Start Making Money For Christmas 2010: Volume 2

As promised, here is the next installment of Start Making Money For Christmas 2010. Today let’s talk about ways that you can make money offline. With the growing concern over the current job loss in the country, Christmas gifts and family meals are a luxury instead of just a tradition.

Do you have unused textbooks? If so, sell them. College students are always looking to get the best deal on their books for school. If you have ever went to college you know how expensive it can be. People sell textbooks on sites like eBay, Amazon, Half.com, and even at some campuses they have a bookstore that will buy them back.

Do you love to bake? Why not put out the word that you will bake for profit in your neighborhood. A lady in my community makes cakes on request from her customers. Granted it is a small operation, she still makes extra cash doing it. Last I heard, she was making around $100 extra a month. You can advertise your services amoung your friends and church members.

If you don’t mind cleaning houses, there is always someone looking for people to come clean theirs. You can advertise amoung your friends and family. A cousin of mine now cleans 4 houses a week and makes an extra $800 a month. She cleans them while her kids are in school and is home by the time they get off of the school bus.

You can make extra cash by having a yard sale. Post signs in the neighborhood to direct traffic to it and post an ad in your newspaper in town.

Become a tutor for extra money. There are parents that look for people who can help their children in math and English when their child is struggling. You can advertise in your local newspaper and get the word out by posting on local bulletin boards of your service. A friend does this and charges $15 an hour. It won’t make you rich but if you get a few clients you can make enough to make it worth the effort.

If you like kids, offer a babysitting service. If you put out the word in the neighborhood that you are available, they will come to you. Post a flyer on any bulletin boards and if you belong to a church or a mother’s group, tell them about it. I baby-sit for a few families in the neighborhood on the weekends. I don’t do it every weekend, but a couple times a month.

These are just some of the making money ideas that I have. I will post some more tomorrow. So stay tuned…

Where to look for Freelance Writing Jobs

There are many places that are looking for new authors to publish content for their magazine or online site. I thought that I would share a list of places to check out.



Online Writing Jobs.com

This is a data base that has a collection of different types of writing jobs. You can find jobs for bloggers, entertainment writers, website writers, magazine writers, and much more. It is easy to navigate with the catagories listed on the top of the page. I have found a few from this site that paid me to write articles for them.



Morning Coffee

This site has job listings on the front page of the site. It also has articles that are great for beginner writers that can be found in the toolbar of the site.



Poe War

This site has to be the easiest to navigate. You can look in the left sidebar and choose either a catagory of writing or the state that you live in. It is updated frequently with new jobs.



Writer's Weekly

This is a forum where people post job openings for freelance writers. There are jobs that move quick so be sure to check it often.



Craigslist

You can find freelance writing jobs listed on Craigslist.



All Freelance Writing

This is a neat blog that list opportunities periodically that they find.



ProBlogger

This site is great to find blogging jobs.



Indeed

This is set up like a search engine for jobs. You can find jobs here by typing "Freelance Writer" in the search box and clicking search.

Selling On Etsy

Etsy is a special place online where people come to find handmade or vintage goods. If you are a crafter, this site is a good resource for an extra income. Becoming a seller at Etsy is a two step process. First you have to register as a buyer and then log in and select to upgrade to a seller. To upgrade to seller status it is free but they do require a debit or credit card to be registered. They use this card once a month to charge your balance for your listing and final sales fees.

The steps to list an item is fairly simple. Just make sure that you have a good picture of your item. I would do a picture of the item in it’s entirety and then zoom in to show the detail for another picture. When you list an item, you are charged 0.20 cents for a 4 month listing. This price includes up to 5 images of the product. When an item sells a 3.5% fee on the final sale price will be charged. After 4 months you will have to renew the listing. When an item is purchased by a customer you can opt to be paid by PayPal. When you are writing the description for the item be very illustrative and you might even want to put in what inspired you to create the piece. The more the buyer feels connected to the seller’s vision the more chance they will purchase the item.

Every seller on Etsy gets a free shop. The shop can be customized and it will list all of the items that you currently have for sale. The items will also be listed in it's individual category that you chose when listing the item. The benefit to having a shop is you can give out a single link to promote all of the items that you have on sale.

Promoting your shop is aided by their resources that include banners and buttons that you can place on your blogs and websites. Etsy also has a widget, the Etsy Mini, that you can add to your blog or website, instead of the banner or button, that will showcase your items that you have in your Etsy shop. Another promotional tool that Etsy participates in is the staff will scour their product database and find items to feature on the front page of Etsy. They usually keep the products rotated several times a day. This is great way to get free publicity for your items.

Another tip is to fully fill out your profile. A limited profile will not impress sellers and you might loose business. Make sure that you list all of your shops policies for returns, damaged goods in shipping, and items that were not received. This will help you keep order to all of your orders and create less chaos. Also, try and list items as frequent as possible so that you can appear at the top of a category that buyers will choose. This will keep your listings from being buried amongst the older items.

Lastly, you can have the most perfect listing and still not receive sales if you don’t promote the item yourself outside of Etsy. You can do this by getting the word out on social networks, blogging about it, and listing your link in a forum.

If you are a crafty person try Etsy out and see where it can take you in your journey to making extra income.

Are Your Pictures Clear on Your Listing?

One thing that can kill a listing fast is bad pictures of the item. A picture of a listing needs to show the item in detail. What I mean by that is the buyer should be able to look at the picture and see exactly what they are buying without extra distractions or blurriness getting in the way. Think about it, If you are looking at an item that has 2 listings where one listing has a crystal clear picture and the other has a picture that you can't tell what it is, which one are you going to be interested in. I know when I started out selling my camera was not good at all and I never could get a great picture of what I was trying to sell and quickly caught on that if I wanted to get more views I needed to improve my pictures. Now I'm not saying that you need to have a professional picture, I am saying that the picture needs to be in focus, color needs to appear correct in the picture, and well cropped. Here are some examples of a bad picture and a good picture.




Example of a bad picture. It is too blurry and you can't tell what it is.

Example of a good picture. You can see the product that I am selling and see the wording on the bottle. With this listing I would also do a close up shot of the lower part of the bottle where the description is.

Money Making Affiliate Opportunity

Join today for FREE!!!!

Linda is offering this special to all new Level 1 Reps (kit not included) till March 20Th.

Why Join?

Earn 30% commission and 5% downline commission.

How Do I Get Sales?

Check out my article on how to get sales for your direct sales business.

Do I have to create my own website?

No. Linda will give you links to your own personal Creative Scentsations affiliate website where your customers can go to order.

Are there any quotas to be meet?

There is a $10 Minimum per month. If you are active on telling people about the business, this should not be a problem.

Do I get a discount on my orders?

You do! After you join you will get 30% off your personal orders.

Is there support for the reps?

Yes! Linda has a yahoo group that she keeps in touch with the reps on. It is a place where reps can talk with each other, ask questions, and see any updates or specials that are currently going on.

Are the candles homemade?

Yes! Linda makes the candles herself. The holders are from a supplier that she uses.

What products does Creative Scentsations carry?

Candles (Votive, Tealights, Tarts)

Gourmet Bakery Candles

Potpourri

Wax dipped animals

Candle Holders (Electric & Nonelectric)

Bath & Body Products

and much more.....

She adds new stock to the site frequently and is always available for questions. If you are interested in joining follow these directions:

1. Click Here

2. Click "Our Products"

3. Once the screen appears, scroll down to the link on the left that says "Affiliate Signup" and click on it.

4.Fill out your personal info and in the box that ask "Rep Referring You" place Mary Avent #627 Free Signup Special

5. Click Join Now

6. You will then receive an email from Linda usually within 48 hours of joining.

If you have any questions please let me know by emailing me at marylavent31(at)gmail(dot)com

All of the images in this post is some of the things that are currently listed on the site. If you want to purchase any of these items go now to Creative Scentsations.

Download a FREE Copy of Stay-At-Home Mom's Guide to Successful Ebay

This is written by Suzanne Wells, someone that I have learned a lot from by keeping up with her blog, Ebay Selling Coach. She always has so many tips on ways to earn with Ebay. Ebay can be a way to bring in a cash flow to assist your income if you know how. There are items that you can get at your local Walmart, Target, Kroger, and Walgreens that others can't get in their local area and they will search for them on Ebay, why not be the seller of these items. Check out this post on Sisterly Savings and download the FREE copy of Stay-At-Home Mom's Guide to Successful Ebay.