- AI local lead generation agency
- AI marketing agency
- AI web design agency
- AI blog
- AI YouTube channel
- AI video clipping business
- AI eBook business
- AI e-commerce business
AI companies are profitable as they're used in various industries today. Forbes says 83% of businesses claim AI is crucial in their strategies. Notable examples include OpenAI's ChatGPT in 2022, reaching 1 million users in 5 days. By 2023, this number grew to over 100 million monthly users.
AI is good for making money as it helps businesses focus on other aspects that let them compete. MIT Sloan Management's survey says 9 out of 10 global organizations believe AI gives them a competitive edge over competitors. This shows a high demand for AI tools.
First, you must learn the fundamentals of AI. Then, you can specialize in specific areas like NLP, Lidar, and more. To start making money from AI, you must learn your target market's pain points. Your creation must be innovative, solve problems, and improve work for the users.
I've been making money online since 2014 in various niches like FBA and lead generation. Today, I'm going to discuss profitable AI business ideas in 2024. I'll also talk about the profit potential, how you can start your own AI company, AI courses, and other ways of making money online.
1. AI Local Lead Generation Agency
The best AI business to start is a local lead generation agency. With AI, you automate many aspects of finding and qualifying leads for your clients. Local lead generation sites are scalable, cost less to set up, and deliver consistent income. Once set up, each of these sites can generate anywhere from $500 to $2,000 monthly. Additionally, you have full ownership of these sites, and you can opt to sell leads or rent out your sites.
In local lead generation, there's less competition as you only target specific locations. There's high demand for this service as local businesses can get quality leads faster. Compared to full SEO, businesses will see results between 6-12 months.
I've been doing local lead generation since 2014, and now I have about 50+ local lead generation sites. In total, these sites make about $52,000 monthly. To make copy for these sites, I use several tools like my keyword research and content writing tool. These are on my site and are free to use. However, you need to pay to access the advanced features of my content writing tool.
I trained my content writing tool based on my 10+ years of SEO content marketing experience. These tools are easy to use, and I'll show how you can create content with them:
Let's say you want to enter the dog-walking niche and already have a target location. For this scenario, let's say Lynn, MA, is the target location, as its population is between 75K and 250K.
First, let's use my keyword research tool to find possible topics for your site.
In the keyword research tool, type in your niche and location, "Dog walker in Lynn, MA," and hit Generate Keywords. This creates a list of related and long-tail keywords that we can use for my content writing tool.
For the results it generated, let's pick "Local dog walkers Lynn, MA." We can then proceed with generating content for the site.
Using my AI content writing tool, type in the keywords we got from the research tool.
Next, choose your preferred AI writer. Take note that in the free version, we can't choose other GPTs aside from GPT-4o Mini.
Then, set the SEO Optimization setting to your preferred setting. For this scenario, I'll use Default.
Next, choose your preferred Article Length. This lets you customize the number of sections your content will have manually. For our scenario, I'll choose Medium, which will make a blog with 5-7 sections containing 1,350 to 1,870 words.
Then, select your preferred Point of View. Since we're trying to make a lead-generating post, let's use the Second-Person POV.
Next, tick the Use Real-Time Data, Cite Sources options, and Use Outline Editor options. This lets the AI scrape the SERPs for relevant data to use in the content. And the Outline Editor lets you tinker with what the AI tool will draft.
Once that's done, click Create Article.
The AI will then begin creating an outline of your content.
And voila, it then gives you an optimized copy for your local lead gen site.
2. AI Marketing Agency
You can create an AI marketing agency that helps businesses reach their customers. Leveraging AI lets you focus on other tasks like managing client relationships. Here are the different types of marketing agencies you can set up:
AI marketing agencies can deliver exceptional results for clients by using AI. However, note that this business model still requires active involvement. You'll need to:
While AI can automate many tasks, your expertise and human touch are irreplaceable. You must manage client relationships, craft marketing strategies, and ensure you meet each client's unique needs.
3. AI Web Design Agency
You can create an AI web design agency that makes websites faster using fewer resources. Doing so allows you to deliver quality content and results to clients faster. This lets you focus on managing and scaling your business.
This service is in high demand as businesses want to connect with customers online. Snapps says 70% of US consumers buy online. Additionally, 58% of SMBs plan to build their websites. These numbers show the potential profitability of web design agencies.
Several tools are available that make web design easier for you. For example, Wix ADI and Hostinger let you build websites without coding experience. Tools like The Grid or Firedrop help you make data-driven changes to improve UX. Jasper.ai and SurferSEO help create content that satisfies search engines and readers. Leveraging this range of tools helps your agency deliver quick results to clients with fewer resources needed.4. AI Blog
Using AI, you can start a blog and build an audience that you can then monetize through various means. By leveraging AI, you can streamline the writing process and create quality articles. These attract traffic to your blog and, in turn, attract advertisers.
Authority Hacker says 65.8% of people find AI content equal to or better than human writing. Tools like ChatGPT and Jasper.ai can help you write, brainstorm, and outline your content. Then, you can use Grammarly or Hemingway to edit your writing tone and proofread your content. However, you must review and refine these outputs to ensure they align with your brand voice. This lets you focus on ensuring that your content provides value to your audience and blog.
Remember to engage with your audience through comments and social media. Encouraging discussions can boost your blog's visibility and attract potential sponsors or advertisers. Here are some ways you can monetize your AI blog:
5. AI YouTube Channel
With the right AI tools, you can create YouTube channels with streamlined production. You can build a team to "automate" the video creation process and focus on management. A great example of this is YouTube cash cow channels. Some AI tools to consider for your YouTube channel:
Then, you must create content consistently and grow your channel. This step is important to be eligible to monetize your AI YouTube channel. To monetize your AI YouTube channel, you can:
You must find ways to offset your content production and ad expenses to be profitable. For example, identify what content your audience likes or social media platforms that can add traffic to your channel. This lets you profit from YouTube channels with less manual effort.
6. AI Video Clipping Business
Using AI, you can create a video clipping business that creates clips from long video content. You'll clip videos for your client's social media posts, highlight reels, and more. This makes it easier for your clients to generate short-form marketing content.
Short-form content is one of the most effective ways to reach audiences. Tools like Pictory and Wisecut can extract highlights from long-form videos and create clips. Social Sprout says audience engagement rates for short-form videos outperform long-form by 250%. HubSpot says 44% of marketers will now use short-form videos to reach audiences in 2024. This shows the high potential and demand for AI video-clipping businesses.
7. AI eBook Business
You can leverage AI to start an eBook business and sell books on platforms like Amazon KDP. You must use these tools together with human creativity to create products that resonate with readers. This lets you speed up the publishing process and provide value to readers.
To get started, choose a niche or topic for your eBooks. Popular genres include self-help, fiction, and educational content. Then, you can use AI tools like ChatGPT-4o and Jasper.ai to help you generate drafts and outlines for your eBook. Tools like ProWritingAid and Grammarly help with proofreading and checking tone. Then, you can use MidJourney or DALL-E for your images and book covers.
As of September 2023, Amazon KDP requires publishers to flag their work for any AI-generated content. This includes texts, translations, and images from AI tools that you then edit. However, AI-assisted content means you created the content and used AI to improve it. These are not required for disclosure. Following these rules lets you avoid getting your products removed from the platform.
8. AI e-Commerce Business
Using AI in e-commerce makes it easier to run an online business. AIs can help you identify winning products and analyze consumer and competitor trends. This lets you focus on crafting and executing strategies that maximize profitability. Here are a few AI tools that you can use for your e-commerce business:
These AI tools help e-commerce businesses save time, reduce costs, and improve their marketing. This leads to more efficient operations and better customer experiences.
What is the Profit Potential of an Artificial Intelligence Business?
The profit potential for AI businesses is high as AI use cases increase in daily life and work. Starter Story's data says AI businesses can earn up to 95% gross profit margins and up to $720K yearly. However, this can vary depending on factors like application and target market.
Initial costs to start an AI business can range from $10K and exceed $200K. Below are some of the factors that can affect price:
In-house Development
Pros
You can build a hand-picked team that aligns with your company’s goals.
You have direct communication with the team.
An in-house team gives you immediate support and faster response.
Cons
Building an in-house team costs more than outsourcing. For example, hiring 1 software developer can cost you 79.3K yearly.
Skilled IT professionals are in high demand and your team may be poached by competitors.
Outsourcing
Pros
With outsourcing, you have access to a larger talent pool.
You have better control over hiring costs as you can hire people outside your country.
Cons
Your team may not exclusively work for you. This can cause delays in the development process.
As you’re hiring people from other countries, you may encounter communication issues, making collaboration difficult.
It may be harder to control leaks or entrust your information when you work with third parties.
How can I Start My own AI company?
Remember to focus on ethical AI development and address potential biases in your algorithms. Transparency and responsible AI practices will build trust with your customers.
Can You Start an AI Business Without Technical Skills?
Yes, someone can start an AI business without technical skills. But you must plan, collaborate with skilled professionals, and leverage the right tools. Here’s how you can do it:
While technical skills are beneficial, they aren't mandatory for starting an AI business. You can find the right experts, use the right AI platforms, and outsource to handle the technical aspects. This lets you focus on finding market opportunities and managing your business.
Which Courses Teach AI Business Models?
- Instructors: Karim Lakhani and Marco Iansiti
- Platform: Harvard Business School Online
- Price: $1,850
- Overview: This four-week online course helps business professionals and leaders build AI-powered organizations. It is self-paced and requires 5-7 hours per week. You'll learn from real-world case studies from industry experts. The course also covers ethical challenges and digital transformation strategies.
- Does it offer certificates? Yes
- Course content: 4 modules
- Instructors: Michael Roberts, Kartik Hosanagar, Peter Cappelli, Kevin Werbach, Raghu Lyengar, Matthew Bidwell, Prasanna Tambe, Lynn Wu
- Platform: Coursera, offered by the University of Pennsylvania
- Price: Free
- Overview: This 4-week course teaches the fundamentals of Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning. It focuses on their business applications, including ethical AI use and governance frameworks. You'll learn how to use AI strategies in your business through real-world insights and assessments.
- Does it offer certificates? Yes
- Course content: 4-course series with assessments
- Course creator: Billy Gene
- Platform: Skool
- Price: $6,500
- Overview: The AI-powered Agency Accelerator teaches you how to improve your marketing and grow your business with AI. In 16 weeks, you'll learn data analysis, content creation, advertising, and client acquisition. The course also highlights cost savings from automating tasks like customer service.
- Does it offer certificates? Yes
- Course inclusions: Weekly Zoom meetings, access to instructors and their Skool and FB group.
Conclusion: Should You use AI for Your business?
Yes, you should use AI for your business, as it improves many aspects of it. You can leverage AI to automate tasks, enhance customer experiences, and analyze data at speeds that far exceed humans. Authority Hacker says 75% of C-suite managers believe AI will help their team grow. IBM says 35% of businesses worldwide use some form of AI tool. To be competitive in today's market, you must leverage AI together with your expertise.
The best AI business ideas combine technology with real-world applications to help users. Despite AI's capabilities, 28% of people believe the human aspect is still irreplaceable. One promising alternative business model is local lead generation. This approach is beginner-friendly and has low startup costs, between $500-$1,000.
When done right, local lead generation allows you to build a passive income stream over time. When your site ranks and generates leads, they can make up to $500-$2,000 monthly. As you develop your AI systems, you can automate much of the process. This gives you the flexibility to scale your operations without increasing your workload.
For example, I have 50+ of these sites in various niches like limo services and tree care. In total, these earn over $52,000 monthly, in almost passive income. My mentor, Dan Klein, and I have been perfecting our local lead generation methods since 2014. If you're looking for a different business model to leverage AI in, check out local lead gen today.
