7 Best Online Business Ideas To Start In 2022 For Beginners

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With everything that has been going on in the world lately, more and more people are turning to the internet to make money, so in this article, I’m going to share with you what I believe are the best online businesses that you can start this year even if you don’t have a lot of money. So let’s get started and discuss some of the best online businesses you should start this year and beyond.

1. Become a micro-influencer

So, what exactly is a micro-influencer? You’ve probably heard of the term, but an influencer is someone who has a large social media following and is paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote a skincare product or something similar. The term “micro-influencer” is relatively new. Essentially, it’s when you have a much smaller following, say 1000 or 500 followers, but you have a community that is really invested in what you’re saying and the type of topic that you’re discussing.

So, rather than focusing on a broad general niche, such as being a popular vlogger, a micro micro-influencer may focus on a specific niche, such as fly fishing or cooking vegan cookies, and the people who follow them, while it may not be a large audience, as I mentioned earlier, it could be 500 or 1000 people, are very invested in what you have to say and the content that you create.

So, as a micro-influencer, you’d essentially be posting content on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and so on, and you’d be creating content specifically for this topic. The great thing is that even if you don’t have a million Instagram followers or a million YouTube subscribers, you do have 1000 really dedicated followers who are true mega fans, as opposed to a million followers who don’t really care about you.

These mega fans are much more likely to buy your merchandise, such as t-shirts or hoodies, or if you have a course, such as a micro-course or a mini-course that you put out for, they’re much more likely and much more invested to buy that from you because they’re so invested in what you’re talking about. That’s one of the best things about websites: it’s very simple to launch different products and generate different income streams directly from the website.

2. Start a blog

Blogs are still extremely popular and a great way to make money online. It’s much easier these days to set up a blog for free using services like WordPress, Blogger, Squarespace, Wix, and others and have it up and running within a day or two. I would advise you not to do your blog on a broad topic; instead, focus on a smaller niche that targets micro-businesses.

I mentioned an influencer kind of community before, and that way you’ll get people who are very targeted, and the traffic will be really good for you in case you want to sell them something.

So whether you’re going to be selling merchandise directly from your blog maybe you can also be selling ads like using google Adsense and just getting ads similar to how you would have on youtube but running on your website. You could also do affiliate marketing which is one of my favorite ways in which you can make money online.

Affiliate marketing is essentially a way in which you refer people to a product or service and you get a commission if they end up buying that service. That’s one of the best things about websites: it’s very simple to launch different products and generate different income streams directly from the website.

Amazon is a great example, and I’m sure you’ve all heard of it. Amazon.com is the world’s largest online retailer, and they have one of the largest affiliate programs, so if I recommend a product to you and link you to Amazon, and you go there following my link, whatever you buy in the next 24 hours, I’ll get a commission.

3. Become a virtual assistant

I talk about this one a lot because I think it’s a really good online business that you can do if you don’t have a lot of practical skills but you can help people and you know how to navigate your way around the internet. A virtual assistant is a personal assistant who works entirely online. You’ll generally use something like Zoom or Skype to contact the person you’ll be working with, and then you’ll use different programs like Google Docs to assist them with various projects.

For example, you could assist them with their emails, ensuring that they are properly sorted and that the emails that they require are delivered to them. You can also assist them with appointment scheduling, phone calls, and travel arrangements. An entry-level Virtual Assistant with less than one year of experience can expect to earn an average total compensation (tips, bonus, and overtime pay) of $16.08 per hour, according to payscale.

4. Become a freelance writer

If you’re a stay-at-home mother or father who wants to have that freedom without having to work a 9–5 job, another cool online business you can start is freelance writing. People need content for their blogs and don’t want to have to write it all the time, so if you’re able to write blog content for someone else and have the skills, you can write such an article and get paid for it.

For example, I’m a full-time blogger, and I recently received a contract from a blockchain company to write an article for their publication, for which I was paid $500 for a single 1000-word article. Isn’t that cool? If you want to become a freelance writer, the best place to start is on a marketplace like Fiverr or Upwork and set your own rate per word.

5. Start a podcast

This is the hot new thing right now because everyone is starting a podcast, and one of the things I really like about a podcast is that you have the listener’s attention much more than you would on, say, a YouTube video. You might have your attention for three minutes on YouTube, and then you’ll know to click off and go watch another video you’ve already watched. People, on the other hand, usually listen to the entire podcast and leave it on in the background when they listen to podcasts. So, while a YouTube video may last 10 minutes, a podcast may last an hour, and people will always listen to it while doing something else.

So a podcast is a great online business because you can monetize it in a variety of ways. You can have various video and ad sponsors, as well as various affiliates that you can promote and discuss in the link description. You can also set up a Patreon membership, which is a type of campaign in which people can pay $5 per month to support your podcast. If you have the ability, I would recommend doing a video podcast as well because I believe they are more engaging.

6. Start print-on-demand

Print-on-demand is when you create a design for something like a t-shirt or a hoodie and then use a service like Printful, Teespring, Spreadshirt, or Redbubble to print the t-shirt for you, package the t-shirt for you, and ship it off, and you essentially get to keep the profit after all of that. All you have to do is come up with some cool designs, which you can do using an expert on a platform like a Fiver, which is also a great way to do it.

7. Become a Youtube content creator

It’s comparable to being a micro-influencer. Of course, there are a lot of big YouTube channels that have one million, two million, or five million subscribers, but there are also a lot of really profitable channels that have 500 or 1000 subscribers and make a full-time living off of it. You can begin earning money from ad revenue once your channel meets the YouTube monetization requirement. However, there are numerous ways to earn money from YouTube channels that do not require monetization.

Key Takeaway

As you can see, the opportunities for starting an online business are limitless, and you can get started with little or no money. You don’t have to pay rent or monthly expenses in the beginning (except perhaps for email marketing), and you’re not tied to a single location, so there’s very little reason not to try to build your own online business. Whether or not you decide it’s for you in the long run, you can at least create an asset and connect with others who could benefit from what you have to offer.