Easy Online Businesses to Start, Including Marketing and Blogging

Find out the need of your potential online business

It’s important for would-be founders to make sure the product or service is needed in the marketplace, said Cynthia Franklin, a professor of entrepreneurship at New York University.

When deciding what type of business to start, “see where social forces are directed and see if you can get ahead of the trend” is a good start, he said.

“Start by scratching the itch,” Franklin suggests to aspiring online business owners. “Whatever you do, find something that interests you because you will need to put in a lot of time and energy to make it successful.”

Here are 5 of the easiest online businesses to start in 2023.

1. Content creation and social media management

Content creation and social media management can be simple and lucrative businesses to start. With many free or cheap editing platforms and tools, the field has low financial barriers to entry and is popular given the prevalence of social media. But popularity also means competition can be tough.

Lauren Mabra and Lauren Ferry are the Gen Z founders of the social media advertising agency lauren taggingwhich was released in 2021.

His business helps other brands write, shoot, and produce ads and social media campaigns. specialize in marketing intended to reproduce the appearance of user-generated contentor the kind of material that a social media user might post every day from their iPhone, Mabra said.

“We saw that it was a broken system,” Mabra said. “Businesses had to do it in-house, and many teams are already understaffed and overburdened, or they go to influencers and pay $2,000 for a single video. How sustainable is that when you need new videos every single week?”

Before Lauren Labeled’s website launched, it already had a waiting list of clients, Mabra said. Now, the company regularly posts five-figure revenue a month, documents verified by Insider show.

2. Training

Online coaching has grown in recent yearswhether entrepreneurs offer virtual exercise classes, leadership advice, or guidance on starting a business.

Amy Lee, for example, is a life coach.. He made nearly $60,000 in revenue in his first 10 months in business, documents verified by Insider show.

Credentials are not required for life coaches, Lee said. While this can make some coaching communities seem like the Wild West, it also creates a low barrier to entry for professionals looking to get into the space.

Other types of trainers, such as Jessica Hawks, seek to help their clients build startups.

Business coaching is an option for those who want to share their experience in a certain field. Hawks began his online career as a virtual assistant, and when he realized his community was looking for advice on starting their own VA agencies, he launched his training program, Digital Creatives Academy.

Hawks posts seven figures in sales a year, according to documents verified by Insider.

3. Blogging

Blogs are another popular business avenue, especially for those who can share knowledge on a particular topic.

For example, Lisa Andrea, the creator of The Financial Cookbook, started her blog as a side hustle in 2021. She shares tips on becoming financially independent and investing, along with other money guidance. “The Financial Cookbook is a guide to everything we should have been taught in school,” she said. previously told Insider.

His sources of income include affiliate marketing and brand partnerships. She recommends that other bloggers and digital founders take advantage of the company’s affiliate programs by applying to be a part of them online, like she did.

But it’s also important to stay authentic and only work with companies that align with your brand’s message, he added. That way, your community will stay engaged and more interested in the links you’re promoting, which can help you earn more money.

Andrea regularly posts $8,000 in monthly income, documents verified by Insider show.

4. Virtual assistance

Vivian Purcell is a virtual assistant living in Canada. She began her online career as a freelance writer in 2016, seeking the flexibility to travel and live where she wanted, she said.

“I made the switch to virtual assistant because I wanted to bring more of my corporate experience and educational training to freelancing to deliver something of greater value,” he said.

Purcell made more than $132,000 in sales in 2022 from her work as a virtual assistant, documents verified by Insider show.

virtual assistants can work with both small business clients and large companies looking to hire contract or one-time employees, said Arun Sundararajan, a professor of entrepreneurship and technology, operations and statistics at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

“It’s getting harder and harder to hire full-time employees for anything,” said Sundararajan, who is also the author of “The sharing economy.” “So more and more companies that didn’t consider gig work are now looking at freelance or gig workers as an option.”

5. Marketing

Cody May is a digital nomad founder who built his business entirely online. He runs SheridanSt., a real estate agent marketing company.

Sheridan St. assists agents with tasks like lead generation along with email and call marketing. In 2017, he stepped down from his corporate role and applied his marketing experience to start StudioPTBO, the precursor to SheridanSt. Then, in 2021, he connected with his current business partner, who was working in real estate, to relaunch the company within the real estate niche, he said.

It recruited most of its staff by offering a fully remote and travel-friendly workplace, it added. In addition, the online real estate sector is a hot sector: the 2022 Home Buyers and Sellers Profile Report from the National Association of Realtors found that 51% of buyers this year found the home they bought online.