There are a multitude of opportunities for online business. The following is a list of the different genres of business I have come across. There seems to be literally something for everybody.
This is an overview, not a comprehensive list. There may be others I have not yet run across.
I also do not recommend any specific businesses. I mention some that I have seen. This is not an endorsement in any way. Consider anything mentioned by name a starting point for your own research.
Information Products
Literally everyone has information they can share, things they know how to do that other people would wish to learn how to do.
DIY guides Teach what you do! Anything you know. Count on it, there are other people out there who want that expert knowledge. Here are some examples to show you how broad the range of topics can be.
- How to write wedding speeches.
Betting on horses.- Cat training (who knew?).
- How to jump higher.
- Removing tattoos without lasers.
- Basic anatomy.
- Klingon anatomy!
Do you need to create the information yourself? Actually no. You can do research into your topic and then sell the compiled information. WARNING: Avoid plagiarism: do not steal directly but you can take the gist of information.
Do not steal proprietary information and then try to sell it. But generic information like “how to change your oil” could be part of a product on Basic Car Care for Novices. And give credit to your sources!
Why would somebody buy what they could research for themselves? Convenience. A lot of people do not have the time to do the exhaustive research. Time is the rarest of commodities, so people will pay for convenience.
Of course, there are providers who will show you how to create these and market them. For example, Jon Penberthy has free webinar and paid course
Create your own course
If you have your very own extensive expertise, you can create high ticket price courses.
There are even providers who will give you course blueprints, along with marketing advice and guidance…..for a fee, or course. Because that is their expertise, and they have made it into a course. An example is Grace Lever who is an Australian who has great free course and paid coaching for female entrepreneurs
Shopping Products
Shopify. I’m still trying to figure it out. Saw a great webinar by Adrian Morrison, his course and coaching was $2500 on sale.
EBay
DropShipping
There are very good webinars explaining what you need to do
A lot of options here. Some you stock product. Some you don’t. Some are like trading sites, you buy and sell. There are courses which teach you how to do this.
In most of these cases you will be doing most of your building yourself, so the upfront time commitment and technical knowledge requirement is substantial. Or you can hire it done for you.
I watched one info webinar for one of these courses (a drop shipping course) which outlined the process of researching products, researching vendors, interviewing and establishing business relationship with vendors, invoicing, etc plus the needs of website, autoresponder, sales manager platforms.
Well, shopping isn’t my thing, so that would be too much for me. It’s all about finding the genre that is a fit for you!
Affiliate Marketing
Many companies will share their profits with you for every referral you send them. This is called affiliate marketing.
For some like Amazon your share is small but the potential volume is large. Strike the right balance and you have a viable income.
Others offer a larger share of the profits, and even for higher ticket items, so you need fewer sales to gain a viable income. Check Clickbank for a huge list of potential partners.
You build your webpage. There are trainers who teach how to do this, eg Jon Penberthy.
Financial Planning
OK, can’t tell you much here. I am not a bean counter. I have come across WFG World Financial Group. They are just in the process of changing to the virtual model. Check it out if this is your thing.
There may be others.
Marketing Training and Advertising
There are a lot of advertisers now who will do your advertising. Some small, some large. Some charge for the work, some charge by the lead.
There is a business group/company which teaches people how to do this. You may have seen the ads of the sub businesses.
In addition, if you are knowledgeable in social media marketing, you can participate in the marketing training niche. Be warned, it is a large market, I don’t know if it’s saturated or not, but there are a lot of very experienced trainer agencies in the market.
However, they say instead of being a gold miner, make your fortune selling the tools the gold miners need. Marketing training helps other entrepreneurs mine their gold.
Coaching
Set up online to offer coaching. It can be in any area of knowledge. You will need your webpage, advertising, a system to handle leads, perhaps a system of autoresponders.
There are done for you options, for example you can partner with the Bob Proctor network of coaches.
I know of a course which teaches Coaching skills, and another that helps you position yourself in the market. If you want the details of these please ask.
This can be a big ticket field, with rates up to 5K/month for Executive Coaching services.
Product Sales
Catalog products e.g. Avon, Partylite, Amway, etc probably could be platformed here. I haven’t researched this, I just think it would be possible.
In addition, you can use the web to sell your own products, things you have created.
A great example is in the arts.
Some Inuit carvers have a presence on the internet, for example. Check out Northern Collectables.
This is a great way to get your product into a bigger market than your local area.
For people who do not wish to ship, it is also a great way to advertise your product to your local area without the costs of a shop front.
Proprietary music: Streaming (e.g. Spotify) smartmusicbusiness.com apparently will show you how, for a fee no doubt. Artwork Local product sales (e.g., farm produce)
Training
With advancements in video and streaming, it is now possible to offer lessons in just about anything online. If you teach it, you can e-teach or e-coach it.
-
-
-
-
- Music lessons
- Dance lessons
- Yoga lessons
- Voice lessons
-
-
-
Personal Development Products
Personal Development and Growth is a multibillion dollar industry which is Evergreen: it is always in demand.
As a person aiming to help other people, this is my schtick!
It does not follow the cyclical nature of most industries, it does not follow the ups and downs of the market, to date it has only shown steady growth.
Will it saturate? Well, we have 7+ billion people on earth, so it has a long way to go.
Although you can obtain PD courses through many coaching sites, I know of only one business that provides you with PD materials to market through your own partner business. If you would like to know more, please ask me.
Next week…..What to Look for in an Online Business
