Digital Businesses have come to stay and the owners of this type of business model don’t just wake up and start these businesses. They invest time, money and tools to ensure their businesses stand the test of time. Gone are the days when having a digital business was classified as just a side hustle with no future projections. Today’s Online businesses are scalable and can be handed down to generations if set up correctly.

Starting and growing a sustainable digital business is a concern to many looking to start and this is normal. The various digital-based business models are constantly evolving with new ideas, personalities, and directions.

When I look back to when I started, where I am and where I am going, I can tell there is a huge difference in perspective and a lot has changed. In this post, I will discuss different digital business models you can choose from to make your entrepreneurship journey a reality.

The choice of which model to adopt can be determined by different factors like:

Time you have to work
How you want to do business
People you would like to work with
Your goals and Vision.
Your Skills
Resources available to you

What is a Digital Business Model?

A digital business model is a way to run a digital-based business in terms of processes, offers and deliverability. The Strategy, tech, offer type, client type, and deliverables all contribute to the digital business model. The model chosen is not set in stone and that’s what I love about having an online business. You can choose to change your chosen model based on what stage you are at in your business, your personality, lifestyle and goals.

The Proven Digital Business Model include:

Model #1: Offers Model:

The offers model is when you create an offer (solution) to serve a specific audience based on your expert skill set. This offer model cuts across all areas of the digital business world so you might find me using this word interchangeably. Here, you find a problem and create an offer that provides the solution.

The coaching style of business thrives greatly using this model. A lot of agitations have been ongoing in the coaching circle of the online business world as a result of so many coaches springing up and not offering the desired help maybe because it’s a niche one can start easily. It’s a service-based model as well but the difference is that you are not offering done-for-you service for the client, instead you are mostly giving them actionable advice and hand-holding support.

You can easily replace your 9-5 income if you are coming from the corporate world or reach your set goal quickly because people need solutions, and you just need to bring your specialised Skills. You can offer coaching services in different sectors like:

Health
Business
Finances
Parenting etc

Model #2: Service Provider Model:

You can start a Service Provider Model of business if you have specific specialised Skills. The Popular name is Freelancing. Here, You offer mostly Done-for-you services to clients who need your services and you get paid for it. You can start this business today when you have discovered the skill you want to offer as a service then sign up on a Freelance Marketplace like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, Guru etc According to the Tech Report Website, there are about 1.57 billion people who are freelancers.

You can also start without using the Freelance Marketplace by creating your offers and using your platforms like a one-page website or social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter(X), Linkedin etc, then start marketing your offers. Offers can start with skill sets like social media strategy or management, web design, tech and automation support, writing, admin, etc

Running a service-based business has so much flexibility where you can choose how you run your business and get paid. You can go in full-time or part-time. You can choose to be paid per hour or project. As you start your service-based business, you can also build your audience, and nurture and serve them with your services. You can build your audience using an email marketing platform like Birdsend or Convertkit.

Building your audience is an important step in your marketing. Please, start building your audience as early as possible.

Model #3: Subscription-Based – SAAS Company

Digital Business success is supported by several software of different types. It can be for Admin, tech, funnels, audience building, growing your audience, delivering your offers and so on. The software platforms make running a digital business seamless.

Currently, building a Software As A Service (SAAS) Company isn’t for the big companies anymore. This is a digital business model that you can try starting if you have the right strategies to succeed in it. You don’t have to start from scratch anymore, there are some white-label companies that you can start with like Go High Level.

There are so many SAAS companies helping us grow our dream digital businesses like FG Funnels, Kajabi, Systeme.io, Kartra etc The model is usually on a subscription base. You can pay monthly or annually to get the features they offer. SAAS Companies cost time, and money and are scalable.

There are so many other ways to incorporate a subscription-based model in your digital business like having a membership, group program, selling resell rights to digital products, coaching and so on. It’s a model that assures one of monthly income. you need to have a strategic way of retaining your clients and subscribers to have success in this type of Model.

Model #4: Digital Products:

Digital Products is the core of having an online digital business. There are lots of digital products one can create.

Watch This video below :

There are different types of digital products you can Launch and they are listed below:

Group Programs
Membership programs
Monthly Subscriptions
Online Courses
E-books
Private Podcast
Private Emails
Digital Downloads like Spreadsheets, Templates etc
Productised Services

Different types of digital products will keep evolving because lots of ideas will keep coming to the minds of creators so note that this type of digital product is not all that there is. The advantage of having digital products is based on personal goals or desired lifestyle and some of them can be:

No income cap
Being there for your family
Freedom (Whatever it means to you)
Location-independent Lifestyle
Planned income
Impacting a larger audience
Automated Business etc

Building a digital product business doesn’t happen suddenly. It takes time, resources, grit, and patience to achieve it. You need to have a strong mindset to keep going even when it seems harder. It has low barrier entry as long as you have the solution to the problems of your desired audience.

Model #5: Influencer Marketing:

Influencing is a fast-growing sector of the digital business marketplace. It cuts across several sectors like entertainment, education, charity, business, health etc

Small and big influencers have their stage these days and are making it work, living their dream lifestyle.

Social media has made it easy to start an influencer business by removing the bottleneck of hiring media teams. You can start with what you have and grow from there. Choose which sector to focus on and start creating content suitable for your chosen audience. Most social media platforms are going big on influencing as long as you obey their rules.

Some of the creators use these programs to make money by influencing:

YouTube Partner Program,
Brand partnerships
Instagram or TikTok Creators Program
Promotions on podcasts,
Donations on Patreon,
Subscriptions on Substack
Facebook or Twitter Creators Program

It takes time, creativity, resources and confidence. You too can if you wish to. First, you build a following and then monetize to a degree of growing a sustainable income.

Influencing is a volatile model of growing an online digital business because you are building your business on borrowed platforms. to secure your business, create systems in place from the onset like email marketing and storing your content on your website.

Model #6: Content Monetisation:

This is a form of influencing but it cuts across other platforms like:

Blogging
Podcasting
Forum Monetisation
Social Media Monetisation etc

This can be built by building a following that is loyal to you and your content. While building content, you can also delve into digital products here. Don’t forget that building on your platform is to be emphasised here as well.

Model #7: Affiliate Marketing:

Affiliate Marketing is all about reselling people’s products to get paid a commission. It’s a great way of making a passive income without much work. The work you need to do here is to be careful of the products you recommend so as not to hurt your brand and to market the products ethically. Affiliate marketing gets a commission at no additional cost to the people who purchase the products. Examples of a few affiliate products I recommend are below:

You can build your affiliate business through several channels like promoting in Facebook groups, blogs, YouTube, emails, and affiliate websites. It’s a profitable model that doesn’t require you to create your product before you can start making money. Just promote other people’s products and when someone buys, you make a commission. This is a model that can be combined with almost any of the other digital business models. The secret is getting the right traffic to buy what you are promoting.

Model #8: Skills Monetisation:

This model is broad and also interchangeable. Here, you can create offers to monetise your skills or create packages to offer your skills to clients who need them. These Skills might include but are not limited to:

Writing
Web design
Sales Page design
Tech and automation
Administrative Skills
Community Management

You can also use marketplaces like Fiverr, and Upwork to get started or Start building your brand. This is a scalable model of business but like the others, It takes time to build.

Model #9: Experience Monetisation:

Just like the name sounds, you can monetise your job or life experiences. This can be achieved by sharing your story, identifying the audience that is going through the same issue and sharing your solution with them.

In this Model, You can also incorporate other models mentioned above like the digital products model.

Look beyond your current role in your present job, and that might be a business idea staring at you in the face. You have got this.

Model #10: Career-focused Monetisation:

What is your current role at your Job or past job? Is it satisfying the desire and lifestyle you look forward rd? If yes, keep at it but if no, you can stay at your Job and start planning a side business that will lead to the kind of life you desire. Remember, don’t be too quick to quit your Job. Build your side business until it replaces your Job’s income consistently for at least 6-12 months before going full-time.

Conclusion:

The digital business marketplace is a multi-business opportunity space that brings success and challenges. Whether you choose to create content, offer services, or sell digital products, the key is to understand your market, deliver value, and consistently refine your approach. With the right strategy, tools or software and dedication, any of these above-mentioned models can lead to the sustainability of your online business.

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