Start Your Online Business
Expert Advice from Kelli Higgins, Owner of Elevated Agent Marketing Agency
You might believe that to succeed in starting an online business you must have a truly original idea. However, you don’t have to be the next Jeff Bezos to run a successful online business; you just need to be willing to set realistic goals and act. Countless people have already made the leap into entrepreneurship, and with the right online business ideas and plenty of sweat equity, you can too.
6 ONLINE BUSINESS OPTIONS || CHOOSE AN ONLINE BUSINESS MODEL
E-COMMERCE STORE (PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL PRODUCTS)
Physical products can be sold online via your website or with the help of other services. With the Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) service, you simply ship your goods to Amazon. The sale and processing occur through the Amazon platform, as does delivery of the product itself. Other methods of selling physical products online include drop shipping and opening an Etsy shop (where you can sell both physical and digital products).
Digital products are electronic goods, content, or pieces of media that can be stored in a file or sold and shared online. For example, eBooks, audio files, website templates, PDFs, etc. are all digital products.
AFFILIATE MARKETING
Have you seen the social media videos of people talking about their favorite Amazon products? That’s affiliate marketing! You can make money through affiliate marketing via your blog, or even monetize your social media with affiliate links. This is a great online business model for beginners as you don’t have to create any products or keep any inventory. You will need (or at least greatly benefit from) an email list if you want to consider this model. Most affiliate sales will come from your list, not your blog or social media, but you can definitely start where you are and grow.
As a blogger, you usually make money from ads, sponsored content, or affiliate deals. Blogging takes consistency to work, and the results can take a while to materialize, but there are many bloggers making a good living online. Even if it is not going to be used as your primary form of income, having a blog is a good way to promote your other business or to bolster your reputation. Coaches, freelancers and network marketers can all find that a blog helps promote their main business. Once a blog generates enough traffic, it can be monetized using affiliate marketing or paid advertising.
FREELANCING
If you have a marketable skill that can be delivered online, freelancing is a great way to earn extra money because you can get started right away by selling a skill you already have. You can work from anywhere and leverage your existing skills for compensation. Examples of freelance services you can offer include copywriting, proofreading, advertisement design, graphic design, website design, social media manager and virtual assistant services.
But there’s one problem: As a freelancer, you sell your time. You’re like an employee, but with a lot of different bosses. Still, it can be a good place to start if you want to start earning money from your business as fast as possible.
COACHING AND CONSULTING
You can get started right away with a skill you already have. And because coaches and consultants have a higher perceived value than freelancers, you can get paid more on an hourly basis. A new freelancer might charge $50/hour for their time, while a coach or a consultant can ask for $100 or more.
DIGITAL COURSES
If you are an expert on a particular topic, then you should consider creating your own online course. This is not as difficult as it sounds, but you will still be responsible for marketing and promoting your course. Products and services have one problem: they both require you to spend money and time on creating new value. Digital products are quite different.
Digital courses are a great way to scale your coaching or consulting business. Again, you’re selling something you already know, but you’re doing it in a more hands-off, automated way. And if you do this as a continuation of your coaching offer, you know } you have a target audience who is happy to pay higher prices for your self-study courses.
5 WAYS TO DEVELOP || A WINNING BUSINESS IDEA
#1 RESEARCH YOUR MARKET
It might sound harsh, but it’s true: just because you think you have a great idea, that doesn’t mean there’s a market for it. Before investing your time and energy into starting your business, research how feasible it is and whether there’s any potential buyer interest.
After conducting market research, write a business plan to clarify your ideas. Having a business plan will help you stay organized and focused as you go through the ups and downs of starting a new business.
#2 FIND YOUR NICHE
Make a list of all the skills you’ve learned in your career. Then, look at things you get questions about all the time. Maybe it’s your nutrition, your amazing singing voice, or your public speaking skills. And finally, look at your hobbies and interests. What skills have you learned on the side? Think about people who might want this, aka your target audience. Relationship coaching for men? Career coaching for executives? Brand consulting for creative businesses? That’s how you find your niche.
#3 DEVELOP YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE
You’ve validated your idea, now it’s time to turn it into a reality. Whether you’re selling a product or service, you need to create it. Find a manufacturer to bring your product to life, create packages of your service offerings, write your book and identify a self-publishing option to bring it to fruition, or create your digital products and post them on Etsy.
If you go the drop shipping route, the product has already been developed for you. It’s up to you to choose the products you’re passionate about or that you’ve identified a hot market for.
#4 BUILD YOUR BUSINESS WEBSITE
If you want to start an online business, you need to have a website. And to make money online, you’ll need to incorporate payment processing functionality.
First, decide on a business name. Then choose a domain name and verify that it’s available. You can purchase a domain name for less than $20 a year in some cases. From there, you can build your own store on a platform like Shopify and start accepting payments from customers right away.
If you’re selling a custom or digital product, platforms like Etsy and eBay might also be a great option for you. I started my business on Etsy, grew it to over six figures, then built a custom website. There were two major reasons for this – quick sales and an established customer base.
I needed sales quickly when I first got started, and Etsy acts as a search engine and can help to accomplish that goal. However, they do take a substantial cut, so once I was ready, I knew I wanted to have my own custom website so I could keep more of the profit. It’s all important to note that when you use a platform like Etsy, you do not own any of the information from the sale or the client. Having my own website provided the opportunity to communicate with clients and have better options for them to engage with me.
#5 MARKET YOUR NEW SMALL BUSINESS
Getting your first paying customer is a huge milestone for a new small business owner. Once your store is set up, you’ll want to start getting your business out there. News flash, there is no such thing as an overnight success. Finding new customers and creating convincing promotions takes time and energy.
A solid brand will help you stand out on social media among a sea of other online businesses. Answer these questions to create a stand-out brand:
How are YOU different? How are you/your business different from your competitors? Think: personality, voice, all those things that make you unique.
How is your “secret sauce” different? How do you help your customers get results and how does that differ from your competitors? Alternatively, if you sell products, think about what makes your products special.
How are your values and beliefs different? Does your business stand for something? Make it clear.
How is your audience different? Do you serve a specific target market? That’s what you’ll want to highlight.
How is your product different? Do you offer a better service than others? Do you make things easier for clients? Think about how your product features are different.
If you’ve been thinking about starting an online business, now is the perfect time to put yourself out there, act and create your online mark.
