Stock photos and videos
This may have been profitable 10 years ago but now there are so many providers of stock footage that the market is saturated and not worth pursuing. AI generated images are also going to disrupt this market.
Ecommerce
Ecommerce can be very profitable. There are a few forms of ecommerce that seem to work very well.
- A simple product that is branded and marketed. Some element of virality helps with this. This includes products such as the Oodie sleeping jacket or the Nakie hammock. These products are sourced in China, rebranded and heavily marketed on social media.
- An importer with multiple products within a certain category of goods, for example fitness, kitchenware, beauty products etc which are then sold on Amazon, etsy and ebay. These businesses can be very profitable once they reach suitable scale and have a good reputation.
- A single large and high priced product with good customer support and that is well marketed. Such things could include outdoor kitchens, clawfoot baths or Gazebos. The high price and difficulty of transport discourages competition from cheap overseas retailers.
Importers can now get their orders fulfilled by Amazon and others. This service allows the importer to concentrate on marketing.
Dropshipping
There is money to be made importing and selling products. The problem with dropshipping appears to be advertising cost and competition. For a little extra effort fulfillment by Amazon is a better alternative.
Youtube
It is next to impossible to make a good income on Youtube based on views alone. Advertising pays next to nothing. There is a great opportunity to leverage the views to promote another product. This could be paid promotions, a book, course or another item. Mr Beast uses this method very successfully, with income from burgers, Mountain Dew, Amazon and Nike contributing to his channel. Jordan Peterson sells books and courses. The Vagabond’s sailing adventures appear to be mostly funded through Patreon donations.
Blogs and affiliate marketing
I am skeptical of making money with blogs. The problem is that it is very hard to get the site discovered. Once discovered there needs to be some way to monetize the traffic.
Destination guides such as My Boracay Guide make money by promoting activities and hotels in that location and earning a commission in the process. Travel blogs can make money by selling ebook travel guides. The most profitable blogs appear to be ones that review products and place affiliate links in their description, such as the many camera review blogs around. Other blogs build a community within a subject or hobby, perhaps homesteading, gold detecting or starting business. They then promote online courses, ebooks or affiliate products to their patrons.
Online course
Online courses can be extremely profitable. The successful course must be very well marketed, sold and promoted by every means possible. Every avenue of promotion must be satisfied. If it is on a site such as Udemy it needs to be extremely well presented and in a subject that is in demand and without much competition. Many course builders provide substandard material and expect to have success. The internet is littered with unsuccessful course delivery sites. The best online educators pick a topic and become the expert in it.
Publish ebook
This is similar to the courses. The ebook does not succeed by itself. It must be well written and well marketed. It must also be in a topic that is in demand and without too much competition. The writer of the ebook needs to promote their own profile in order to sell the book.
Freelance
If they are good enough a freelancer can do very well. This does not come easily though, there are thousands of substandard freelancers prepared to complete any task for a low price. Only the best will succeed. They will always do well as many customers are not too worried about the final cost, what they need is a great product without any mishaps or complications.
Selling apps
I know many people who have tried and failed in making apps for the general public. The competition is too great and all the low hanging fruit has been picked already. Making apps for certain industries does appear to be profitable however. Even to this day people are successfully building and selling patient management software or caravan park marketing programs. The problem to be solved is always very well identified in these situations.
Trade stocks
Trading stocks is what I have been doing for the past 15 years. This can be a great way to make money but I do not recommend it. Making money is entirely dependent on the market conditions. If the market goes up trading will be profitable, if it falls it will not. There is potential to make money with more aggressive day trading strategies. The problem is the need to be disciplined to a degree that is not possible without seriously affecting your normal life. It can be done but people must be extremely cautious. Longer term trading strategies are more suitable to the average person. Profit and loss depends on the market rising or falling. There are clues to identify the market conditions, the most reliable being the charts.
Another problem with trading stocks is that most people have unrealistic expectations. At least $100,000 is needed to make any sort of living return. $200,000 would be better. I have been trading with short term strategies for many years and I calculate on making 30% as a long term average annual figure. This is not every year. Some years will be -30% other years positive 50%.
Start podcast
Do not start a podcast!
Conclusion
As a summary I would say that online wealth can be made through ecommerce or selling a course or book that someone has taken a great deal of time to make himself an expert in and market effectively. Self promotion is a key aspect of any marketing campaign.