| · | Ebay and other online auctions Although consumers are not going crazy over bidding wars on Ebay as they were in the early years, there is still good money to be made. If you find a product that you think would sell well, that Ebay is not already flooded with - research the item to see if you can get it in bulk for a much cheaper price. You may not make a great deal of profit on each item that you sell - but if you sell a lot, the profits will soon up add up. Pay special attention to the lists of 'hot sellers' that Ebay puts out every year. For example, if you see that clothing for 10 year old boys have been a hot seller, you might like to try selling t-shirts for this age group. Here was the Ebay 'Holiday Hot Sellers' list for 2007: http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/holidayhotlist/ |
| · | Become an affiliate If you have a website that brings in a good amount of traffic, you could try to monetize it with an affiliate program such as www.clixgalore.com |
| · | Online shop Your business is taking off like wildfire on Ebay? Maybe it's time to move out onto a shop of your own. You already have yourself a name as a reliable and honest seller - and now you can have the satisfaction of your selling from your very own site. Of course, you don't need to start off in Ebay. If you start up a new business, having not sold the products before, you will need to build up a good name - and carefully work out how you are going to promote your business before you get started. Another option for an online shop is to start up a site through a company such as popshops.com - they make starting up a shop fast and easy (although don't think that this option comes with ready-made customers. it doesn't!) |
| · | Blogging Bloggers write their personal thoughts on anything from their own lives to government policies. It takes an original writing style, and a highly interesting content to make any money. (You make money through advertisements or sponsored ads on your site.) It's very difficult to build a popular blog, but If blogging is something you would enjoy doing anyway - go for it! |
| · | Discussion forums Forums are a place where you can go to discuss ideas. Try work-at-home forums, but also try general forums, and niche forums that interest you. You might make friends who are willing to start up a home business enterprise with you. As an example, many mothers have joined together to start up home-businesses making cloth nappies - and selling them on over the internet. |
| · | Crafts and scrapbooking If you have good knowledge and skills in arts and crafts, you may be able to start up a niche website. On your niche site, you could sell your own items, items sell items from craft companies, make commission from affiliate products/sponsored ads - or let people know about a craft market at which you sell your products on weekends. You could also join craft or scrapbooking sites and see if there are any job openings, even if it is in a volunteer capacity at first. Many scrapbooking sites take on creative people for their design teams. |
| · | Writing articles There are thousands of magazines out there that need content. You don't need to have a degree in journalism to write an article, but you do need to have knowledge and interest in the area you're writing about. Take a short article-writing course at your local college and learn how to quickly put absorbing articles together. |
| · | Take your job home You might be currently renting office space for your business. You may be able to start up a home office - with a website to help people find you. |
