A Beer Money Business
Hey guys,
In this thread I plan to explain my theory behind setting up a business on a shoe string budget to pay your beer money every month
. The business has a specific set of needs and an order in which I suggest they should be done for optimum results. Please note this is not suggested as a replacement for people's main business, Just as a sideline
What you will need:
A credit card
An Ebay and Paypal account
A website
Some leaflets
Some good sales copy
Number 1: Getting set up.
This step is to set up and prepare all of the relevant accounts and get your leaflets in place. These can be obtained from NeilDigital, a member on here who is ideal for small amounts or RayB if ordering large amounts.
These accounts can be registered through the homepages of these sites and can be set up virtually instantaneously, thus meaning that you can have your business up and running for yourself within a few hours.
With regards to the website, Phil at OpenMind comes highly recommended and has some very good prices with unbeatable prices. This part of the plan is used later to maximize the amount of money you make.
Number 2: Preparing the items.
This step is where you decide the products that you are going to use as the basis of your business. For the example of this post I shall be using the bargain DVD's on websites such as Play and Amazon. I decided upon using the Saw quadrilogy. Firstly, I scanned eBay for similair listings and found one recently finished at £33.50 delivered, When I browsed the websites of Play.com etc, I found all 4 could be purchased from the same place for just £21.96. This means that for a listing you would make a pre-fee profit of £11.54. Not bad considering you simply repackage and post.
Within eBay auctions however it has been shown that a convincing sales text and some good quality pictures can easily bolster an auctions saleability. This means that it is likely to encourage more bids and increase your profits.
Number 3: Reeling them in
Having completed a succesful eBay sale, you include 1 of your leaflets within every package you send and make sure to tag a discount code. I believe that the product you sell on the site should be complimentary to what is being sold through your eBay methods. In relation to the product used in here I suggest items such as DVD racks and disc cleaners. These items are fairly high profit and you will have a targeted audience who are specifically looking for products that you sell without having to wait for the SEO aspect's to kick in.
Using some convincing sales patter on the site should also encourage people into ordering, and then when the customer reaches the cart feature, you should be attempting the up-sell. Suggest several products that would go with the product they are purchasing to increase order size and inevitably your profits. Based upon an eBay business selling 200 lots a month, with a 5% conversion rate from the leaflets you will be receiving 10 sales a month from the site. These orders are on the higher profit items as well and are requiring little or no effort on your end.
Number 4: 1 last attempt.
Now you should have a catalogue of happy customers with all of them pleased with their orders. From this point you should be using email newsletters to keep them up to date with latest product additions and allow them to order from you with incentives such as money off and BOGOF when you can. This keeps the customer on their toes and constantly checking your site.
Number 5: Congratulations!
Based upon following all of these techniques correctly, having the right product and a little bit of luck, you should now have a fairly profitable business that is keeping you in your favourite vice (Smile).
Please offer any comments or suggestions about how this article could be improved
,
Much appreciated
Take care everyone,
Ben