Licensing may be your very best strategy when the barriers to entry for services that use your invention are large. Licensing is another good strategy if the strengths and interests do not include building a company.
Invent Early, License Later
A standard strategy for how to register a patent in the USA is to invent early then license later. Inventors that use this strategy presciently find the best solutions to problems years before their peers. They then file for and receive patent protection for his or her inventions, then wait.
Years later, businesses discover those solutions, and incorporate them into their services and products. Normally a wide variety of industries and businesses will adopt an answer, and colorize it for you to their particular needs. However, they may be still obligated to pay the patent holder with the solution. The patent holder profits by owning the solution a long time before it is widely adopted.
Invent, Sell, License
Other inventors choose to actively promote the adoption and licensing of their innovations. They know that there are often multiple viable methods to a challenge, and seek to encourage the adoption of these solution.
The initial requirement within this method is filing that least a provisional patent application. Otherwise, potential licensees cannot be sure that you have the solution you're selling them. Provisional patent applications are comparatively cheap to launch, and still provide a year of protection for your idea when you explore its commercial viability.
The following requirement in actively licensing your invention is always to produce a viable solution that may save the licensing party money, even if they also pay you. Actively licensed ideas have typically moved beyond the idea stage, and can include prototypes and test data. Your licensee should be able to see how to quickly and profitably adopt your invention.
Finally, to profit from a licensing deal, you need a realistic valuation of the economic benefit of your invention. Without a convincing valuation, businesses are often reluctant to commit to appropriate royalties.