ONLINE BUSINESSES?

[LiveWorkDream]

If you want to sell a product online, you could get someone else to stock and ship your merchandise--someone who has a real sticks and brick house. If you are selling a LOT of product each month, there are fulfillment companies that will do it for you for a fee. (Note that all that TV stuff charges you "shipping and handling"? They use fulfillment houses and pass the costs on to you.

Very true! We have direct relationships with different manufacturers who fulfill our orders Some charge a small fee for doing so, some do not. It works great for us in most instances. The challenge is finding manufacturers who are willing to work with smaller accounts like ours.

[Nick Russell]

Do people really make money blogging? How does that work?

Between Google AdSense ads, Amazon affiliate ads, and display ads on the sidebars I make anywhere from $500 - $750 a month with my blogs. A few months have been over $1,000. But it takes work. I post a 500+ word blog every day of the year without fail and have been blogging over 7 years now.

[Guest The Junkman]

I plan on continuing to ebay.. I have alot of experience.. selling my ebay business as I speak..

 

But I think I can buy.. sell and ship fast moving items with in a few days.. And If I hit a good buy spot.. I will rent a storage unit and work from it for a while.. Garage sales and swap meets could come into play.. as well as events like races, fairs etc..

 

Looking forward to downsizing from employees/ warehouse etc.. But I love doing it..

[LiveWorkDream]

I plan on continuing to ebay.. I have alot of experience.. selling my ebay business as I speak..

 

But I think I can buy.. sell and ship fast moving items with in a few days.. And If I hit a good buy spot.. I will rent a storage unit and work from it for a while.. Garage sales and swap meets could come into play.. as well as events like races, fairs etc..

 

Looking forward to downsizing from employees/ warehouse etc.. But I love doing it..

 

That is so cool! I do think that eBayers can make a great living from the road, it seems like a great gig to have the ability to drive to where the finds are. What kind of rig will you have? I take it you're not on the road yet?

[Guest The Junkman]

 

That is so cool! I do think that eBayers can make a great living from the road, it seems like a great gig to have the ability to drive to where the finds are. What kind of rig will you have? I take it you're not on the road yet?

Just learned my drv lexington leaves the factory aug 8th.. I should be on the road by august end. Pulling it with my 2013 Ram ..

 

I will also be buying for 2-3 companies that have a staff for listers for ebay.. so if there are some big deals.. we will just ship it to vegas.

 

But we don't plan on going out of our way.. want to relax a while.

 

Going to the ASD show, in a couple weeks.. thinking of stocking a pile of stuff for swap meets etc.. too.

[bigg-limo]

What do you guys think of residual income? I been working with a company for a couple of months, that is a direct seller of Telecomm, energy, and merchant services. Every time a customer pays a bill, they save money, you make money, and a child gets fed, all at the same time. Your business can be done anywhere, as long as you have access to the internet.

[LiveWorkDream]

What do you guys think of residual income? I been working with a company for a couple of months, that is a direct seller of Telecomm, energy, and merchant services. Every time a customer pays a bill, they save money, you make money, and a child gets fed, all at the same time. Your business can be done anywhere, as long as you have access to the internet.

 

I think that these types of businesses can work out well as long as you keep in mind that you (or rather whoever enrolls in a business like this) is in the business of recruitment and retention, not selling. If the business owner can stay focused on building a customer base and keeping it, these endeavors can bring in extra cash. And if you're wiling to make it a full-time gig and put your all into it, consistently, you can definitely make serious money.

[bigg-limo]

I think that these types of businesses can work out well as long as you keep in mind that you (or rather whoever enrolls in a business like this) is in the business of recruitment and retention, not selling. If the business owner can stay focused on building a customer base and keeping it, these endeavors can bring in extra cash. And if you're wiling to make it a full-time gig and put your all into it, consistently, you can definitely make serious money.

The reason I got into this business is because it only made complete sense to me. When it come to essential services, we can't do without them in general. That explains to me why the retention rate is so extremely high, and there is no selling of products like so many other MLM companies out there. They are usually product based, which are directly affected by the economy. Here, you use a service that's free to the customer, and then he just pays his bill monthly like he always does. In this company, every month that a customer pays his bill, he saves money, the business owner makes money, and last but not least, a child gets fed right here in our own country. So, I see it as a win, win, win situation. Check it out and let me know what you think,...www.leonarddavis.acnrep.com.

[earnnetwealth]

Do people really make money blogging? How does that work?

 

Between Google AdSense ads, Amazon affiliate ads, and display ads on the sidebars I make anywhere from $500 - $750 a month with my blogs. A few months have been over $1,000. But it takes work. I post a 500+ word blog every day of the year without fail and have been blogging over 7 years now.

 

Yup, also link AdSense to You Tube and as people watch your videos, you get paid. Just got a check from Google the other day .

Another thing you can check into is fiverr.com if you have something you can do that does not take too long to do, you can make a descent little payday. For example, I do radio and television voicing. I offer a gig on Fiverr to do up to 60 seconds spot for people for $5.00. Once you have been at it for a while you can add "gig extras", for instance if they want Two 60 second spots they can order Two gigs, or they can add production effects for $10.00, Add rush service for $20.00 etc. I average about $1.00 a minute for my time, which in the long run is pretty good money. You are not going to get rich at it, but let me tell you, I have made pretty good money with Fiverr. Lets say you are good at writing, you can offer a writing gig, or maybe graphics, or even web design. Just pick something that you can turn quickly and you can make pretty good profit.

[ddcerc]

Hi,

 

First I'll underscore that there is a difference between a remote job and an online business, though there is definitely overlap (or perform some hybrid of the two).

 

They both however (i.e., job and business), require widely varying skill sets and backgrounds to succeed at.

 

I will say that in my experience, you would be wise to take stock of your existing skills, as well as pursue new skills that will be profitable for you – (a) within a mobile context, and ( be sustainable over a long term. This will help shield you from bouncing from opportunity to opportunity should certain income streams that are reliant on third party services and platforms "dry up" – which I'm sure happens often on the internet.

 

I'll put those skills into three main categories:

 

General "business" skills

 

Definitely important, and in my experience these took about 4 years to develop.

 

Internet marketing skills

 

This is a very broad term and encompasses among other things writing, promotion, a visual eye, branding, as well as the general technical skills that go along with working on the internet (not just using a web browser); the requirements placed on this skill set may be lighter if you are relying on a third party platform such as eBay, Amazon, etc. to generate income.

 

Your "special" skills

 

There is a powerful truth, that is actually a blessing to the aspiring online businessperson – no one can know everything. This gives you the opportunity to become markedly more proficient and knowledgable about a few things, that then put you head and shoulders above most people, in these areas. This helps your success level become truly viable.

 

This could be as simple as having an in-depth knowledge of the value of used musical equipment, giving you a buying and selling advantage to make quick and confident offers, knowing which pieces will reliably fetch such and such a price online.

 

I read an impressive (free) paperback book from a man named Jeff Usner, who chose to make Google AdWords, along with "offer replication" his "special" skills, and so far has succeeded greatly (with diligence).

 

As for me, I started learning about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in 2007, and this provides me with an above average income as well as favourable working conditions; I have developed other skills along the way as well.

 

As mentioned above, computer programming and systems administration are also valuable skills, and can be learned in a relatively short period of time if you focus one or two things and don't try to learn it all at once (e.g., learn Javascript, Java or PHP, but not all at once).

 

Working Space

 

Another consideration that I am facing as my family and I look to start full-timing later this year, is working space. This is probably less of an issue for many people, but my wife and I have two young children, and so space (and time) becomes even more premium in regards to finding favourable working conditions. I have a post over here about this (glad to receive any advice!).

 

TL;DR

 

Success may take a few years to cultivate, and you will most likely need to find your "special skill set" along the way, along with developing general business and internet marketing skills.

[wa_desert_rat]

Didn't you used to have a hot dog cart? Or am I thinking of someone else? I always thought that looked like a great deal of work to make profitable.

We have a hot dog cart that we run one day a week at a local farmer's market during the summer. It brings in about as much money as our medical insurance and co-pays cost us. It actually takes two days; one day to pick up fresh supplies and then the day of the market. We are building a new cart right now, actually.

 

Since the market is only open one day a week from April to October, and since we have a home base nearby, we can spend the summers here and visit relatives and go fishing 5 days a week as long as we get back here for market day. We often combine getting supplies with camping and/or visiting relatives.

 

Our market limits food vendors to one of each type (some markets don't do this) and is careful to ensure that the farm vendors actually grow their own food (and not truck it up from CA or MX). One of my DW's friends is going to remodel her old hot dog cart into a bakery sales cart at the same market.

 

There are health department regulations that you have to follow. For one thing, they require that you use a kitchen/prep place that they can easily inspect and that can be kept to "commercial" requirements. These "commissaries" are usually leased from existing restaurants and used before or after working hours of the restaurant itself. (They almost never approve a home kitchen as a commissary, btw.) And then the cart must also be built to adhere to the health department regulations. Inspectors drop by the market regularly just to make sure people are following their rules.

 

We have known at least one couple who does home-made soap at the market and then travels south during the winter. Since so many towns now have markets the opportunity would be good for that type of product. You can also do fairs and carnivals and local specialty events (parades, food fairs, etc.).

 

This works well if you have family in an area that you like and would enjoy spending your summers in. There are many hot dog carts available on eBay and they often show up on craigslist so some people fail at this. You have to treat it as a "job" and be there regularly or your customers will stop looking for you.

 

WDR

[SpaceNorman]

We're brand new to RVing - having just purchased our first coach in anticipation of retiring roughly 18 months from now. I currently work as a network analyst - and have been working from home 3-4 days each week for the past 3 years. The reality is that I can do my job from anywhere - as long as I've got a decent internet connection and a cell phone.

 

As I'm getting closer to retirement time and paying more attention to it - I've discovered that my employer is pretty open to "alternative" work arrangements - especially for employees who have been with the company for some time. Some folks have moved to "part time" status as they've transitioned into retirement, others have worked out "full time" telecommuting arrangements that have allowed them to move to areas of the country where the company has no physical presence - some folks are doing both.

 

I'm hoping that perhaps I can make similar arrangements work for me (i.e., "full time" telecommuting for 25...ish hours per week) - and plan to get a feel as to whether or not I can consistently find suitable internet connectivity as we start traveling for weekends and vacations this summer and fall. I've got my fingers crossed!

[wa_desert_rat]

We're brand new to RVing - having just purchased our first coach in anticipation of retiring roughly 18 months from now. I currently work as a network analyst - and have been working from home 3-4 days each week for the past 3 years. The reality is that I can do my job from anywhere - as long as I've got a decent internet connection and a cell phone.

 

You should be able to do this but you will probably need a hot-spot on a cell system (and probably Verizon). Depending upon how you do your work, of course, I'm a free-lance network engineer and I've configured Cisco routers sitting in a kayak parked in an eddy at Deception Pass using a smart phone in a baggy (and billed out for it, too). Since I'm free-lance I don't have to attend many meetings (turns out that when they get billed per hour for meetings then meetings become a lot less important; go figure). Usually they just tell me what they need and I get after it.

 

Most of my work is command line oriented and that uses so little bandwidth that I just use a Linux laptop tethered to a FoxFi application on my Samsung Note 3. But if you're downloading a lot of data and analyzing that you might need more than you can get from a smartphone tether. I also have a Wilson Sleek amplifier and an outside antenna. My antenna is omni-directional and you might want to look at an antenna that is more directional.

 

Edit: Lots of folks on here with great ideas for this. And web sites like http://www.technomadia.com and Jack Meyer's writings http://www.jackdanmayer.com/communication.htm.

 

Welcome to the forum, by the way.

 

WDR

[LiveWorkDream]

We're brand new to RVing - having just purchased our first coach in anticipation of retiring roughly 18 months from now. I currently work as a network analyst - and have been working from home 3-4 days each week for the past 3 years. The reality is that I can do my job from anywhere - as long as I've got a decent internet connection and a cell phone.

Congratulations! Sounds like you're in the perfect place to start working from anywhere. You're in great company, there's lots of geeks on the road like us.

[rlaubert]

We started full timing traveling last June (2014). As we worked up to getting on the road we kept looking for something that would work for us. We settled on Dri Wash n' Guard for the following reason. First it was a product that most RV owners could use and many RV parks do not allow washing the rigs or charge extra for the water use. DWG products are waterless and don't require rinsing, just spray on and wipe off. Second, it does not require stocking of products although having products on hand does increase sales. Third, the business was structured so that you didn't start over every month. Businesses such as AMWAY and AMSOIL both start your commissions based on sales that month and the beginning of the month you start over. With DWG you increase your commissions as your total sales increase over time. So I started out at 20%, sold some products and make it to 30% fairly quickly. As we learned the business and took the free training offered we increased our business to 40% commissions. We use the products in and on our RV and car. Travel around with a couple of magnetic signs on the car and have been building a simple business now for about 6 months. Products are shipped either directly to the customers (website orders included) or to use via FedEx right to the campground that we are staying at. Support from the company on down has been great. No weekly meetings, no tapes, no books that you 'have' to attend or buy. There are phone meetings set up monthly if you want to catch up on what is going on and there is also a free certification program that runs 6 weeks via phone once a week. It teaches the products, business and recruiting if you are interested.

 

I also wrote a book on starting a RV Detailing business which is based on the products since they don't required water, detailing can be done anywhere and anytime. I am giving away a few copies so if you are interested download one at http://rv-inspection-service.com/book-store%C2'> select the RV Detailing book and enter the code FacebookDWG at check out. It will be free.

[LiveWorkDream]

I also wrote a book on starting a RV Detailing business which is based on the products since they don't required water, detailing can be done anywhere and anytime. I am giving away a few copies so if you are interested download one at select the RV Detailing book and enter the code FacebookDWG at check out. It will be free.

 

Congrats on hitting the road! We love DriWash, it's a fantastic product, actually learned about it from another fulltimer several years ago. It cleans better than anything out there and I don't feel like I'm poisoning myself or the environment when I use it. I lost my last distributor so I'd be happy to contact you next time I need some. Only thing is you didn't list your URL. Please PM me, I'd love to review your book for our blog and help you get the word out.

 

-Rene