What kind of online business to start

Podcast providers produce digital, audio-based files. Listeners have greater access to podcasts than ever before, via Spotify , Apple Podcasts , BuzzSprout , Podbean , Simplecast and Captivate , to name a few.

Becoming a podcaster is a hugely flexible job. You can choose to podcast in any field, on any subject and from almost anywhere. On this type of platform, consumers are not exposed to individual products but rather to offers. Such offers consist of multiple items sold by different independent sellers. The offers are comparable to a shop window where items are arranged in a creative, visually attractive way to maximise their appeal to customers.

Social shopping marketplaces provide tools to connect buyers with sellers, encourage feedback and at the same time, function as an e-commerce facilitator for sellers and a shopping search engine for buyers. Popular sites in this category include Storenvy , Polyvore or Shopcade.

Responsibilities include organising and holding appropriate meetings, gathering and updating industry knowledge and delivering projects. As project management is mostly about planning, many consultants use software such as Odoo , OpenProject and OrangeScrum to keep organised.

Understanding your client is crucial to success as a remote project management consultant. Make sure you understand their vision for the project and create open channels for communication. Demand is increasing, with more clients seeking advice for investing wisely and saving effectively.

Typical services offered by financial advisers include retirement planning, university funding, estate planning and general investment analysis. Create a webpage and consider investing in paid advertisement or purchasing mailing lists for email campaigns. Dropshipping is a supply chain management technique which involves selling and delivering products without ever having physical contact with them. Instead of stocking the products you have available on your store yourself, you only order products from a supplier when you receive orders, and have them delivered straight to your customer.

The primary benefit of dropshipping is you do not have to invest upfront in purchasing and storing large quantities of stock as typical retail businesses would. You do, however, have to make sure your dropshipping suppliers have a fast delivery time, are reliable and can provide excellent customer service. You can find many dropship product suppliers on platforms such as Aliexpress and Doba. As a lead generation business, your task is to source potential clients for other firms.

Companies are willing to pay for good leads to prospective customers who have a genuine interest in their products or services. The best way to collect data is to place an ad for a product online that redirects the consumer to your landing site. Facebook is a brilliant way to generate leads as it can reach huge volumes of people and knows how to tailor ads to likely consumers. Finding clients is easy, too — you can do this via email campaigns or online advertising.

Tech-savvy individuals can monetise their skills by producing a Chrome extension. One example that may people are familiar with is an Adblocker — you download it, and it sits on your taskbar in Google Chrome, preventing ads from popping up all over the place. Chrome is such a reputable interface that they get significant site traffic, meaning high exposure.

The key to making money from a Chrome Extension is coming up with an innovative idea — it needs to be general enough to appeal to the majority of users, offering a universal function. The fashion industry brings in huge revenue every year, and more and more designers are selling online. As a fashion designer, you can sell your designers for products such as shoes, clothing and accessories.

Starting by selling t-shirts is a smart option to minimise overheads and startup costs. Selecting a few simple designs keeps the concept simple and profitable. TeeSpring is a fantastic website for creatives who want to minimise the business side of things. TeeSpring allows you to create and sell apparel and takes care of production and distribution.

The t-shirt market is one of the biggest in the world. Using TeeSpring is an accessible way to start designing and selling clothes. The best way to market your tees is to invest in paid marketing. If a campaign does well, consider relaunching it at a higher price. Graphic design freelancers can make a fortune selling logo and design work online. Target new entrepreneurs and startups by advertising on relevant websites. A transcriber is someone who converts recorded speech into a text document, commonly working with clients in law firms, courts, meetings and trade associations.

The biggest challenge for transcribers is to make out words that are difficult to interpret for various reasons such as strong accents, fast speech or background noise.

To start an audio-to-text transcription business, you first need transcription software such as oTranscribe , Inqscribe or Express Scribe , a good headset and a word processing programme Word, OpenOffice, or similar. You can use platforms such as Fiverr to generate freelance work and find clients.

If you have a specialist background or skillset you can charge more for your services. Freelancers are often not able to use the same software as larger businesses offering a similar service, as they represent a much more scaled-down version.

As many freelancers offer unique services, it is challenging to purchase readymade software to help them operate. Building custom software solutions is, therefore, a service in high demand. Attracting clients is also hassle-free.

Paid ads on freelancer websites are fantastic exposure to your specific target market. Foodies can market their kitchen creations online and make money. You can create and sell recipes through an online website or by producing an eBook and selling it on Amazon. There are a plethora of different diets and health crazes that come in and out of fashion.

Current trends include vegan diets and low-sugar recipes. Producing recipes than correspond to current eating trends will increase your sales. People love to see beautiful images of food — consider investing in a professional photography service to take pictures of your dishes and start a social media account.

Attractive food will result in lots of shares and a big Instagram following, which can generate lots of sales. Musicians can capitalise on their talent by selling their art online. There are lots of different ways to make money through your music online.

The most lucrative option is to sell your tracks directly from your own website. However, selling on your own site can mean less exposure. For heavier online traffic, you can sell your music through stores like iTunes, Amazon and Google Play. Customers usually already have an account and trust these stores, making them more likely to buy your tracks. A top tip is to use SoundCloud.

It attracts a lot of online traffic and is completely free to upload music. SoundCloud has the dual benefit of increased traffic and better returns.

As a society, we are busier and more technology-dependent than ever. As well as narration for audiobooks, companies need voice-overs for all sorts of reasons, from marketing campaigns to online tutorials. Producing audio content is an effortless job you can do from home. All you need is a decent microphone and some professional recording and editing software. Finding clients is trickier — figures estimate that voice-over artists spend up to a third of their time searching for customers.

Increase your online presence as much as you can, in the way of a website, paid ads and email campaigns. A top tip is to produce a demo. Clients will want to know what to expect from your service. Another tip is to take an online voice-over course which will give you advice on breath control. White hat hackers use hacking skills to break into protected networks, computer systems and hardware to test their security and identify any loopholes.

Many companies base their entire operations on trade secrets which need to safeguarding. White hat hackers can expose vulnerable parts of the system to prevent future security breaches. This type of business requires a very specialised skillset. Due to the sensitive nature of the work, many clients will want proper credentials. Having a certificate from an Ethical Hacking course can help boost your credibility and attract clients.

EC-Council offers a range of courses and certifications in ethical hacking. The cryptocurrency market boomed in and remains one of the most popular investment options today. Trading in cryptocurrency differs from trading in traditional currencies as it cuts out the middleman: the bank. Instead, cryptocurrency is traded directly from seller to buyer. If you want to make money trading in cryptocurrency, you must understand the market.

The best way to make money is the buying and holding method — buy an asset, stocks, for example, at a low price and wait for interest to build up. Then cash out, making a profit. These have been on the market for a while and are therefore safer options.

But remember, trading in cryptocurrency is always a high-risk venture. Facebook ads are a powerful way not only to reach millions of people but to target specific demographics or target audiences.

If done right, Facebook ads can massively increase website traffic and result in increased sales and revenue. Successfully advertising on Facebook involves calculating the Lifetime Value of your customer , which comprises several calculations based on the average sale per customer and frequency of purchases.

This figure allows you to set a budget-appropriate offer on Facebook to reach customers who are likely to respond to the ad. Set up a website to market your service and, of course, use Facebook too. The startup costs are next to none. The role of a systems integrator is to combine subsystems and digital components into one overarching system, where all of these former functions work together. It includes tasks such as data migration from old systems and automating previously manual operations to provide bespoke software solutions to meet individual company needs.

The job requires extensive knowledge of software, hardware, programming and coding to integrate all sorts of computer systems. Systems integrators are hugely in demand — simple marketing techniques such as a website, cold-calling and social media advertising is an effective way to bring in high-paying clients. Mailing list brokers compile lists of names and addresses of prospective consumers for business clients.

These kind of lists are essential for companies to expand their client base and grow their sales. Companies are therefore willing to spend huge amounts of money on appropriate mailing lists. You need to have a knowledge of how the sector works and ideally you should have experience in sales or advertising in this area. Part of your job will be understanding the industry and interpreting consumer research reports to determine which demographic your clients should be targeting.

You should use this analysis to recommend appropriate mailing lists, which you can either sell or rent to clients. The startup costs are very low — all you need to start is a computer and an internet connection. SEO is vital for the success of any online business. SEO stands for search engine optimisation and involves optimising website content, with the overall aim of ensuring websites rank highly on search engines.

Ranking highly generates increased website traffic and boosts sales. SEO consultants need to know how to conduct keyword research to determine which words are optimal to use in titles, headlines, descriptions, articles or any other text that appears on a website to increase website rankings.

SEO is the most critical success factor for any digital enterprise, meaning SEO consultants are in high demand and can make a considerable profit. Make yourself a website and advertise on social media and LinkedIn. You can also advertise your services on freelance sites such as PeoplePerHour and Fiverr. To make more money, consider completing an online course in coding or digital marketing to give your business more authority. All successful businesses need a solid business plan.

You need to understand all aspects of a business plan to be able to produce one for somebody else. To find customers, you can advertise on entrepreneur websites or contact businesses directly.

Writing business plans can be extremely profitable. More and more data handling and information are stored online as businesses increasingly become paperless. Most of this data goes into online databases, hosted by servers to which all computers in a given network are connected.

Consider taking some training to further your knowledge and expand the service you can offer. You can get started quickly by registering your business name and setting up a website. E-counselling services range from Skype sessions, web meeting programs, emails and instant messenger facilities. Online counselling services cover a wide range of services, including anger management and grief counselling.

There are countless events and businesses that want videos produced, whether its as part of an ad campaign or for internal use. In addition, the existence of simple to use video editing platforms like InVideo among others is making a lot easier to get into the video editing space and become a pro. The first thing to do is to find your niche. Do you want to edit corporate videos, produce wedding videos or create advertising campaigns?

Deciding on a target client will help you market your services. Next, you need to build a relevant portfolio. Most new video editors begin by offering their services for free to their ideal client, or first few clients. This deal is a win-win for clients and is a fantastic way to build a credible portfolio and can also lead to referrals. Having a portfolio enables you to charge more and attract better clients. LinkedIn or Youtube are perfect places to showcase your past work and attract clients.

Growth is key here: once your business gets going, consider hiring in assistants or outsourcing parts of the production, allowing you to focus on the bits you enjoy. Most students clock up a fair amount of absence at college or university. Turning off that 8 am alarm can seem like a great idea at the time, but leading up to exams, a lack of revision notes can be a big problem.

This is where selling study notes has excellent potential. The most marketable notes are digital notes, clearly presented and well-structured. Getting started selling notes is easily done through websites such as Docmerit or Stuvia , where you can upload your notes and start selling straight away. The best way to become a successful online notes seller is by offering your first set for free!

Another tip is to remember your audience: if students are your target market, keep your prices student-friendly to become a top-seller.

Having a website has become a prerequisite for almost all successful businesses, but most people still lack the skills they need to produce one themselves. Being a service in such high demand, however, means there are tonnes of web developers out there.

The best possible way to make money as a web developer is to choose a niche. Either focus on a specific industry or a particular type of website design: eCommerce , for example. Promote your business far and wide — start by creating social media channels for your business, reach out to family and friends and past colleagues, attract leads through an email list, promote yourself on LinkedIn and even Twitter.

Finally, make sure your website is flawless. Customers will base their purchase on the quality of your website — this is your portfolio, and it needs to be the best example of your work. As a VA virtual assistant , you will provide support by completing a range of administrative services for individuals and businesses remotely. Demand for virtual assistants is growing as businesses are increasingly outsourcing tasks such as bookkeeping, scheduling and email management to freelancers instead of completing the tasks themselves or taking on new, permanent staff.

A perk of being a VA is that you decide as and when you work. You can also choose which tasks you would like to perform and perform well. One of the most unique online business ideas, providing bug testing resources can be a lucrative way to boost your income. Everything from video production workshops and video editing services to soundtrack libraries and DIY tutorials can appeal to the business world.

Producing a video might be one of the most attractive online business ideas with lots of creativity and challenges. Graphic designers are always in demand from small businesses to large multinationals. Starting a graphic design business can allow you to tap into this great opportunity. Showcasing your experience with your past portfolio can help you gain customers without aggressive outreach.

In the same vein as graphic design, website development is in constant demand as businesses are always trying to upgrade and improve their websites to get more sales. This means that you can work on new and existing websites concurrently, and get to try new things all the time.

If being constantly challenged is what you are looking for, website development could be the best online business for you. Apps are an amazing lucrative market, so it is not surprising that more and more companies are investing in them. This means that there is a growing need for app developers to create their applications. Offering app development is a great opportunity as you can work on vastly different applications on a daily basis.

Just like a website developer, a theme designer is working with websites but in a different way. Choosing theme designer as your side hustle idea means building new website themes for business to use for their website. This could mean researching popular themes, identifying their shortcomings, and creating a theme that solves these pain points while remaining true to the popularity of the previous theme. If you are an expert in a certain industry, creating themes for this industry could see you reap much success.

If you are gifted with more than one language but have no interest in teaching others, try translating. Many companies need their website and collateral translated when they move into a different market. You can help them achieve it, while also keeping active in more than one language. Keep in mind the most common way of billing is cost per word, so price wisely to make smart money from this great online business idea. Choose between helping people via chat, email, phone, video, or other ways and save the day for people every day.

This may not make you your first million, but it feels great to help people. This is one of the best online business ideas to pursue from home. As a virtual assistant, you would be answering emails, writing content, and doing other tasks on behalf of businesses The role can mean anything from a data entry person to a researcher, so, be open to trying new things and uncover new skills while getting paid. As more and more companies take on the lean, mean approach to business, outsourcing cold calling and telesales functions becomes a sort of standard in the startup and small business environment.

Whether you want to sell highly-targeted sales pitches or customer data, such as phone numbers and email addresses, the potential is vast. Affiliate marketing is where a person promotes a product that another merchant sells. Using advertising, social media, blogging and more, an affiliate marketer can attract customers to their landing page.

As an internet business idea, this is great for anyone no matter their previous experience. Check out our guide, Affiliate Marketing: Everything You Need to Know in , to learn more about this business model.

Most businesses are chasing customers and looking for ways to increase conversion rates. This means investing in activities like lead generation that could be time-consuming. Because of this, many companies outsource the task to a lead generation service provider. If you are good on the phone and enjoy researching and doing outreach to strangers, then this is your calling!

An influencer is someone with a large follower base on social media who is seen as an expert in a particular area, like makeup or fitness. These people keep busy by posting regularly about their lives and promote products which they feel are good to possess.

What is great about this internet business idea is that you can get paid to promote a business to your following, similar to affiliate marketing. Influencer marketing is a huge online business trend right now that you can capitalize on.

Try your hand at Vlogging and starting a Podcast , which are under-utilized channels of communication for influencers right now. It can take you less than a day to build a storefront to showcase your work and connect with customers on platforms like Amazon and Etsy. You can make the goods yourself or source them from suppliers in Hong Kong and China. If cooking is one of your personal passions, there are dozens of opportunities to turn it into a decent business venture.

You can start by setting up a catering website, experimenting with pop-up food stalls and local food markets, or joining platforms that encourage cooking enthusiasts to squeeze some money out of their passion. The trend of healthy eating is here to say. Yet with so much contradictory advice online about what is good for us and what is not, more and more people turn to professional nutritionists for specialist tips and guidance.

You can easily find free online courses to learn the fundamentals of this profession and start offering personalized nutrition plans online.

From freshly baked butter croissants to colorful macaroons and pillow-soft morning bagels — the world of the great bake-off is a rich and ever-growing place. The beautiful thing about the online world is that a great passion can be turned into a great business almost overnight. You can start an online bakery or move your existing bakeshop online. Platforms like Shopify make it easy to sell baked goods online.

Eventually, you should also consider having your own online store as well. Affiliate marketing is somewhat similar to drop shipping but with some key differences. Basically, you pick a profitable niche for your online business , and then you find an affiliate partner who has products available in that niche.

Some of the most popular affiliate sites are Clickbank. Between them, they offer just about any digital information product like ebooks, audio files, video files or physical product you can think of. Many big name companies and brands like Wal-Mart and Home Depot run their own affiliate programs. With affiliate marketing, you offer the products for sale, for example, on your blog or e-commerce website. Each product has a unique link that tracks back to your account with your affiliate partner.

Once they buy, that purchase is recorded and you receive a commission. Just like with drop shipping your only costs will be marketing and advertising to drive traffic and generate the sale. The key difference between this and drop shipping is that the business model is even more hands off. All you have to do is provide a link for the customer to click on and the merchant handles everything; billing, order fulfillment, customer service, etc.

All you have to do is handle the marketing to get your prospects to buy through social media, email marketing , blogging, or whatever method you choose. All you have to do is focus on paid and free ways to market your online business. Affiliate marketing really is one of the most "hand-off" types of online businesses you can start. If you have the expertise or a passion or interest for a subject, you're ready to start making money with a blog.

With a service like Blogger www. You can also create your own site and secure your own hosting for a low price, which is generally the route I recommend, as many free blogging sites have restrictions on what you can say or do, including making money or advertising. You may think blogging is all about writing. And it can be if that's what you want to do. But written blog posts are just the start. You can post photos , videos, and links to other sites, you can even repost news and other articles… anything is game, really, as long as it relates to your niche.

They key is that you want to post original content that is useful to your target audience and to post on a regular basis. That is the best way to get ranked in the search engines and to also get your audience to take action. What sort of content should you provide? Anything that is engaging to your prospect. How-to topics, top lists, commentary on trends in your niche, tips and tricks articles—basically, you need to provide useful content.

There's no shortage of ideas for your blog. You make money in a variety of ways with an online business blog. Have you ever been to a website and seen an ad on it?

Chances are it was an ad being run through the Google advertising network. These pay-per-click ads appear on your blog. Every time somebody clicks on an ad which is supposed to be about a subject related to your niche , you make a few cents or more.

Small amounts each time, but it adds up. This is extremely hands-off. You just need to get a code from Google, place it on your website - and the ads will automatically appear on your blog. Google will only show ads that are relevant to your blog so it's a good experience for your visitors and maximizes the number of clicks you get, meaning more income. You can also work with ad networks other than Google, like Blogads, and run banner ads on your blog.

Same as Google Adsense ads, you place the code once on your website and when your visitors click on the ads then you get paid. Online thrift shops and consignments stores, like thredUP, are one model you can follow to achieve that goal. There are other businesses that crawl through sites like eBay to find cool, unique, interesting objects, then present them in compelling ways.

Good copywriting and a strong brand can go a long way to separating you from the crowd here. Instead, you can get paid by companies to highlight products on your blog, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube or other social channels. Plus, like all the rest of these online business ideas, you can be an affiliate marketer from anywhere you want, with the freedom and flexibility to choose your own hours and be your own boss. Dealing in internet domains is like buying and selling real estate — except you can do it from your computer at home.

Successful internet domain name flippers buy high-value domains for cheap at online auctions after lots of forethought and research, then sell to the biggest bidder for a nice profit. For example, www. In order to make a living off of domain selling, you really need to dedicate your time, energy, and attention to the market.

Although entering the industry as a virtual bookkeeper or accountant can be tough because of competition from foreign contractors, there are firms that offer these services. Hungry to live life on your own schedule. If those three things describe you, then think about becoming a virtual assistant. And of course, like all online business ideas, you can do this one from anywhere. Like internet domain name selling, stock trading could be a casual online hobby or a career.

For an easier online business idea that doesn't require background knowledge or experience — other than the ability to type quickly — you might consider transcription.

Offering transcription services online can take many forms: you can transcribe audio interviews for reporters, create captions for TV shows and videos or develop transcribed versions of podcasts.

Although this might not be the most lucrative idea on our list, it's a good place to start as a freelancer and gives you the freedom to work wherever, whenever. Do you love to travel? Have you been to various locations and have a network of connections around the world? If travel is your passion, you might consider starting an online travel planning business. You can help clients plan every aspect of their trip — from flights to hotels to things to do.

You can work on itineraries, tips for food, currency exchange and safety, and serve as a point of contact between your clients and any international contacts.

Plus, not only can you operate your travel planning business at home, but you can also do it while you travel. And more traveling will help you grow your business—as you experience new locations, meet prospective clients, and make new connections. You might even start a travel blog or photography site to supplement your planning business. If you have a technical background but aren't specifically interested in coding or app development, this might be one of the best online business ideas for you.

As a cybersecurity consultant, you can work with businesses of all sizes to evaluate their systems, run testing and offer tips on how they can improve their set up. On the other hand, if you'd prefer something broader, you might consider simply serving as an IT consultant, assisting businesses or individuals with their technology — helping them get it set up, troubleshoot any issues and offer general operating advice.

Once again, with the proper computer set up, you can run your cybersecurity or IT consulting business from anywhere. If you so choose, you could also decide to travel to different offices for occasional on-site system assistance. With the emergence of companies like TalkSpace and BetterHelp, you no longer have to have an office or your own practice to counsel patients — you can do it virtually.

Although this online business idea requires the proper credentials and education, a technologically inclined therapist who wants to reach a new group of patients could easily hit the ground running. If you're a counselor, therapist or psychologist, you might decide to explore the online therapy space by joining one of these new companies or starting a business of your very own. By counseling online, you'll be reaching new patients, giving them more freedom and flexibility, as well as enjoying some for yourself.

If you're knowledgable about business branding and marketing and know all the best ways for companies to communicate with the public online, you might start an online PR consulting business. You can assist businesses with their online presence — including social media accounts, press releases, web content and more—as well as advise them on campaigns, initiatives and overall public image. As a freelance PR consultant, your hours and responsibilities may vary and depend on the specific client you're working with, however, you'll certainly have more control of your job than you would as part of a PR firm or agency.

Ten years ago, many people didn't even know what a podcast was but now, the podcast industry has exploded, with newspapers, radio stations and even regular, everyday individuals getting in on the trend.

If you have a good story to tell or something you feel like you could talk about on a frequent basis and that people would want to listen to, you might think about podcasting. Podcasting, of course, can be done from anywhere, provided you have the right audio equipment. You can then upload your content to various podcast apps, websites, and market your business on social media. Looking for the item on this list of online small business ideas that allows you to help people, offering both advice and guidance, without needing the extensive education of a medical professional?

How about life coaching? Although you may need a certification to become a life coach, you have much more freedom to find your niche and decide how you can help people through life's ups and downs. Plus, as a life coach, you can build your own digital brand to give your clients additional resources outside of traditional phone call or video chat meetings. With the vastness of the internet at your fingertips, you can easily fulfill your desire to help others with this online business idea, while still having the flexibility of your own.

Video is another item on our list of online business ideas that may appeal to you, especially if you're creative or have a background in digital production. With the emphasis on video on social media and other websites nowadays, this is certainly a trend you'll want to capitalize on while you can.