7. Domain Name Investing
The domain name for a website is like a piece of real estate. It's the equivalent of the physical office location. That's where people will find you and your products and without a domain, you can't operate on the internet. That's why the www.something.com (or .net, .biz or whatever else) is a valuable business asset. If a company registers tomorrow as "Something Nigeria Limited", they'd probably want to use the domain www.something.com. If that domain and other combinations of it have been registered by you just as an investment, you'd probably have a classic case of a willing buyer and a willing seller. The point is that Something Nigeria Limited, if a serious company, would probably want to acquire the domain from you (partly as brand name and identity protection), if they have indications that you are willing to sell it. Check another example. Suppose you registered the domain name "www.orientrefinery.com", as well as its other variants (.net, .biz, .ng, etc), isn't it likely that Orient Refinery in Anambra State would be interested in acquiring it? Where does that leave us? It is that there is a business in acquiring domains for future resale. If there are available domains which you anticipate that somebody somewhere would desperately need someday, you could acquire (register) them and wait. Before now, Anysoft, a company based in Massachusetts, USA, had shelled out a whopping $30,000 to acquire any.com. Company VP, Emily Shain, had justified the expenditure on grounds that the domain was an important marketing tool. But wait for it, computer.com sold for $500,000. It is believed too that the New Zealand government threw a mouth-watering NZ $1million into securing newzealand.com. As if these figures are not large enough, the information is that business.com was acquired for a staggering $7.5million. These may not be representative of what sellers pick everyday, but they are indicative that this is not a hopeless venture.
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To hope to earn from this, you'd need to target intuitively. It's also logical that you will need a fairly large acquisition, to bank on possible demand for some of the domains in your portfolio. To see that some immediate income is generated while you hang in for the eventual sale, you can set up parking pages to provide links to other web pages which will earn you pay-per-click revenues. Your challenge will be how to draw traffic to the sites and this you can work hard to achieve. On the whole, this could prove a viable investment on its own. Besides, it could just be an additional stream of income to complement earnings from other sources.
Selling could be done through dedicated websites or via ebay auction. There are also domain forums which you can explore. Where the domain name is very targeted, you probably could approach the target company to offer the domain. At www.DNames.com, you may find if a name you own is wanted by somebody.
8. Membership Fees
For various reasons, some websites require a paid membership registration. Dating sites, for instance, are popular and require a new member to register, usually for a fee, to get listed. Some sites provide online applications (software) to run certain operations which a subscriber must pay to register and use. There are sites that provide special reports or sections which are open to only paying registered members. If people see value in what is offered for a price, they will buy, most times. Your challenge, if you decide to build a paid membership base, is to create value that will justify the price.
Free membership can also be monetised, over time. If you cannot justify a membership fee, perhaps you can take the back door: build a subscriber base of qualified prospects and turn it into money. Marketers look for qualified prospects all the time - that's the lifeblood of successful sales generation. Serious companies spend tonnes of money seeking qualified leads, so leads generation is good business. You can convert that into cash, not necessarily by selling lists, but through targeted marketing campaigns which you can afford interested companies. If there's nothing else you can do on the internet, you can at least build a subscriber base and learn how you can earn money through it.
9. Directory Listings
Ever heard of Yellow Pages and directories, offline? Businesses get listed in directories as an avenue to gain publicity. Besides, people search such database for information on companies and businesses. An online directory is a similar listing. And since offline listings are at a fee, online listings will also earn you money. You can develop a directory listing for any sector(s). If you succeed is elevating it to an authoritative medium, subscribers will not be in short supply.
10. Online Courses
The internet offers you a viable platform to deliver structured training and educational programmes and materials to subscribers. Remember correspondence courses like those of the Rapid Results College? You can't have a better medium for running such a programme than the internet. Postage of materials that entails costs, delays and outright non-deliveries is replaced with a self-service, instantaneous system: on the internet you're sure of instant download at the option of the recipient. Payment for materials by subscribers can also be a smooth, painless online process. Reviews, support and other resources can also be implemented smoothly online. So, choose your niche, develop your training programme and materials, and go right ahead to deliver an online package to your target market. Your costs could be 80% lower, your reach much wider, while the entire operation will be much more efficient. The outcome is more revenue potential for your business.
Hopefully, this piece has helped beam at some profitable things you can legitimately do on the internet. The lists is certainly not exhaustive. You are only limited by your resourcefulness and creativity. You possibly can come up with your unique ideas of viable business projects you can drive using this platform. So, get working!
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