As the age of the Internet progresses, more and more people learn how to earn their living through this revolutionary medium. To find the most profitable online businesses, you have to consider both current trends as well as your own skills and capabilities.
Just because an online business is profitable doesn’t mean that you should hastily invest. Also, if you’re looking for an easy profitable online business to start, this is not the text for you- here, we’re talking about the real online businesses, and these you have to take quite seriously.
Some people brag about earning a lot of money without doing practically anything- while these people get a lot of publicity, this sort of investors fails much more frequently than ones who dedicate more time to their online business ideas.
Is It Profitable To Be A Blogger?
Blogging has long ago become quite a profitable entrepreneurial opportunity. Some blogs make astronomic sums of money every month- Gizmodo, Tuts, and Smashing Magazine are all making 100,000$ + per month, not to mention blogging giants like Mashable, Huffington Post, etc.
In What Areas Is It Worth Blogging?
To start a profitable online business involving Internet blogs, you’ll have to choose your topic carefully. First, we’ll give a list of the most popular blog topics:
- Fashion
- Food
- Travel
- Fitness
- Music
While these are the most popular blog business ideas, think twice before investing loads of money in blogs like these. First of all, competition involved in these niches is quite heavy, and you’ll have to invest additional money in things like marketing and ads, in order to fight competitors who already established themselves.
This is why it may be best to simply start writing about what you love. Do you like swimming? Then instead of writing about sports in general, you could write specifically about swimming gear- both for professional and amateur swimmers. The market is oversaturated with general blogs that give you a lot of superficial information without really helping you. This is why you can make a change by focusing on a rather specific topic. There’s a parallel trend in the industry of mobile phone applications. Instead of making a general app for everything, we have loads of quite specific apps that help with all the mundane (and not-so-mundane) tasks of everyday life.
Here are some rather specific blog topics that come to mind:
- Discovering new genres of music
- Implementing AI in your everyday life
- Podcast content
Needless to say, these are just our suggestions- the best thing would be to come up with an original, even personal topic. Making a nice blog is also a good way to boost your sales if your business focuses on dropshipping and online sales. It’s also highly likely that people will search for expert opinions on various topics, which further increases the need to specialize in a given field.
Doing Business in Webinars and Training
Webinars have become a lucrative internet idea, with innumerable webinars on all sorts of topics appearing in the last few years. Seminars can revolve around any kind of topic but it seems that webinars on content creating are some of the most popular ones. For instance, webinars focused on creating social media content are can be regarded as profitable online business ideas.
There are also webinars on economics, market analysis, and investments. As webinars quite often include video calls with numerous individuals, this type of web content might seem more natural to extroverted individuals who love being in the center of attention. More introverted individuals might be better off with blogging.
Other types of webinars involve coaching and counseling, related to domains such as personal growth, entrepreneurship, etc.
Doing Business as an Online Store
Selling products online, and, more specifically, dropshipping is a good way to earn some money and even start a company.
These are some of the most popular business ideas involving dropshipping:
- Fitness Trackers
- USB Docks
- Bluetooth Speakers
- Smart Watches
Needless to say, it’s not easy to simply see what’s popular and then copy/paste the business model, let alone earn serious money. This is it’s best to come up with your own, original idea that solves an otherwise unaddressed issue.
What Is Dropshipping?
Dropshipping is a special business model that incorporates 3 parties- customers, producer, and retailer. Even though the retailer (the owner of the dropshipping business) doesn’t usually keep the products in stock and relies heavily on the producer, his job is to advertise the product and sell it to customers.
Let’s take a classic example: an online furniture retailer (let’s call it Simpo). Simpo has an online store website, and the vast majority of investments go into the website, ads, and marketing. Only when the customer orders a product does Simpo send orders to its Chinese associates who produce the furniture. Simpo also handles the customer service and is accountable for any problems concerning the quality of the product- Simpo, after all, makes money by buying at one price (cheap), and selling it to customers coming from developed countries at another price.
Internet Marketing and Web Development
Nowadays, you can find numerous Internet Marketing and Web Development courses. People finally realized that you can make serious money on the Internet and are rushing to monetize this. However, Internet Marketing and Web Development are, primarily, tools that any other business can use. On their own, these two niches are good business opportunities, but there’s no reason to focus solely on them.
Instead, try to implement the basic tenets of Internet Marketing to improve a business idea you already have.
Unlike some business ideas we’ve mentioned earlier (selling various types of goods), successful Web Development business necessitates a wealth of experience and official expertise (licences, diplomas, etc.). This is another reason why web development is a special kind of business opportunity- while you don’t have to be an expert to start an Internet Marketing and Web Development business, you most surely have to know a thing or two, to organize your company properly.
What Do You Need To Earn Money In Web Development
Let’s take a classic situation- you know a thing or two about Internet Marketing and Web Development, but you’re not really an expert. However, you have a good business idea- for instance, you want to make a nice “self-help” website, where people would read your articles on how to improve motivation and life quality. You would also like to offer counseling services. To do all this you need good website infrastructure, and hiring a good web developer is quite expensive, at least if you opt for a web developer who comes from the US or EU. However, there are many Internet platforms where you can find highly skilled experts in various fields, but who are ready to work for more agreeable rates as they come from developing countries. These freelancers can be found on sites like Upwork, Freelancer, etc., depending on the type of work you need to be done.
There are also whole agencies that do each and every part of Internet marketing- Facebook page management, for instance, is often an indispensable part of online businesses.
Doing Business Without Investment On The Internet
Essentially, the most profitable business ideas mentioned here do not need any kind of investments. This part is up to you. For instance, you can make your blog practically for free (there are some expenses, of course). Similarly, you can start writing in your niche (e.g. healthcare, travel, etc.)- and earn a considerable amount of money without practically investing anything but your time. On the other hand, if you want your freelance writing business to grow, you’ll most likely have to invest in a nice website page to start with, not to mention the costs of hiring additional freelancers (if you do this by yourself, there are no costs, but it is advisable to hire an HR expert).
Needless to say, if you want your business to thrive, investments are inevitable. The Internet has long ago become an extremely competitive place, and, while there are many ways to make a name for yourself, investments are probably an indispensable part of Internet business today.
In Conclusion
This is the most important takeaway: finding the most profitable business idea is the matter of individual choice.
There are no straightforward answers to the question: “What are the most profitable online businesses?”.
Why?
Because, while an idea might have worked for one person, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will also work for you.
Needless to say, this means that we’d refrain from hopping on the bandwagon with the rest of the Internet community- and avoid following some of the most popular trends. This is why the question of most profitable online business ideas is highly individual.
The question should actually be reiterated: “What is the best online business opportunity for you?