Do you enjoy buying and selling? Do you have a knack for finding great bargains at garage sales and thrift stores? If you enjoy shopping and bargain hunting you can turn your hobby into a money making business. You can start your own eBay business right from your kitchen table.

What is an eBay Business?

eBay is an auction site. People look for items they need and they bid on them. The highest bidder wins. As a seller you can sell items in your home. For example, you might sell that old leather jacket that you never wear anymore. You can also start an eBay store to sell goods. In this case you might choose to sell a specific type of product. For example, you might sell house wares in your eBay store. Or you might target a specific type of home product, Fiestaware for example.

Your job as an eBay business owner is to find products to sell. Then you sell them, hopefully for a profit. You then ship the product to the buyer. It’s as easy as that.

What Do You Need To Get Started?

To get started selling on eBay you’ll need a few things:

* A camera – to photograph your products.
* Products to sell – this is the fun part!
* An eBay store – you can set one up for less than twenty dollars a month.
* Knowledge – you’ll want to make sure you’re buying items that can be sold at a profit. In many instances this means having knowledge about the demand and value of your chosen products.
* You might also consider creating your own website, though you certainly don’t have to. An eBay store may be sufficient to reach your sales and profit goals.

Note: You can sell your own home made products on eBay too. Many people sell jewelry, handmade clothing, art and even food on eBay. You can also sell information products.

Tips for Marketing and Growing Your eBay Business

#1 Research your competition. Spend some time on eBay browsing through other stores. What stores do you like? What do they do well? Why do you like them? What stores don’t you like and why? This research session will help you create a store that meets your needs and those of your customers.

#2 Plan your store first. Before you create your store, plan it. Depending on the level of store you’ve purchased you’ll get:

* A “Home” page
* An “About Us” page
* Logo
* Store description
* Promotion boxes
* Search box
* Store categories
* Gallery view

Designing your store on paper will help you create a great online store.

#3 Use eBay’s marketing tools. The more you market your store and your business the more profits you’re likely to make. eBay offers a number of marketing tools including:

* Email marketing
* Keywords
* Advertising
* Print materials
* Cross promotion tools

If you enjoy buying and selling or you are skilled at making products consider setting up an eBay business. It’s simple, cost effective and easy to use. Create your plan and start making money today.

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Some home businesses appeal in a bad economy. A dog walking business may appeal to you.

Do you love dogs and enjoy being outdoors? If so, a dog walking business may be the perfect business for you. More people own dogs than ever before. And these very same people are often willing to spend a great deal to make sure their dogs are happy. Their busy lifestyles prevent them from giving a dog what it often wants most – time outside. You can help.

What is a Dog Walking Business?

As a dog walker you simply take people’s dogs for a walk. You might group your clients by neighborhood and walk several dogs at once. Or you might schedule appointments and walk dogs individually throughout the day. You can charge based on a per dog fee, a per walk fee or a package rate.

You might also offer to do other things for your clients. They might include feeding the dog, pet sitting while they are away or taking the dog to the veterinarian.

What You Need To Get Started

You need very little to get started as a dog walker. You will want to have:

• A love for dogs
• A business plan
• A few extra leashes
• A pooper scooper
• Good walking shoes
• A marketing plan/materials

You can start a dog walking business for less than a hundred dollars. In fact, much of your marketing may be done via word of mouth. You may also want to post flyers around town.

However, before you start marketing your business make sure you have a business plan. What are your business goals? How much do you want to make each month? Each year? How many clients do you need to reach your goal? What are your rates? Who is your competition? Who are your ideal clients?

Spend some time researching other dog walking businesses. Once you’ve created your business plan, then go out and market your business to your ideal clients.

Tips for Marketing and Growing Your Business

Consider creating a website for your business. This will help people learn more about you. Include an “About me” page on your website. This is important because people will have to trust you with their beloved pets. They want to know more about you. Also include a services page that lists what you offer and how much it costs. Consider including a policies and procedures page along with FAQs. You might also want to have downloadable forms on your website. Clients will fill out the form so you have all the information you need. For example it asks for the name, breed and age of the dog. It might leave room for the client to document any special needs their dog has.

Publish a few articles or blog posts on your website as well. These can be articles you’ve written or have permission to reprint. They should be about the care and keeping of dogs. This information will be educational for your clients. It will also help boost your credibility as a care provider.

Make sure your dog walking website and business are listed with the local online search engines. For example, Google Places. Include your website on any marketing materials you print. Finally, consider asking local pet stores to display your brochure or flyer. Between your online efforts and a few strategic offline marketing efforts you’ll have a full dog walking schedule in no time.

Related articles

• What to Do in a Bad Economy? (therealowner.com)

Did you know you can make money as an assistant from your kitchen table? With the internet and basic technology you can provide a valuable service to clients around the world. Best of all, you can be online and working in just a few short days. You can become a virtual assistant.

What is a Virtual Assistant?

A virtual assistant is someone who provides administrative help. Instead of working in an office environment, they provide the work online. As a virtual assistant you might communicate with your clients via email or a project management system.

You can specialize in a specific task, for example, managing a forum or an affiliate team. Or you can offer a variety of administrative services. You can also specialize in an industry.

What Do You Need to Get Started as a Virtual Assistant?

* Computer with internet connection
* Software to support your administrative services
* Telephone and related equipment like a headset so you can talk hands free
* Website to market your services
* Business Plan – Your plan will your business goals, marketing strategy, audience, services, policies and procedures and so on.
* Contact information – Email account/telephone number

Most of the home office essentials you probably already have and the rest of it can be acquired or created. The one thing you probably don’t have is a website. A one page website is all you need to get started. Once you have customers you can expand your website. You can add content and grow your business.

Making Money as a Virtual Assistant

Most virtual assistants charge by the hour. You might also consider charging by the project. Another option is to charge by the minute, word, or post depending on what service you’re providing. For example, if you’re offering transcription you might charge by the audio minute.

Marketing Your Administrative Business

Like many other businesses, it can be beneficial to specialize. For example you might market yourself as the 24-hour transcriptionist – turning around any transcription order in less than twenty four hours. You might specialize in managing affiliates, scheduling or managing customer service. You might also specialize in an industry. For example, you might focus on offering research for information marketers.

Your website will be your primary marketing tool. It’ll be where people can research your services, rates and view your work if you have any samples or testimonials.

Partnering with another service provider can be a great way to promote your business. For example, you might partner with a website designer who specializes in the same industry you do.

Social networking, advertising, and content marketing all help to build awareness too. Finally, some virtual assistants find great success by offering memberships. For example, you might offer five, ten and fifteen hour memberships. Members get a discount for committing to regular work. And you get regular work.

If you have an interest in offering administrative services and you want to work from home, from your kitchen table, you can do it. Create a plan. Build your one-page website and start making money today.

To your Kitchen Table Business success!

Kate Williams, Simply Home Business

P.S. If you’re just getting started and don’t know which tools you need, check out our Home Business Shop for ideas!

Do you have a special skill or talent? Can you make things that people value? Are you crafty? If you are, you can make good money. You can turn your hobby into a business.

For example, if you knit, you can create an online store. Sell products that you’ve knitted and take orders. It’s a wonderful way to make money doing something you love.

What is a Craft Business?

A craft business is a business you can operate online and off. You can create your own website and store. You can also use services like etsy.com and eBay.com to sell your products. In fact, many people sell handmade jewelry, candles, clothing, accessories and home goods. There’s a growing demand for unique, handmade products. If you have the skills, you can make good money.

What Do You Need to Get Started?

Getting started is fairly simple. You’ll need:

• A computer – so you can communicate with customers and market your product
• A camera – to photograph your items.
• Product – you’ll want a few items for your inventory and to photograph for your website or store.
• A business plan – how much do you want to make? What expenses do you have? Who is your audience? How will you market your business? How much will your products cost?
• A website or store – Check out services like Etsy and eBay. eBay is an auction site however you can sell handmade goods at a fixed price. Etsy focuses on selling vintage and handmade items. It’s the perfect place to sell your handmade items. At both sites you can create a store. There’s a monthly membership fee but it’s generally less than twenty dollars each month. Both have a built in shopping cart system and payment and fulfillment system.

Tips for Marketing and Growing Your Business

#1 Research other craft businesses. Get online at Etsy and eBay and review their stores and websites. What works? What doesn’t? Before you create your store or website, plan it on paper.

#2 Prosper with partnerships. As a craft business owner you might even partner with other business owner to support each other’s success. For example, if you know someone who makes hand blown glass holiday ornaments and you make hand knitted holiday stockings you might band together to promote each other.

#3 Consider choosing a niche or specialty. It’s easier to find an audience if you have a specialty. For example, if you’re a painter you might enjoy painting a variety of scenes and using a variety of mediums. However, if you specialize you will have an easier time marketing your products. You might specialize in watercolors of fish or painting people’s pets. Specialization makes you the go to person for a specific type of product.

If you are a skilled artist or crafter you can make money with your hobby. Research your audience. Choose a specialty and set up your store. With a small investment you can begin making money right from your kitchen table.

Being a successful event planner can really be a dream come true. Does your ideal business day include dreaming up fantastic events and turning them into reality? Event planning can bring in a very good income while you meet many interesting people.

How do you become a successful event planner? Here are a few tips.

Pick a Specialty or Clientele

The most successful event planners focus on one specialty, especially when marketing the business. That specialty might be large conferences, large parties, corporate trainings or industry trade shows – make a choice. What will you choose as your flagship service?

Once you’ve chosen your flagship service, when you’re asked what you do, it will attract more customers if you can say: “I help Fortune 500 companies win fame and fortune at conferences” (or something that describes who you work with and how you help them). You’re much more likely to get referrals than if you tell them: “I’m an event planner.” Be more specific; give people a much more solid idea of what you do; focus on the problem you solve or the need you fulfill.

Start now–make a list of the people you’d most like to work with and the problem they have that you solve (or need you fulfill) with your work. In a third column, list the outcome or primary benefit your client receives when they work with you.

Establish Contacts and a Track Record

Get some experience in the event planning industry. You will land more and better clients if you’ve participated in planning an event before you start marketing yourself as an event planner.

Start out by working for another event planning company. Volunteer at other events in your spare time. Establish contacts with organizers and event hosts. If you can’t work with them–interview them.

Planning an event requires that you have contacts in a wide variety of areas. For example, to run a successful conference you need a trusted sound team, a great volunteer organizer, interior designers familiar with conference design, and so on.

Your contacts in the industry will help you land clients. In the beginning, ease into the industry and develop the contacts you need to do a top notch job and to land your ideal clients.

Get at least six to twelve months of experience by working with existing events before you try to market yourself as an event planner. If your flagship service is aimed at smaller-scale events (like birthday parties), you can cut the initial learning and networking time down significantly.

Create Your Portfolio

What does an event planner’s portfolio look like?

• Pictures of packed events.
• Pictures of smiling event speakers.
• Testimonials from event hosts about how amazing and easy you made the whole event.

You want to create a portfolio to show prospective clients the benefits and outcomes of working with you.

Start collecting testimonials, pictures and even videos as early in your career as possible.

Jump In Feet First

Finally, the most important thing is that you jump in feet first. The only way to really learn how to be a successful event planner is to just jump into the industry and learn. You’ll often find that people are more than happy to teach you what you need to know.

Related articles

• 10 Top Events Planning Articles (eventsblogger.wordpress.com)
• 5 Must Ask Questions Before Hiring an Event Planner (mceonsite.com)
• Find Your Professional Self (preparetheaffair.wordpress.com)
• What Brides (and Event/Wedding Planners) can Learn from Extreme Cage Fighting (mylittleflowershop.wordpress.com)

Do you have what it takes to really succeed as a social media virtual assistant? What are the most important skills and qualities you need to succeed at the job? Read on.

=> Comfort with a Variety of Social Networks

Each of your clients will have different needs and different social networks. In order to be successful, you need to be fluent with at least Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Furthermore, specific clients will have more specific needs. For example, some clients might get a lot of traffic from StumbleUpon and need you to manage their account and relationships with other stumblers there.

In order to succeed as a social media virtual assistant, you need to be fluent in all the major social networks and be able to learn the smaller networks quickly.

=> Ability to Write in a Variety of Voices

You may have one client who’ll require you to manage his LinkedIn profile in a professional and courteous voice. Simultaneously, you may have a client who needs you to manage his reddit and Digg accounts in a crass and satirical manner.

One of the most valuable skills you could have as a social media specialist is the ability to write in the voice that your clients want.

Remember that when you’re representing someone in a social network, you’re basically representing them and their brand. Their readers expect to hear from the brand in a certain voice. If you’re able to adapt to and take on that voice, you’ll become incredible valuable for your clients.

=> Consistency and Organization

Finally, being a social media virtual assistant requires being very organized and very consistent.

For example, one client might ask that you do certain tasks every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Other clients might ask that you make certain posts on certain dates. Other clients will ask you to handle certain basic tasks every single day.

It’ll be on your shoulders to make sure you manage all these tasks properly and don’t let any balls drop.

Furthermore, you’ll need to be keeping tabs on all the different accounts and passwords of your clients, in addition to important relationships.

In short, you need to have organizational systems that work for you. You need to be able to keep track of notes, tasks, relationships, logins and more.

If you’re fluent in social networks, you’re organized and consistent and you can write in a variety of voices, then you may have the makings of a very successful social media virtual assistant.

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Do You Love Fitness? – How to Become a Personal Trainer

Become a personal trainer for amazing rewards. Paid very well, generally between $50 and $250 an hour, you will help people craft the body of their dreams. This career is fulfilling, meaningful and well respected.

If you love being fit and want to get paid for your passion, then being a personal trainer may be the perfect new career or second job for you. How do you get started in this career? Here are three steps to become a personal trainer:

=> Step 1: Get Certified by a Well-Recognized Organization

There are many ways you can get certified. Generally you’ll want to get at least one or two certifications before applying for work.

The ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) exam is perhaps the most widely recognized exam you could take. You can study the course at home and take the test at home as well.

Other organizations include ACE, AFAA, IFPA, ISSA and the AFPA. These are all nationally recognized certification programs.

To get more information about fitness instructor courses and fitness trainer certification:
1. ACMS certification
2. AFAA certification
3. NASM certification

One popular way of getting certified is to get one general fitness trainer certification and one more specialized certification.

=> Step 2: Build Credibility and Get Experience

In general, the first step in a physical training career is to get a job in the field. Yes, you can try and make it on your own without experience or clients, but it’s much, much easier to get experience by getting a job first.

Where should you apply?

Places that hire personal trainers include gyms, fitness centers, spas, high-end resorts and sometimes high-end medical facilities.

Apply to one or two of the “big name” brands. In the United States that might include 24 Hour Fitness or Crunch; in the UK it would include Bannatyne’s.

You should also apply for several smaller or more local locations. The larger gyms often have stricter hiring requirements and may be less inclined to hire someone just getting into the industry.

It should go without saying that you need to be in tiptop personal condition before becoming a personal trainer.

=> Step 3: Next Steps

Once you have a year or two of experience in the industry, along with a handful of loyal clients who will follow you wherever you go, then it might be time to think about breaking out on your own.

Personal trainers who go off on their own can make a lot more than personal trainers working at a gym. You can charge higher rates as the perceived value is higher and you get to keep all the money for yourself rather than splitting it with the gym.

Of course, it comes with its own challenges as well. You need to market yourself and get your own clients. You need to handle all the business aspects yourself, including insurance, accounting and incorporation.

If you love fitness, getting started as a personal trainer can take as little as a couple months and $300 dollars for certification. The job will be rewarding and challenging, with tremendous potential upside as you get more clients and even explore starting your own business.

Related articles

• ACE Certified: Success Stories
• Ever Thought About Becoming a Personal Trainer? (fitsugar.com)

Image by sufia_a1 via Flickr

I am going to assume for the purpose of this article that you are well skilled in web design and know what you are doing. Ideally that should not only mean that you have a bit of design talent and can make good looking pages, can do enough programming to be able to create a website which has the functionality which your clients may be asking you for, but also a good knowledge of a few content management systems so that you can quickly and cheaply create websites that your clients can easily edit and manage themselves and that will still be able to fulfill all of the needs that they have presented you with.

If you can do that then there is no reason why you should not go into this business, but nevertheless here are a few things that you should probably think about before you start.

Pros:

1. One of the biggest advantages of starting a web design business as opposed to going into any other industry with a new company is the fact that you can set yourself up and start trading straight away and with very little costs involved. Of course you may need to advertise to get work coming in, but even that may not be the case.
2. There are lots of opportunities to upsell in this market and to get your customers to buy extra services such as hosting or SEO services. You do not even need to worry about providing these yourself, as there are places you can go which offer reseller services to you buy wholesale and sell retail to your customers.
3. If you already have the skills then it beats working for someone else!
4. This is an industry which rewards innovation, so it is always possible for new companies to break into the market and be successful.

Cons:

1. Although there is obviously still plenty of demand for web design, part of the market is moving away from websites to things like apps. If you can add app development to your portfolio then you are more likely to be successful. Having said that, I am sure you could find another company offering app design who will let you resell your services too, so that you can add them as part of a package to include both website and app.
2. There are already lots of people doing this, and in a crowded market place it can be difficult to get work
3. If you have been involved in website design and development as a hobby, then you should be aware that the vast majority of jobs will not want your creative flair and innovative ideas. They will want something cheap, clean and simple. So it might not be as much fun as you think

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dean_Walsh

Home business start up is a logical response to the state of our current economy and as a foundation for family wealth in the New Economy.

Paul Zane Pilzer explains why a home based business start up may be timely for you in a recent blog post. His latest thoughts about the US economy are summed up:

Wall Street is “recovering” and Main Street (small business) is suffering.  A home business is a source of additional income, a cushion in the good times and an alternative source of family support if traditional employment in the current economy disappears for you.

“Dad,” I asked my father when I was 12 years old, “What the difference between a recession and a depression?”

“That’s easy,” he replied. “In a recession your neighbor loses his job. In a depression you lose your job.”

While my father’s description was not technically accurate, it is very relevant for us today. Other than a few economist types like me, people generally care only about “their economy” vs “the economy.”

How many people do you personally know who have lost their home or their car during the past 12 months due to the economy? Your answer probably is “no one” or “not as many as I would have expected.” Unfortunately, this may soon change.

Read more about Paul Zane Pilzer’s views on the Entrepreneurial Challenge at his blog.

Paul Zane Pilzner

Excerpt from “Age of the Entrepreneur”

“Today, it’s risky to work for a corporation!

“Today, it’s far more sensible to go to work for yourself.

“We’re in the midst of a boom in home-based businesses, and it shows no sign of slowing.

“More than one out of every eight U.S. households contains a home-based business. In 2000, more than 50 percent of all small firms were home-based businesses, and they generated about 10 percent of the nation’s entire economic receipts.”

Paul Zane Pilzner is a world-renowned economist, multimillionaire entrepreneur, college professor and author of seven best-selling books. Paul Zane Pilzner contributed the article, “The Age of the Entreprenuer” , to an edition of Success From Home Magazine. You can purchase Success From Home Magazine at newstands and bookstores like Barnes & Noble, Borders and B.Dalton.