Even if you have a full time job, its great to be able to bring in your own cash with a side business to pay for extra expenses. If you lose your job ...(God forbid that)… you would then have the mindset, experience and courage to bring in your own cash until other job lines up.   Its great to have something to fall back on.  

Your own side business doesn’t have to be complicated, it just has to make sense money-wise.

So many people believe in order to have a business they have to have a store front, and these days, a store front rarely makes sense when so many people are doing their shopping and searching online.  With sites like etsy, facebook, ebay and craigslist, you don’t have to have a physical store front to be successful. 

In fact, some of the smartest businesses have no overhead operating expenses.  Money and efforts can be poured into marketing and an online presence instead.

You might ask yourself…  what can I possibly do? 

You may not know what to do right away, and you may run through some ideas before you find your niche….and that is pretty normal.  

As people we tend to complicate things too much, when we already have the expertise in one area or another….we just need to ask for the sale…and let the business aspect of it fall into place as you go along. 

Think about what you know well, and what you enjoy and brainstorm from there.

When I attended auctions in Virginia there was a particular fellow I knew would take his Mondays off and attend the auction.  He had a skill of being able to fix freezers, stoves and fridges.  The particular auction we went to always brought in appliances, and there was plenty for him to pick from.  He purchased two or three units a week and repaired them and simply listed them on craigslist.  He would get them for anywhere between $20 to $50 and make a good sum of money off each unit.  With older style washing machines being popular, or that people just needed an inexpensive fix for their broken machine…he had a really nice side business.  It wasn’t glamorous, but he made good money. 

For years I bought furniture at auctions, and second hand shops and fixed them up.   I loved a particular style and carved out my own niche for what I thought was attractive to re-sell.  When we were first married, we were able to pay off a good amount of debt with my side business which was more or less a hobby.  After researching our area, I knew the best places to shop that had the lowest prices….and best antiques that I was able to make a reasonable profit. 

Your business could be simply driving kids back and forth from their hockey or piano lessons.  With that business you would have to provide parents a security back ground check from your local police department, along with credentials for parents to leave their children with you.  Thinking of the details of what your customer may look for is something you need to do before placing an ad. 

Downsizing homes for baby boomers could be a good business.  Selling their household items by taking beautiful pictures of their items, creating a good inventory of their items on a spread sheet and simply running ads for them on craigslist or ebay.  You take pictures, organize the meet ups and they are getting rid of valuables and you are making money for them while being paid for it.   With this business you could have multiple customers but you would have to be pretty organized. A program called Mass Planner could do the posting for you.  Its a great business concept!  

Facebook For Business – Facebook now has multiple buy and sell groups for every area in the country and around the world.  That means you can buy and sell local without shipping getting in the way. 

Local Can Be The Easiest Business – Craigslist is successful in America, but not so popular in Canada. Craigslist is also local and is has a section for ads that allow you to list your trade and what you are hoping to do for work.  Its the ideal spot to list what you can do and offer up your services. 

Sell Online – Etsy is for vintage or antique finds or hand made items.   Ebay is my go to shop for those one of a kind items I need to buy.   If you are going to create an inventory think about the economy and what people would buy.  Factor in your time and the demand for that particular item.  If they can buy it cheaper, most people go that route, so branstorm a product or a business that is unique, in demand, otherwise pretty expensive, or personalized and it won’t be such a risk. 

That’s me above! 

Great Pictures Is A Key!  – Having great pictures really can make a difference for every business out there.  I think it is the key to my business in the past and in the present.  Software like Adobe Lightroom  (affiliate link ) above allows me to brighten all of my photos and make them appear as though a professional took them.  Another blogger suggested it, and I would have to say it was the best investment I have made for our online business.  People love seeing bright photographs.  This software is a miracle for smoothing out skin, reducing the background noise, and brightening ordinary photos.  Great pictures sell and look so much more professional than dull ones. 

Personal Always Creates Trust – Creating trust with your customers is letting them see the real you.  People often give ads less then a minute.  Putting together an “about you page” on a free blogger blog is the ideal way to post your work and what you are capable of doing.  Allowing people to see you are a regular person that is talented in this or that can go a long way to add trust.  If you are a proud grandma…..say it!  If you are a mom, or an empty nester…it allows people to connect to you.  There are a lot of people online, and it can be difficult making a decision about who you can trust, so make it simpler for them to get to know you in less time.

There are lots of possibilities out there to making extra money part time.  As you find your niche, it could potentially turn into a full time job.  Below are 79 links from an article I did from another blog of mine. 

I hope it could get you started working towards being your own boss and giving you some ideas to get going. 

Wishing you lots of success!  Meranda

Make-Your-Own Money Posts

Making Money With YOUR OWN Niche Business – Her Site

How To Price Special Orders, Or Custom Jobs – Her Site

4 Of The Best Tips For Starting A Small Business – Her Site

8 Tips – How To Be A Successful Organized Working Mom

Thrift Store Gold -Seasoned Pro’s Best Tips To Buying

Women Entrepreneurs – It Is Never To Late To Start A .

Selling On Ebay- 20 Tips For The Small Business Person

20 PRO Flea Market / Estate Sale Buying Tips – Buy Like A Pro

14 FREE Resume Templates- Tips On Landing That Job You Will Love

Makeover Your Resume Using Loft Resumes – Her Site

You have always wanted to work from home, or have wanted to make some serious money on the side… then started looking at one point and found nothing but scams, so you ditched the idea. Been there, done that?

There are probably hundreds of ways to start a side business and make some money on your own, it is just finding the right idea that fits your personality and skills.

If you are longing to make your own money and work for yourself, I encourage you to press in and figure out what it is that you would love doing and keep at it until you reach that goal.

While there are legitimate companies who hire “at home employees“, there are also a lot of bogus companies that will just waste your time. Here are a couple simple red flags to help you determine if you should investigate it, or just move on to the next lead….

• Red Flag 1- The Company Is NOT Established With A Great Track Record. Look on the BBB and check to see if they are accredited and what rating they have. This should answer your curiosity right away.

• Red Flag 2 – “Your Going To Make BIG Money” Within every business venture, expect to work your butt off, especially when growing your own business. Ask for documented average income statistics. When looking it over, it should include some high and low income periods to be realistic.

• Red Flag 3 – A Company Promises To Build Your Business Through Them First. Your ‘Primary’ home business gets built by first promoting the owners or founders. You end up losing your contacts to them and others in the program.

• Red Flag 4- The Product Or Service You Will Be Promoting Doesn’t Work In The Real World… Research the quality and cost of the product or service before you start investing yourself in the brand.

• Red Flag 5. The Customer Re-order Rate is POOR. Before you get involved, ask for documented proof that the customer re-order rate is high. If the customers are not purchasing, you’re out of business, and have just wasted your time.

Going through each article, I hand picked the very best articles that seem to provide the best business tips and secrets to get going with your own business, or possibly work for another company.

We all need to keep learning, and I hope this will provide you with new thought-worthy information to put into your toolbox. ~Meranda

Additional Business Links:

• How To Price Your Handmade Goods – tolmema.com

• The Best and Worst Times to Post on Social Networks. Interesting! Scoop.it

• How To Get More Pins On Pinterest- Best Key Words- socialnetwork.toweb.co

• Pinterest Smart Feed: Formulating a Comprehensive Blogger Strategy –blogchickablog.com

• One Easy Trick To Increase Your Facebook Page Reach- businessamongmoms.com

• A Simple Formula for Pricing Your Work blog.etsy.com

• 27 Proven Best Marketing Strategies For A Tiny Budget –bitrebels.com

• The Scariest Post I’ll Ever Write-vintageshowoff.blogspot.com

• 101 Ways to Promote Your Business – Ideas digitalmarketingnotes.tumblr.com

• How to Network (Successfully)-6 Steps To Get Past The Awkward- bloglovin.com

• Service Tips for Sellers: Packaging and Shipping – blog.etsy.com

• Work from Home Healthcare Jobs: What They Are and Where to Find Them theworkathomewife.com

• 3 Need to Know Tips When Starting Your Own Business on Youtube

• Number One Rule in Sales on Youtube

• Make Money on YouTube on Youtube

• 40 Businesses You Can Start From Home- theworkathomewife.com

• Fastest Way to Ruin Your Business Reputation! on Youtube

• 25 Tasks Virtual Assistants Do- alyssaavant.com

• Five Tips For a More Productive Day on Youtube

• Tips For Being a Successful Entrepreneur on Youtube

• List of Seasonal Work From Home Jobs –realwaystoearnmoneyonline.com

• 5 Blog Post Ideas For Your Small (or big!) Business- sillygrrl.com

• Ask The Mompreneur: Lean On Social Media To Expand Business –workingwomanreport.com

• Upselling: An Easy Way to Increase Profits (and make customers happy) onthedotcreations.com

• Social Media Networking Site Cheat Sheet – marketingland.com

• How to Start a Greeting Card Business From Home –smallbusiness.chron.com

• How to Add a Disclaimer to a PayPal Invoice smallbusiness.chron.com

• 13 Places to Sell Your Photos Online- theworkathomewife.com

• How to Put a Disclaimer in a WordPress Blog smallbusiness.chron.com

• The Secret to Making Customers Passionate About Your Brand –entrepreneur.com

• Make Money Selling Books with MyBookBuyer.com moneysavingmom.com

• Important Keys For Setting Up Your Office At Home –kinhr.com

Craft Fair Business Links:

• How to make money selling your crafts by CreateYourStyleTV on Youtube

• Does Your Craft Fair Display Match Your Products?- inspiri-art-and-craft.com

• Attention Grabbing Booth Design by Megan Auman on Youtube

• Power For Craft Booths With No Electricity extravaganzacrafts.net

• Tradeshow Booth Etiquette – nwcidisplays.com

• What Size of Type Should You Use For Signage?- Chart fixturescloseup.com

• Chicken Wire Framed Display Boards DIY – mylittlesunshineblog.com

How To Get Started Selling Your Own Products On The Web

Crafts marketplaces:

• Artfire,www.artfire.com
• Cafe Press,www.cafepress.com
• Etsy,www.etsy.com
• Threadless,www.threadless.com
• Zazzle,www.Zazzle.com

Website providers with e-commerce functions:

• Big Cartel,www.bigcartel.com
• Shopify,www.shopify.com
• WordPress,www.wordpress.com

Electronic payment programs, other than credit cards:

• Go Payment,www.gopayment.com
• PayPal,www.paypal.com
• Square,www.squareup.com

Social media, blogs for artists:

• Design Milk,www.design-milk.com
• Facebook,www.facebook.com
• Pinterest,www.pinterest.com

Read more at mthink.com

1. Thrift Store Gold -Seasoned Pro’s Best Tips To Buying Second Hand-I started shopping thrift stores since the age of 18. Once I left home, and needed to furnish my apartment, and thrift stores allowed me to get the best furniture within a budget. Fast forward about 20 years later, I still enjoy looking for bargains. After years of looking at hundreds of thrift stores in several major cities, I bring to you a guide, compiling the best tips from seasoned pro’s on what to buy, and what not to buy from around the net. Read more at Hersite.info

2. How To Deal With Unhappy Customers-Lately my business has really exploded. I am nearing a thousand orders this month alone. With that amount of orders being turned around in a short time, and it being just myself, and my husband when he can, processing these orders, there have been a few mistakes. We check and double check, but it does happen. There have also been a few people not happy with what they receive.I always bend over backwards to fix the issue, but it feels sometimes like I am being taken advantage of. Read more on soapqueen.com

3. How to Make Pretty Labels in Microsoft Word – I’m always so jealous of all of you crafty ladies with your Silhouettes and Cricuts. I’ve thought about buying one many-a-time, but just can’t justify the expense {yet ;)}. I’m sure I’ll come up with a good enough reason someday, but until that day, I’ll continue to rely on my old standby, Microsoft Word, for all of my label-making needs. Word is great because it’s super-simple to use, and almost everybody has it, so it’s really easy to email and share projects. Read more at justagirlandherblog.com

4. 142 Pinterest Board Ideas for Entrepreneurs-If you’re an entrepreneur looking to grow your business, Pinterest is a great platform for that!While it might be tempting to create a Pinterest account for your business and set up boards centered around YOUR interests, if you want to get more clients, traffic and sales from Pinterest, you have to create boards centered around YOUR TARGET CUSTOMERS’ interests. Read more at launchgrowjoy.com

1. More Than 300 Tips To Market Your Etsy Store– You read right! We have over 18,000 sales in 37 countries in less than one year and a half. Gross sales: over $190,000. We have had to close over 7 times being so overwhelmed with orders. Etsy gets over 6 million customers a day and that should be enough. Don’t steer your customers from your to onto making the social media owners richer, keep them on your site, long enough to buy. If your product is good, presented well, and seen, now with relevancy, then your product will sell. We NEVER used any social media to sell our products. Read more at launchgrowjoy.com

2. 30 Ways To Promote Your Blog Posts- Wondering what to do after you write a blog post? Here are 30 ways to promote your blog posts and to drive more traffic to your blog. Read more at launchgrowjoy.com

3. 100 Best Websites For Entrepreneurs- Whether you’re seeking advice on raising capital, scaling your business or looking for general industry insight, these sites are worth reading. forbes.com

2. Review of Work at Home Jobs with CenturyLink– Outside of the regular “cable guy” jobs, CenturyLink also offers jobs in marketing, sales, human resources, finance, and legal. Like any large corporation, it will have departments and managers at all levels in these departments. This article will discuss the WAH position of at-home customer service agent. Read more on wahadventures.com

3.20 Online Business Ideas: Classic and Proven– Setting up an online business is an attractive option most people like to explore. The ease of setting it up and running it make it a lucrative option for budding entrepreneurs. However, the key to succeed with internet business ideas is focusing on a niche and keeping it simple; and yes, it doesn’t have to be cutting edge… just learn from successful online businesses and turn the concept into your very own. – Read more at bizpenguin.com

4. 50+ Authentic Online Business Ideas {that actually work}-In this blog post, we aim to give you 50+ ideas to launch your own online business with links to similar establishments that thrive online. If you have a talent, there is a market for it – you can have a thriving business that utilizes your unique potential. We encourage you to browse through the websites shared below and glean enough inspiration to start your very own online business. Read more on clothedinscarlet.org

1. Social Media Marketing Experts- For many, the term “social media” conjures up cute cat videos and the latest celebrity meme. But memes can take many forms. Increasingly, businesses are taking advantage of social media channels to create buzz about themselves, their brands and their products and services. According to a 2012 survey by small business online community Manta, small businesses have caught the bug: 90% of owners are now networking online, with 74% believing it to be equal to or greater than in-person networking- Read more at business2community.com

2. Top Ten Tips for Selling Crafts Online Successfully – Recently, we started a discussion with our Friends of Craftster about successful tips for selling crafts online from both the seller’s and buyer’s perspectives. We covered the perils, the pitfalls, and the feel-good successes. So much goodness came out of this discussion that we feel compelled to share some of this knowledge with you. Read more on craftster.org

3. CEO of Me’s Best Advice for Small Business Owners-A couple of months ago, someone asked me to share the best advice I had for a new consultant just starting out in a new direct sales business. My answers below can apply to anyone joining a direct sales company, beginning their own business or anyone taking on any personal endeavor. Read more at ceoofmeinc.com

4. Interested in selling your crafts? Question/ Answer video about selling on Etsy- I’ve been getting creative business questions from various people, so I decided to make a vlog to answer questions, and hopefully help more people at the same time! Read more at theflourishingabode.com

1. Virtual Assistant Jobs– So fast forward to today; I currently work as a virtual assistant for several clients and I truly love what I do. So what is a virtual assistant (VA)? A virtual assistant is a professional that provides administrative support virtually. Read more at thelatinahomemaker.com

2. Vendor Event Success Tips for Direct Sales & Home Party Plan Consultants- If you are a direct sales or home party plan business owner, a great way to get new contacts and leads for your business is by doing vendor events. There are several kinds of vendor events you can set up a display booth at right in your local area. Read more at ceoofmeinc.com

3. The Challenge of Perceived Value- When it comes to pricing, there are many articles and books that give you basic formulas such as: (cost + labor + overhead) x 2 = wholesale price x 2 = retail price. The problem is that this formula works only if you are looking for the minimum profit as a goal. What it does not address is the real problem we have with pricing our creative work: understanding and determining its perceived value. Read more at handmadesuccess.com

4.{Craft Show} – Selling Your Products– I realized while helping a girlfriend (Casey Biggers, my personal stylist and sewing apprentice) set-up for her first craft fair that I should share with everyone my found knowledge with the hopes of inspiring you to take the leap of presenting your products, in a Craft Show environment. Read more at handmadebyhilani.blogspot.com

1.A Field Guide to Fabric Design: Design, Print & Sell Your Own Fabric– If you have ever dreamed of showing your designs on fabric, textile aficionado Kim Kight, of popular blog True Up, is here to teach you how. – Amazon

2. Tips for Selling at Craft Fairs or Markets- I’ve been working selling my wares at weekly markets for the past 4 years, and I always have other crafts people asking me for some tips and tricks to do them.There are two sides to doing a market, the nuts and bolts of display, tables, and getting your stall. And also what to do/say to your customers to make the best of your stand. Both aspects have their difficulties, and trust me I’ve learned the hard way by making every mistake in the book. Read more at bugsandfishes.blogspot.com

3. Venues and Marketplaces List– These days you have a lot of options when it comes to choosing a place to sell your handmade items. New venues are popping up all the time and some have gone away or become less popular through the years. Here is a list of some of the more popular ones at the moment. In no particular order. Read more at howtosellhandmadecrafts.com

4. Insider Tricks and Tips For Selling At Craft Fairs- During my time selling handmade soaps, lotions and jewelry at various events I learned a great deal through trial and error. It took a lot of practice to become successful as a seller – closing sales and most importantly, acquiring repeat customers. Read more at hubpages.com

1. How To Successfully Sell at Craft Fairs -If you’re reading this, you’re probably considering participating in a craft fair. That means you probably want to know how to successfully sell at craft fairs. Awesome idea! It’s a great way to put a few extra bucks in your pocket! If you have never participated in one, or you just haven’t had much success in the past, I’m here to help out. I have participated in quite a few sales and here it what I have learned. Read more at thriftylittlemom.com

2. 5 Awesome Tools To Help You Rock Your Small Business- I love sharing products and tools that I use to make running my small business easier. Some of these are free, and some aren’t, but they’re all completely awesome! Read more at erineflynn.com

3. 78 Most Creative and Top Rated Business Cards Designs–2expertsdesign.com

4. Top 10 Pinterest Business Tips to Start 2014-Small businesses jumped in on the fun and used rich pins to drive sales. Bloggers were big winners and saw huge spikes in traffic and got an extra boost in branding with article rich pins. Here are 10 tips for business using Pinterest to keep in mind as we enter 2014 Read more ohsopinteresting.com

1. 56 Ways to Market Your Business on Pinterest-Part of Pinterest’s appeal is that it’s beautiful. Enter the lovely world of Pinterest, and all the troubles of your day-to-day life just seem to slip away in a stream of perfect little black dresses, baby otters, and cherubic children who never seem to get dirty or mouth off to their parents.Because it’s image-based, the core of Pinterest is overwhelmingly positive. I like to think of Pinterest as Facebook without the whining. Read more at copyblogger.com

2. 5 Books to Cultivate Your Small (Creative) Business -Today I wanted to share with a selection of businessy books I have found to be both interesting and unbelievably helpful in understanding my business and aiding it to grow. Some are about small business in general and can be applied to any industry. Others focus more specifically on having a creative business. Maybe one of them will be helpful to you too! Read more at linkouture.com

3. 18 Home Businesses You Can Start For Less Than $59-Today the direct sales industry has exploded, there are literally hundreds of companies with thousands of products. And women everywhere are cashing in by selling products through in-home parties. Read more at theworkathomewoman.com

4. 35 Blogging Tips to Woo Readers and Win Business – Let’s not pussyfoot around it.
Blogging is a lot of work. Hard work. Generate new blog post ideas. Write weekly content. Promote posts via social media and email. At times, we all wonder whether our blogging efforts are paying off. Do we need to keep plugging away? Write more? Promote more? copyblogger.com

1. The 5 Knows of Having a Handmade Business-I think before you can open your own handmade business you need to really know and research your market. When I say research the market I don’t mean, check out other peoples stores, see what you like and then try to duplicate it in your shop. Read more littlemissmomma.com

2. How to Market your Personal Online Brand on 10 Social Media Networks-How would you feel if your Facebook page was shut down? What if your blog, where you create, post your ideas and thoughts was turned off? What would your reaction be if your Twitter account went blank? These are questions that we often don’t want to contemplate- Read more on jeffbullas.com

3. Numbers Of Videos On Marketing On Youtube– Video How-to’s- From How to schedule posts on facebook, use pinterest for direct sales, facebook parties, getting more reach through facebook and more. See more at youtube.com/user/DirectlySuccessful

4. 50 Secrets Of Successful Garage Sales-Over the last couple of years my husband and I have been unloading a lot of goods. Living with less has been so much more rewarding. I also recently purged all my black clothes from my closet, and opted to wear color year around, which surprisingly makes me more happy! Here are 50 tips for great sales – Read more at Hersite.info

1. Selling On Ebay- 20 Tips -Looking to increase your sales on ebay? Here are 20 of the best tips to make extra cash selling on ebay. Learn To Sell On Ebay Before Considering Starting A Business On eBay– Learn ebay by looking around your house and taking the time to learn how to list. You will make some mistakes—we all do. You will get better with experience.– Create A Brand Label For Your Business – Get or create a “Logo” and a “Look” for your stores and auctions. Use your logo on invoices, receipts, business cards and packing slips. If you don’t know how to do it, there are those on eBay who will do it for you in style, font and colors for a set price. A blog banner can cost as little as $19 Read more at Hersite.info

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