Starting an E Commerce Business

One of the greatest challenge facing a home-based entrepreneur is to choose what kind of business he must enter into. Their investment capacities are bound, resources limited to themselves and they begin with almost nil training. Given these constraints, starting an e-commerce business would probably be the most suitable business model which fits this bill.

Also, E-Commerce is one of the most convenient way of starting a home-based business. Amazon has been a front-runner in this space and has paved the way for many home-based entrepreneurs. More people are jumping on the E-Commerce bandwagon to fulfill their dreams of establishing their own home based business.

Does selling on E-Commerce sites calls for investments? Will I be able to make money selling on E- Commerce Platforms?

The answer to both the questions is definitely in positive. No special qualification is required to sell on a E- Commerce Platform. Many students and housewives have been hugely successful in this business model. Also, besides the initial investments in registering your Company, there is no major investments to be made. Though later on, inventory needs to be carried and this involves an investment in working capital.

However, it is of prime importance to acknowledge that the ease of doing business in this space has made the market extremely competitive. One can hope to make a decent revenue only by selecting the right market for the right product.

If you are wondering how to start a home-based business today, selling on an E-Commerce platform is worth a try.

Finding the Right Market for E- Commerce Selling

The worry of finding the right market for selling in E- Commerce space is taken up by the E- Commerce platform themselves. Actually, this aspect is of least bothering for starting an E- Commerce business given their worldwide reach. However, it is best to sell in the local market for a beginning to better understand the fundamentals of business and then graduate to exporting the product.

Hence, we strike off the responsibility of finding geographical market from the Entrepreneurs to-do list. However, segmenting the market for gender, age, region, profession still holds it’s importance and needs to be researched. This market needs to be in mind and one needs to know who your Customer is.

Right Product to Sell on E- Commerce Platforms

The key to selling on an e-commerce platform is to know what to sell. This is often a Grey area when starting an e-commerce business. There is a plethora of products which is sold on these platforms and finding a product to sell might be like looking for a needle in the stack of hay.

Some people have a knack of picking up the right product but let’s pull out the maths out of art!

Once you have chosen a market to sell, research those markets. List out at least five products which sells in these markets. Use the internet or local trade database to determine how much those products sells and what is the market potential you have if you choose to enter this market. Are these markets tightly monopolized by the OEMs or are there gaps still which can be fulfilled. Choose products which is trending in the market. Do not choose products to sell solely on your liking. Familiarity with the product leads to a personal convenience to reaching out to the market.

Besides, you may want to read more finding your niche by clicking here.

Finding Suppliers for Selling

The other key to selling on an E- Commerce platform is finding the right suppliers for your product, unless you are a manufacturer. Suppliers are the basis of your sales and you need to have a strong backup. Failing to have a secure supplier base can ruin your business altogether.

While planning your business, list out at least five suppliers of each product. If possible, try getting a written commitment of volume and price from each of the suppliers. Most of the times, that will not be possible practically, then use your best judgment to see which of the suppliers can be long term partners and which of them can be used for emergency supplies.

It is a different strategy in case you intend to sell a product where the manufacturer sells through distributors. In that case, you will have to take a distributorship from the company and negotiate the terms of supply.

Holding Inventory in E- Commerce Business

A big drawback in E- Commerce business model is the minimum inventory which needs to be held at each time. This inventory level also depends on the seasonality. For example, a Black Friday Sale will call for more inventory as it is likely to sell more at this time. Similarly, the festival seasons in India and all across the globe will call for additional inventory level if you expect to make decent sales. 

The timely delivery counts a lot in winning over your competitors. You lose out on order if you don’t have the products when the demand is live. A minimum inventory level is a must in this business model although it is claimed that you do not require holding inventory. Technically that might be true but practically you need to take steps to beat the competition.

Choosing the Right E- Commerce Platform

There are various E- Commerce platforms where you can start your e commerce business. The most popular of them is Amazon. But the likes of others like EBay at Etsy are equally popular. However, you will need to check their niche areas and the commission they charge. Etsy is for niche sellers and related to products which are traditional like handmade jewelry and other handicrafts.

You are check on each of them before choosing the right platform. There are plenty of opportunity in each of them. There is no restriction of choosing to sell on more than one platform.

Course Correction

This business model is all about discovery of the right product combination and wait for good sales to be made. I would recommend persisting with the product for at last six months before you decide on course correction.

Conclusion

E- Commerce is a fairly easy business to start with though not something where success can be achieved overnight. There is tough competition in the market and beating the price takes something more than your imagination. Still, it is a good home based business to begin with.

Personally, my choice for a home based business till lies with Affiliate Marketing and one of the Best platforms to learn Affiliate Marketing is Wealthy Affiliate. For starters, do read my review by clicking here.

Do not forget to leave your comments and returning to this site for more articles on earning passive income at home.

Affiliate Marketing Versus Drop shipping

Drop-Shipping

Affiliate Marketing and Drop Shipping are two popular methods of making money online. In this age of Internet, these have caught up on popularity quickly. Here we look at both the business models in order to allow newcomers to decide on which is the best way to make a passive income online.

Both Affiliate Marketing and Drop-shipping comes with their share of advantages and dis-advantages. A thorough review of both is presented here.

Affiliate Marketing – Is it the best way to make passive income?

Affiliate Marketing is a term used when you earn a commission when a sale occurs through your channel of promotion. It does not involve you selling a product but it about promoting a product and directing it to the Seller.

The Pros of Affiliate Marketing are:

– Does not involve sales transaction but it is about earning commissions. Hence, the tax liability is limited to income taxes in your own country(Disclaimer: It is better to check this with your tax consultant before becoming an Affiliate Marketer as I am not an expert in this subject)

– You create content in your niche. You work on what you like working on.

– There is no handling of logistics involved. Logistics and returns, if any, is taken care by the Seller.

– There is no need to handle customer complaints. That is the responsibility of the Seller.

The Cons of Affiliate Marketing are:

– It takes a long time to mature.

– A good website and a great hosting service is the minimum requirement to build your own channel. Though, there are ways to do it without a website which has been covered in my other article here.

– You need to create engaging content to make your readers read your content

– You need to choose the right products to promote. If it is not relevant to your content, your readers will leave your site immediately.

– You need to promote your content in the right forum.

The Pros of Affiliate Marketing most often out-weighs the Cos. Hence, my answer is in affirmative when it comes to the question of Affiliate Marketing being the best way to make passive income.

What is Good about Drop-Shipping?

Drop-shipping was practiced widely even before the Internet gained in popularity. It is about getting the product shipped directly to a customer. You pay the supplier at a rate negotiated with them while you are paid your rate which you have negotiated with the customer. There is a margin at which you sell thereby making a profit.

It is easier said than done. In Drop-shipping, you are the only one known to the customer. Therefore, the quality of the product becomes your brand.

The Pros of Drop-Shipping are:

– You need not produce or manufacture good on your own. Hence, it does not require a huge set-up cost.

– The manufacturing costs might fluctuate, but you always sell at a margin to the customer.

Shipping and Logistics is taken care by the producer/manufacturer.

– There is no need to keep an inventory at your end. Hence, working capital requirement is least.

The Cons of Drop-Shipping are:

– Customer Service is still your problem.

– Any sales returns lower your earnings. The producer may or may not accept sales returns.

– Since logistics is not your responsibility but Customer Service is, that may lead to really stressful situations       sometime of products are not delivered in time.

Affiliate Marketing or Drop-Shipping- Which is better?

We have looked at the Pros and Cons of both Affiliate Marketing and Drop-Shipping and by now have an opinion ourselves about both the business models. From my perspective, there is no direct answer to it.

For people handicapped to create content, drop shipping is a good option. It gives them a convenient option without creating content. Probably, the Cons of Drop-Shipping can be neglected in this case. Rather, Drop-Shipping is a good option for people having a liking for marketing. They market the product, state a price, get the product delivered while paying a lower cost price. This is a business where one needs real marketing skills to make an earning.

However, people good at creating content, Affiliate Marketing is always the choice of Business Model. They create content in their own Niche Topics. They continue to do what they like to do. It is about promotion of a product and not a direct selling of it. The contents in the Niche area helps in directing the readers to a product.

It is up to the people to choose which is better depending upon what they think they are good at. If one is not comfortable with content creation, they must either have good marketing skills or develop it. Some online stores like Shopify have made it really convenient for drop-shippers.

My Choice – Affiliate Marketing

Most people would like to have a job which they enjoy. It would be best if they are allowed to work in their area of interest. To top it, working from the comfort of your home without worrying about office time-lines and traffic woes would be best. This might be on the wish-list of anybody in a day-job. The Good News is that, Affiliate Marketing offers this all!

However, there are quite a few learning if you want to be a successful Affiliate Marketer. You need to learn the tricks of trade and make the right choices to be able to market your content. Hanging around wrong platforms might lead you nowhere. There are a lot of scammers in this space who are ready to take your money away without rewarding you with any returns.

I therefore, use this opportunity to recommend Wealthy Affiliates. This platform has great educational and practical content on how to be successful as an Affiliate Marketer.

Read my review of Wealthy Affiliate by clicking here.

Conclusion

Drop-shipping is quite convenient business for anybody with a knack of marketing. Many people have been successful in making an earning through Drop-Shipping. However, the best online business for building passive income is Affiliate Marketing. The only reason for this choice is that one gets to work on the subject of his or her liking.

In case, you need to know more about Affiliate Marketing and would like to “test” it for yourself, I recommend joining Wealthy Affiliate via my affiliate link in the Wealthy Affiliate Review page. It is Free to Join!!!

Niches in the Internet Space

Finding You Niche

The most intriguing question for an Affiiate Marketer is to find their niches in the internet space. This article serves a guide on how to go about choosing your niche. A niche which you like and work comfortably to roll out content over years to come.

I was at a complete loss of thoughts in choosing my niche when I was starting out as an Affiliate Marketer. That is the feeling which normally pushes you to opt out of this great opportunity. It is overwhelming for many and you are not alone when your mind seems to be lost in choosing a niche. A careful consideration is required but I can assure your that it is not too complicated.

Choosing a niche needs to stimulate your mind and a mind-map works well to help you choose. There are millions of niches and you surely will find one close to your heart. Just remember, that you need not be an expert in the particular niche but if you love it, one day you will be!

Popular Niches in the Internet Space

A quick research on Google reveals the following popular niches:

  • The Tech Niche
  • The Health Niche
  • Make Money Online Niche
  • Love and Relationship Niche
  • Personal Finance Niche
  • Pet Care Niche
  • Movie and Music Niche
  • Travel Niche
  • Life Coaching Niche
  • Self Improvement Niche

Whoa! These are only the top niches. I am sure your are already getting an idea of what to target. Under each of these niches there are a number of sub-niches. A Pet Care Niche can easily translate into “Best Food for Cats” and so on. A brainstorming for sub-niches using this list of popular niches will throw ideas for what would you like to choose as your niche.

At least one sub-niche is sure to hit you close where you feel you can build upon at least some of them. The idea is to keep only one niche to work upon and leave the other million aside. That brings in focus and ability to go in-depth in researching the topic which you choose. Once you are “into” it, contents will keep coming naturally. You will be able to build more content over the foundation you create and eventually add over it. This is great about sticking to one niche you choose.

Choosing Trending Niches

Niches should be chosen which is going to be accepted by your customers. Else, the efforts put in creating content will not be returning good results. Hence, do your research carefully before choosing a niche. The popular niches in the Internet space are time relevant yet engaging.

Use the search engines to research what is trending:

  1. Google
  2. Yahoo
  3. Bing

Research on the market you intend to serve by category:

  1. Demography
  2. Age
  3. Sex
  4. Locality
  5. Climate
  6. Work Conditions

There is ample information on the internet to help you choose for whom are you going to create content. Investing initial time to research your niche market ha long term benefits. This is just like any other business – traditional or online. Your success depends on the market research data. Imagine if the Market Research data is incorrect. Many businesses fail due to this primary reason. Not researching Market Data is the most common mistake made by failed entrepreneurs.

Though, choosing your niche from one of trending niche is a sure-shot way of success. However, don’t be disheartened if you choose one of the niche which is not trending. If you choose a topic with a strong engagement quotient, it is will still work. Just remember that nobody knew Google, SpaceX or Apple half a century back!

Mind-Map- A Tool for Choosing Niche

The Best way to narrow down on your niche is a Mind-Map template. A Mind-Map is a simple tool to use and can even be created using Excel. The first column is populated with the broad idea of trending niches gathered from Internet. This is further drilled down creating one sub-niche after another under the particular niche.

Here is an example of a Mond-Map created for choosing a niche:

Mind Map






A Mind-Map is template as simple as the above. There are many templates available online which are easy to adjust. The Mind Map is created around a Central theme. “Finding Your Niche” is a Central Theme is this particular example. Then ideas are brainstormed outwards with branches and sub-branches created around the Central Theme. A niche can have several sub-niches which is entirely up to your imagination to create such a sub-niche.

In this example, “Make Money Online Without a Website” is a sub-niche which can be picked up as your own niche. This is only an example to illustrate how to find your niche. It can be further drilled down to say ” Make Money Online Without a Website using YouTube” – maybe this become your niche where you create the initial contents.

Consistency with Your Niche

The most important thing about selecting your Niche is to be consistent with it. You may choose to invest sometime to select a Niche but stick to it when selected. Think that this is the only topic you know without deviation. Do not look at any other topic for content creation whether it is working or not. Imagine that this particular Niche to stick with you life-long. Your identity must merge with this Niche.

However, if you feel that after ample amount of time like a year or so, your chosen Niche doesn’t work for you, choose another. But, I still recommend to stick with only one Niche. This strategy will help you become an expert in the subject. You would be identified as an Authority on the subject and the readers will be compelled to come back to your content time and again.

Conclusion

Choosing a Niche might look intimidating in the beginning but it is not. There are millions of Niche out there and it will not be difficult to find one for yourself. Using Mind-Map templates helps in brainstorming ideas and narrow down on your Niche.

So just go ahead and choose your Niche. Leave your Niche of choice in the comment box below.

How to Start Affiliate Marketing Business for Free

FreeMoney

Affiliate Marketing is one of the easiest business in the online space. It is a business model based on earning commissions by promoting other’s products. Though not a get-rich-quick scheme, it requires a determination and constant effort to establish. But how to start Affiliate Marketing Business for free?

A quick research on Quora reveals that there are a number of successful affiliates have minted fortune in this space. Star Affiliate Marketers make millions every year or maybe every month constantly. However, a vast majority of Affiliate Marketers are making up to $500 per month which is not bad given the minimal amount of investment required to establish this business.

We here discuss the way in which one can start an affiliate marketing business for free. Though free to establish, one needs to put in their best efforts to establish and promote the business to make any significant amount from this business. Now let us look into the details of how to do that.

The Internet Space has Opportunities for Everyone

Right from Facebook to Twitter, Internet has created space for everyone. The Internet coupled with ever-increasing smartphone usage is dominating the way business has become “Centreless”. It is the age where whoever chooses to put in effort the right way, gets his dues paid. Thus, now it gets more interesting to know how to start Affiliate Marketing business for free in this Internet-connected World.

The world has become much more reachable – whether it be the Americas, Europe or Africa. The audience reach is wherever the internet connectivity is present. There is a burst in sales market where you are not limited to just being local. Indeed, if it is an educational product, you can market it anywhere with easy deliverable.

In the back-end, payment options have increased multi-fold. A number of payment gateways helping you in accepting money online while working for you to prevent fraud has made online businesses a cake-walk.

However, it still requires a desire to excel in this field. Constant effort is required to keep your audience engaged. It might look too easy but still requires time and effort to learn things. There are a number of scammers out there. If, you are unaware then you might be struck with dire consequences making you lose trust in any online business.

Affiliate Marketing Business is a Risk Free Business

The risks involved with any traditional business is immense. You tend to lose on preparatory costs if first sales is delayed, you lose when the Return of Investments is long, you lose if your Brand takes a hit in any freak bad-quality product – the list is endless. Besides, there are regulatory risks and risks specific to a country which keeps any traditional entrepreneur on their toes at all times.

It is noteworthy that Affiliate Marketing Business is free of all such traditional risks!

My statement stems from the fact considering the following:

– The initial investment is quite low in an Affiliate Marketing Business. Yes, I said “quite low” without deviating from the fact that there are ways and means to start an Affiliate Marketing Business for free.

– You do not really lose fortunes even of the Return of Investments is longer than expected. Say, if you expect a return in 6-months and the period has prolonged to a year-what do you lose? Nothing really except the cost of maintaining your Domain name.

– You are not selling any product and hence do not face the liability of sales tax which is complicated in any foreign land. You only earn a commission and liable for your own income tax in your own country. Though am not an expert in Taxes, but this is what I have understood working in the Affiliate Marketing space. Though would always recommend consulting a tax consultant thorough in this subject before embarking on this journey.

– Your brand is your content. Nobody can take anything away from you on that part. Hence, your brand is created not by the products you sell but what your promote. Hence, choosing the right product to promote is critical to your brand. Any sales returns would lower only your commission but still won’t hit you as hard as sales returns does in a traditional business.

– Working from the place of your choice is what you cannot afford in a traditional business. You are tied to a place there limiting your reach. But, not so in Affiliate Marketing. One can continue promoting products, creating content at the place and time of your liking.

So, are you now loving the online Affiliate Marketing Business?

Can you Really Start a Business for Free?

My answer is a big NO.

Well that is what I heard from your mind. I know that it is difficult to imagine starting any business for free. It always involves a capital cost which is massive in any traditional business. Besides, the preoperative costs might go beyond the budget if your market reading has varied by even a small amount.

This is also true of an Online Affiliate Marketing Business. There is a cost involved in setting up the business. This might go out of proportion if one is completely new to it.

The costs involved in setting up an online Affiliate Marketing Business is as follows:

– Registering your domain name.

– Setting up a website. This might be free on some platforms but if you attempt to get it done in case you are not that tech-savvy, it will involve shelling out some money.

– Finding a hosting service.

– After the initial set-up, you will need to buy Ads to market your content.

All the above can be counted in initial business set-up costs. However, there is a reputable platform where you can start your online business without spending a penny!

This Platform is Wealthy Affiliates. It is completely free to join. Please read my review of Wealthy Affiliates here to know more.

The Pros and Cons of Affiliate Marketing

I have mostly highlighted the Pros of the Affiliate Marketing and hence will cover the Cos here.

CONS:

– There are many scammers in this space. So be careful of what you choose.

– It generally takes a long time to mature. Patience is the key here.

– The earnings are of your choosing of the product. You make a good revenue if you are promoting the right product.

– Creating content does take effort. This content must be of quality and engaging. This is an art which needs to be mastered.

Conclusion

We know now the advantages of setting up an online Affiliate Marketing Business. My review of Wealthy Affiliate also states how one can set-up this business for free.

So, what are you waiting for? Go head and set up you online affiliate marketing business for free.

Do not forget to confirm setting up your business as “YES” or “NO” in the comment box below.

Discover Your Earning Potential

Sky is the Limit

Have you ever wondered why you are always stressed out for money? Why are always calculating each and every penny you spend? Instead, work to discover your earning potential. I am here to tell you how to do this.

The prime reason for you to be stressed out about money is you are focusing on the “lack” of it. You keep thinking that you have no money and so it becomes. This is called a scarcity mindset. It is a common observation that people with scarcity mindset are hard to prosper.

The opposite of a scarcity mindset is the Abundance Mindset. It is to focus on things you have and not on things you don’t. You may not have all riches but you might have strong relationship, a healthy body or a creative talent. The idea is to focus on good things in life which is available to your in abundance rather than fret over things you don’t have. Besides, comparisons in wealth will always drive you crazy. Remember that people are wealthy and super-wealthy due to the way they think. Otherwise, having a negative mindset makes you lose whatever wealth you have inherited.

Discover Your Niche

Once you have switched on your sub-conscious mind for a life of Abundance your thoughts hover over what you are good at. You start find your niche. This might be anything you enjoy doing – from sports, to machines, to cooking simple food at home. Be sure to find at one niche you are really interested in. This is the first step to discover your earning potential.

The easy way is to watch your conversation with colleagues, friends or relatives or your spouse. Have you felt ever found pride in telling them any achievement ever in life. I am sure you did. Think about it and you can easily build how you reached that achievement. Each one of us have a talent which we can share with the world. That what we share if helpful for others, is your niche.

Finding your niche is an outcome of thinking positive. You might be engulfed in a sea of problems today but your will still be able to find something which you really enjoy doing. Working on your niche gives to great satisfaction. It paves the way for happiness. And when you are positive, there are a number of ways to be successful.

Build on Your Niche

Once you have chosen your niche, a word of advice is to stick to it. Stick with it for at least sometime. Don’t worry if you do not know everything about it. Eventually, you will learn and build upon it. This is a foundation to discover your earning potential.

Generally, a give-away to find a niche is that you think that you are not an expert in the subject. You are overwhelmed with the adeptness with which people present this subject in general. You think that you could never be successful in reaching that expert level. That is a negativity in-born in all of us – you are no different here. Imagine that people are thronging your place for a word of advice on the subject. You are getting accolades from all over the place for consolidating the knowledge you like. Imagine this situation each and every day before you sleep and in early morning. You will find your motivation to keep working on your niche each and every day thereon.

Motivation is a key factor in building your niche. You will need to research on the subject and then again research on what answers people are looking for. You start building on your knowledge base after a few cycles and keep generating more and more content in your niche. Building on your niche requires patience and hard work. But, the point is, this is anyway required in any endeavor you undertake in life – so why not in an area which you love and enjoy doing?

Find Your Competition

Once you have found your niche and have started building on it, you start discovering your competition. This is the phase where you discover your earning potential.

Easier said than done, finding huge competition who are making millions in your niche might be overwhelming. But now you are confident that you have the potential to reach there. You may be far from it today, but you know that people like you have reached there. It all depends now on deploying the right technique, finding the audience and in the base of it, creating great content in your niche.

Noteworthy, you earning potential has nothing to do with what your earn today. It is really about your own potential as a person. Surprisingly, you will find that your earning potential is many times more than you ever thought.

Consistency

Howsoever you have been successful in finding your niche and building on it, you require consistency in your efforts. Remember that the sweetest fruits are borne only after a period. Hence, don’t be in a hurry to see success but keep your efforts always on.

This is difficult to achieve without seeing the big picture. Hence, set-up your goals and view it every day. That will provide the energy to tide over any obstacles on the way. It is keep you moving all the time, as you move towards becoming an expert in your niche.

Working consistently is generally the biggest obstacle one faces before quitting after a few attempts. If you are clear on your goal, you will never quit. Remember that you lose all your chances of achieving success of you quit in between after putting in so much effort to begin with.

Conclusion

Your true potential is within you. The earning potential is led by your positive attitude which paves the way for you to discover your niche. Once you have identified your niche and have started building on it, you can easily find your true earning potential.

Wish you All the Best in whatever niche you choose. You sure are to meet success by consistent efforts.

Do leave your comment in the comment box below regarding your opinion on the subject and specially when you have tried the advice in this article.

How to Sell Online without a Website

No Website

The Internet has opened a world of opportunities for online selling. It has made many online entrepreneurs of late. There is a huge earning potential though it requires quite an effort. But you are wondering how to sell online without a website?

Millions of products are sold over internet both actively and passively. Selling actively involves pushing for your own product while passively is to promote a product to make a sale in the back-end. Both active and passive online selling can be accomplished without having a website. Yes, that is true. You don’t need a website to sell online.

So what are the ways to sell online without having a website of your own? Internet Marketers do recommend having your own website which is your virtual real estate comparable to a brick-and-mortar store. That is a step-up from the traditional selling to online selling. That is how sellers are wired to push the products to prospective buyers. It works well in the online space well. But I can still reassure you that you don’t need a website for online selling. Let us see how.

Facebook

Facebook has gained in popularity so much that it is difficult to imagine life without it. People update their status all the time. Young and Old are using this media alike. There are over 1.6 Billion Facebook user on the date of publishing this article. Doesn’t this vast user base answer your question of how to sell online without a website?

Not only the number of users Facebook has, it provides great features for online selling. One can create business pages to sell their products or join a community to connect. You are more likely to find customers as well as good suppliers there in case you are looking to source a product. You can promote your products organically by sharing it within your community or opt for paid ads. My personal experience has been that paid ads work best at Facebook compared to any other Social Media. Provide links to purchase your products and you are all set selling products without having a website of your own.

In addition, Instagram and Pinterest are also great place to sell online in the same way as done via Facebook. Pinterest and Instagram depend more on visual media and that is how they hold their prominent place against such competition as Facebook. They are still great medium to sell online and sometimes better than on Facebook.

Webinar

Webinars are another solution to how to sell online without a website. It replaces the traditional way of educating people via staged seminars. These knowledge sharing sessions are a great way to engage your audience and convert them into returning customers. You get a chance to speak face-to-face with them in these sessions, answering their questions and gaining trust in the process.

But how do you market a Webinar? Typically, that is through an e-mail list you build. An invitation is sent via this list. The bigger the list, so is your reach. Social Media Ads are also a great way to send invites to your Webinar.

If you are able to pitch your subject correctly, Webinars are the best way to convert. Webinars package the selling cycle into one. First of all, the ones attending the Webinar are already interested in the subject and hence investing their time into such activity. They need to be shown the pros and cons of the product diligently. They can clear their doubts during the session itself. Once all doubts are cleared, they are more likely to take action and purchase the product than through any other means.

However, reaching out to your audience might prove tedious and building an e-mail list is no easy task. However, there are platforms available which help you in making an e-mail list and you are all set to sell online without having a website.

Online Mart

Another way of selling online without having a website is through the online marts. These still hold their place in the online space. They have a dedicated team to develop your product catalog and present it well on their websites. One can list as a business or an individual to sell products online.

The Online Marts are most suited to Business-to-business purchases or bulk purchases. They are seldom designed for specialized purchases or retail purchases. However, it is the most cost-effective way to sell online as there is a minimum monthly fees for all the services they offer.

However, their reach might be limited to a particular region or country where they are popularly used. That is the main limitation of selling on an Online Mart. However, it is a good place to start selling online without having a website.

E-Commerce Sites

E-Commerce sites like Amazon and E-Bay and similar e-commerce sites are great places to sell online without having a website. They have their own promotional campaigns which helps online sellers to increase their sales volumes. Besides, they have added features like which product is trending and what the rates at which others are selling the product you are considering to sell.

However, the convenience of selling online on these e-commerce sites has made it extremely competitive to sell. You cannot charge more than the market price and sometimes lesser if you have to make a sale. Timely delivery is the essence of these e-commerce site. Hence, you need to maintain a minimum inventory level which might lock your capital.

Whatever be the limitation, it is very easy and sometimes fun to sell on e-commerce site. Approval is granted within a week on all the major e-commerce site. If you don’t own a website and still want to sell online, consider selling on these e-commerce sites. Choose a product which is trending and not which you wish to sell.

Conclusion

So you now have an insight of selling online even without having a website. There are pros and cons to any online business and so is with online selling without a website.

Hence, choose one for yourself if you want to sell online without going through the trouble of setting up and maintaining a website.

All the Best to You in You Online Selling Journey! Do leave your comment in the comment box below. Even a line would help others to have first-have experience from users of this article.

How to Sell Online and Make Money

Selling Online

This is the age of the Internet. The days of offline sales is limited. You can see for yourself the amount of purchasing you do online regularly. Now is the time to know how to sell online and make money.

Selling online has become an art and science. The first challenge being never seeing the face of the customer. Their choice will never be revealed as conveniently as only a look into the eyes can say. But remember that you are still selling to real people. They will be attracted to buy only if you understand their behavior well. Hence, understanding the behavior of online buyer has is a science driven by data and an art to decipher this data.

But there is no need to be intimidated by seeing the words “science” and “arts” in this domain. Yes, it does take common sense to decipher the data and take actions accordingly. There are online tools available which helps in both gathering data and deciphering them. Therefore, selling online has become quite convenient and that is the reason why many people are able to make a decent income out of it.

We discuss here some popular online selling methods which are proven and works well to give you an income from the comfort of your home.

Online Store

There is a growing need of taking everything online which was once offline. Brick and Mortar stores have shifted to online stores. The advantages of an online store is immense. Online Stores is the first answer you get on how to sell online and make money.

The first advantage of an online store is that you do not need to invest in real estate- owned or rented. The online store is your virtual real estate. Hence, you don’t need to worry where to put up a store – prime location being a consideration at the least outflow of capital as possible. You just need to set up a store online and that’s it.

The major advantage of an online store is the customer reach it can generate. There is a worldwide audience of an online store and you sell to any part of the world. Off course, you need to take care of the legal requirements and taxation in the country where you sell.

Setting up an online store might be tedious and you might lose energy if you are doing it all by yourself. Service providers like Shopify provide an integrated platform to set-up your store. They also have useful plug-ins to collect customer data, automate your response and help you market your product. It is great to start with such platform if you intend to set-up your online store all by yourself.

Amazon, E-Bay

Rather than setting up your own online store and putting your solo effort to market the product, it is far better to sell on large e-commerce sites like Amazon or E-Bay. Selling on these e-commerce sites is the most convenient answer to how to sell online and make money.

Your solo online store will take some time to mature and the buyers to take note of it. That is if you are consistent in marketing it over a period. Doing social network postings and resorting to paid ads. Remember that paid ads can burn a hole in the pocket if not done the right way. Though your online store can be viewed round the globe, but the key question here is whether people are ready to buy from an unknown online store. Besides, various scams online has reduced trust in solo online stores and people need to be really convinced to part with their credit card details on an unknown online store.

All this is taken care by selling on large e-commerce sites. People trust buying on Amazon and E-Bay and similar sites. They don’t consider them as scam and don’t even think twice before parting with their credit card details. They know that these sites have a reputation at stake and won’t spoil it for small amount of money you are going to pay them.

However, competition is intense here. The price are market price or if you need to make more sales, you need to give a better discount than your competitors. Besides, since on-time delivery is extremely critical, you need to have some inventory at hand when booking orders. Your Seller Ranking will sky-dive in case, you are consistently not making on-time deliveries.

Hence, selling of e-commerce sites like Amazon and E-Bay is a great way to start making money online but has its own limitations.

YouTube

YouTube has gained in popularity over the years. There are videos on all kind of subjects on YouTube. Visual media is extremely effective when it comes to selling online.

On the other hand, making YouTube videos has become very simple and convenient. An amateur video can be made and uploaded using your smartphone. However, when it comes to video editing, you need some skill. There are software like Camtasia available in market which helps in editing your YouTube videos. Almost all of them have features like a whiteboard video or adding background music.

Add a link for buying on your channel and mention that specifically in your video to click on your link. Videos have a greater probability to sell than written words as that is how a buyer is supposed to behave.

Your Website

Your own website is a great place to start selling online. An online store is also your website but here I speak specifically about affiliate marketing. You promote other people’s products on your website but don’t sell it yourself. The sale is made in the back-end at the manufacturer’s website or for that matter on Amazon. You earn a commission if the sale is made through the lead from your website.

Interesting? Isn’t it. Here you cut down all the hassles of an online store, site trust, global reach and taxation complications. Also, you can obtain leads from all around the world meaning that you are promoting products worldwide. In my view, Affiliate Marketing is far better than any other form of online selling.

In case, you are interested in Affiliate Marketing, read my review of Wealthy Affiliate here.

Conclusion

Whatever mode you choose for online selling, it is imperative that you start today. Procrastination will leave you nowhere.

I wish you all success in selling online and making money. Please do leave your comment on your experience with selling online for making money in the comment box below. It will be a pleasure to hear from you.

How to Start a Home Based Business Today

Home Based Business

Are you bored with your job and cannot take the constant nagging from your Boss? Or are you a sit-at-home Mom looking for an extra income? In either case, you are at the right place if you have ever thought of how to start a home based business today.

Traffic has increased all over the world and we spend most of the time on road. Commuting is the biggest time waster sucking up all our energy. The time and energy spent discounts a heavy amount of earnings we make in our day job. It cuts down on our leisure time and doesn’t allow much quality time with family. This is the first motivation you may have in starting a home based business.

The criteria for selecting a good home-based business is to replace your earnings from a regular job without many hassles. If you get into the same complications as a regular job and be stressed out, there is no use of a home based business. Hence, a home-based business must have a good earnings potential without bringing in the stress associated with a regular job.

Here we discuss some headache-free home based business which can be established quickly in a day’s time and even while you read this article.

MLM Marketing

Multi-level marketing has been in the market even before the time of Internet. People were selling products besides recruiting their down line. Thereby, they leveraged their earnings – not only from what they themselves sold but a portion of what their down line sold.

MLM is a good way to earn passive income. However, this might not always be home-based. But, I have included it here as you need to contact your friends and relatives to make a sale. In turn, your friends and relatives can become your down line without much effort. This is off course, if the product is great and replaces something of everyday use.

To be successful in MLM, you need to choose a great product. The big names in MLM might already be saturated but still hold potential. The catch here is that you might push a good product but pushing for recruitment as your down line will still require a lot of convincing. Many times, an inability to recruit your down line holds up your earning potential.

MLM is one of the options answering how to start a home based business today. Overall, MLM must be selected with caution. You need to assess your marketing skills before you choose it. Else, you might be disappointed in choosing MLM.

Drop Shipping

Drop-shipping is a concept where you book an order and get the product shipped directly to the buyer. Here, you need not worry about the shipping and logistics and can concentrate solely on booking orders. It works in the offline world and works pretty well in the online world.

The online world has seen a vast difference in the way drop-shipping has been adopted by more and more people. All you need is an online store or even can do without it. Just register yourself on your local classified advertisement page and start your selling. Off course, you need to tie up with good product suppliers. Remember, it is you whom the customer knows and all his angst will be directed towards you in case a bad product is delivered.

Online stores service providers have further eased the way dropshipping is managed. They provide an online store-front which is your Sales Pitch. You can add products here and promote them in your own specific way. Besides, these service providers have a back-end product manufacturer connect. They are usually verified by the Service Provider and hence pose lesser risk of a bad product. However, be sure to obtain samples yourself. Only then you will be confident enough to sell it out to prospective customers. Remember that sales returns can ruin any business and same is the case with Drop-Shipping. Hence, choose you product supplier after careful evaluation only.

Selling on E-Commerce Sites

This is one of the most convenient way of starting a home-based business. Large e-commerce sites like Amazon has paved the way for many home-based entrepreneurs. More and more people are fulfilling their dream on establishing their own home based business via these sites.

The time of delivery and the product quality are of prime importance when selling on E-commerce Sites like Amazon or for that matter, anywhere else. Hence, a minimum inventory level needs to be held even of this is a home based business. This requires some capital to be invested in carrying inventory. Choose a product which is trending. Do not try to sell product which you like but product which is liked by a majority of buyers out there.

The ease of doing business in this space has made the market extremely competitive. You can hope to make a decent revenue only if you are able to sell in a niche segment and in volume.

If you are wondering how to start a home-based business today, selling on Amazon is worth a try.

Freelancer

Freelancers were in vogue locally before the days of internet. Service providers were hired and are still being hired to complete sundry jobs sometime but more importantly to complete things where their skill lies. This reduces the cost of having an in-house resource all the time which is not needed.

Freelancing is trending in the Internet World. Today we hire cabs over mobile apps. We hire mechanics, plumbers and all kinds of service providers over mobile apps of over their websites. The internet has opened the doors for freelancers with specific skills besides making life convenient for all of us.

If you have a specific skill and you enjoy doing things in any particular niche, freelancing is for you. There is no long-term commitment for either side but works well where you make money and the buyer gets the service they want.

Affiliate Marketer

Affiliate marketing is to promote a product you like. When you book a sale, all the logistics is taken care by the product provider and you make a commission on the sale. It sounds quite similar to drop-shipping. The only difference being in the way a transaction occurs. In drop-shipping you are paid the full product cost and you pay a portion of it to the manufacturer. However, in Affiliate Marketing, you only make a commission and not paid directly by the buyer but by the product provider.

It is one of the most convenient way to start a home based business today. For being an Affiliate Marketer, you need to create content – on a website, on YouTube or a Webcast. You create content and help people solve their problems. Thereby, you recommend products as part of helping them.

Starting with Affiliate Marketing requires effort and patience. It matures over time but has great earning potential. You need to do what you love doing – creating content in your own niche area. There are millions of niches in the Internet space and you can choose on any niche or sub-niche.

My pick of starting a home based business today is Affiliate Marketing. It requires a minimal investment of few dollars to set-up your website and register your domain. This expense is anyway occurred in any other business. Otherwise, it is your own effort which drives the business without much of a worry whether the chosen product will sell or not in the home-based businesses described above.

Conclusion

You now have the ammunition to start a home based business today. And I recommend shedding all your prerogatives and start today.

In case, you chose to start as an Affiliate Marketer, read my review on Wealthy Affiliate here. Wealthy Affiliate is a great place to start for any Affiliate Marketer.

Do leave your comments on the subject in the comment box below. Would love to hear your success stories here.

The Best Ways to Make Money Online from Home

Make Money online from Home

Are you stuck in your regular day job? Or are you looking for making money from home avoiding daily commute of a regular job? You could be a housewife or a retired personnel looking for an income from home. Or you could just be in your regular job looking for extra income. Then you are at the right place here reading this article. We discuss the best ways to make money online at home.

The world of internet has opened up a number of opportunities in the online space. Be it an online job or an online business. People are hiring freelancers more often due to the internet’s worldwide reach. The lock down due to COVID-19 has forced many businesses to rethink their strategy of work. Companies are promoting more work from home assignments.

Online jobs and business provides a win-win situation for both the Buyer and Service Provider. It allows the Buyer to hire the best resources at reasonable costs and it opens a window of opportunities for a Service Provider. We discuss in more detail what are the best ways of making money online and why I recommend them.

Ways to Make Money Online

Various ways of making money online includes article marketing. Article marketing can be extended to posting videos online or streaming a podcast. Besides, article writers are regularly hired to write content for a fee.Beginners can see small earnings which is a proof that online jobs are for real. A reasonable amount is made by expert content creators.

Technical jobs are in high demand in the online space. If you are into technicalities like Java, PHP, AUTOCAD then you can always present yourself as a freelancer and you become available to the whole world to hire. Often, online businesses are looking for experts in this field as they themselves might lack some of these skills due to cost factors.

Dropshipping is another great online business where there is no need to store inventory. You need to have an online store and ship from the manufacturer/supplier as orders are placed. However, you need to be very sure of the product you sell. You need to promote them on your online store and one needs a conviction in the products to promote. Promote only if you have used the product yourself. Remember that returns can be real pain in dropshipping business.

Other easier ways are to sell your products on large e-commerce platforms. However, you will need to invest at least some amount in inventory. It is quite a good option as these e-commerce platforms have worldwide reach and have their own promotional campaigns from time to time. That takes off a lot of burden of marketing from individuals to promote their product. However, competition is immense and only good quality product with on-time delivery survives in this space.

One of the easiest online business is Affiliate Marketing. It is one of the best ways to make money online from home. We discuss more about Affiliate Marketing here.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing refers to promoting other’s product through your own channel. This channel could be your website, YouTube channel, webcast or podcast or any other offline means too. You earn a commission when a sale is made.

Affiliate Marketing is one of the best ways to make money online from home in this internet age. You get paid while working on things you enjoy most. You can pick up a niche in which you are interested. It is possible that you are not an expert in that particular niche but you can research on it and gain authority over a period. It is of prime importance to post helpful content on your channel and not just plain selling. Since people have a lot of choice in the internet, it shortens the attention span. People will only hang-out on your content if it is captivating and worth its value.

The best thing about Affiliate Marketing is that it is almost free to set-up. Though it is not a get-rich-quick scheme and takes time to mature. Constant effort is required to create content and engage your readers. It takes lot of patience to meaningfully gain your first customer and making sure that they are not the last one.

The Good

The best ways to make money online from home is Affiliate marketing and not without reason. The following lists some good things about Affiliate Marketing:

1. Only a small investment is required in registering your domain and setting up your channel.

2. There is no need to keep inventory and lock your money.

3. You keep doing things that you enjoy doing. There is a niche for everybody in areas of making money online, health and fitness, education, entrepreneurship, relationships, hobbies like photography, painting or calligraphy. The list is endless and you can always find your niche as per your interest area.

4. You don’t need to be an expert in your subject to begin with. Subsequent research and answering viewer’s questions will give you authority over a period.

5. Commissions are made on sale at the back-end. There is no need to worry about shipping and logistics.

The Bad

Like any business, there are things to keep in mind when venturing out as an Affiliate Marketer. The following lists down some things which should be considered:

1. This is not about making a million dollar overnight. Like any business, Affiliate Marketing requires time to mature.

2. Sales occur when visitors get engaged to your content. If you make it look like just a sales channel, viewers will get offended and leave your content immediately. Therefore, it is extremely important to post helpful engaging content.

3. Promote products only if you have used and are convinced about. Your viewers will be convinced only if you are!

4. There are scams doing rounds in this space as well. Hence, select a product to promote only after a careful research.

5. The compensation levels is not the same for all the products or companies. Invest some time to research which products are most relevant to your content and giving a good commission rate.

Conclusion

The Internet age has opened the door for both home based jobs and entrepreneurship. While there are proven earnings in an online job but the cream of the pie is online entrepreneurship. It opens the door for immense possibilities in earnings. However, like any other business it takes time to mature. The investments required in terms of money might be small but lot of investment is required in the form of time to learn, create content and keeping the viewers engaged.

Affiliate Marketing is one of the easiest way to make money online. It is great for housewives, retired personnel, teenagers looking for a side hustle or anyone who wants to make a passive income while enjoying the comfort of home.

If you have decided to that an online home-based business is for you, jump in and start learning Affiliate Marketing.

Read my review of Wealthy Affiliate here.

All the Best to you in your online entrepreneurial journey!

Wealthy Affiliate The Best Kept Secret of Affiliate Marketers

Affiliate Marketing is one of the most convenient work-from-home business Idea in this internet age. We review Wealthy Affiliate which is a platform where one can learn the tools and methods of affiliate marketing. I bring up this review as I find Wealthy Affiliate The Best Kept Secret of Affiliate Marketer.

My purpose here is to bring all the pros and cons of Wealthy Affiliate to help prospective Affiliate Marketers to make a decision. It is entirely up to you to decide on joining.

Disclosure: I am a premium member at Wealthy Affiliate and are a participant in their Affiliate Program. Hence, in case, you choose to join via my link here, I will earn a commission without effecting the total price you pay.

Wealthy Affiliate – Overview and Ranking

Here goes my review of Wealthy Affiliate The Best Kept Secret of Affiliate Marketers.

Name: Wealthy Affiliate

Owners: Kyle and Carson

Website URL: www.wealthyaffiliate.com

Training: 4.9 out of 5.0

Support: 5.0 out of 5.0

Website Builder: 4.9 out of 5.0

WordPress Hosting: 4.7 out of 5.0

Research Tools: 4.6 out of 5.0

Success Stories: 4.5 out of 5.0

Price: Free for Starter Members and $49/month (or $495 annual)

Buildpassiveincomeathome.com Rating: 4.8 out of 5.0

Training – All that an Affiliate Marketer Needs to Know

The biggest challenge that a new affiliate marketer faces is the question – Now what do I need to do?

Wealthy Affiliate has an Online Entrepreneurship Course. Starter Members, which is a free membership, can access the first module of the course. The first module is a good primer for what the course stands to offer. By the end of the first module, you get a good understanding of what you need to set up an affiliate marketing business. You would have built your first website by now without investing anything till now on the platform at Wealthy Affiliates, i.e SiteRubix.

The other two modules are paid and for premier members. The course is very well laid out starting from the fundamentals of what you need to do to begin as an affiliate marketer. You to walked through the course with assignments at the end of each course. Hence, if you follow the instructions, you would have set-up your online business by walking through the course itself!

Besides, there is another course called “Affiliate Bootcamp” which is available to premier members only. This is the quickest way to be successful in the Affiliate Marketing business. This course focuses on promoting Wealthy Affiliate Program in a clear structured way. You are more likely to succeed here even if you are finding it difficult to find your own niche.

In any case, if you are not sure about your niche and still don’t want to promote Wealthy Affiliate yet, the owners are always available to help you select your niche.

Website Builder – Build Your Own in Just Under 60 Seconds

Yes, you read it right. Build your own website for just under 60 seconds! And what more, it is free to build one!

However, you need to pay a small amount if you choose to register your own domain. The free domain name comes with.SiteRubix extension and you may not like to continue with it. You can always build your website on the . SiteRubix domain and transfer to your purchased domain once you are ready for it.

You need to pay only for the domain name. I found this to be much cheaper than any other service provider specially when it comes with a hosting plan as well. It is noteworthy that there is a team of 25 people working endlessly on the technology of the hosting platform. The hosting service is world-class and comes with a SSL certification.

Content Creation – Learn the Ways with SEO-Rich Tools

Easily creating content makes Wealthy Affiliate The Best Kept Secret of Affiliate Marketers.

The SiteContent application is proprietary to Wealthy Affiliates and is a great place to create SEO-Rich content. It has in-build templates to build your content. The spell-check and grammar check helps even non-native English speakers to create content consistently.

SiteContent is designed to let Search Engines see your contents with ease. Grammatical errors and wrong spellings automatically repels the crawlers from your site. This is where SiteContent helps in making your content search able.

Earning Potential – Why you are More Likely to Succeed

Affiliate Marketing is a business and not a get-rich-quick scheme. Any business takes time to mature and needs consistent effort to set-up and keep running. This is true at Wealthy Affiliate as well.

However, you are more likely to succeed here as you are properly trained to do what you need to do. That reduces the turn-around time of generating revenue. Besides, there is a great community at Wealthy Affiliates available round the clock with whatever help you seek. That is a great booster to reinforce that you succeed in generating revenues than at any other place. Your direction is guided which would not have been the case if you were doing it all by yourself. You only need to define your targets and keep achieving them in terms of content creation, selecting the right products and being active on social media.

My take on the time to generate revenue for any affiliate marketer is from 3-6 months. I state this time-frame after lot of research on Internet. It may be shorter or longer depending solely on the amount of effort you put in generating content and driving traffic to your website. You can always earn a decent revenue in a one-year time frame. Hence, it becomes extremely important to start at the earliest, in case, you have already decided to become and affiliate marketer.

My Take on Wealthy Affiliate + Special Bonus

Join the starter, it’s $0.  You can always choose to opt out if it doesn’t work for you! But, I am sure you will never do that.

You will never know what you have been missing all of these years until you step foot inside of Wealthy Affiliate.

I have been a premium member at Wealthy Affiliate and have reaped the benefits it offers. I appreciate the helping nature of Kyle and Carson who have successfully run Wealthy Affiliates for more than 15 years now. The membership fees has remained unchanged for more than 12 years with loads of benefits added in between.

A testimony to Kyle and Carson’s consideration to help new Affiliate marketers lies in the fact that they offer a discount of $30 in the first month if you join premium membership within 7 days of registering at Wealthy Affiliate! Surely, this is a great consideration from the owners as usually newbies are cash strapped and still wondering whether they will make money at all this business. But, you can always cancel your membership in case, you are not convinced that it works.

In case, you have decided to join, use my Affiliate link here. This will be a small compensation for me to earn as an Affiliate Marketer without effecting the total amount you pay. I hope you will appreciate reading this review and won’t mind me earning this commission as a fellow Affiliate Marketer.