Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Make Online Auctions a Home Business
By: John Lynch

Everyone is aware of online auctions nowadays. We all know someone who has bought or sold something on an Ebay auction site. But how many people know that this hobby can be turned into a profitable business?

The fact is Internet auctions are a new kind of home- based business created by the Internet with no capital investment and no risk.

An online auctions business has the following advantages:
* No start-up costs.
* No financial risk.
* Work whenever you choose.
* Targeted customers brought to you by auction sites such as Ebay.
* Notechnical skills required.
* Start-up in 5 minutes.

How do I start an online auctions business?

First, if you are not familiar with the process of buying and selling, you need to understand how auctions operate. By far the biggest online auction site is Ebay (http://www.ebay.com), boasting millions of users worldwide.

However, this is the tip of the iceberg. Other popular auction sites include:
Yahoo Auctions - http://www.auctions.yahoo.com
uBid - http://www.ubid.com
OnSale - http://www.onsale.com
QXL - http://www.qxl.com
Start off by buying an item yourself to get the feel of how it is done. This will give you an overall insight into the process of registering with the auction site, bidding, paying for your goods and the delivery arrangements.

Don't Feel Forced to Buy

As a buyer you should not feel pressured into buying something that you know is overpriced because you think it is the last item. There are many online auctions and there is a good chance that you will come across the same item at another site.


Leave Your Bid Late

Experienced online buyers will leave their bids until the last few minutes before an auction closes to prevent the price being driven up too high.


Use Automated Bids

If you don't want to spend a lot of time waiting for an auction to close, you can use an automated bidding service such as eSnipe (http://www.esnipe.com). You can open a free account and type in the auction number and the amount you want to bid. ESnipe can then place a last-minute bid for you just before the close of the auction. If you win the bid, you pay eSnipe a small fee and if you lose you pay nothing.


Search for Misspelt Items

Savvy buyers know that many items listed for sale at Ebay are misspelt. You can use this to your advantage by searching for wrongly spelt items. You will have far less competition as most people search for correctly spelt items.


Once you have bought something and paid for it, you will know how the auction process works from the buyer's point of view. This is vital as it will give added insight into how you can provide good customer service when you set up your own business.

So now that you have bought and paid for an item on an online auction, you are ready to sell something yourself as a first step to setting up an online business. At this point, most people look around their own homes to rid themselves of some unwanted items for which they have no use. This is a good way to get started. When you list your item on auction sites, make sure you provide a photograph. This will grab the attention of the buyers.

Description of Goods

A good description of your 'for sale' items is essential. Give all relevant details including technical specifications and dimensions where necessary.


Guaranteed Refund

Give a guaranteed refund to potential buyers to reassure them of your integrity. Most buyers and sellers on the Internet are honest but there are a few rogues, and buyers like to be reassured.


Positive Feedback

Getting positive feedback from your previous customers is the best way to prove you are trustworthy. Always request feedback politely after a successful sale.


Reserve Price

Set a reserve price to ensure that your goods do not sell for less than you want. Make it reasonable. If you set it too high, you will not receive any bids.


Payment Options

The more payment options you offer your buyers, the more likely you will be to make a sale. Ebay auctions offer the online payment transfer system Pay Pal (www.paypal.com) which is free to set up. Credit cards also offer security and are popular.


If you intend to set up an online auctions business, it is best to specialise in a niche which is a little out of the ordinary. Thereby facing less competition and guaranteeing your profitability. Setting up an online auctions business can become a reality for anyone who is prepared to do the necessary research and put in the effort. The enormous interest in auction sites created by the success of Ebay has provided huge numbers of targeted visitors ready to part with their cash for a great variety of goods.

(C) John Lynch
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Visit Merchant Account Servicew for a FREE extensive auctions EBook on how to start and source goods for a successful online auctions home business.
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Article Source: www.iSnare.com

Thursday, December 14, 2006

The Amazon Book Reseller: How To Make Money With Books?

The Amazon Book Reseller: How To Make Money With Books?
by: Keith Lee

About a year ago, Kevin found himself searching for a book that he wanted to purchase. His searches lead him to Amazon. He had used this internet site for many purchases but did not know until now that he could purchase used products here. This really cut down on his costs. As an avid reader, he found it very useful to go to this website and to tap into the vast amount of used books that came to him in perfect condition.

After making a few purchases, a light went off in his head. He realized, after looking around at the piles and piles of books that he had accumulated that he could potentially sell these books and at least get some of his money back for them. After doing some research, he found that many people were interested in some of the books he had. He found it simple to sign up with Amazon as a seller and was soon making enough to fund his reading habit. After a while, Kevin learned more and more about this business and actually turned it into a healthy second income for him. Why not? He loved to read and he loved to get things back in the form of cash too!

The Business Of Amazon Book Reseller

Amazon.com is a website which millions of individuals venture to each day to make purchases. Many of the industries leading retailers have their websites linked to Amazon as it draws so many viewers. One of the nice features here is that individuals can resell their products. What is also nice is that Amazon features these on the searches that people do for related products. This means that individuals can choose to pay full price or they can go with a used product.

For those that have bookcases of books (you know you are out there) that you have read, or planned to read about ten years ago, there may be a market for them. If you have dusty books that are in decent shape (always make sure they are not musty or mildewed) you may find that Amazon is the ideal location for you to find a way to get rid of them and earn some money for it.

The process is quite simple. You will first need to list with Amazon as a seller. This is a free and easy step that will take only a few minutes. Next, sit down with a stack of books that you would like to sell. All you need to do is list the title and author on the website and Amazon does all the rest for you. They provide all the details of the book to the viewers. Like eBay, Amazon will charge you a percentage of the amount that you sell the book for. But, unlike eBay this is not an auction but just a listing service. You are not charged anything until the book (or other item) sells.

In order to make it profitable, it is necessary for the individual to research how well the books of this type or by this author are selling. You do not want to go so high as to keep the book from being sold but you don't want to go so low as to undermine your profit abilities. This research is simple to do on Amazon as well.

Don't have any books to sell? You simply need to check out the wide range of options open to you in your local area. For example, there are often garage sales filled with books (again, make sure they aren't smelly!) Or, you can visit a thrift shop or other second hand type stores, giveaways, or even the bargain bin at your local bookstore. Even second hand bookstores are a great way to buy cheap books which you can retail on at a profit!

Another way that you can earn an income from Amazon if you are a webmaster includes earning an income for referral fees. If you refer others to come to Amazon, you can earn a little extra income too. You can learn more about how to do this right on the website.

The process is simple and the rewards are fairly good. There are no outright costs to becoming an Amazon book reseller and much to be gained. In fact, it is a decent way to easily make a second income from home. Gather up those dusty books and begin your search for money through Amazon.com reseller programs.

About The Author
Keith Lee is a motivational speaker, a life coach and a fitness instructor for the past 10 yeras. He study and did research on the Internet Marketing Industry for years. Go to his webiste My Internet Marketing Success (close new window/tab to return to this page) for some superb tips.

Ensuring A Profitable Home Based Business Opportunity

Ensuring A Profitable Home Based Business Opportunity
by: Leonard Bartholomew

If you would like to be one of many who has found a home based business opportunity and become successful with it, then hard work is going to be needed to achieve this goal. A home business opportunity is quite popular now for various reasons. Some people need a home business to help them supplement the income received from there regular job, while others need the home based business as a way for them to keep busy as they might not have another job.

There are many different and numerous types of home based business opportunity for people to become involved in. They range for medical transcription services, to selling cosmetics and toiletries. Each opportunity is unique and suitable for just the right kind of person. There are a number of people or companies who will try to convince you there home business opportunity is perfect for you, when in fact, it might not be. It is up to you to weed through all of the different opportunities to find one that will make you successful. The question, which now arises, is how to ensure that when you have started your home business opportunity that is a profitable one?







You should be aware that a profitable home based business must first start with the correct home based opportunity. Most people choose a home business opportunity, which is quite popular, and everyone knows about. However, the problem, which arises with this, is, without realizing it, the market has already become saturated with many people selling the same product. In this way, your chances of having a profitable home business will diminish due to over availability of the product. On the other hand, choosing a home business opportunity that no one has ever heard of is too risky if this is your first time working with a home based business opportunity. Just because a product or concept might be new, there is no guarantee that it will sell. Therefore you run the risk of not making a profit at all with your home based business opportunity.

In order to ensure you are on your way with a profitable home based business opportunity, everyone thinking about working at home, should think about the amount of money necessary in starting a business. Each different type of home based business opportunity will require various amounts of time and finance dedicated to the job to make it work. For you business to be profitable, it is necessary to first plan out how much will initially be invested into it. A new startup business can quickly drain a bank account if a business plan is not initially drawn up. Therefore, to ensure you business is a profitable one, spend time budgeting out your much money will be allocated for each aspect of the business, and stick to this business plan without spending carelessly.

When first starting a home based business opportunity, a lot of hours are necessary in order to make the business as profitable as possible. This would initially include time spent away from family and friends growing your business to a stable level. Therefore, to ensure your business is profitable, the hours spent away from loved ones must be factored in.

After considering the amount of money and time which is needed to make your home based business opportunity profitable, the most important advice would be to start marketing your business as much as possible. There are many forms of business marketing available such as word of mouth, business cards, brochures and flyers, or ads in the newspaper. Yet whatever type of marketing you choose to adopt, be consistent with it. With more people becoming aware of your business, and telling their friends about it, the more profitable your business will be.

About The Author
Leonard Bartholomew, B.S. Computer Science. Find all of the elements of an extraordinarily simple online home based business opportunity that you can prosper with at Moxie Drive (close new window/tab to return to this page).

Make Associate Programs an Extra Income

Make Associate Programs an Extra Income
by: Steven Gerber

Do you have a connection with another site that can offer something new? Then you should know more about an associate program or sometimes called partnership program. This is where the companies selling products or services online gives a part of their profits as a commission on any sales you create for them by introducing new customers.

These have become very popular for both companies who are looking for an increase in sales and websites who have been inadequate in producing some earnings. Whether you have a website that sells a certain product/service or a website that has nothing to sell, you should not stop from joining related associate program for your website, product or service because it can give you additional earnings.

Some companies who offers associate program usually weigh their compensation rates in terms of those sites that send the most clicks and converted actual sales. When somebody reaches an industrial site and make some purchase from the site, you will get a commission for that as a return.

You will greatly benefit when you join any associate programs that are related to your business that definitely would sell other products or businesses to your clients. Indeed, it's really an additional source of gaining cash.

The examples of companies that have affiliate programs are the software retailer Beyond.com and bookseller Amazon.com wherein anyone can have affiliation with these commercial sites and direct people to visit them.

By using the associate program, every one has a chance to add a significant value to any website. And a good quality website can become more valuable and dynamic if it offers a wide variety or different products and services as an associate.

There are also several types of associate programs like the Web Cards. This is an associate program that pays one dollar to affiliates each time a consumer asks for a free sample of their merchandise. The product is actually a postcard of an image or a website. Wherein the user does not need to spend some money yet an affiliate gets a small fee for it. One should remember that associate programs increase the usefulness of a site only if the commercial site offers the users something valuable. An associate program may affect the accessibility of a site, but it will make it easy and convenient for users, they may visit a site searching for a product or service that it does not offer. However, the site can at least direct the customer to another site that offers that particular product or service. People would definitely like to revisit a site that leads them to a good purchase. That is a very important factor to have a good rapport with the client.

For the success of an associate program, it is necessary to make sure that the content of a site matches the program. Otherwise, the visitors may get irritated. For example, if one has a website on watches, it is better to keep away from giving a link to a pastry shop. It will just give a negative impression to the customers about the products and the company.

When joining an associate program and reselling their products or services, there are critical things that needs to be considered because your customers are also counting on you for the good recommendations that you will make and your reputation will depend on it.

It is really valuable if one would join an associate program because of the benefits that they will get, but if you are serious in joining a program you should first get and try the product or service of the company before recommending it to somebody or to a customer.

About The Author
Steven Gerber is a professional copywriter & marketing consultant. He is a protégé of Dan Lok, the World’s #1 Website Conversion Expert, & in Steven’s totally biased opinion simply THE BEST. You will find the latest internet marketing techniques & tricks at: Website Conversion Expert (close new window/tab to return to this page).

Researching An Internet Home Based Business Opportunity

Researching An Internet Home Based Business Opportunity
by: Leonard Bartholomew

If you are a looking for more ways to earn more, consider an internet home based business. When choosing the right internet home based business, it is important to choose the opportunity that matches the skills you have, in a field that you enjoy. Shifting through the different advertisements and flyers, you will find that there are lots of internet home based business opportunities being promoted, and it might be hard finding the right one. There is also the problem of finding a home based business opportunity, which is legitimate. There are a number of people looking to sell you an "opportunity" which is really a scam. Therefore, all these things must be considered when starting to look for the right internet home based business opportunity.

To choose the right internet home based business, start with the field that you already know something about. For example, if you have experience in the healthcare field, look for opportunities to work from home in the healthcare field. This is actually one of the most important factors for any job - finding something you like and putting all your energy into making it work.

After you have determined the area or field you want to look for your new internet home based business in, the next step would be to actually research the different opportunities available to you as a home worker. Home based business opportunities can be found almost everywhere we look. You can search for your new business opportunity in the newspaper, magazine ad, Internet, posters in your neighborhood, or on the Internet. The Internet is one of the best places to look for home based business opportunities, as it is not limited to your local area, but will have information about opportunities occurring worldwide.

When a list of internet home based business opportunities has been compiled in an area or field you feel comfortable in, spending time comparing and contrasting the advantages and disadvantages of each business opportunity. It is important to really consider every aspect of an internet home based business, before taking the plunge into it. Things to compare and contrast about your different internet home based business opportunities would be criteria such as the amount of time needed to set it up, the amount of money involved in running it, the amount of support given from the parent company, and the length of time estimated before you start achieving a profit.

After all the different advantages and disadvantages have been considered in regards to your internet home based business opportunity, it should be more clear to you, which opportunity will cost the least of your time and money, and be right for your to promote. But it should be cautioned to not rush into any opportunity before carefully considering all the disadvantages attached to it. The worse scenario to occur would be for you to decide midway into your internet home based business, that you are ill-suited for it, after investing so many hours into your new business.

In the end, when researching internet home based business opportunities it cannot be stressed enough how important it is to choose the create opportunity for you. A new internet home based business opportunity can be something that comes "prepackaged". In these types of opportunities, you are more likely to have the support of the company's more senior members. However, some people opt to choose a business opportunity that they have heard about from somewhere else and perfected themselves. In this scenario, less or almost no support is available. Regardless, of which of these options you choose, the bottom line is find an internet home based business opportunity you can enjoy!

About The Author
Leonard Bartholomew, B.S. Computer Science. Find all of the elements of an extraordinarily simple internet home based business opportunity that you can prosper with at Moxie Drive (close new window/tab to get back to this page).

Drop Shipping As A Business!

Drop Shipping As A Business!
by: keith Lee

Elaine has been a fan of eBay for a long time and has recently cleaned out her home thanks to them. She sold many of the things that she no longer needed (or wanted) and made a decent amount of money off of it. The process was simple and she enjoyed doing it. It just worked for her. Now, she has nothing more to sell. She has thought about starting to look at garage sales and selling things for friends, but she knows that if she wants to make good money, she'll need to find products to really sell.

This is where dropping shipping or wholesale purchasing come into play. For many individuals this is the ideal way to sell products. All you need to do is to purchase products that people want at low prices and then to sell them at a higher mark up. Sounds easy right? It really can be that easy, in fact.

For many individuals, selling on eBay is what draws them to drop shipping. This online auction site features hundreds of people looking to buy virtually anything you can imagine. This makes it the ideal place to go to find a deal too. Yet, for those that are looking to sell, it can be a way to make a solid income. While eBay is in itself an entirely different article, just know that many individuals that get into drop shipping do so to sell products through eBay.

Other avenues can be used to sell products to. For example, many individuals develop websites, promote them and drive traffic (customers) to them to sell their products. In fact, you can even use drop shipping to help you to sell products through mail order as well. All of this can be done right from your home. Nice and neatly too.

So, what is drop shipping or wholesaling? If you were to start a home based business today selling pens you would need to stock lots of pens to sell right? Not necessarily. In drop shipping, you can actually sell the product without having the product in front of you. This is done by simply working with a manufacturer who will put aside a lot of the product you wish to sell. They will take care of sending the product to the customer, once it is ordered while you handle the money. You will charge them more than you were charged which is what gives you the profit.

This is not always the case though. In some cases, individuals will actually purchase the products they plan to sell and stock them to send out as they are needed. In either case, the goal is to purchase and sell products at a higher cost than you bought it for.

The Pros And Cons

In order for you to make any money at wholesaling, you'll need to purchase and sell products that people want. To do this, you will need to do some basic research to help you. This is not that hard to do especially if you are using a program such as eBay. Next, you will need to track down distributors that will allow you to advertise and sell their product. This can be more challenging. One mistake that people make it to purchase lists of drop shippers from others. This can be a vital mistake. It is often wiser to do your research and find a more reliable way to go such as getting feedback from others.

If you find a product that is selling well, you can make a good amount of money off of it. You'll find that most people that work at promoting their products will do well at selling them. It really pays to take the time to research the right products out there. Of course, you can always make and sell your own product. This can actually be a great way to make even more money through selling products.

About The Author
Keith Lee is a motivational speaker, a life coach and a fitness instructor for the past 10 yeras. He study and did research on the Internet Marketing Industry for years. Go to his webiste My Internet Marketing Success (close new window/tab to get back to this page) for some superb tips.

Get Your Website to Profit With the Best Affiliate Programs Available

Get Your Website to Profit With the Best Affiliate Programs Available
by: Steven Gerber

The Internet is one of the most frequently used tools for communication today. There are over millions of people who log on to the Internet every single day. Besides, with the benefits that the Internet gives, who would not want to be a part of this information superhighway.

With the Internet, you can communicate with your family and friends through emails and instant messengers, you can purchase goods and services without leaving your own home, and the Internet is one of the most promising income generating tools that everyone can use today.

In the past, you needed products or services in order to make money through the Internet. Today however, you can make money through the Internet by using affiliate programs. This program will allow you to make a substantial amount of money out of your website and is a very good home business that you would want to get in to.

First of all, you need to know what an affiliate program is and how it works in order to fully understand how you can make some money out of it. Affiliate programs is like a joint venture where you or your website becomes a partner with another website that have already developed a product or service that they are already selling in the Internet. As a partner, your job is to direct the visitors of your website to your partner website and hope that they will purchase the products or services being offered. Your website will be like the company's marketing arm, among several.

The company you plan on being affiliated to will be providing all the necessary tools that you need in order to start the affiliate program. They will be providing the links, and some companies will provide free e-books on how you can effectively earn from affiliate programs.

The best way to profit from your website through affiliate programs is by promoting your website in the Internet. The key to success in affiliate programs is targeted traffic. This is why you should think of a product or service that you would want to promote and also a product or service that you are knowledgeable about. Think about your hobby. For example, if you like fixing cars, you want an affiliate program that promotes cars, or car parts.

In your website, you will then discuss about your hobby. Make some articles and post it in article publishing websites and also in your own site. Since your affiliate program is selling cars or car parts or even car accessories, the traffic you generate in your website will have a greater chance of clicking the link or banner of your affiliate website and buy from that website. You will then earn a commission out of the sold product.

As you can see, it is very simple to earn money from affiliate programs. However, when you are just starting out in the business of affiliate programs, you have to work hard to establish your reputation as an expert in the product or service you are promoting. The best way to do this is publish your articles about a particular product frequently. This will build your reputation in the Internet and soon, you will get that targeted traffic you have been always wanting. It is also a good idea to update your website once in a while (once a week) with tips and tricks on a particular product.

The best thing about affiliate programs is that you do not have to be in front of your computer 24 hours a day 7 days a week. All you need is a few minutes of checking up in your website and also check out your earnings in your affiliate programs. Always remember to update your website frequently in order to keep your readers and keep them buying from your affiliate website.

About The Author
Steven Gerber is a professional copywriter & marketing consultant. He is a protégé of Dan Lok, the World’s #1 Website Conversion Expert, & in Steven’s totally biased opinion simply THE BEST. You will find the latest internet marketing techniques & tricks at: Website Conversion Expert (close new window/tab to get back to this page).

Kuala Lumpur KL tower and Petronas twin

Kuala Lumpur skyline including the famous Petronas Twin Tower and KL Tower

NOTE: If you are using a small screen, part of the right side of the photo and the post will be hidden. You will notice a horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the browser. To view the whole photo and also the post, you will have to use the scroll bar to scroll to the right.

This is a photograph of the skyline of Kuala Lumpur. Visible in the photo is the Kuala Lumpur Tower, a communication tower which has a viewing deck and a revolving restaurant at the top. I believe it is the tallest tower in South East Asia. Also in the photograph is the Petronas Twin Tower which used to be the tallest tower in the world. Now, it is the third tallest.

2007 is Visit Malaysia Year and many programs are been planned for visitors, some of which you can see in this blog Guide to Malaysia (close new window/tab to return to this page). Malaysia is also a shopping paradise with many sparkling shopping malls offering bargains. Not too be missed are its natural attractions - the beaches, reefs for snorkelling and scuba diving.

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