Online Business: Check for More Ideas for Beginners

In blog, business, How To Guides by Mike's Blog Team4 Comments

Looking to dive into the world of online business and blogging? We have broken it down into a few sections in this guide today:

Why Online Businesses Are Great Investments

Which Industry of Online Business Should You Pick (Niche Selection)

Steps For Starting Once You’re Ready

Now, let’s get started!

First, why?!…  

Online Business is the Best Investment

Entrepreneurs are thirsty for more business opportunities. Thus, they explore and seek more business ideas to venture. A disadvantage of finding a new business opportunity is it will slowly marginalize the chance to prosper. However, entrepreneurs discover more appealing opportunities in the online business.

Online business is the best investment because it does not have the struggles and challenges of the traditional business ventures. We all know that each business venture starts at a slow pace, just like the online business. However, online business has the opportunity to share their products and services through the Internet. This gives online business the advantage of having worldwide customers.

There are more opportunities in this type of business because the technology advancement gives allows the prospective customers and business owner to transact and operate the business any time, anywhere.

The ability to make the business for 24 hours without any geographical limitations means that the world is in your hands. Do you want to start your own business? Read more about the online business ideas.

Second, what niche?!…  

Finding A Niche For Your Website

When getting started – you should be so excited! You have the world in front of you. You can choose any topic, any name, anything in the world.

So don’t be overwhelmed, be excited!

In this section of starting a blog, I want to go through various niches you can build your blog around. Now here is something counterintuitive – if a lot of people are already doing it – GOOD! Starting a niche where no one is already blogging about it is not as great as it sounds. Sure, if it becomes a hot topic and you’re one of the first – that is the jackpot, but often that niche may stay small and in low demand (not good).

You want to pick a niche that has demand, and you can put your own angle / spin on it.

Automotive Niche

  • Cars – so many people are avid car fans. You can blog about old hot rods, new trends, self driving cars. Attend car shows, create video tutorials, the sky is the limit in the car niche.
  • Motorcycles – I have a friend who did really well launching a headphone brand specifically for motorcycle bikers. You can enjoy visiting biker babes at trade shows, talking about increasing performance, selling products, motorcycles is also a massive niche.
  • Other Automotive – Airplanes, trains, new technology in transportation.

Business Niche

  • Finance – One of my favorite niches, this is for discussing the action of saving money, loans, raising capital, banking, optimizing your cashflow.
  • Forex – Foreign Exchange. You can make a tool that helps convert currency pricing or locate places online where you can convert your cash.
  • Insurance – very rich niche! All sorts of insurance here, from life insurance, cars, health. You can have a comparison site or do a lead generation (send the forms people fill out to insurance companies).
  • Jobs – Everyone is looking for a job. Create a job board in a certain industry, or write up articles helping people prepare for their next job hunt.
  • Law – As the world becomes more global, people are nervous about structuring their contracts. You can have templates, you can send them to lawyers, you can have message boards. Tons of opportunity.
  • Productivity – Another one I enjoy – who doesn’t like to get more done in the same amount of time? Here you can review software, new tactics, and have community message boards of people to improve their effectiveness.
  • Real Estate – People will be wanting to own their own home for the foreseeable future. You can help them learn how to decide, how to start their search, or if you are brave enough, a listing site with various real estate opportunities.
  • Sales and Marketing – businesses will forever need to up their skills in sales and marketing. More and more businesses are doing online advertising and they need to differentiate themselves and grow. You can help them.
  • Shopping – A wide ranging niche here, but can be a shopping comparison, or retail.
  • Other Business – The business niche is massive, and anything helping someone start, grow, or optimize a company would fall under this niche.

Design and Style Niche

  • Art – For those who are loving paintings and the natural and original form of art. You can sell paintings online, sell the digital prints, or make a platform to connect art lovers.
  • Fashion – Women, as well as men, are concerned about what everyone thinks of them. You can help with a fashion blog. Give style outlines, keep on top of the trends, and more.
  • Jewelry – Similar to fashion, but you can focus more on the buying and selling of fine jewels, or reviewing them.
  • Logos – every business needs a logo. Heck even here at Mike’s Blog we have getting a logo on our todo list.
  • Photography – A photo is worth a thousand words. You can help people learn how to take photos, one part of this I have been studying is e-commerce product photos, growing massively.
  • Tattoos – Putting art on your body, you can explain the dos and do nots. You can have a community of tattoo artists, and more.
  • Other Design and Style – Probably the biggest niche in my opinion, as everyone is concerned about their clothes and their look. As more go online and the population grows, this niche will only continue to grow.

Education Niche

  • College and Courses – Its debatable about the future of colleges in my opinion, but for sure people will always need to learn new skills. You can make a learning platform online, community of students, and more.
  • Languages – As more people travel and it becomes more achievable and affordable, they will need to learn the languages. You can help them, do videos, have platforms to connect language lovers, and more.
  • Scholarships – Smart people sometimes don’t have the ability to pay for their own schooling, and you can make a platform to help them do this.
  • Study Guides and Tutorials – Maybe you can call them cliff notes or cheat sheets. Honestly I learned the most when I was consolidating my notes and making them into a concise summary. You can make a site to help prep learners for their tests.
  • Other Education – Education will never go away, even if Google knows everything, humans will want to be educated / have their own knowledge.

Electronics Niche

  • Cameras – We discussed photography in the design niche above, this would be more for the buying and selling, or reviewing, of camera.
  • Cell/Mobile Phones – everyone has a phone, my wife and I have 2. Well, she has 3. So that means a lot of information needs to be put online about all these phones! Reviews, how to, how to fix, parts, etc.
  • Computers – more like laptops now, no? But more gadget things to talk about, can also dive into the software for computers and optimizing, maybe also anti-virus.
  • Tablets and E-Readers – I love my Kindle. Many of my friends still not using e-readers and need to be educated. Carrying a physical book around you should not be allowed anymore. Start a blog to help people learn.
  • Televisions – probably merging with computers soon, but adding TVs to know gadget website or electronics ecommerce store is a good option.
  • Other Electronics – So much in the electronics niche. If you’re a gadget lover, tons of chances here for you.

Entertainment Niche

  • Books – Amazon got started in the book niche, so can’t be a bad one, right? Everyone is reading, well, smart people at least, and you can help this market with summaries, recommendations, book clubs and more.
  • Celebrities – something I am totally not into, but if you like celebrity gossip, it is a huge traffic source.
  • Events – Be seen with the coolest people. I used to run a guest list company for NYC night clubs, think that would fall under this.
  • Film – Movies maybe? This is about the art of creating a show, I would say both in person and online.
  • Humor – Who doesn’t like a laugh? I think many of the first websites on the internet were about jokes, and still is a top niche.
  • Music – Enjoy talking about or reviewing the top 50 music charts? Probably could mix this up with video, audio, and text content to become an influencer in this industry.
  • Television – Netflix is taking over! People want to get the latest content and are looking for sources to find new shows, reviews, and connect with others.
  • Other Entertainment – So much in this niche, and you can have a blast getting freebies in the space as a blogger. Imagine free movies, event tickets, music special access and more.

Lifestyle Niche

  • Baby – the circle of life. The baby niche is always going to be around so long the human species is growing! And here new parents are always lining up to learn, so you have a fresh batch of kids to get clothes, health news, and all kinds of stuff.
  • Children – Babies become kids, and then there is education, play grounds, parenting tips, and more.
  • Dating – It is almost cool to date online now (not like those sketchy early days) and you can advise people how to date, there is the whole concept of men/women building up strategies, ebooks, courses, you get the idea.
  • Wedding – before babies (normally) is a wedding. Again a new set of eyeballs on a regular basis, they need to learn about preparing, finding contractors to help them, so much knowledge and network is needed, and you can supply it.
  • XXX Adult Products – probably one of the first ecommerce stores was selling sex toys. Not talking about publicly much, but this is a monstrous massive niche.
  • Other Lifestyle – I’d some up lifestyle as things for humans at different stages of their life. The improvement of the human experience.

Food and Drink Niche

  • Cooking and Recipes – Recipes are massive. I literally just searched Google for a way to cook a certain food a friend gifted me. You can be an affiliate for the products, you can have advertising, and cook a lot of food at home too.
  • Drinks – In one of my first ecommerce businesses I sold bar products. Cocktails have cocktail books, accessories, and a massive community of bartenders. This is what I think of in the drinks category. Also coffee and tea enthusiasts.
  • Food – Foodies! The times I am interrupted from starting my meal as my friend needs to take a photo of it to share on Instagram first. Not my cup of tea – but people really love talking about their food on the internet.
  • Other Food and Drink – people need to eat! And they want to learn more about what they are eating, see what others are eating, so much to talk about here.

General Knowledge Niche

  • News and Current Affairs – news sites. Get your site into Google news and you have value right there. This normally requires quite a bit of content on a daily basis, so I’d recommend doing this only if you have journalism experience and a network of writers.
  • Politics and History – Seems votes are earned on social media. Fake news? I don’t recommend it, but it does show sharing on social is often political, and as a political blogger you can get a lot of emotions and shares (traffic equals money).
  • Religion and Spirituality – God, Buddha, Jesus. People are passionate about their maker, and if you’re into this and want to be their guide tons of people want to read your content.
  • Science and Nature – If you want to add value to the world and show them beautiful places around the world – this is a helpful niche.
  • Other General Knowledge – Educating people online will not go away. Plus, hey, it adds value to the world for the long term, so share some of your knowledge and get paid, ok?

Health and Beauty Niche

  • Beauty – beauty bloggers. Instagram photos anyone? Everyone is concerned about what others think of them, their face, their skin, etc. You can tap into this and earn money.
  • Body Building – Men, and women alike want to be fit. This niche can also overlap with health and supplements.
  • Depression and Anxiety – you will be doing the world a favor here – depression and stress are on the rise in our society and we need to do something to stop it – the more blogs here to help and prevent this the better.
  • Diet and Nutrition – With so many food choices and abundance today, eating healthy and picking the right foods is harder. Blogs that can share guides, meal plans, products, and services will fit well.
  • Fitness – not as extreme as body building, you can write about more layman strategies for staying fit while still being able to have your normal routine.
  • Hair and Hair Loss – Men (and women) suffer from hair loss. It is closely connected to self confidence and those suffering will be searching frantically for answers. Desperate customers are the best for business.
  • Medical – Massive niche, can also go into insurance, how to understand certain symptoms a reader has, comparing different medical options and more.
  • Pregnancy – Women are going through a huge change while pregnant (and men alongside them too). You can help this transition with blog and information on it.
  • Skin – I live in Asia, and there is a flooding of this whitening cream. Everyone want smooth and clear skin, and there will always be a demand for it. From anti-acne to whitening to scrubs, seems there is endless products to review.
  • Sleep and Snoring – No one wants to snore. Maybe when they are single it can work, but their significant other may force them to look into solutions, this is where you blog can come in.
    Teeth – I think kids need this, braces! Who likes going to the dentist? Maybe guide dentists can give their patients. Or teeth whitening products.
  • Weight Loss – Again, people care what others think. It is also new years as I type this up – so many have their new year resolution weight loss being a big one on the list for most.
  • Other Health and Beauty – This niche is just so massive. If you enjoy talking about these products and making solutions and explanations on how to use these tactics, you can make a lot of money.

Hobbies and Games Niche

  • Gambling – something I have mostly avoided my life, but in my younger years did go to the casino a bit. You can give strategies on blackjack and more.
  • Games – There are 2 similar topics here, so I will define games as board games. You can target the massive kid’s niche and they have a long list of products for Santa! You can help them pick which toy to get this year.
  • Gaming – I’ll call this video games. There is a massive niche of people online who watch other people play video games, and of course message boards and blogs giving the latest tips and tricks.
  • Other Hobbies and Games – chess is one I am thinking (my uncle loves it), but this niche has so much opportunity for a hobbyist who wants to blog about it.

Home and Garden Niche

  • DIY (Do It Yourself) – As a new father, and building my home nest, making my own things has this sort of fulfilling feeling. Think of Ikea products.
  • Furniture – Oversized products are a tough product line to sell on Amazon, but that makes it a great niche if you can find a spot in it. Bigger means more expensive, with bigger commission payouts!
  • Gardening – I have seen a ton of blogs making good money to help home DIY people make their own gardens. Also can play the environmental card, I’ve seen startups doing gardens on city roofs as a business.
  • Pets – people are crazy in love with their pets – maybe even more than their kids. Dogs, cats, turtles, have your pick and get blogging.
  • Toys – Having 2 kids myself, I seem to never stop buying toys. You can make a blog to help parents or help kids convince their parents.
  • Other Home and Garden – People want to decorate their house. The majority of ways to make money in this niche I feel is about promoting or selling products (e-commerce), so reviews seems to be a necessity.

Internet Niche

  • Auctions – maybe you have an eBay platform idea? Helping people liquidate their products once their kids grow up and they need to move out of their house. Making a marketplace to connect buyers and sellers is a tough nut to crack but is super valuable if done correctly.
  • Domaining – I’m somewhat in this as domains get addicting as a creative person (idea – first check if domain is available or not). With more and more TLDs (top level domains) coming out, they all need help promoting and you will be a first spot a new entrepreneur goes – so an opportunity to help in other areas too.
  • Coupons and deals – closely connected to affiliate commissions – you can help buyers find deals and promotions and get a piece of the action too.
  • Internet Marketing – I’d say Mike’s Blog fits in this category – this would be the niche of helping people promoting their business online. It is about promoting your business (marketing) via online (internet) so this is a wide category.
  • Online Community – this would be message boards and online forums. A community is very powerful, as essentially you can influence the conversation as well as learn a lot about that target market.
  • SEO – Search engine Optimization. Maybe you can be a service provider (agency) who helps companies grow their traffic online. You can also make tools and reporting systems for people to do it themselves.
  • Social Media – Instagram is really hot, ebooks for how to do it. Also tools or blogs to help people grow it themselves.
  • Traffic Generation – buying and selling of traffic (I’m not too familiar of this industry to be honest). Here you can help people to get targeted traffic to your site.
  • Web Design – Making beautiful websites that don’t just look good, but convert customers. You can have templates you sell, or a service, or teach people how to do it themselves.
  • Web Development – more of the techies, I’d put plugins for WordPress here and other codes and scripts.
  • Other Internet – if you love the internet world, either marketing, designing, or coding, this is the niche for you.

Sports and Outdoor Niche

  • Boating – I remember those boy scout summer camps! Now you can start blogging about canoes, speed boats, or yachts!
  • Camping – more boy scout stuff! 😉 A great family recreation, with a lot to learn and you to teach about.
  • Cycling – I have a friend who does a cycling podcast, very cool. Tons of rabid fans, and you can tap into this niche as well.
  • Football – Jeez – massive! Talking about the NFL sports games, selling the merchandise, this is a huge opportunity.
  • Golf – my dad loves golf – you can talk to him! But in all seriousness, another market with passionate fans excited to talk to you!
  • Hunting – not my cup of tea, but I know a lot of people who spend a ton of money on products for hunting, and you can also leverage it for how to guides and courses.
  • Other Sports and Outdoor -I didn’t notice fishing here! I have a ton of friends who go on fishing trips (maybe under hunting category?) But what I am saying is the sports and outdoor category is growing and here for the long term.

Travel Niche

  • Hotels – Maybe Airbnb will kill hotels, but the hotels need all the help they can get. You can also put Airbnb in this category too and review hot spots and top places to stay in various cities.
  • Flights and Aviation – Who isn’t searching online for last minute flight deals and cheap tickets? Get busy and get to this!
  • Guides – So many friends are teaching people how to travel to Asia, start an online business, and take the steps necessary to live the life of their dreams. Still so many people need this help, and you can be a voice in the market.
  • Vacation, holiday, and Resorts – not a bad niche to talk about. I’m sure if you get it big enough you can also get free stays at some top resorts around the world.
  • Other Travel – Travel bloggers is something I hear about all the time – so it is massive. And don’t worry if others are doing it – this means that people are making money from it and you can too!

So this hopefully got you fired up to buy some domains or start a new web project. What are you waiting for – dive into our full guide here on how to start a blog and build an online business.

Picked Your Niche Yet?

Once you picked your niche – now you need your angle – and also have unique selling proposition. In the internet space, it could be as straight forward as picking a niche and then to a specific group of people – like “pets for teenage girls”.

You can always expand to more groups of people – but the more focused on the WHAT and the WHO to launch your blog or online business is the most critical. It is the avatar you are talking to.

Finally, what steps to take?!…  

Steps To Start Your Own Online Business

Did you know that there is a sequence of steps that guarantee to lead you to success? Follow the steps when you are starting your own business. The list will truly provide you more benefits during the process and growth of your business.

Look for a market and product.

The first thing most people do is find a product. However, to increase your chance to succeed you have to start first with looking for a market. Visit some online forums to have an insight into the common problems and questions. More so, you can visit the potential competitors to make a strategy to do better.

Write a catchy and engaging content.

The contents have to engage with the readers, the product or service you offer has to catch their attention to entice them that they need your product or service.

Build and design a website for your online business.

After you have decided on your market and product, you have to set up for a website to manage more of your sales. Make the website easy to navigate and customer-friendly.

Invite web traffic to your online business.

Rank your website by optimizing it with the search engine. However, more owners of a new website opt to use pay-per-click advertising to get more web traffic and organic search results.

Email marketing with your online business.

Those who visit your website are your prospective customers. Those who have subscribed allowed you to send them emails. When you market your products and services through email it is more effective and cheaper than the other advertising methods.

Back-end and upselling.

Almost half of your valued customers will purchase more from you to entice them more, use the back-end and upsell technique. Complementary products, loyalty coupons, or product promotion makes them purchase more of your product or service.

 

When you are still at the first stage of making an online business, stick to these steps until you have understood and familiarized the principles of online business.

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Comments

  1. It makes sense that online business would be a good investment. It’s definitely important to ensure that you know what to go into. I’ll have to put some more research into these niches to see if I can choose something that would be good for me.

    1. ya it is all about researching and doing the types of business models you are comfortable with and feel the most happy doing long term.

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