With the growth of digital economy and with the advent of affordable and accessible digital tools, there have been a plethora of viable opportunities in the Internet and Digital space. With more and more start-up firms on the horizon, operating in both B2B and B2C segments, and most trying to find and plug the obvious gaps in meeting consumer demand in innovative ways by removing existing pain points through products and services that are user-friendly and accessible by educated, less-educated, and non-tech savvy alike, the demand for digital workforce has been high and consistently growing.
While the more aspirational and entrepreneurial individuals set out to form their own firms to realise their dreams, the opportunities for job-seekers are equally diverse, challenging, and demanding. Apart from the functional skills of management, finance, and marketing, the professionals require an equally high magnitude of tech-skills which make the workforce of today’s world different from the pre-internet and pre-3G era. Most millennials and Gen-Z are having exciting times in a sense that they are exposed to the massive development and transition taking place in a world devoid of boundaries, and are also having limitless exposure to work in a multicultural environment.
The world today has shrunk while new possibilities abound galore. People are working in different time-zones on the same project thus maximising productivity. The whole ecosystem has been supported tremendously by not just the government and friendly business policies and regulations, but also by the Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors who have been pitching in with the most crucial support, that is financing the project which otherwise do not have any means or wherewithal to raise easy finance.
Even with the Covid-19 pandemic that has engulfed the whole world in its tentacles, we see there are new firms with new ideas and concepts thronging the market. We outline here some bright and sustainable business ideas that one could start their business with, keeping in mind there are many young and qualified professionals who have lost their employment and are probably nursing a desire to become an independent self-employed professional.
Content Writer/Copywriter. With digital marketing and E-commerce businesses thriving, Marketing is more dependent on affordable influencer marketing and engaging the customer right through their buying decision journey to help them choose the right product or service, and also to seek more positive referrals. The conventional modes of promoting something through print or TV advertising is way too expensive for a boot-strapped or a cash-strapped entrepreneur to even think of getting into, unless their businesses cater to mass consumer segments having millions of population.
And here comes the importance of the role of a Content marketer. Content is king because the customer wants a compelling value proposition to buy a particular brand, and nothing delivers it better than a smartly and intelligently crafted content that gently nudges and urges people to take some form of action. Whether it’s affiliate marketing or blog writing, developing good writing skills go a long way in helping your business. This art can be learnt and perfected with practice, and must be supported by your quest to seek information and by being more inquisitive.
Video Marketing/YouTuber. Video is here to stay. For long, actually. Gen-Z and millennials are so hooked on it that marketers must count themselves lucky to get such high quality authentic content on such a regular basis. Instagram, Facebook Live, LinkedIn, Snapchat, you just name it and check how fast and rampant the growth of video content is. Whether it’s a Vlog to generate advertising revenue or to promote a product or service, Videos are on a roller coaster ride and they are here to stay.
It has also stirred the desire of a niche segment of people in young as well as middle-age groups who have always wanted to get behind the camera to script their own short film, or documentary or even a full-blown commercial film, and bring it alive to a larger audience, which is now easily possible through mobile and internet technologies.YouTube helps you drive traffic to website through quality content carefully stitched into valuable stories. It can also launch you as a speaker on a diverse range of topics if you have a knack of conveying and influencing the audience on a social or political cause.
Online Advertising. Facebook, Google, and Instagram are powerful yet affordable media to reach out to a larger audience at a minimal cost. If you master the art of creating compelling content and segmenting and targeting your audience through the algorithm created by the social media platforms, you can effectively reach the audience that you seek to get into your fold as your clients.
There are companies whose online advertising budgets run into hundreds of thousands of USD per month, and they have teams working on each and every aspect of Digital marketing, right from researching the audience, analysing consumption data, creating messaging content, and then handling the leads generated to convert these into Sales. Among these, one of the most important functions is of the digital marketer who specialises in generating and converting leads through running paid advertisements or through organic posts and who consistently drives website traffic.
Mastering SEO techniques, and setting up of landing pages and online advertisements will take you higher up in your career and professional growth, however be ready to upgrade yourself regularly as the algorithm for executing these tools is defined by the likes of Google and Facebook and they change it quite frequently.
Affiliate Marketing. If you are excited by the art of selling and have been finding it tough during this pandemic to go out and meet your prospects, there is another way you can sell your products and services, and probably reach out to much larger masses if you are a little tech-savvy and growth oriented.
Affiliate Marketing simply means promoting and selling any product or service, physical or digital, to your contacts and followers on social media or by driving them to your website, and earn high commissions from the owner of those products and services. Having a working knowledge of SEO and Content creation is vital and will help you on an everyday basis. Amazon Affiliate Programme is one of the most popular affiliate marketing programmes, but there are many others with whom you can get associated.
Creating your own value-added Digital product. The Internet offers an audience and opportunity to anybody for anything that is needed, and you can bundle it in a smart package to add value to the users. Why not develop your own product using your own knowledge and experience!
You can create your own Digital information product in the form of an eBook or a course for students or professionals. This doesn’t cost any great deal of money, as you probably already own a smartphone with a decent enough camera, and its other accessories such as a microphone and USB cable. If you have scripted and prepared a video content, there are several free tools available to edit the video and give it a professional look & feel.
If you believe you can help others learn through your experience, there is no better way than this to monetise your talent. This is thus satisfying too. Again, there are various ways to sell your own created product, on amazon, or through your own website / YouTube channel, or by creating your own affiliate partners. Do give it a try and see how your destiny and wallet improve for better.
Create a SaaS product. If you believe in your technical knowledge, skills, and talent, and wish to shine on a global stage, getting into SaaS development is the most profitable business proposition in the IT services sector today. As the businesses expand and world contracts, SaaS provides the platform that helps organisations save millions of dollars in investment, time, and resources. More such services and solutions are being designed keeping in mind B2B business.
So there are numerous possibilities in both B2C and B2B spheres if one starts analysing the business processes and how transactions between companies and transactions between internal departments and employees take place. More Unicorns are coming up in SaaS than in any other IT services segment. The rise of Canva, Zoho, Freshdesk, and Dropbox are testimonies to the immense potential this sector has. But please note SaaS needs a large enough team and good enough investments as you scale up.
Keep yourselves abreast of the technological advancements & changes around you
Hope you have a clear insight into the opportunities and ways to get into your career transformation path with a little change in mindset. I will keep posting on this topic to regularly apprise our readers of the innovative and affordable ways to create a world of opportunities for your own future and to help others by generating employment opportunities.
