As I’m writing this blog, online businesses are booming in both sales, and sheer growth as more shops continue to open up all over the world. Imagine setting your hours and creating your to-do list, choosing the priorities on what and what doesn’t need to be done this very second. Sounds fantastic, I think! You might be wondering how moms or momtrepreneurs are doing it. The best part is, anyone with a want can start an online business. And interestingly enough, the actual working hours don’t amount to much, but it helps when you have a plan. 

Business Ideas

Affiliate 

Affiliate programs exist all over the world! But what is an affiliate? An affiliate is someone who creates content and includes products or services for other products. In a way, affiliates are like brand ambassadors. Your goal is to learn, in-depth, about the product or service and then promote to your audience.  

How do affiliate programs work? 

All affiliate programs, more or less, work the same way. You will be provided with a custom link or discount code to share with your followers. When someone clicks your link or uses your discount code when placing their order, you will receive a percentage of the sale. You earn money because your promotion helped the company get a sell. 

You can promote the items in many different ways. Here are a few of the most popular: 

  • Social Media
  • Blogging 
  • YouTube Videos

Here are some Affiliate programs that you could look into: 

My Musso is a new herbal apothecary business that focuses on all-natural products for health and wellness. They feature an affiliate program that allows you to offer your followers a discount and still get you a percentage of sales.

You can also check out Amazon’s affiliate program. By having an affiliate program, you are opening yourself to thousands of products to promote to your audience. However, you will need to get your first sale within the early 90 days for your account to remain active. Therefore, it might be a good idea to start growing your audience before signing up. 

Selling Products

There are a ton of popular options available if you are more interested in selling products on your own rather than being an affiliate. You can sell through 3rd party marketplaces or create your own site to sell your products.

3rd party marketplaces

There are so many 3rd party marketplaces out there for you to start selling products on. This strategy allows you to navigate around building a website. Some of us aren’t so technical, so making a fully functioning website with an outstanding design is out of the question. But that doesn’t mean we can’t start our very own businesses from home.

We can still sell items on Amazon, eBay, and Etsy! 

  • Amazon
  • Etsy
  • eBay

When it comes to selling on Amazon and eBay, you should aim to find wholesale goods from places like All Time Trading and Wholesale Sock Deals. Both of those sites feature thousands of wholesale items and are based in the US. You could also use Alibaba to find items and import them from China to sell here. 

When selling on Etsy, goods have to be handmade. Handmade goods ensure an exclusive level of uniqueness on the platform. However, if you have a craft, I recommend getting your skills out there to the world through this platform. However, you can still sell your specialty made items through an online store where you can control your brand. 

Your Own Selling Channels

The ability to sell through your own website takes a little more time and effort than selling only through a 3rd party marketplace. This is because you have the ability to control the platform where your customers will discover your brand. A lot of platforms do their best to make it easy for you to get started with pre-designed templates available. Two of the most popular platforms for selling physical products are: 

  • Shopify
  • WordPress w/ wooCommerce

Since you’d be selling through your own platform, you have the option to source or sell anything you’d like! You can purchase wholesale goods or dropship with oberlo or Ali express. It’s your business and your brand!

The best part about selling products is that you can really choose what items you sell. You can choose to be a seasonal business and sell Winter products like wholesale beanies or even bandanas as a fashion statement. 

If you made it to this point, pat yourself on the back for a small victory. Now that you have some new-found knowledge on different types of businesses that you can run from home, you’re able to dig in a little deeper. Of course, there is more to learn as you progress through your journey, but getting started is the most important part of any new venture.