The internet is a great equalizer. Especially in the business sector it has leveled the playing field. Anyone can start a profitable online business – anyone with a computer. But here’s the thing: little technical experience is required. There are many tools at your disposal today Building an online business makes tech work a lot easier than it used to be.
You can also live anywhere you want set your own schedule and work as little or as much as you want depending on how fast or how large you want your business to grow. No business or marketing experience is required. This is a truly democratic entrepreneurial medium.
Best of all unlike a brick and mortar business you don’t need a lot of start-up capital. In fact you can get many internet businesses up and running without money because there are so many free services that facilitate this possibility. For example you can use WordPress. Alternatively you can utilize third-party sites like Amazon or eBay to sell items without the cost of inventory. You use their sales platform in exchange for their share of sales.
And this is just the beginning of the many cashless ecommerce startup solutions available. Let’s consider five of the best ways to start an online business online and make money for little or no money.
Illustration by Ashley DeLeon. © The Balance 2018
1. Drop Shipping
The basic idea behind an online drop shipping business is that as a small business owner you don’t have to maintain a large inventory of products (or any inventory) or handle any deliveries to your customers. This eliminates the financial cost and risk of owning a full warehouse Things you probably won’t sell and the hassle of arranging to ship orders across the country or the world. In fact you don’t have to make or store any products at all.
The only thing you need to focus on is marketing and advertising to find customers and make sales. Once the sale is done the rest is handled by someone else. Your only cost is marketing and advertising to acquire new customers.
Once you’re done you’ll be working with a company that specializes in drop shipping. Here’s how it works:
- You list products for sale on your website or on platforms like Amazon eBay or Etsy.
- When one of your customers buys you buy from a third-party company (a drop shipper is usually a manufacturer or wholesaler) at a lower price. The process is as simple as forwarding an order from your customer and the process can actually be fully automated. (Remember you don’t have any risk of buying inventory here because the sale is already done).
- Your shipper then ships the product to the customer. 1
Is it easy enough? With drop shipping you can offer a wide range of products so your business operating expenses are very low.
As you can see you don’t have any risk because you don’t even buy the product (at cost) until the actual sale is done!
What are the disadvantages of the drop shipping business model? You must find a reputable shipper that you can rely on to deliver to your customers. If an order is late or not dispatched – or the product is of poor quality – you will be blamed because your company is the representative product and customer experience.
Also since this market is highly competitive and profit margins — the difference between the wholesale price and the selling price of a product — are low this will be a high-volume business that can generate significant revenue. But it’s still a worthy low-cost or no-cost startup option.2
One way to stand out from the competition in drop shipping businesses is to private label your products. It just means that you put your own label/brand on the product the manufacturer is creating. That way you don’t sell the same brand of product and just compete on price; you Can use own brand and reduce competition. 3 Think about when you look at a drug at a pharmacy; brands sell for more and people think they are different from regular brands even though the ingredients are exactly the same. Consider these important factors When looking for a good drop shipping product.
Anyone considering starting a drop shipping business should seriously consider leveraging Amazon.com to grow their business and learn more about how to become a profitable Amazon seller because Amazon is a place people already trust and have an existing customer base mature market. Ultimately you should Also consider having your own online store.
Pros Requires little start-up capital No inventory to maintain You can capitalize on a mature market with an existing customer base Cons
2. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is somewhat similar to dropshipping but there are some key differences. With this e-commerce model you don’t need to maintain your own product inventory or worry about shipping products to customers.
Basically you choose a profitable niche for your online business and then you find an affiliate partner who offers products in that niche. Some of the most popular affiliate sites are Clickbank.com Amazon.com and Conversant’s CJ Affiliate (formerly Commission Junction). provided between them Just about any digital information product you can think of (like e-books audio files video files) or physical products. Many well-known companies and brands like Walmart and Home Depot have their own affiliate programs. 45
With affiliate marketing you can offer products for sale on your blog or e-commerce website. Each product has a unique link that can be traced back to your account with your partner. Potential customers who click the link will be taken to your partner’s shopping cart for checkout. once They buy that purchase and you get a commission. 6 Commission amounts vary by affiliate partner but typically range from 5% to 25% or 50% or more for digital information products. 7 As you can see there is little risk to your part little to no Investment is also required. Just like drop shipping your only costs will be marketing and advertising to drive traffic and generate sales.
The main difference between this and drop shipping is that the business model is easier. All you have to do is provide a link for the customer to click and the merchant handles everything; billing order fulfillment customer service etc.
All you have to do is handle the marketing to get your potential customers to buy (via social media email marketing blog or whatever method you choose). But after they click on the affiliate link it’s out of control. You don’t have to ship products or deal with any customer service issues. And you certainly don’t have to maintain inventory.
All you have to do is focus on marketing your online business both paid and free.
Affiliate marketing is truly one of the easiest types of online businesses you can start.
Pros Low risk: No initial investment Hands-off business model Cons You are responsible for driving web traffic to affiliate links (no traffic means no money) May cost money on advertising and marketing
3. Blogging
If you have expertise passion or interest in a topic then you can start making money blogging. Using a service like Blogger (www.blogger.com) you can start your blog absolutely free. You can also create your own website and secure your own hosting at a low price which is usually The route I recommend is as many free blogging sites have restrictions on what you can say or do including making money or advertising. 8
You might think that blogging is all about writing. If that’s what you want to do it can be. But writing blog posts is just the beginning. You can post photos videos and links to other websites you can even retweet news and other articles…anything is a game as long as it’s relevant to you Niche Market.
Their key is that you publish original content that is useful to your target audience and publish it regularly. This is the best way to rank in search engines and get your audience to take action.
What kind of content should you provide? Anything that appeals to your potential customers. How-to Top 10 lists comments on trends in your niche tips articles – basically you need to provide useful content. Your blog has no shortage of creativity.
You can make money in a number of ways with an online business blog.
Google AdSense.
Have you ever visited a website and saw an ad on it? It is most likely an ad served through the Google advertising network.
These pay-per-click ads appear on your blog. You earn a few cents or more every time someone clicks on an ad (should be on a topic relevant to your niche). A small amount at a time but it adds up. It’s very hands-off. You just get the code from Google and put it in your Website – Ads will automatically appear on your blog. Google will only show ads relevant to your blog so this is a great experience for your visitors and maximizes the number of clicks you get which means more revenue. 9
Blog ad networks.
You can also use ad networks other than Google such as Blogads and place banner ads on your blog. Like Google Adsense ads you place the code on your website once and when your visitors click on the ad you get paid. In addition to banner ads you can also place video ads on your website.
In many cases you can make more money with blog ad networks but they tend to only work with blogs that visit tens of thousands or more per month; unlike Google Ads no matter how much traffic you get you can start immediately.
Affiliate marketing.
You already know this. You include links to products you promote as an affiliate and you get a commission every time someone buys the product. With a blog you can combine advertising with content that makes it more likely to get sales. For example you can make a product Reviews – this is useful content – and then include a link to buy the product under the affiliate link.
Here are some successful blogging tips to ensure people can find your blog and keep coming back. This is the key to building a following and making your blog a profitable business.
You need to provide useful content in an engaging way. If your blog is boring or you can find information anywhere else no one will read it. Don’t hesitate to put your own personality into the blog.
You must publish content regularly. People are hungry for new content so make sure you always post articles videos or other content. It can publish one article a day or 3 times a week. No matter it’s keep the same schedule. A sloppy posting history means losing readers. 10
Try a new post video or other form of content at least once a week.
It is true. Yes your blog should make money. But you can’t do marketing all the time. Focus on useful content so your readers know and trust you. Then they will naturally click on your ad or buy the product you recommend. In this internet age People on social media are looking for authenticity.
Do all of this and you’ll attract the attention of search engines like Google who always want to put sites with useful relevant content at the top of their search results. 11 That’s what content marketing is all about.
You can create a blog in less than an hour. But when you build your readership it takes time to make money and only a small percentage of people end up buying your product.
Pros Very low startup costs You can work on your own schedule Cons Can take a long time to start making money Creating and publishing content can be time consuming
4. Online Video
Have you watched YouTube videos lately? Of course you have! It’s one of the most popular websites in the world with over 2 billion users watching hundreds of millions of hours of video every day. 12 Not all cats are doing funny things.
You can make money online with YouTube’s reach. No you’re not trying to create a viral video so to speak although if it does go viral and is viewed by millions that’s a good thing.
Instead you’ll follow proven strategies for maximizing views on multiple videos on a regular basis. You’ll create useful content — engaging content that people want to watch. It applies to many different fields. It can be an instructional video or a talking head video On topics of interest to people in your field – the sky is the limit.
You make money with ad revenue. Your first step is to create a YouTube account and start uploading videos. Then you enable monetization in your YouTube settings. 13 Basically this allows Google to include short AdSense ads in your videos if you Youtube video. When viewers click on these ads you get paid.
Another opportunity to make money with your YouTube channel is through paid sponsorships. Build enough followers and companies will be more than happy to pay you to promote or mention their products and services in your videos. 14
Some tips for creating professional-looking videos (without expensive professional equipment):
- You can use a smartphone or a simple video camera. But make sure the lighting is good so that everything in the video is clear and easy to see.
- Make sure the audio is clear. You don’t want air conditioner humming construction noise or other distractions.
- Use simple editing software like iMovie to put the title at the beginning of the video and edit out any mistakes.
The most important thing to remember is that your video can be simple and it doesn’t have to be fancy. Just provide useful content and be engaging and interesting. Fun and helpful.
To expand the reach of your videos be sure to post them to your Facebook business page Twitter your blog and other channels. Let people know that you are in the video business now.
In addition to ad revenue from YouTube videos you can use your YouTube channel to drive traffic back to your website where visitors can read your product reviews click on ads on your website and even enter your emails Subscriber List – where you can make multiple to sell via your email list.
Pros You can use your existing smartphone or computer It works in many different fields
5. Information Products
When you have an internet business you don’t necessarily have to sell physical products. In fact digital information products are one of the easiest and fastest ways to make money.
There is no shortage of ways to create information products but the most popular formats include:
- Audio: Recorded conference call interview session or some other spoken product
- Video: Recorded webinar and how to conduct an interview
- Text: an e-book some kind of manual a travel guide
Within each category you can get really creative and produce any type and format of content as long as it’s engaging and useful.
Either way you take it it’s passive income – money you earn while you sleep because you put these products for sale on your website and customers can automatically buy and download them at any time of the day or night . All you have to do is check sales regularly The theme or type of product is the best seller so you can make more of these products.
Pros Can bring passive income once you have your product on the market Can be a quick way to make money Cons Creating a product requires some upfront work and time You may need to invest some money initially
Putting It All Together
The trick with any online business is making sure you’re in a profitable niche. So be sure to keep an eye on trends check out bestseller lists on sites like Amazon and consider what people are talking about on social media.
One thing to keep in mind is that you don’t have to be limited to just one of these ecommerce opportunities.
Start with one then start. Then add new revenue streams where possible. This will increase your income and ensure you have something to fall back on when a business starts to grow south.
