Publish Your Books Online - For Free
Thursday, January 10, 2008
There is a great little site called Lulu that offers free self-publishing to everyone who signs up. It's similar to Cafepress in that you make your own products on the site and sell them through your online store on Lulu. The difference is that Lulu only deals with books - whether it be novels, text books, art books - even calenders.
When you sell on Lulu it's up to you to get the sales for your books. They don't distribute the books to major stores, they just print them and ship them out when a book is ordered off the site. This service is free to everyone, they just take a percentage of the book's cover price to cover the costs of shipping and printing.
If you want to make money selling your books on Lulu you should probably have a blog or another way to get your name out there. By setting up a blog people can sample your writing and it will give you a platform to promote your book.
If you really want to get your word out there you can take advantage of their marketing services, which includes press release services, advertising, and public relations, but keep in mind that their marketing services cost money and there are many free ways to advertise online.
If you are very serious about your writing and plan on making it your full time job, you should look into traditional publishing before you set up an account on Lulu. However if you want a hassle-free way of getting your word out there without the costs of traditional publishing, Lulu is probably the way to go.
Posted by Crystal 12:22 PM 9 comments
Make Money For Your Craft Projects
Thursday, December 13, 2007
If you are into crafts, you can sell your do-it-yourself projects on the site Etsy. This site is pretty big and has a lot of great items for sale. There are handmade books and zines, toys, drawings, clothing, and more.
If you Google "sell handmade products," you will see other craft sites where you can sell your items, but they seem to have little traffic. Etsy is great because it actually has a lot of traffic and a large user base, all of whom are interested in buying hand-made crafts.
I came across this site when I was looking for sites where you can sell drawings online. I was surprised to see the high of quality art and other crafts they have here. This looks like a great way to make money and possibly turn a hobby into a career.
Posted by Crystal 1:08 AM 2 comments
How to Avoid Common eBay Mistakes
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Many first time eBay sellers have one thing in common – they fail. Many sellers will fail again and again, without understanding what they did wrong. They will do hours of research looking for the perfect item, set the auction up, and wait for the bidding to begin. Days will go by without one bid being placed, or if a bid is placed it is very low. Finally when the auction ends they make a fraction of the cost of the item. There is a lot of competition on e-bay so if you don’t want this to happen to you, you have to do specific things to keep up with the competition, and learn why most auctions fail.
There are a lot of reasons why most auctions fail, the most common reason being that the item is not in high demand. Before you list an item on e-bay, consider how many times it is already listed. Research the item and see what the other sellers are making off of it. You may also want to Google the item and see if any forums or blogs are mentioning this item. The research may take a great deal of time – but in the end, you will find that it is time well spent.
Another reason for eBay failure is pricing. No matter what your selling or what your reserve price may be, your opening bid should never be over $50. This will attract more bidders to your auction, because if you set the price to high, potential buyers won’t even click the link to read your description. You want to draw them in first to your auction with a low price, and let the bidding naturally go higher. Another problem related to pricing is lack of research. Before you set your price, make sure your item is really worth the money you want for it. Also look at other auctions and see what the final bids are at those auctions.
Once you have avoided the mistakes mentioned above, one of the most important things you want to do is to write your description carefully. Your eBay auction page is a free advertisement for your item – you want to make it alluring and interesting to the potential bidders. Don’t misspell words and post a quality picture that will draw people in. This essentially your “sales copy,” so make it good.
Finally, getting great customer feedback will speak for you more than anything else you can do. If you have a great description of an item up for bid, a 100% positive feedback score will give that buyer trust in your description and seal the deal. Always give the best customer service you can offer, and don't be afraid to ask your customers to mention your excellent service in their feedback. If you do have a problem and get a negative score, eBay allows buyers and sellers to retract their negative scores, so you should work fast to resolve the issue with the buyer.
If you follow these simple steps you can make money online selling items through eBay. Many people have been successful on eBay – all it takes avoiding common mistakes and being creative.
Posted by Crystal 2:49 PM 2 comments
Labels: sales
At Home Customer Service Jobs
Thursday, August 30, 2007
There are companies now looking for in-home customer service representatives. Customer service reps are hired to take orders on the phone, offer tech support, and/or sell products. To be a customer service rep you are required to have a dedicated phone line, a computer, and high-speed internet access.
Alpine Access connects companies with work-at-home employees. The service they offer is completely free. When you sign up you will see the employment opportunities available to you. I have signed up and at this time they have 4 positions available. Two positions are for part-time customer service representatives, one position is for a full time representative, and the other is for a full time payment specialist of a company.
After you find the job you want you can upload your resume to apply. For the positions that are open the only requirements they have for representatives is that they have a high-school diploma or GED. They don't specify how much you can make but according to an article MSN the pay usually starts around $8 an hour for this type of work, although the pay may vary between each employer.
LiveOps Inc. is a call-center whose agents work from home. New agents are usually paid $6.50-$8.50 per hour in addition to commission and incentives. Over time agents can make between $9.00-$11.00, and some exceptional agents make up to $20.00/hour.
Live Ops charges $30 for a "credit and background check." This usually is a sign of a scam. However, I did a lot of research on the company and they seem to be legitimate. There is no report of them on ripoffreport.com, and on the forums I looked at I saw good feedback from past employees. They have also been featured in articles on USAtoday.com, MSN, and Techcrunch.
Arise Virtual Solutions Inc. is an agency that brings together work-at-home employees and companies. They have sales, tech support, and customer service positions available. Their service is completely free. They also offer a free professional certification course. To apply as a representative I would suggest calling them because their application process isn't very clear. You can find their contact information including toll-free phone number at this page.
According to MSN more than 670,000 phone agents in Canada and the US now work at home. This is triple the number of agents in 2000. Since technology is advancing so rapidly I expect even more companies to be contacting these agencies over the next few years. This is a great time to be a work-at-home agent.
Posted by Crystal 9:20 PM 1 comments
Labels: give advice, networking, sales
Top Affiliate Programs
Monday, August 27, 2007
With an affiliate program you earn a percentage of the commission every time you link to an advertiser's product and they make money through your site.
Affiliate Fuel One of the largest online affiliate networks.
Affiliate Scout Affiliate program that claims you can make up to 4,000 for each sale.
Avangate Sell computer software for up to 75% commission.
Amazon Affiliate Program You earn 10% commission by linking to products of choice on your website.
Bingo Program Partner with casino and gaming sites and make up to 50% commission on every game played.
Click Bank Earn up to 75% commission by linking their products and services on your blog.
Clix Galore Affiliate program with over 8,000 products to choose from. Each product has a different commission rate, ranging anywhere from 2%-70% of each sale.
Rocket Profit Affiliate Network with over 1,000 advertisers.
Posted by Crystal 6:00 PM 6 comments
Labels: advertising, sales
How to Start an Online University
Sunday, August 26, 2007
You might think i'm crazy, but with online enrollment at an all-time high, this is a perfect time to start your own University. There are many people with degrees such as stay-at-home parents who are willing to work as part-time adjuncts for a lower salary, if it means working online. This is one of many reasons online Universities are profitable. And without the costs of a traditional school - such as a campus and full-time staff, its not as far-reaching a goal as you might imagine.
Although there are many successful online schools, the competition is still low, as most people don't even consider getting into this line of work. It's an entrepreneurs dream - a market that is growing rapidly with little competition.
Right now the University of Phoenix has over 200,000 adult students enrolled in campus and online degrees. This is an astronomical number compared to traditional schools: even the largest rarely have over 40,000 students.
University of Phoenix charges an average of $500 per credit, which is around $1500 per class. If every Phoenix student was enrolled full time they would be making $9,000,000,000 a year.
What it takes to start your own University
The first thing you need is money. You will need money for advertising, website startup costs, an office, and to pay faculty and staff salaries.
If you have affluent connections you may be able to find an investor for your school. An investor takes an ownership position and assumes all losses the school might incur. Most for-profit schools are founded through investors.
If you have connections in the academic world it can also lessen your financial burden. Friends with graduate degrees may be willing to be part-time adjuncts for a lower price than a traditional salaried professor.
One thing that makes starting an online school an obtainable goal is that they have a fifth of the expenses of a traditional brick-and-mortar school. Most school's expenses go toward maintaining their extensive campuses. The fact that online schools only need to pay hosting fees lessens a huge financial burden.Obtaining Degree-Granting Privileges
Before you can legally grant degrees your university must be licensed under the state where its located. Different states have different requirements. Virginia, Wyoming, and Colorado are notoriously relaxed about their requirements for university licenses. These states barely require more than a visit to the school. In tougher states such as Maine and New Jersey there is a rigorous review of the school's curriculum, staff, and faculty.
Another important step, although not necessary, is to have your college accredited by a recognized accrediting agency under the Department of Education. Having your school accredited assures that you are providing a quality education that meets specific quality standards. You can only begin the accreditation process after your first student has graduated.
There are two types of accreditation: regional and national. Regional is often considered the more prestigious of the two. There are six agencies which can grant regional accreditation. Credits from regionally accredited schools are more transferable between schools. Regionally accredited schools also receive more government funding and are more prestigious in the eyes of employers, but both accreditations are respectable.
While a school is under evaluation for accreditation it can still legally offer degrees as long as its licensed. While being unaccredited may deter some students from enrolling, there are students who are still willing to attend unaccredited schools as long as they provide a quality education.
For more information on accreditation, visit ed.gov.
Can it really be done?
While its absolutely possible to start your own university, it will only work if you have the drive, patience, and a good deal of money. Its obviously not a get-rich-quick scheme, although it could make you filthy rich over time.
Click here for a list of the most successful online colleges. Many of these schools started from the bottom and worked their way up.
Posted by Crystal 2:49 PM 0 comments
Labels: sales
Sell T-shirts and Merchandise Online
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
If you are looking for a new way to make money on your site you may want to consider selling t-shirts and other merchandise. Many people have made a good income selling t-shirts on their sites, including collegehumor.com, which pulls in $200,000 a month from t-shirts alone.
Of course you shouldn't expect to make that much money by designing a t-shirt, but it's clear that there is a big market for it. There are a lot of free sites that will print and ship your shirts so you won't have to do any work.
Cafepress is by far the most popular print-on-demand service online. They print shirts, books, bumper stickers, and more. The base price for a value t-shirt is 8.99. By marking the price up to 15.99, you can make a profit of $7 every time you sell a shirt. You can mark up a shirt to whatever price you want. Owning a basic shop is free but they put a limit on the number of designs you can have. They have an option to have a premium shop for $5 a month with no limit to what you can sell.
Spreadshirt is similar to cafepress except they specialize in t-shirts. Like cafepress they have a base price for each product which you can mark-up. A unique thing they offer is the ability to create your own designs right on their site. They also have a gallery of t-shirt designs that you can use on your own products in your shop, which is great for people like me who don't know much about graphic design.
Zazzle is a print-on-demand service that has some interesting merchandise you can sell, such as (real) postage stamps with your design, calendars, postcards, even aprons. They are community-based with message boards, journals, and more to help you spread the word about your merchandise. It's also 100% free with no premium membership. You receive 10% of everything you sell.
Selling custom t-shirts is the perfect way to make a little money and promote your site or business. Any promotional items usually make a good impression on potential customers, especially something useful like t-shirts or beer koozies!
Posted by Crystal 6:49 PM 5 comments
Dropshipping Tips
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
A drop shipper is a business that stocks merchandise, sells it to you at wholesale prices, and ships the merchandise directly to your customers so you don't have to. You keep the difference between the wholesale price and the selling price. The plus side to using a drop shipping service is that you don't have to have to keep an inventory and you don't have to buy any more than you sell.
What you need to do first is decide whether you want to sell your products through e-bay or through your own online store. Then you need to find a reputable online drop shipper and begin to sell your product.
Try to search through numerous shops to find the cheapest inventory so that you can have competitive market prices while still making a considerable profit.
You also should make sure that they have a large quantity of their product in stock. They usually don't list the number of items on their sites, so an e-mail to your dropshipper would be wise before you decide to list it on your site.
Try to determine the product's demand before you list a product. Just because a product is a good deal does not mean that people want to buy it, which could cause you to lose money in the long run. This is especially important on ebay since they charge a price for listing a product.
Don't sell too much of the same product or brand. For instance, a site that sells PC's doesn't need 25 different Dells. This can confuse and scare away potential customers who don't know the difference between the Dell Inspirion 1501 and E1705, and probably don't care.
Check sources to find a reputable supplier. There are many scams out there that try to take advantage of people who don't know much about the business. These sites usually charge a fee for their services or price their items too high for you to make a reasonable profit off of them. If a site is asks for money before you can see their inventory, then it is a scam.
Posted by Crystal 7:10 PM 0 comments
Labels: sales
