5 Unusual Internet Business Ideas that Became Wildly Successful

How to get rich the canny way? Read what some smart people did:

1.It was Michael Senoff’s  lucky day when he found a unique business idea opportunity in reselling old seminar materials. After finding it too expensive to attend one particular seminar, Sennof discovered a guy from Northern California who had attended the seminar and bought the seminar materials from him for $50… far less than the $20,000 fee for the seminar. After seeing similar seminar materials selling for hundreds of dollars on the Internet, he divided his catch and parlayed them for an amazing $1700. Thus, his online business idea was born. Michael now resells old seminar materials for dozens of marketing gurus, easily profiting over $1,000 a day.

2. The owner of Hungry Pod, Catherine Keane, makes over $100,000 yearly by uploading music to other people’s iPods. The idea came about when a friend of hers offered her $500 to load his CD collection onto his iPod. Keane’s advertising efforts on Craigslist and word-of-mouth marketing also worked wonders as Hungry Pod’s annual sales exceed $100,000.

3. With the help of her 15 years of experience in a civilian employment agency, Karin Markley’s business idea was a big hit. She understands that companies value employees with military backgrounds, so she wanted to provide a one-stop link between the two. She set out by contacting the Department of Defense for permission to use its seal on her website. It took her months to obtain it. But it paid off in the end since MilitaryExits.com is now linked to all US military bases. At present, Markley’s annual sales reach $600,000.

4. Joseph Tantillo tried his luck on online retailing after reading a business magazine in the doctor’s office. He and his wife were expecting their first child then and hoping to work from home. An article about starting an online store appealed greatly to him, and that was when he decided to sell personalized Greek apparel to the market. The Greek design came about because he was a member of a fraternity back in college. He enlisted the help of his former fraternity brothers , asking them what kind of products they might like. He set up an online shop for only $79.95. Today though, GreekGear.com is earning $1.9 million annually.

5. Can one really earn $200,000 just by blogging about sauces? Nick Lindauer says yes. While still in college back in 2001, he started his online business called Sweat ‘N Spice out of his Springfield apartment. During his first year of operation, he was able to sell a few dozen types of hot sauces, packaging each order by hand and shipping everything from his local office. Today though, Lindauer sells more than a thousand products from some 300 manufacturers. In 2004, the business got around $130,000. In 2006, it grossed $200,000. With these promising figures, it is not improbable to reach the million-dollar mark.