The internet has leveled the playing field when it comes to starting up your own business. Anyone with a computer can do it! That being said, there are still many opportunities for individuals to take advantage of in this space since not everyone can make it work. Location is one obvious consideration. If you live in the heart of one of the most populated cities, like San Francisco for example, audience acquisition becomes an easy task because you’ll have access to millions of potential customers who are actively engaging online on business-related websites and social media platforms like Instagram for example! So even though anyone can get started without experience, having professional help should be considered (have someone invest in your project).

One of the best ways to start an online business is by using what are called free or cheap services. These range from WordPress sites to eBay and Amazon, so among other things this means no initial cost whatsoever. For example you can sell on Amazon's platform for a piece of every product sold - it only costs you your time which is next to nothing anyway! There are hundreds of very useful ways for entrepreneurs everywhere to run their online businesses without having to invest any money at all, and many more affordable ways too. Here we'll take a brief look at five of the most popular ones:



1. Drop Shipping

The basic idea behind an online drop shipping business is that, as a small business owner, you don’t have to maintain a large inventory (or any inventory whatsoever) of products or handle any delivery to your customers. That eliminates the financial cost and risk of having a warehouse full of stuff you might not sell, and the hassle of arranging to send orders all over the country or the world. In fact, you don't even have to manufacture or store any products at all.

You may have heard that drop shipping is easier than other methods of dealing with inventory or vendors. Don't be fooled! Drop shipping can be a difficult process, and you put yourself at risk. There are a lot of things to consider when setting up a drop shipping business so please consider all the risks before diving in.

There are a handful of things that you should prepare yourself for when it comes to the drop shipping business model. You'll need to reserve time and resources to find a reputable drop shipper that will deliver goods to your customers on time and in good condition. If there's ever a problem, this company will be responsible for dealing with it, so make sure they're responsible and able to handle the workload!



2. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing can be likened to dropshipping, but with some key differences. With affiliate marketing, you again don't maintain an inventory of your own products, and you don't have to worry about shipping products to customers. The idea behind it is that you find an affiliate partner who has products available in that niche. Some of the most popular affiliate sites are Clickbank.com, Amazon.com , CJ Affiliate by Conversant (formerly Commission Junction). 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 as well. As you can see there's very little risk on your part and virtually no investment needed either except for creating good content for your site to market the product to generate the sale .

The only requirement is that you're able to market your business to get enough people interested. Maybe through social media, email marketing, blogging etc. You don't have to take care of billing or shipping or any customer interactions - the affiliate marketing platform does all of that for you! All you have to do is focus on bringing more traffic to your website so even if you find a profitable niche with little competition it's still going keep you busy bringing more people in. However, if you do come across a super competitive niche then maybe affiliate marketing isn't the best business model for that particular type of online business.



3. Blogging

You can become a successful blogger today by providing valuable content to an audience interested in this type of information. With blogging services such as blogger.com, one can build a site from scratch and have complete control of their content. Some free blogging sites have limitations on the way you conduct business, including making money or advertising.

Google AdSense

Google is one of the most powerful search engines that allows businesses to generate traffic online. Google AdSense is a platform whereby businesses are able to make money by placing an ad on either the right or left column of any webpage you visit. Whenever you click on the ads shown Google will pay your business 30 cents for every click through every month you continue to maintain your relationship with them. This system is extremely good as it allows more clicks from people who are genuinely interested in your products and therefore maximizes the amount earned from each viewer.

Blog ad networks

You can also work with ad networks other than Google, such as Blogads. In many cases you can make more money with blog ad networks, but they tend to only work with blogs that are getting tens of thousands of visitors a month or more; as opposed to Google Ads where you can start right away regardless of the amount of traffic you get. Video ads are an option as well which could help your blog gain exposure and generate more traffic.

Affiliate marketing

Now everyone knows that a blog can be a great creative outlet for expressing creative writing abilities. Blogs are also a great way to build a very targeted audience for your business and generate interest in whatever opportunities you have to offer them within the context of your niche or business focus. They are an effective way of marketing yourself, but it is essential not to make the mistake of thinking that they are simply a medium you can use to push products on people.



4. Online Video

Have you watched a YouTube video lately? Of course you have! This is one of the world’s most popular websites, with more than 2 billion users watching hundreds of millions of hours of video each day.12 And not all of it are cats. As an entrepreneur, creating content and uploading videos on YouTube for your business both large and small is a win-win. Yes, there would be algorithms set up by Google to make sure that videos which pay make money and those who don’t never do but as an entrepreneur, you can creatively and finally use this and instead use this monetization option as a way to advertise your business online. By now you know that ads play a crucial role in getting people to click onto your business website through watching the videos that pay making you money.

Another way that you can make money with a YouTube channel is through paid sponsorships. One of the best things about sponsorships are how they enable you to integrate brands into your videos in memorable ways, so that viewers who see your video will associate the brands with you. You can start building your brand by reaching out to potential advertisers through Google's Adwords program and following other industry standard approaches for connecting with them and letting them know what kinds of video ads they could sponsor.



5. Information Products

When starting your own business, one of the most effective ways to make money is by creating products for sale. These products could be in the digital or physical format. For example, you can create an e-book about how someone can easily learn a new skill in their home without having to travel or attend expensive workshops so that they can save on time and money - this makes it a digital product. Another example of other digital products could be an MP3 file where you teach someone how to play guitar and once they finish listening, they'll know just as much if not more than you.

Putting It All Together

Working in online business, it's very important to be in a profitable niche market. So make sure to keep an eye on the trends and of course check out monopolies made by reviewers on sites like Amazon or social media discussions. Remember - do not choose more niches at the same time! Pick one and get it going. Then add new revenue streams as you can afford them. This will help get your income going and give you a base from which you can fall back on should any one of your businesses start getting ugly or failing completely.