tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-101325552024-03-06T23:28:03.417-08:00The Frugal Money SaverBobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.comBlogger369125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1164067762390822512006-11-20T16:09:00.000-08:002006-11-20T16:09:22.396-08:00I Am Trying To Visualize Success<p>Each passing day has me looking at how I am succeeding and what I am failing at. I am trying to visualize success and what it will mean for my wife and I. </p><p>I have modest goals to start with. I can earn $100 a day selling one Ebay. I want to earn $100 a day through internet marketing. My best month in internet marketing so far was $10 a day. If I duplicate previous efforts I and copy that procedure over and over DAILY, I should be able to slowly increase my income up to that $100. </p><p>Of course I would rather RAPIDLY increase my income through IM. That is possible. The magical part of internet marketing income is that it keeps on going. I mean efforts today do not only pay you today, but it is ongoing. Todays efforts can keep paying you day after day and month after month. Ads or offers you create this month may still be earning an income next year at this time and the year after that. </p><p>If I sell an item on Ebay today and get paid today, that is the end of the story. I do not get paid again tomorrow for the same item. I can list another item just like the one I sold, but I cannot sell any item over and over again.</p><p>With internet marketing your are effectively selling the exact same item over and over and over again. I really like that kind of sale. Not only are you selling the same thing over and over, but it is on autopilot. While your are vacationing in Hawaii or Australia, your income keeps coming in without you.</p><p> </p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1162865673526974872006-11-06T18:14:00.000-08:002006-11-06T18:14:33.593-08:00Trying To Start New Income Program<p>Does life get in your way? It sure gets in my way. I am trying to start a new income program and have been since the middle of last month. STUFF just keeps happening.</p><p>Today my Paypal account cancelled online subscriptions for no reason. WELL, they had a reason and an explanation, but it made no sense. </p><p>I am trying to use 1and1.com as a website host. They are good for a very simple website, but leave a lot to be desired. My whole program was being set up with them as a host. I wasted all weekend trying to overcome their unique way of doing things. Tomorrow I will find a new hosting service and start again.</p><p>The challenges that are thrown my way seem to be never ending, but I will overcome them all. I am absolutely determined to have a decent income from internet marketing within the next four months. I have the plans. I have the desire. I just need to persevere and ride with all that is happening and just wait out the problems.</p><p>I CAN DO THIS!</p><p>My plan is to earn a living wage from the internet other than our Ebay sales. I know it can be done. I have confidence I can do it. The time has come to FIGHT for what I know is possible.</p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1162229180792798622006-10-30T09:26:00.000-08:002006-10-30T09:26:20.893-08:00I Am Ready To Begin<p>Are you tired of being the last one paid every month? Is your pay a lot less than your landlords or mortgage companies? I sure am fed up with it. </p><p>I am tired of everyone being paid each month except US!! I am ready to begin a serious program of making money on the internet. As you know, if you have been following our adventure, we have a 6000 square foot warehouse of obsolete computers and electronic test equipment. We make our full time living selling on Ebay.</p><p>On April 27 we had to move out of living in our warehouse into a “real” home. Someone turned us in to the city for living here at the office. That meant we had to earn an extra $800 a month for a cheap place to live. The median rent in our area is $1400+ a month. </p><p>With $2184 warehouse rent, plus $800 a month house rent, we have a tough nut to crack on a moderately OK business. Add utilities, groceries, gasoline, insurance and other incidentals, we pay everyone but ourselves. We are at the warehouse a minimum of 12 hours a day, usually 7 days a week and we are NOT REAPING THE BENEFITS!</p><p>Sharon and I have decided to dump the warehouse. Exactly how and when is not decided, but it needs to be before the end of 2007, but it needs to be sooner. That is a coming decision.</p><p>I am ready to take up a challenge to earn $XX,XXX.XX in the next four months online. I will use methods other than selling on Ebay. I will have to sell on Ebay to pay the bills, but I am determined to make enough money to have some left over each month. </p><p>The details of what I am planning will be coming out soon. I do not have them all figured out, but they will be here. HERE? OK, I will publish my plans and ideas either in this blog or I will create a new one that I will link to from here. </p><p> </p><p> </p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1161653034074413482006-10-23T18:23:00.000-07:002006-10-23T18:23:54.156-07:00Saving Your Sanity<p>Do things pile up for you and sometimes you are fighting to save your sanity. That has been my last two days. My email was down and I make my living online. My landlord wants to inspect our warehouse for insurance purposes. I am slightly behind on my Ebay sales. YIKES! We need to buy a $1 million insurance policy to comply with our lease agreement.</p><p>OK, the answer for us is to hustle some sales on Ebay. Spend some extra hours each day doing more listing and dropping some prices to make more sales before the end of the month. </p><p>So, in April we had to increase our income by $800 a month to pay the rent for the house we were forced to move into. I told you we were living in our warehouse and someone turned us in to the city and we had to quit living here.</p><p>Ebay allowed us to earn that extra $800. Things have been somewhat tight since then, but we have made it every month. Now our expenses are going up again. We have to get more creative and make an even larger amount. </p><p>Thank goodness for the internet. It offers a lot of different opportunities to make some extra cash.</p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1160428192697572152006-10-09T14:09:00.000-07:002006-10-09T14:09:53.180-07:00Working At Ebay Dreaming Of.......<p>We are doing pretty good with the military surplus we bought. We have now tripled our money and still going good with 90% of the inventory left to sell. </p><p>I am working at Ebay and dreaming of internet marketing. I have been getting back to my IM reading and get excited about it every sentence I read. The problem is I am so busy making a living I do not have time to make any money. </p><p>Last time I told you about the blog a guy wrote about making $15,000 in 30 days. Did you read it? That certainly is an intriguing concept. AND that is just one idea on making money on the internet. Suppose you did not make $15,000 in a month, but could make $3,000 instead or even $1,000. That sure would be a nice start toward building a business that could become a full time.</p><p>Making money is all about learning a trade. In the case of internet marketing, it is no different. The biggest difficulty I have found is applying what I have learned. I do a lot of things right, but do not do everything that is needed. </p><p>One thing is seems is important is creating a newsletter that you mail out at least once a week. The purpose is to have a LIST of people who learn to trust and respect you. When you offer a product they would be interested in there is a good chance they will buy through your links. </p><p>An even more important part of having a newsletter is the fact that most people who come to your site will never be back. They will forget to bookmark your site. They will bookmark it, but never look at their bookmarks. Getting a person to subscribe to you newsletter means that you will be reminding them that you exist on a regular basis. </p><p>This is my problem. I have never created a newsletter. I keep thinking that if I do not have enough to say in blogs, how will I have enough to say in newsletters. HEY! I have often found that when I DECIDE to do something, that I can actually do it. </p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1159825885013497852006-10-02T14:51:00.000-07:002006-10-02T14:51:30.490-07:00I Love Ebay Sales...BUT<p>Sharon and I had to increase our income by $800 a month when the city made us move out of our warehouse and rent a “real” place to live. Selling on Ebay solve the problem. I love Ebay sales, but we have to work too many hours to make a living. I have been reading the Ebay sales course I often talk about and it has helped get that extra $800. The problem it we are over working and under playing.</p><p>All work and no play makes Bob a dull boy. </p><p>It is time to get back to the course and do some more reading and take us up to the next level in our Ebay sales. We need to get ahead enough to relax more. </p><p>We just bought a bunch of military surplus from a “lost their home” sale. The guy bought tons of surplus and then had to give it all up to the new buyers of his home. So far we have made 2 1/2 times what we paid for the stuff. This is really helping, but it needs to be increased and changed.</p><p>Also I have just been reading a very interesting blog on an internet marketeer who tried to make $15,000 in thirty days and failed. He only made about $11,000. Check it out at <a href="http://www.15kchallenge.com/blog/">$15,000 Challenge</a> This really has me thinking about internet marketing again. If he could make $11,000 why couldn’t I make $1,000 in thirty days with a new project?</p><p>This guy is already an expert and knows all the right things to do, but what if someone were to copy the style of what he did. OK, you need to read his blog and go to the site he created and go to his MySpace.com postings.</p><p>The first thing you might comment on is that he created a site as if he were a SHE. (read the blog) Ghost writers take on all sorts of identities. Years ago my cousin wrote a romance novel. When it was published it was not under here name, but a name I had never heard before. The president does not write his own speeches. So, take that part of his creation and what his site is about before passing judgement.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>judgment on that part of what he has done.</p><p>I found this blog a little late to follow it, but now that the challenge is over, it is easy to follow the whole process in minutes instead of a whole month.</p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1159283582447429232006-09-26T08:13:00.000-07:002006-09-26T08:13:02.583-07:00Trying To Keep Up <p>Yes, I forgot the blog yesterday. I am trying to keep up with all the work here and feel overwhelmed at times. We just bought a few cargo van loads of military surplus equipment. The two days I paid attention to how long it took to load and unload were 11 hours one day and 12 hours the next. There is so much to sort and then list on Ebay, I do not know where to start.</p><p>Because we have many items that are the same, selling them will be a lot easier. With duplicate items, you only have to write the description once. Then all you have to do is relist the item. This is one of the things that makes Ebay profitable. If you have a lot of auctions running an item you have more than one of. </p><p>Not only is selling easier, if you have more than one, Ebay has a “Second Chance Offer” for bidders who did not win the auction. The way it works is: Say you get 6 bidders on you auction that started at $9.99 and the winning bidder was at $42.00, that to bidder gets the item. However, you can offer any of the other bidders a “second chance” to have the same item at whatever their maximum bid was.</p><p>For example:<br />$42.00 Top Bidder This bidder pays you $42.00<br />$41.00 2nd You make a second chance offer and this bidder accepts and pays you $41.00<br />$38.00 3rd You make the same offer and this bidder declines the offer since they are not obligated to buy<br />$27.00 4th This bidder accepts your offer and you get another $27<br />$12.00 5th This bid is too low so you do not offer make a second chance offer<br />$9.99 6th This bid is also too low.</p><p>In this example of “Second Chance Offers” you made 3 sales in one auction. You only paid to list the item once, but got 3 sales. You do have to pay the final value fee for each sale, but not the listing fee.</p><p> </p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1158601014818268512006-09-18T10:36:00.000-07:002006-09-18T10:36:54.936-07:00Buy Low Sell High<p>I am sure you have heard that to make money selling, “Buy low, sell high”. This is how you make money on Ebay. If you buy from a wholesaler and everyone else is buying from the same wholesaler, only the person with the highest dollar order will get the best price from that wholesaler.</p><p>What that means to you is that if four Ebay sellers find the same Widget at a wholesaler, the one who buys 100 pieces will get a better price than the person who buys only 10 pieces. Unless you have an exclusive contract on an item it is hard to be competitive and make much when others are trying to undercut your prices.</p><p>If a local store is going out of business and has that same widget, you will get a much better price than buying them wholesale. Over stock and distressed merchandise bought locally will usually give you a better price than any wholesaler can.</p><p>This past week I got a call from a person who bought a house to come see if any of the huge amount of stuff would be of interest to me. The previous owner used to go to military surplus sales and buy, buy, buy. The problem is he apparently was just a collector of junk and never sold anything. He just kept piling it higher and deeper.</p><p>I bought a moderate amount of NOS, “New Old Stock” New stuff that is 10 years old or more. One lot of stuff had 16 military test equipment cases. I bought them and some other things for only $200. So far a single case that I gutted to sell the parts has brought $189. There are still parts from that one case to sell and I have 15 more cases. </p><p>This is the type of deal where you make your best money. Buying things that someone needs to get out of their house, out of their business or out of storage. </p><p>If you watch you local paper and let people know you are interested in any excess or close out merchandise, you may find a gold mine of stuff you can sell on Ebay.</p><p> </p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1158006448252628702006-09-11T13:27:00.000-07:002006-09-11T13:27:28.523-07:00Internet Marketing Verses Ebay Sales<p>There are a many decisions we all have to make. Right now Sharon and I are trying to decide what is best for us. It comes down to internet marketing verses Ebay sales. </p><p>Ebay sales are immediate. You either sell something or not within 3 to 7 days (1–10 but 1 & 10 are less often used). You have cash NOW. With most sales you are paid online within 24 hours of the end of an auction. </p><p>The problem with Ebay is you have to have an ongoing supply of things to sell. You have to keep buying more inventory to keep up with your sales. This can easily be accomplished by buying at auctions, close out sales, distressed inventory, excess store inventory and many other sources. However, it is an ongoing thing that you must stay on top of every week.</p><p>Internet marketing on the other hand is slower to get started. Slower to have a living wage with and slower to build your reputation. It is almost impossible for most people to create a website today and have $100 or more cash in the bank in 3 to 7 days. </p><p>HOWEVER, once you start generating income online using internet marketing, you can put it on autopilot and resell the same digital product over and over without the need to keep buying inventory. There are a lot of ways to have an online income with IM and once created, it self perpetuates and the income keeps coming in month after month with only slight work on your part.</p><p>So, this is my delimma. I easily make my rent and pay the bills with Ebay, but as I look at next week and the week after that is becomes a vicious cycle. Sure we make a living selling on Ebay, but the little money we make with our internet marketing requires almost no effort. Our IM income stays between $125 and $300 a month without doing much. </p><p>The problem is I am slow to get that up to $500 or $1000 a month because all of my time is spent on Ebay make money today. IM makes money for tomorrow, but does not usually pay today’s bills. A few people can make a living with internet marketing in a month or two, but they seem to be the exception instead of the rule.</p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1157397256850473762006-09-04T12:14:00.000-07:002006-09-04T12:14:17.016-07:00Learning To Blog<p>Today is Labor Day and Sharon and I are still at home. This is the first time we have stayed home since we moved in at the end of April. </p><p>Today I am learning to blog. Yes, you heard me, “Learning to blog”. Yes, I write three blogs, but they are not what blogs should be. They are not targeted to a specific audience. They are more like “brain dumps” where I just talk about what I am interested in at the moment. </p><p>According to this book I am reading, this is not the way to write a blog. You need to have a targeted topic and you need to stick fairly close to the topic. </p><p>This blog is titled “Frugal Living” and as part of frugal living, I talk about making money to supplement the frugal lifestyle. Actually lately that is all I have talked about. Making money selling on Ebay and my desire to get farther into Internet Markenting. </p><p>Blogging is another form of IM (internet marketing). You can make an income with a blog. This is what I am reading about right now. So far the course is very good. I will give you more details once I have read through it completely. </p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1156785254649941862006-08-28T10:14:00.000-07:002006-08-28T10:14:15.436-07:00I Would Have Begged <p>Today I want to give you an insight into where you may be. This is where I am and I am seeing things differently from yesterday.</p><p>Yesterday, I was listening to a Tony Robbins motivational tape and I had to stop and listen to the section over and over. It just hit home about what we are doing and where we are going in our business.</p><p>Basically it said, “What is most important to me? Why do I want to do it, instead of why do I have to do it. I love what I am doing right now. There was a time in my life when I would have begged to have this opportunity. The thing I am calling stress; the thing I think is so urgent, I do not have to do it, I want to do it. You have gone from stress to fulfillment with one little adjustment of you attitude”</p><p>Years ago I worked for a company. I had a REAL J-O-B. I hated it. Every Monday I complained that the weekend was too short. Every Wednesday I was glad it was “HUMP DAY” and the week was half over over hump. Every Friday was TGIF or “Thank Goodness It’s Friday”. I never had enough vacation and the vacations I took were too short.</p><p>All during that time I wanted a business of my own. I wanted to break out of working for someone else. I wrote goals of being my own boss. I joined Amway in hopes of making it, but never did. I borrow money against my house to go into a therapy business and it failed. I borrowed more to buy and sell used test equipment and it never made a lot of money, but I still do it. All of this while I held down that full time J-O-B. </p><p>In 1995 I was down sized after 20 years with a company. I tried to get a job but but could only get entry level wages. The company I worked for was 10 years behind in its technology. I started selling my test equipment full time. It did not make a lot of money. In fact it made so little we lost our house, car and all of our credit. </p><p>In 1998 I discovered selling on Ebay. Ebay took us from dead broke to “affluent” in 2 months. Ebay took us from DEAD BROKE to paying cash for $1000 in dental work in less than two months. We got current on our “pink notice” utility bills. The public storage units we had were almost ready to be auctioned off for non-payment of the rent. We paid those off too.</p><p>Ebay brought us a lot of good in the mean time. We even moved from the hot inland rental place we had (the landlord doubled the rent) to the beach. This was all because of selling used test equipment and then used computer equipment on Ebay. </p><p>That brings us to today. We are sitting in a warehouse of “junk” that we are making enough to get by with, but not enough to be “affluent” again. The big problem is our attitude about all of our old inventory. We are stagnating.</p><p>Then along comes Tony Robbins saying, “There was a time in my life when I would have begged to have this opportunity”. WOW! Back when I had a J-O-B, I would have died to be in this warehouse with its junk inventory. I would have loved to be “stuck” with all this obsolete stuff that is really a gold mine and a stepping off point to much bigger and better things. </p><p>Make one little mental adjustment and your entire situation changes. Nothing really changes except your attitude. Success is not what you do, it is what you think about what you are doing. Could this week be the week we turn our business around again? Stay tuned!</p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1156176332122719292006-08-21T09:05:00.000-07:002006-08-21T09:05:32.246-07:00New ideas and less pressure<p>Writing the blog only once a week for a while is leading to new ideas and less pressure. I want this blog to have some meaning and substance and am thinking of ways to do that. A daily journal of my life and my efforts to make money is fine, but it needs to have more than that.</p><p>I think that backing off is clearing my mind and giving me some breathing space. The blog was not going anywhere in the past. I want it to be worth reading, so I will keep thinking of ways to give it a jump start with decent content on a regular basis. Until then the entries will be short. </p><p>This blog started out being about frugal living, but I wanted to change it to making money online so you do not have to live quite a frugally. I have lot of ideas, but just not how to implement them. </p><p>My success will depend on my attitude</p><p>If you surveyed 50 people asking each their definition of success, chances are you would receive fifty different answers. Even so, there are certain steps everyone must follow in order to be successful. One of the most important is - staying motivated. <br /><br />Do you have a new job? Have you started your own business? Are you in the process of earning a degree? Do you have the desire to lose weight? If one of these scenarios are a recent event in your life, you are probably still excited about the opportunity. That also probably means you are motivated, as well. Excitement and motivation, often work hand in hand. <br /><br />But, how do you stay motivated after several weeks or months have gone by? How do you maintain the same level of excitement that you had when you began your new adventure? <br /><br />There are many things you can do to stay motivated. It is important to set aside a few minutes or more, each day, in an effort to keep your motivation level at its highest. There will be days that you may feel less motivated then usual. Let's face it; we all have a bad day now and then. So, by doing all that you can to maintain a positive attitude, your "down days" will probably be few and far between. <br /><br />Read a book. There are hundreds of books that have been written on the topic of motivation. Visit your local bookstore or library and browse the shelves. Ask the clerk or librarian for author and title recommendations. Both will be happy to help you. <br /><br />If you have a busy schedule, don't despair. Set aside 15 or 20 minutes each day. Even if you only read a few pages, during that time, it WILL help to keep you motivated. I do it and can attest to the fact that it really DOES work! Right now I am spending some time when we get home and when I get up reading internet marketing material. <br /><br />If you are in the process of achieving a goal such as weight loss or top salesperson, make a "dream board". A dream board is a poster, of sorts. If a trimmer figure is your goal, cut out pictures of the new wardrobe you will someday buy. <br /><br />If you dream of out-selling your peers, find pictures of your dream home or vacation destination... of the new car you would LOVE to drive. Make a collage with these pictures and hand it somewhere where you will see it each day. <br /><br />There are many other things you can do to stay motivated. Believe in yourself. Stay healthy. Maintain a positive attitude. <br /><br />You will be amazed at what you can achieve! This is the process Sharon and I are going through now.</p><p> </p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1155747257654415692006-08-16T09:54:00.000-07:002006-08-16T09:54:17.833-07:00Giving Up Blogging Daily<p>I have not been giving much useful information in our blog lately. I keep talking about the same thing over and over again. Daily entries are getting too boring. I am giving up blogging daily. From now on I will put in a weekly blog entry on Monday. </p><p>When I am really into new ideas and can offer more than repeats of the same old thing, I will update more often. </p><p>On that note, I will say goodbye for this week.</p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1155674542978731192006-08-15T13:42:00.000-07:002006-08-15T13:42:23.096-07:00Motivated To Move Forward<p>Last night I was about to head for bed when I saw one of my internet marketing books on the table. I picked it up and read for the next hour. I am getting more motivated to move forward with IM. I have always believed in it, but find things that slow me down. </p><p>Lately I have been going home at 7:30 to 9:00 and watching some TV for an hour or two before going to bed. That is going to stop. I need to go home and read and study internet marketing. </p><p>Right now we are living month to month. What is more important, watching telvision or studying something that may increase our income? That is a no brainer. </p><p>Decisions to go with the flow are easy. A little TV after a long day of work is a reward for all that work. Take the easy way out and relax. When you are on top of the world financially, maybe that is not such a bad use of time. When you really need to increase your income to make you life better, it is time to evaluate what you can do to change.</p><p>For Sharon and I the answer is to sell on Ebay during the day and study internet marketing at night. Once I am back to understanding what I need to do, and it should not take more than a week more, I need to activate some IM plans. </p><p>IM plans? OK, that could be a simple as adding a few pages to my existing websites or even creating completely new sites. It could be using Adsense to generate income through ads. It can also be selling digital products from ebooks to computer programs.</p><p> </p><p> </p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1155579545771722562006-08-14T11:19:00.000-07:002006-08-14T11:19:05.916-07:00Getting More Done<p>I am not sure what the secret is to getting more done. We are at the warehouse 12 hours a day and do not seem to accomplish as much as should be done in that period of time. Two people is 24 man-hours … OK, person-hours … I am older and still not into all of this politically correctness yet. OR, can we still genericly call it “man-hours”?</p><p>Sharon and I are really in need of a total overhaul of our system. We need a more efficient use of our time. Maybe answering or even looking at email at certain times of the day. Nothing happens at 8 o’clock, then 9 o’clock then 10 o’clock and so on during the day that could not be taken care of with two or three email checks.</p><p>Streamlining the business would slowly make our 12 hour days 10 hour days. It would free up time from making money to learning how to make money. It could change our business from Ebay to internet marketing. </p><p>If I keep repeating the same thing, it is because we become what we focus on most of the time. It we focus on being organized we will have to become more organized. Actually that is happening slowly but surely. We have become somewhat more organized, but we have a long way to go.</p><p>Efficient use of time is one of the essentials of a successful business. Effective use of time goes hand and hand with efficiency. Effective use of time includes down time and days off to recharge your batteries. </p><p>Are you working toward a goal you would like to achieve this year? Are you looking at your time schedule and how you can cram all the things you need to do into the time available to you? Have you given up an hour or more of TV yet? Have you spent more time with your family? Think about you time use and how you can be effective and efficient.</p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1155501538284646472006-08-13T13:38:00.000-07:002006-08-13T13:38:58.443-07:00Married 40 Years<p>Sharon and I have now been married 40 years as of August 12th. That is why there was no blog entry yesterday. My love and I just did not work yesterday. We were here at the office long enough to feed our two cats and check email. Writing in the blog did not entry my head.</p><p>It is wonderful having someone you are committed to and in love with. My very best friend is also my lover and and my wife. It does not get any better than that. </p><p>OK, now my best friend and I have to get down to some serious business so that our next 40 years are more affluent than our last 40. We were walking in the park beside our harbor this morning. As we watched the sailboats and yachts we were say that we really need to revamp our business model. </p><p>Although what we are doing is paying the bills, it is not creating a comfortable lifestyle for us. We HAVE TO work every day. Yes, we want to work and have no desire to quit working, but we do not want to HAVE TO work. There is big difference.</p><p>The current income we are generating just meets our monthly needs with little left over. That means we HAVE TO work to stay even with the board. A slight glitch somewhere means we could be in trouble. </p><p>It is time we sit down together and come up with some new ways to make Ebay pay for us, pay better that is. We also need to get back to actively doing internet marketing. I have begun refreshing my memory on IM by reading some of the manuals I have purchased online. </p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1155321316812770792006-08-11T11:35:00.000-07:002006-08-11T11:35:17.076-07:00Getting Back To Internet Marketing<p>Sharon and I have decided it is time to get back to internet marketing. This warehouse is overwhelming with all of its old, obsolete inventory. IM offers a fresh way to generate income that does not require 6000 square feet of space. </p><p>Part of the process will be deciding where we would like to live. If you have a strong enough reason to do something, you are more motivated to do what is necessary to accomplish your goals. </p><p>We want to get rid of our inventory and move out of this warehouse. We would still have to store a lot of things. We have my parents estate and our belongings that are boxed and stored here. We will have to find a place to put all of that and then dispose of it also. </p><p>Getting rid of what you do not want to make room for what you do want is an important part of moving on. We have to continue selling our stuff on Ebay. It is how we are currently paying the bills. You do what you have to do, but you make plans to change as you go.</p><p>Hopefully this blog will change in the days ahead. It is possible I will move it to my own server instead of hosting it on blogger.com. They are in control if I have it there. If I am changing it to another location, I will let you know at least a week in advance so you can bookmark the new location. </p><p>To do the move maybe I will just leave this blog up here and continue it at the new place. That makes more sense. </p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1155229852827978972006-08-10T10:10:00.000-07:002006-08-10T10:10:52.940-07:00Making Enough Is NOT Enough<p>Are you just paying the bills every month? Do you live from paycheck to paycheck? Making enough is not enough. If all you are doing is making enough to get by, then you are in danger. The danger is financial ruin. One problem could sink your financial ship. A layoff or “down-sizing” as they call it now could mean you could lose your house, your car and your credit.</p><p>These are the things I think about in our position. If I were to get sick or incapacitated for a couple week or a month or more, we would be in deep trouble. Maybe you can relate to this too. I hope not. </p><p>Many opportunities are available to both you and me if we will only look for them, pursue them and actively and consistently work toward making an opportunity a reality.</p><p>Sharon and I are looking at more options right now. Internet marketing is one that is high on our priority list. Part of that is dumping this warehouse so we can concentrate on that. We cannot do this instantly. It will take a lot of thought and planning. It is one idea we have. It will take careful consideration and planning.</p><p>Our idea of dumping the warehouse and all of its contents is a radical move. Sometimes it takes drastic measure to effect change. We need to convince ourselves that this is a good idea. Then we need to make a plan to do it if it really makes sense. </p><p> </p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1155145263580434432006-08-09T10:41:00.000-07:002006-08-09T10:41:03.723-07:00Looking For Opportunities<p>Do you often see an opportunity and NOT take advantage of it. Are there ideas in your head that you just know would pay off, but you do not seem to find the time or way to implement them. Sharon and I are alway looking for opportunities to improve our situation, but often we cannot see the forest for the trees and miss out on so much.</p><p>Opportunity is all around us. Selling on Ebay is an opportunity. Internet marketing is another opportunity. Both are easily available to most people. Even I am not taking full advantage of either chance to improve out position in life. There is so much I put aside until tomorrow.</p><p>Sometimes we are so busing making a living that we forget to make a life too. We are so busy trying to pay the bills we do not see the opportunity to make more than enough to pay the bills. Then when we do see the way, we turn and go the other direction. </p><p>Are you guilty of ignoring opportunity? I know I am. I am slow to get an activity going. I can easily be side tracked, but when I am finally force to make a decision, I can do it. I should not have to be force to make a living. I should look forward to it and go at it with gusto. </p><p>That is what writing this blog is all about for me. Putting on “paper” all of the things I see in my life that could help me, and maybe you, see some answers to the challenges we face each day.</p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1155051348859031592006-08-08T08:35:00.000-07:002006-08-08T08:35:49.036-07:00Wasting Precious Time<p>We already work a long day. We arrive at the warehouse between 7 and 7:30 a.m. We almost never leave before 8 p.m. and usually it is later. HOWEVER, lately I feel that we are wasting precious time after we leave here. I go home and sit in front of the TV for an hour to an hour and a half. </p><p>If you are not where you need to be financially, you need to take better care of your time. If you could learn a new trade in the time you waste on other things. If you could spend quality time with your family (TV is not quality time) it would be time well spent. The thing is, if you are just barely paying the bills, that’s us, you need to devote all of your time to fixing that problem. </p><p>Sharon and I are slipping when it comes to doing a full days work. We spend too much time during the day doing non-productive things. Checking the news online at CNN, playing a game of solitaire or Majong. All of this is robbing us of the income we need to be comfortably ahead.</p><p>Often we are just going around in circles doing busy work that helps organized part of the warehouse or gets some other “important” but not essential task done. Some time spent organizing and house keeping is necessary, but when we spend two days organizing and not selling, we do not make any money for that time.</p><p>It is time for us to re-evaluate out time management. It is time to use all of our time to the maximum so we can free time for more leisure in the future. Short term sacrifice often can lead to long term benefit. </p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1154980932586224572006-08-07T13:02:00.000-07:002006-08-07T13:02:12.726-07:00Selling Small Items<p>Our Ebay sales include large and heavy items as well as light weight small items. We sure prefer the smaller items. Often the little things sell for more than the big things and are easier to handle. We sure wish we had lots of little things instead of so many large items in our inventory.</p><p>Another thing about big items is that we have to buy boxes to pack them in. As a business we cannot just hope we can get free boxes somewhere. We have to purchase the correct sizes. Boxes take up space and money. We have a fair amount tied up in boxes. When we buy boxes the come in bundles of 10 to 25 boxes. Larger box sizes have fewer boxes in a bundle.</p><p>Small items usually ship in FREE U.S. Post Office Priority Mail boxes. Today Sharon called in an order of boxes to the Post Office. They will be delivered for free. The boxes and delivery are free for any quantity. She also picked up 10 boxes 24x24x16 inches at our box supplier. Those cost $29.70 for 10 boxes. </p><p>We pass on the cost of packing materials to our customers. They are added on to the cost of the auction, not included in the price of an item. We do not get complaints about the added cost of packing materials which we charge $2.00 up to $20.00. People accept the extra fee as part of the cost of getting their item to them safely.</p><p>So, we charge the price of the item, plus the cost of packing materials, plus the cost of shipping the item and we add sales tax for those who buy and live in California. </p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1154885624721924232006-08-06T10:33:00.000-07:002006-08-06T10:33:44.953-07:00Taking Time Off<p>Sharon and I work 7 days a week unless there is some event we are attending. Friday we went to the county fair, but we started the day at work. Yesterday we took off early to see a concert, SHeDAISY a female country group. </p><p>In addition to few days off we normally put in a 12 hour day at the warehouse. So, now you are wondering about us. It is not as bad as working a 40 hour week for a company. I am 100% happier working long hours for myself than I ever was working for a company. I never dread Mondays and I do not look forward to Friday. </p><p>We can take off a day or two if we want. This past month was more difficult to take time off, but we did get a little off. </p><p>Since we had to find a place to live the extra $800 a month rent cuts into our ability to take time off, but that is OK too. We are making it thanks to the internet. Ebay and internet marketing pay the bills. As you know it is mainly Ebay making the money at this time. </p><p>The work we are doing is paying off more and more. We are getting all of our priorities in place. We are becoming clearer on what we need to do each day and each week. </p><p>Right now I keep a running total on our bills and income in a Excel spreadsheet. I stay right on top of our finances on a regular basis. Toward the end of the month it is on a daily basis.</p><p>Often people get into financial trouble because they do not know where there money goes. A $3.75 latte everyday. is just over $86 a month based on 23 work days buying one. At the end of the month when you struggle over some of your bills, think about what daily habits you have that might be making you sweat the payments. $86 a month is surely enough to pay one of your bills.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1154802905691414112006-08-05T11:35:00.000-07:002006-08-05T11:35:05.796-07:00Making Money At The Fair<p>Yesterday we went to the county fair. We were making money at the fair. Well, not actually at the fair, but while we were there, the money kept coming in. A few dollars from internet marketing and a day’s pay from our Ebay sales that go on whether we watch them or not.</p><p>I like work that pays even when you are not working. This is particularly true of IM money. It just goes on and on with no extra effort. Of course you do need to make some effort to increase it and period website maintenance to keep the income level up.</p><p>Ebay is a great way to make money but it required continuous and ongoing effort to keep new items listed, unsold items relisted and sold items shipped. You cannot go away for a three week vacation when you sell on Ebay unless you plan very carefully in advance. You have to quit selling before you leave. You have to be sure all auctions are paid before leave. You have to plan on at least 4 weeks of down time to get 3 weeks off. One week to get all you auctions closed. Then when you get back you still have another wait to get your auctions back up and running before any income can come in.</p><p>People on Ebay are not all that forgiving if do not ship their item very quickly. With mail order we are used to 3 or more weeks shipping time. On Ebay people expect to pay for their item and have it within a week. If it takes too long for them to get an item they may give you negative feedback which makes your Ebay reputation a little “dark”. </p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1154707871728521592006-08-04T09:11:00.000-07:002006-08-04T09:11:13.820-07:00Taking The Day Off<p>We are going to the county fair today, so we are taking the day off. Well, most of the day. We have started here at the office since the fair does not open until 11. </p><p>Our finances are running so close that we almost skipped the fair. We have a target amount we need to make each month and we were wondering whether we would hit that target. The answer to that delimma is to get ahead enough so it does not matter if we are a little behind one month. Having a reserve to fall back on gives you some breathing room.</p><p>If your bills are being paid “just on time” every month and you do not have a little set aside for those tight times, maybe it is time you thought about an at home business selling on Ebay or doing internet marketing. Remember, we make a full time living using only the computer. We do not advertise or sell out of our warehouse to locals. All of our income is generated selling on Ebay, which is our current main source of income. A small amount, $150 to $300, a month comes from internet marketing. </p><p>It is possible to make money online. You just have to jump in and try it. It is an inexpensive way to try to make some extra cash in your own business.</p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132555.post-1154649233562364722006-08-03T16:53:00.000-07:002006-08-03T16:55:24.386-07:00Making Room To Make Money<p>One of the big problems we have is lack of space in this 6000 square foot warehouse. We are now making room to make money. We have to be able to move around if we plan to make more with less effort. For the last two days we have been making big changes in the main floor area. </p><p>Clutter is on of our biggest problems. We do not have shelving so our inventory is stacked. Because of this it gets disorganized easily. That has to change. </p><p>You need a work area to work. I do not care if you are balancing your check book or shipping Ebay sales items, you need a good place to work. We have been without that for a long time. That is about to change.</p><p>I think any change that is drastic will help our situation. A major change may be what you need too. Think about it. What can you do to bring about a really positive change. Maybe you are like us and have a cluttered spare room or garage. Just by freeing up that space you may free up you life and be able to see things you did not see in the past. I do not mean physical things, I mean opportunities and possibilities.</p>Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06708902128033755958noreply@blogger.com0