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Archive for the ‘success’ Category
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
Hi everyone, I hope everything is going good for you. I recently had someone ask me; How long does it take to see a traffic increase and start making sales on your website? This is a great question and I am happy to answer it for you Nick! In order to see noticeable results like this on your website it will take lots of hard work.
If you work hard, you will see very noticeable results within 3-6 months time. By working hard, I mean; “everyday”. Not a few times a week. Not when you have time. Make time for yourself if you want to have a money making website. Put aside 1-3 hours a day to advertise your website.
You can learn how to advertise your website or product right here. You can use various other ways to ensure you get website traffic. But it all comes down to time and dedication.
The more time and dedication you put into advertising your website, the better your results will be in the long run. You can’t just build a website and submit it to search engines or website directories. You have to reach thousands of people everyday in order to get real results. And that won’t happen if you only do one or two things to advertise. It’s collective advertising that works best. Combine many advertising techniques into your advertising plan.
You could ask another website to advertise for you. You could submit a press release article and submit it to press release and new business websites. PRweb.com is a great place to start. It’s important to get your name out there by telling everyone you offer a new service. Hopefully you offer an original service people will be attracted to visit.
Set up a feed on feed websites like feedburner and myyahoo. Then people can bookmark your website and keep track of new updates. It’s also important to blog about your business regularly. Tell the world all about your business and websites. Or you could blog to help others with free information about the subject matter on your website.
Submit your website’s blog to blog directories. You can place your blog right into the category your business is all about. Keep advertising and always search for new ways to bring traffic. As times change there will always be new methods and tricks coming out. For example, you can stay updated by visiting my blog. I do my best to bring you all the newest tricks and tips to better your home business.
Thanks for reading my blog everyone. See you tomorrow!
Hi readers, I hope everything is good. My contest ended yesterday. We pulled Marion’s name out of the hat. Congratulations Marion! Marion will get the presidential treatment on learning how to start a business at home.
Thanks for entering the contest everyone! This contest will be held again very soon so keep reading my blog when you can. Anyone that needs help starting a business can enter my contest.
I also have a little treat for my readers this weekend. If you have time, I suggest you stop by to read my blog this weekend.
Sorry to keep today’s post so short everyone. I will make it up to you really soon.
Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!
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 doing great. It’s that time again. I am having another contest to let me teach you how to work at home and be successful. The last contest only lasted 24 hours and it was a surprise to most of you. Some of you missed out or entered a few hours late.
Hopefully 2 days is enough to give most of you a chance to enter this contest. I don’t want to advertise the contest ahead of time because my regular readers will miss out on their chances to win. The contest details are listed below. Goodluck everyone!!
Details: This contest will last for 48 hours. It will end on May 6th at 12:00pm(noon) 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 6th 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!**
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.
Thanks for entering the contest everyone! Good luck!
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
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, 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.
Hey everyone, I hope all is well. A family member of mine lost her job from a lay-off today. I am going to teach her how to make money from home. It’s a sad day in American history when someone working at a company for 26 years just gets laid-off without warning. Not even a day notice to prepare for the decision. It was finish your day if you want, but we can’t use you here anymore. Might as well say, “don’t let the door hit you on the way out”. Where I come from, you give seniority some respect. At least throw them a party after 26 years, right?
Well, the recession in America, is definitely here without question. Our money is worth didly-squat to other major countries around the world right now. The exchange rate if you leave the country is terrible now. I remember going to Canada or other parts of the world and my money be worth around double or more. Things have changed drastically in the past 5 years for the worse. Seems like the only way to hold a job these days; is to work for a gas or oil company.
* Cut down on your extravagant lifestyle. Stop spending money on things you want. Start spending money on things you absolutely need. Save the rest. I know this sounds easy, but it isn’t. That means, everything from the extra pay channels on cable, to that morning coffee you buy. Start watching less T.V. and make your own coffee in the morning. Bag a lunch. That alone, could save you a few hundred dollars every month. Two dollars for that coffee in the morning times 30 days in a month. That is $60.00 for coffee you could save every month. Think about all the things you don’t’ need and can cut out. Make some adjustments to your daily life. Times are getting tough.
* Don’t use those credit cards! Stop wasting your money. The interest rates on almost everyone’s credit cards are ridiculous. Why pay interest on your own money? I never got it. I had credit cards in the past. I find no need for them anymore. For years I have stayed away from credit cards. I use my bank debit/card. It is a gold visa card and the money comes right from my band account. I can use it like a credit card all around the world. I never pay interest. If I don’t have the money, I can’t spend it. The temptation is so much less if it’s your own money and not borrowed money from the credit card companies. That’s all a credit card company is to me; A high priced loan shark.
Some people pay off the same credit card debt their whole lives. The credit card hole is awful. Get out as soon as you can. If you do have credit cards, stop using them. Pay them off and KEEP THEM. It’s important not to shut down your credit card account down if you have had it for a long time. That long term credit card is good for your credit score. Don’t use it at all and keep it. If you pay it off and get rid of it; the long term plus towards your credit score will be erased, in turn lowering your credit scores. I speak from experience.
It’s a whole other story if you know you are spending your money and not the credit card company’s money. Your spending habits will immediately change for the better, I guarantee it.
* Take on another job or money maker. If you work a regular job, take on a part time job. Even if you sell an item or two a night on ebay. Start something on the side to help out. Get a laid back part time job somewhere. Think about things you are good at doing. I bet you could make some money with your talents if you really think. Give it a try. The least that could happen is; you get an extra hobby that makes money.
* Invest some money in different places if you can. I’m not saying to gamble your money away. There are tons of ways you could safely invest small amounts of money. IRA’s are a great way to save some money and get back a lot. I recommend a Roth IRA if you go with an IRA. Roth IRA’s are tax free when you take your money out. Regular IRA’s tax you on money you withdraw. Start putting extra money in to your 401k plan. Or start a 401k plan if you don’t have one already. I am sure your bank, could give you some really good Credit of Deposit rates. You can put a small amount of money into these types of programs. You don’t need to be a millionaire. I don’t recommend getting into the stock market, unless you know all about it already.
Save all that money you don’t spend. In some cases I have saved people thousands of dollars every month by these same tips. You never know when you will need this money. Refer to this money as your back-up/emergency fund. Don’t spend it on anything except necessities. Bills, loans, rent/mortgage, car funds etc. And only use the fund when you can’t pay those things normally. Like a real emergency. Don’t look at that money as extra. Put it to the side and ignore. Keep saving it and it will grow. Someday you may need it for something major. If you own a house and make $2000.00 a month; a good cushion would be $24,000.00 on top of that. Expensive problems seem to happen at the worst times.
Thanks for reading everyone. See you tomorrow.
Hi everyone, I hope your weekend is going good. I got a lot of feedback over my top 7 list yesterday. Thanks for all your feedback. I don’t mind helping all of my readers. Well, here is the bottom 8 on my list of best online auction marketplaces of 2007-08. Just because they are on the bottom, doesn’t mean I don’t recommend them. I recommend expanding your ebay business to all of the auction marketplaces in my top 15 list.
8. Ubid (***1/2) - Ubid.com makes the top 10 in my list for keeping the low prices on their website a priority. They have been around a long time (since 1997) and they are not going anywhere, anytime soon. They are known for their famous 30 minute auction. I have got some really great stuff on Ubid. You can get some great bargains there. Ubid is great if you are looking to buy good merchandise for cheap money. I have used Ubid many times to buy and then resell somewhere else. I recommend ubid if you are looking for another ebay alternative.
9. Half (***1/2) - Half.com makes the top 10 on my list for very obvious reasons. One is; they are owned and run by ebay. That means, they get tons of traffic. More traffic = more sales. Half has been around about 10 years now. They have a great reputation for selling books and other small item digital media. This is where most college students buy their books. At half.com you can save a ton of money if you are looking for expensive books or media. Especially if you are looking to resell them. Half.com is also a great place to get rid of books or digital media you don’t want anymore. I have never been an avid seller there. But I do use them to get rid of small media I don’t want. Give them a try if your house is starting to look like a library.
10. epier (***1/2) - Epier.com is another great ebay alternative. Of course they don’t get the traffic ebay gets. But they get enough buyers that you will make money. Epier has established a great reputation over a span of 10 years. They have silently climbed the popularity ladder as the years have gone by. Not many people know about epier. They made the top 10 on my list because they are like a lost treasure. I tried them a few years back and there were not many members. Now they have tons of members and the seller competition is very minimal.
11. bid-alot (***) - Bid-alot.com is another good online auction marketplace. Bid-alot didn’t make my top 10 because the active members have shrunk dramatically in the past 6 months. Most of the users went to some of the auction places I listed in the top 10. It’s funny how you recognize other powersellers from ebay by seeing them all these years. Bid-alot has been around for about 5 years and they are a good place to buy. You might not make as much money selling there. But I have found more than a few great deals that I ended up making lots of money from. Sign up and give them a try.
12. Craigslist (***) - Craigslist.com (classifieds) is a fantastic place to sell or buy anything. They get almost as much traffic as ebay on a daily basis. The sales turn around by listing an item on craigslist is phenomenal! I recommend using them if you want more sales. The only reason craigslist didn’t make my top 5 list of 2008-07 is because of the increase of scammers working over innocent people. Craigslist has become notorious for the famous Nigerian check scam. Read this post I made about the fake check scam if you want to use craigslist. Beware, there are lots of people that try to scam you with fake checks on craigslist. Don’t except any checks if you plan to sell anything on craigslist. I recommend using craigslist as they should probably be in my top 5. But I want to make it clear, be very cautious if you sell anything there. I try and steer people away from places they may be scammed. But, if you are a cautious person, familiar with scammers, you will be okay. O’yeah, craigslist is a magnificent place to pick up some really good things for cheap money. Especially, if you plan on reselling the merchandise. Give them a try. They are totally free to use.
13. sell (***) - Sell.com is a good place to buy and sell also. They are kind of set up like craigslist(classifieds). They have tons of members and you will sell lots of things there if you have a good niche. Certain categories seem to sell a lot better than others, Um, if you know what I mean. Adult things for those that don’t get it. I have been able to sell a lot of lingerie at sell.com. It’s also a good place to get a deal on a few things. You can even find the strange and original items that are hard to find. An Elvis backscratcher that sold for $112.00. What’s up with that, lol? I guess you can find anything in classified ads. Give them a try. Sell.com is a good place to expand your business.
14. Shopgoodwill (***) - Shopgoodwill.com is another little secret I have kept until today. I know, you are probably laughing, goodwill. But I am laughing all the way to the bank. I have bought more than a few used and “working” Xbox 360’s for under $100.00 on shopgoodwill. Those are just a few things I have bought there recently. I have probably bought 2 items a week, for the past 4 months on shopgoodwill. I have bought some really good items that I re-sold for more than double. You can’t sell anything on shopgoodwill. But, the great things you can buy there for cheap money is excellent! I recommend using shopgoodwill.com, if you don’t mind re-selling used, “working” items.
15. cqout (***) - Cqout.com is a great auction marketplace. There are thousands of members on cqout.com. The only reason they are last on my list is because they serve mostly United Kingdom. You can click onto the American flag to find local auctions, so they are very versatile. They are great for selling or buying. Not much competition for sellers. But, there is a huge amount of buyers on cqout.com. There is no reason not to expand your ebay business to cqout as well. The more places you have your items up for sale; the more items will sell. It’s just the law of selling anything.
As you can see, ebay isn’t the only money maker in the auction marketplace world anymore. Lots of little auction websites have stepped up to the plate. And, with all the powersellers leaving ebay over recent rule and fee changes. It looks very good for the up and coming auction marketplaces. Just remember, none of these auction marketplaces get the consistent traffic that ebay produces, YET. Although, some of them come very close. And hey, every little bit counts, if you are trying to leave ebay and lose the high auction fees. I regularly use 13 out of the top 15 auction marketplaces on my list. 12 of them collectively, make WAY more money for me than ebay. That’s why I say every little bit counts. Expand away from ebay for a little while. Or keep your ebay business going and expand at the same time. You have nothing to lose except more sales everyday.
I have some more places to list. They are not marketplaces that you can sell. But, they are great places to pick up items for a great price, so you can resell. Come back tomorrow and check out the list.
Thanks for reading everyone.
Hi everyone, today I will be giving you some useful information to steer away from ebay and their high prices. I have not fully jumped the ebay bandwagon yet, but it’s about that time. I will probably always sell on ebay. Recently, I have been selling on other auction websites for experimental purposes. Because of ebay’s recent strict rule changes and price hikes, some really good auction marketplaces have popped up all over.
I tested all the auctions marketplaces I will tell you about in my top 15 list. They are some really good auction websites that actually have traffic and a really good sales to listing ratio. A few of them bring in more traffic than ebay in certain times of the year. Amazon and overstock have reported record numbers in November and December 2007. Amazon reported more sales in the Christmas season of 2007 than ebay reported. That means people are starting to drift away from ebay more than ever.
Late last year I made a post relating to the auction marketplaces that were hot around that time. You can find that post here. I have to say, “even though those auction places are great”; the list I have for you in my next two posts, are WAY better in quality. In the past 8 months I have been experimenting with over 40 online auction marketplaces. I know, I will have a lot of happy readers after my 2 part post on top 15 auction marketplaces of 2007-08.
The auction places I tell you about in my list, are the very best out there right now. Although, none of them get the consitent traffic that ebay receives; they have a fantastic turn around ratio. And, all of their auction fees are either, free or VERY cheap! Many, actually have a huge chance of surpassing ebay’s warpath on the online auction world. Okay, here is the list that will change the way you do business online from now on.
Here is my list of the top 15 auction marketplaces of 2007-2008. Listed from best to worst. I will be ranking them on a five star scale. Five stars being the best and 1 star being the worst. Don’t worry the worst is still a great place to make money. I don’t want to bore you with a huge post. So this will be a two part series in a 2 day blog post.
1. Ebay (*****) - Ebay.com still belongs in top dog position. Although, I don’t make as much as I used to on ebay; I still make more on ebay than any other one auction marketplace. So Ebay definitely deserves slot number 1 on my list. Keep in mind, if I combine all the other auction marketplaces I use, except ebay, I make double of what I make on ebay. So I could survive if ebay were to leave my life today. The fact is, it doesn’t look too bright for ebay’s future in the online auction marketplace world. Especially, with all the new rule and fee changes. So many sellers like me are leaving if they haven’t left already. Also, all the new auction marketplaces are making an effort to rid ebay forever. Don’t underestimate ebay though. They still hold the crown in my book for top auction marketplace.
2. Overstock (*****) - Well, I give auctions.overstock.com 5 stars like ebay. I gave them 5 stars and number 2 slot because they are a goldmine. There isn’t much competition selling and there are millions of users buying. In a short amount of time, overstock has been making me some really good money. Not as much as ebay. But I am sure, if I put as many items on overstock as ebay; my sales may be more than ebay. Overstock has really impressed me. I have only been using them for about 3 months and the turn around ratio reminds me of the old ebay. I recommend overstock.com as your primary ebay alternative. The fees are very at overstock are very minimal compared to ebay.
3. webidz (*****) - Webidz.com beat out Amazon on my list because they bring in more sales for less money. Webidz is my little hidden treasure. This place also reminds me of the old ebay. And guess what? Webidz is free to list items! That’s another reason it beat out Amazon in my top 15 list. The traffic you get on webidz is great. There isn’t much competition as a seller. And there are more buyers than sellers, so you make good money. I recommend using webidz as your FREE ebay alternative.
4. Amazon (*****) - Amazon really deserves the top 5 in my list of best auction places. In my honest opinion; I think Amazon will eventually take ebay’s place or they will become a lot bigger than ebay someday. Amazon has been ebay’s close competition this past year. In the Christmas season of 2007, Amazon beat out ebay’s reported sales volume. In fact, Amazon destroyed ebay’s sales numbers almost 2-1 during the winter season of 2007! That goes to show how much potential Amazon has to take over the auction marketplace. The money you make there isn’t too shabby either. Give them a try if you are thinking about an ebay alternative.
5. Onlineauction (****) - Onlineauction.com is another great ebay alternative. They get tons of traffic and a majority of the items you list, sell. They even have a deal right now. If you sign up, you will be considered a founding member and you receive a free e-commerce website through them. Hey, it’s free and it’s a great deal. Don’t pass it up. Expand away from ebay. Give onlineauction a try. They have a very small monthly fee and you can list unlimited auctions! Onlineauctions rightfully deserves the top 5 in my top auction marketplaces list. You can make great money there!
6. Ebid (****) - Ebid.net is a HUGE auction marketplace. They are set up just like ebay. They have a different website for almost every country around the world. Just click onto your country and sign up. For instance; ebid’s USA website is us.ebid.net which brings you to only people in the USA. One of the best reasons I put ebid.net in the top 10 right under Amazon; They are free. If you open a store, all your listings will be free also. Plus you get a free T-shirt, lol. It might sound cheesy, but the sales you make on ebid are well worth using a free auction marketplace.
7. ioffer (****) - ioffer.com is another good ebay alternative. You can even transfer your ebay feedback onto your ioffer account. You don’t pay any listing fees. You only pay a small final value fee when your item sells. ioffer gives you a free ecommerce website storefront. ioffer makes it onto the top 15 of my list because the fees are very minimal in comparison with the money you make there. Even though ioffer gets really good traffic, they don’t get as much traffic compared to the first 6 in my list. But there are a lot more buyers than sellers on ioffer. And, as you know, with little selling competition and more buyers, you will sell more items. There is a reason they are in my top 15 list, with 4 out of 5 stars, check them out.
Tomorrow I will continue my list of great ebay alternatives. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. Thanks for reading my blog everyone!