I've received a few PMs over the last week regarding this thread from people asking me for "ideas" on what sort of enterprise to start.
There is no "one answer fits all" as we all have our strengths and our weaknesses and we have to choose paths which capitalise on the strengths. There's no point aspiring to be a Soprano if you can't hold a note.
Here's what I would do in today's world. I'd put in a solid 6 months of effort to fully understand Google Adwords.. how it works, how to configure it, how to track stats, how to set pricing, what each option does etc.
I would then start marketing my services to small companies. I'm not talking about giving SEO seminars which are nothing more than con jobs promising everyone a number one ranking. I'm talking about actual management of a company's on line presence.
When I first arrived in Perth, I made good money fixing Apple computers. Very few techs serviced the Apple market at the time. This was way back in the early 90s where each city had no more than a handful of Mac resellers who were horrendously expensive. Getting Macs going again was actually quite easy provided there were no hardware issues. Most of the time it involved zapping the PRAM and running the disk utility to repair permissions. However, the artsy fartsy Mac users were photographers and graphic designers not computer nerds so they didn't have a clue. It was a market that was ripe for the taking.
When I left Perth, I sold my client base and made a bit more money.
In my opinion, providing a google adword service has similar opportunities. Most companies don't understand how adwords works and web design companies don't have specialists in this field. They help set up the basics but they don't help on an ongoing basis and adwords requires a proactive approach over time in order to get the best returns for the money spent. Here's where someone who is an adwords "guru" can make a buck.
