Hi, please bear with me i do harp on a little. Firstly im a 48yr old self employed mot tester with a garage repair bay, im a very small independant and always struggle to meet my bills (have done for 20 yr now) deprived area and all that. Basically im sick and tired of doin the same routine day in day out and not seeing any improvement. My backs not as good as it use to be either. Im a very confident, self motivated and have high standards and always strive for perfection. Ive got to a stage in my life where i need to act before its too late, i have a plan but need some help and advise to fulfil this idea. This is where you come in hopefully and give me your ideas and advise as to which way forward would be best. I want to work from home with flexible hours, and preferably with some kind of trade, profession. Im willing to do some kind of home study for the next 2 or 3 year to achieve some kind of degree or qualification but im just not sure what yet? I love bein on the computer, so i would like to base my home work on this. Im not the brightest bulb in the pack but i have experience on my side, im pretty good with my english skills and maths and like i said ive had 20yrs of self employment managing my own accounts etc so im pretty well equipped to start over again with a new skill BUT WHAT! Can anyone advise? thanks for taking the time to read my plight lol, back to mots lol.
Outside of creating your own product that you would market and sell online. There are two proven income makers network marketing and affiliate marketing. Since you appear to be focused on achieving things in the next couple of years. You will find that if you put your efforts in those areas and start to apply the plethora of marketing tactics that drive traffic to your website you can find success in that time frame if you apply consistence in your web traffic tactics. Lack of consistency and commitment is the primary failure of peoples home business success. Oh yeah, and they quit! Find the right things to promote via an affiliate can be a bit of a challenge but that is the nature of affiliate marketing, and it can be ever changing, but that is the internet. Draw back to affiliate marketing is that essentially you are into direct sales and your income is all about what you do, day in and day out. Network marketing gives you the opportunity to build a network, sales team, like corporate america does, and not be dependent on just your individual self for income but to have your income being generated from group effort. Which of course is wise. Challenge is finding the right networking opportunity. And honestly most will not give you a fair chance to succeed and establish long term residual income. In my view, as long as you don't get caught up in the hype of a product, but the viability of the comp-plan to produce a viable opportunity, and monthly cashflow, for the average person to establish a network team you can, and will, find success. Ideally you may want to pursue both these avenues. I have and it has work out positively. And can make for quality multiple income streams. Best wishes in your pursuit of happiness, but you are right you don't need a job: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJuhivnGcDw Life is about seizing happiness and opportunity for more abundance.
I am a previous nurse with a back problem myself. I know exactly how you feel. Although the career was rewarding, nurses have no real way of ever retiring. Nursing jobs just do not offer that to you, unless you put your own money in, which I did not have being a single mom. I needed a way to make enough of an income to sustain myself, my children, and my bills without creating havoc on my back issue. Plus, I wanted to be in control of my own future. Some suggestions that I can make to you as far as how to make money online at home are: Article Writing: you can do this the Freelance Way and write for other people, or you can use this to promote other things you choose to promote to make money. Blogging: This is another way of article writing in a way, but you can use it to promote your own products. and provide information to people. You said that your specialty is garage repair. You could base your Blog on this niche and run with it. Affiliate Marketing: This is basically just a way to promote other people's products and you make a percentage off of it. These are the things that you would promote on your blog, in your articles, etc. Forums: Participate as much as possible in this forum and other forums related to working at home, etc. It will give you the opportunity to ask questions, get answers, and meet other people just like you without fear of being judged. These are just a few options. There is numerous opportunities that you could use to build an income at home. If you are willing to start now and dedicate yourself to it, then in a couple of years.....you would be sitting pretty good with a good income. The harder you work at it, the faster your income will increase. Best Of Luck To You,
Welcome to the forum. The post above are correct. Check out all the posts here on different things that people are doing. Find something that you woul like to do. Remember as you have experienced, do something you enjoy doing or you won't do it. believe me having a brick and motar business makes you go to work. The internet doesn't. Also if you find something out there in cyber world that you are thinking of doing come back here and ask questions. There are alot of scams out there waiting for newbies. And it sounds like you don't have money to throw around. Yes it does take committment and work even on the internet. Don't think that it doesn't. The hours are more flexible true but you still have to put the time in. The discipline is different it is very easy to get side tracked at home. Wish you good luck in your searches
many thanks for the input. I like the idea of the article writing / blogging. my head is always full of ideas but never get to impliment them (funds and all that) My passion is fishing (i know sad but) Looks like i have some reading to do, like where do i start? lol thanks again Any other advise welcome, great forum by the way. cheers.
i was interested in selling on ebay, i know i would be very succesful here as im very punctual and on the ball kinda (not blowing my own trumpet) the only uncertainty i have is, will one be able to sell enough to make a living?
mechmanuk: i was interested in selling on ebay, i know i would be very succesful here as im very punctual and on the ball kinda (not blowing my own trumpet) the only uncertainty i have is, will one be able to sell enough to make a living? I've sold on Ebay for about 10 years now and you have your ups and downs. If you live in an area where you can get stuff at yard sales for cheap then you can definitely get a feel for it and see if you like it. If you can start with a few small items and start the bid at .99 you can get the hang of it without being out any money (they charge a listing fee if you start the bid any higher) . But then you just never know - I bought an old quilt at a yard sale for $3 a few weeks ago and tried selling it on auction but couldn't get the bid higher than about $75 ( I knew it was worth more than that so I had set a reserve price on it) so I relisted it as a 'buy now' for $150 and it sold within 5 minutes! The ways I make most of money from home are; 1) Ebay 2) Affiliate Marketing (I swear by SBI!) 3) Amazon (With affiliate marketing I make money through adsense and affiliate links) SBI will help you build a website (of your choice) and if you want to take a peek at mine just go to emergency-survival-skills dot com (can't give the actual link here but it will help you understand what you can do with SBI without knowing much of anything in the beginning! lol) Happy searching!
many thanks, i have sold the odd items from my work over the years on ebay mainly cars, i was thinking of doin it again but this time maybe on a regular basis. Whats held me back is the tax, vat side of things with bein self employed this would defo take me into the vat bracket which i dont really want.
Well the reality is though that you are going to have to deal with taxes with anything you sell whether on ebay or otherwise. There are several good books on selling on ebay, why not read one or two to help you decide if you really want to do that. Otherwise like one of the other people mentioned you could make a living blogging and article marketing. It's a lot of work especially in the beginning but it can be done. One of my favorite blogs about blogging for a living is problogger.net.
thanks for the reply anna, is affiliate marketing the same as dropshipping? I LIKE THE IDEA OF DROPSHIPPING, easy money if its done right and with the right people? Blogging, can someone please explain a little more about blogging, what is it and why do we need it? is it like a personal diary but online? and how does one build it up to make them money. Looks like ive got plenty of learning to do here ey lol. Thanks again everyone.
One of the best ways to make money online is through affiliate marketing. It is basically selling other people's product for a commission. Before you get into it, I really suggest that you do your research and educate yourself about it as much as possible. It is really simple but as someone who is totally new to the internet, it may be overwhelming. Tal
mechmanuk: thanks for the reply anna, is affiliate marketing the same as dropshipping? I LIKE THE IDEA OF DROPSHIPPING, easy money if its done right and with the right people? Blogging, can someone please explain a little more about blogging, what is it and why do we need it? is it like a personal diary but online? and how does one build it up to make them money. Looks like ive got plenty of learning to do here ey lol. Thanks again everyone. Blogging: You mentioned that you love Fishing. You could start a blog about Fishing. You would basically write daily on your blog using good keywords about things that you know about fishing. Be personable about it. People will respond better and read more of your posts that way, and come to trust you more and more. You will gain loyal readers who at some point will buy things from you. The way you make money blogging is by using Affiliate Marketing techniques as Tal suggested. You find items that are related to Fishing like Tackle supplies, Fishing Rods, Boating supplies, etc. You get the idea. You can find these things from places like Clickbank and Commission Junction and various other places. You would post these on your blog, so when your readers come to read your posts, they might visit these links as well. If you make a sale through any of these links you have posted on your blog, you will make a percentage of the sales. Sometimes the commission on these sales are very high. As for doing E-Bay:, it is a great way of making some extra money. I don't know that I would depend on it solely to make an income at home though. Because as mountainmom5 said, it has it's ups and downs. You also have to remember that E-Bay also charges you fees for every sale you make. I have sold on E-Bay off and on for years myself. Finding things at yard sales is a great way to buy and then sell for a profit. However, I just mainly sell things that I accumulate over time at home that I end up not using or simply just don't need for whatever reason. I have always made good money from these things. Dropshipping: as you mentioned is another good way of making money. It can be used in conjunction with your E-Bay store. It is pretty much the same thing as Affiliate Marketing. You sign up with a company to sell their products on E-Bay and in return you make a commission off any of the sales you make with those products. I have had some success with this in the past on E-Bay, but you have to find the right product and the right angle to sell the items. There are a lot of people doing the exact same thing on E-bay and trying to sell the same items. You just have to do your research like anything else. If I can be of any help to you in any of these areas, please feel free to ask.
mechmanuk: and how does one build it up to make them money. I forgot to answer this question. You build it up by continually getting more and more traffic to your blog or site. You can do this in a number of different ways, which include. 1.) Article Marketing - Writing articles about your niche of "Fishing" and using your resource box to send people back to your blog. 2.) Forums - Using as many of these forum sites that you can that are somehow related to your niche. The way you advertise your business in Forums is by using a signature. It will be at the bottom of every one of your posts. You will build your reputation as being an expert in "Fishing" and people will naturally just click on your signature links to find out more of what you have to offer. 3.) Free Classified Ads Online 4.) Free Press Releases 5.) Commenting on Other Blogs - You just make comments on other people's blogs that are related to your niche. It will have a signature or bio where your blog url will be located at. People will be interested in seeing more about you, if you post quality comments. 6.) Link Exchanges - You basically are just swapping links out with other people. You post their link on your site, they post your link on their site. 7.) Continually Help Other People Be Successful - Don't be stingy with your expertise in your chosen niche area. The more you help other people become successful in what they are doing, the more they will be willing to help you become successful. I could go on forever about how you go about doing this, but I would be here until sometime next week. Hope all of this helps. Again, don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
great advice jennifer and very much appreciated, gives me a much better picture overall and has probably helped me make a decision, mind you im no expert in the art of fishing, however i am very competetive and always strive to find that winning streak which im slowly mastering (dont fish half as much as ide like) only go through the summer months with the local club in my village but all said, i could write on here many stories and tips. I do also have a great idea regarding a forum & fishing which i could work on. Thanks again for the input.
A fishing forum would be awsome. I haven't checked, but I wouldn't think that there are many of those around. It will help some for your advertising, but for the most part....I would just use it for giving and receiving information about Fishing. Don't expect a forum to help you start rolling in the $$$. Not to mention, it is a LOT of work to get people to become members in the beginning and you still have to drive traffic to your forum as well as your sites. So, I would not try to do to much at one time. Get one thing going well, then you can add on.
Getting a job online is the best solution but bear in mind that it's a bit tricky to find one and it demands a lot of effort.
Read and get as much information as you can... you might want to check other forums as well (the warrior forum)..Also implement what you learn..IM is not a get rich quick scheme..
j11_cook: Blogging: You mentioned that you love Fishing. You could start a blog about Fishing. You would basically write daily on your blog using good keywords about things that you know about fishing. I think you did very well to help out with your very helpful suggestions. The blogging about fishing was an excellent idea. If it is his passion then i can see it making money with adsense or even clickbank. Now about the ebay and dropshipping suggestion... Ebay sucks!! if you are a seller period. They continue to come up with changes designed to scare off the little guy and its working so they wont stop. It's ok if youre selling little items here and there. But i thought the objective was to make money and lotts of it. Dropshipping. This won't work either unless you are prepared to kick it off with $5,000 - $10,000 cash at hand and are ready to be a real player. You have to buy products that people are looking for IN BULK. Then you can take advantage of price cuts and thats where your profit is located. If you are planning on dropshipping items one at a time forget about it. With this approach you have no profit margin and will quickly find yourself in the red. This is because you cannot compete with china sellers who are selling directly from china. Their prices are "oh so low" And thats just "fabulous" if you are a buyer. I know all this because i mess around with these e--g--a--y guys. They got a good piece of me, but i got a good piece of them too, and im still not done. I was making good money from one of my accounts and they banned it and they have the audacity to tell me to pay fees for the whole month? please!! So i guess what im really trying to say is, go with j11_cook's idea. I think that you will begin to make money slowly but surely. cheers
I would agree with most of the advice here and I do not think you need to just settle on one approach at this stage. It is usually best to dip your toe in the water on a few fronts and see what feels right for you. Making money online is not the instant wealth that some would have you believe but you can make an income. I would start first with your passions and areas of expertise. You may be surprised that your knowledge of how to get a car through an MOT test may attract an audience. You will not know until you have tried it. That said, to stick at it over time you really need to follow subjects you are passionate about. People who fish do need equipment, book fishing holidays, want books and dvds about fishing etc. You would be better of finding a very speciific niche within fishing and giving such great content about it people trust you and want to buy affiliate products that you advertise. The best way to earn money is by building a list of followers. If you have a weekly newsletter to loyal fans of fishing, you can recommend products you like and because you have built that trust people are more likely to buy. Good luck with it. You mention you are 48. I am sure you have amassed a wealth of knowledge and experience in your life that can be put to use to earn you a less backbreaking income.
