About:
This is another one of those broad categories you can do a lot with. There is one thing we should get straight right off the bat: just the very fact of owning a website in and of itself will NOT make you any money at all. In fact websites didn't "naturally" start off as money-making things - that all came later. In the very, very early days of the Internet, mere mortals like you and I did not even view the web as a source profit could be taken solely and directly from. Back in those very early days, people had personal homepages and other personal websites that didn’t make any money at all (and weren’t intended to). Ok, ok, so it is not totally unheard of to still see these kinds of things today, like personal websites and pages that aren't intended to be money-making (you can take a peek at one right here [external site, opens in a new window]), but the point is that times have changed drastically. Back in those very early days, everyone from large corporations down to solopreneurs working out of their parents’ basements used the web as a source of exposure, but the vast majority of websites were just like online versions of hardcopy catalogs back in those days. You could see what a company/individual did or sold, but you still had to print out an order form and mail it in via snail mail (or, for the real hi-tech sites of the day you could do this by – imagine this – email!) with a check, money order, your credit/debit card information, or another form of payment. Or, call them. Or, big gasp again, actually take out a pen and paper and write down the street address you saw on the website and go visit them at a physical brick-and-mortar location to purchase their good or service – heaven forbid! Profiting directly and solely from the Internet was reserved for “the gods”, like Jeff Bezos and, well, let’s face it, big adult content companies and enterprising aspiring solopreneur smut-peddlers. Many in this very small handful of early birds become almost instant multi-millionaires and killed the “traditional” adult industry online almost overnight.
The early net was constantly evolving – and still is – so when I say “This is how business on the early Internet worked.”, that sometimes meant things worked that way for just a few months before the next big breakthrough in online advertising, ordering, and payment processing came out and instantly took over. The whole point of this history lesson is that while “making money on the Internet” was a phenomenon that happened quickly and grew exponentially (and still is growing), it wasn’t how the Internet and websites started out. I have laid out all this historical background here to prove the very simple point: simply owing a website, even a website that is set up to generate revenue, WILL NOT make you any money by itself. Just like simply renting or buying a commercial property on Main Street won’t make you any money in and of itself – you have to do something with it for it to make you money! With all that said, how can you make money with a website? Let’s look back at the quickly-dying brick-and-mortar world: how can you make money with a physical set-up? The answer is the sky is almost the limit. There are many, many, many different creative and not-so-creative ways to make money. The same holds true for a website, let your creative energies go with this one – it’s your website, the sky is the limit. Basically, you are going to need to offer a product or service that people will pay to buy, This can be your own product or service, or someone else’s product or service.
Here are five (5) of the more major “broad category” ways you can monetize a website:
Dropshipping – This popular method involves you, the webmaster, setting up a website that sells another party’s products. You list products for sale on your own website, promote your website, and then, when someone pays you for a product listed on your website and enters their delivery information, you pay the third party you do business with, pass on the customer’s delivery information, and then the third party delivers the product directly to the customer. You never have to keep any inventory or deal directly with the products yourself.
Selling your own products (either physical or digital, goods or services) – This works the same way as dropshipping, except these are your own products, so you will have to be responsible for dealing with the products (keeping inventory, storing them, sorting through them when you need to find something, shipping them, etc.)
Being an Affiliate/Independent Agent for a company – There is a goldmine of money to be made here; however, the drawback is you are locked into advertising and promoting the products/services the way the company you are affiliated with mandates in some way or form - sometimes there are minimal/almost no restrictions, and sometimes the restrictions are very rigid.
Multilevel Marketing (MLM) - Similar to being an affiliate or agent, but the two "camps" generally prefer to classify themselves separately. "Purist" MLM is generally more along the lines of a program you subscribe to or a physical good you purchase yourself which you then also promote to others, generally as some sort of a packaged business opportunity type deal (to one degree or another). MLM is your classic "Buy this membership/service/physical good and start working to recruit people for your downline" type of business. MLM frequently gets a bad name in many business circles, sadly because a lot of garbage MLM programs exist; however, truth be told, not all MLM set ups are bad. With that said, though, this is generally a category where you will want to tread with caution and pick your prospective program(s) carefully!
Advertising – This works the same as it has always worked, even in hardcopy publications before the advent of the Internet. The basic concept of how the money is made in this arena is exactly the same – a publisher (you, the person with the live website) posts advertisements on their website and they get paid for it. How do they get paid and how do they post the ads? This can happen in a variety of ways. The one you have the most control over is soliciting your own adverts. Invite others to send you their advertisements to post on your page and charge them for it. The only problem with this is you are going to have to have a pretty high profile page already before anyone is going to want to pay for ad space on it. Other programs include InfoLinks, Google AdSense, and numerous other programs similar to these “Big Box” names. You can run affiliate marketing like basic advertising as well, if you are not going to write reviews or do video reviews and really promote specific products, but, rather, just use a business's basic banners and post them on their website. People have been wearing “banner blinders” for almost a decade now, so you may have to get creative with this one. On the flip side, two years ago I thought this same thing and still made US$1.50 as an Amazon affiliate with just banners on my site. The customer bought the card game “Exploding Kittens” and something else (can't remember what it was). I was so excited I messaged my whole family, telling them I was on my way to become an Internet millionaire, only to have Amazon review my site within the next 12 hours, not like it, and shut me down. That, coupled with other personal family matters in my life at that particular moment, head-tailed me into some pretty intense depression for almost two years. My grandfather had also passed away in the midst of this, and other things were going on as well in my personal and professional life, so, no I wasn’t so voraciously depressed just because Amazon pulled me, although that definitely wasn’t uplifting in the midst of everything else.
So, you want to start a website but don't know what your website should be about....here are some quick ideas:
First and foremost, pick something you are passionate about. Yeah, yeah, yeah - I know, I know, you read that same thing on the last ten "make money" sites you visited! Why is the "passion" aspect so important?! Basically, in one simple sentence, this just helps you stick with it. Trust me, if you start a website that you consider boring and drudgery to maintain, you won't do it - you probably have enough boring drudgery at your "day job," right? So why would you want to do more boring work in your after hours time?
"But, Andreas," you respond, "you write in your blog posts and in other informational articles on this site that even doing something you love with a passion as a side gig or second job will have its fair share of boring drudgery, too, if you are serious about it."
My response: "Grrrrr! Yes! True! There will be aspects of boring drudgery with any side hustle you get into if you get serious about it and really 'work it', so why intentionally increase that boring drudgery? Pick something you are into rather than something you already think is boring and less of it will be boring!
Without further ado, here are some ideas for starting a website - again, I stress some, as this is a very short list sized up against a very big field:
You could start a.....
community site, educational/informational site, personal site, online store, website to promote an offline business, advertising website, or forum....and the list continues.
Here are some great examples of money-making websites (external site, opens in a new window): 50 Business Ideas People are Actually Making Money From (Complete with Examples)
A Note About Turnkey Business Websites:
As with everything, I like honesty in my promotion, and, although we hear and see the word "turnkey" thrown around on the web all the time, seldom is it given treatment to with the appropriate implications. What I mean by "Turnkey Business Website" is a website that is ready to go to make you money; however, as soon as you purchase it it becomes YOUR and only YOUR responsibility to keep that online business alive and kicking! A web business (well, any business, actually) is not a static thing!!!!! Once you buy your "turnkey" site, just like purchasing any business, it is only turnkey because it was handed to you ready to go, but make no qualms about it, YOU are the one who has to carry the business forward!!! I guess the long and the short of it is this: a "turnkey" online business site is turnkey in the sense that it is given to you ready to go, it is NOT turnkey in the sense that it will run itself on autopilot after you purchase it - few, if any, businesses do this either on or offline. If the site is advertised as "running on autopilot", trust me, you are the one who is going to be setting up that autopilot using your specifications. That is not to say I hate turnkey websites; heck, I am promoting some of the better turnkey website businesses I know in the links below. Actually, I am a big fan of turnkey websites; however, I think you must know what you are getting into if you purchase one. You are essentially buying a business opportunity that you will have to work for it to make you money. That is something that I consider fun and cool, so I am a fan of turnkey websites and have purchased (or intended to in the future - I will update this page when it happens) turnkey websites from the websites below. If that does not sound like something you would enjoy doing to make money (i.e. buying a ready-to-go website and then tinkering with it and promoting it for it to make you money), then don't do it. Remember, in the world of business, making money, and getting rich, you can never take a "one size fits all" approach - at least that's my personal philosophy.
Places you can buy turnkey business websites (external sites):
Ahead!
Turnkey Nation
Flippa
External Links/Resources to get Started:
How to set up an online store:
How to Start an Online Clothing Store in 7 Steps - Written by Tara Storozynsky, 2018, for Selz (online sales platform)
How to Start an Online Boutique [Full Guide] - Written by Tim Mattson, 2020, for HostPapa hosting company. An excellent and very detailed guide - packed full of information. Go ahead and check out the article and see how you can get discounted WordPress hosting for your online boutique today! (Article last updated November 2, 2020; accurate as of November 4, 2020, when the webmaster of Biz Opp Empire last checked the site ).
Promoting the Site Offline (something that is becoming an "untapped goldmine" because you rarely hear about it anymore like you use to):
10 Tips to Promote Your Website Offline
10 tips to promote your website offline (some choppy language, but I like the content)
5 Easy Ways to Promote Your Website Offline
5 Killer Ways to Promote Your Website Offline (U.K. based site)
Building and Maintaining the Site:
The Site Wizard - ALL the core basics of building and maintaining a website, blog, and domain at the most fundamental level - an absolute goldmine! No fancy bells or whistles here AT ALL - just good, quality fundamental information written in plain language with a "raw", old-school look and feel! One of my favorite sites on the web, no joke!
Hosting Considerations:
Digital.com
(Posted here on January 10, 2023. (C) Digital.com. Last checked for accuracy and updates by Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises LLC on January 10, 2023.)
Let's be honest, if you're going to operate a website, you are going to need to HOST that site somewhere! And, whether you're a novice or seasoned veteran, the ever-changing world of hosting can be its own daunting realm for many people. Thankfully, Digital.com has you covered! Their team of experts has spent thousands of hours testing and utilizing all the tools available on the market, then taking the best of what they have learned to create these guides below that break down web hosting so that anyone can easily understand how it works and find the host that best suits their needs. Check out everything you need to know but were afraid to ask (or never thought to ask!) about the basics of website hosting from Digital.com here:
Things to Think About (Pros and Cons):
Building Your Business Website: The Pros and Cons of Doing it Yourself - as opposed to hiring a professional to build it for you
Affiliate Marketing:
19 Little-Known Affiliate Marketing Programs (Up To $8K Per Sale) - a goodie from the Bengu Blog! The Bengu Homepage is also linked to in our General Resources section.
SFI (Strong Future International)
Headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, SFI launched in 1998 selling only one product within the United States and has now grown to selling more than 8,300 products in 190 countries. They run an interesting program. You can go ahead and read more about them on their website.
Best High-Ticket Affiliate Programs
Last Updated January 7, 2021 (as of the last check made by the Biz Opp Empire Webmaster on January 11, 2021)
A goodie from Digital Fodder.
Hammacher Schlemmer
Although they are based out of the United States and only operate within the U.S. and Canada, America's longest running catalog is, in many regards, the Mother Lode of affiliate programs! I mean, who wouldn't want to earn a commission on the sale of a 5-person sub selling for US$2.7 million? Even earning half a percent on such a sale would be US$13,500.00 for just one sale! Wow! Or the Amphibious Sub-Surface Watercraft that sells for US$300,000.00? What? Too cheap for you? Or what about the Killer Whale Sub? This bad boy seats two and you can bomb around in the ocean (or any body of water) looking like Free Willy! Just some advice - I wouldn't expect to sell too many of these beasts if I were you! If I even sold one of these suckers in a lifetime I may be happy, ha, ha! Don't expect them to go "flying off the shelves!" Still, take a look at America's longest running catalog, guaranteeing the Best, the Only, and the Unexpected for 173 years - their words from their website, not mine!
This is another one of those broad categories you can do a lot with. There is one thing we should get straight right off the bat: just the very fact of owning a website in and of itself will NOT make you any money at all. In fact websites didn't "naturally" start off as money-making things - that all came later. In the very, very early days of the Internet, mere mortals like you and I did not even view the web as a source profit could be taken solely and directly from. Back in those very early days, people had personal homepages and other personal websites that didn’t make any money at all (and weren’t intended to). Ok, ok, so it is not totally unheard of to still see these kinds of things today, like personal websites and pages that aren't intended to be money-making (you can take a peek at one right here [external site, opens in a new window]), but the point is that times have changed drastically. Back in those very early days, everyone from large corporations down to solopreneurs working out of their parents’ basements used the web as a source of exposure, but the vast majority of websites were just like online versions of hardcopy catalogs back in those days. You could see what a company/individual did or sold, but you still had to print out an order form and mail it in via snail mail (or, for the real hi-tech sites of the day you could do this by – imagine this – email!) with a check, money order, your credit/debit card information, or another form of payment. Or, call them. Or, big gasp again, actually take out a pen and paper and write down the street address you saw on the website and go visit them at a physical brick-and-mortar location to purchase their good or service – heaven forbid! Profiting directly and solely from the Internet was reserved for “the gods”, like Jeff Bezos and, well, let’s face it, big adult content companies and enterprising aspiring solopreneur smut-peddlers. Many in this very small handful of early birds become almost instant multi-millionaires and killed the “traditional” adult industry online almost overnight.
The early net was constantly evolving – and still is – so when I say “This is how business on the early Internet worked.”, that sometimes meant things worked that way for just a few months before the next big breakthrough in online advertising, ordering, and payment processing came out and instantly took over. The whole point of this history lesson is that while “making money on the Internet” was a phenomenon that happened quickly and grew exponentially (and still is growing), it wasn’t how the Internet and websites started out. I have laid out all this historical background here to prove the very simple point: simply owing a website, even a website that is set up to generate revenue, WILL NOT make you any money by itself. Just like simply renting or buying a commercial property on Main Street won’t make you any money in and of itself – you have to do something with it for it to make you money! With all that said, how can you make money with a website? Let’s look back at the quickly-dying brick-and-mortar world: how can you make money with a physical set-up? The answer is the sky is almost the limit. There are many, many, many different creative and not-so-creative ways to make money. The same holds true for a website, let your creative energies go with this one – it’s your website, the sky is the limit. Basically, you are going to need to offer a product or service that people will pay to buy, This can be your own product or service, or someone else’s product or service.
Here are five (5) of the more major “broad category” ways you can monetize a website:
Dropshipping – This popular method involves you, the webmaster, setting up a website that sells another party’s products. You list products for sale on your own website, promote your website, and then, when someone pays you for a product listed on your website and enters their delivery information, you pay the third party you do business with, pass on the customer’s delivery information, and then the third party delivers the product directly to the customer. You never have to keep any inventory or deal directly with the products yourself.
Selling your own products (either physical or digital, goods or services) – This works the same way as dropshipping, except these are your own products, so you will have to be responsible for dealing with the products (keeping inventory, storing them, sorting through them when you need to find something, shipping them, etc.)
Being an Affiliate/Independent Agent for a company – There is a goldmine of money to be made here; however, the drawback is you are locked into advertising and promoting the products/services the way the company you are affiliated with mandates in some way or form - sometimes there are minimal/almost no restrictions, and sometimes the restrictions are very rigid.
Multilevel Marketing (MLM) - Similar to being an affiliate or agent, but the two "camps" generally prefer to classify themselves separately. "Purist" MLM is generally more along the lines of a program you subscribe to or a physical good you purchase yourself which you then also promote to others, generally as some sort of a packaged business opportunity type deal (to one degree or another). MLM is your classic "Buy this membership/service/physical good and start working to recruit people for your downline" type of business. MLM frequently gets a bad name in many business circles, sadly because a lot of garbage MLM programs exist; however, truth be told, not all MLM set ups are bad. With that said, though, this is generally a category where you will want to tread with caution and pick your prospective program(s) carefully!
Advertising – This works the same as it has always worked, even in hardcopy publications before the advent of the Internet. The basic concept of how the money is made in this arena is exactly the same – a publisher (you, the person with the live website) posts advertisements on their website and they get paid for it. How do they get paid and how do they post the ads? This can happen in a variety of ways. The one you have the most control over is soliciting your own adverts. Invite others to send you their advertisements to post on your page and charge them for it. The only problem with this is you are going to have to have a pretty high profile page already before anyone is going to want to pay for ad space on it. Other programs include InfoLinks, Google AdSense, and numerous other programs similar to these “Big Box” names. You can run affiliate marketing like basic advertising as well, if you are not going to write reviews or do video reviews and really promote specific products, but, rather, just use a business's basic banners and post them on their website. People have been wearing “banner blinders” for almost a decade now, so you may have to get creative with this one. On the flip side, two years ago I thought this same thing and still made US$1.50 as an Amazon affiliate with just banners on my site. The customer bought the card game “Exploding Kittens” and something else (can't remember what it was). I was so excited I messaged my whole family, telling them I was on my way to become an Internet millionaire, only to have Amazon review my site within the next 12 hours, not like it, and shut me down. That, coupled with other personal family matters in my life at that particular moment, head-tailed me into some pretty intense depression for almost two years. My grandfather had also passed away in the midst of this, and other things were going on as well in my personal and professional life, so, no I wasn’t so voraciously depressed just because Amazon pulled me, although that definitely wasn’t uplifting in the midst of everything else.
So, you want to start a website but don't know what your website should be about....here are some quick ideas:
First and foremost, pick something you are passionate about. Yeah, yeah, yeah - I know, I know, you read that same thing on the last ten "make money" sites you visited! Why is the "passion" aspect so important?! Basically, in one simple sentence, this just helps you stick with it. Trust me, if you start a website that you consider boring and drudgery to maintain, you won't do it - you probably have enough boring drudgery at your "day job," right? So why would you want to do more boring work in your after hours time?
"But, Andreas," you respond, "you write in your blog posts and in other informational articles on this site that even doing something you love with a passion as a side gig or second job will have its fair share of boring drudgery, too, if you are serious about it."
My response: "Grrrrr! Yes! True! There will be aspects of boring drudgery with any side hustle you get into if you get serious about it and really 'work it', so why intentionally increase that boring drudgery? Pick something you are into rather than something you already think is boring and less of it will be boring!
Without further ado, here are some ideas for starting a website - again, I stress some, as this is a very short list sized up against a very big field:
You could start a.....
community site, educational/informational site, personal site, online store, website to promote an offline business, advertising website, or forum....and the list continues.
Here are some great examples of money-making websites (external site, opens in a new window): 50 Business Ideas People are Actually Making Money From (Complete with Examples)
A Note About Turnkey Business Websites:
As with everything, I like honesty in my promotion, and, although we hear and see the word "turnkey" thrown around on the web all the time, seldom is it given treatment to with the appropriate implications. What I mean by "Turnkey Business Website" is a website that is ready to go to make you money; however, as soon as you purchase it it becomes YOUR and only YOUR responsibility to keep that online business alive and kicking! A web business (well, any business, actually) is not a static thing!!!!! Once you buy your "turnkey" site, just like purchasing any business, it is only turnkey because it was handed to you ready to go, but make no qualms about it, YOU are the one who has to carry the business forward!!! I guess the long and the short of it is this: a "turnkey" online business site is turnkey in the sense that it is given to you ready to go, it is NOT turnkey in the sense that it will run itself on autopilot after you purchase it - few, if any, businesses do this either on or offline. If the site is advertised as "running on autopilot", trust me, you are the one who is going to be setting up that autopilot using your specifications. That is not to say I hate turnkey websites; heck, I am promoting some of the better turnkey website businesses I know in the links below. Actually, I am a big fan of turnkey websites; however, I think you must know what you are getting into if you purchase one. You are essentially buying a business opportunity that you will have to work for it to make you money. That is something that I consider fun and cool, so I am a fan of turnkey websites and have purchased (or intended to in the future - I will update this page when it happens) turnkey websites from the websites below. If that does not sound like something you would enjoy doing to make money (i.e. buying a ready-to-go website and then tinkering with it and promoting it for it to make you money), then don't do it. Remember, in the world of business, making money, and getting rich, you can never take a "one size fits all" approach - at least that's my personal philosophy.
Places you can buy turnkey business websites (external sites):
Ahead!
Turnkey Nation
Flippa
External Links/Resources to get Started:
How to set up an online store:
How to Start an Online Clothing Store in 7 Steps - Written by Tara Storozynsky, 2018, for Selz (online sales platform)
How to Start an Online Boutique [Full Guide] - Written by Tim Mattson, 2020, for HostPapa hosting company. An excellent and very detailed guide - packed full of information. Go ahead and check out the article and see how you can get discounted WordPress hosting for your online boutique today! (Article last updated November 2, 2020; accurate as of November 4, 2020, when the webmaster of Biz Opp Empire last checked the site ).
Promoting the Site Offline (something that is becoming an "untapped goldmine" because you rarely hear about it anymore like you use to):
10 Tips to Promote Your Website Offline
10 tips to promote your website offline (some choppy language, but I like the content)
5 Easy Ways to Promote Your Website Offline
5 Killer Ways to Promote Your Website Offline (U.K. based site)
Building and Maintaining the Site:
The Site Wizard - ALL the core basics of building and maintaining a website, blog, and domain at the most fundamental level - an absolute goldmine! No fancy bells or whistles here AT ALL - just good, quality fundamental information written in plain language with a "raw", old-school look and feel! One of my favorite sites on the web, no joke!
Hosting Considerations:
Digital.com
(Posted here on January 10, 2023. (C) Digital.com. Last checked for accuracy and updates by Andreas Philip Gross Enterprises LLC on January 10, 2023.)
Let's be honest, if you're going to operate a website, you are going to need to HOST that site somewhere! And, whether you're a novice or seasoned veteran, the ever-changing world of hosting can be its own daunting realm for many people. Thankfully, Digital.com has you covered! Their team of experts has spent thousands of hours testing and utilizing all the tools available on the market, then taking the best of what they have learned to create these guides below that break down web hosting so that anyone can easily understand how it works and find the host that best suits their needs. Check out everything you need to know but were afraid to ask (or never thought to ask!) about the basics of website hosting from Digital.com here:
- https://digital.com/web-hosting/what-is-web-hosting/
- https://digital.com/best-web-hosting/how-to-host-a-website/
- https://digital.com/best-web-hosting/how-much-does-it-cost-to-host-a-website/
- https://digital.com/best-web-hosting/how-to-choose-a-web-hosting-provider/
Things to Think About (Pros and Cons):
Building Your Business Website: The Pros and Cons of Doing it Yourself - as opposed to hiring a professional to build it for you
Affiliate Marketing:
19 Little-Known Affiliate Marketing Programs (Up To $8K Per Sale) - a goodie from the Bengu Blog! The Bengu Homepage is also linked to in our General Resources section.
SFI (Strong Future International)
Headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, SFI launched in 1998 selling only one product within the United States and has now grown to selling more than 8,300 products in 190 countries. They run an interesting program. You can go ahead and read more about them on their website.
Best High-Ticket Affiliate Programs
Last Updated January 7, 2021 (as of the last check made by the Biz Opp Empire Webmaster on January 11, 2021)
A goodie from Digital Fodder.
Hammacher Schlemmer
Although they are based out of the United States and only operate within the U.S. and Canada, America's longest running catalog is, in many regards, the Mother Lode of affiliate programs! I mean, who wouldn't want to earn a commission on the sale of a 5-person sub selling for US$2.7 million? Even earning half a percent on such a sale would be US$13,500.00 for just one sale! Wow! Or the Amphibious Sub-Surface Watercraft that sells for US$300,000.00? What? Too cheap for you? Or what about the Killer Whale Sub? This bad boy seats two and you can bomb around in the ocean (or any body of water) looking like Free Willy! Just some advice - I wouldn't expect to sell too many of these beasts if I were you! If I even sold one of these suckers in a lifetime I may be happy, ha, ha! Don't expect them to go "flying off the shelves!" Still, take a look at America's longest running catalog, guaranteeing the Best, the Only, and the Unexpected for 173 years - their words from their website, not mine!
