If you ever find yourself feeling as though the amount of work that you do at your job has no impact on how much money you earn, it's time for you to start thinking about ditching the rat race and starting an online business.
Working on the Internet is one of the few ways that you can make money manifest itself through only your own sheer will and determination. The harder you work, the more you can earn - and the best part is that you can start an online business for almost nothing.
Of course, every business requires an investment. The difference between traditional businesses and online businesses, though, is that you don't need a lot of money to get started online as long as you're willing to do a lot of work. You'll only need to spend money on a web host and a domain registration - and some types of online businesses don't even require those things.
If anyone ever tells you that you can get rich online without waiting and without working extremely hard, you should run away from that person as quickly as you can. You will probably have to put in months of hard work before your online business begins to make even a little money. Once you understand how it's done, though, it'll start to become easier - and if you don't give up, it can be the thing that finally allows you to get out of the rat race for good.
Are you willing to put in months of hard work for practically nothing in exchange for a better life down the road? Hare are four types of online businesses that you can start for (almost) free.
Drop Shipper
A drop shipping business is a type of e-commerce business that sells products but doesn't ship them. When you run this type of business, you're responsible for making the sales but not for fulfilling them. When someone places an order on your website, your site passes the information to a third-party shipping partner that fulfills the order on your behalf. You can do this for almost any type of business ranging from a vape shop to a seller of pet supplies. You just need to find a drop shipping partner in your chosen niche.
Drop shipping probably sounds much easier than running a traditional e-commerce business, and that's because it is. You don't have to invest in inventory, pack orders or pay shipping fees. If it's that easy, why isn't everyone doing it? The answer is that operating a drop shipping business might be easy, but being successful definitely isn't. The shipping partner will take a cut of each sale, which can make it difficult for you to be competitive on price with sellers who stock their own products. Also, because launching a drop shipping business is so easy, you'll have to compete with other entrepreneurs whose websites might look a lot like yours. Many people try to start drop shipping businesses, but most aren't successful because they give up when the money doesn't start rolling in immediately. However, that's true of every online venture.
Blogger
Certain preconceptions might pop into your mind when you see a term like "blogger," but a blog doesn't have to be an individual's personal website. A blog is simply a website with a home page that displays the most recent content in reverse-chronological order. You can also think of a blog as any website that earns revenue from content and not by selling products or services. A blog can be about any topic, although it's usually best to select a topic in which you have some expertise. The only way to operate a website for free is if you're the one doing the writing, so you'd better know something about the topic.
There are lots of different ways for blogs to earn revenue. Those include:
- Display advertisements, which generate revenue when people view the ads or when people click them.
- Affiliate links, which generate revenue when people click the links and then purchase products.
- Sponsored content and press releases, which allow you to earn revenue by publishing promotional content for brands.
- Direct sponsorships, which generate revenue from readers who want to support your work.
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they try to launch new blogs is that they focus on getting their revenue streams in place before they even have readers. Remember that if your website doesn't have an audience, it can't earn money. Focus on getting consistent daily traffic before you worry about generating revenue.
Influencer
When people think of influencers, they typically think of attractive people who post pictures of themselves online in order to peddle fashion and beauty products - and although that's definitely the most common type of influencer, the fact is that you can be an influencer in almost any niche as long as it's the type of niche that allows you to tell a product-related story with pictures or video. In fact, depending on your field of interest, traditional attractiveness isn't necessarily even a requirement to be an influencer.
Influencers typically earn money through paid product endorsements. If you have a following on social media, you can expect brands to begin approaching you with offers. Remember that you can't be an influencer if you don't have a following, though, so you'll need to focus on building an audience before you can even think about earning money. You can also use your presence on social media to funnel traffic through affiliate links or to your own website.
One benefit of becoming a social media influencer is that it costs almost nothing to get started. You don't need a domain name or website, and your phone's camera can probably take nice photos. Since the barriers for entry are so low, the competition is fierce. There are literally millions of people who want to be influencers, so it's not easy to stand out.
Another potential drawback of being a social media influencer is that you don't own the platform. That means the platform's rules and guidelines can change without warning, potentially making some niches unviable overnight. Also, if your success in a chosen field depends primarily on your attractiveness, you should remember that your business's "shelf life" may be fairly short. It's a good idea to save money aggressively and make sure that you have an exit strategy.
Game Streamer
Are you good at a particular video game and wish that you could get paid to play it? Thanks to game streaming platforms like Twitch, playing video games for online audiences is actually a viable career for some people. You need a fairly beefy computer and a fast Internet connection to be a game streamer, and it's also helpful to have a good webcam. If you already have those things, then getting started is basically free.
When you stream games, you earn a share of the revenue earned from the advertisements displayed during your broadcasts. You can also earn money through the direct financial support of your viewers, and some streamers generate revenue through sponsorships and brand endorsements.
As you can probably imagine, being good at a game or genre of games is usually a prerequisite for success as a game streamer. You also need to have the ability to talk and keep your viewers engaged while you're playing. It's useful if you're a good teacher because people often watch streamers to get better at their favorite games. Being attractive certainly helps as well, although there are many streamers who build sizable audiences without showing their faces.
Just like with trying to become a social media influencer, finding success in the world of game streaming isn't easy because everyone plays games and would love to earn money from it. In other words, there's plenty of competition, so you'll have to find a way to stand out. Also, it's important to remember that being successful as a streamer means that you'll need to play what people want to see and not necessarily what you feel like playing. Very quickly, streaming can start to feel more like work than fun. Some people even find that it can end up ruining gaming as a hobby.
Photo source: depositphotos.com
