Top 5 Most Profitable Internet Marketing Business Models
October 29th, 2008 | 25 comments
A couple weeks ago I shared 5 Overused, Ineffective Internet Marketing Techniques. In the comment field of that post Peter Tremayne suggested my next post be on the top 5 “underused, effective techniques.” I liked the idea, so today I’d like to go that route, but change it up a bit.
Today I’d like to share with you the top 5 most profitable Internet Marketing Business Models. #1, #2 and #3 can all be nearly just as profitable depending on how they’re worked, but I believe the order I put them in is pretty accurate.
You’ll notice that blogging isn’t one of them. That’s because blogging should NEVER be a business model! It can be a valuable part of many different profitable business models, but blogging alone is NOT a business model!
1. Pay Per Click (PPC) - PPC and Email Marketing are both extremely profitable and although I’m not personally a PPC super affiliate, I see the EXTREME profit potential! The problem with PPC (the good thing for those who choose to get serious with it) is that since it takes money to make money and there is no guarantee of profiting, MANY people give up right away!
However, there are several super affiliates out there who make thousands and thousands of dollars each and every day! This is something I’ve toyed with over the years and I’m just now starting to get serious with. There is a fairly large learning curve and if you’re struggling to feed your family I don’t recommend getting into PPC. Only do this when you have some capital to invest on your PPC “education” ie. learning from your mistakes. You WILL lose money at first… how much depends on the spending limits and budgets you set.
2. Email Marketing - Email marketing is a close second to PPC although some people would argue that… I do believe PPC is a bit more profitable though when comparing the most successful people in both fields.
However, email marketing is something just about ANYONE can get started with and it can be VERY profitable if done correctly! This is my absolute favorite business model and as you may come to realize after reading the report I just released “New Age Email Marketing” Email marketing accounts for approximately 80% of my total income these days… there’s a good chance you came across this post through one of my emails… see what I mean?
3. Membership Sites - The profit potential with membership sites is absolutely obvious. Instead of a single, one-time payment, people send you money over and over again! The trick is to obviously give them something so valuable that they decide it’s worth it! Over-deliver and there’s a good chance you’ll make a bunch of money. Under-deliver and there’s a good chance you’ll make little to nothing.
I collect recurring payments with my coaching forum and although it will never account for a great deal of my income due to the increased work load for this type of system, it generates a little extra money and I get to truly help people at the same time, so the payoff is good for me.
How you decide to run your membership site is up to you… it could be a forum, a free content site etc. etc. There are no rules here… just provide something that people want and are willing to pay each and every month for access.
4. Electronic Product Creation and Marketing - Don’t think because I have product creation listed as #4 that it’s not profitable because it is indeed VERY profitable. When we’re dealing with electronic products the real power is in affiliate marketing.
Having OTHER people promote your product(s) is like a dream really. You do absolutely nothing and other people do the hard work. Of course it take some initial hard work, but it happens. I earn money every single day from affiliates promoting “AMD” and my other products.
The catch? Just like anything else you have to provide quality. No one wants to promote crap, but everyone wants to promote quality!
I’ll be sending out an email to my list in the very near future with a discount for an excellent ebook written by my buddy Mark Mason, on how to create a quality ebook and profit from it. Yeah, it’s an ebook on how to make an ebook 
Look for that on the 4th of November.
5. Niche Marketing - This can be defined in several different ways, after all, “Niche Marketing” is a very broad phrase. But the definition I’m referring to is building and promoting small, white-hat mini-sites monetized with Adsense and Affiliate programs.
I’ve made a good deal of money in the past doing this. You may have read my report “The $5 Mini-Site Formula,” which outlines my overall niche marketing formula.
You’re basically filling gaps in the Internet information world. There are millions of tiny, long-tail sub-niches that have little to no relevant pages in the SERPS… you simply find them and fill them with your articles and pages. The smart ones will only target high-paying niches. I’m talking niches that pay over $1 for each and every Adsense click!
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Are you using one or more of these models? I’d love to hear your feedback!
photo credit: joeltelling
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29th October, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Josh — thanks for the mention. I have worked really hard on the eBook, and I think your readers will really find it useful.
As you know, I’m working hard to create real value for all my customers (including my readers) — and that is something that you do very well.
Keep up the great work (and teach us how to do PPC).
Thanks,
Mark
29th October, 2008 at 3:53 pm
About PPC, the best way to make that work is . . .
1) First know all your conversion numbers
2) Have a large visitor value by having backend and continuity products. If you’ve got visitor value around $2 - $5, then you’ll be golden with PPC.
Just my thoughts . . .
Nathan
29th October, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Josh:
Thanks again for the relevant information. You always seem to have the right information at the right time for me.
Linda
29th October, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Great ideas Josh! I like that you actually use all 5 methods that you suggest. Diversifying your income streams is always a good idea.
29th October, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Josh,
Good review of 5 methods of wealth creation. The problem for anyone new to this is plowing through the crap information to mine just that one nugget of value.
Concentrating on really good content that people crave is the real concept to take from this.
Tom
29th October, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Nice article Josh.
PPC, when done correctly, can definitely make someone a very nice income.
But you’re right. You must have some money to make money and chances are you’ll lose money at first just trying to get your hands familiar with how the PPC system works.
Welly Mulia
29th October, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Josh, a great article! Personally, I like #2 and #4 on your list the most. I am currently in the process of creating an ebook and I am very excited.
Also, just wanna mention that I bought “New Age Email Marketing” the other day and I love it!
Thanks,
Josip Barbaric
29th October, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Hey Josh,
Glad I inspired you to write this post!
Looking forward to your PPC findings. It’s all ‘white magic’ to me and I leave well alone..for now.
For any newbies reading this post - I strongly suggest you focus on 1 specific business model until you start making a regular income (no matter how small).
Then move on and start diversifying with other models.
There’s no point trying to do them all together - you will fail miserably.
Personally I only use methods 2,3 and 4 - and they are working well for me right now.
Hopefully I’ll get into PPC when you (josh) come up with the secret formula!
Cheers,
~ Peter Tremayne
29th October, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Great stuff Josh. Your Top 5 Most Profitable Internet Marketing Business Models are great.
You may have left one out.
Social Marketing….You know facebook, squidoo,hubpages,Youtube, etc….
Paul Guzman
29th October, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Great post. I’ve tried your $5 formula, I was already doing something similar with article marketing for blogs by “accident.” It was a great report and has definitely helped up the Adsense income. Thanks again, and keep the great posts coming!
29th October, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Paul, social marketing isn’t a business model.
Sites like Facebook, Squidoo and StumbleUpon etc. can be used as a method to ‘drive traffic’ to your business model.
~ Peter Tremayne
29th October, 2008 at 7:53 pm
thanks for the post, Josh
let us know how it’s going with PPC
29th October, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Good, solid, meat and potatoes kind of stuff. I’ve been visiting/reading your site for a couple of months now and have found some helpful info. that I’ve used and passed on to others.
Thanks.
30th October, 2008 at 1:30 am
PPC marketing is probably the fastest way to start making money. You can start with very little as well.
I’ve spent as little as 3 dollars to make a 40 dollar commission. It takes work, keyword research, but there are systems out there like the ones at Earn1KaDay that have people making $200 a day once their ducks are all lined up in a row.
30th October, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Josh, a lucid and unbiased account of things, as ever.
Like most things, there will be methods that work better for some people than others. The trick is to find out what works for you, and when you’ve figured out what makes it work, then you roll it out x 1000. It’s the rinse and repeat method.
30th October, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Josh
What about an ebook novel about dogs?
Are ebook novels generally successful?
Thanks.
Robert
30th October, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Too bad there aren’t a ton of membership sites with decent support.
31st October, 2008 at 7:03 pm
I am considering a membership site but PPC is so much easier (and faster).
decisions, decisions…
4th November, 2008 at 8:21 am
Very interesting models and I have to agree that they can mint money like hell.
Niche Marketing is something that I rely on a lot for my business, I have never made use of Pay Per Click.
4th November, 2008 at 8:37 am
Great post Josh!
My top pics are: email marketing, niche marketing and ppc. They are the most ‘viral’ and in demand mode these days.
5th November, 2008 at 4:54 am
PPC, to my point of view, is the quickest way to make a lot of profit. But, it also takes a lot of research and trials. Many simply give up too early, or not investing time to research on how do PPC properly with proper keyword research techniques.
6th November, 2008 at 10:32 am
Hi Josh
Great post as always.
I think the most difficult of these to make work is membership. The content quantity/quality requirements are so much higher. After reading this post I will definitely be trying to produce an ebook.
Many thanks
Neil
14th November, 2008 at 8:29 am
Great post and good ideas. I would like to know and get more details about PPC. Would you mind sharing some more details as to how to earn some money, if not in thousands, through this model? Thanks.
15th November, 2008 at 4:51 pm
I think you missed one of the more important parts of your list. Focus. It takes a couple of years of apprentice time to become good at something. If you do not focus on becoming a journeyman on one of these business models. One at a time.
Rick
11th December, 2008 at 2:49 am
Membership sites are my major income maker. Building large teams that pay you monthly makes sense to me, you just have to concentrate on helping your team grow large as well,
Jason