10 Profitable Online Business Ideas (but easy to start)
We’re all looking to make a bit of extra money lately - maybe the 9-5 isn’t entirely
cutting it, isn’t, or you’re looking to save for a large purchase. If you’re online all the time,
chances are you’ve picked up a few marketable skills, but having and using these skills are
two very different things. Given everything going on and all the options available to you out there,
it may also be hard to know exactly where to start.
We’ve compiled some of the best - a top ten of the best online businesses you can start from home;
the up-front costs are little to nothing to keep the doors wide open to everyone and anyone looking
to make a little extra cash or dive into their next business venture. From turning your hobbies
into money to taking advantage of that second language you rarely get to use - making money
online is about turning your skills into something marketable and knowing how to keep scaling up.
So, without further ado - let’s get into it!
Number 10: Create and Sell Stock Photos
If you have a passion for photography or a creative eye, you might find success in creating
and selling stock photos. You take the pictures and sell them through stock agencies to businesses
or individuals, who in turn purchase the rights to use the content for their website or marketing.
Websites like Shutterstock and iStockPhoto pay you every time someone bought an image or
even footage you’ve submitted.. Demand is high so that you can reach the largest audience possible.
If you’re comfortable sharing your photos with millions online, this is a reliable source of
income you can generate almost passively. Incidentally, what you see now is from the
people who create and sell content. So, every time I downloaded their content, they may get
paid for that! If you’re skilled, you can scale up to more exclusive sites with a higher profit.
This is a great way to approach turning your passion or hobby into a side hustle.
Number 9: Create Presentations People are always looking to save a little
time - from small businesses to large, there’s always a chance to trim off a little time from
your day. This can be as easy as outsourcing your presentations through freelancers - which can work
as an easy online business you can start today. This is the thought process behind companies like
Presentation Panda - someone will want to simplify their workload, and you can bet that someone!
Plenty of software exists out there, like keynote, google slides,
or the free services of Canva - this can be a low-cost business venture, as long as you know
a bit about creating presentations. Having an eye for design can make this a simple business.
Number 8: Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing allows you to work directly with brands in a mutually beneficial agreement.
This passive income works for both of you - you market your affiliate links and earn somewhere
between 5 percent up to 70 percent per sale—Every time they get paid, so do you. You can use the
channels you’re already creating content for and direct that traffic to these links.
Websites like Clickbank, Digistore24, and Amazon Associates are great for the affiliate marketer.
They will help you build your network and make you money doing things you’re already doing.
A clear upside to this business is the start-up costs can be next to nothing; if you have a
platform, then you’re already on the way to making money. If you already create content,
you already should have an idea of what items your audience might already be in the market for—they
have an incentive, like a discount - and everyone is happy in the end!
Starting a business doesn’t mean having to buy warehouses full of inventory or needing
inventory at all - that’s what drop shipping is founded on. The only stock that exists is
created when an order is placed. Drop shipping can be as easy as setting up with a supplier and their
preexisting product - and letting them worry about pesky things like packaging or shipping.
Freeing this allows you to expand, market, and grow and not worry about paying for space to
hold everything. Not to mention - what if it doesn’t sell? There’s nothing worse than
finding there’s no market for a product you’ve just placed a massive order for.
Look at it this way - your risks are low, and so is the investment.
You aren’t tying up your money in stock you might not sell - you can focus on the business,
set your hours, and the whole world is your office. When you put the shipping
and handling in the hands of your third party, not even postal headaches are your
problem. You can sit in the manager’s seat and watch your business grow around you!
Drop Servicing is similar to drop shipping - but it goes about the process differently. You can start
a business being the middle man. Your business model is straightforward: you offer digital
services and outsource them to freelancers as a drop-servicer. The client gets a solid product in
the end, and the freelancer gets paid. Your money comes in the mark-up: you’re earning more than
what you pay the freelancer, who in some cases is making more than who they outsource the work to.
Like Drop shipping, nothing happens until the order is placed - saving
you time and money on services and skills you may not already have.
There’s no need to keep a staff on to make things. Websites like Upwork,
guru, and Fiverr connect you directly with freelancers that you can vet and hire on-demand.
Number 5: Voice-over service
Have you been told you have a voice for radio? There are dozens of places,
and services, looking for high-quality voice-over work - and it is an easy
skill to take on and learn. You can do it from the comfort of your room,
as long as you invest in a decent microphone and a quiet space to record in.
Audio processing programs can cost a reasonable amount - but, as a beginner,
it can be as easy as an open-source program like Audacity and learning the ropes. Selling
your services online through freelancing websites can help you build a client base.
It’s often said good voice actors never have to struggle to find work - and that can be
true. If you think you can do it, what harm would there be in giving it a shot?
Number 4: Create and sell hand-made items
Do you have a crafty hobby? If you can create something that there is a market for,
it might be worth trying your hand at selling it. From bracelets to phone cases,
or hand-made art, you might want to consider starting a shop for your creations.
Platforms like Etsy, Not on the High Street, and Facebook Marketplace all offer you the
ability to sell and ship your products online - some with marketing tools already baked in
to make things simpler. You can take a more hands-on approach to your online business,
engaging on social media to a would-be audience through Instagram reels, Twitter, or TikTok—or,
as your business scales, you can outsource this content to freelancers if the business demands it.
Number 3: Online Translating
If you’re already bilingual, you’re already highly marketable,
which might be a way to turn your skill into some extra cash. Many businesses and industries
have a high demand for translation services, from marketing materials to novels to texts or videos.
Anyone looking to expand their audience will eventually hit a wall in their original language,
and it’s up to you to provide the service they need. If you already speak the language,
this is easy - as easy as voice-over work, in some cases, or writing in others.
Software tools like Babylon and Trados can make the job easier. As long as you have a
fine-tuned attention to detail and the ability to conduct enough research on your end and ensure the
text matches the source, then you’re already halfway there. If you know another language,
you can start your translation service business as soon as today - using websites like Fiverr,
Flex Jobs, Upwork, or Babel cube - in your free time, or as your next big business venture!
Using that same attention to detail, you can turn your finely-tuned skills to examining people’s
written works. Proofreaders read through text material for spelling, punctuation, formatting,
and typographical or grammatical errors. Every good writer needs a skilled proofreader, and not
every writer feels comfortable with self-edits. That’s where you come in - providing consistent,
correct, constructive criticism can help elevate any body of work. If you’ve got a good knowledge
of grammar and spelling, and you enjoy reading - then this might be an excellent option for you.
Now, this isn’t to say proofreading is easy—it may take more work than other options on this
list. But in most cases, like in all life cases, you may get out what you put into
this endeavor. It may not take as much time to set up a drop shipping business,
but editors can make thousands in a single month’s work for just proofreading a novel or two.
Many professionals use software such as Hemmingway, Zenpen, and Grammarly,
to improve their overall service performance. A well-rounded offering may attract you
better offers on platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, or Guru - as well as long-term
clients hoping to maintain a relationship with a proofreader or editor they’re comfortable with.
Number 1: Print on Demand
Much like Drop shipping, the significant pull to print on demand is creating a
product that only exists when it’s bought. Indie publishing through platforms like Amazon KDP,
Ingram Spark, and Kobo, can offer you a platform to publish books.
Printing on demand is flexible as you want it to be. You can provide nonfiction
books to audiences depending on shipping and purchasing trends, or you can sell low-to-no
content journals and notebooks that you can create with Freelancers or free software.
Outsourcing is at the heart of many larger-scale print-on-demand businesses - but if you plan
things right, your costs can be next to nothing. If you can write the book,
conduct your self-edits, and create a cover - then you’re already ready to publish on amazon - same
with low-content material: If you can make it, you can sell it. If you’re looking for a business
you can scale quickly or slowly over time - then maybe print on demand is exactly what you need.
Making money is about learning how to turn things you know how to do into
something you can sell - be it in the form of an online business or in-person establishment.
If you have a skilled eye or a passion for something, then arming yourself
with the knowledge needed to make money is vital—that’s what we’re here to help you do.
Starting a business can feel overwhelming, and you can get stuck in that 9-5 job, just working
paycheck to paycheck doing something you don’t love. Whether you want to start a side-hustle
or scale your business into something you can market - there’s something for everyone, and
it’s just about learning what you can do.
Thanks for reading this blog see you again with new 10 best ideas 👍
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