Online business models
Having established how much time, money and resources you plan to put into your online venture, there are four basic online business models you can follow:
E-commerce
– the most closely aligned to the traditional business model of selling. With an e-commerce site you sell a product or service. Customers buy directly from your site, and the products are then either delivered to them or downloaded.
Advertising – with this type of site, the aim is to get as many visitors as possible, increasing the amount of customers your advertisers reach. Content on this kind of site is usually completely free for the site user, providing them either with information or entertainment.
Subscription – similar to the advertising model subscription sites generally provide information or entertainment, but the difference is the user pays to access all or part of that content.
Freemium – with this business model, you offer a basic service for free but customers can pay for premium features.
You can of course base your site around a combination of these internet models.