Did you know that there are million-dollar online business ideas that you can start with no money? In this article we aim to showcase five online businesses that embody this very concept.
Also, a couple of these businesses I’ve either personally made money with in the past or am actively involved in now. Each of these online business ideas requires the internet and a computer or laptop to get it up and running. Â These businesses are as close to zero dollars to start as they get, but please keep in mind a couple of these may require a website or subscription to execute on them. Â
I’ll go into how much some of these online businesses can make, their difficulty level, and the cost to get started… here’s a hint, its zero dollars.
The Best Online Businesses to Start
This first online business idea is one that entrepreneurs like Sam Parr and Shaan Puri started that made them millions.
Sam Parr started the hustles and sold to HubSpot for an undisclosed amount but has hinted that it is near the 30-million-dollar mark.
Also his cohost Shaan Puri grew the Milk Road to 7 figures in his first year of starting and then sold it for multi millions a year later.
1. Newsletter
Difficulty: Medium – Hard
Potential earnings: $0 to millionsÂ
Cost to get started: $0
This is a business I recently started working on and you can check it out in the description if you want to see what it looks like.
Creating a newsletter is an excellent way to share your knowledge or your insights with your audience and make money doing it.
The first step to getting started is to identify your niche. What topic or area are you interested in sharing and talking more about? It could be anything from cooking and gardening to tech gadgets, camping, or lifestyle tips. Your expertise and the passion you have for that specific niche will be your superpower.
Next, choose a platform for your newsletter. A lot of newsletter creators use SubStack. These platforms offer free plans to get you started. Once you’ve built your subscriber base, you can monetize your newsletter through paid subscriptions or sponsored content.
So with a paid subscription you can share premium content only available to members who pay a monthly fee. This brings in recurring and predictable revenue.
Let’s use Substacks online calculator and mess around with this a little bit to see what’s possible.
50 subscribers at $5 a month, which is very doable makes about $203 per month.
At 100 subs were making $406
Let’s say we have reached 2000 paid subscribers, now we’re making some serious money. With 2000 subscribers were making $8,110 a month
Let’s switch it to $10 / a month per subscriber and we’re making almost 17K per month.
For fun let’s look at what a serious paid newsletter business is making at 50K subs. With 50K Subscribers the business is making 420K per month or about 210K at the $5 dollar per sub price point.
This is a great business to consider starting, for $0 dollars and can make you millions of dollars.
Next business we can look at is and I’ll show you a quick example in a minute is…
2. Affiliate Marketing with A.I.
Difficulty: Med-Hard
Potential earnings: $0 to millions
Cost to get started: $15-$100
Affiliate marketing is mentioned all the time, but it’s a business that will always be mentioned and has stood the test of time.
This is where you promote another product or service and use a special affiliate link that gives you credit for the sale, which then means you receive a kickback.
The modern-day twist to this is that you can use ChatGPT to write the content and then humanize it to make it your own voice. After that you can insert your affiliate links, obviously to content that is relevant to the affiliate product you are promoting, and either use social media to share this content or add it to your blog.
The key to success in affiliate marketing is to select products and services that align with your niche and resonate with your audience. If you don’t have an audience yet, then this will come with time, which would require you to be consistent and continually update and create content for this online business. Affiliate marketing is not quick money, it takes a lot of hard work, time, and patience.
Next online business idea we can look at is one that made me a lot of money my first year of starting. This online business is the one that changed my life the most. Many years ago, I think 2018, I was a broke and needed a way to make money fast.
It’s a business that pretty much started by accident because I was struggling financially, and my wife was pregnant with our second daughter. I had to make money fast and once I realized that this business was making me money, I went all in. Now this may be a bit unexpected but its…
3. Reseller
Difficulty: Easy
Potential earnings: $500 to 10K a month (or more)
Cost to get started: $0
So I started selling stuff I had around the house, took $800 I made from that as the seed capital and bootstrapped my reseller business to Half a million dollars my first year.
I couldn’t go back that far in PayPal, so I’ll juts provide a screenshot of the most recent one they let me access.
This one shows the previous year of about $419,522 for the year and in the current year at about 324K with 2 months left in the year, which would put me at 400k+ as well.
This is a business where you can start with no money and use things you already own to get the starting capital.
After that you can start souring items from local garage sales, thrift stores or pallets and resell the items for more on eBay or Facebook marketplace.
I’ve made many videos talking about this, so make sure to subscribe and check out those videos when you get a chance. Or drop a comment below and let me know and I’ll make an entire video on this.
Next online business came across my radar because I was speaking with a gentleman at my gym and he started telling me how he started this online business, with no money in it, and he built it using his expertise, the internet and a computer, and then later sold it the company to an interested buyer. And ill mention 9 companies and how much they are making. This online business is…
4. Building Chrome Extensions
Difficulty: Med-Hard
Potential earnings: $0 to 3.7 million a month
Cost to get started: $0
This online business idea does require some coding skills. So if you already have those skills or are down to learn then building Chrome extensions can be a great way to start an online business without spending a dime. Chrome extensions are small software programs that enhance the functionality of the Google Chrome browser, and they can serve various purposes.
To get started, you’ll need knowledge of web development technologies, particularly HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. If you’re not already proficient in these languages, there are a lot of free online resources and tutorials available to help you learn them.
Once you’ve honed your coding skills, brainstorm ideas for Chrome extensions that solve common problems or cater to specific user needs. Maybe you could create an extension for productivity, e-commerce, or social media. Keep in mind that the best extensions are user-friendly, efficient, and add value to the browsing experience.
After building your extension, you can publish it on the Chrome Web Store. Users can download your extension for free, and you can monetize it through various methods, such as ads, premium features, or affiliate marketing within the extension. As your user base grows, so do your earnings.
Here’s a list of 9 popular chrome extensions and how much they earn:
- Gmass – $130k per month
- Closet Tools – $42k per month
- CSS Scan – $100k+ in revenue in its first launch
- GoFullPage – $10k per month
- Spider – $5k per month
- Night Eye – $3.1k per month
- BlackMagic- $3k per month
- Weather Extension – $2.5k per month
- Adblock – $3.7 million per month (Guess)
This next online business is the most beginner friendly way to start, the only caveat is that because its so easy, I don’t think its probable to makeÂ
5. Sell Your Service on Upwork & Fiverr
Difficulty: Easy
Potential earnings: $100 to 5K per month (or more)
Cost to get started: $0
I saved this for last. This is a business that is very easy to start, you can start making money this week and the amount of money you earn depends on how hard you work and what skill or service you are offering.
First you will need to create a profile on Upwork or Fiverr. Ive hired many freelancers on both of these sites, so I put together a list of what to do to get started. Stick with me:
- Choose Your Niche: Find out what service or skill you want to offer.
- Create an Impressive Profile: Highlight those skills and experience.
- Build a Portfolio: Showcase your work.
- Set Competitive Pricing: Start with lower rates and increase as you gain experience.
- Write Winning Proposals: Customize your pitches.
- Deliver High-Quality Work: Meet deadlines and exceed expectations.
- Communicate Effectively: Maintain clear and prompt communication.
- Upsell and Offer Additional Services: Find opportunities to provide extra value.
- Request Feedback and Reviews: Encourage positive reviews.
- Optimize Your Profile for Search: Use relevant keywords.
- Be Patient and Persistent: Success takes time and perseverance.
So to some this up create a strong profile, deliver quality work, and build a positive reputation to make money on these platforms.
