10 Websites That Help You Earn Extra Money
February 4, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Extra Income, Shopping, Spending and Saving
We are all searching for new and innovative ways to make extra money. I have spoken many times about the importance of not relying on one stream of income. I worry greatly about families that still rely on one income. If that income goes away in the form of being laid off, then your life will be severely altered. If you were able to create one or two other streams of income, then losing your day job would not be quite as big of a hit.
Wisebread.com has a great list of websites you probably never heard of that could help you save and earn extra money
Make Extra Money While You Are Looking For A New Job
January 26, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Careers, Extra Income
The worst part about an economic recession are the jobs lost by hard working individuals around the country. The United States has seen a spike in unemployment in the past year, and most of it came from the real estate, mortgage, and financial sectors. The credit meltdown and the corruption on Wall Street led to companies folding, merging, and liquidating. This causes jobs to be lost. We’ve also seen large corporations like Circuit City, Linens ‘n Things, and other retailers on the verge of going under. I got caught in the middle of the hiring squeeze. I left my previous jobs voluntariliy, because my wife accepted a position in Orlando, Florida, and we were living in Jacksonville at the time. I have definitely felt the toughness of finding someone who is actually hiring. If you are out of work, there are many ways you can still earn money while you look for new work. Do not assume that you will be hired quickly in this economic climate. Even if you have strong leads right away, the hiring process can sometimes take 4 to 6 weeks.
FusionCash.Net: A Legitimate Website For Making Money From Home
November 7, 2008 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Extra Income
I am sure you all are tired of the millions of scams and fake websites that claim you can make money from home. In a moment of weakness, you may have been tricked by one of these “infomercial-get-rich-quick” websites that promise you will make thousands of dollars per month. Then, you find out that there is always a catch or they keep billing you when they said it would only be a one-time fee. I know there are many stay-at-home moms and people just barely making it looking to make some extra cash. Fusion Cash is the only website that I have had good success with actually being paid for doing trial offers, taking surveys, and joining online clubs.
Watch Out For Illegitimate Multi-Level Marketing Programs
August 12, 2008 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Extra Income, Scam Alert
I was listening to the Clark Howard radio show today, and he was talking about fly-by-night MLM programs that pop up during economic slowdowns. They prey on people looking to quickly make extra money. There are plenty of legitimate multi-level marketing programs out there, but for every good one, there are at least 10 bad ones.
What is a Multi-Level Marketing Program?
It’s a business model with two levels. You make money by selling a product/service and you make money by recruiting more people to sell a product/service. Think Amway. Amway is the most famous legitimate multi-level marketing program.
Craigslist Is My Number One Choice For Selling Personal Items
November 8, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Consumer News, Extra Income
I have written about this before, the fact that I think craigslist is a much better option for selling off personal items rather than ebay. Four years ago, you would have seen me putting up stuff on ebay to earn extra cash. But after numerous problems with ebay, I don’t know if I’ll ever sell something on there, again. If I got one more email from Xaing Yang from China about he he has wholesale goods for me to sell on ebay (a.k.a. he’s going to steal my money), I was about to explode. Ebay raised all of their fees about 2 years ago, as well. Not to mention, the market is officially flooded. Unless you have an authentic, signed jersey by Mickey Mantle or an original painting from Picasso, you won’t get as much money for your stuff as you would have 4 or 5 years ago. Once you factor in the listing fee, the closing fee, and then those little added shipping costs that you always forget to factor in when charging shipping, ebay isn’t the way to go.
The 11 Principles Series: Find Creative Ways to Boost Your Income
July 4, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Careers, Entrepreneurship and Business, Extra Income
Ebay Tips & Tricks (part 4): Saving money on Shipping & Handling
May 5, 2006 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Entrepreneurship and Business, Extra Income, Random
Usually the buyer pays for all shipping and handling costs, but if you have ever shipped an item before, you know that there are many costs associated with shipping an item. You have to pay for boxes, tape, bubble wrap, stuffing, and all kinds of other materials needed to ship an item properly. Here are some tips that I have learned over the years that will help you save money and ship items properly.ÂÂ
- Make sure that fragile items are packed securely. There are cheap ways to do this, but the point to be made is that you MUST use bubble wrap, and you MUST pack the box tight with styrofoam peanuts, newspaper, or other padding material.
Ebay Tips & Tricks (part 3 or 4): Customer Service
March 10, 2006 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Extra Income
Whether you run a full blown Ebay business or you are just selling off some junk in your house, your reputation is key in the Ebay community. If your reputation is bad, then you will have an extremely hard time effectively selling on Ebay. Ebay does a great job at keeping track of seller and buyer reputations through their feedback system. My only beef with the feedback system is that both parties have the option to leave negative feedback, even when one party has done nothing wrong. For instance, I ship you something and the shipping was horrible so the product gets destroyed. You can give me negative feedback, but I can equally give you negative feedback solely for you giving me negative feedback. You can challenge the negative feedback, but most people only look at your feedback percentage when they are checking out a seller. Anyway, keep that in mind before you go giving everyone negative feedback.
Ebay Tips & Tricks (Part 2): Pricing Your Item
March 6, 2006 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Extra Income
The initial starting price for an Ebay auction item is one of the trickiest and most important parts of being successful with Ebay selling. Here are a few things to consider when pricing an item for an Ebay listing.
- If the item has low demand, start the price closer to what you want to sell it for. If the item is in high demand, start the price at 9.99 or less and let the Ebay marketplace determine the price, which is usually close to what you want to get for it OR MORE.
Ebay Tips & Tricks (part 1): Listing Items
February 28, 2006 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Extra Income, Random
I have had a couple of questions about Ebay lately, so I thought that I would post some tips and tricks that I have learned from selling and buying on Ebay for the past four years. I consign items for friends and family, and I also have a few clients that I work with to sell their personal property.  People simply do not have the time to sell things on Ebay, because it is a tedious process. You must take pictures, list the item, answer customer questions, and ship the item. You can make some extra cash simply by asking your friends and family if they want you to do the dirty work of selling their stuff on Ebay for a percentage of the sale.  I bet you’ll get some takers! I had people begging me to sell their stuff at one point.  Today’s tips and tricks will focus on listing the item.ÂÂ
