The economy is nosediving, people are getting laid-off from their jobs, inflation is rising while the higher institutions keep churning out more and more graduates into the labour market on an annual basis to come get jobs that are not available.This is our reality in this part of the world.

However, there are various ways smart individuals are helping themselves out without waiting for the Government. Learning how to make money online is one sure way that is helping a lot of people. It helps me, my friends, my students and a lot of other people and the truth is that it can help you too.

Just in case you have been wondering how to make money online in Nigeria too, either to support your current income or to face it as a primary business, this guide will really help you.

After reading this write-up, you should be able to lay your hand on at least one of the online business opportunities that I will be sharing with you. I will not only be sharing the business ideas, I will also be sharing the details of how to start and the needed tools where applicable.

I am doing this because it’s part of what I lacked when I was starting out. About a decade ago, I used to scout the internet for how to make money online in Nigeria. Fast-forward to this day, a lot of young people in Nigeria still search for this topic and it is only normal for those of us who have been able to lay our hands on this knowledge to share it with others.

I have taken my time to break every online business idea I share here down into the finest details possible. However, if you eventually need more information, just contact me using the comment box below and you will sure here from me if you need more help.

My 5 Best Online Businesses To Make Money In Nigeria

While there are different ways to make money online in Nigeria, the 5 mentioned below are my own top 5 based on the following criteria;

Sustainability: When I was still a newbie online, there are a lot of businesses that we were rushing then which are no more today. You all have examples of such. So, in my opinion, it is not worth it to focus on such businesses if your goal is to have a business that will continue to make you money consistently for several years to come.
Control: I have also been part of some businesses that were so good but eventually crashed as a result of not having enough control over them. If you do not have control over the key aspect of the business that makes you money, you do not have a business.
Ease of Entry: I have carefully selected for you businesses that you can start easily, even today. Though, business wise, easy entry into any business has its own downside too but I will teach you how to overcome that.
Tools: One of the reasons why a lot of people read, read and read without taking action is when what they need to kickstart are not available. But if the tools you need are easy to get or even what you probably already have, the chances that you will try it out are very high and so are your chances for success.

So, I hope you understand the criteria for my list now. It does not mean these businesses are the only best businesses online, but they are my own best based on those above criteria.

Now, let’s quickly dig into the list of the businesses and how to go about them.

Below is the list of 5 top online businesses you can launch easily and successfully even if you are a newbie;

The Business of Your Talent
Online Mini Importation
Blogging
E-commerce
Information Marketing



THE BUSINESS OF YOUR TALENT

Making money online does sound like a mirage to a lot of people. In fact, those who have the talents that can easily be monetised using the power of the internet are the ones affected most. May be they think this requires them to become a web designer or a programming guru, I do not really know.

I come across people like this on a daily basis and I always wish I have the unique talent they have. So, under this category, how do you go about it?

The first question you need to ask yourself is – what talent do I have?

What do my friends call me for? What problems do people usually bring to me? What is it that I know how to do best more than most people? What did I study in school? What skill(s) do I have? What is that one thing I can do in my life more than most other people?

Let me give you some examples. I used to offer a lot of free tutorials for my colleagues while in school then. If I had knowledge about the internet then, I could be making money with it and the business would have grown so big by now. Using a tool as simple as Whatsapp would have solved the problem of having a platform. All I would have needed to do was to add interested pariticpants to the group after a payment of say N500. Having 10 of them would have made me N5,000. No digital or online business could be easier than this. This is a good digital business idea for students. You can teach anything, any time.

Today, I train people on different topics on business and entrepreneurship and I get very interesting feedback from my audience every time I train. So, I have this blog to monetise my talent. It’s as simple as that. I will elaborate more on this under blogging.

Some people can tie gele (head gear) very well more than a lot of other people. Some people can cook more than other people. Some people have knowledge about herbs more than a lot of other people…and so on and on. You too should think about what it is that you can do more than a lot of other people.

I really want you to pay attention to my choice of words here: I am not saying what only you can do best than every other human being on earth, I am saying what you can do more than just some other people. If you can at least find one, you can launch an online business to make money with it.

While some people are really talented that they can even be referred to as geniuses, most of us are not. We are just a bit more brilliant on some things, courses, subjects, skills more than few others. These few other people are our own audience that will pay us for the knowldege gap. Do you understand?

So, come up with that thing you know to to do better with some other people. The next step will be reaching out to these people to help them.

How Do You Make Money From Your Talent Using the Internet?

One thing you should know is that there are a lot of challenges (ranging from the very serious ones to the silly ones too) that people are facing these days and the first place they take their issues to is Google, social media or the internet generally.

So, if your talent is something that provides a solution to a particular challenge and you are findable online, then you can make money with that.

How do you become findable online?

Start with your free social media account (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snap, and so on). This may sound so simple and ordinary to you but that’s where it starts from for a lot of us. Social media platforms offer you free advertisement for whatever it is that you offer.

From today, start investing the time you spend reading, liking and commenting on other people’s posts into making posts about what you know and watch how people start to offer you opportunities.

The fellow that sent me that SMS is a follower on Facebook and a friend (but sent the SMS with a number I didn’t have). He read one of my posts on my Facebook wall and sent me the above SMS. A lot of other people don’t have my number but they do send me inbox messages and write nice comments under the posts for appreciation.

A lot of other people will just like. The rest will read but will neither like nor comment but they are watching and keeping the value they get through your posts in mind.

Your benefit will come the day they face a challenge in the area of what you do post about. be it health, career, finances, legal issues, politics, academics, business and so on. Obviously, if I had offered something to sell in a post to touched my friend so much that he even sent an SMS, do you think he would have bought or not?

Some years back when I started my Forex Trading venture. Posting my analyses on my Facebook wall attracted a lot of followers to me and kick-started me on a good journey.

I started getting invites to speak in different Forex events for brokers. Also, I started getting offers as an IB (Introducing broker) for many brokerage firms locally and internationally. In fact, I got all this from mere posting on my Facebook wall. I was not even using Twitter so much then and Instagram was not available yet.

So, who can do this? The answer is anyone. And what can you share with people? Any thing! As long as it makes sense. Even if it does not make sense, as long as it entertains people, they will pay attention.

Think of the online/social media comedians that are springing up every day. They are a typical example of the strategy I am sharing with you now. You do not need a website or a blog. You can add those ones when you blow and ready to scale.

Some Ideas for You

If you know how to cook better than an average Nigerian girl, share the information with people. Do you know about health? Write short notes and share with people on your social media pages. If you know physics, start sharing information about it on your wall or open a Youtube Channel to start teaching people even for free. You can easily earn money with Youtube when they place ads on your videos if you attract good traffic.

Also, one day, somehow, someone somewhere will bring you a money-making opportunity through those posts or videos.

You can get invited for an interview on the subject you write about on radio or TV, you can get invited to speak at an event, you can set up a blog from there, you can start recommending/selling products related to the subject you write/teach about about, you can be invited to be a co-author for a book, you can get an opportunity for product review for a pay and so on.

In fact, this is something you can start right now with your phone and your social media accounts. Give it sometime to grow and see it work out for you. Just make sure that you give valuable information. In this time and age of information overload, no one will notice you if you don’t give excellent value.



ONLINE MINI IMPORTATION

In my opinion, this is another online business young people can do in Nigeria and it is easy to start if you have the right information. I will make sure I give you everything you need to start and succeed in it based on my own personal experience doing it over the years.

For more than 4 years now, I have been buying stuffs from amazon.com down to Nigeria on my own. I didn’t see it as a business opportunity because the end cost is always such that it wont be profitable if I buy to sell. But today, it is possible.

Later, I got to know about online importation from China and that made a lot of sense to me. The items are always very cheap and the quality are not so bad if you know how to go about it.

In fact I used to order for a particular mini massaging machine (picture below) I used to sell to my clients from my natural health business.

How did it happen? A pharmacist friend was trying to network me into a networking marketing business and one of their products was the massaging machine. They were selling it for N16,000 then and she really convinced me that the machine was working (along with other products) for a particular health challenge. Fortunately for me, this particular health challenge was my best selling as at that time. I didn’t waste time, I started ordering for it from them.

One day, it just occurred to me that I could import this machine at a cheaper price. The MLM company can keep their commission. So, I went online to search and got the exact machine on aliexpress.com for $13.66 and about $3 for shipping. That roughly about $17 which is equivalent to about N6,000.

They were selling their own for N16,000 but I was getting mine down to Nigeria from China for around N6,000 maximum (visit this link for confirmation). That’s N10,000 saving/profit for me on each machine. Ask me how many of the machines I bought…lol

That’s just a page of my order on November 23rd and 25th of 2016 and that’s 8 pieces in all. Imagine how many I would have bought in a period of 6 months or 1 year. This was even before I discovered other chinese websites where I could buy at cheaper prices than what I was getting from aliexpress.

So, hope you get the gist. Online importation could really be profitable if you can get highly profitable and selling products.

Where Do You Order From?

As you may be aware by now, there are some popular websites online where people order from from China. However, as for me, where I buy from depends on what I am buying. But not to go beyond the scope of this write-up, I will limit the sources to China only.

My number one site when it comes to ordering from China is www.aliepxress.com followed closely by www.1688.com. I do not waste my time on the other ones. There is no other online store in China, that I know of, that offers lower prices on major popular items than 1688. I use aliexpress if I am buying small quantity because 1688 sells in bulk most times (depending on what you are buying).

One basic advantage of aliexpress over 1688 is that the site is in English and you can get your items imported to Nigeria free of charge through NIPOST. The only time NIPOST may ask you to pay like N500 or 1k is when the item is bulky.

The only downside to this is that you may need to wait for about 2 weeks or even up to 45days in some cases before you get your item. In most cases, I use Aliexpress for personal items only.

As for 1688, that’s my go to site when buying items for sale. Normally, this means I will be buying in bulk and at a far cheaper price than what I will be getting from Aliexpress.

You need to know that buying from 1688 is a bit technical as the site is in Chinese. It is actually a local e-commerce site for Chinese people only. That’s why the prices are ridiculously cheap.

See how it looks on Firefox below..read more on https://strictlybusiness.ng/top-5-online-businesses-to-make-money-in-nigeria/

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