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The Opportunity at your Fingertips
The internet has provided a gold mine of opportunity for those who wish to seek alternative streams of income.
For anyone that is open-minded and has money to invest in a business, starting an online business is as easy as it's ever been.
There are thousands of stories across the internet of everyday people like you that have taken the necessary steps of starting an online business and eventually built them into multi-million dollar companies.
There are millions more internet entrepreneurs that are successfully making money online.
RELATED ARTICLE: Affiliate Marketing for Beginners in 2020
30 Ways To Make Money Online That You Can Start Today
In this article:
- 1Start With Affiliate Marketing
- 2Start a Drop Shipping Business
- 3Print On Demand
- 4Start an E-Commerce Site
- 5Become a YouTuber
- 6Get on Instagram
- 7Create a Blog
- 8Publish an E-Book
- 9Create an Online Course
- 10Start a Podcast
- 11Be a Facebook Advertising Expert
- 12Be an SEO Master
- 13Do Freelancing Work
- 14Design an App
- 15Become a Copywriter
- 16Become a Social Media Manager
- 17Offer Translation Services
- 18Sell Your Stuff Online
- 19Online Tutoring
- 20Join a Ride Hailing Service
- 21Be A Virtual Assistant
- 22Be A Twitch Streamer
- 23Invest in Stocks
- 24Sell Your Photography
- 25Be An Online Chat Representative
- 26Become a Web Developer
- 27Buy and Sell Domains
- 28Sell Your Graphic Designs Online
- 29Review Websites, Apps and Software
- 30Sell Beats and Music
Here's a List of 30 online business ideas:
1. Start With Affiliate Marketing
We have Affiliate Marketing at the top of our list because we feel it's one of the best ways to make money online.
The basic process involves recommending a product or service for a company and receiving a commission for a completed sale.
The great thing about Affiliate Marketing is it can be applied on many different platforms that we discuss further into this post.
The following video is a great video from Miles Beckler on how to get started.
2. Start a Drop Shipping Business
If you've ever bought clothing, electronics or other items from any other site besides Amazon or another big name retailer, it's highly likely you've purchased from a drop shipping business.
Drop Shipping is a great online business model because it has significantly lower risk than others.
An advantage of this model is that you don't have to buy and carry inventory of items sold on your site.
A disadvantage is that you're at the mercy of shipping fees and times of various vendors.
Shopify is one of the best known drop shipping platforms online and is a great place to start.
The video below discusses a realistic budget to start a dropshipping business.
3. Print On Demand
Creating your own branded clothing and items is a great way to market your unique brand to the world.
There are many successful Youtubers and Instagram Influencers that offer their own branded merchandise.
Some of the print on demand platforms that you can use are:
4. Start an E-Commerce Site
There are many brick-and-mortar business models that can be converted into an online model.
Take for example entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk (aka Gary V.), who in the late 1990's took his father's Queen's, New York liquor store and converted it into one of the first e-commerce stores for alcohol in the country.
During his tenure with the company he grew sales from $3 million to $60 million.
For more on his story you can read Gary V's biography.
Here's a list from Tinuiti.com of top e-commerce platforms for 2020:
5. Become a YouTuber
Video marketing is becoming one of the best ways to make online.
From vlogs to product reviews and tutorials, videos offer some of the best content and ways to monetize your brand.
YouTube has created many millionaires and many more with an income they can live off of.
Surprisingly, the top spot is taken by an 8 year old boy, Ryan Kaji, that built his channel doing things that kids do - lots of fun things like pretend play, science experiments, music videos, skits, challenges, DIY arts and crafts.
Here's one of his videos below the at the date of this post has over 19.5 milliion views.
6. Get on Instagram
Another social media platform that pays well is Instagram.
Here are 4 ways from the Shopify blog post How To Make Money on Instagram:
- 1Work with brands on sponsored posts
- 2Become an affiliate
- 3Open your own online store
- 4Sell your photos online or on things
According to the website bbc.co.uk, the highest paid Instagram Influencer in 2019 was Kylie Jenner who received around $1.2 million for a single post.
7. Create a Blog
Starting and developing a blog is a marathon endeavour.
The main ways of making money from a blog are:
- 1Ad revenue from visitors to your website
- 2Affiliate Marketing revenue from links in your pages and posts
It can take months to years before you see any substantial income.
However, if you can be patient and push through it is still one of the best online business models.
The website Target Internet published a list of the Top Earning Blogs in 2019:
- 1Huffington Post - $41.6 million per month
- 2Engadget - $3.95 million per month
- 3Moz - $3.74 million per month
- 4Perez Hilton - $3.44 million per month
- 5Mashable - $3.33 million per month
- 6CopyBlogger - $2.75 million per month
- 7TechCrunch - $1.87 million per month
- 8Tutsplus - $833 thousand per month
- 9Smashing Magazine - £425 thousand per month
- 10Gizmodo - $400 thousand per month
8. Publish an E-Book
E-book creation and marketing has become more efficient every year.
With Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) you can publish your own e-book and paperbacks for free then sell them on the Amazon marketplace.
There are also online e-book design tools like Designrr, that allow you to quickly produce e-books from your own blog posts or website pages.
E-books are always good lead magnets that you can offer on your website in exchange for visitors to subscribe to your email list.
9. Create an Online Course
Have an itch to teach something that you think would be beneficial to someone?
The answer is to create an Online Course that you can sell through platforms like:
10. Start a Podcast
If you have a great radio voice and have something interesting to share to the world, you might want to try starting a podcast.
Forbes published a list of the highest earning podcasts in 2019:
- 1Joe Rogan: The Joe Rogan Experience - $30 million
- 2Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: My Favourite Murder - $15 million
- 3Dave Ramsey: The Dave Ramsey Show - $10 million
- 4Dax Shepard: Armchair Expert - $9 million
- 5Bill Simmons: The Bill Simmons Podcast - $7 million
11. Be a Facebook Advertising Expert
As discussed in our other post Affiliate Marketing for Beginners in 2020, Facebook users are an enormous pool of potential customers with over 2.45 billion monthly users.
Facebook advertising is a great way to drive traffic to a website, build a following and grow an email list.
However, with the various anti-trust lawsuits that Facebook has been hit with in recent times they are becoming more and more strict with their advertising requirements.
It is for this reason that, many online business owners turn to Facebook Advertising Experts to navigate through the sometimes perilous waters.
Want to Set Yourself Apart in Facebook Digital Marketing?
Facebook offers a certification program through their learning program called Facebook Blueprint that when completed helps you stand out in the digital marketing industry.
The following is a breakdown of the available certification courses:
12. Be an SEO Master
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a great way to send free traffic to your website.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of growing the quality and quantity of website traffic by increasing the visibility of a website or a web page to users of a web search engine.
Wikipedia.com
According to Wikipedia, SEO strategies require the consideration of a number of factors including:
Knowing how to execute an effective SEO strategy is quite valuable and if mastered would give you an great competitive advantage.
Many businesses hire SEO Masters because this type of work is so important to the growth of an online business.
13. Do Freelancing Work
There are many aspects of running an online business that many entrepreneurs outsource so that they can focus on activities creating revenue.
Many business activities that are outsourced on sites like Fiverr are:
If you are proficient at doing any of the above and other paid gigs on Fivrr, you should consider offering your services.
14. Design an App
Many online businesses are adopting their own branded apps that can be downloaded on the Apple App Store and on Google Play Store.
If you have knowledge in App Design, your options in making income are various.
Interested in this type of work but don't have the knowledge or training, the Online Course Platforms like Teachable and Udemy offer various courses on app design.
15. Become a Copywriter
When researching Copywriting we found one of the best explanations on the website Websetup.org.
Copywriting is the art and science of strategically delivering words (whether written or spoken) that get people to take some form of action.
It can range from anything to sales pages, to email marketing, to even quality blog content.
If you have a natural inclination and passion for writing, copywriting may be your ticket to earning online income.
It’s a great way to achieve freedom in your life. Not only does copywriting allow you to work remotely, but it also allows you to control your schedule. Plus, learning the skill itself will help you in many areas of online business (i.e. building a blog, affiliate marketing, etc. – when you can write in a compelling way, all of these become much easier!)
With a love for writing, effective copywriting will win you jobs on sites like Fivrr and on other freelance platforms.
16. Become a Social Media Manager
If you enjoy participating on Social Media sites like Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest, you may be a good candidate to become a Social Media Manager for a website or local business in your area.
Building a social media presence for different businesses can be a full time job through activities like:
If you are interested in this type of work but feel you don't have sufficient knowledge, you can buy courses on sites like Teachable and Udemy for a reasonable prices.
17. Offer Translation Services
Today's world is a multi-cultural one and there is always room for translation service jobs.
Although there is software like Google Translate that is taking jobs like these away, there is still nuances and minutiae of languages that software hasn't mastered yet.
Here's a list from CrowdWorkNews.com on the 13 Websites Offering Online Translation Jobs:
18. Sell Your Stuff Online
Everyone has items that they no longer use or just sit in storage taking up space for no reason.
A great option is to sell your items on eBay or Decluttr (US Only).
Believe it or not, there will always be a market for items like:
A good way to create seed money to start an online business would be to sell off your unwanted items.
19. Online Tutoring
If you have the patience and desire to help students learn a particular subject, you should consider becoming an online tutor.
Thanks to the internet you can reach students of any age, at any time, anywhere in the world.
A great advantage of online tutoring is you can work from home and is attractive to students because of the convenience.
Tutorroom.net published a list of the Best Online Tutoring Platforms of 2020:
20. Join a Ride Hailing Service
Ride hailing has become as popular as ordering take-out.
If you haven't heard of companies like Uber or Lyft, you are either living in a cave or are from another planet.
If driving people to their destinations appeals to you, here are requirements to become an Uber driver from Driving-Tests.org:
- 1You must be 21 years of age or older
- 2You must have at least one year of driving experience (three years if you’re under 23)
- 3You must have a valid driver’s license
- 4You must have valid auto insurance that meets certain liability requirements
- 5You must be able to provide proof of insurance and car registration
- 6You must have a car that meets Uber requirements
- 7You must meet all the other state, local, or Uber requirements, which can be found on the Uber website
- 8You must pass a background and criminal check
Marketwatch.com published an article on the Leading Players in the Ride Hailing Service Market in 2020. On the list are:
21. Be A Virtual Assistant
As online businesses grow, the administrative tasks involved in running day-to-day operations can become more than a single business owner can handle.
This is where Virtual Assistants come in.
The tasks that a Virtual Assistant would typically handle include:
22. Be A Twitch Streamer
Video games are a multi-billion dollar industry and the people that play them offer a form of entertainment that appeal to many.
Becoming a Twitch Streamer can involve investing into some expensive equipment like gaming consoles, gaming PC's, streaming equipment and lighting equipment to name a few.
Putting initial investment aside, when you see the following list of Top 10 Earning Twitch Streamers of 2020 from Groovewallet, you may want to jump on this opportunity:
- 1Ninja - $5.4 million per year, 14.7 million followers
- 2Shroud - $4.4 million per year, 6.1 million followers
- 3TimTheTatman - $2.7 million per year, 4.04 million followers
- 4DrLupo - $1.9 million per year, 3.2 million followers
- 5DrDisRespectLIVE - $1.8 million per year, 3.4 million followers
- 6MOONMOON OW - $1.8 million per year, 759,000 followers
- 7GeekandSundry -$1.45 million per year, 572,000 followers
- 8Summit1g - $1.4 million per year, 3.8 million followers
- 9Lirik - $1.3 million per year, 2.4 million followers
- 10AdmiralBahroo - $1.3 million per year, 668,000 followers
23. Invest in Stocks
Trading in stocks and other investment vehicles is a time-tested and proven method to make money.
With the advent of online stock trading platforms, it has become easier and more efficient for anyone to learn to invest and develop an investment portfolio.
Stockbrokers.com published the following list of the Best Online Brokers of 2020:
- 1TD Ameritrade - Best Overall and For Beginners
- 2Fidelity - Best Research Experience
- 3Charles Schwab - Best for IRA Accounts
- 4E*Trade - Best Web Platform
- 5Interactive Brokers - Best For Professionals
- 6Merrill Edge - Best Rewards Program
- 7TradeStation - Best Platform Technology
This review from Stockbrokers.com took five months to complete with over 30,000 words of research.
24. Sell Your Photography
Online businesses often require unique photography that isn't available free, or isn't available on stock photo sites.
One way to make money is to sell those beautiful scenery, shots from a trip or vacation to photo reseller sites like GettyImages/iStock or SmugMug.
25. Be An Online Chat Representative
If you have any previous Customer Service experience, you want to consider being an Online Chat Representative.
Most of these jobs are attractive because you can work from home and you not required to have a quiet work environment like phone-based customer service jobs.
You can search for Online Chat Representative jobs on Indeed or FlexJobs.
26. Become a Web Developer
This type of job requires knowledge in web developmehttps://teachable.com/nt whether self-taught or formally trained.
If you are interested in this type of work, another option is gaining knowledge through e-learning sites like Teachable, Udemy and Skillshare.
One thing to consider before choosing this path is the number of plugins on content creation platforms like WordPress that are appearing more often that decrease the need for programming in HTML, CSS, and Java.
27. Buy and Sell Domains
Buying then selling domains can be a very lucrative.
However, it's becoming more and more difficult to find the right domain name that can be sold for big dollars.
The following list of data pulled from Wikipedia and NameBio.com show some of the most expensive domain names sold since 1999:
28. Sell Your Graphic Designs Online
Online businesses that want to really stand out hire graphic designers.
Graphic Designers convey messages to website visitors through visual means by designing:
Graphic Design doesn't necessarily need training, a degree, or advanced drawing ability. However, you need to have a sharp eye for visuals.
If you want to pursue a path in Graphic Design, build up a portfolio of the items discussed above so that you can have something to show off for potential clients.
29. Review Websites, Apps and Software
Online businesses that care about user experience, offer their sites for review on places like UserTesting that will pay $10 for 20 minutes of work (up to $60 per test).
By leveraging higher paying review websites is how you could make $100 in a day.
This method of making money online requires no significant investment - just a laptop and your time.
The following is a list of websites from Improb.com that will pay you to test out websites:
Each user testing site has various requirments and pays differently so check out them all out to see which one suits you.
30. Sell Beats and Music
Are you skilled at playing an instrument, singing or at using Digital Audio Workstation software like FL Studio or Ableton?
And, have you ever wondered if you could make money off your talent?
Here's a list of sites that you can post and sell your audio creations from:
Data source ProducerHive, MillennialMind.
How Much Can you Make From Selling Music?
This article from CNBC.com published August 17, 2019 details the success of a music producer named Robin Wesley that turned his hobby into $100,000 per year business.
Our Final Thoughts
Thanks again for making it this far and taking the time to read this post.
Affiliate Marketing is only one of the many ways to make money online and we hope that we've opened your eyes to the possibilities.
We hope this information encourages you to take a leap of faith to try a few, or even just one, of the ways to supplement or replace your current income.
Please let us know what we can do to improve this post or if you have any questions about the content by leaving a comment.
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