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Archive for the ‘Money’ Category
Hi everyone, I hope you are doing well. I will keep today’s post short and sweet. I am always looking for good liquidators, as liquidators are great money makers. If you sell online, you know liquidators can be very valuable. It’s very hard to find a good reliable liquidator now-a-days.
Look no further, QVC’s Liquidation website has great deals on pallet loads of liquidated goods. That’s right, I said QVC, one of the home shopping channels. This place is a gold mine they have tons of goods. They have everything from accessories and electronics to home decorations.
They categorize conditions based on 3 condition qualities.
First quality is new goods that have been discontinued and such. The quality is brand new with no defects or flaws, still brand new in the package. The good are sold as is with no warranties or returns possible.
Second quality is goods that have been returned for various reasons. These goods are still in good condition and can be resold as brand new items. They are usually opened or have no original box. These are also sold with no warranty or returns available.
Third quality goods are good that have also been returned. They may have wear and tear from normal usage. The goods are not sold in any kind of original packaging. The goods come with no warranties or returns possible.
I found some fantastic deals if you are willing to buy your good up front from a reliable liquidator. If you have the money to buy large quantities of goods, I recommend QVC’s liquidation website.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for reading!
Hi everyone, I hope your weekend was good. It has been a little over a month since ebay lowered their auction insertion fees (but raised final value fees by a whopping 3%). There has been a huge serge of powersellers leaving ebay in the past few months. I am not one of them.
I am not complaining about ebay because I still make good money there. But, I am pointing out that it is very difficult to make money on ebay since the new fee changes. I knew I would see a huge chunk of my profit taken away. I had over one thousand dollars extra go to ebay this month, because of the new fee changes.
It is so sad to see something you have watched develop for the better through the years, just turned to rubble. The new person in charge of ebay(his name is not worth mentioning) has even commented that ebay powersellers are not important. He also commented that there will be even more rule changes and price hikes in the near future. I can’t see anyone making money there if this happens. He took over early this year and has already ruined it for new users as far as I am concerned.
It can be very difficult for anyone just starting out with sales online. I don’t recommend ebay as a place to start for beginners anymore. There are so many tips and tricks you need to know about ebay that your average Joe would not make a dime for profit. You used to be able to list whatever you have on ebay and it would sell.
Now ebay has become such a cut-throat market, that you have to be buying hundreds or thousands of units wholesale in order to make any profit. Drop shipping has become almost impossible to make any money on ebay. I only suggest using drop shipping and ebay together if you are very experienced.
I have been a seller on ebay since 1998 and times do change. Just think of all the options you have available compared to a few years ago. Lots of new auction websites have made a great name for themselves in the past year or so. Ebay will not be around forever. When a product becomes as commercialized as ebay, it can only go down from there.
Ebay has already reached its peak. In fact, I think ebay has overshot their peak by a few years. I suggest trying another marketplace that has free or low listing fees if you are just starting out. You can find some great auction marketplaces in this “top 15 auction places of 2007-2008” list I made. You can find part 2 of that list here.
Thankfully, I have only helped people make money on ebay lately. I have actually helped people become ebay experts. But, I am going to start referring people just starting out away from ebay. There are too many options out there for other great auction marketplaces to pass up. I have been making more money on other auction places lately. Ebay has just become this big money sucking monster lately. Ebay used to be the only way to go if you were starting out with sales online.
There are even some great social marketplaces popping up. Look at facebook marketplace. They have become a huge success in the short few months it has been out. It is proof people are searching for other means to make money besides ebay. More social marketplaces will be popping up all over. I even heard that myspace is thinking about having a social marketplace like facebook has introduced.
Five years ago an ebay powerseller would never chance leaving ebay to make money. There just wasn’t any place that had eBay’s traffic. That’s what it is all about. If the website gets lots of traffic, the more sales you will make. Even Amazon couldn’t compete with ebay five years ago. But now, it’s a whole other story. Ebay has actually paved the way for websites like Amazon and Overstock to take over the auction marketplace world.
When it all comes down to it; Ebay has become prettier and shinier. But looks aren’t everything. Take a look at the whole package and you will notice ebay might not be worth your time and effort. Ebay is becoming too much work for the small profit you make. I am not sure if the new generation will appreciate eBay’s new policies and fee hikes.
Times always change, so we will have to wait and see what happens. But one thing is for sure. Nothing lasts forever and something better always comes along. In today’s age of people getting laid off from life long career jobs, you will notice people flocking to the best bang for your buck. The new ebay is not the best bang for your buck anymore.
Thanks for reading my blog everyone! See you tomorrow.
Hi everyone, I hope your weekend is going well. I am holding another contest today. This contest will last for 72 hours. I have been really successful at teaching people how to make money at home. So I want to share my knowledge with some of my regular readers.
There were a few of my readers who didn’t enter the last contest in time and lost out. Hopefully by the end of the summer a majority of my regular readers will win this contest. I will be looking to have 3-4 contests like this each month. I know I can help you!
Details: This contest will last for 72 hours. It will end on May 14th at 8:00pm eastern time.
To enter the contest; comment on this blog post.
I will pick a winner the old fashioned way. All names will go in to a hat and I will have a friend (not involved with contest) pull the lucky winner. I will Congratulate the winner on May 15th in a blog post.
The winner of the contest will get the following:
Winner receives-
Both of my e-guides. The Home Drop Ship Guide and The Auction Power Guide
**3 Months of Tutoring From Me!**
Thanks for entering the contest everyone! Good luck!
My help will include research that you can’t do on your own. (Finding Wholesalers/Drop shippers/Hot items/Explaining the tricks and tips/anything you need)
Any questions you have will be answered so you head in the right direction.
Special Note: The subject matter doesn’t have to apply to my e-books. I can teach you how to buy wholesale, drop ship, market and advertise, affiliate marketing, build/host your own website, make money by writing your own e-books, blogging, anything that has to do with home business online.
No e-book can tell you everything you need to know. That’s why my e-books are sold with tutoring along the way. I can back up what I say. I don’t just sell you an e-book. I help you, until you are ready to do things on your own.
Note: Don’t be alarmed if you don’t see your comment right away. I have to approve it. Don’t worry, all comments to enter the contest will be approved.
If you have any questions, email me LP@thehomedropshipguide.com
Today was a very good day! Last weekend I bought some perfume bottles at the flea market. I bought 5 empty bottles that were very old. I brought them home and cleaned them up thinking they must be worth something. I did a little research on the brand names and found very little about them. Only that they were probably made back in the 1920′ to 1940’s on average.
I listed them for cheap money on ebay ($5.00 each). Four out of the five perfume bottles sold for over $100! I couldn’t believe it. I read a while ago that old perfume bottles sold really well. The thought of perfume bottles making me money stuck in my head when I bought them at the flea market. Not knowing just how well they sold.
I know it was lucky to find such a good group of antiques in one place. This doesn’t happen often, believe me. Just to give you an idea of the great find I had; one of the perfume bottles was Victorian made back in 1919. I was not aware that the bottle was so old until the woman that won the item told me. I usually make a couple hundred dollars a week reselling things I get from the flea market. But this was a great week.
It goes to show you the early bird gets the worm. I always try to show up at the flea market before it opens. Most flea markets let you roam around until all the sellers are ready. If you see something you like just strike a deal with the seller. Nobody is around and you saw it first anyway, right? I am kind of like an auction sniper, only at the flea market.
Flea markets have been very good to me through the years. If you want to make money at flea markets you have to be vigilant. Show up early and don’t buy fake stuff. Fake merchandise and rip offs are usually easy to pick out. Even if they look real, you have to use your head. If it’s brand new and 75% off compared to the real deal, it’s obviously fake. Most of the vendors that sell brand new items are looking to rip people off. I suggest you stay away from these vendors unless you are getting a great deal.
You can always talk someone down on their prices also. I like to wheel and deal with the people who are selling stuff they don’t want anymore. These are the people you find selling antique and rare items. They usually don’t know what they have.
Look in your local newspaper and find some flea markets. Take the family or some friends. Flea markets are fun! I rank flea markets a 7 on the scale of 1-10 family fun. You will find all kinds of things from the weird to the rare. Everyone can go home with something for themselves. And you don’t have to spend a lot of money to be happy at a flea market. Plus you have a chance to find some rare items to resell online!
Thanks for reading my blog everyone. Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow. I have a treat for you.
Hi everyone, I hope your weekend was great! My contest ends soon, May, 6th at 12(noon) eastern time. If you want to enter, just comment on my contest post. I recently got a weird question from someone who had a very negative attitude. They asked me how they could get motivated if they are a very lazy person. In a situation like that; you have to want to succeed. But, here is a little trick you can use to keep you going.
Laziness is the worst possible motivator for failure. By nature, anyone just getting starting with a home business is sure to have laziness in them. The best way to change laziness is motivation with rewards. You have to set up little checkpoint rewards(motivation) along the way to reach your goals. Checkpoints that reward you somehow are the best motivators to keep you going. With most people, all they need is a little money to motivate them.
It’s very important to give yourself something back for all the work you put in to your home business. If you don’t give yourself anything back, working at home can become very discouraging as well. Give yourself some motivator money. The best motivator do work everyday is a simple reward. Giving yourself a reward is the best possible way to motivate any lazy person.
If you give yourself little checkpoints with rewards you can have something to look forward to doing. To me, a checkpoint is everyday when I accomplish everything I needed to finish. Always working and giving nothing back to yourself as a reward is a great recipe for disaster. I see this all too often with new home business owners. They get sick of working because they don’t have free time, nor the money to do anything fun.
Rewarding yourself can turn your motivation in to a daily routine. That’s how you become successful working at home. A daily routine has to be created and followed through everyday, no matter how lazy you are at the time. Laziness is one thing; but not having a daily routine is another. A daily routine can actually show you the road to success. Putting you daily routine onto a list can really make a huge difference in the right direction.
A daily routine list can be very effective. When you write down your daily tasks onto a piece of paper there is no guessing. You don’t have to say, “What do I do today?” You have it all right there in black and white. Things become easier when you see what you have to do to complete your daily tasks. That’s why a daily routine/checklist is so important. Something about the human mind that doesn’t make your goals so impossible to reach when you can see them. Maybe they become more real when the list is not just in your head. This daily routine/checklist has worked for me through the years like a dream.
This checklist is nothing without any rewards though. A great reward at the end of the day, can give even the laziest person some motivation. I have a huge love for chocolate and it doesn’t take much to keep me happy. At the end of my daily checklist I give myself a reward. The last step on my list is to go grab a hot chocolate at my favorite diner. It’s a very small reward compared to most people’s expectations. But, it’s enough to keep me going. It’s important to give yourself a reward only if you do everything else on your checklist first. That’s why your reward should be the last thing on the list. Don’t give yourself a reward, if you didn’t earn it.
Your reward could be beer. I know most of my readers are men and I know how much men love their beer. The important thing is to make your reward small, daily, and enough to keep you going for the next day’s list. It has to be your constant motivator. As the days go by and you make more money; give yourself better daily rewards once and a while. With time, you won’t have to bribe yourself with huge rewards, because your daily routine has become habit anyway.
I usually make my daily routine list 3-6 times a week, as some days I do the same things I did the day before. I usually write my list the night before my day starts. This way I know what needs to be done the following day.
The fact of matter is; I can’t help anyone’s laziness habits. But, I can show you how to break all your bad or lazy habits. The power of the mind is very underestimated. You have to want to change. Once you feel the need for change, you will open roads to success that you never saw before. Overcoming laziness can be very difficult if it is in your daily routine already. Get off the coach and make your daily routine/checklist list. Don’t forget to give yourself a reward for completing your daily list.
Thanks for reading everyone! Let me know if you have any questions.
Hi everyone, I hope your weekend is going great. Today I am going to post a great success story from someone who bought one of my E-Guides a few months back. He told me about his success, so I asked him to write about it for my blog. His name is Bobby Tulley and I hope you enjoy it.
My name is Bob Tulley.I live in Tampa Florida.I am 42 years old.
All I can say is Thank you Lisa.4 Months ago I bought your ebook.
I wasnt expecting much cause the price was under 50 dollars.
When you said you would teach me for 3 months if I bought your book
I was very skeptical.I bought ebooks in the past for a hundred dollars
or more & ended up with nonsense & garbage.You helped me more in 3
months than any ebook I bought.4 months since I
bought your ebook and I have a website with really good traffic.My
website didnt get 20 hits a day.
Now my website gets over 500 hits a day
thanks to you. I finally get a steady flow of sales.
I usually get 3-10 affiliate sales each week.The results keep getting
better as time goes by.Business consulation companies
charge 10X’s more than you & do half the work.I know cause I
been down that route before.
What a huge difference from the methods I used before to make money.I went
from making about 30 dollars a day to over 400 hundred dollars a day.
You not only taught me how to buy & sell wholesale.You also
taught me how to bring traffic to my website.You taught me how to make
money from affiliate marketing with my website.My website gets steady business
everyday.I also make really good money on the marketplaces you showed me.
You answered everyone one of my
questions right away & helped me understand things I didnt know about.
You even found some great wholesale guys for me.
Your are sooo right about needing to ask questions.Like you say no ebook can tell
you everything you need to know.Having you as a cushion to help me
along was all I needed.Im not too sure about retiring early yet.
But I can see a great future for
my business & my family.Thank you soooo much lisa!I can only
say great things about your ebook & what you are doing.To think where
I would be if I found you a
long time ago.I make more money
online now than I ever have.Your ebooks are too
underpriced!
Congratulations Bobby, I knew you could do it!
Thanks for reading everyone. See you tomorrow.
Hi everyone, I hope everything is going well for you. Have you ever had an idea for a great product that you could make yourself? Lots of people have ideas like this. The problem is; most people don’t know how to distribute the product they make. This can be a huge problem. After you read this post, you will know everything you need to successfully promote your product.
It’s easier to make your own product than most people might think. Just think of things you are good at doing. When you make your own product you have an advantage. You set the standards for prices you can sell your product. You will have little to no competition. Your product will most likely be original and rare. Originality sells anything on the market. Consumers love to try new things. If you can come up with a product that people need, you could end up being a millionaire.
The first place you can distribute your product is auction or social marketplaces. This takes a lot of time but you will reach millions of customer right away. This can be the money that keeps you going until you are developed better. Ebay is a great place to start; but I would recommend staying away from ebay for now. Ebay can cost a lot of money to make only a little if you are unexperienced. You can find some great auction places that won’t cost you as much as ebay in my top 15 list of 2007-2008.
If you already have a website, put your product on your website. Get a good template or build a professional looking website. Now that you have a website, you have to do the most important thing. ADVERTISE AND MARKET your website and product. So many people make the mistake of just having a website without telling anyone about it. They think being in search engines are good enough.
Promote your product and website to social networks. Especially the ones that let you distribute articles about your product to your friends list. Facebook, technorati, digg, delicious, myspace, are some great places to make some friends. Try and make friends with people that have the same interests as you. Chances are they will be interested in your product as well.
Write some articles about your product and website. Submit articles to major article websites. These websites get millions of hits everyday. All of these people come to read original articles. Keep your articles original and catchy. Hopefully your product is catchy enough. You can write articles at various places around the internet for free. I wrote a post about some good article websites you can use here.
Make some friends in forums. Forums can bring you tons of traffic. There are millions of members to various forums out there. Don’t underestimate the power of a good forum. Make sure the forums you sign up for are related to your product/business. Don’t spam the forums with posts either. That will only get you kicked off or suspended. You want to actually make some friends there. Talk about various topics in the forum. Make sure the forum gives you the option to have a signature. The signature is how you will get people to your website/product. Put your website in the signature. Now, every time you leave a response or start a topic in the forum, people will see your website link and visit your website. Because the forum is related to the topic of your business/product, more people will buy your product. Don’t join forums if they don’t let you have a signature.
Submit your website to as many website directories as possible. Most website directories will let you submit your website for free. This can be a great way to bring in traffic but can take time to see results. Try and set up the keywords on your website. Put as many keywords as you can that relate to what your product is about. This way search engines will find content related to your business/product. This can be very effective if you get good at it.
Keep the content one your website updated. Update your website at least once a day. Only the newest content makes it to search engine front pages. If the content on your website is over a month old, you don’t stand a chance to make it on the front page of Google. The old style of search engines would have let you slide. But new updated search engines are optimized to find the new stuff first. Google is probably the most popular search engine out there. They don’t want their readers to find old content on the front page and in the number 1 position. Think about it.
Most of these techniques take time to see results. The results are too overwhelming to ignore. These techniques are very effective if you have time and dedication on your side. Any marketing firm charging you thousands of dollars will advertise the same way if you are lucky. Now you know how to advertise and market your product. Get to work!
If you have any questions, feel free to email me or leave a comment. Thanks for reading everyone!
Hi everyone, I hope your weekend went well. Today I am going to tell you about Vzaar. Vzaar is a free program that lets you add video of the product you are selling. This is great if you have to prove something is in working condition. It seems video has become a big part of our lives online. Having video footage of the product you are selling can skyrocket your sales.
Vzaar is not needed if you are selling a brand new product still in the package. But it works great for selling everything like cars and computers. I have been noticing a lot of sellers that specialize in selling used cars on ebay have been using Vzaar. I actually found Vzaar when I was car shopping on ebay a short while back.
Vzaar actually came up with a great idea to add video to your about me page. Social marketplaces are really starting to take over. Having a video on your about me page could make your profile seem more professional and trustworthy. They actually claim you will get a good sales increase by inserting video to your auctions and about me page. I can definitely see the advantage.
Think about how big of an advantage you have adding pictures to your auctions; compared to someone who doesn’t use pictures. It’s pretty much the same with video. You will have a huge technology advantage over your competition that isn’t using video.
My big thing through the years is to change with the times. Most businesses fail because they don’t change with technology. Use as much technology as you can. The best way to get the upper hand on your competition is to have more than they offer. Most companies won’t move on with the times and will fade away. Take your chances with any new technology that will make things easier or more customer friendly.
Vzaar is very user friendly. All you do is record the video you want with a camcorder, digital camera, or cell phone. Then you upload the video onto vzaar. Then you tell Vzaar what auction you want to put your video in your ebay account. It’s really that simple.
That big advantage I see having video over just photos is; You can prove that the used item you are selling is in good working order. In most cases the video speaks for itself and you don’t even have to read the description in the auction. You are making it easier for the customer to make a decision about buying from you.
Some people and companies have even taken their ebay charity auctions a step up in the right direction. Instead of typing out a long description of what the winner gets, they make a video and explain/show you what you are going to get if you are the winner of the auction. Videos in your auctions or websites could be a way of the future. I really see so many advantages to putting a video in your ebay auctions.
If you think you are going to use more than 30 videos a month, you will need to upgrade your free account. If the videos are helping you sell big money items, I would suggest upgrading to a premium account. Packages cost $10-$20 per month. This is not needed unless the videos are selling your products though.
You don’t need to use vzaar if you are selling plain, non-moving items. For example, you might not want to waste your video on an autograph picture. But, you might want to use video in your auctions to sell a used television or monitor while it is working. Vzaar is made to capture used items while in working condition. It’s a great idea. Give vzaar a try it’s free to use.
Thanks for reading my blog everyone.
Hi everyone, I hope your weekend was a good one. I have been doing some research on good marketplaces lately. Today I signed up for Facebook’s marketplace. Yes, facebook has a marketplace. Facebook marketplace is not an auction marketplace but its better. It actually seems pretty good for free. I am going to use them for a few weeks. I let you know all about the results when I get a better idea on how things work.
I really like it. Facebook marketplace is very simple and very user friendly. It reminds me of craigslist classifieds. It keeps track of the most local items so you can buy from a person who lives near you. The best thing about this is; you know the person is less likely to be a scammer if you can see a profile of them. Facebook is kind of like myspace only better. It’s a social network where you find and make friends. It’s a great idea and I love it.
I have been a facebook user from the start. I find the experience a much better one, over other social networks. Since facebook recently added a marketplace it will become a lot more popular. There are millions of members that use facebook, so sales should be good! I can’t wait to see the results.
Facebook picked the perfect time to make this transition. Ebay has been losing sellers left and right because of recent high fee increases. Many auction marketplaces have already benefited from this increase of ebay sellers leaving. Facebook is just another kid on the block. Don’t underestimate Facebook. They have huge potential in this new social marketplace they have created.
Social marketplaces might be the way to go in the future. So many con-artists have popped up all over the internet. Being able to see a persons profile and background can feel a lot safer when money is involved. A profile with a picture can make the transaction a lot safer and more trustworthy. You can decipher someone’s personality and what you might expect if you choose to buy from them. It’s almost like feedback only better. I would feel a lot safer dealing from a guy that has a picture of him and his 3 kids; instead of some kid that has a party picture for the profile. Get my drift? You can get a better feel of what this person is really like. And maybe draw a judge of character from it.
You can also choose if you want to buy from someone other far away instead of locally. You get lots of different options that may fit different people’s needs. Facebook is not limited like craigslist or any other classified marketplace I have ever seen before. The communication seems to be a lot better than craigslist. You can message a person and get an immediate response from the seller if you have any questions.
You can barter your services locally. You can also find barter services locally. You can advertise if you have housing for sale or rent. You can also find a huge variety of places to live or move to, if you are looking. All in all facebook has just enough, but not too much like other classified websites or marketplaces.
You can find local jobs. This is another good one just because you already have a profile. The job can look at your profile before they consider you for a job. You can even post yourself in the “looking for work” section. I think this is a great opportunity for any young adults trying to get a good job. I predict that facebook will have lots of followers now that they have their own marketplace.
Facebook doesn’t seem to have any strict listing rules except for the obvious. You can check out listing rules and guidelines here. The rules are very basic and to the point.
Facebook seems to be a great addition to anyone looking to get a few extra sales everyday. Give them a try if you are looking for an extra boost. They are totally free. You have nothing to lose except a little time investment. Let me know if you have any questions.
See you tomorrow and thanks for reading! LP@thehomedropshipguide.com
Hi everyone, what a beautiful day it is outside today. I always get people asking me about companies that hire you to work at home. Let me tell you, there aren’t many trustworthy companies that want you to work from home for them. I will tell you about a couple of really goods ones later in this post. The fact of the matter is; most work at home jobs are complete scams or rip-offs.
Make sure you do a complete background check on any company claiming you can work at home for them. Remember, any company that wants you to pay money upfront to work for them is a scam. Don’t ever give money upfront for any kind on employment.
There are a lot of companies out there that need virtual assistants. Lots of new companies would rather have virtual assistants than live telephone operators. There are people right now making a living from being a part time virtual assistant. If you think you have a knack for talking to people over the phone, then you might want to look into being a virtual assistant.
Liveops.com is a big company in the virtual assistant world. They hire virtual assistants all the time. Right on their homepage they advertise jobs for being an agent. You can make your own hours. You can take vacations whenever you want. Most people make more money part time being a virtual assistant than a full time job. They pay really well and they are a very legitimate company. Just sit at your computer and answer the phone.
teamdoubleclick.com is another great place to work at home. They have over 40,000 virtual assistants employed by them. They advertise virtual assistant jobs right on their homepage also. Most moms and disabled people benefit from working at home. But, now with a recession among us, everyone could use a little extra money. And heck, if we can work at home, that’s all the better. Teamdoubleclick is a very well known virtual assistant company. They are great to work for and I highly recommend them.
I am sure there are lots more virtual assistant companies out there. But, I have used both of these companies and can highly recommend them. If you do a search for work at home jobs; you find more scams than real jobs. It’s so sad that people have to take advantage of others to get a foot up in this world. Be really careful of all the work at home scams people. I have seen them all, so if you have any questionable ones just ask me.
Let me know if anyone has questions. See you all tomorrow.
Hi everyone and happy Friday. This week went by so slow for me. Someone asked me why I don’t post on Thursdays anymore. I have been teaching someone locally how to start a business on Thursdays. So, I have been taking them off. When things aren’t so hectic for me on Thursdays, I will start posting again.
Today, I am going to give you some pointers on how to protect yourself against job scams. I heard about one of my local friends getting scammed this week. I didn’t get a chance to warn her because she never told me about it. She fell for a popular job scam. The sad thing is; these scams are everywhere, even your local paper. Nobody seems to care if they advertise a scam in their paper or website anymore, as long as the scammer pays for the ad.
Anyway, here is how this job scam works. You see an ad in the paper or online that says you can make big money if you work for them. You contact them and find out they want money up front to teach you a specific trade or skill ($100 or more). In return they will hire you “if you qualify” and you will make lots of money.
Sounds okay, doesn’t it? Not really, read between the lines on this one. Yes, they grab you with the part; you will make lots of money. Heck, you to pay to go to college right? You make lots of money when you get out of college. This must be the same. It’s not the same. This is what is really happening.
They know you’re hard up for money. They take full advantage of the situation by throwing big sums of money at you. The possibility that anyone can make more money than they already do can make them blind to the obvious.
So, you pay the fee to get into the employment with the new company. The new company then sends you a course through the mail. You need to get a certain grade on the course to qualify. The questions are very hard or in some case can be very easy. You send your course/test back into the company.
They send you a return letter or phone call informing you that you do not qualify for the job. Even if you get 100% of the questions right, you won’t get a job. But if you spend more money, they tell you they can guarantee you a job. It’s an on-going scam. Don’t fall for this one.
In some cases the workplace (scammer) doesn’t even give you a test or course. They take your money and call it an application fee. Then they go on to tell you they can guarantee you a job if you take a course……For more money. There are other types of jobs scams also.
Here are some tips to help you stay away from these and other popular job scams.
1. Exaggerated claims, you will make lots of money, retire early, be a millionaire overnight. Any of these things are the first warning that it’s a scam. The truth is, you have to work hard be rich. Someday you won’t have to work as hard. But, nothing will make you rich overnight, unless you won the lottery.
2. Never pay money to apply for a job. The only kinds of jobs that ask for money up-front are scams. A real job place wouldn’t need to charge you money to work for them. This one is a no-brainer. A real workplace would probably give you a sign-on bonus if anything. Never give money up-front for a job. Even if it is a work-at-home job.
3. Always ask questions first. This is the one people seem to skip. Ask as many questions as you can about the job. Make a list of all the questions you have and ask them. If they can’t answer your questions with a straight answer they aren’t the right place for you. Make sure they can answer all your questions and you are satisfied they are for real.
4. Watch out for professional websites. I am not saying, that all professional websites are scams. I am saying, scam artists are really good at putting up professional looking websites. Just because the website looks professional doesn’t always mean it’s a safe place. Scam artists are good at what they do. Don’t underestimate them.
5. New companies that haven’t been around long. This are another thing that makes it an obvious scam. Scam artists stay with a company for an average of 2-4 months. It’s just enough time for them to steal from hundreds or thousands of people and get away. They move their location and start another scam. This cycle keeps repeating until they are caught or retire with your money.
6. Always look at http://welcome.bbb.org/ to do a background check on the company. The Better Business Bureau is the best source to do any background research on a company. It will tell you how long they have been around and their reputation. If the business is even registered at all.
These are some straight forward tips to help everyone stay away from these new job scams. They are popping up everywhere and they need to be stopped. If everyone stays aware and stops responding to these types of job ads; maybe the scammers will give up and leave.
Let me know if you have any questions. I would hate to see any of my readers to fall for this type of scam.
Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow!
Hi everyone, I hope your week is going well. It got really hot out the past few days. Last week we averaged 45 degrees during the day. This week we are averaging over 70 and today was 86 degrees. I’ll tell ya, the weather was never this weird when I was a kid. And I am from New England, so I am use to drastic changes in the weather.
I recently had someone ask me if they should buy from a liquidation or closeout wholesaler, instead of a wholesale distributor. I say whatever fits your needs. If you have room to store large quantities of goods; you are better off buying bulk loads from a liquidator or closeout wholesaler. If you have the money to buy large amounts of goods up front, you should buy from a liquidation wholesaler. Most people starting a business don’t have this kind of money.
Liquidation and closeout wholesalers usually have older models and products. If you want to buy brand new goods I would recommend not buying from a liquidation or closeout wholesaler. But, if you don’t mind purchasing older goods you can go with a liquidator. Some liquidators or closeout wholesalers sell damaged or used goods. Be very careful and read the description of what you are buying before you purchase.
Buying bulk from a liquidator or closeout wholesaler will make you lots of profit. Usually these goods are sold in a pallet for more than half off regular price. Then you can resell them for full retail price and make a killing. Try and find products that are still popular sellers. Stay away from things that used to be popular and are not anymore. Look for products that are still in demand.
Buying from a liquidation wholesaler can lead to problems if you are not prepared. Make sure you are two steps ahead and pay attention to every detail. Some companies try to word a description so you think you are getting more than you really do. Pay attention to delivery instruction especially.
Some companies have a checkpoint (middleman) that will touch the goods on their way to you. The middleman will get a small percentage of the goods to move them along to you. Don’t be alarmed, a point of origin checkpoint is a regular thing when it comes to bulk or pallet loads of goods. A middleman is never a good thing. But it’s very normal with large quantities of product.
A real wholesale distributor won’t have any middlemen. That’s the big difference between wholesale distributors and liquidation and closeout wholesalers. But just remember, a wholesale distributor with middlemen is a bad thing. While middlemen for liquidation and closeout wholesalers are not a bad thing.
I really enjoyed it when I used to buy from liquidation.com. I found some great deals on pallet loads of goods. There are lots of places you can buy wholesale from liquidators. Here are a few good ones;
http://www.4sgm.com/ This is a great place that seems to have everything. I found this place on a website a year back and have used them ever since. They even have a $0.55 per item section in their catalog.
http://www.dollaritem.com/ This place is great. They have tons of cheap items that sell great. They even have a $0.59 and under section in their catalogs.
http://www.viatrading.com/ This is another cool surplus company. They have everything and their list is always changing as they sell a lot.
Besides liquidation.com, I think these three are the best out there. If anyone knows of others, feel free to let us know. If you are looking into liquidation or closeout wholesalers make sure you know all the rules in your city. Some cities do not allow you to store large quantities of items without a permit to do so. You probably need a warehouse or storage area in order to bypass a permit/s. But check your local laws first.
Good luck shopping everyone. Liquidation wholesalers can make you lots of rollover profit.
If you have any questions, just ask me. Thanks for reading my blog everyone!
Hi everyone, I hope everything is good. I would like to thank everyone for entering my contest the other day. I would also like to congratulate Staci from New York. She is the winner of my contest. I will do my best to have this contest at least once a month. Sorry about springing the contest at the last minute. I want to give my readers the best chance to win and 24 hour contests (without notice) will make the odds better for you all. So, keep coming back if you want a chance for me to teach you how to work at home.
Today, I want to tell you about the importance and advantages of making multiple streams of income. The best thing about having multiple streams of income is: you always have money coming in from somewhere. Having a steady stream of income produced by multiple sources can really keep you afloat. Especially, if you are just starting out. Everyone knows how discouraging it can be to make no money.
Don’t count on making a million dollars overnight. Try to concentrate on building one thing at a time. Another words, take baby steps towards your multiple streams of income. Build each empire and get it going. Then start another empire, build it, and get it going. Start again. It’s a very simple formula that works great.
Even if your multiple stream incomes right now are your 9-5 job and 1 small source online. That’s a great start. Most people don’t even have that much to start. That’s a perfect foundation to build on. That shows that you already have online experience and are willing to take on extra. If you don’t have any online experience in making money yet, your journey will be a bit longer. That should be pretty obvious. But you wouldn’t believe how many people get a computer and think they can make a million dollars overnight.
A great advantage to having multiple streams of income is; You can help supply money to new projects from your other income sources. You don’t have to take money out of your own pocket to start a business that might fail. Get it yet? In the business world, you want to always put money back into the business. So, as you make money and get used to your daily tasks; as with anything else, things become easier. You will probably want to take in more money and have the extra time. Your daily tasks are easier because they have become a habit. Your previous source of income should help to fund the new project you want to take on. If you keep this system going, you can have dozens of projects making money for you while one project pays for a new project.
Let’s say you want to start a new project to start affiliate marketing now. You also have a full time job and ebay on the side. So, let your ebay income help the new project get going. When that new project starts bringing in money; Start using your ebay money as profit again, and make the new project fund another new project. Keep this cycle going to produce multiple streams of income.
You have to put money in to your business if you want it to grow. Most people just keep dumping money into the same business. The sad part is, the business is dead or close to dying. Spread yourself out. Some things that you wouldn’t even guess bring in more money than others. You have to experiment and find out what works with you.
Try this little system out and expand your business in to multiple streams of income. If you have any questions let me know. I would love to help.
LP@thehomedropshipguide.com
Hi everyone, and happy Monday to you. Thank you for entering my contest yesterday. The contest is still going on until 12pm eastern time today. So enter if you haven’t already.
Only a few people entered so far, so you have a great chance to win. I get hundreds of visitors to my blogs everyday. Don’t be shy people:) I know I just sprung the contest on you all. But, that was the whole purpose; to give back to my regular readers.
Today, I am going to tell you; why you should stay away from popular or general items to sell. The products that make you the most profit margins, are not always the best products to sell. Those types of products always seem to have more competition. And what’s worse is; the competition is usually charging a way lower price than you can afford to sell the same product.
Popular products like I-pods and cell phones are not very good money makers. Especially if you are selling on ebay. Because everyone and their mother are selling I-pods and cell phones on ebay already. That means more competition and lower prices than you can afford. Stay away from popular or general products that bring lots of profit.
Think outside the box. Think small profit, lots of sales. I would rather sell 100 items a day and make 1 dollar profit on each item; than sell one item and only 20 dollars profit a day. Think small items that people need. Think about the things you use on an everyday basis. Think about products you like, use, or need. Do you really need an I-pod or do you want to sell them because they are popular?
You have to be smart and think 3 steps ahead if you are going to get into sales online. Make things as easy as possible for you at all times. Don’t struggle by doing research on niches that might work. Use your head, stop for a few minutes and think of products you need on an everyday basis. Necessities usually sell better than luxuries online.
Necessity may be different for different people though. For example, a headset and microphone may not be a necessity to most people. But, to a tele-communications expert, it would be a necessity. Think about what products would sell and would have little to no competition. I always say sell accessories for popular items. To this day, that little strategy works great.
Even little things like cool drinking cups sell great. You can make some good money if you sell a lot of them. Today, I want you to sit back and think about all the things you use on a daily basis. I bet if you did some research on those items, you would find the sellers, sell a lot of them. They might not make a lot of money per sale. But, like I said earlier: if they sell one hundred items a day with one dollar profit on each, that’s a one hundred dollar day. When I first started selling online; a hundred dollar day was a great day.
Think about it. The most popular and obvious Niche is not always the best niche. Too many complications arise when you have 3000 other sellers trying to out-do your starting price. You need to find a new ways to get away from that kind of competition. Think about the things you buy most, besides food and clothing. I bet you could open a floodgate of new possibilities if you really think about it. Everyday items sell remarkably great compared to a new television or surround theatre system.
I probably sell everyday items 1000 to 1 compared to big luxury items. People buy what they need. Once you realize that, you can make sales happen with a more positive outcome. Stop selling items just because they have a big profit margin. Start selling items that you know will sell. Give these little insights a try. They have worked great for me through the years.
Thanks for reading everyone. Let me know if you have any questions. See you tomorrow.
Hi everyone, I hope you are doing well. Recently, someone asked me if they should have their own website. They went on to me that they didn’t see the benefits of having a website, since they already have an ebay store. I am not going to tell anyone not to have an ebay store. But never limit yourself to that ebay store. You are at a disadvantage by having a store on some else’s domain.
If you own your own website and domain name you will be under control of everything you can do. There will be no limitations to what you can do on your own website. As long as you stay within your host’s rules, you can do virtually anything with your own website. You are not allowed to advertise or make money with affiliate marketing on your ebay store. But, with your own website you can advertise, use affiliate marketing, ad paid links, anything you want. You can make some great money on your own website, without just selling the merchandise you offer.
If you have your own website, you can choose your domain name. If your business is called Joes donuts; You can see if joesdonuts.com is available. If it’s not available, you have lots of other choices (joedonuts.net, .org, .us, .biz, lots more). Some people even get creative and add a 0 to all the letter o’s. It’s always a good idea to get the same domain name as your business name. This way, if someone wants to find your business; tell them joesdonuts.com & “replace the o’s with zeros”. It’s a new trend that has caught on in the Ebonics era.
You can change the look and feel with your own domain. You can have the freedom to use a website template or build your own website. If you don’t know how to build a website, you can find free website templates all around the internet. Or you can find a good web designer to build you a customer website to fit your business. You don’t have to worry about auction fees. You can list as many items on your website as you want for free. Most hosts charge you by the month. The average monthly fee is $4.99 for bottom end. About $49.99 a month for really good service.
I recommend using godaddy or yahoo for your host. Godaddy is my favorite because they are cheaper. I pay $52.00 for the entire year on each of my websites. You need some ftp uploading experience to use godaddy. I would say you have to be a novice to advanced to go with godaddy as your host. If you have ever uploaded anything you should be okay. Godaddy offers some great customer service if you get stuck. Plus they have some good tutorials if you are unsure about anything. Another thing I like about godaddy is; you can choose a Linux or Windows based host. I have been using godaddy for a while now and couldn’t be happier with them. Believe me; I have tried just about everyone out there.
Another host I recommend is yahoo. Yahoo is $29.00 and up per month for web hosting. Every once and a while you can catch a discounted price. When I used yahoo, they gave me the first 3 months for $19.99 and $39.99 each month after that. They have a beginner based system. You don’t need any web design experience to have a yahoo merchant account. They make it pretty easy to create your own customer website. They even give you a yahoo web builder tool that lets you build websites with Photoshop quality. The customer service was okay. I seemed to get bounced around if I called or emailed them about a question or problem I had. I am a bugger about customer service. And yahoo didn’t impress me much in that department. But, all in all they offer a great service and better than most of the competition out there.
Ebay won’t be around forever. If they aren’t around anymore, you will need an immediate back-up plan. But if you already have a well established website, you won’t need to worry. It can take 6 months to a year in order to receive consistent traffic and sales to your website. If you start building now, you won’t have to worry about rushing in to building a website in a frenzied panic later. Don’t put all your eggs in to one basket. Expand your business all over the net, not just on ebay. The more places you sell, the more sales you will make. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.
I recommend having your own website domain over some free website also. If you have a free website, you will be stuck with unwanted advertisements and limitations to what you can do. You may be stuck with a web domain name that has nothing to do with your business name (joeshmoesfreewebsitehosting.joesdonuts.com). Another problem with a free website is the size of your domain name. Chances are your domain will be too big for anyone to remember and re-visit. Free websites bring little to no sales because they look very unprofessional.
The only down side to having a website is; all the time you have to dedicate to bring traffic. Advertising is very important when you have a website. You can find out how to advertise your website on a blog post I made here. Those techniques are the same ways that any marketing company would market your business for money. It’s very time consuming to launch an advertising campaign for your website. It’s really easy, but takes a ton of time out of your life. You could hire someone to market your website. But, that can cost thousands of dollars. I look at it this way; I know what those companies are going to do in order to market my website. So, I use those techniques and save myself thousands of dollars.
If anyone has any questions at all, feel free to email me. Thanks for reading and see you all tomorrow.