Ally Woodrum's Making Money Blog

Ah, the dreaded ”S” word — SELL.  Yes, it’s true, to make money online or in a home-based business, you have to sell.   Now I have to admit that I’ve worked in Sales in one capacity or another all my adult life, so frankly, I’m fine with selling.  But a lot of people (usually people who haven’t worked at it) think selling is a dirty word and don’t want to sell. 

Guess what?  If you’re going to have a business you will have to sell.  No way around it.   So my advice is, open your mind to selling, or find a regular job.  Sounds harsh, but it’s true. 

Selling is not evil, and does not involve trickery or lying or deceit.   A good sales person is a facilitator who finds out what your needs and wants are, and then shows you how their product will meet those needs and wants.   The people who last in sales are the ones who help their customers. 

Let me promise you something right now — you will never read anything on this blog or any of my web sites that encourages you to deceive or lie to your customers, or to anyone.  No “black hat” tactics, nothing shady or underhanded.  It’s not my way, and it shouldn’t be your way, either.   

And be very wary of anyone in business or on the internet who wants to show you how to make money by shady methods or taking advantage of others.  The internet has a lot of charlatans (such a nice way of saying lying scumbags) who will try to talk you into parting with your hard-earned money, because they’re going to sell you a sure thing, anyone can do this, no work involved system.  Don’t fall for their lies.  And don’t let yourself become one of them.   Build your reputation as a good guy, and guard it. 

The way to sell to ANY market, online or offline, is to find a group of people who have a common problem, need, or want, and come up with a good solution to their problem, need or want.   Present your solution to them, show them how it will answer their need or fix their problem, give them testimonials (real, not fake) and proof that your solution works, and then let them decide if they want what you’re selling. 

If you’ve found a group that’s hungry for a solution, if your product is good and meets their needs, and you’ve presented it well, then your hungry group of people will buy your product.  Of course there are a lot of details and work in the middle of the process, but this is really what you need to do to sell anything.

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If you’ve read any internet marketing books or reports, you know that they all talk about niches, and finding your niche.   Now you might think that since you’re not planning on becoming an internet marketer, finding a niche doesn’t apply to you.  And you’d be wrong. 

First, what is a “niche?”  A niche is a small segment of a larger market — for instance, “eBay” is a large market and “selling antique lace on eBay” is a niche.  “Selling Books on eBay” is a market, but ”Selling Cookbooks on eBay” is a niche.   And an even better niche example would be “Selling Italian Cookbooks on eBay.”

Or “Dogs” is a large market, and “Dog Training” is a sub-market in the larger Dogs market, and “How to Potty Train Your Dog” is a niche in the Dog Training market.  Do you see?  Dog Training is not a niche, it’s too large.   To get to a niche you have to drill down into the subject.

So why does this apply to you?  Well, if you’re starting a home-based business, even if it’s not internet-based, you still need to decide what market you’re going to target — what product or service are you going to sell?  And in most cases, you’ll have more success if you specialize in one small area in a broad market. 

You can’t compete with WalMart or Hobby Lobby or Petsmart or any other large retail outlet, or with large, well-established service providers in your area – and you don’t want to try.  You want to provide something that the big companies can’t, you want to be the person who fills the more individualized need.   It’s all about focus, and building a client base.

So start your business doing one or two things, do them well and make your customers happy.  Find out what other related things your customers want, and expand to these areas later.  Find the need, and fill it.   Start small and grow.  That’s a niche.

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Did you know that eBay sells Classified Ads?  I didn’t know this until recently, and it’s something that really intrigues me.  What can you sell on an eBay Classified Ad?  Offline services for one thing, but also digital download items.  

Did you know that about a year ago eBay stopped allowing digital downloads in auctions, the only way you can sell a downloadable item, whether it’s an ebook, software, coaching program or whatever, is using a Classified Ad.  So if I have an ebook I want to sell, it either has to be put on a CD or DVD in order to be placed in an auction, or be sold as a downloadable ebook on a Classified Ad. 

Classifed Ad costs start at roughly $10, and they run for 30 days (you can choose less), and there are no other fees involved.  So you pay eBay the Ad fee, and that’s it.  Makes me sit back and think, what could you sell here?  Real estate is sold on Classifieds, probably cars, what else?  I’ll be checking this out, how about you?

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Silent-Sales-Machine-ebook

My guess is, if you own a computer and have an internet connection, you’ve been to eBay. It’s one of my favorite places, and I’ve bought things and sold, too. And I like the fact that eBay is safe, and it’s easy to use. 

So, have you thought about becoming an eBay seller? There are a lot of people making money from eBay, in many different ways. Now I’ve bought and sold items there, but I’m definitely not an expert on selling on eBay — there are simply too many ways to sell, and too many things to keep track of.  For instance, did you know that you can sell affiliate marketing products on eBay? 

It’s an always changing, exciting place to go.  If you’re interested in starting an eBay selling business, my recommendation is, go find the expert, buy his book, and learn.  And the person who comes to mind when you discuss “eBay expert” is Jim Cockrum, the author of  The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay.  Jim has a free newsletter that I’ve been reading for years, it’s chock full of information and tips, and is fun to read. I definitely recommend signing up for the newletter.  I also have his book, and it’s great, too.  It has good basic information, plus information on selling your stuff, other people’s stuff, wholesaling and drop shipping, a plan for how to get started, and lots more.  And lots of great free bonuses, too (don’t you love free bonuses?!!).  

The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay is a downloadable e-book, so you can get started reading and setting up your eBay business right away, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in selling on eBay.  In fact, I just bought a copy for my sister.  Check it out.  And happy selling!

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This idea is for kids, but with modifications would work for anyone. It’s basically the way Paula Deen (of the Food Network) originally started her business many years ago. Mom or Dad, you will definitely need to be involved and help the kids out with this idea.

What is the idea? It’s simple — what kind of homemade treats do you like? Make them, wrap them in individual sized portions, and sell them to your friends before or after school or at practice or games or other places.

Let’s get into this a little further — Mom/Dad buys the ingredients at the store, then helps you make the treats, package them, and decide how much to charge. You take them with you to school or other activities, and sell them to other kids. (Be sure not to sell the items on the school grounds, you’d get in trouble for this.) Once you’ve sold your first batch, pay Mom/Dad back for the cost of the ingredients. With some of the money that’s left, buy more ingredients, make more treats and sell again.

Some Tips:
1. Make several different kinds of treats and see which ones sell the best.
2. Get Mom/Dad to help you price the treats. You need to make enough to cover the cost of ingredients and make a small profit.
3. Start out small, make one batch of treats and take 3 or 4 per day, don’t try to sell too many at once. If your treats are good, kids will tell other kids, and your business will grow.
4. To start, do this one day a week, so your friends will have something to look forward to. If it goes over well, you can add more days if you’d like.
5. Make sure you price the items so that you don’t need to carry a lot of change.

Mom and Dad — this is a great way for kids to make a little spending money, learn to cook, and learn how to figure costs and profits. You need to make sure that the kids only sell the treats in appropriate places. Think about covering the cost of ingredients once, to help get the kids started, then after that let them pay you for the ingredients. Remember, this is a way for kids to make spending money and at the same time learn some valuable life lessons about working, about business, and about the value of money.

Here’s a great resource for more money-making ideas for Kids.

Suitable For:  Kids of all ages — maybe someone will do this at work!

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Are you a dog-lover?  Are you home during the day?  Do you live in a city or urban area, and do you like being outdoors?  Dog-walking may be a perfect business for you.  

In our society today, pets are considered part of the family, and while most of us realize that daily exercise is important for the health and well-being of our dogs, many busy families find it hard to find the time to get Fido and Fifi out for a daily walk.  For a weekly fee, you can solve this problem.

Your prospective clients are busy working people with one or more dogs, and not enough free time.  You will work with clients to set up a schedule that fits the needs of their pets.  And if you have several clients who live faily close together, you may be able to walk two or three compatible dogs at a time.  

Good transportation is a must, you will be building your business and reputation on the basis of your care and reliability.  This is a business that can be run from home, and it requires very little investment other than the cost of printing business cards and flyers.  It’s a referral business, so be sure to ask for your client’s permission to give their names as references, and start building your list. 

Dog Walking can also go hand-in-hand with another business I’ve written about, Pet Sitting.  (See my previous Pet-Sitting article.) 

A computer with a good printer would be a great help in this business.  With a decent publishing program you can design and print your own flyers and business cards.  Keep track of appointments and schedules using a calendar program.   

Great for:  Stay-at-home Moms and Dads and Retirees.  Responsible Teens can be hired as helpers once your business starts to grow.

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