Your Best Options For Starting An Online Business

byJHeard_

13.8K followers

Updated 5 years ago

The best work from home business ideas aren’t necessarily a secret, yet it may seem that way with all the misleading advice out there.

The truth is, you DO have options when it comes to starting an online business which can result in earning money.

We dive into these different options just below while sharing some real examples of people creating success.

Your Best Options & Where To Start

Just because each of these options below are viable ways of earning an income from home and the best I’ve come across, doesn’t mean they are all equal in terms of earning potential, upfront costs, or a right fit for you.

However, If something interests you, take action on it!

In no special order:

1. Ads

You know ads – you see them while using social media, watching videos on YouTube, everywhere, really.

If you were to choose ads as the main way of monetizing your online business, it would take a lot of website visitors (day in and day out) in order to earn a reliable income.

While this could work and many people have had tremendous success with ads, I don’t think it is the best business model in terms of earnings per visitor.

How It Works

A common way of running and earning from ads would be to join an ad network like Google Adsense.

From here, setting up is as easy as copying and pasting the code from the ad network to your website.

Every time someone views that ad (or the ad is visible on their screen), you earn a little. When someone clicks on an ad, you can earn a little more.

Ad earnings range vary depending on the network and the ad among other factors. But you can expect to make a few cents to a few dollars per click.

This is why we say it will take a large amount of traffic to see a decent income from ads alone.

2. Freelancing - Market a skill you learn

Online freelancing allows you to earn money while working for yourself but usually completing tasks others need done in their business.

Many of the skills freelancers possess are taught right here in the Wealthy Affiliate community and these lessons are included with every Premium membership.

These skills include web design, SEO, social media management (including Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube), ad management, content creation, article writing, keyword research, and much more.

You can take these skills, and offer them as a freelancer in exchange for income. Many people make a living from home doing this very thing.

3. Online Marketing Agency

Out of the 5 options listed on this post, this one may require the most experience but I felt it important to include because of its great potential and scalability.

This is a service-based business that manages the online marketing aspects for companies to help them grow their presence online.

Some services you could offer are SEO, social media management, article writing, web design, reputation management, an ad agency (running ads on FB, Instagram), and more.

As the owner of an Online Marketing Agency, you're responsible for creating the kind of service you wish to provide for clients.

There's no shortage of businesses that need help with their marketing efforts. Sky's the limit here.

Likewise, there's no shortage of people who can do the actual work and you can contract them relatively inexpensively.

Again, these skills are something that are taught in this very community.

4. Selling A Product - Something You Create Online

Something you create and sell online could include your own online course, video course, or other information product.

You can take your skills and experiences, things you already know, the skills you already possess and package it into something people will pay for online.

Expect lots of hard work and lots of time to go into creating your own product. I believe selling your own product or course can also have the highest earning profit margin of the businesses listed here when done right.

For more advice regarding creating your own online courses, videos, etc. head over to Carson's product development course.

5. Affiliate Marketing

There are affiliate programs for everything.

And with affiliate marketing, you earn commissions by recommending other peoples products or services. (This can be a company, think Amazon, for example).

All the shipping, payment processing, returns, refunds, is handled by the merchant.

As an affiliate, you can earn by recommending products people are already looking for.

For example, I was recently in search of a new laptop and ultimately ended up purchasing a Chromebook that I felt was suitable for business use based on recommendations of an affiliate site.

Since I visited their site and eventually clicked on their affiliate link to purchase my new PC, the person responsible for the website will earn a commission.

This happen each time a purchase is made through the site via an affiliate link.

There is no shortage of products or services you can recommend, you name it, you can sell it on your website as an affiliate and earn money.

The best way to go about succeeding with this business model is to recommend products you truly believe in or ones that you know will help your audience.

More on Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing has been my bread and butter and is what allows me to work from home full-time.

I think this is a great business model for beginners and gives your average person an actual shot to earn more money online.

Here's a few success stories within the very community that I used and still use, to grow and run my online businesses. (The same community you're reading this from).

A handful of Success Stories inside of Wealthy Affiliate:

These are just a handful of examples that can be found in the community from other members who decided to share some of their personal accomplishments.

Do not mistake the WA training, or any legitimate online business training for that matter, as a fast or easy way to making money online.

WA is community, online business tools, excellent training, personal help, technical support all wrapped into one.

Everything you need is here. How it's used it what separates the "onlookers" from the online business owners.

Conclusion

Remember, creating a long-term, legitimate online business is a process.

Anyone telling you how easy it will be or that you can make $10,000+ within the first few days – is lying to you.

What I recommend for those who can spend a minimum of 10hrs per week on their new business, is to begin taking action today. Even if it's just creating an account and setting up your profile for today.

Get started and check out the free levels of the training.

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Each of the options shared above are real business models and some of the most beginner friendly that I know of.

We all have to start somewhere.

The WA community will give you the knowledge and confidence to start any of the businesses found above.

You can do this. It's only a matter of getting started.