How to Choose the Right Online Business (for You)

There are several ways to make money online, but many of them are not “real businesses”.

Granted, people are making cool money from sports betting and “get-paid-to” schemes (where they’re paid to real emails or complete surveys). But the truth is, they are not real businesses, and serious-minded people shouldn’t waste their time on these risky or time-wasting ventures.

A real online business is one that you own, control, and bear full responsibility for its successes and failures (my definition). And if you really want to make money online over a long period, then set up a real business.

how to find the right online business

The following are examples of real online businesses that are very lucrative:

  1. Information marketing
  2. Affiliate marketing
  3. Freelancing
  4. Website flipping
  5. Blogging

(I have explained these businesses briefly in this post: 6 Proven, Risk-free Ways to make Real Money Online in Nigeria.)

Now, how do you make the right choice from among these businesses?

Of course, you can easily combine two or more of these businesses. But you have to start with one, which should be based on your passion and your knowledge or skills.

Let me start with the businesses that are for specific categories of people

Freelancing is for you if you have skills such as writing, website design and development, programming, data entry, search engine optimization, graphics design, video creation, editing, translation, video transcription, and so on.

Website flipping is for you if you’re a prolific writer, and you’re patient enough to develop a website from scratch into a money-spinner. Or better yet, you must be ready to spend lots of cash on content creation if you’re not a good writer yourself.

To start a website flipping business, you must have moderate to advanced knowledge of SEO, website transfer between hosts, HTML and CSS, and so on. So, this business may not be very suitable for beginners.

Information marketing is for you if you have some knowledge or skill that many people are yearning to have. Or if you’re very good at researching the web and collating high quality information that will solve people’s problems, end their worries, and answer their questions.

In addition, to succeed as an information marketer, you must be very good at marketing and writing compelling sales copies that will convince and convert prospects quickly.

Suggested:   7 Memorable Times I Failed Woefully at Online Business (And Lessons for You)

Now, let’s look at online businesses that anyone can start and succeed at…

Blogging and affiliate marketing are two online businesses that anyone can venture into.

As an affiliate marketer, you can market any product that is related to your chosen business. And you can really make a lot of money from this.

Blogging is the mother of all online businesses (I’ll explain this in more detail in the 4th lesson or so). Even if you’re going into freelancing, affiliate marketing, or information marketing, having a blog around your business will boost your profit in the long run.

In addition, if you have no services to render as a freelancer or no information product to market, blogging would still be suitable for you. Just start a blog around a topic that interests you, develop it and you’ll make money through various means — Adsense, affiliate marketing, private ads, sponsored review posts, etc.

So, what’s best for you?

It all depends on your knowledge, skills, passion, and interest. Think and find the right business for you. You can start with a list of options and then narrow down to the best.

What’s yours?

What online business do you think is most suitable for you? Or are you still having problems making the choice? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

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