Chapter 2: Information-Related / Online Businesses
1.) Online Vending
In this day and age, it’s not surprising to hear about people buying stuff over the internet. It’s a booming businesses and companies are making a lot of money out of it and so can you. It’s easy, it requires the least startup capital, and it doesn’t take much of your time. You could make your own website and sell your products from there. Or perhaps you could use one of those classified ad websites that will make it easier for you to sell your products. Here are some nice ideas on how you could start up an online selling business at home:
Picking The Right Product
The most essential piece in online selling is the product. What items do you think will sell out like pancakes? The number of choices can be overwhelming so you need to sit down and think things over. Choose a product that sells easily. Something that people need. Selling gadgets and other non-essential items can be a good choice but these products tend to sell over a lengthy span of time. This isn’t something you would want to happen especially if you're on a short budget.
Choose Your Target Market
The buying public is basically made up of different age groups. Your product must be able to suffice the needs of at least one age group so as to have higher ROI (Return on Investment). Beauty products for instance are more flexible. You could sell them to young adults as well as those of a more mature age. It’s basically this principle that will make your investment worth it. The bigger your audience is, the better sales are for you. Again, you're going to be selling your products online so this means a lot of people could access what you are selling which makes it easier compared to manually giving away adverts like flyers and pamphlets.
Go Social!
Probably the best way to sell your product today is through the help of social media. With tons of users logging in every single day, it’s not really that hard to get your brand and product noticed. It’s free, easy to use, and helps a lot in terms of advertisement and sales. All you need to do is to create a profile page for your product, include all the bits and pieces of information that you could put in, and start spreading the word. Start off by linking your product page with your friends, build a fan base, add more friends and share the links to your product. This will make it easier for people to notice your brand and product and will help you make a business as you work in the comfort of your own home.
When it comes to selling products online, there’s no better way of gaining credibility than to have user reviews and testimonials. It’s these user comments that mean the most for your product. This will add legitimacy for your brand. Since new customers would have a basis for buying your product. If you’ve got good reviews, the better it is for your product and more people will be interested in purchasing from you.
2.) Web Developer / Website Creation
Back then, developing websites were left to people who really had extensive hours and intense programming courses. However, in this day and age, web development can be done by almost anyone who has access to a fully functional computer and fast internet connection. If you're a novice at this field, you could still make a business out of it. You could learn how to develop a website through online courses and tutorials. And of course, you need to have accreditation which is pretty important especially when you start your web development business. The next thing you need to keep in mind is the competition. You must be able to extensively network your skills over the internet. Finding clients nowadays can be tough but still doable given enough perseverance and knowledge.
Prospect Clients:
There’s a lot of fish in the sea. There will always be people and businesses that need a website. Start off by scouting the people you know. Most of them might not need one at the moment but at least your spreading the word. Your next stop will be the local establishments and businesses in your neighborhood. If it’s a small establishment, it’s most likely that they don’t have a website yet. Again, it all boils down on how you’re going to market your business. There’s a lot of competition and you need to have an advantage over them like providing better offers to your clients and providing good after-sales services.
Being a web developer at home won’t cost you much money but will require you to spend a lot of your hours in front of your computer learning new codes. It’s a fun job if you think of it. It’s not too hard to get your business running. All that’s really important is gaining the skills necessary for the business and finding the clients.
3.) Blogging
What Is A Blog And How Can I Turn It Into A Business?
A blog is basically a shortened term for “Weblog”. It’s actually a website that contains entries like articles and other content. A blog is fairly easy to do. There are most than 20 million blogs out on the internet and there’s tons of new ones coming out each day. It’s so easy that you could make a blog in less than 15 minutes. If you're going down the road of blogging you must ask yourself and understand the following:
How Can I Make Money Out Of A blog?
This is a pretty good question. How will you earn with a blog? Well, AdSense that is. Once your blog attracts a lot of visitors each day, you could enroll your blog into Google’s AdSense. This will place advertisements on your blog which will let you earn. If a lot of people click on the ads on your blog or just simply by visiting, you could earn. It’s not that much but accumulated visits and ad clicks can earn you enough money. Other than that, you could also sell some products and services if you have any. It’s a matter of marketing once you get your audience lined up.
How Much Will A Blog Cost Me?
Basically, a creating a blog could be free. There are a lot of blogging platforms on the internet that lets you create a blog for free. Of course, free always mean limited. Although you could still have your blog up and running, it does not have that certain uniqueness and the ability to fully customize every single layout. Blogging platforms usually offer hosting services and domain names for a reasonable price. This means you could make a blog that’s got a unique domain name and can only cost you roughly $50-$100 a year. That’s a pretty decent price to start.
4.) Freelance Writing
Got the passion for writing and have your way with words? It’s easy to make a business out of writing. There’s a lot of options to choose from. You could write contents for a website, write e-books, magazines, and much more. It’s a profitable business, takes little expenses and you could write probably anywhere you like as long as you have internet connection and a computer with you.
How Can I Earn Through Writing?
Think about the possibilities. There’s a lot of businesses near your area and all of them need quality content. The question isn’t about why they’re going to need to hire a writer but rather what they’ll get when they do. If your target market is your local businesses near you, then you should prepare a very good proposal. Most of the businesses would turn your services down but let them know about the good stuff that’s in it for them, they’ll surely reconsider. You could also earn through writing online. There are a lot of people and companies that need superstar writers. Once you have a nice looking portfolio, it’s easy to attract clients all over.
Online Freelance Writing
The internet has a lot to offer for freelance writers. Freelancing websites often show a lot of client job offers that need to be filled in. You skillset allows you to gain bigger offers as you progress. You could stick to a fulltime employment or you could choose to do contract based projects. As you progress, you will probably face a lot of different writing styles, different types of articles, and a lot of employers. Just bear in mind that you are writing as a passion and not just for a job. Though your main aim is to do writing as a business but doing it passionately is rather more productive and the results are always good.
5.) Social Media Marketing
Millions of people across the world are using social media. It’s a cheap form of entertainment that everyone can enjoy. It’s where people socialize. It’s where people share bits and pieces of their lives with everyone they know. On the other hand, other than being a form of entertainment, social media has become a marketing paradise. Millions of businesses have been harnessing social media as an effective means for marketing their brand and product. Sadly, not everyone is familiar with how marketing works with social media. Now, that’s where the fun part begins and an opportunity for you.
What Is Social Media Marketing?
SMM or social media marketing is another variety of internet marketing that is aimed to reach a branding or product goal. This often involves the use of various content, images, and videos over different social media platforms. Its primary goal is to spread brand awareness. Since social media is being used by real people, the likelihood of gaining real live visits from prospect customers are higher compared to other means.
How Can I Start Becoming A Social Media Expert?
It takes time to become familiar with how everything works. There are a lot of aspects to look into and each time social media platforms launch an update, there are changes that you also need to look into. So, what you need to do is to find an online crash course on social media marketing and study real hard. It’s not much to ask since you’re just staying at your home with the least expenses of course. And just like any other skill based information related job, you will grow as time progresses. There’s no unlearning or forgetting what you have learned. Once you get to the point of becoming familiar with the process all that’s left is to go up. It’s a good paying business, doesn’t take a toll on your budget, and last but not least, gives you more knowledge to grow in the industry.