As you can see, there are numerous ways to monetize a website or blog. However, many require a significant amount of traffic before you can make money. AdSense is a good starting monetization option in this case. You don’t need to create anything; you can join the day you start your blog or website; it’s free, and adding the ad code to your website is simple.
Brainstorm Your Free Internet Business Idea
It is critical to select an idea that you can stick with rather than looking for the cheapest or most profitable option. Creating a business that you are passionate about increases the likelihood that it will succeed and that you will enjoy it.
The most cost-effective online business ideas will make use of skills or assets you already have. If you already know how to keep books and have bookkeeping software, you will need to invest less time and money in learning and purchasing.
Make your list without first filtering out any ideas. You never know what obscure or unusual idea will turn into a successful business. You will then conduct research to identify the most viable and cost-effective ideas. However, at the time of brainstorming, write them all down.
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Determine the Demand for Your Idea
While passion and interest are important, you must also select an idea that has a market. You won’t have a business if no one is interested in what you have to offer, no matter how good you are at it.
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Keyword Research
Because your company operates online, one place to begin your research is by looking up keywords related to your concept. While you shouldn’t rely solely on search engines to bring you business, you should make sure that enough people are searching for your concept.
Begin by compiling a list of words and phrases that people might use to find your business topic. What keywords would people use to find your virtual support services if you were selling them? Once you’ve compiled your list, use a keyword tool to determine how frequently those terms are searched. You can use a variety of tools, both free and paid. SEO Book provides a free keyword research tool.
Enter your term into the tool, and it will tell you how many times it has been searched on the major search engines in the last month. It will also suggest relevant keywords.
Once you’ve compiled a list of good keywords, type them into a search engine to see what comes up. Are the top-ranked websites online stores, blogs, or service providers? It doesn’t hurt to look at the sites to see what they have to offer and whether you can offer something different or better.
Your goal in keyword research as part of selecting your online business idea is to find the keywords that best combine the highest volume (popularity) with the fewest search results returned (competitiveness).
Market Research
Just because a term receives a high volume of searches does not imply that it is a viable business opportunity. Along with popularity, it must have a market willing to pay for it. A keyword term like “free bookkeeping help” implies that people do not want to pay for services, which is not a good indicator of whether or not you should start a bookkeeping service.
In addition to keyword research, you should conduct a feasibility study to determine whether there are enough people who are ready, willing, and able to pay for what you’re offering. This research will not only tell you if you have a potentially profitable idea, but it will also assist you in identifying your target market; the people who are most likely to buy.
Setting Up a Free Web Presence
A variety of free resources for creating a free online store or website. There are a few things to consider before deciding what to use.
- What exactly are you selling? If you’re selling tangible goods, you’ll need different resources than if you’re selling digital goods or marketing other people’s products through affiliate programs. If you’re selling a service or freelancing, your website may require fewer bells and whistles.
- What provides the best combination of value and service? While you may wish to begin for free, the adage “you get what you pay for” may be true. So, in addition to the lowest price, you want to ensure quality. Free is useless if your website is unavailable for visitors to buy.
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Free Online Options
Storefronts:
Consider eBay, Etsy, or Amazon for free storefronts. Each provides a free option, and even better, they all have their own traffic sources, making it easier for you to find your customer. As your company grows, you can invest in its paid options, which provide more perks and customization. Fulfillment by Amazon, for example, will not only handle the sale of your products but will also ship them.
Freelance or Service Business Sites, or Blogs
You can use content management platforms like WordPress (hosted) or Blogger to start a freelance, service business, or blog (making money with ads and affiliate marketing). With that said, if you want to make money blogging, Blogger is the better free option, as the free version of WordPress has some limitations that make adding monetization to its blogs difficult.
Free website services are another option for freelance or service-based business websites. Weebly and Wix both provide free web hosting as well as paid premium plans.
Build Your Website
Once you’ve decided on a platform for your free online business, you must sign up and begin building.
Building a Free Storefront
Create a profile name that fits your business for sites like eBay, Etsy, and Amazon. The following step is to add your products. Use high-quality photographs and write accurate and enticing descriptions for the best results.
Building a Freelance or Service Business Site
If you’re creating a freelance or service website, include a professional photo of yourself, an intriguing bio on your About Me page, and a portfolio and/or testimonials about your work.
Building a Blog
If you want to make money from your blog, you should start with the basics, such as your About Me page, contact information, and FTC-required disclosures. The following step is to create content for people to read. Create a variety of posts, including text, video, and curated content, to appeal to a wide range of readers. The possibilities for blog content are limitless, but you must ensure that your blog content is focused, clean, and to the point. The more blog content you create that others may want to link to (linkbait), the better.
Include links between your blog posts that use keywords related to the post that the link is pointing to. You should start an email list for any websites you build yourself (not eBay, etc.). All of the most successful online entrepreneurs have an email list, which allows them to stay in touch with their customers and make special offers to them.
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Monetize Your Website
The following step in launching a free online business is to establish one or more revenue streams.
Monetizing Storefronts
If you have a storefront on eBay, Etsy, or Amazon, the only way to increase your revenue is to add more products or offer them in other places (i.e. eBay and Amazon). You can eventually create your own e-commerce site, giving you more control and the ability to better brand your company.
Monetizing Freelance or Service Business Site
If you work as a freelancer or provide a service, you have a number of other options for supplementing your income. These are some examples:
DIY information resources: This enables those who do not wish to pay for your service to obtain information on how to do it themselves. For example, someone may not want to hire you to do their bookkeeping but may be interested in purchasing your information product or a self-published book on how to keep your books.
Teach. Offering seminars and courses online or in person is a great way to gain more clients and earn money.
Affiliate marketing. Check to see if they have an affiliate program for products or services you like and can recommend. For example, if you’re a bookkeeper who uses specific software, check with the software company to see if they have a reseller or affiliate program where you can get paid to refer new customers.
Monetizing a Blog
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There are numerous ways to earn money if you have started an information site or blog. Google AdSense is a quick and simple option. AdSense is Google’s online advertising program in which AdWord advertisers agree to have their ads placed on websites and blogs with relevant content to the advertiser’s business. For example, if you had a blog about cars, those selling car accessories and parts would be interested in advertising on your blog.
Google AdSense does all of the work for you. Simply specify the size, type (text, video), and color of the ad, and Google will provide you with a code to place on your website where you want the ad to appear. If you don’t like one or more of the advertisers whose ads appear on your blog, you can prevent those advertisers from displaying ads on your blog.
Media.net is a good ad feed network that is similar to AdSense.
Other sources of income besides advertising include:
- Affiliate programs
- eBooks
- Information products
- Offering a product or service of your creation
- Selling ad space on your blog and/or email newsletters
Market Your Online Business
Just because you have a website does not guarantee that you will get customers or clients. Even if you use eBay or Amazon, your product will be competing with thousands of others. You must market your online business in order to be successful.
There are numerous free marketing strategies available to you, but before you implement any of them, you must first:
- Determine your target market. What is the most likely buyer of what you have to offer?
- Determine the best location to locate your market. Where do they congregate? Ideally, you should look for locations that are a good fit for what you have to offer. If your ideal bookkeeping customer is a small business owner, for example, target places where small business owners go for small business information.
- Create marketing materials that will entice your target audience. Remember that people purchase solutions. Don’t just tell people you work as a bookkeeper. Instead, tell them how your bookkeeping service will save them time and money.
The following are some excellent options for increasing traffic to your online business:
Search engine marketing
Participate in communities and discussion groups in which your target market is active.
Make free articles or interviews available to other blogs or podcasts.
Create an email list.
Social media
Videos
