With a recession looming in 2023 and many people unexpectedly being laid off from their job, it is a good strategy to develop a online business to bring in second income or your only income that needs to be up and running easily to make sales. Below, you’ll find the best 10 businesses you can start online easily without a degree or special training. There are many zero to low-cost options in the list, making it perfect for anyone on a budget – including college students and seniors!
#1 – You can promote as an Affiliate Marketer
If you want something where you’re not having to create anything, but you just get to promote other peoples’ products, then affiliate marketing might be the best option for you.
You can start out for free using social networking platforms, but many people like to invest a small amount in their own domain (about $17 a year) and hosting account (under $10 a month) so they can install WordPress and have an affiliate blog of their own.
Start putting content where you’re reviewing products on your blog or accounts and use your affiliate link to promote digital or tangible products that you recommend so you can earn a nice commission!
#2 – You can sell your expertise packaged into infoproducts
Many consumers purchase information online that teaches them what they want to know. Whether it’s how to lose weight, how to make money online, how to train their pet or how to lessen their stress, they often prefer an immediate download over having to order a physical book and wait for its delivery days later.
You can create digital eBooks or video membership products to sell your information. Many people create an entire line of products, using previous info products as upsells in their funnel.
When you sell as an info product creator, you can recruit affiliates to promote for you and increase your earnings significantly. All you need is a website where you can create a sales letter to sell from, and a free account on a platform where affiliates can sign up to promote your launch.
#3 – You can work as a freelancer
Freelance service providers include people who ghostwrite for others, create graphic designs for them, work as virtual assistants and more. You can sign up for an account on Fiverr or Upwork and get started.
All you’ll do is bid on projects that you feel you can complete, work in a timely manner and deliver it to the customer when it’s completed. With this business model, you’re trading time for money, so you’ll want to increase your rates over time.
#4 – Use your content creation skills to profit as a Private Label Rights Seller
Private label rights content (PLR) is content that you write (or record if you’re selling video PLR) once, just as you would with ghostwriting – but instead of selling it to just one buyer, you can sell it to multiple buyers to use as their own.
PLR can be sold on a store of your own or as launches where you bundle up content and sell it at a discount for a short period of time, and affiliates can promote it so you bring in more money in a short period of time.
#5 – Launch an online coaching program without a degree
Did you know that you don’t need to have a degree in order to be a coach? There are many people who start their own online coaching business where they guide people in many different ways including life coaching, making money online, fitness and more.
You’ll need a website where you promote your coaching program, or you might want to wield the power of social media platforms to do that. You also need content you can use to coach your people, and a method of interacting with them – either through written, verbal or video communication.
#6 – You can tap into creative opportunities
Many people mistakenly think you have to be accepted by an agent and traditional publisher to write aa book but thanks to Amazon and other platforms, you can self publish and reach an audience of buyers with ease.
It won’t cost you anything ahead of time to publish on Amazon (they take a small fee out of every sale), but you will need to carefully edit and polish up your book and create (or have created) a professional cover for it so you can be competitive.
#7 – Work as a Virtual Assistant
If you were in administrative job and your skills in the office can help an entrepreneur to run their business, you are in demand. Many entrepreneurs don’t have the time to do all the systems they need to run their business like building sales funnels or setting up a social media campaign.
All you would need is a website with a portfolio of your skills and testimonials from previous clients to help sell your services. Your services could be done as a monthly or hourly fee and once your business grows, you could hire others to actually do the work while you sell the service.
#8 – Be a middleman selling inventory with Dropshipping
Another twist on selling other peoples’ products that’s a bit different from affiliate marketing is being a middleman for products. As a dropshipper, you’ll promote products from others on your own website, accept the payment for whatever you marked it up to, and then pay the manufacturer their cost so they can ship it out to the customer.
As an FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) worker, you’ll find products you can purchase and have shipped to Amazon warehouses. You’ll create listing marked up from the price you paid for them originally and when a sale occurs, Amazon will ship it out to your customer for you.
#9 – Create digital downloads and start a business as a Printables Seller
Have you ever bought a digital file from Etsy or Shopify? Sellers there are creating things like wall art, calendars, trackers, planners, journal pages and more – and selling the files they create over and over again (similar to PLR, except the content is for personal use only).
You’ll be paying Etsy a small fee from each sale, so you’ll want to learn how to create digital or printable products and then upload the listings to your profile. The more you create, the more profits you stand to make, and they can keep earning for you for years!
#10 – Thrive as a Content Marketing Strategist
More entrepreneurs and larger brands are struggling to understand and maintain all of their company’s content needs that are spread out across their blog, email list and social profiles on numerous platforms.
You can position yourself as a content marketing strategist who comes up with content ideas, creates or sources the content, and manages a consistent publishing schedule for optimal traffic generation.
Now you have some ideas, so you get to decide where you want to start to build a business. But keep in mind that working as an online entrepreneur means you can build more than one business at a time, so you’re not limited by your selections.