5 of the Hottest Internet Opportunities

By Terry Dean

Most of my newsletter articles are born out of the questions that my faithful readers ask me every week. So, keep those questions coming. I keep a busy schedule with many different projects going continually, but I will do my best to answer each and every one of them.

The three questions that I get asked most often are:

1. How do I design my own web site?
2. How do I get more traffic to my site?
3. What are the best opportunities online?

Today's article deals with question number three. What are the hottest opportunities for the Internet entrepreneur? Below, I will give you five suggestions I have for you to create a successful web business, but I do want to interject one other element first.

The most successful business for you will almost always be the one that you find the most interesting and exciting. If you love what you do, you will be able to put in long hours promoting it and taking care of it. There is an old saying that if you do what you love for a living you will never have to work a day in your life.

So, instead of looking for a business based on how much you can earn up-front, choose a business based on your love for that business. The most successful and fulfilled people are individuals who are following a dream or vision of theirs. They are not just out trying to make a buck.

So, make sure you take these potential opportunities with a grain of salt. If they don't meet your interests, find something that does. You will have much more fun in your business if you do what you love.

1. Software

There is no denying that the most profitable business online has been and will continue to be selling your own software. More millionaires have been produced overnight through their own software program than anything else. The richest man in the world also made his fortune selling software.

Almost every Internet user has one thing in common. They need software for their computers (except for the minority of users who have Web TV's and similar equipment). Every Internet business person I know spends hundreds or thousands of dollars yearly on software.

Software is easy to distribute online. You can offer a free demo of your software on thousands of sites such as http://www.download.com for free. When someone purchases your software, all you have to do is send them over a password to access the full functions of their new purchase. No hard product has to be delivered through the mail in most cases.

Like I mentioned above, this has been and will continue to be the most profitable opportunity on the web. The problem with it lies in the actual creation of the software itself. Besides having an idea of what needs to be created, you also have to have the skills to create it.

There are three ways to own your own software.

#1 You Could Design it Yourself. If you don't currently have any programming knowledge, it is easy to find someone to teach you. Almost every local community college has courses on programming. By taking these and applying yourself to them, you could learn how to design software yourself.

#2 You could hire someone else to design it. Find some people who have taken these kinds of courses and offer to hire them to design the software you have an idea for. By going to a private programmer, you will be able to get it created for a much lower cost than any other way.

#3 You could find software from a private designer that you want and offer to buy reprint rights to it. This would be the quickest and easiest way to get into business with software. Find a program you want that is not promoted very well and make an offer. All they could do is accept or refuse. No problem.

The most profitable focus for the small business and private programmer would be in designing tools for small businesses on the Internet. By focusing on this market you will be able to avoid competition with the major software companies out there which have basically ignored the small business person online. So keep this in mind for your software business.

2. Subscription Sites

If you pay much attention to the Internet at all, you have probably noticed how many subscription sites are popping up. Although subscription sites used to only be promoted by the adult sites online, they are definitely going mainstream now.

Any business which has audio, video, special reports, books, software, daily updated content, and more has a potential subscription site available to them. It has already been proven that people are willing to pay for highly specialized content which they want or need.

Subscription sites have several advantages over other methods of delivering your products which we are only now beginning to realize.

Each of those advantages can spell a big difference to small businesses. What if you could have your product delivered automatically to everyone who orders without having to spend a penny out of your own pocket and without having to spend a second taking care of the order. It can all be taken care of without any involvement from you whatsoever.

No matter what type of business you are in, there is probably a potential subscription site idea available.

3. Audio and Video Delivered Online

As the Internet grows and connection speeds increase, audio and video are going to become much more commonplace. We live in a TV generation and you can expect video to become standard to web sites as more and more tools become available to us in this area.

Right now, you can offer audio or video on your web site by using RealProducer or Emblaze along with a host of other tools. If you become familiar with these tools, you could begin to offer your services to convert video and audio for companies to a format they can use on their web site.

Plus, you could begin to use it on your own web site to add more content and interest to your site. Expect more and more sites to be using it as we move into the next millennium.

As a side note, an interesting web site I have found while exploring is at http://www.radiodestiny.com/ .By using their software, you can actually start up your own radio station online, for fun or profit.

4. Full Service Internet Sites

Most people do not like having to learn new technology and skills. This is the biggest hindrance to businesses coming online. As a matter of fact, only 5% of smallbusinesses
have any type of Internet presence at all. The number one reason being that it is too difficult to create a web site and get started marketing online.

People in general do not want to buy a book and figure out how to design a web site. They want it to be designed for them. They don't want to have to market their site. They want it done for them. Businesses are looking for a full service Internet business where you design their site, provide or find their hosting, and market their site online.

I currently know of several companies which offer this type of service to companies and charge $5,000 - $10,000 per customer. Just think if you sold this type of service for $3,000. You would have to sell 300 $10 books to earn the same gross profit. Would you rather deal with one customer or 300?

5. Internet Hubs In Every Area of Interest

This type of business could be created in any niche market or area of interest. You could create a theme site or Internet hub in gardening, motorcycles, dolls, puppies, etc. Anything that you have as an interest or hobby could usually be turned into a theme for your web site.

The key to this type of marketing is to become the place that everyone wants to go in your area of interest. In other words, you would want to be a portal or starting point for people searching for information or products on your subject. Create a list of links to all of the good content sites in your market. Start a discussion board for people to participate. Publish an ezine for them to subscribe to. Find written, audio, and video content to place on your site.

Then, start searching for products they are interested in. Pick up magazines and search through the ads for potential products you could sell online. Offer to Joint Venture with the owners of these products and endorse them to your visitors.

In other words, design a site that is the only one they need to visit online in your subject. Then, market it every where and send out press releases to every potential publication.

Once your traffic soars, so will your profits.