4 Smart Business Ideas With Serious Profit Potential

If you're thinking of starting an online business, one of the hardest parts of the process is finding the right business idea.

There are all kinds of ways to make money online, some of which have a lower barrier to entry than others.

One of the most popular ways to make money online is affiliate marketing.

That's where you create a website and post things like product reviews.

Using affiliate links, you can get a cut every time someone clicks through from your site and makes a purchase.

But despite the perennial popularity of affiliate niche sites, it's far from the only game in town.

It's just one of many ways you can start making a profit online, so when you're brainstorming for business ideas, you don't have to limit yourself to affiliate marketing.

You can also make money creating websites and then selling them off.

There's also the option of creating an online educational course, or of creating a subscription box.

You can also offer a service like web design or social media management, rather than selling tangible products.

A recent article from Entrepreneur lists just a few of the many options available to aspiring solopreneurs.

All of these business ideas can be quite profitable when executed well.

1. Website Flipping

If you're looking for some fast cash, you could turn to website flipping. All you're doing is buying and selling sites on existing platforms.

There's definitely an art to this and some research involved, but if you get the hang of it, it's a simple and straightforward way to earn money.

There are plenty of sites dedicated to this. You could either auction off domains or sell complete websites.

The latter will help you earn money and you can utilize a platform like Flippa.com or FreeMarket.com to both buy and sell domains and full-blown websites.

2. Educational Content and Courses

One of my absolute favorite things to do is to create educational content and courses.

People are always looking to learn and expand their skill set and if you can offer great instructional material, you could make a serious amount of money in this type of business.

There are plenty of sites where you can sell your educational courses on.

You can use a platform like Udemy (although you'll be subject to their often on-going promotional discounts where they drop all the prices of your courses) or you could use Teachable, Coursera, Lynda.com or even build your own membership-based course using cloud-based software.

3. Monthly “Box” Service

There are tons of monthly “box” services that are springing up across all kinds of verticals.

You can easily build your own premium (or non-premium) box service and have a great business with recurring revenue. Every month, you would send out of unique box will hand-selected pieces that apply to your industry.

You could also do box services involving gourmet foods, wines, cosmetics, toys and many more.

This is a great way to build a continuity program while also having a recurring base of members that you can upsell other one-time offers and other ancillary products or services.

4. Social Media Management

Social media is massive these days and businesses don't have the time or the knowledge to manage this themselves.

Yet, they do realize that this is one of the most important aspects of marketing, and by mastering this single area, you can add tons of value to local businesses while also raking in the proverbial cash.

Today, businesses are willing to spend big money on social media management.

If you can help to drive real leads and sales through this medium, then your roster of clients will skyrocket over time.

Follow other popular social media influencers and power users to discover their best strategies and model after them.

You can find more great business ideas over at Entrepreneur.