6 Online Businesses You Can Start From Home

6 Online Businesses You Can Start From Home

Oct 18, 2019 | Latest News, Testing

Running an online business is an incredibly exciting and rewarding way to earn money and it
has literally never been easier to start a business online. The internet is so widespread and
technology is so simple to use that more and more people are realizing their full earning
potential, often in addition to holding down a day job. To get started you need only a
computer, a connection to the internet and, of course, a solid business idea. Here are just 6
online businesses you can start from home, so why not get started today?

1. Use your skills to freelance

For many years if someone referred to themselves as a freelancer they were someone who did not have a regular employer but would charge high hourly rates and fees for their work, either by the hour or the project. However, in recent years, freelancing, in addition to having a day job, has become common practice. People all over the world are freelancing from home to make extra money through their skills and talents.
From web design or coding to online marketing or writing, there are plenty of skills that businesses will pay for on a freelance basis rather than hiring a full-time employee. By becoming a freelancer you can take on as much or as little work as you need/want and, as long as you meet your deadline, you can complete the work on your own schedule. Freelance jobs may be standalone projects or you could end up with regular and consistent work.
To get started as a freelancer, it’s worth knowing that there are freelance work websites out there that give you a platform to market your service and connect with businesses that are looking for what you do. You could also publish your skills and availability on social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn.

2. Create and sell products on Etsy

There’s an out of date assumption that creative artists or craftspeople stay away from modern technology, but this is no longer the case. Thanks to online marketplaces like Etsy, people can now sell their creations and crafts to customers all over the world, and it’s incredibly simple to get started.
From knitting and sewing, painting, sketching, pottery, papercrafts, welding and just about anything else you can think of if you can create high-quality and unique pieces you can sell them on Etsy. Some people have found enough success on Etsy to turn their craft into a full-time business rather than a side business. There are also plenty of starter templates and guides to get your Etsy shop set up and trading in no time.

3. Open a dropshipping store

Setting up and running an online e-commerce store can be a big commitment and can be expensive. You need to buy and store your stock, create and manage a website with product listings and images, market that website and package and ship any products which you sell. A simpler method is to start a dropshipping store which allows you to run an online store with far less work required. When running a dropshipping store you can sell products but you don’t need to keep an inventory or ship the products as a third party wholesaler takes care of this.

The customer buys an item from your website, and you then place the order with the wholesaler who packages and ships the product straight to the customer. This saves you a significant amount of time, effort, and money. There are even platforms like Oberlo with simple templates that guide you through the creation of your website so you can start selling on the web in a matter of days. They will work out just how much you need to sell your product for, in order to make a profit. 

4. Start an online consultancy

If you have knowledge or expertise in a particular topic which could be of use to others, why not start an online consultancy service? By starting a consultancy, you can pass on your experience and skills to people who need support or advice. For example, lots of businesses will seek out specialist consultants for particular projects when they don’t have the required skills in their existing team. Their staff may be competent in a number of ways but are lacking specific knowledge in IT, paid search advertising, website or literature design, social media, search engine optimization (SEO) or financial management to take the business to the next level. 

Often we are too modest about our skills and experience and don’t realize that what we have learned in our careers could be of genuine value to others. If you’re struggling with confidence in your own skills, take a look at this article on 10 Ways to Build Your Confidence at Work.

5. Become an Amazon Affiliate

Amazon is a giant in the world of e-commerce and most people have used the website at one point or another. What you may not know is that you can tap into this international success by becoming an Amazon Affiliate. Essentially, you create your own website that encourages visitors to click through to Amazon and make a purchase. When one of your visitors makes a purchase on Amazon you earn a commission from Amazon.
An affiliate website is usually focused on a single product type rather than selling lots of different products. This is because it is easier to rank in search engines like Bing and Google when the site is focused on a niche. It also provides a simpler shopping experience for customers when they are searching for a specific product.
Building an Amazon Affiliate website can be time-intensive in the early stages, and you will need to buy a domain and set up the appropriate links, but once it is operational it can bring you income with very little upkeep or effort. You could even duplicate the website’s structure to cover a range of products.

6. Trade website domains

Trading website domains is a lot like trading in real estate, but with lower risk and capital required. You would buy low cost website domain names and sell it on for a profit. If you are clever about it, there is plenty of money to be made, but creativity is helpful. You need to invest in a number of website domains that are low in cost but could be valuable to a business in the future and keep a lookout for the right type of buyer. The more domains you have, the more diverse your portfolio will be, and you’ll maximize your chances of making a sale. You can buy domains with a credit card from domain auction websites or domain purchase websites, and that’s where you’re likely to find helpful advice and support to enable you to get started. It may take some time to find your feet and make a profit, but once you’re started it can be a lot of fun.

Start making money from home today

It’s so easy to start an online business that, arguably, there is very little stopping you from increasing your income by starting a side business. If it’s something you want to do, you absolutely can maximize your earning potential. Here we have mentioned just a few ideas, but there are literally hundreds of ways people have managed to make money from home. Could tomorrow be the day you start your own venture?

Most Frequently Asked Questions Of Usability Testing Answered

Most Frequently Asked Questions Of Usability Testing Answered

Aug 5, 2019 | Testing

The rule of thumb to follow in the world of user experience or UX web design is ‘Always be testing.’ However, for most of the UX designers, it is not always easy because most of them do not know clearly how to go about usability testing for the site they have designed. Putting it in simple terms, they do not know what exactly they are testing it for.

Fortunately, there are lots of sites that will speak of the what, how, and why of usability testing that you can search for and take a cue from. Or else, continue reading!

What is usability may be the first question that may come to your mind if you are new to it? Therefore, start with knowing the definition of usability testing before you begin to examine the different components of it.

According to the experts, Usability testing is the quality feature that evaluates the user interface and how easy it is to use. The term ‘usability’ also refers to the methods followed to improve the ease in its use during the designing process.

The useful components

The usability experts have come up with the most valuable parts of usability testing. These are:

  • Learnability – This implies how easily the users can accomplish the necessary tasks when they encounter the design for the first time.
  • Efficiency – This evaluates the speed of the design to see how fast the experienced users can achieve any specific task.
  • Memorability–This indicates how easy it is for the users to remember the process of using it effectively when they return to the design next time after a specific period without using it. This means, whether or not the users have to start all over again from learning everything to use it.
  • Errors – This component of usability testing determines how many mistakes the users usually make while using the design and the degree of severity of these errors. It also evaluates how easily a user can recover from such errors.

Last but not least, usability testing also determines the satisfaction level of the users after using the design and how much they like and willing to use the system again.

Usability importance

The importance of usability and its goal is to identify the issues if any, in the usability of the design. It also emphasizes on collecting different quantitative data such as:

  • On the performance of the participants
  • The time is taken for each specific task to complete
  • The rates and severity of errors and most importantly
  • The likability and satisfaction level guaranteed by the system.

If you require something in simpler terms, then it can be said that usability testing is the process to find out whether or not a website is easy to navigate. If not, how it can be rectified.

Usability testing is an essential aspect of UX design and all user experience web designers have to spend a lot of time on it. They must make sure that their design system clearly articulates the specific purpose, or else the users will leave the site.

The challenges involved

You may now ask since it is an essential part of UX design then why do designers overlook it. The simple reason for some designers to feel usability testing is a daunting task is that they know what to test for. Of course, this makes usability testing a comprehensive, costly, and often a challenging process.

  • However, if you know what you are testing and what is it that you are trying to discover. Then usability testing can be a task that can be done relatively quickly.
  • Such knowledge will eliminate the challenges in monitoring usability and testing the design. Elsewhere, it can surely be a waste of time, energy, and money as it is with a few UX designers.

The biggest challenge in UX design is that the website manager needs to understand and know how humans work. In most of the times, the user experience designers follow the wrong process and focus more on how they can correctly manage the content. They, therefore, emphasize on knowing how a content management software or the search engines work, making usability testing all the more difficult, if not impossible.

Tasks come first

Usability testing involves measuring the five components mentioned previously. You can do it much easier if you gather all the relevant data first and more importantly evolve the website to make it more user-friendly. This will inevitably affect the bottom line of the business, ultimately.

Therefore, there are a few principles to follow to ensure proper usability testing.

  • Tasks come first and design second ideally in this process.
  • The definition of a well-designed site is that which ensures that the targeted users get to work on a pretty user interface.
  • In addition to that, they should also have an interface that is easy to navigate.
  • They also get all relevant information that will help the users to complete a particular task, whether it is for making a purchase or gathering information and local news.

Even then, several websites are found to be not so easy to complete these specific tasks, no matter how pretty it is graphically.

Therefore, make sure that:

  • You meet with the needs of the users
  • Focus on making the task completion efforts of the users your primary objective
  • Not emphasize on managing the technology
  • Do not control the content of the information in it and
  • Do not concentrate on managing the graphics either.

Tasks and only tasks are what you should manage, and once that is established, everything else, including the technology, design, and content will fall easily into place.

Conclusion

Therefore, usability testing is primarily vital because no website is perfect and should be continually evolving. You must make sure that it is in tune with the user behavior that changes according to age, experience, interest, and other demographics.

The best approach to follow is to focus on user feedback and work accordingly.