5 Growing Start-up Businesses Online You Can Do
January 12, 2010 by Pablo Palatnik
Inc.com had a great article titled, “9 Businesses You Can Start In Your Pajamas in 2010.” Most of them, are online based. People are always asking for ideas or what they can do from home. Most, think its impossible to start something online because of the amount of competition out there or the fact that they don’t have any real solid ideas. Many are also SCARED because starting a business cost money (whether its a little bit) and think they can easily fail.
Here are 5 online start-ups that have been growing and no reason you cant do the same!
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1) Internet Marketing –– Jason Sadler, IWearYourShirt.com
So you’ve got a ton of friends on Facebook and a loyal Twitter following. Why not profit off them? Jason Sadler has found a way to capitalize on all the hype surrounding social media marketing. Three-hundred sixty-five days a year, Sadler serves as a live billboard for companies and charities on all the major social media sites. Sadler, who launched IWearYourShirt.com at the end of 2008, wears a shirt a day, and sells each calendar day according to its numerical value. On February 10, for example, a company would pay Sadler $10 to wear its shirt. He works from his home in Jacksonville, Florida, and leverages his social media following by blogging, tweeting, filming a live video show, and updating his Facebook photo, all while wearing the designated T-shirt of the day. And, yes, he will still wear your shirt to a wedding, or even if he’s sick in bed. Now that the idea has taken off, Sadler has hired a West Coast counterpart — with a whole new following — to expand the company’s marketing reach.
2) Online Advice –– Amanda Steinberg, DailyWorth.com
In the past decade, the Web has become the go-to place for consumers to seek out advice and scope out the newest trends and deals. Sites like DailyCandy and Thrillist have been successful at monetizing this online community by publishing daily e-mail newsletters packed with exclusive information for subscribers. After operating Soapbxx, a Web consultancy, for 10 years (the past four of which have been home-based), Amanda Steinberg launched a second business from home last January to provide personal financial advice to women. Building off of the DailyCandy model, Steinberg’s DailyWorth publishes daily e-mail newsletters with tips and advice from financial experts, including MP Dunleavey, a former finance columnist for The New York Times. With 9,000 subscribers and counting, Steinberg simultaneously runs her start-up and Soapbxx from her home in Mount Airy, Pennsylvania, while playing mom to two young kids.
3) Insurance –– Chris Jordan, AtlantaInsuranceLive.com
Insurance may not be the most exciting field, but opportunities abound for businesses owners willing to break away from the traditional corporate model and add their own spin. That’s exactly what Chris Jordan did last March when he left his corporate insurance sales job and founded Atlanta Insurance Live, a home-based sole proprietorship that is built on the premise of interacting with clients virtually. Jordan maintains a video blog about insurance issues and chats live with customers through his website. He employs a casual style and remains transparent about his home-based status — as a new way to market his business and dispel the stigma of stuffy insurance agents in suits and ties, in order to attract a younger demographic. So far, it seems to be working, with a steadily growing customer base.
4) Personal Fitness –– Franklin Antoian, IBodyFit.com
As a personal trainer who held private sessions in people’s homes for many years, Franklin Antoian discovered a growing trend of people who didn’t want to trek to the gym. In 2006, he launched IBodyFit.com, a site that allows anyone to get the complete personal training experience online. Through the website, members get individualized attention from a personal trainer and have the ability to access online fitness classes and exercise videos. Trainers create customized workouts for clients and are fully available to them via phone, e-mail, and IM. Members can work out on their own time at home, or download their custom workouts to their iPod at a cost much lower than the average gym membership, which is an increasingly expendable luxury in a down economy. In 2009 alone, Antonian, who is based in Del Rey Beach, Florida, signed up 2,000 new members.
Online Content Aggregation –– Michael Sitarzewski, Callisto.fm
With so much content consumed on the Web these days, the door has opened for entrepreneurs who have found ways to not only catalogue some it, but to make it easier for users to consume the information. While plenty of sites existed for streaming TV shows, Michael Sitarzewski realized that there wasn’t anything comparable for listening to podcasts. So in 2008, at a podcaster conference, he pitched his idea for a site that would stream podcasts and organize all the content by channels, giving visitors a place to consume podcasts all in one place. Immediately, he had interest from developers, and within months, Callisto.fm was launched. The site now has 4,500 shows listed and operates primarily through ad revenue. Sitarzewski, who works from home and in places all over his hometown of Boulder, also runs Hypersites, another company he founded in 2001 that serves as a website development application for designers.
