STOP! Are you on Pinterest!

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If you have been following my journey you probably have already read about my unexpected work stoppage over the weekend due to a stomach bug.  Add that to an EXTREMELY hectic work week and I almost missed my goal of having new content every Monday – Friday.

Almost!

If you are on Pinterest I invite you to join my collaborative board Blog Madness 101!  You can gain an invite if you message me on Pinterest @teacherces or leave a message with your Pinterest name and I’ll add you.

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Let’s see what we can build and network, together!

Unsuspecting Work Stoppage

Image result for mommy is sickAs a budding entrepreneur who has a 9 to 5, my weekends are sacred.  The weekend is the time that allows me total dedication to my craft.  I appreciate the weekend.  I love the weekend and usually can get so much work accomplished.

Except, for this past weekend.  Although, I have heard about this happening it never happened to me until this past weekend.

My whole entire family came down with a stomach virus.  We were ALL sick.  It started with my son on Friday night.  On Saturday night it was my turn.  I was up all night hovering over the porcelain throne for most of the night.  The husband’s turn was Sunday morning and my daughter was (hopefully) the last one Sunday night.

As much as I love working, the only thing I wanted to do was lay on the couch with a cup of ginger ale watching old episodes of The Love Boat.

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Bad mom alert

I laid in bed until 4 pm.  My kids had the rule of the house so it was a complete mess when I went downstairs and guess what, that is okay.  Sometimes it takes a stomach virus to slow down and take the time to think.  It crossed my mind to go and get my laptop and get some work done but I was so tired from being up the previous night.  Plus, I had not seen The Love Boat since I was a kid in the 80’s.  It was keeping my interest in all of its 80’s cheesiness.  I had a Skype appointment with a client early that morning, so I was especially tired and groggy when I took it.

Despite not feeling one hundred percent, I went into work anyone today.  I knew my stomach felt settled enough that I wouldn’t vomit on anyone today but I am still a little fatigued.  It is important to take time out when you need to, even if it unexpected.  Today I play catch up on all the work I did not get done over the weekend and guess what?  That is okay!

The 10 Steps You Need to Know in Order to Sell on Ebay

Online shopping vector flat design illustration.Selling on Ebay can seem very intimidating before you get started.  Here is a simple, ten-step path to Ebay enlightenment.

Step 1: Identify your market. Take a while to sit and watch for what sells and what doesn’t out of the items you’re interested in. Any market research data you can collect will be very useful to you later on. You’ll probably see the ‘sweet spots’ quite quickly – those one or two items that always seem to sell for a good price.

Step 2: Watch the competition. Before you invest any money, see what the other sellers in your category are up to, and what their strategies are. Pay special attention to any flaws their auctions might have, because this is where you can move in and beat them at their own game.

Step 3: Find a product: Get hold of a supplier for whatever it is you want to sell, and see what the best rates you can get are – don’t be afraid to ring round quite a few to get the best deal. If the eBay prices you’ve seen are higher than the supplier’s, then you’re set.

Step 4: Start small: Don’t throw thousands at your idea straight away – get started slowly, see what works and what doesn’t, and learn as you go. Remember that it’s very cheap to try out even the craziest ideas on eBay, and who knows, they might just work!

Step 5: Test and repeat. Keep trying different strategies until you find something that works, and then don’t be ashamed to keep doing it, again and again. The chances are that you’ve just found a good niche.

Step 6: Work out a business plan: A business plan doesn’t need to be anything formal, just a few pages that outline the market opportunity you’ve spotted, your strategy, strengths and weaknesses of the plan and a brief budget. This is more for you than it is for anyone else.

Step 7: Invest and expand: This is the time to throw money at the problem. Buy inventory, and start spending more time on your business. Set a goal number of sales each week, increasing it each time.

Step 8: Make it official: Once you’ve made a few thousand dollars worth of sales, you should really register yourself as a business. Don’t worry, it’s not expensive or hard to do – a lawyer is the best person to help you through the process.

Step 9: Automate: You’ll probably find that you’re writing the same things again and again in emails or item descriptions. This is the time to give up on the manual method and turn to automated software that can create listings for you, and respond to completed auctions and payments with whatever message you provide.

Step 10: Never give up: Even when it looks like it’s all going wrong, don’t stop trying until you succeed. If you keep working at it then you’ll almost always find that you make a real breakthrough just when things are starting to look desperate.

10 Fabulous Ways To Find Low Cost Products to Resell on Ebay

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This week I am featuring how you can use Ebay for your side hustle.  Although Ebay is not passive income, it is income nevertheless.  You will make money but you will also have to deliver products and provide excellent customer service.  Here is a guide on where you can find products to resell on Ebay.  


Garage sales. The chances are you’ve gone most of your life seeing ads for these and ignoring them. Start going to as many as you can. You won’t find good things at every garage sale, but when you find one person with good stuff, make them an offer for the lot – chances are pretty high that you can get a real bargain.

Flea Markets and Swap Meets. If your area has a market, then go there and look around for anything good. You could buy it there if it’s cheap enough, or try to make friends with the market traders and find out who their suppliers are.

Pawn shops. Pawn shops don’t usually know what to do with the junk they accumulate (unless it’s jewellery, of course). Generally, they put their stock out on the shelves haphazardly, hoping that someday someone with a little money will just happen to come in, search around and buy wildly obscure things. Get them to offer you a discount for bulk.

Real auctions. Go to a real auction, as the chances are that you can resell things for more than they will sell them. After all, they only have a few hundred people in that room – you have a few million people to sell to over the interwebs.


Local newspapers. Place an ad in the local paper that reads “I pay cash for [your item type]”, with your phone number. If you can afford it, make it a big display ad, so it’ll be noticed.

Ad boards. Get one of those little ads in the grocery store.

Friends. Ask your friends if they have anything they’d like to sell you, and ask them to spread the word to their friends.

Become known. Give out business cards, mention to people what you do. The chances are that you’ll come across someone who’ll say “Oh, really? I’ve got a load of [item] I don’t want”.

Shops. This might be a little surprising, but some real shops even sell things more cheaply than they sell on eBay. Take a look around your local deep discounter, and pay special attention to any shop that takes trade-ins from customers. The chances are they take a loss on trade-ins as a promotion, and are dying to get rid of that stock.

And finally: eBay! When you’re looking at the completed items view, you’ll notice the massive range of prices that items can sell for on eBay. Try taking the highest-priced item and searching for it on its own, then sort by lowest price first: I can almost guarantee that you’ll see an auction for the same item where it sold for almost nothing. The trick is to find these flawed auctions before they close, win them using a bid sniping service, and then turn around and resell the item.

5 Main Benefits Of Starting Your Own Ebay Side Hustle 

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND - September 17, 2014: Close up of ebay.com

Ebay has always been my go to platform for finding great items at an incredible price.  If you are looking for opportunities to earn money online, selling merchandise and services on Ebay should be a popular ways of earning money on the internet.

Regardless of the type of online business you start, there are many benefits that you can enjoy if you have your own business. Here are the main benefits that you enjoy as an Ebay seller making money on the internet.

1. If you start your own Ebay business, you can earn extra income at home doing something that is fun and easy.  You can earn extra income selling products and services on Ebay.  Keep in mind that it is helpful to have great organizational skills.  

2. You are your own boss and you set the targets of what you want to earn from your business. Starting your own Ebay business puts you in control of your financial well being.

3. You can pursue your interests. The best way to make money is by doing what you enjoy. Because you can sell anything on Ebay, you can create your own products based on your interests, and sell them on Ebay. Since you will be doing something that you enjoy, you can never get bored or tired of building your Ebay business.

4. If you start your own Ebay business, you can work from home and you can have a better work-life balance. Since you are your own boss, you can adjust your life to suit your business.

5. Starting an Ebay business enables you to achieve financial freedom. If you take your Ebay business seriously and professionally, you can make a lot of money on the internet selling merchandise.  Starting your own Ebay business, can help you achieve financial freedom and make any amount of money you want on the internet.

Given all these benefits that you enjoy if you have your own Ebay business, it’s a good idea that you start your own Ebay business today!