If you’re totally brand new and just doing research about how to make money from home, still leave a comment and I’ll try to find some resources to help you out.

FYI – don’t fill your plug up with keyword babble; those will be deleted. Please just give us your name, website URL (family friendly, please) and a brief description of what you do and when you became a WAHM.

WAHDad’s are welcome to join in the fun!

You can read my intro on the Working WAHM About page or you can watch this 6 minute video below

Who’s next to share???

Are you a shopoholic that loves retail? Are you looking for a way to profit and help other people profit too? Are you already doing reviews and recommendations for the best deals out there? Consider starting your own online consignment business and profiting from what you are already doing.

A consignment business is a store that sells other people’s belongings. You take a commission on the sale and they earn money by selling their items. It’s a great way to make a nice monthly profit. Here’s how to start an online consignment business.

Step One: Decide what you’re going to specialize in. If you are thinking of selling retail then you definitely have products you love and can easily sell.  Remember that you can start with some specific specialties and add more as you grow.  There’s actually a great deal you can sell. For example, you can specialize in:

• Baby clothing
• Maternity clothing
• Housewares
• Pet items
• Art
• Collectibles
• Sports memorabilia
• Fitness equipment
• Formal wear
• Wedding attire
• Vintage items
• Designer clothing
• Teen clothing

The list can go on and on. Find a market where you see a need. Find a market you enjoy and would enjoy selling.

Step Two: Take a look around your community for your first consignment products. Eventually you may acquire goods to sell from all around the country. However, initially it’ll be good to build your store with easily accessible items. Consider asking your friends and family for items to stock your online store. You can look to purchase things inexpensively on craigslist.com at first as well to practice your listings.

Step Three: Build your online store. Once you have a few items to sell online, it’s time to build your website. In addition to building a website you may want to consider selling items on eBay and/or etsy.com. Etsy deals with vintage and homemade items so you’ll have to be selling those to qualify. Otherwise, eBay is a great option. You can build a store right on their site. This way you’re both selling via your own website store and eBay or Etsy. There are great wordpress plugins to help you with it and you can get a site functional within a few hours.  If you are interested in building your own site let me know. I have hosting, will get wordpress added and plugins and have private coaching available as well.

Step Four: Continue collecting items to sell. Your store is only effective and profitable if you have items to sell. This means you’re going to have to market to two audiences. You’re going to want to market your consignment business to people who have things to sell. And you’re going to want to market your business to customers who want to buy.

Initially, it may be advantageous to gather consignment items locally and sell them on your site. As your business grows you can include a form on your website about selling consignment goods on your site and how they can get their own items sold.

Step Five: Agreements and policies. This step is actually a tangent step to creating your online store. You’re going to want to create agreements with both your buyers and your sellers. For example, what commission do you make per sale? How long do you keep an item in your store before you consider it “unsellable” and send it back to the owner? How do you ship? What’s your return policy?

You can glean much of this information by visiting other consignment stores and learning what works for them. Then you can create your own policies and agreements to fit your business goals and needs.

Owning an online consignment store can be tons of fun. As your business grows, you can add other items to your store. For example, you can visit garage sales and find suitable items to sell for a profit. Plan your business well and launch with confidence. To your success!

photo © 2006 Cheon Fong Liew | more info (via: Wylio)

While it’s understandable that it’s difficult to put the time in to market your business when you’re already so busy, it’s important to keep in mind that it is exactly this marketing that will help you stay in business.

Here are a few tips to help you easily and effectively market your skills online:

* Join a related forum or discussion board – If you offer a service of use to online business professionals, a good first step is to join a marketing discussion forum. You can start slowly and make contributions to the group where you feel appropriate. This will help you get your name out there, and other business owners will see your website link and potentially click over to learn more about your services.

Joining a marketing forum as an online service provider puts your business directly in front of many potential customers. Always remember to follow the forum guidelines and basic rules of etiquette when joining any discussion. First impressions do count, so keep in mind that while on the forum you are always representing your business – make it work for you.

* Join a networking group – Networking with others in your field is important. Not only does it allow you the opportunity to bounce ideas back and forth between people in your industry, but it can also be a great source of friendship and support.

Networking groups also help you in other ways. If a fellow service provider is too busy to take on extra work, she or he may pass the referral on to you. Likewise, you may be able to return the favor in the future. A good networking group is a fantastic way to get support, advice and even more business.

* Become an expert – People trust and like experts. And as a service provider you can become the “go to” expert in your industry. An easy way to do this is to write related articles for business owners to read. List them on your website and also submit them to the article directories online.

You can create an educational area on your service business website. This area can provide tips and articles related to your services. By conducting yourself as an expert in your industry, you let others know that you are knowledgeable in your field. If a potential client then visits your website and reads through your content, they are more likely to contact you for support.

Marketing your skills online is important. It is potentially the lifeblood of your business. And although your schedule may be busy, try to pencil in a little time each day for this important task. This simple step can make all the difference to the success of your business.

#1 Research your business niche idea. What type of products will you personalize and sell? The sky is the limit here. Personalized Gift software lets you personalize everything from cards and stationary to candy. Key chains, family trees, and even pet products can be created to represent your customer and their unique needs.

So the first step is to create a business plan, and that involves determining what products you’re going to sell and what services you’re going to offer. For example, if you’re going to become a genealogy researcher you can create personalized family tree documents for your customers. Determine who your customer is, what their needs are, and how you’re going to meet them. Plan how you’re going to market your business and how you’re going to charge and fulfill your orders. Finding a niche that you enjoy researching will help a lot

#2 Research and purchase your office equipment. For a personalized gift business, you’re going to need a computer and personalization software. There are several products to research. Look for a product that offers customization, is able to personalize your type of product and is compatible with your home technology. If you don’t have a computer already, and a printer, you’ll need those as well.

Because part of your business is printing personalized labels, look for a high quality printer. Many software programs allow a free trial, so consider trying the program out before you buy it. Make sure it’s easy to use and the customer service is all you need it to be.

#3 Market your business. Whether you’re marketing online or off, you’re going to want to create a website. Your website will function not only as a means for marketing and promoting your products, but also to sell your products. When people can order online, it makes the shopping process quick and easy. You’ll also want to make sure your website is search engine friendly and that your advertising and promotion strategies are working to drive traffic to your website. Content marketing is a good way to drive traffic as well.

#4 Gather your inventory and make a few sample products. Creating sample products will provide you with images for your website. It will also give you items to take with you when you participate in trade shows, networking events and if you rent a booth at markets or other events. These events are also a great way to market your business.

#5 Create an affiliate or referral program to expand your clientele and grow your business. Once you have a solid customer base, consider increasing it with an affiliate or referral program. And get ready to grow! Affiliates and past customers can be your best marketing tool, and you may soon find you’ve grown beyond your surroundings. Imagine needing a warehouse and a staff to help you with your business!

A personalized gift business can be a wonderful way to specialize and create your own business niche. Find some great software, plan your business and get ready for success!

To find out what you’re worth, you can start by shopping around to other people who do the same things. There are lots of sites that people can use to hire businesses, and often they let you see competitor’s prices. You may also speak to potential clients and ask for what they normally pay, though many will be tempted to give you a lower rate to get a better price.

Remember, just because someone does the same job as you, doesn’t mean you should charge the same as them. A writer who is a native English speaker is generally much more valuable than one who isn’t. Someone with twenty years experience often makes more than someone with two (but not always), and someone with proven results can make more than someone who is just starting out.

Just because you know what you’re worth doesn’t mean you can necessarily make that. When it comes to making what you’re worth, good marketing is key. There will always be people who can charge lower rates than you so it’s important that you don’t compete on price alone.

Let potential clients know what makes you different and why you’re worth more. The key is letting people know how good you are and convincing them that paying more for your services is going to help them make more money in the end.

Here are a few things to help you make your case:

* Samples – Samples of your work will help potential clients know that you’re good at what you do.

* Customer testimonials. This is one of the best ways to let potential clients know that your services are worth what you’re charging. If other previous clients have good things to say about you and your services, it will really vouch for you.

Charging what you’re worth can be scary, particularly during difficult times. However, with a little thought and planning there’s no reason why you can’t stand out from the competition – even with higher rates.
photo credit: Andres Rueda

#1 Research your competition and your market. The first step to creating a successful business is finding a unique niche or market. If you make a variety of jewelry types and styles, then there’s a great chance you can find a unique niche. Research online to learn who your market is and who your competition may be.

In addition to researching jewelry websites, also visit etsy.com, eBay and other seller websites to see what’s available there. Based on your research, determine the approach you want to take. Do you want to specialize in single stone rings? Do you want to specialize in zodiac jewelry? What’s your unique niche?

#2 Create your inventory. In addition to having an inventory to sell from, you can take photos of your items for your online catalog. Potential customers will want to see samples, and the photos of your jewelry will motivate them to purchase. Have fun with this part of the business-building phase and do your best work.

#3 Price your jewelry. This is the fun part; don’t underprice your jewelry because you want to sell it. Price it for what it’s worth, price it to make a profit, and price it competitively. This will require a bit of research and depend on the quality of product you use to create your jewelry as well.

#4 Create your website, or have someone create it for you. Your website needs to accomplish several goals. It needs to market your business and your jewelry. This will be accomplished with several tactics, including search engine friendly content, a product catalog and information about you and your art. You’ll also need some way for people to order jewelry, a shopping cart system, and a fulfillment procedure. At Easy Wahm Websites we specialize in websites that are ready to launch immediately or our team can help you build a custom site that is very affordable.

#5 Consider creating stores on other websites. Etsy.com, eBay, or even Amazon.com have store options. These sites offer you the ability to create ‘stores’ and they manage the shopping cart and search engine aspect of business. It can be a great way to start out.

#6 Market your jewelry. There are various ways you can market your business. In addition to creating stores on the websites mentioned in #4, you can also advertise online or utilize content marketing and search engine optimization tactics to drive traffic to your website. However, don’t forget your community. Friends, family, and local advertising can be a wonderful way to get your first few clients. In fact, word of mouth is one of the best marketing tactics.

For example, you could host a home party to sell your jewelry, or give your jewelry to family to wear with the agreement that they hand out your card every time someone compliments them on their jewelry. Also look to your local farmers market to try out a booth. It’s wonderful to get feedback from and get your name out there. Just make sure you have marketing brochures and cards to hand out whenever you do local events.

Turning something you love to do into a business is a win-win situation. Remember that if the business aspect gets to be too overwhelming, hiring a VA for marketing, blog promotion and site updating will relieve some of the stress so you can continue being creative.

#1 Determine how you want to make your living. There are a number of opportunities for financial writers. You can be a freelance financial writer, working for magazines, newspapers and writing for online clients. There is definitely a market for skilled financial writers.

You can also work for a company and write for them as an employee. Again, your employer may be a financial publication or a company that sells financial products. You could even work for a financial advising or planning company and write materials to help market them and inform their customers.

Finally, you can become a financial writer by writing, marketing and selling your own financial information products. You can write books, reports and even create ecourses to educate others about financial matters.

#2 Educate yourself on financial matters. While some things stay the same, when it comes to money matters, other things change quite quickly. Depending on your chosen specialty (for example, consumer financial planning, financial markets, global finance, etc.), you’ll need to make sure you’re well versed on your topic so you can write intelligently and clearly.

Industry jargon and technical language may work well if you’re writing for financial experts; however, if you’re writing for the general public then a knack for explaining things clearly, in layman’s terms, is required.

#3 Create your portfolio. No, not your financial portfolio – your writing portfolio. Write financial content that addresses your chosen specialty or niche. These pieces are what you’ll use to market your skills to freelance clients and/or potential employers.

You can build your portfolio by working on spec (the client pays if and only if they like/use the content). You can also build your portfolio by simply writing financial content that interests you and publishing it online on your own website or blog, on article marketing websites, or on content aggregate websites.

#4 Create a website. Regardless of your chosen career path, a website is beneficial. Use your website to market your information products and to market yourself to employers or freelance clients. Also, use it to educate and inform others.

There are many opportunities for financial writers, and if you’re knowledgeable about financial or money matters and have a knack for writing, it can be a wonderful way to make a living.

What will you offer to these moms? Well, your product is as close as your memory. Your expertise is the product you can market to moms everywhere. There are situations that you have encountered and overcome as a mom that other mothers are facing too. They could benefit from what you know to make their life a bit easier.

Packaging your Product – EBooks

Put your advice down on paper or computer document. You probably have a lot of good advice to offer but it won’t sound like much unless you can get it out of your brain and into a legible format. If you have a talent for writing this will be less of a challenge for you. Take a writing course to bone up on the finer points of writing outlines and organizing your thoughts on paper.

Your format for these organized thoughts is an eBook. Everyone has heard of them but might not know exactly what they are. An eBook is essentially a book in digital form. You can create and publish them yourself without any fancy software. For the work that you put into the project, you are greatly rewarded with pure profit.

The first consideration is the length of your eBook. A typical eBook can have as few as 70 pages or as many as 150. People will pay more for longer eBooks full of useful information.

EBooks are popular media because they can be downloaded or printed in an instant. As soon as the payment is processed, the customer gains access to the eBook. No storage space other than what is on your computer or flash drive is needed to house the eBooks you buy. There is also the added benefit of others being able to download your pdf to read on their Kindle Wireless Reading Device

Selling your EBooks

Consider your market – other moms. Let’s say that the subject of your eBook is getting a toddler through the terrible twos and threes. Fill your eBooks with information that moms want to know:

• Tips for bedtime
• Disciplinary tips
• Going out in public
• Dealing with mom stress
• Testimonials
• True life examples

All of these ideas can be used to flesh out your eBook. These same bullet points can be selling points for your eBook. When creating the eBook website page, use snippets from stories in the book, testimonials from others who have read the book and a partial list of chapters in the eBook as advertising on the page.

Condense chapters into enticing articles that you submit to article directories. Don’t give away too much because you want moms to buy your eBooks. Supply a link to your website in the resource box.

As a mom you can join online forums to share your helpful advice with other moms. Use a link to your eBook page in your signature line for easy access. As you develop a following on these forums, other members will visit your site and see your eBooks.

EBooks can be used to share information that you have learned as a mom with other moms. They are easy to create and with a marketing strategy, can bring large profit to your business.

Loretta was kind enough to answer a few questions about her transcription business and her ebook so I could share more information with my readers. I’d like to thank Loretta for taking the time to answer the questions below.

1. Did you end up in transcription by accident or did you search out the first jobs?

I started in document coding (which is all done visually) and transcription sort of followed that. At first I didn’t pick up a lot of transcribing jobs because I was more than busy with the document coding work I had. After awhile, I realized that I really enjoyed doing transcription, so much so that it didn’t feel like work at all, so I started to applying to transcription companies that hired home workers. Before I knew it I had cut document coding out of my work life completely.

2. How many days a week do you work on transcription?

On an average week usually at least 5 days out of 7 I will be transcribing something. Sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less, depends on the time of year.

3. Do you find you need to take very many breaks as you are transcribing or can you work for hours at a time?

In general I like to take a 10 minute break every hour whether I’m transcribing, reading, researching, or whatever. Stretch, walk around, get a drink, go outside for a few minutes, do anything but sit on my butt staring at the monitor. Otherwise computer butt and twitchy eye start to happen!

4. What led you to create transcription crash course?

I created the course because I was being asked so frequently about how to get started, what I used, and what a person might need. I figured it was just time to write it all down and share it with the masses. I hope I did a good job explaining everything and showing what it is that I do.

5. Do you work for local companies or only online clients?

Both! Mostly online, but every now and then I pick up an offline client too. Usually they are temporary overflow work, but I’ve had a few long term offline clients as well. I think a person could easily fill their schedule with offline clients alone, it’s just not something that I’ve focused on personally.

What You Need to Know

To be successful as an internet researcher you’ll need to know how to maneuver online quickly and effectively. You’ll want to know how to get online and have a solid understanding of search engines and online research tools. You’ll also want to know a good amount about a particular industry or type of research. Many marketers, for example, have a need to understand their target audience and need market research. If you understand market research, demographics, psychographics and keyword research then you’ll be a valuable asset to this industry.

Create Your Office

To get started as an internet researcher you’ll need a home office. Essentially, you’ll need a computer with a good internet connection. You’ll also need some way to document the hours you work, bill your customers, pay your taxes and store your information. Because research generates quite a volume of content and memory, it’s advised to have some sort of backup. You can purchase an external hard drive or use online storage solutions. Create a system to regularly back up your computer, and organize your information in a manner that makes it quick and easy to access.

For example, ask yourself “How would I find a client project I did 5 years ago?”

This is helpful if a client comes back to you later wanting more information or if your research projects overlap.

Get a Website

Because you’re going to be researching online, it’s important to establish yourself online as well to demonstrate your ease working online. Additionally, many of your clients will find you online. Websites can be created quite easily and for very little expense. You’ll need a domain name that represents your business, not your name, and will help people find you online. You’ll also need a website host. Once you have your domain, full package websites can be created for you, for under $100.

Finally, it’s time to start marketing your services. Ask yourself the following questions:

* What type of internet researcher are you?
* Do you do market research, informational research or both?
* Do you charge by the hour or by the project?
* How much do you charge?
* Do you specialize in an industry or niche topic? If so, what is it?
* Why should they hire you? What makes you unique and what benefit do you offer businesses?
* How will you tell people about your business? Options include but are not limited to:
o Social networking
o Online advertising
o Press release
o Search engine optimization
o Article marketing
o Flyers, brochures and print ads
o Partnering with relevant businesses to cross promote

A Few Additional Considerations

You’ll also want to make a few decisions about your work from home life. For example, how many hours will you work each day/week? How will you bill clients, for example do you require a deposit? Will you use PayPal? Will you accept checks? You’ll also want to decide where you’re going to open your business checking/savings account and what type of business entity you’re going to have – LLC, Sole proprietorship. And you’ll need to register your business with the proper local authorities.

Becoming an internet researcher can be an amazing opportunity. What other industry allows you to learn as you earn? What other industry allows you the ability to provide valuable information to people, potentially making a difference in the world, and life the lifestyle you desire.