Follow on Facebook
Follow on TwitterIf you’re thinking of starting an online business but haven’t found the right idea then a quick look at some of the more unique online business ideas might just help generate the right creative spark.
In no particular order:
- Ebay – was created by a computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as part of his personal site, it took off almost by accident and is today the worlds biggest flea market, making Omidyar a billionaire in the process.
- YouTube – A few years ago the idea of a site that allows members to share videos for free would have been incredible, now YouTube is one of the most visited sites on the Internet. It was acquired in 2006 by Google for a reported $1.65 Billion.
- Million Dollar Home Page – was created by UK based student Alex Tew, who created a home page with a 1,000 by 1,000 grid of pixels on it offering each of the million pixels for sale at $1 each. He apparently sold all the pixels making him a million dollars.
- Friends Reunited – a bit of a fading star these days Friends Reunited was the original site that got us all back in touch with long lost school friends. It sold to ITV for a reported £120 million in 2005. It’s now been rather left behind by the second generation of such sites, in particular Facebook and Bebo.
- Hot Or Not – was founded in October 2000 by two friends, James Hong and Jim Young, as website they made one to rate people’s attractiveness. Within a week of launching, it had apparently reached almost two million page views per day and it’s now a very profitable dating site. It’s also credited with providing some inspiration to the founders of YouTube and Facebook.
- JustinGuitar – Guitar tutor Justin Sandercoe proves that even those that usually rely on offering their services face to face can create a scaleable business online and uses YouTube to do it!
- Prairie Tumbleweed Farm – proves that if you find the right niche market, you can sell anything online by selling tumbleweed that’s just blown in.
- aeiou.com – specialised in the development of mini sites to help domainers increase the value of their domains, or generate revenue from the domain whilst it’s in their portfolio.
- PickyDomains – another business the exists to support other online business ideas PickyDomains helps their customers choose a good domain name for their business.
- I Park Like An Idiot – For further proof that a niche market and a sense of humour can be turned into an online business idea read about I Park Like An Idiot.
- Chocolate Party Hats – another niche business idea inspired by a survey that concluded women preferred eating a nice piece of chocolate to having sex – read more on the post about Chocolate Party Hats.
So what can you learn from these online business ideas?
- You can turn a hobby/fun project into an online business, for example Ebay and Hot or Not.
- It’s easy to target niche markets online, as shown by Prairie Tumbleweed Farm, I Park Like An Idiot and Chocolate Party Hats.
- You can build a successful business that is inspired by another online business, i.e. YouTube, Facebook, Friends Reunited.
- You can build a scaleable business online by reaching a wider audience than you could offline i.e. JustinGuitar.
- In a gold rush the easiest way to get rich is usually to sell shovels*, i.e. aeiou.com and PickyDomains.
- Something unique, that’s got a good story behind it can drive a lot of traffic and the revenue that goes with it i.e. Million Dollar Home Page.
If you fancy starting an online business but still haven’t found the right idea then don’t forget to read my post about online business ideas and have a browse through the post in the Internet business ideas category.
* It’s claimed that the people who got rich in the California gold rush in 1849 were the people who sold tools to the miners. Apparently 94% of the gold miners failed to find any gold, approximately 4% of the gold miners found some gold, but barely managed to make a living from it and less than 1% found enough gold to get rich. In contrast many of the non-gold miners, became rich by selling the picks, shovels, and tools the gold miners needed in order to prospect for and mine gold. I suspect a fair few made their fortunes selling food and alcohol to the miners too.
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This blog is about business opportunities and ideas that I spot, think of or hear about and think are useful and interesting. It is intended to provide ideas and inspriation for you to help you find the right business idea for you to then grow it into a successful business.
Hi John – I didn’t realise that it was ITV who bought Friends Reunited. It’s interesting that some types of site can work well, if the same formula is repeated – as you mentioned with social networking sites.
Yet some just won’t work a second time around. Look how many people tried to copy the million dollar pixel site. I guess the copy sites just didn’t cotton on to the idea that the original sold well because of the way it was marketed.
I think it boils down to the fact that the million dollar site wasn’t a great business idea, it was a great bit of marketing – very “purple cow” as Seth Godin would describe it. However for the copy cats it was no longer remarkable.
The interest in friends reunited has been drying up slowly for years and along with it of course, those advertising revenue’s. I think it could be a great site, but it has always lacked the ability to keep customers returning and interested, unlike the many other networking sites available today most of witch are of course free.
Since its purchase by ITV (although not related) the site has struggled more and more to get advertising revenues up and now the struggling broadcaster is looking for a buyer to try and ease cash flow problems. I reckon it’ll go for at least 2% – 5% less than what they originally paid for it……
Just my thought’s, we’ll have to wait and see……but I can see it being sold within the next 6 months.
SB
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