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8. Mobile Phone Applications and Content
They say that "the thumb is the new power digit". However attached we are to our computers at our office, we are even more attached to our cell phones. As of 2004, there are approximately one billion Internet users in the world, but nearly 1.5 billion mobile phone users. Mobile phones are selling at a rate of 600 million units a year, making them the most widespread communications devices, computing devices, and consumer-electronics products. And thanks to a history of competing standards, the U.S., potentially the largest market, still has much lower market saturation of mobile phones. As the U.S. moves in line with the global standards, expect to see a boom in the U.S. mobile phone market.
And all those phones aren't just being used for voice communications and person-to-person text messages. People are using them to access the Internet for all kinds of content and services: movie times, news, weather and more. In China, Linktone is now offering the "m-Novel" Channel, which delivers serial novels to cell phones via SMS messages. Games, art, social networking, you name it. It's a wide open medium. Be creative!
9. Wi-Fi Hotspots
While setting up your own nationwide wireless network may be a bit out of reach, you can cash in on the wireless Internet boom on a much smaller scale by setting up Wi-Fi hotspots. A few major players like Verizon have set up large wireless networks in a few major markets, but the opportunity is wide open to deliver high-speed Internet access to laptop users in hotels, restaurants, and other locations. Wi-Fi can also be used to deliver high-speed Internet to remote areas not served by DSL or cable.
On the low end, companies like Boingo allow you to register your wireless network as a hotspot for as little as $10 and start earning money right away. Others provide everything from basic services to billing and subscription management software to complete system hardware. And if none of those business models suit you, then you can sign up as an independent rep to sign up hotspot locations into the network. This is going to be a boom business for the next few years, and there are opportunities for all sizes of business, amounts of investment, and levels of experience.
10. Infopreneur
According to technology analysts IDC, the amount of information transmitted over the Internet is doubling every year, and it's not all spam! That kind of growth can only be supported by an increase in demand as well as supply. There is more demand for information now than ever before in history, and opportunities abound for people who can find a niche and effectively market to it. It's really a very simple formula, and it's fundamentally the way that most people who make money on the Internet do it. And, contrary to popular opinion, products about internet marketing are NOT the only things that are actually selling!
There are many different business models and media you can use to deliver your content. You may develop an e-book or audio program and then use free conference calls to promote them. Or maybe you give away a free e-book to promote your teleclasses and web seminars, which you give for a fee. Or maybe you do like many people who are now making money as bloggers (and like we do here at About) and give your content away and let advertisers pay to be put in front of their target audience.
You don't have to be a creative genius to succeed at this, either. Matthew Lesko of late-night TV fame makes his money repackaging information that's freely available from the government. He just organizes and markets it better. Tom Antion creates niche sites like InstantEulogy.com that make tens of thousands of dollars a year, and he sometimes doesn't even write the e-books himself - he hires a ghostwriter. Boing Boing is one of the most highly-trafficked blogs on the Internet and generates thousands of dollars in advertising revenue every month. Read closely, though, and you'll see that the posts only contain a minimal amount of original content -- most is snipped from the linked sites.
If you'd like a step-by-step for one possible business model, check out How To How to Really Make Money on the Internet With an Amazon.com Affiliate Site, which shows how you how to set up a product review site for less than $20 a year operating expenses.
If you'd like to explore more business opportunities, check out the links in the right sidebar. And may your business prosper in 2005!