There is no doubt that the internet has opened up endless possibilities to develop successful business models that are much less expensive than traditional models.

Have you ever thought of starting an online business?

Surely you have! But despite having the motivation and very innovative idea, you will most likely encounter the problem we all go through at the beginning:

What business can you succeed with on the Internet?

There are about 5 business models that will make you successful. Online businesses that require more or less investment in technology, but that, if done well, will allow us to succeed on the Internet.

Regardless of the business model you choose, there are a series of factors that we must take into account in order to be successful:

• • The business idea should be strong
  • Eliminate the mentality of scarcity from which many entrepreneurs start. You must invest to succeed.
  • In online business, creativity will be a key factor to engage users and differentiate from the fierce competition.
  • Surround ourselves with good collaborators and experts to be able to cover the different work areas needed to approach an online business: web design, programming, graphic design, digital marketing…

1. Living from online advertising

Bloggers, Youtubers, instagrammers and influencers in general, who have a high number of followers and to whom the brands are raffled off to promote their products.

It is not easy to succeed but it can be done. And there are many examples that can be found on the Internet.

The modes of this online business model are diverse:

• • Vlog. Just like a blog, but in video format. Usually on YouTube, but now also on Instagram TV.
  • Social networks. Most of them are on Instagram and additionally, they have a blog.
  • YouTube channel. Where you publish videos of various topics.

What makes this business model more profitable, more than what Google can pay you to insert advertising in your channel, are the collaborations with brands.

In exchange for showing or talking about a product on your online channel, companies can pay thousands of euros, depending on the degree of influence you have achieved.

In interviews conducted by different media or some of these influencers, all agree that, to succeed in this type of business, you need:

• • A lot of perseverance and almost daily publications.
  • Audiovisual content in high quality video or image format.
  • Creativity and knowing how to bring something different to engage your audience.

2. Having a successful blog

It’s not just about setting up a blog in WordPress and publishing posts. This does not generate profits.

It’s about getting a blog with thousands of daily visits that we can monetize through the sale of our services or info products. With this business model, if done well, you can reach turnover figures of up to more than 5 per month.

The keys to success are:

• Specialization, the more expert you are in a particular subject, the better.
• Once again, you have to publish regularly.
• Generate valuable and interesting content for your target audience.
• Work very well on SEO and all areas of digital marketing to get many visits to your blog.
• Design digital services or products that can be useful for your audience.

3. Freemium, offers free + charge extras

Freemium is short for Free + Premium. It is about offering free products or services and charging for certain features.

It can be applied to different businesses:

• Video games. Donate you play for free, but you can buy extra lives or additional features.
• Software applications or services. It offers a basic free version, but if you want to improve the features, you will have to pay for them.
• Audiovisual content platforms. There are free or limited access movie, ebooks or music platforms with a premium version where you can access all the content or improve the features of the service.

What factors should you take into account to be successful?

The value we offer for free vs. the value of payment. In addition to offering a powerful and better free version than the competition, the payment option must be even better for the customer to be willing to pay for it.

Launch only the free version for a while, collect user feedback and based on that, decide what features you can include in the premium version.

Attracting users and customers will be key, you must work to the maximum in all areas of digital marketing to achieve the greatest dissemination of your product or service and get the maximum number of users possible. Keep an eye on the cost of acquisition of each client.

4. Subscription based model

It consists of finding within our business a repetitive pattern of purchase that is periodic.

A periodic fee is charged, usually monthly, through a subscription and users are offered a product or service that has a repetitive and periodic purchase pattern.

Subscription models can be:

• Fixed: Paid for a certain number of users or products known in advance. For example: a digital magazine, a box of beauty products every month, weekly homemade menus.
• Unlimited: You can use it unlimited. For example, unlimited access to a content platform or software application.
• Limited: A certain number of products or services are purchased for later use. For example: vouchers for a gym, hotel, etc.
• Base and pay per use: It consists of the payment of a base fee that allows access to the service and after a payment per use or amount of product. For example: the supply of gas or electricity.

To achieve a successful subscription business model, you must think very carefully about these points:

• Define the periodicity very well. It has to be a product or service that can be enjoyed over time repeatedly.
• How will you charge for the subscription? The ideal is an annual fee and include some discount for it, although you can also offer the possibility of paying every month.
• Build customer loyalty. It is important to look for links that unite us to our client and keep them satisfied with the subscription service so that they keep renewing over and over again.
• Influence the subscription decision. Offer some free trial period so that the client can try the service and decide to sign up.

5. Online store, a more affordable option

Creating an online store is relatively easy, although the complicated part is succeeding and being successful.

Let’s see how to achieve it.

Among the options discussed above, the investment at the technological level is one of the least expensive. Similar to setting up a blog, as long as we use an open source platform such as WooCommerce or Prestashop.

To succeed on the Internet with this online business model, you must work more as the competition is much greater.

To succeed with an online store, you must take into account the following factors:

• Specialization is a plus. Choose a specialized market niche, where the competition is less and the interest of users for this type of products is greater.
• Before investing in the online store, if you have your own product, validate your product in marketplaces such as Amazon. It will give you a feedback of the interest of the online users for your product.
• If you sell physical products, logistics will play a key role in the satisfaction of your customers and your bottom line.
• Make the shopping experience easier for your users, from the moment they search for the product in Google until it reaches their home.
• You will have to boost sales through promotions and discounts that encourage your users to buy. This is one of the decisive factors when it comes to buying online.
• The SEO of your online store will be decisive to attract visitors and potential customers to your website. Think about how users will search for your products on Google.
• The investment in online marketing must be regular and constant. Try out the different online promotion channels to determine which ones work best for you.

Author Bio:

Hi, I am Nikesh Mehta owner and writer of this site.

I’m an analytics professional and also love writing on finance and related industry. I’ve done online course in Financial Markets and Investment Strategy from Indian School of Business.

I can be reached at nikeshmehta@allonmoney.com. You may also visit my LinkedIn profile.