The 5 Best Ways of Selling to Make Money Online

At a time when people are struggling to make ends meet selling to make money online offers many a possible solution. The problem is that so many people are also trying to make money this way that competition is fierce and when you are competing with thousands, even hundreds of thousands of other sellers profit margins are going to be squeezed.

Therefore to be successful selling to make money you need to make sure you have a great product that people need and want. You will need to market it to as many potential customers as possible and provide genuine value to them in order to encourage repeat custom.

If this all sound familiar that’s because I’m talking about Internet marketing. Selling to make money online can not be separated from Internet marketing. If the world wide web is your shop window then you need to understand how to make your products stand out in that window, and that means learning how to market.

You need to learn how to research markets; keyword optimisation; product sourcing and development; promotional and selling strategies. All of these are part of the Internet marketers toolbox and every successful marketer can work from home selling to make money. So if you are serious about selling to make money you also need to be serious about learning some effective Internet marketing strategies. Get it right and the rewards can be considerable. Giving up the day job could be a real possibility.

Assuming you have an understanding of marketing what are the best 5 ways of selling to make money on the Internet:

1. Selling digital products through your own website.

2. Selling on auction sites like eBay.

3. Selling affiliate products.

4. Selling through an online store.

5. Selling your own products through other peoples websites.

Before we continue it should be pointed out that this is not intended to be an exhaustive list and that, whilst you can use these ways of selling to make money on there own, it is probably worth considering using most, if not all of these techniques if you want to be successful.

1. Selling your own products through your own website: – If you know how to train a dog, wire a house, restore silver or host the perfect dinner party you’ve got a great chance of developing a top selling product. In fact whatever knowledge you posses that others would want to know can enable you to start selling to make money online. All you need to do is write down your ideas, explain your methods and develop your processes so that you can create an ebook about what you know. Similarly if you can create software products or applications, or have inside knowledge about something you can create a great digital product (providing that you don’t infringe any copyright or libel laws in doing so.)

If you want to start selling to make money then digital products sold from a content rich website can really get the ball rolling. You don’t even need to be a skilled writer or software developer. Providing your idea is a marketable one there are plenty of ghostwriters and software developers out there who will be willing to deal with you to make a top quality product.

The big advantage of selling digital product is that once you’ve funded product development (and this need not be too expensive) your reproduction and delivery costs are practically zero so your profit margin will be good (providing you’ve got customers.)

2. Selling On Auction Sites: – Ask most people what they would think of selling to make money online and they will probably think of an auction site, particularly eBay. Selling on auction sites has an immediate advantage as you are more or less guaranteed access to a high volume of customers. However, so large and diverse are sites like eBay that you will still need to have a well planned marketing strategy to succeed. Furthermore the listing fees and postage are extra costs that you need to factor in when your calculating your profit margins. However there are many people who are so successful at selling to make money through auction sites that they have completely abandoned all other methods.

Apart from effective marketing the most important aspect selling to make money on the auction sites is to either produce your resalable goods or source them for the lowest possible cost (whilst maintaining quality.) For example if you sell hand painted figurines look at continually shop around for better deals on raw materials or consider outsourcing some of you tasks in order to reduce costs.

Similarly if you have a specific product line, such as DVD players or motorcycle accessories, then seek out the best wholesalers or dropshippers. Be wary though as there are many services that purport to offer directory lists of quality wholesalers and dropshippers for a fee. Many of these are simply information freely available to all with a little research and the worst are lists of dead links and bankrupt suppliers.

Nonetheless there are some wholesale lists that can prove very useful if you are interested in selling to make money online. The best solution is to read the reviews and select a reputable directory provider.

3. Selling affiliate products: – Selling to make money with your own product can be advantageous and is a valuable part of most successful online entrepreneurs businesses. However selling other peoples product can be just as lucrative and can have advantages over selling your own. For example you don’t have to concern yourself with product development, storage and distribution as this is the responsibility of the vendor.

Many products available over the Internet, whether they are digital or physical, offer so called ‘affiliate programs’. If you sign up to an affiliate program, and are accepted, you can advertise that product on your website, blog or landing page and will receive an agreed commission if someone buys that product via your link (in fact some even pay out for a simple ‘lead’ rather than a sale). Selling to make money this way is relatively simple to set up and the better affiliate programs will provide you with plenty of support and advice.

You can find affiliate programs in a number of different ways including research via the search engines and directories but one of the best ways is to search the affiliate networks such as ‘Commission Junction’ or ‘Linkshare’.

Again, you need to use your common sense and should carefully select the affiliate products you wish to promote. It is certainly better to start with the affiliate networks if you are new to affiliate marketing as they check the products they list for quality and legitimacy. Even though you need to keep your wits about you ‘affiliate programs’ still represent a very good way to start selling to make money on line

4. Selling through an online store: – One of the most direct ways of selling to make money is to set up your own online store. This can sell your own or your affiliate digital and physical products. There are a number of pre designed ’storefront’ solutions and ‘turnkey’ websites that you can use to quickly set up your store.

One of the advantages of this kind of selling to make money is that any body visiting a ’store’ is already looking to buy. In other words your visitors are already presold on some if not all the products you have to offer. Again, this is extremely reliant upon your marketing strategy, but those who are successful at this kind of direct sales technique are amongst the highest earners on the Internet.

However, competition with such websites (and that’s exactly what an online store is) is extremely fierce and dominated by some absolute giants such as Play.com or Amazon. Therefore you ability to spot a profitable niche would never be more important than when using this way of selling to make money.

5. Selling your own products through other peoples websites: – Here is one of the best and highest earning potential ways of selling to make money on the Internet. Whilst affiliate marketing of other peoples products is a great way to start your career as an online entrepreneur one of the best ways to break through into the real top league is to offer an affiliate program. By combining you ability to create a great niche product with your best marketing techniques you can offer your prospective affiliate partners a high commission percentage and still make a fantastic income.

Imagine having hundreds or even thousands of affiliates marketing your products on your behalf. Even if you only make $20.00 per sale that’s soon going to amount into a considerable income. However you still need to have a clear marketing strategy. It’s no use having an army of affiliates driving traffic to your product if you don’t convert to a sale. Your affiliates won’t get their commission and will soon lose confidence, pull out of your affiliate program and your profits will dwindle.

It is therefore absolutely essential that the product you offer is of genuine quality and offers the customer real value for money. You can not hope to do well selling to make money this way if your product is sub standard or cheap. Customer loyalty is key for all Internet marketers.

In the same way that there are many ways to find affiliate programs there are also many ways to find affiliates to promote your products . However the most effective way is to sign up as a producer for an affiliate network such as ClickBank. This will give your product great exposure to affiliate marketers who are interested in selling to make money.

Conclusion. As previously said all of these techniques offer the possibility for you to make money online either on their own or in combination. However no matter which strategy you choose an understanding of market research and promotion will be essential for you to make the most of these opportunities. So good luck, learn as much as you can, apply what you learn and start selling to make money.

Men’s Fashion Notes – Esquire’s Second Annual ‘Big Black Book’

Esquire’s second annual edition of The Big Black Book: The Style Manual for Successful Men should come with a warning label: Devout Marxists, or even emotional neoliberals, should not read this, for it has been known to cause high blood pressure and, in some instances, serious heart attacks.

Then again, perhaps the welfare of leftists is not utmost in the minds of those who, in the words of editor in chief David Granger, seek to help define “that fine line between pursuing quality and indulging in extravagance.” For, as you’ll no doubt be shocked to discover, quality, as defined in this context, is extravagant, and, in matters such as purchasing time on private jets or arranging for custom shoe manufacture with exotic animal skins, the material here is to politically correct as Dick Cheney is to Al Gore, or as he is now known, Saint Albert.

Yet, in that same note from Granger, there are clues that the sharp minds at Esquire are well aware that many readers will be more of the Syms educated consumer variety than the Gordon Gekko variety. Leave aside that the paperback version of the Big Black Book is red (“Yes, We Know It’s Red,” the cover notes, pre-empting wisenheimers everywhere). “For the most part,” Granger writes, “we grew up in homes where someone worked hard to provide a living, and most of us had either parents or grandparents who believed in one of the defining character traits of the last century: thrift.” Could secret Hearst marketing studies locked in an undisclosed location indicate that at least a sizable portion of the Big Black Book’s readership remains in such homes? That there are schmos like me peering through the glass at the kind of folks who will spend their next spare $2,450 on a deerskin bag rather than dividing it between their kids’ 529 college funds but who will, at the end of the day, be slipping that check to CollegeBoundFund in their declasse cuckoo-style mail boxes? I suspect they do know that.

And it is rationalizing thusly that I leaned back and thoroughly enjoyed this stylish, clever, well-researched, and sumptuous catalogue of dearly-obtainable objects.

The good-life gurus ease us in slowly with the at least faintly plausible Hogan leather bomber jacket ($1,590) and the $1,295 Gucci wing-tip shoes. Those are both among “The Essentials.” And here I thought the essentials were my $45 loafers from DSW and my 15-year-old Members Only jacket that my wife is (I’m on to you, honey) secretly planning to give to a shelter next time I leave town (she calls it my “Walter Matthau jacket”). The $998 Moncler down jacket looks mighty cozy, except for that pesky global warming thing that had our a/c buzzing well into October.

A $615 Meisterstuck 149 gold-plated black resin fountain pen from Mont Blanc ($615)? Unlikely, though fountain pens are the kind of pretension I’m susceptible to, but duly noted ware for either the starchy villain or eccentric hero of my next (i.e., first) mystery novel. (“Unfazed, Herr Strechen uncapped his Meisterstuck and glibly fingered its golden nib. It was then, with a cold shiver, that Samantha realized her fate was sealed.”) Should Herr Strechen wear a wool “killer suit” from Kilgour ($1,790)? Perhaps a silk Gucci pocket square ($110)?

Much of the pleasure of reading The Big Black Book is derived from being reminded that not everyone works in IT. That is, there are still people like designer Taavo Somer and tailor Martin Greenfield who make vintage suits from dead-stock wool circa 40s and 50s. Or Marcus Wainwright and Nathan Bogle, English transplants to New York who make jeans from denim produced on antique shuttle looms. Or the 83-year-old Belstaff, of England, reproducing the waxed-cotton motorcycle jacket favored by Steve McQueen. “Rumor has it that” he once “passed up a night with his then-girlfriend, Ali MacGraw” the book informs us, “to stay in and wax his Belstaff. This was not a euphemism.”

I enjoyed reading the history of the little suit and the pictorial time line tracing its lineage from Harold Lloyd, through Benjamin Braddock, Mick Jagger, Elvis Costello, and Pee-wee Herman.

I’m not the type of guy who could, with a straight face, wear the handsome stallion-profile ring by David Yurman, but it’s something to aspire to, I realize looking at the characteristically splendid photo from Lendon Flanagan. That’s in a section called “The Little Things,” which also ties vintage to voltage with luxuriously arrayed collections grouping, for instance, a $125 Yves Saint Laurent leather bracelet with a Motorazr V3i phone from Motorola ($290). I was enjoying the fantasy until I got to the $3,200 Ralph Lauren Purple Label alligator-leather mouse pad. Note to HR: Any partner using one of these is clearly embezzling.

“The Long Road” features a fun little essay on the how and where of cashmere production. “The Leather” is an understatedly fetishistic romp through shoes, gloves, and wallets made from a range of hides, from the customary calf, to the eyebrow-raising goat, Russian reindeer, ostrich, and peccary (a cousin of the wild boar), to the hair-raising lizard, stingray, python, and crocodile.

Items get heavier mid-book. The Land Rover Defender 110 (from $39,365) looks far more useful and considerably less objectionable than the Hummer you might see strutting down Deer Park Ave. in North Babylon, Long Island, as long as you leave off the purple underlights. And the Ford Focus ST ($36,247) looks downright sensible. Is it in the wrong publication? Ah, there’s the catch–you can only get it in Europe, so there’s that little add-on. The Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione ($184,289) is truly drool-inducing, and I say that as a fella not unduly taken with automobiles. I think I’ll have Herr Strechen’s embittered wife–Gerthe, I’ll call her–drive one to Dresden. (“As she revved its 4.7-liter V-8 she experienced a sweet sixth-speed torque that gave her all the pleasures unavailable from her domineering orchid-obsessed spouse.”)

The eco-resort in the Maldives looks way too laid back for the Stechens ($540 a night off-peak), but let’s have them fly–shall we?–on an eight-passenger Dassault Falcon 2000 ($25 million).

I’m taken with the Grande Chronomaster Open XXT watch by Zenith ($21,500), but fear it won’t cope as well with sweat and sunscreen on my jogs as my Timex sports watch ($35, Sports Authority).

“The Bespoke Life” clues us off-the-wrack guys into the tailored world, and the distinctions involved in peaked lapels, shrunken suits (sorry, Pee-wee, but it still looks a little confining, however mod), and so on. The hunting themed outdoor-wear spread is a bit pushy–surely one might want Wellington Boots without the double-barrelled accessory. But the etiquette and history behind various full-length coats (Chesterfield, evening, tweed, and so on) is illuminating.

Even the Marxist might secretively skip to Page 153, for “The Information” section has valuable guidance on matters like organizing closets, folding shirts, tying shoes (straight laced vs. crisscross vs. over-under), hand care and foot massage (oh come on, you know you care about the former even if you won’t confess to desiring the latter), Dopp kit organization, barber terms (thinned out, layered, choppy, razored, texturized), the removal of both body hair (a mercifully laissez-faire approach) and stains (I paid special attention to that one, given my sad history with sauces, dips, toothpastes, and infant spitup of all kinds).

Keep near to you the handy guide on mixing suit-tie-shirt patterns; distinguishing between natural, roped, and padded jacket shoulders; the subtle variations between the Windsor, half Windsor, four-in-hand, and Pratt tie knots; and textile patterns (windowpane, houndstooth, bird’s-eye, etc.)

The “6 Drinks Every Man Should Master” is also helpful, but while I’ll buy the dry martini, old-fashioned, hot whisky toddy, and possibly even the Hemingway daiquiri, when was the last time a dinner guest demanded unconditionally a Paloma or a caipirinha? Maybe the idea is that you’re supposed to be the kind of man to introduce the guest to these treats? I am not that kind of man, and if you want a caipirinha, you’ll have to go elsewhere because I’m fresh out of cachaca.

The diplomatic Marxist might assess this year’s Big Black Book using its own Page 204 guide on noncommital compliments. “You’ve done it again!” “What can I say? It’s really, really something.”

But I’ll take a tip from the “How to Negotiate a Party” box, make my way to the sofa (“Choose the middle . . . you’ll look more social”), sip my fall-appropriate toddy, and say with designer-desire-drunk faux-reactionary zeal, “Good show, old boys.”

Flexing Life’s Muscles

There you are, going about your day minding your own business when BAM, life reaches out to you and not necessarily in a good way.

Just when you were feeling a little smug about your life, someone upstairs with very bad timing and an even worse sense of humour pulls the rug out from under you. As you sit dazed and confused trying to name the configuration of stars that are orbiting around your head, it eventually clears and you realize you had just encountered one of life’s little knocks.

After your misadventure, you got back on the horse of life. You forget that this little incident ever happened and it is business as usual, until the next time. Each time you take a step forward, it seems life is there to knock you back down. You win at bingo, your car breaks down, your son needs money for College tomorrow, and your credit card is cancelled, your mortgage is due, the cheque you have been waiting for gets put on hold, you buy a new car, and someone hits you on the highway and runs off, you finally accept a date and your date leaves you between the main course and dinner. You could be the next Alanis Morrisette’s hit song and no, it’s not ironic.

These are not one off events and they no longer seem coincidental. You have become this week’s headline in the tabloids “Hit men from the Universe Target Suburban Single Mom”. Okay that’s probably not true, the tabloids are known to make stuff up, but somehow you are tied to your very own big black cloud. Now no matter where you go, or what you do, bad luck is following you around like white on rice!

Finally, (what took you so long?), you ask the Big Question. “Why me”? “I’m a nice person. Ok so maybe I had a spider killed the other day but I didn’t do it myself. I did order the hit, sort of, I asked someone who shall remain nameless to rid the room of the arachnid so technically, yes I am an accessory to a crime, but, I didn’t say kill it, and is this enough to warrant a mountain of bad luck ?

Tell me, what have I done to deserve three years my life to be turned into a shambles? Looking upward I turn to the heavens and bargain in good faith with the higher powers for this to stop. Hello? Anyone there? What, did everyone go out for lunch? Surely there is one person still listening, what about YOU are you still here?

So, everything is going wrong now and what started out as a whollop to get my attention seems to have turned into colossal never ending streak of torturous bad luck that could almost be funny except it’s happening to me. Is it happening to you too? Remember the old “Sure its funny until someone loses an eye’. Yeah well it’s not funny anymore. Any more dealings with the Black Cloud people and the hungry and homeless will no longer be them, it will be Me!

All joking aside, the last three and half years have been an incredible challenge for me in every way. I have suffered on all planes, physically, emotionally and spiritually and it all started when I was involved in a horrific motorcycle accident. I have always felt that the Universe was trying to tell me something back then and I think it was STOP! It seemed that I was too busy to listen so it got my attention the only way it knew how, it struck me with a large and dangerous weapon, a moving vehicle. I must be an awful interpreter because Life continues to give me messages and whole lot of Attitude!

Today, I look for the bright spots and small wins that come into my day and celebrate them or this nightmare I have been living through, would carry me away on a sea of depression and pain.

Believe me when I tell you that I have my days when I don’t know where the strength to go on will come from. Days when I wonder is this it? Will today be the day I finally give up and stop fighting? Will today be the day I finally have my breakdown? It seems to me that I have spiralled down to depths I didn’t even know existed (below P3), yet somehow when you hit bottom, you know there’s no where else to go but up.

“How much can one person stand?” Have you ever seen someone in a wheel chair and thought to yourself “I would never be able to live life like that” You would be surprised to find out just how much you will take. We tend to sell ourselves short and when push comes to shove, you will find that you are much stronger than you would ever give yourself credit for. The will to live is very strong in the human spirit. We will hold on until we can’t anymore.

Some days I think my experience the past 3 years has been a training ground so that I can inspire others and motivate them through their hard times. Remember earlier I said that I have faith that things will turn out alright in the end and I still believe that.

If I didn’t believe there was a lesson, or an opportunity for learning or even a purpose behind all this pain and suffering, I don’t think I would be able to tolerate getting back up. In order for me keep my perspective and stay positive I had to work on my Life Muscles so I could fight back and stay in the Ring.

Belief is a core muscle for me and as you know, core muscles are stabilizers. These need to be rock solid because they provide the framework for our body. Belief tells me that there is a higher purpose to this madness and chaos and eventually all will be revealed to me. My heart knows this to be true. I believe part of that lesson is to help others.

Faith- My muscle faith assures me that eventually everything will work out ok. It always does. Things are as they are supposed to be. Faith and Belief work together to provide the framework for maintaining a positive presence.

Receiving was the weakest muscle in my arsenal and one I had the most difficulty training. Since I was always the one who helped others, allowing others to help me felt foreign and uncomfortable. I have learned that not only do I need to allow others to experience the pleasure that comes with giving, but I also am not an island and do need to share the load at times. I know how easy it is to shut people out when you are feeling really down, but it is imperative that you allow them in as frequently as you can.

Humour- I have found that having a sense of humour is essential to helping me get through tough times. Everybody has their conception of what is funny and humour differs with culture, age and sex. I find that the Great comedians are the ones who capture everyday life, as mundane as possible and poke fun at its ordinariness. In this universality lives humour. Find a friend who makes you laugh. April makes me laugh so hard I can’t breathe any more. It’s perfect. Laughter is so beneficial to ones spirit that there have been studies done where people reversed cancer just by laughing daily. Use this muscle 3 TID, it’s to your advantage.

Love- Whenever I feel like giving up it is my deep love for my children that anchors me to earth and gives me my reason for being. My family is my source of inspiration and invention. The love I have for my friends and the love I receive from my friends, this love keeps me afloat when I feel like having a pity party and the love I have for myself and the Universe is what keeps me caring about the Why and who I can help.

Positive Spirit- I won’t lie and say that there aren’t days when I wish things were like they were pre accident, but there have also been some pretty fantastic post accident days and great learning opportunities for me when I think I have become a stronger person, and more empathetic coach. I have had time to work on myself and find out who I am and what I want. It’s not every day we are tested to our limits and beyond, and I am glad to know that I passed the test.

I used to think I was a positive person, but I had NO IDEA just how far that energy went. It’s easy to be positive when everything is going well, but to know that I sustained it through the tough times and that it not only benefits me, but comforts those around me is a wonderful thing to know. I do believe that things always work out in the end and I know it is this above all that allows me to sit here today with a big smile on my face.

In summary,

o Know that you are not alone. There is always someone who is willing to listen and help. (IF you don’t know anyone feel free to contact me. I promise I will be there for you).

o Allow people to help you and give you what you need (even if it embarrasses you)

o See the opportunities for growth and creativity that can come from hardship

o Use these lessons to strengthen your arsenal and help others

o Have Faith that things will get better and that they work out in the end

o A Positive attitude and a change of perspective can result in an Immediate improvement of circumstances

o Don’t forget to laugh and look for humour during the worst moments

o You are STRONGER than you can even comprehend

o Believe in yourself and find your purpose for being

Your Life Muscles are very similar to the ones inside your body. If they are not used to exercise they may feel unfamiliar and sore when you first start using them, but just like the muscles in your arms and leg, these have an incredible memory and they bounce back quickly.