How To Earn Extra Cash While Growing Your Business

Have you started your own Internet business recently?

Chances are you will experience a period where your expenses
are greater than your income, and where, despite doing
everything correctly and well, your business growth is slower
than you'd like.

Perhaps another source of income would help relieve the
pressures and frustrations that come with the early stages
of business building.

Particularly if it requires almost zero outlay and only a
small amount of your spare time.

Such a source exists. It is widely known and used, very simple
to set up and operate, and is entirely ethical.

The answer is on-line auctions, and although there are many
possibilities, there is no better place to start than Ebay.

The advantages are many. Guaranteed cash, new interests, a
brief diversion from your main project to freshen the mind,
and even a chance to get others in your family involved.

So what has to be done?

Really very little. For a start, Ebay provides heaps of clear
information to help you start selling (or buying), and it's
all free. All you need to do is follow the seven simple steps
below and money will be coming your way in little more
than a week.

STEP 1:

Look around your home and identify anything you haven't used
in quite a while. If it's new in original packaging, or used
but attractive and interesting so much the better. Put the
five highest valued items aside.

STEP 2:
Log on to Ebay at http://www.ebay.com. You can link to your
own country's site at the bottom of the page. Now use the
directory or "Search" to find the appropriate category for
your first item.

When you find something similar, look at several examples,
including the photos, to see how they have been presented.
Bids for items with less than 24 hours to go before the
auction closes give the best guide to value.

Do the same for your other items.

STEP 3:

Items in Ebay auctions sell best when accompanied by a
photo. Use a digital camera or scanner, saving the image
in a convenient file. Otherwise use a conventional camera
but make sure your film processor saves it on CD ROM or as
an accessible computer file.

Several views of an item may help convince potential buyers
to bid hard and often.

STEP 4:

Join Ebay. This is extremely simple --- just follow the prompts.
It won't cost you anything until you start selling, but you will
need to provide credit card details to cover small charges
related to listing and successful sale.

STEP 5:

Prepare for listing.

To minimise time spent in listing your item you should give
some thought to the following ... some information won't change
from item to item and can be filed for re-use:

1. The best category to list your item under.

2. A short heading for the main auction page.

3. A description of the item, presenting it so that people
will want to buy (but be honest about faults or damage).
Plain text is fine but HTML is even better. Save this in a file
so you can paste it in later.

4. The jpg file where its image is stored.

5. The lowest starting bid that you are comfortable with.
A low starting bid encourages early and competitive bidding,
which is exactly what you want.

6. How the buyer will pay you.

7. And how you will get the item to the buyer after you have
received payment (normally the buyer will pay shipping or
postage costs).

STEP 6:

List the item for auction. Simply click on the "Sell" button
at the top of the page on Ebay and follow the prompts and menus.
Paste information from existing files where possible.

For the moment, restrict yourself to the free options.

Start with a 7 day auction. Remember, this period will end
exactly 7 days from the time your listing is accepted. A good
time to close (and list) is mid evening late in the week,
particularly Sunday.

Once listing is complete, you will see exactly how your item
will appear in the auction. You can still change any part of it,
so check it carefully before confirming the listing.A small
listing fee will be shown. Ebay will also charge a small
percentage of the selling price in a successful auction.

STEP 7:

When your item has sold, Ebay will notify both you and the
buyer. I have found the best way to proceed is to contact the
buyer as soon as you can using their private email address
listed in the sale notification from Ebay.

Congratulate them, confirm the amount they have to pay
(including postage or freight), confirm the method of payment,
and ask them for their mailing address.

>From here on, maintain contact with the buyer, and treat
the buyer as if the buyer was you. Aim to send off the item
as soon as payment is received (wait until any checks
have cleared), and let them know when you send it. Ask them
to tell you when it has arrived, and suggest they contribute
some feedback (see Ebay for details).

That's it. Find an attractive item, join Ebay, submit your
description, and finalise the sale by collecting your money
and sending the item to the buyer. It's an easy, quick and
cheap way of raising some cash.

Now eventually you're going to run out of things to sell from
unwanted stuff around home, and you need an income rather than
a windfall.

There are many directions to go to achieve a reliable income
from online auctions, ranging from selling new items bought at
a discount to involvement in the collectables market. That will
have to wait until the next instalment.

In the meantime, more information on Ebay tactics is available
on Ebay itself and in numerous free Ebooks that you can find
around the net. There is also a very useful free 5 day course
which you will find at tnamsgrahammcc@sitesell.net

Enjoy the Experience
Graham McClung

Graham McClung is the publisher of Graham's Home Business
Tips.If you're looking the best money making opportunities
and the latest time saving tools on the net, why not grab
your f.r.e.e subscription today at
http://www.grahams