Are you using Google Adwords to promote your product or service? Are you getting the results you want? You'll only know this information if you are tracking the conversion rates of the click-through you are paying for. Then, depending on what you learn about the conversions, you may need to refine your campaign.
A conversion rate is defined as the percentage of people who actually purchase your product or service compared to the number of people who came to your website by clicking on your Adwords ad. This number is the conversation percentage and the higher the percentage, the more effective your ad campaign. If you have extremely low numbers, you need to do something to increase those numbers such as refine your ads or choose better keywords or websites for displaying the ads.
Google provides inside the Adwords application a tool for tracking conversions for each campaign and each ad you run. This allows you to learn what your rates are and see which ads are doing their job well. If one ad or a whole campaign isn't doing well, then you can look for patterns that can clue you in about how to change and make the campaign more effective.
The more data you gather about conversion the better you will be able to tune your site because the fact that a visitor clicks your ad, lands on your site to see what you have to offer does not necessarily makes it a buyer or a lead. Your site colors, navigation and structure also have a very important effect on your conversion rates.
It doesn't matter whether you are the world’s number 1 adwords campaign creator if your site is ugly, difficult to use or navigate or is not offering what you stated in the ad you will have very low conversion rates. A fine example of this is the ad that states that a product or service is free only to find out when you go to the site that you have to pay. Make sure that your ad and your website are offering the same thing with the same conditions.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Techniques Will Double Your Adsense Income And Beyond
Techniques Will Double Your AdSense Income And Beyond
Ever since Google AdSense has come onto the market, a big part of the internet marketing game has been to try and get as good at as possible with Adsense. With any number of different advertisers using it, the goal of creating a passive stream of income has really become the holy grail of internet marketing and while many people have been successful at it from time to time, true success at AdSense is gained through the use of proven techniques over a lengthy period of time. Here are some of the techniques that can help you push your AdSense business forward.
Square Ads
One of the most basic advanced AdSense techniques that you can utilize is the use of square ads. Many of the people that get started with AdSense do not use square ads, but rather they end up using banner ads. Since banners have been associated with advertisements for as long as people can remember, it is perhaps not that surprising that people would think this way. Banner ads have become less effective than text links. The term for this phenomenon is "banner blindness".
Banner ads were so ubiquitous in the early years of the Internet that users simply began ignoring them. Now people try to avoid banners an prefer to click on plain boring text ads, as long as they are relevant to the topic they are searching for. However, it is precisely because people associate banners with advertising that you need to avoid using them in your AdSense code.
Banners turn people off and you need something that people will not simply ignore through having it programmed into their mind. That something is the square ad. Any square or rectangle ad that is offered by AdSense is the best way to go, simply because of the fact that people seem to react best to these. Changing all of your banner ads to square or rectangle ads can help you increase your click through rate by as much as 10% without having to do anything else.
Arbitrage
Arbitrage is the art of buying AdWords clicks at lower amounts of money for a keyword while simultaneously selling them for higher amounts of money through AdSense. Generally speaking, if your website is worth visiting, then the people that visit it will be high quality traffic that will be served the best AdSense ads (i.e. the ones that people have paid the most for).
If you find a place where there is a large gap between the top and middle bids for a keyword, then you can buy a lower priced keyword confident in the thought that your AdSense will still make you a fair bit of money. This is an extremely advanced concept and one that should not be tried lightly, as it is really a wholly different way of looking at AdSense advertising. Making a substantial income with Adsense may be difficult but if you are starting on the right foot you can succeed.
Ever since Google AdSense has come onto the market, a big part of the internet marketing game has been to try and get as good at as possible with Adsense. With any number of different advertisers using it, the goal of creating a passive stream of income has really become the holy grail of internet marketing and while many people have been successful at it from time to time, true success at AdSense is gained through the use of proven techniques over a lengthy period of time. Here are some of the techniques that can help you push your AdSense business forward.
Square Ads
One of the most basic advanced AdSense techniques that you can utilize is the use of square ads. Many of the people that get started with AdSense do not use square ads, but rather they end up using banner ads. Since banners have been associated with advertisements for as long as people can remember, it is perhaps not that surprising that people would think this way. Banner ads have become less effective than text links. The term for this phenomenon is "banner blindness".
Banner ads were so ubiquitous in the early years of the Internet that users simply began ignoring them. Now people try to avoid banners an prefer to click on plain boring text ads, as long as they are relevant to the topic they are searching for. However, it is precisely because people associate banners with advertising that you need to avoid using them in your AdSense code.
Banners turn people off and you need something that people will not simply ignore through having it programmed into their mind. That something is the square ad. Any square or rectangle ad that is offered by AdSense is the best way to go, simply because of the fact that people seem to react best to these. Changing all of your banner ads to square or rectangle ads can help you increase your click through rate by as much as 10% without having to do anything else.
Arbitrage
Arbitrage is the art of buying AdWords clicks at lower amounts of money for a keyword while simultaneously selling them for higher amounts of money through AdSense. Generally speaking, if your website is worth visiting, then the people that visit it will be high quality traffic that will be served the best AdSense ads (i.e. the ones that people have paid the most for).
If you find a place where there is a large gap between the top and middle bids for a keyword, then you can buy a lower priced keyword confident in the thought that your AdSense will still make you a fair bit of money. This is an extremely advanced concept and one that should not be tried lightly, as it is really a wholly different way of looking at AdSense advertising. Making a substantial income with Adsense may be difficult but if you are starting on the right foot you can succeed.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Make Money Online Using WebSEO to Build Backlinks
If you want to dominate the search engines and actually make money online then you need to get backlinks, and lots of them. But not just any link will do, you need keyword anchored backlinks. This will greatly increase your authority in the search engines which will then increase your rankings and traffic. In the end you make a lot more money!
Getting perfect backlinks is very difficult to do but there are several ways to get backlinks. You can submit articles to directories, write guest blog posts, do link exchanges, set up some link bait, write good content and hope people link to it, submit your site to web directories, comment on dofollow blogs, social bookmarking, forums, and lots of other things. However, most of those are very time consuming and will only get you so far.
What can you do to really ramp up your link building efforts?
There are several resources that can help you build backlinks. Some of the popular ones are Backlink Solutions, LinkVana, Article Marketing Automation, Traffic Kahuna, Article Marketer, Unique Article Wizard, and Bookmarking Demon. However, there is no way the average person trying to make money online could afford to pay for all of these each month. And it would be very difficult to find the time to write the articles and manage them all.
So, what's an option for people without the money for all those recurring subscriptions or the time to manage them all?
It's called WebSEO and it's a backlink building service that was created with those exact people in mind. A service that will help you get the links you need to achieve top search engine rankings and make money online without going broke or using up all your time in the process.
It's not a flashy or hyped up service. In fact, it's very straightforward and mostly unheard of. You don't even really get any information by visiting the site. Oh, in case you are wondering, the above link is not an affiliate link. I don't think they even have an affiliate program. I'm only telling you about it to help you get more backlinks and make more money!
Like I said, there isn't much information on the site so you might not know what the heck you are supposed to do. Here's the step by step process for you to follow:
1) Go to http://webseo.org
2) Register for an account. It's free.
3) Wait for admin to approve you.
4) Once approved you can then log in.
5) Choose the link package you want.
6) Pay via Paypal.
7) Submit your keywords and links.
8) Wait for your links to roll in.
That's it. Very simple and very affordable!
Keep in mind that this is a new system so there might be some changes being made here and there until all the kinks are worked out. So, the above process could change, or may have changed by the time you read this. Even still I am sure it will stay very simple and straightforward.
Getting perfect backlinks is very difficult to do but there are several ways to get backlinks. You can submit articles to directories, write guest blog posts, do link exchanges, set up some link bait, write good content and hope people link to it, submit your site to web directories, comment on dofollow blogs, social bookmarking, forums, and lots of other things. However, most of those are very time consuming and will only get you so far.
What can you do to really ramp up your link building efforts?
There are several resources that can help you build backlinks. Some of the popular ones are Backlink Solutions, LinkVana, Article Marketing Automation, Traffic Kahuna, Article Marketer, Unique Article Wizard, and Bookmarking Demon. However, there is no way the average person trying to make money online could afford to pay for all of these each month. And it would be very difficult to find the time to write the articles and manage them all.
So, what's an option for people without the money for all those recurring subscriptions or the time to manage them all?
It's called WebSEO and it's a backlink building service that was created with those exact people in mind. A service that will help you get the links you need to achieve top search engine rankings and make money online without going broke or using up all your time in the process.
It's not a flashy or hyped up service. In fact, it's very straightforward and mostly unheard of. You don't even really get any information by visiting the site. Oh, in case you are wondering, the above link is not an affiliate link. I don't think they even have an affiliate program. I'm only telling you about it to help you get more backlinks and make more money!
Like I said, there isn't much information on the site so you might not know what the heck you are supposed to do. Here's the step by step process for you to follow:
1) Go to http://webseo.org
2) Register for an account. It's free.
3) Wait for admin to approve you.
4) Once approved you can then log in.
5) Choose the link package you want.
6) Pay via Paypal.
7) Submit your keywords and links.
8) Wait for your links to roll in.
That's it. Very simple and very affordable!
Keep in mind that this is a new system so there might be some changes being made here and there until all the kinks are worked out. So, the above process could change, or may have changed by the time you read this. Even still I am sure it will stay very simple and straightforward.
How to Find Real Internet Business Ideas
There are virtually unlimited ways to make money online but just because you earn money doesn't mean you have a real internet business. Unfortunately there are scams, outdated ideas & opportunities, and other ways to make a little money on the internet but they aren't real businesses. In this post I will take a closer look at these possibilities and tell you how to find real internet business ideas that you can implement to help you make money from home.
* Online Business Scams
You will see the word "scam" being thrown around a lot when it comes to making money online. Just about anytime someone is unhappy with a program or opportunity they have tried they are quick to call it a scam. However, this is often unfair and is usually not actually true. It implies that you have been intentionally deceived and defrauded. This does happen but it's a lot more unusual than you might think.
A couple examples of scams would be where you send money for a product that doesn't even exist, or you pay for business coaching and never get it. You can usually avoid having this happen to you by checking online forums or searching Google for reviews and information on the product or service that you are considering.
* Outdated Ideas and Opportunities
When you are browsing for ways to make money online you will undoubtedly come across some internet business ideas based on outdated methods that no longer work or don't work very well anymore. The internet changes very quickly so what works one year may not work the next year, and any online business strategy must be very flexible and keep up with the changes.
For example, a few years ago it was possible to make a lot of money with Adsense by building websites that automatically created thousands of spam pages to attract traffic from a ton of different keywords. The search engines figured this out and started dropping and banning those types of sites. They also changed their algorithms so sites like this wouldn't rank highly anymore. Google also made sites like that against the Adsense rules. Needless to say, that technique doesn't work anymore but you still see plenty of people promoting it as a great way to make money online.
Adsense is still a great business model and you certainly can make money with adsense. But you have to do it in a way that works right now, not a way that worked a few years ago or even last year. Internet marketing techniques change very fast so you need to continually learn how to make money online with adsense and keep up with the times.
* Is it a Real Internet Business?
Many people make money online working for others and think they have a real internet home business but they actually don't. This can be about any type of home job from writing website content to working in customer support. Many people are happy doing this type of work but it really cannot be called an internet business. Somebody is employing you, even if you never meet them or even talk to them other than through email or messenger.
There is a fine line between doing a work at home job for someone else and running your own online home business. One way to see the difference is to look at who sets the price. Is someone paying you a certain amount of money for doing a certain task? If so, they own the business. Or are you setting the price and accepting clients who take it, or doing things where you are in control of how you make the money and how much you can make? If so, you own the business.
* Where to Find Internet Business Ideas
One of the best ways to find home business ideas is to observe other successful businesses. Many people will offer to teach you how to make money online if you read (buy) their ebooks and products but you can often learn more from watching how they sell this service to you.
Even better, visit a site where websites are bought and sold to see the exact ways that the owners are making money from these sites. It is hard to get an idea of the money making potential of a website just by looking at it, but someone who is selling you the site will tell you exactly how much money it makes and how.
You can see profitable websites and real online business being sold at places like the Sitepoint Marketplace and Digital Point Forums. Look at the premium and established sites for sale and click through to the details. The owners will often provide detailed reports, screenshots, and PDF downloads of how they make money from the website.
You will see at these marketplaces that there are a massive variety of existing online businesses available to buy. Even if you want to build your own website instead of buying an existing one, visiting the site selling markets will give you a ton of home business ideas. Make sure you write them down so you don't forget all the details of these profitable internet businesses after the sites are sold.
I will finish by saying that it's not easy to build a real internet business that brings you in significant profits on a consistent basis. You will have to spend a lot of time learning, researching, working, and implementing new ideas and techniques. Don't expect to make money online fast and don't be fooled into thinking you can join some business opportunity then sit back and wait for the money to roll in. That's not going to happen!
* Online Business Scams
You will see the word "scam" being thrown around a lot when it comes to making money online. Just about anytime someone is unhappy with a program or opportunity they have tried they are quick to call it a scam. However, this is often unfair and is usually not actually true. It implies that you have been intentionally deceived and defrauded. This does happen but it's a lot more unusual than you might think.
A couple examples of scams would be where you send money for a product that doesn't even exist, or you pay for business coaching and never get it. You can usually avoid having this happen to you by checking online forums or searching Google for reviews and information on the product or service that you are considering.
* Outdated Ideas and Opportunities
When you are browsing for ways to make money online you will undoubtedly come across some internet business ideas based on outdated methods that no longer work or don't work very well anymore. The internet changes very quickly so what works one year may not work the next year, and any online business strategy must be very flexible and keep up with the changes.
For example, a few years ago it was possible to make a lot of money with Adsense by building websites that automatically created thousands of spam pages to attract traffic from a ton of different keywords. The search engines figured this out and started dropping and banning those types of sites. They also changed their algorithms so sites like this wouldn't rank highly anymore. Google also made sites like that against the Adsense rules. Needless to say, that technique doesn't work anymore but you still see plenty of people promoting it as a great way to make money online.
Adsense is still a great business model and you certainly can make money with adsense. But you have to do it in a way that works right now, not a way that worked a few years ago or even last year. Internet marketing techniques change very fast so you need to continually learn how to make money online with adsense and keep up with the times.
* Is it a Real Internet Business?
Many people make money online working for others and think they have a real internet home business but they actually don't. This can be about any type of home job from writing website content to working in customer support. Many people are happy doing this type of work but it really cannot be called an internet business. Somebody is employing you, even if you never meet them or even talk to them other than through email or messenger.
There is a fine line between doing a work at home job for someone else and running your own online home business. One way to see the difference is to look at who sets the price. Is someone paying you a certain amount of money for doing a certain task? If so, they own the business. Or are you setting the price and accepting clients who take it, or doing things where you are in control of how you make the money and how much you can make? If so, you own the business.
* Where to Find Internet Business Ideas
One of the best ways to find home business ideas is to observe other successful businesses. Many people will offer to teach you how to make money online if you read (buy) their ebooks and products but you can often learn more from watching how they sell this service to you.
Even better, visit a site where websites are bought and sold to see the exact ways that the owners are making money from these sites. It is hard to get an idea of the money making potential of a website just by looking at it, but someone who is selling you the site will tell you exactly how much money it makes and how.
You can see profitable websites and real online business being sold at places like the Sitepoint Marketplace and Digital Point Forums. Look at the premium and established sites for sale and click through to the details. The owners will often provide detailed reports, screenshots, and PDF downloads of how they make money from the website.
You will see at these marketplaces that there are a massive variety of existing online businesses available to buy. Even if you want to build your own website instead of buying an existing one, visiting the site selling markets will give you a ton of home business ideas. Make sure you write them down so you don't forget all the details of these profitable internet businesses after the sites are sold.
I will finish by saying that it's not easy to build a real internet business that brings you in significant profits on a consistent basis. You will have to spend a lot of time learning, researching, working, and implementing new ideas and techniques. Don't expect to make money online fast and don't be fooled into thinking you can join some business opportunity then sit back and wait for the money to roll in. That's not going to happen!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
5 Common Google AdWords PPC Mistakes
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is the fastest way to drive instant traffic to your website but it may cause you to loss money if you did not use the right techniques to create effective ads that can make money especially if you use Google AdWords as your advertising platform. AdWords PPC is the most competitive advertising channels where most of online marketers are trying to utilize it to generate profits, but unfortunately most of them failed eventually. What make most of them can't make money with AdWords?
Here are the 5 common Google AdWords PPC mistakes made by most of internet marketers:
1. Setting Initial Bids Too High
Most of internet marketers start bidding too high just to get top position before they identify their profitable keywords. Bidding at $0.50 or $1.00 per keyword may get you at the top position of the search result, but it will cost you if those clicks do not convert into sales. You should test out your AdWords ads with a range of targeted keywords with lower bid price and monitor them to see which those keywords make profits. Then, discard the keywords that just bring clicks without conversion and focus on keywords that make money.
2. Enable Ads On Content Network
Most people forget to turn of the content ads when they start a new campaign. Before you confirm that your new campaign is effective to make profits, it is advisable to turn off the content network and focus only on the search. Enabling AdWords campaign on content network will cause your ads to appear at relevant sites that have AdSense ads, which will increase the ads impressions and decrease your CTR (Click-through-rate) that causes the quality score of your ads go down and you need to pay higher bids to activate your keywords.
3. Wrong & Untargeted Keywords
If you are selling ring tones for mobile phone, targeting keyword "mobile phone" may bring you a lot of clicks, but those clickers may not be your potential buyers as they may just want to find new mobile phone, mobile phone wallpapers or application & etc. Using wrong or untargeted keywords bring a lot of clicks but without profits for you, by doing this, you are giving away free money to Google.
4. Poor Or Non Attractive Ads
You may using the right keywords, reasonable bid price and you ads appear in the keywords search results, but you get a low CTR. Then, it is something wrong with your ads. It may not deliver the correct message or give the searchers what they are looking for. Poor or non attractive ads will make your ads appear without clicks, hence no traffic being drive to your destination and you make no money.
5. Bad Landing Page
No matter how good your ads and how targeted your keywords are, the traffic you drive to a landing page, either the sales page of merchants or your own landing page at your website will be wasted if the destination page is a bad landing page. Driving traffic to a bad land page will cause low conversion and you may not make enough profits to cover for your marketing costs.
Here are the 5 common Google AdWords PPC mistakes made by most of internet marketers:
1. Setting Initial Bids Too High
Most of internet marketers start bidding too high just to get top position before they identify their profitable keywords. Bidding at $0.50 or $1.00 per keyword may get you at the top position of the search result, but it will cost you if those clicks do not convert into sales. You should test out your AdWords ads with a range of targeted keywords with lower bid price and monitor them to see which those keywords make profits. Then, discard the keywords that just bring clicks without conversion and focus on keywords that make money.
2. Enable Ads On Content Network
Most people forget to turn of the content ads when they start a new campaign. Before you confirm that your new campaign is effective to make profits, it is advisable to turn off the content network and focus only on the search. Enabling AdWords campaign on content network will cause your ads to appear at relevant sites that have AdSense ads, which will increase the ads impressions and decrease your CTR (Click-through-rate) that causes the quality score of your ads go down and you need to pay higher bids to activate your keywords.
3. Wrong & Untargeted Keywords
If you are selling ring tones for mobile phone, targeting keyword "mobile phone" may bring you a lot of clicks, but those clickers may not be your potential buyers as they may just want to find new mobile phone, mobile phone wallpapers or application & etc. Using wrong or untargeted keywords bring a lot of clicks but without profits for you, by doing this, you are giving away free money to Google.
4. Poor Or Non Attractive Ads
You may using the right keywords, reasonable bid price and you ads appear in the keywords search results, but you get a low CTR. Then, it is something wrong with your ads. It may not deliver the correct message or give the searchers what they are looking for. Poor or non attractive ads will make your ads appear without clicks, hence no traffic being drive to your destination and you make no money.
5. Bad Landing Page
No matter how good your ads and how targeted your keywords are, the traffic you drive to a landing page, either the sales page of merchants or your own landing page at your website will be wasted if the destination page is a bad landing page. Driving traffic to a bad land page will cause low conversion and you may not make enough profits to cover for your marketing costs.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
7 Garage Sale Tips You Must Have For Success
John's daughter and her family are moving to a different state and they have several items they don't want to take with them so they are having a garage sale. I just organized a two car garage and my client found so many duplicate, good, and unwanted items that she is having a garage sale. The reasons for a sale are many and varied. No matter why you are having a garage sale here are some tips for a successful sale:
1·Gather Your Inventory
Once you have decided on what you will sale be tough with yourself. Store your yard sale inventory in black plastic garbage bags or boxes with lids. No peeking! There is no appeal, no mercy and no second chance. The things in the bags or boxes are no longer junk or stuff, its inventory!
2·Set The Date
Choose your day, and plan a one-day sale. Have a strategy for sale's end. Many charities will pick up all unsold items. Or set a time and after that time give everything away free, or charge a dime for everything. My daughter got a beautiful, in excellent condition queen size bed free at a garage sale. She didn't even know after 3:00 everything was free, but they stuck to their decision and she benefited. Whatever you do, don't let the survivors back in the house! If you can't sell this stuff at a garage sale, why would you want it to clutter your home?
3·Advertise
You've sorted your stuff and scoped out the field. Now it's time to play retailer. First rule: advertise, advertise, and advertise. Put an ad on Craig's List or other local advertizing places.
The secret to a successful yard sale is foot traffic. The more folks who walk through your sale, the more you'll sell. Lots of cars parked on your street tell yard-sale cruisers where to find you. If business is brisk, buyers won't leave your premises without that lighted beer sign, for fear that someone else will snatch it right up. The more, the merrier; your muffin-tin change sorter will overflow.
Depending where in the country you live put an ad in the newspaper. Many local papers offer special garage sale rates or free signs to yard sale advertisers. Watch your wording. Mention furniture, baby items, garden tools or other desirable items you have to offer, but don't waste your money on "miscellaneous".
If you want to keep pre-dawn bargain hunters from banging on your door at 5 a.m., include the phrase "No early birds!" in your ad. A creative use of "Early birds pay double" will discourage all but the most fanatic; make them pay for the privilege.
Use your computer (or your kids) to make signs, lots of signs. Use neon poster board and deep-black markers. Make the directions BIG. If you can't see your signs from a block away, neither can your customers. If you live tucked deep in a twisted spiral of subdivision streets, place sign at each and every corner between your house and the nearest main road. Make it easy for buyers to find you.
4·Preparation and Price
Assess your inventory. Does it look garage-sale drab? A little elbow grease can yield big bucks. Run dusty dishes and filmy glassware through the dishwasher. A quick spritz with automotive vinyl protectant makes small appliances and plastic items shine like new. Clean, fresh-smelling clothing hung on hangers commands a higher price than stained and rumpled items tossed into boxes.
Pay attention to packaging. Plastic food storage bags group children's game pieces, display jewelry, and hold hardware bits and pieces.
Price every item. Yes, haggling is part of the yard sale scene, but for those with shyer natures, a price sticker saves a lot of energy. Buyers are more apt to buy when they know the price is in their ballpark. Use masking tape or small adhesive stickers to label your wares.
Bundling is an old retailer's trick, and one well suited to the yard-sale seller. Abide by your area's yard sale price guidelines. Yard sales have their own economy. The goal is to get rid of stuff. Your shoppers know the going prices as well as you do.
5·Set Up Shop
Make sure your site can be seen from the road, and plan to haul a few big items out front, for good measure. It's best to work from a stripped site, so remove everything that's not for sale from the driveway, garage or carport. If you can't, drape the not-for-sale items with sheets or tarps.
Set out your wares. Tables, even a slab of plywood board resting on sawhorse, make it easy to browse. Hang clothing from ropes or chains attached to the ceiling. Display books, spines up, in shallow boxes for easy shopping. When possible, use signs to identify merchandise: full-size sheets, infants' clothing. Lay a heavy-duty extension cord to operate radios and television, and test electrical appliances.
Remove anything that can be tripped over, including the dog, who should live elsewhere for the duration of the sale. Check the garage floor and driveway for slippery spots or hidden hazards. Tape down extension cords or cables.
Are you ready to make change? A muffin tin makes a good change holder. Be prepared with at least $20 in small bills and change. Or a big pocket apron works too or an old tackle box.
6·Ready, Set, Sell
Don't sit there like a lump in a lawn chair! Get up and talk to people. Be excited and enthusiastic. Be bubbly and vivacious and share lots of information about that wonderful set of bed linens that you love and adore but no longer match your color scheme. Put your best foot forward.
Plan for at least two staffers for every yard sale, and more is better. One person acts as "background", shuffling cash, keeping an active eye on everything. A cashier sits at the front with muffin tin or cash box. Leave the selling to the most enthusiastic salesperson.
Offer free lemonade or some drink, and give your children a taste of private enterprise, entrusting them with a donut concession. If people are eating, they're staying--and if they're staying, they're buying. That's the point!
7·When The Sale Is Over
Wrap up your sale when you said you would. A yard sale is a lot of work, and you're still not finished. Dispose of the leftovers, either to the charity pick-up or by boxing and delivering the items yourself. Be considerate of your neighbors and next week's yard sale enthusiasts. Remove all signs, and return your sale site to normal.
Then go count your proceeds--and take the family out to dinner. You've earned it!
Marilyn is a creative organizer who helps women, seniors and their families create space and end clutter in their homes and offices by setting up custom made systems.
1·Gather Your Inventory
Once you have decided on what you will sale be tough with yourself. Store your yard sale inventory in black plastic garbage bags or boxes with lids. No peeking! There is no appeal, no mercy and no second chance. The things in the bags or boxes are no longer junk or stuff, its inventory!
2·Set The Date
Choose your day, and plan a one-day sale. Have a strategy for sale's end. Many charities will pick up all unsold items. Or set a time and after that time give everything away free, or charge a dime for everything. My daughter got a beautiful, in excellent condition queen size bed free at a garage sale. She didn't even know after 3:00 everything was free, but they stuck to their decision and she benefited. Whatever you do, don't let the survivors back in the house! If you can't sell this stuff at a garage sale, why would you want it to clutter your home?
3·Advertise
You've sorted your stuff and scoped out the field. Now it's time to play retailer. First rule: advertise, advertise, and advertise. Put an ad on Craig's List or other local advertizing places.
The secret to a successful yard sale is foot traffic. The more folks who walk through your sale, the more you'll sell. Lots of cars parked on your street tell yard-sale cruisers where to find you. If business is brisk, buyers won't leave your premises without that lighted beer sign, for fear that someone else will snatch it right up. The more, the merrier; your muffin-tin change sorter will overflow.
Depending where in the country you live put an ad in the newspaper. Many local papers offer special garage sale rates or free signs to yard sale advertisers. Watch your wording. Mention furniture, baby items, garden tools or other desirable items you have to offer, but don't waste your money on "miscellaneous".
If you want to keep pre-dawn bargain hunters from banging on your door at 5 a.m., include the phrase "No early birds!" in your ad. A creative use of "Early birds pay double" will discourage all but the most fanatic; make them pay for the privilege.
Use your computer (or your kids) to make signs, lots of signs. Use neon poster board and deep-black markers. Make the directions BIG. If you can't see your signs from a block away, neither can your customers. If you live tucked deep in a twisted spiral of subdivision streets, place sign at each and every corner between your house and the nearest main road. Make it easy for buyers to find you.
4·Preparation and Price
Assess your inventory. Does it look garage-sale drab? A little elbow grease can yield big bucks. Run dusty dishes and filmy glassware through the dishwasher. A quick spritz with automotive vinyl protectant makes small appliances and plastic items shine like new. Clean, fresh-smelling clothing hung on hangers commands a higher price than stained and rumpled items tossed into boxes.
Pay attention to packaging. Plastic food storage bags group children's game pieces, display jewelry, and hold hardware bits and pieces.
Price every item. Yes, haggling is part of the yard sale scene, but for those with shyer natures, a price sticker saves a lot of energy. Buyers are more apt to buy when they know the price is in their ballpark. Use masking tape or small adhesive stickers to label your wares.
Bundling is an old retailer's trick, and one well suited to the yard-sale seller. Abide by your area's yard sale price guidelines. Yard sales have their own economy. The goal is to get rid of stuff. Your shoppers know the going prices as well as you do.
5·Set Up Shop
Make sure your site can be seen from the road, and plan to haul a few big items out front, for good measure. It's best to work from a stripped site, so remove everything that's not for sale from the driveway, garage or carport. If you can't, drape the not-for-sale items with sheets or tarps.
Set out your wares. Tables, even a slab of plywood board resting on sawhorse, make it easy to browse. Hang clothing from ropes or chains attached to the ceiling. Display books, spines up, in shallow boxes for easy shopping. When possible, use signs to identify merchandise: full-size sheets, infants' clothing. Lay a heavy-duty extension cord to operate radios and television, and test electrical appliances.
Remove anything that can be tripped over, including the dog, who should live elsewhere for the duration of the sale. Check the garage floor and driveway for slippery spots or hidden hazards. Tape down extension cords or cables.
Are you ready to make change? A muffin tin makes a good change holder. Be prepared with at least $20 in small bills and change. Or a big pocket apron works too or an old tackle box.
6·Ready, Set, Sell
Don't sit there like a lump in a lawn chair! Get up and talk to people. Be excited and enthusiastic. Be bubbly and vivacious and share lots of information about that wonderful set of bed linens that you love and adore but no longer match your color scheme. Put your best foot forward.
Plan for at least two staffers for every yard sale, and more is better. One person acts as "background", shuffling cash, keeping an active eye on everything. A cashier sits at the front with muffin tin or cash box. Leave the selling to the most enthusiastic salesperson.
Offer free lemonade or some drink, and give your children a taste of private enterprise, entrusting them with a donut concession. If people are eating, they're staying--and if they're staying, they're buying. That's the point!
7·When The Sale Is Over
Wrap up your sale when you said you would. A yard sale is a lot of work, and you're still not finished. Dispose of the leftovers, either to the charity pick-up or by boxing and delivering the items yourself. Be considerate of your neighbors and next week's yard sale enthusiasts. Remove all signs, and return your sale site to normal.
Then go count your proceeds--and take the family out to dinner. You've earned it!
Marilyn is a creative organizer who helps women, seniors and their families create space and end clutter in their homes and offices by setting up custom made systems.
4 Online Money Making Opportunities For Stay at Home Moms
With today's high oil price and high inflation rate, money is never enough. Many stay at home moms are looking for opportunities to earn extra money so that they can help to cover their family expenses. One concern of those moms is they need to stay at home to take care of their children, so go out to work will not be their option. Then, earn money online from internet could be their best option because it allows them to stay focus on their family while making extra income.
!b>The online money making opportunities available for moms
There are a few online money making opportunities that moms can do from home and make money from there:
1. EBay Business With Dropshipping
Ebay provides a great opportunity for anyone to make money online and dropshipping enable you to start your eBay online business with little risk and no upfront capital on keeping the product stocks. You can start an Ebay storefront to find buyers, and when there are orders received, you will then divert the orders to dropshippers who will then process the order and deliver them to your customers. You make the profit from your selling price minus the dropshipper offer price of the product.
2. Affiliate Marketing On Digital Products
Downloadable digital products are great products to be promoted online and make some good money from them. There are many affiliate networks that you can join for free and once you become their affiliate, you will be given a unique affiliate link. You can promote your selected affiliate products with this affiliate link through various marketing channels, such as pay-per-click advertising. If a person purchases the product through your affiliate link, you earn a commission.
3. Create Your Own Information Product & Sell It Online
If you can write a book on a topic, you could then convert it to an ebook format and upload it to an affiliate network such as Clickbank, and let other people to sell it for you. You just need to pay out a certain percentage as commission to those affiliates who are successfully selling the ebook for you. Although you can write any topic you like, it is important you make some surveys of the market demand about the topic you are going to write to ensure there are buyers who will purchase your ebook.
4. Join The Online Paid Surveys
Many companies need to market data on their products or services. They will pay you to answer their questionnaires. Join online surveys can be a good option for moms to earn money online by just filling the forms. You can easily get $5 to $75 per survey form filled. You can also choose to join the online focus group to provide your opinions on certain products or services and get paid $50 to $175 per hours.
!b>The online money making opportunities available for moms
There are a few online money making opportunities that moms can do from home and make money from there:
1. EBay Business With Dropshipping
Ebay provides a great opportunity for anyone to make money online and dropshipping enable you to start your eBay online business with little risk and no upfront capital on keeping the product stocks. You can start an Ebay storefront to find buyers, and when there are orders received, you will then divert the orders to dropshippers who will then process the order and deliver them to your customers. You make the profit from your selling price minus the dropshipper offer price of the product.
2. Affiliate Marketing On Digital Products
Downloadable digital products are great products to be promoted online and make some good money from them. There are many affiliate networks that you can join for free and once you become their affiliate, you will be given a unique affiliate link. You can promote your selected affiliate products with this affiliate link through various marketing channels, such as pay-per-click advertising. If a person purchases the product through your affiliate link, you earn a commission.
3. Create Your Own Information Product & Sell It Online
If you can write a book on a topic, you could then convert it to an ebook format and upload it to an affiliate network such as Clickbank, and let other people to sell it for you. You just need to pay out a certain percentage as commission to those affiliates who are successfully selling the ebook for you. Although you can write any topic you like, it is important you make some surveys of the market demand about the topic you are going to write to ensure there are buyers who will purchase your ebook.
4. Join The Online Paid Surveys
Many companies need to market data on their products or services. They will pay you to answer their questionnaires. Join online surveys can be a good option for moms to earn money online by just filling the forms. You can easily get $5 to $75 per survey form filled. You can also choose to join the online focus group to provide your opinions on certain products or services and get paid $50 to $175 per hours.
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