Wallet Relief Blog

Billions of dollars worth of products are sold on eBay and other online merchants every year.  Where are people getting all these items to sell?  Surely, they’ve emptied their closets and garages by now.  Even if they have, finding stuff to sell online is still relatively easy.  Several sources are available for those who want to make a little or a lot of cash selling online.

Home Stuff

Not all garages have been cleared of junk.  Weekend garage sales are still popular places to find items to sell.  Sales in higher income areas tend to net more quality items like designer clothes, high end furniture, and antiques.  However, don’t neglect an average Joe garage sale; one never knows what unique items will be unearthed regardless of the neighborhood.  Go to these sales toward the end of the day.  Homeowners will be more inclined to sell you merchandise at rock bottom prices rather than having to pack up unsold items.

Look through your own garage and closets to find items to sell online.  You may be harboring old clothes, books, Cds, and toys that will bring in a few bucks online.  Offer to rid your friends and family of their unwanted junk by selling on consignment.  You sell their stuff and keep %25 of the profits.  Local retailers may also agree to let you sell their overstocks and returned merchandise on consignment as well.

Buy Online, Sell Online

Finding stuff to sell online is as easy as buying it from the same online source. eBay is an excellent place to find everything from antiques to huge lots of merchandise that you can buy and resell at a profit.

Locate other online sources by using search terms such as wholesale liquidators, closeout dealers, and drop-ship services.  These same sources can also be found in print media including the Yellow Pages and classified ads in newspapers, trade magazines, and free weeklies.

Auction Action

Unclaimed, slightly damaged, and repossessed merchandise can be purchased at freight claims and government auctions.  Check the Yellow Pages for contact information and newspaper classified section for upcoming sales. 

There’s a storage unit operation on every corner these days.  The storage company auctions off the contents of unpaid rental units.  Although the contents are sold sight unseen, there’s probably enough sale worthy items inside to let you break even.

Estate auctions are another great source for finding stuff to sell online.  Like garage sales, high income estates yield the greatest finds, but gems can be found regardless of the estate’s net worth.  These sales are advertised in the newspaper. 

Drop Shipping

Drop shipping is an easy, hands off way to sell online.  You send the order to the manufacturer or distributor and they ship the product to the customer.  No inventory or shipping hassles to worry about.

Local Events

Bazaars, flea markets, and festivals are good sources for everything from unique handmade crafts to valuable collectibles.  Like garage sales, stop by near closing time for deep discounted deals.

Check with the local convention and visitors’ bureau to find out about upcoming trade shows that are open to the public.  You’ll be able to buy from manufacturers and sale reps selling the latest products on the market.

Offshore Action

Asia is a good source for finding stuff to sell online.  However, the red tape and cost of contacting sources there can be a hassle.  Your best bet is to hook up with a manufacturer’s rep who has overseas connections.  There’s enough available home grown sources for locating products to sell to make this option unnecessary.

Sources

“Finding Stuff to Sell,” (alsnetbiz.com)
11 Of The Best Places to Find Items to Sell on Ebay,” (ezinearticles.com)
“Finding Product Sources for Your Business,” (entrepreneur.com)

Can you get rich selling e-books?  While Bill Gates’ type of income isn’t guaranteed, you can earn you a very nice income selling e-books online.

E-books are electronic versions of printed material that can contain text, sound, and images.  The profit potential from selling them is high because start-up and operating expenses are very low.  The biggest expense is purchasing books for sale. 

You can earn even more money if you write some of your own e-books. Your writing skills don’t have to be stellar.  There are online sources that will take your research and craft an  e-book for you.  Some of these companies even take care of marketing, payments, and shipping.

Buying  e-books for Sale

You can purchase e-books from authors online.  eBay is another source for e-book buying.   Purchase e-books with resell rights.  This allows customers to sell the e-books they buy from you themselves thus providing an incentive for them to do business with you. 

Make sure the e-books you buy (or write yourself) are full of useful information and resources.  Some e-books are nothing more than ads and sales pitches for the writer’s products.  These “ad books” will turn off customers and decrease repeat business.

Do your research to determine what types of information people are seeking.  Getting rich selling e-books will depend on the topics covered, customer base, and marketing campaign. 

Before buying an e-book for resale, do an online search for the title.  If lots of web sites are selling the book, it’s probably a popular title and will be a good seller.  It also helps to sell e-books that cater to a specific market niche.  Search online forums and other group sites to locate potential target markets for niche titles.  Contact these groups with a short email inviting them to visit your site.  Offer an incentive such as 20% off first purchase to increase site traffic.

E-books about current trends or hot topics will generate more income.  Your income will really get a boost if you can spot the “next big topic” and write or purchase e-books to sell before the competition saturates the market. 

Marketing Extras

You can use a common template for your e-books’ web site or sell them on an existing site you already have. However, to stand out from the competition, create you own web site to sell e-books.  Always add new titles to your stock to keep old customers coming back and to attract new ones.  Use email to notify customers of new titles and special sales.  Offer discounts on slow moving titles.

Affiliate programs are another way to get rich selling e-books.  The affiliate pays you a commission for his or her e-books you sell.  To earn extra cash from e-books you write, start your own affiliate program.

There are plenty of online and print books that will help you learn how to get in on the e-book sales bandwagon.  A good place to begin reading is “Make Your Knowledge Sell,” by Ken Evoy and Monique Harris.

Sources

“About Making Money with E-Books,” (about-the-web.com)

“Make Money Selling Ebooks,” (christianet.com)

“Make Money Selling Ebooks,” (homebusinessmag.com)

“Is Your Dog Selling eBooks Too?,” (marketingsource.com)

If you are a stay at home mom you may be getting the urge to do something more with yourself.  You may want to make a bit of money while staying at home with the kids all day.  One of the best ways for any stay at home mom to make money is by using eBay.  This may sound a bit far fetched, but the fact of the matter is that thousands of people have turned eBay into a full-time job.  And to take this a step further, there are many people who have become millionaires by using eBay to buy and sell items.  If you work hard at it, you can be next in line for the profits that are being made on eBay everyday of the week.

At this point you may be wondering how eBay can make you money.  This is something that a lot of people have on their mind.  Using eBay to make money is quite simple.  You will list items for sale, and then wait for other people to bid on them, or purchase at a predetermined price.

But in order to get started with this you will need to have items that you can place for sale on eBay.  There are a few ways that you can go about getting these items.

1. To find items to sell on eBay you may want to become a regular at garage sales and flea markets in your area.  At these events you can buy items for cheap, and then turn around and sell them for a large profit on eBay.  This is one option that a lot of stay at home moms opt for when looking for items that they can sell on eBay.

2. Another option to consider is making your own products, and then listing them on eBay.  For instance, some people make crafts such as candles and then list them for sale.  You may not think that there is a large audience for this type of thing, but there are many people that make a lot of money doing just that.

3. Stay at home moms can get their start on eBay by selling items that they have laying around the house.  Chances are that your garage or attic is full of junk that you no longer use.  But just because you think that the items you have are junk does not mean that somebody else will. By just selling items that you have in your home you may be able to get your start on eBay.  And with the money that you initially make, you can then in turn buy more items.  Pretty soon you will notice that your profits are growing. 

Traffic on the freeway is bad.  Traffic on the Internet is good.  With over 60 million web sites on the Net, you need a solid strategy for steering customers to your home business web site.

Search Engines

Search engines are the yellow pages for a home business web site.  Over 80% of Internet surfers use search engines to find information on the web.  To get the most traffic to your site, list with the big search engine players Yahoo, Google, and MSN.  Smaller search engines also get results from the big three so you’ll be covered in case customers visit less popular engines.

Looking Good

Your home business web site can be simple or complex but it must be functional and attractive.  Make sure your site does what it is supposed to do - provide customers with concise, useful information about your product or service.  Be wary of making things too complicated.  The site should be easy to navigate or customers will look elsewhere.

Your home business web site should also look professional, not cheap.  If you aren’t design savvy, spend money on a good web designer.  The investment will pay off by attracting more people to your web page.

On-line Ads

The Internet has many sites where you can list your home business web site for free.  To guarantee the greatest exposure, place your ad on several (20 or more) sites and repeat the process every month.

Banner advertisements can be as effective as TV spots in increasing customer awareness of your business.  A banner ad should be direct, i.e. promote a benefit of rather than just the name of the product or service.  Try participating in a banner exchange program such as LinkExchange that connects your home business web site to other company sites that have similar customer bases.

Affiliate programs offer an excellent opportunity to promote your home business web site.  Affiliate businesses post links to your web page on their sites.  You pay them a commission or set fee based on the amount of traffic sent to your web site.  Pay arrangements vary and can be based on the number of people who visit your site or the number of customers who purchase your product.

Bloggin’ It

Bloggers are the hot new information medium.  Getting them to write about your home business web site is an excellent way to gain exposure to potential customers. 

Technorati Blog Directory provides a listing of blogs by industry.  Do your research here to determine which blogs might be interested in writing about your business.  Send a short, personal email to a few blog writers describing your web site and asking the blogger to write about it.  Offer the writer something in return, for example, free product or a link back to his blog on your web site.

Off-line Ads

Cruising Down the Highway

Your car is a moving billboard for a home business web site.  Window decals and bumper stickers are inexpensive ways to get the word out about your web site.  Spend a few extra dollars for a personalized license plate with your web address.

Old Media Standby

Regardless of what the bloggers say, people still read the printed page.  Run ads in the classifieds of large and small papers, trade magazines, and free weeklies.  Your choice of print media will depend on the product or service offered and whether you do business locally or nationwide.

Sources

Gaebler Ventures, “Advertising on the Web” (gaebler.com)
Data Synthesis, “Internet Solutions for Today” (ictks.com)
“Top Ten Ways to Promote your Website” (agora-business-center.com)
“Using Blog PR to Promote Your Site” (sitepronews.com)

If you love pets, why not start a business that will allow you to make money at the same time? Thousands of people from all over the world have started pet based businesses.  And out of these people, many of them work at their pet business on a full-time basis.  If this is something that is of interest to you, the first thing that you will need to do is determine what niche of the industry you want to focus on.  There are many options available, and by finding the right one you will be on the fast track to success in no time at all.

Here are five home business ideas that pet lovers should consider.  Of course this is just a start, but these five are among the most popular.

1. A pet sitting service will allow you stay in touch with pets while also making money at the same time.  People are always looking for a way to have their pets cared for while they are on vacation or on a business trip.  A pet sitting service is a great option for these people.  And if you are the only service in your area you may be able to garner a lot of business right off the bat.

2. Being a dog walker is a solid home business idea for pet lovers.  You will probably not make a full-time living at this job, but you can definitely make a bit of money as your client base expands.  For one reason or the next people do not have the time to walk their dogs.  If you can offer this service at an affordable rate you can get a lot of regular clients.

3. Pet photography is becoming very popular.  If you have the skills to start a pet photography business you can make a very good living.  More so today than ever before pet photography is popular.  Offering this service in a well populated area can be quite profitable.

4. Make pet related crafts if you do not want to deal directly with the animals.  Crafts are selling great in today’s day and age, and can be anything that you can imagine.  Believe it or not selling pet crafts can turn into a profitable full-time business.

5. A lot of owners do not have the skills or patience to train their dog.  For this reason pet trainers are always in demand.  Offering this service at a good rate will allow you to place yourself at the top of the industry.

Even though these are only five pet related business ideas, there are many others that are do-able.  With a bit of research you will find a home business idea that you can incorporate into your love of pets.

Many of my readers may already own a health-related blog or may be contemplating starting a website related to diet, weight loss, or nutrition information.  After all, diet and nutrition are always popular topics, and many home businesses or work at home on the internet situations promote or advertise products having to do with weight loss or nutritional supplements. A new service has become available that provides original private label rights articles in this diet and nutrition niche on a monthly basis at an affordable price.  The articles are perfect for blog publishing or other web content uses, and the overall project is overseen by a physician concerned with quality content.  If this niche interests you, don’t miss checking it out early before the competition catches on.  Just go to http://www.diet-nutrition-article-niche.com/ for more info on these private label rights articles for the diet & nutrition niche. 

Many people who choose to work at home engage in online businesses. Building a home Internet business is challenging and once you really got the hang of it, you could earn good income as well. There many areas to choose from when building a home internet business. What really matters most is that you are knowledgeable on the topic or area that you want to engage into in order to get ahead of the pack.

Before you start building you home Internet business, it would be wise to get as much information possible regarding the area you want to enter. There are many ways of getting your information through the Internet. You can try surfing open sources to save cost, but most of the time these open sources are very limited in terms of information. Your local library could help you. There should be some information regarding the area you want to engage in; however, you might not find what you need as easily as typing a word and generating information. Now, if you don’t have the patience or the time to spend in libraries to get the information you need, you could always go to paid information sites on the Internet. Finding a good source of information on the Internet could be a bit tricky though, so it is best to rely on the well-known sources although they may cost you a bit more than those sites which purport to offer comprehensive results for lower price.

Once you have enough information regarding the area you want to engage in, you can start building a home Internet business. For starters, you should get a reliable computer and a fast Internet connection. If you are good at building website, then you can start right ahead and design your web page. However, if you are not so techno savvy when it comes to building a website, it is best for you to hire someone who can give your website a professional look. Building a home Internet business with a professional looking website will attract more customers than those badly designed ones. Remember that being in the Internet business means that you will be judged by the look of your website. Having a good homepage would convey to the reader a sense of professionalism, which inspires trust and confidence. Your website is your store so make it look good. People like to shop in a store with well arranged merchandise so try not to clutter your website unnecessarily.

Soliciting ideas and comments regarding your website would help a lot. You can ask your friends and colleagues what they think about your site and what they suggest you should improve on. You can also join forums and invite people to take a look at your site and give their comments. You can easily find forums where building a home Internet business is a hot topic. There are many techno savvy people in forums who are very willing to share their ideas so don’t be shy and post your questions. An added value of joining is that you can invite these same people to your website once you are ready to launch. Who knows, those people could become one of your customers, too.

Being a stay-at-home parent does not necessarily mean you cannot contribute financially to the family savings or budget. On the contrary, there are many lucrative home based opportunities in which you can engage. Listed below are 10 top home business opportunities that are suitable for stay at home parents.

Scrapbook and memoirs-making is an excellent choice for a stay at home parent who likes to work with his or her fingers. There are many people who would like to make scrapbooks of their family pictures but never have the time to do so. You can start by marketing your products and services to your friends and neighbors.

Childcare or a day care center would be a good business. It would give you time to take care of your kids while taking care of your neighbor’s kids. There are always many people who are looking for good day care centers where they can leave their children while they go to work in the office.

Offering accounting and bookkeeping services to small companies around your neighborhood would be a good idea if you have good accounting skills. They are many people who do not like balancing their own books or accounts so you could have a big market for your services.
 
Medical transcription is increasingly becoming a good home business for people who are familiar with medical terms, have a good command of the English language and can type fast. Usually, medical transcription pays very well and you could have a good full time income while staying at home with the kids.

Network marketing is popular among people who are good at building a team. Many people are earning very good income from networking marketing. Some social skills and enjoying connecting with others is a definite plus for this type of marketing.

Catering is a good business for stay at home parents who love to cook. There are so many people who do not have time to cook their own meals, especially when they are entertaining visitors. So if you are a good cook, you can easily build a good number of loyal customers.

Freelance writing is good for those who have talent with words. There are many opportunities for those who can write a good story. Magazines usually pay their writers well so you can aim for such magazines if you want to earn well doing freelance writing.

Freelance typing is a good idea for people who can type fast. There is no shortage of those companies outsourcing typing jobs.

Medical claims billing is a good business for those stay at home parents who have financial backgrounds, and who do not mind checking details regarding medical coding and code numbers.

Publishing an e-book would be a good idea for those stay at home parents who love to write.
 
Stay at home parents who have other special skills–you may find other more lucrative home businesses than those mentioned in the top 10 home business opportunities. The good thing is, whether or not your work on one of these top 10 home businesses is that you enjoy what you are doing and you earn good income to contribute to the family coffers.

Have you ever dreamed of running your own business, being your boss, setting your own hours, and doing something that you actually enjoy? Do you like shopping, and do you ever wonder what it would be like to run your own store? If you have your own computer, then your home business opportunity might be knocking loud and clear!

Did you know that more and more computer users are actually selling goods online? You might have wondered in the past if they have a garage full of clutter, or if their second bedroom has become a storeroom, but the amazing truth is that neither is the case. As a matter of fact, these individuals have managed to hook up with huge warehouses that will store the merchandise they are selling online until their orders come in. Inventory control, reordering of stock and shipping is all done from the warehouse while the computer user is responsible for setting up, maintaining, and marketing a website that enumerates the wares which are available for sale. What could be easier?

While you may not get rich by starting this kind of business, your income level is not limited and instead your efforts will directly dictate your income levels. For example, if you build a professional looking website and are very diligent about listing it with as many search engines as possible, and if you are able to take hold of a corner of a certain niche market, you may indeed to very well. Depending which retailer you sign up with, you will also the chance to recruit affiliate sellers whose sales with net you a portion of their gross profit. By setting up such a network, you may see your sales growing exponentially in a rather short period of time.

The web expertise you will need for this venture is limited. Much can be done with just a few snippets of code that can easily be inserted into a website. As a matter of fact, website building can be so much fun that you might find yourself building two or three and setting up a number of storefronts, each with a slightly different feel.

The advantages of this home business opportunity are easy to see: no inventory, no sales tax figures to compute, straight forward selling, the ability to run your own online store, no cold calling or doors slammed into your face from face to face contacts, and no friends and neighbors who are hesitant to accept your invitations for dinner in fear that you will break out into a sales presentation or recruitment session. Instead, your computer is your business, and your store will run whether you are online or not. What a great home business opportunity!

When you base your home business opportunity on online marketing, you will be able to tap into a large number of resources that each promise to give you access to a whole different segment of the market. There is a plethora of online marketing opportunities that will permit you to introduce your home business to a wide audience. Conversely, if you find that you would have a hard time marketing your business to a large audience, perhaps this business opportunity needs to be revised a little bit in order to appeal to a much larger segment of the market. Here are some tips for getting the word out about your home based business opportunity via online marketing.

Build a professional-looking website. Too often individuals make the mistake of going overboard when creating a website, and the result is a site with too many ads, pop ups or pop unders, and streaming videos that take the viewer’s eyes away from the business itself. Unless you know how to design a website yourself, this is a task best left to the professionals. Keep in mind that a well-designed site will permit potential customers to visit your store and learn about your business 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You want to put your best foot forward when it comes to website based marketing.
 
Purchase email addresses. You need to take great care that you do so from a reputable business so that you will not be accused of spamming, but once you have found such as list, use it! This is a great opportunity for emailing out newsletters, recipes, memorable quotes, and special offers. If your newsletters are witty, you will be able to add new subscribers by folks who liked what they read when a friend forwarded it.

Set up an affiliate program, and permit others to receive a little profit from sending visitors to your website. You might even specify that the commission will not be paid out until someone signs up for a newsletter or places an order.

Change your email signature to showcase your business. Think about how many emails you send out every day, and you will be amazed how many potential customers you can reach simply with your signature.

As you can see when you base your home business opportunity on online marketing, you will be able to attract customers on a daily basis, even when you are not online. In addition to the foregoing, because of the many times that emails get forwarded when they contain witty or important information, you will be able to capitalize on your email investment many times over! So go ahead and give it a try; you will not be disappointed!