually the more targeted, the more effective a campaign can be.
For example, I bought a pillow recently, but I hate when pillows get hot. So I went to Google and searched for “pillows that don't get hot”. I then saw that some brands had some kind of cooling gel in their pillows, so I searched for “gel pillows that don't get hot”.
It's a pretty weird thing, but hey, I found a website that compared a few that fit the description, and bought their number one choice.
Because these are ‘niche' specific, and often have a very small audience, they might not make that much money. But these websites tend to be smaller and simpler to create, so you can put up a couple of these in a short period of time. If you get some good products, happy customers, and 5 – 10 websites doing this, you could be making some good money.
For niche site building, I recommend you check out my article on how to make money as an Amazon Affiliate. This strategy will work with any affiliate program, but using Amazon as an example is easy to understand because they offer such a broad range of products to choose from.
03. Authority Site
An authority website is still going to be ‘niche' oriented, but not so specific. With an authority website, you want to go broader and think 10 years into the future.
So instead of a pillow comparison website, I might make a website about getting good sleep. I could review pillows, mattresses, sell courses on meditation, promote natural light clocks, white noise machines, natural sleep apnea remedies, ebooks on how to cure insomnia, and so many more things. This is just ONE idea, and there are literally THOUSANDS of possibilities out there across all industries like health, sports, parenting, computers, cooking, traveling, and more.
The idea is that you become the source of the best, most accurate, most user-friendly information. Over time, you become an ‘authority' on this specific topic, so search engines rely on your website for information people search for.
It takes a while (1-3 years) to build to this level, but once you get the ball rolling, success and money grows exponentially. You learn more about your products and the industry, and it's quite easy to become an expert in one area. If you are a trusted expert, you can make a ton of money simply being helpful and promoting good products.
Realistically, you could make a full time income of $100,000 or more from ONE WEBSITE. Learning how to build authority websites takes time and some dedication, but is totally worth it. You can spend a year trying to please your boss, or you can spend a year trying to make your own way in this world. I chose option 2.
The famous quote that always motivated me was from Jerry Rice:
Today I will do what others won't, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can't.
This is why I personally think this is the best strategy to aim for.
Marketing + sales sustainable business (people will always buy stuff)
The internet is a growth industry (more people getting online every day, more people shopping online every day)
It helps people (find the answers and products they need)
I get to write about things I enjoy
I'm learning useful skills (building websites, writing, business, marketing)
I have had my best successes with building authority websites. I started out with about 40 small websites in my first year and got burnt out. Now I manage just three websites that really make money, and the rest of the small earners are minor passive income I don't really pay attention to.
If you would like to learn how to build Amazon, niche websites, authority websites, or just learn more about how I make money online, you can take my free 5 day affiliate marketing beginner course. I'll show you all the basics you need to know, hook you up with two free websites, some training videos and lessons, and be available for questions if you need assistance.
04. B2B Niche Website
Instead of targeting consumers with your niche website, why not target businesses instead? Business owners need to spend money to keep their business running, growing, and improving. You also have a lot less competition, since most marketers are going for the consumer side of things.
The concept is similar to the niche sites discussed above, but it targets a different group of people. For example, instead of making a website for people that want to learn about organic gardening, you target businesses that want to sell products to people that want to do organic gardening. Instead of promoting gardening tools for regular consumers, you would talk about things like where to buy gardening tools in bulk, how to increase buyer conversions, and how to set up an online email campaign to attract repeat customers.
When you’re running B2B niche website, keep in mind what businesses need to run. Services that allow them to outsource some of their most menial tasks will be helpful to them.
Technology is always a big seller with businesses, so discussing or comparing things services like data plans or productivity apps is a good idea, too. The products you focus on will probably range from office equipment to software for creating business plans, tax preparation, or buying products.
Basically, anything related to running a business is an area where you can make profits through affiliate marketing, even if your target audience is different from the typical “buyer” audience we normally think about.
05. Paid Traffic + Display Ads
My focus has always been on using free traffic, but paid traffic can be an excellent source of visitors to your site. I also don't use many display ads like AdSense but they can make you some serious money if you do things right.
If you create appropriate content that gets shared a lot, you can reduce the cost of your ads, and make some really good money! Paid traffic is faster than free traffic, and if your site is monetized properly, you can use the profits to buy more and more ads and then grow your business into infinity.
To start with, you need to know where you can buy ads. Google AdWords is one of the most well-known places to start, but you can also buy ad services through other search engine sites like Bing. Many social media platforms offer paid ad solutions, too. Facebook pay-per-click ads tend to be pretty effective. You can also buy ads for Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.
There are a few downsides to paid traffic and display ads. The main issue is that they cost money, so you can end up spending more than you make!
In my experience, free traffic is still the best way to go. Getting people to your websites organically means you have to write a lot of really good content that is targeted specifically to the people who want the products and services you’re promoting.
06. Selling T-Shirts Online
The concept is simple, but like any business, it takes some planning, strategy, and creativeness to get your business off the ground and differentiate yourself from the numerous other companies out there doing the exact same thing.
An example of a successful online T-shirt store is 6dollarshirts.com. This store currently has nearly 1400 designs and offers discounts on orders of ten shirts or more. They also have premium T-shirts that they sell for more money (which means higher profit margins) and they have branched out into sweatshirts, tank tops and hoodies.
There are a massive number of courses out there on how to start your own t-shirt business, but the best one I've reviewed so far is called T-Shirt Titan. You can read the details in that link which is a full review of the course, but in a nutshell it will show you how to create designs, market your products with ads, and get the product delivered to your customer.
07. Amazon FBA
Fulfillment-by-Amazon is a method that's growing in popularity! It's basically where you buy some inventory at wholesale price, ship it to Amazon for storage, and you can sell it on their website. You pay Amazon a fee to store and ship, but you can still profit nicely off the difference between wholesale cost and retail price.
For example, if you have a source for good martial arts shoes at a low price (like the Wasooo Amazon FBA storefront in the image below) you can buy them in bulk, ship them to an Amazon Warehouse and sell them through Amazon.com. The same strategy would work for jewelry, clothing, home décor, sports equipment and even miscellaneous items like cell phone cases or laptop bags. Here's my favorite course about how to get started selling on Amazon with FBA.
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