I am often asked about web-based business ideas. First, I must express my skepticism about "Business in a Box" offerings. A "Business in a Box" is one of those "sure-fire" and "make millions in your spare time" offerings you see on TV and on the Internet. All you have to do, according to them, is send money, and you will receive books, CD’s, subscriptions, etc. that will make you an instant success. In reality, the only people who profit from these business ideas are the people selling the "Business in a Box."
Successful web-based small businesses fall into two general types:- Provide Web-Based Labor - You sell your web-related personal services using special websites that help both you and the businesses who need your services.
- A Website Based Business - You build a website that sells products/services or sells ad space.
Provide Web-Based Labor
There are a many opportunities to provide web-based labor to businesses that need help running their business (graphic design, keyword research, researching and creating website content, testing websites, etc.).
The trick is to match up with a business that needs your service in an environment that is fair to both you and the business. The following points were taken from an article written to help businesses better find Web-Based labor for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). I have reversed the point of view. The original article can be found at Leveraging Mechanical Turk, oDesk, ELance & Craigslist for SEO. These are just a sample of Web-Based labor opportunities.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has a number of tasks that require human effort in a format well-suited to freelance services. These include:
- Keyword Research - Grabbing specific data from multiple tools and sources
- Competitive Analysis - Gathering competitive intelligence about a set of websites or a market
- Content Creation - Building site content using subcontractors and freelance writers
- Usability & User Experience - Testing the usability of a site or the user's experience on a website
- Graphic / Web Design - Creating anything from a Wordpress blog template to an entire custom site design to a single infographic
- Engineering / Development - Building anything from an entire site to building a single tool to designing a custom script to the addition of a user-generated content section
Freelance & Contract Project Websites & Services:
- Craigslist - The world's largest classifieds site allows for a massive range of freedom in posting for and finding talent.
- ELance - One of the oldest freelance sites on the web, ELance has a wide variety of options but primarily centers around contract, fixed-price work.
- oDesk - oDesk takes an interesting twist on the classic freelancer-via-the-web model. Their focus is on by-the-hour contracting rather than fixed-project pricing.
- Mechanical Turk - For low sophistication largely menial/repetitive labor. Their HITs (Human Intelligence Tasks) are essentially machine-like processes that software can't yet do efficiently/effectively, but humans can.
- Other sites suggested in the article and in the comments: Textbroker, CloudCrowd, ScriptLance.com, peopleperhour.com, Freelancer, Authentic Jobs, Guru, and Rentacoder.
A Website Based Business
A Web-based business is like any other business -- They take lots of work and time -- There is no guarantee of success. There are a few proven principles that can be the basis for a viable website-based business. Below are key points from postings of real people doing real business on the Internet. These thoughts and ideas belong to the authors. Note: I have watched the postings of these individuals over time. They know what they are talking about! Perhaps some of their ideas will fit your interests.
Key Points:
- Product resellers can be very successful.
- Select a small range of qualify products with a decent markup.
- Select a product you believe in and research everything about it.
- Build a unique website.
- Make the website friendly and believable with no hype.
by beth_lk, regularly posts on www.searchengineforums.com*
Key Points:
- A "Build it and they will come" approach does not work.
- I was making $600+ a month in about four months.
- A bad hosting service can cost you everything.
- It must be a passion.
by Sports Guy, www.searchengineforums.com Forum Moderator*
Key Points:
- Build for a niche.
- I make about $1,000/month from Adsense after about 1.5 years.
- It takes a lot of work.
- Competition is an indication of a good niche.
by Quadrille, regularly posts on www.searchengineforums.com*
Key Points:
- A niche market is better
- Choose a niche you know and care about.
- Visitors appreciate someone who shows personal interest.
by Sports Guy, www.searchengineforums.com Forum Moderator*
Key Points:
- Avoid "sign up and get this" packages.
- Build a site around your knowledge.
- Place ads on the site.
- Look for drop-shipping or reselling opportunities.
- An online business is like any other business.
- It takes a lot of time, especially at first.
- Shortcuts never work out long term.
*Note: At one point I had links to the actual posts on www.searchengineforums.com. However, the site has been reorganized and my links no longer work.
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