Today over 1.5 billion people, that is 25% of the world’s population, are connected to the internet.  In 2008 over 300 billion searches were performed and over $200 billion of goods and services were sold through the internet. It is in effect the world’s biggest marketplace, one which never closes shop because at all times somewhere in the world people are searching the internet.  Wouldn’t you love to be able to tap into just a tiny proportion of that $200 billion!

I love the fact that you can set up an internet business for next to no money, with almost no overheads.  Many a profitable internet business has begun on a lounge room table or in the back of a garage.  Perhaps of greatest interest to those of us who are ready to move on from our “real” job, the internet allows you to use your experience and your skills, in areas that interest you, in the manner and time frame that suits your lifestyle choices.  Such freedom!

You can work wherever you want, whenever you want, with no staff or premises to rent.  You can develop a business that is almost completely automatable, if that is what you want, and you can have many business ideas operating at once.  All you need to do is to be prepared to learn, to open your mind to the possibilities and find ways to use a lifetime of experience and skills in a profitable way.

How do people actually make money on the internet?

The main business models that seem to bring great success on the internet whilst being compatible with your retirement lifestyle choices are:

Ebooks about everything!

Whatever your experience or your interests, there are other people in the world who are seeking what you have to share.  The trick is to tailor your experience or interests to tap into a specific niche market, what the industry calls an “inch wide mile deep” niche.

Membership sites

If your expertise is best shared as small regular packets of information, a membership site may be your best model to use.  A good membership site delivers outstanding information in eclasses, each based around one aspect of the overall topic.  The benefit to the client is that they can incorporate the expertise you are sharing in small regular sessions, internalising the information and insights as the eclasses continue.

Affiliates

The internet is a vast information network and the best way to share good information is through referrals.  Affiliate programs work in this way.  One website refers their clients to another website where they believe the products or services may be of benefit to the client.  Some internet businesses use affiliate programs as an added extra within their business, while others base their entire business on affiliate relationships and make amazing money doing so.

eBay

No, eBay is not just the contemporary version of a garage sale, useful for offloading the household junk.  Large and very profitable businesses operate using Ebay as their “shopfront”.  There are no shop leases and rentals, no set hours and no need to be involved in packing and posting the products.  eBay is the Number 1 retail site in the world and 1.3 Million people now make their full time or part time living on eBay. It has over 233 Million registered users spending up to $141 Million a day.  eBay sellers turn over nearly $100,000 every minute.

Adsense

Some successful businesses are based on what is effectively the creation of billboard websites, which direct you to products and services.  The purpose of these websites is not to inform or entertain you, although there will be information there.  Their real purpose is to link you to the products and services which relate to keywords you used to search the internet.

READY TO START?

It is really important that you design your retirement lifestyle first, as that will influence the choices you make about internet businesses.  However this information can get you thinking and starting to observe this industry, so when you are ready to get started you will have a head start.