Outside of a tiny number who become wealthy overnight thanks to a lottery win or they inherit a distant relative's fortune, for most of us there is only one avenue.
You start a business. What business? Well that depends on your current knowledge, your experience. previous job history, and perhaps your interests. Somewhere within that whole database of knowledge, skills and contacts that sit within you, there is a potential business if you show enough desire to make it happen.
In the 21st Century we are blessed with new opportunities thanks to the incredible internet opportunities that now exist. In particular, if you decide to sell information or something else that is available in digital format, then you have an amazing chance to build something big with relatively little investment.
A digital product business means:
- No need to go overseas to buy goods, import them back into the UK and then store them in a warehouse. That can take some serious money.
- If you're making the product rather than selling someone else's, no need to pay a manufacturer for specialised tooling to build it and then commit to a massive minimum order quantity.
- No need to pay for sales reps or spend the time 'on the road' selling (although that of course remains optional and may in some circumstances still work well)
- A potential customer base that is instantly worldwide
- The only equipment you need will be a decent computer and a broadband connection.
- In most cases, the chance to receive payment in full as soon as the sale is made. So the business has positive cash flow as soon as sales occur.
The downside is almost a product of the upside. The relative ease of entry to the market means that there will be a crowded market and you need to be at the top of your game to distinguish yourself from the pack.
What's more, with no or little face to face contact, it will be harder for a small unknown business to get traction and trust from your potential customers. There are however methods you can deploy to overcome this. Stay tuned for more on this.
So where do you begin? Well you need to be sure of your niche and a plan as to the specific or type of product you're going to sell. That may change as you begin your journey but you need to focus.
The big 3 online information areas are:
1. Making Money Online inc 'how to' digital marketing products
2. Health and Fitness inc weight loss, fitness training
3. Relationships inc dating, counselling
Remember there are other large markets too. If you're not sure then use Google AdWord's Keyword Planner.
Quite simply you tap in a set of key words and Google will show you the average monthly search and the amount of competition assessed for that word. So in the print below you will see:
that the number of people searching for Make Money Online is 135,000 people worldwide on average with high competition. You should try other variations too to see how each possible keyword search compares. Using the same for 'dating' was 368,000 and for 'weight loss' was 246,000. Interestingly the number for the world's biggest participatory pastime, fishing, was also 246,000 but with low competition. So potentially a unexplored market for a massive interest of so many people. 'Football' came up with a search volume of 2.24 million - food for thought! Even more interesting perhaps - Facebook came up with a steady 3.76 billion with low competition.
Only you will know what excites you but do go into selecting your area of business with care. This tool will give you really insightful data that previously would have required painstaking painful market research and without the degree of statistical accuracy.
It will give you the ability to properly assess how viable your business proposal actually is.
Andy Snowdon
The Online Oracle
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