Selling at conventions
I have known a few homeschool families who make at least part of their living by selling books, both old and new. Doing this means carefully scheduling trips to homeschool conventions. With children, this can take no small amount of effort but it can be done.
It also means you need to have equipment for both hauling and displaying books, curriculum, and educational games and accessories. One dear friend used to have an enclosed trailer along with quite a few covered totes plus tables and a few chairs. The totes contained all the books and accessories she had for sale. The trailer was pretty large and she had to find a hitch through a source like curt trailer hitches in order to hook it up to her Suburban.
She and her husband were able to ride comfortably, along with her daughter, in the truck and had lots of room for luggage. Probably the only drawback was that they did have to find a motel for out-of-town conventions. Still, by selling some of the top rated curricula and manipulatives, they were able to add quite a bit to their income.
Labels: Entrepreneurism, Homeschool families
Free educational site
I know I've touted the site before, but I just can't say enough good things about Free-ed.net. Using this site, anyone can increase their knowledge in particular fields including hospitality, business, management, and even skills trades and basic high school courses.
I am about to embark on the Excel course to boost my computer skills. Eventually, I hope to include other business courses including those on scanner software, marketing, entrepreneurship, and sales. Maybe this way, I can become self-employed and more productive at home.
Technorati Tags:
business,
coursesLabels: Entrepreneurism, Free stuff
Family owned business
Probably, nothing teaches math skills and money sense any more than when a homeschool family is also a small business owner. Some homeschool families I know of are involved in curriculum and book sales. Others are working in web development. Still others have created their own niche products. A family that wants to work together on a business might be interested in buying a
franchise for a product or a store front. Regardless of the route your family takes, every day of operating your business is an opportunity to teach finance, economics, and budgeting to your children.
A family owned business can also teach the children about taxes, laws concerning employment, insurance of various kinds, and planning for retirement. This is real-world experience with lessons drawn straight from practical applications. Even a failure can teach lessons on how
not to do something the next time. It can also help your children learn to have discussions with people of all ages and backgrounds, removing the barrier of shyness and putting in its place the quality of reaching out to others and taking the first step.
Searching the internet, you can find all kinds of businesses that are wonderfully suited for the homeschool environment and which lend themselves to involving the children. A family owned business is open to more flexible scheduling, just as homeschooling lends itself to the same.
Labels: Entrepreneurism, Homeschool families
Big Book of Homeschooling auction listing
It's posted! The auction I promised you for
Mary Pride's Big Book of Home Learning is now listed at
ThisLittlePiggyStaysHome.com auction site. This is the boxed set of four books and is great for novice and veteran homeschoolers alike. I've got the price set low enough that it's affordable, too. Check the link in my sidebar to go take a look!
Labels: Entrepreneurism, Homeschool families
Teaching business
If you have high school students you are teaching, you may want to include some lessons in business, including how to start a business,
market research, financing, bookkeeping, taxes, insurance, and other aspects of running a business. Often, high school students will even start their own businesses by finding a niche market and applying what they learn to it. Now, there are many successful high school aged entrepreneurs. If you have a student who is interested in beginning their own business, this would be a great way to incorporate economics and math.
Labels: Entrepreneurism, Finances
Home business opportunity
This looks like a good way for a homeschool family to generate some income and teach the children about good business practices as well as handling cash. You can own your own business through
multivend by having vending machines in strategic locations so you can essentially work from home and set your own hours. These machines are digitally endowed so that they keep up with how many quarters have been inserted. You know right away how much money you've made when you remove cash and restock the machine.
Because it's an all-cash operation, you don't have to be worried about handling checks or credit card purchases. The best part is that you can get up to an 80% profit from these machines. That's a larger margin than most businesses offer you. It's certainly worth looking into.
Labels: Entrepreneurism, Homeschool families
VOIP Small Business phone systems
A lot of homeschool families also operate small businesses so that they can remain close with their children. Some of these businesses have grown quite a bit and the whole family participates in running the show. However, there could be some expenses that a small, family-owned business could reduce.
One of those expenses is the phone bill. By using the
VOIP Small Business phone systems presented by Xpandercommunications.com, any small business can reduce at least some of their operating costs.
VOIP stands for Voice Over IP. This kind of system enables customers to use their high speed internet connection to make and receive phone calls, while still staying connected to the web. Phone calls to branches of the business are unlimited and have a 4-digit dialing code, no matter where in the country they are located. Other calls, such as long distance calls, can be executed at a rate far lower than regular phone services may charge.
Those in business for themselves really do need to be on the lookout for every opportunity to reduce costs so that they can keep their own prices at reasonable levels.
Labels: Entrepreneurism, Finances, Homeschool families, Reviews
Shopping cart
If this sunglasses sales project works out like I think it might, perhaps I should think about opening an online store. By using
ecommerce software, I could allow shoppers to use the shopping cart feature to select and purchase their choices.
Of course, I'd either need to maintain a lot more inventory or count on ordering more as sales come in. Since I have to order 12 pairs of sunglasses at a time, it hardly seems worth it to try to order then ship after a customer order. I'm thinking it would be better to maintain a limited inventory, at least at the start, and use shopping cart software that's priced at $69 a month to do my online business. I could give it a 10 day free trial just to see how it all works and if it's something I need.
Do you have an online business that can use this sort of software? Tell me what you think about the offerings and options.
Labels: Entrepreneurism, Reviews
Let the selling begin
I sold two pairs of sunglasses today. One of the other managers had been seeing the pink sunglasses I was wearing and asked where I got them. That, of course, led me straight into a conversation about the fact that I have them and other styles for sale.
She went to my car when she got off and selected two pairs - one for herself and one for her husband.
I got a shipment of new styles today in addition to some pretty sharp looking visor clips with flame painting on them. I really need to get everything better organized so that those who want to peruse what I have will be able to do so with greater ease. If I don't have to work tomorrow, I'll spend some time on that project.
Labels: Entrepreneurism
Smorty
An odd name, to be sure, but this is another paid-to-post company that's just starting up. However, the outlook for this company seems very good and I'm happy to report that I'm a part of this service and I recommend it to you as well.
You can sign up to blog for
Smorty and begin as soon as your blog is approved to post for them. These kinds of companies bring advertisers and bloggers together so that you can blog for money while still maintaining the autonomy and integrity of your personal or niche clog.
This could be a good way for those who are looking for a way to get paid for blogging to throw their hat into the mix and come out ahead. As with any reputable company who offers ways for companies to
advertise on blogs, it costs nothing at all to sign up. Blog advertising is becoming the wave of the future and is an excellent way for advertisers to get the word out about their service or product via thousands of blogs.
Aren't you ready to get paid for blogging now?
Labels: Entrepreneurism, Reviews
Business consolidation
Increasingly greater numbers of homeschool families are finding themselves operating their own businesses. Many of these have grown into rather large concerns, to the point that they are hiring employees to cover areas that the family can't cover due to sheer business size. This is, of course, very good news in a lot of ways since it means they are prospering. But with this kind of prosperity comes certain logistics that are difficult to deal with.
This is where
consolidation software comes in. Prophix has the solutions to managing the financial consolidation of the many and varied areas of a prospering business. As it grows ever more complex, this software manages a number of areas so that they come together under one umbrella. Reports can be generated for geographic regions, product lines, organizational structure, and division.
See if this software would be useful for your expanding business.
Labels: Entrepreneurism, Finances, Homeschool families, Reviews
Teaching business
I think there is no better way to teach a young person about business than to let them set up and operate a small business of their own. While most businesses cost a small fortune to get started, selling
Wholesale Sunglasses doesn't. Here's a way to order a few designs in various colors, some accessories, and even a display case while spending only around $50 to get these simple basics. Then, as business grows, more inventory can be purchased using only the profits from selling these things. It's really a win-win situation and includes all the child will need, with your help, to maintain a good business.
You can teach him or her good business practices, accounting, how to mark up the product price, and paying taxes through this one business with low start-up costs. In fact, it could develop into a venture the whole family can be involved in. Perhaps you'll want to go to flea markets, set up a roadside stand, or put a display case in a local gift shop. It's your business to do any way you want.
The sunglasses themselves are very stylish plus all lenses have a UV 400 protection level. I've been buying from CTS Wholesale for a few weeks now and they have never failed to ship to me and give me my money's worth.
If you're interested in reading more and having some fun, too, just visit the
Sunglasses Information blog. It's neat and full of great information you can use. Tell them I sent you!
Labels: Buzz, Education, Entrepreneurism, Finances, Shopping
Cheap pens
If you have an event, a small business, are planning to take part in a trade show or curriculum fair, or just like sharing your name with others, you can order
cheap pens that have your information on them. They are easy to hand out to spread the word about what you're up to. Most people, like me, love getting a pen. It's a handy item to have and when I use an advertising pen, I actually do read what's on it. In fact, I've often used the phone number on one I have so I can order pizza!
This is a fun idea and one I might just use in the near future for a particular business enterprise I'm trying to get off the ground.
Labels: Entrepreneurism, Shopping
What's in a name?
After looking at craft ideas for awhile, it occurred to me that many of the craft supplies I purchase are from a few particular companies. When I visit the crafts supplies store in town, I look for certain brand names because I know their products work well and are durable. Even when surfing the net for supplies, I tend to look for places that sell those same brands and will click on ads for them because I recognize them for their value.
A company that wants to get their name well-known and associated with their products would need to enlist the help of a
Branding Agency such as Brand Identity Guru. They offer a diligent staff of people who will research every aspect of a business so that the brand name created becomes associated with that business. Favorable recognition of a brand name by consumers is a huge benefit for attracting and retaining a good customer base.
We all know and associate certain themes with brands we buy. The images and slogans bring about various emotions and visualizations that we relate to a favorable association with the product. Those images are what help a company gain a loyal customer base. Brand Identity Guru is focused toward that end for their customers. If you have a company or a product that needs visibility and return customer appeal, you might want to contact them and find out what they can do for you.
Labels: Entrepreneurism, Reviews
Yard sales
This is the time of year when the trees, flowers, and yard sale signs are in full bloom. I've been seeing a lot of them lately!
Yard sales are a great source for things for your kids to do during the summer so that all you've taught them through the winter doesn't go stale. They're also a great way to pass along some of your things that you're no longer using, make room for the new things you do need, and get a little cash to offset the purchase of the new things.
Yard sales are also a great source for items you can list on online auctions such as Ebay. I've often found things for .25 that sold for up to $28 on Ebay! Collectible books, good glassware, or old kitchen items are especially good sellers.
Labels: Entrepreneurism, Finances
Ranking high in search engines
You may have the very best business on the internet, but that means exactly zip if customers can't find you. This is where
search engine optimization comes in. For a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a month (the amount is only limited by your advertising budget) your online business or brick-and-mortar store which also operates online can get competitive search terms that will help boost your search engine ranking, moving you closer to the top or even putting you at the top of search pages.
This is where you want to be if you expect people to find you and do business with you. Now, you can buy some really cheap services that make big promises, but the fact is your money should be spent for companies that do what they say they'll do. What's the point of saving a few bucks on SEO if it never draws customers to you?
While good tags and keywords do help you to get traffic to your site, links from good quality sites with proper anchor text actually do more. This is where CustomerMagnetism.com comes in. You can contact them at their website or call them at 866-798-3862 for more information about the broad base of services they offer that will help you get your site much higher in the rankings.
Labels: Entrepreneurism, Reviews, Technology
Wholesale sunglasses to sell
This looks like it could be a good summer money making project for you or your children. Buy sunglasses at wholesale prices and resell them. You could incorporate some really good lessons on finance, business models, and math by the undertaking of a project like this. Also, you wouldn't have a lot of money invested to get it started.
The fact is, I have ordered these myself and am awaiting shipment even now. The shipping cost is quite reasonable. I only paid $10.01 for shipping on two dozen very nice fashionable sunglasses - a dozen men's and a dozen women's. What I purchased was $12 a dozen, which is still a steal, don't you think?
Wholesale Sunglasses has lots of fashion styles plus sports styles to suit everyone's taste. You can purchase these sunglasses for as little as $10 a dozen, so that even when you add the shipping, you can clear a pretty nice profit for selling them either at the suggested retail or lower, if you choose.
CTSWholesaleSunglasses.com offers FedEx ground shipping to save you money, plus they will email you with updates while your order is in transit. I like that.
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Wholesale sunglasses
I present you here with a really outstanding deal on fashionable sunglasses. You have the opportunity to buy, at wholesale, not only fashion sunglasses but also sports sunglasses.
What else? You can start your own business through the sales of these sunglasses by purchasing them in quantity from
Wholesale Sunglasses and reselling them. Set up your display, which is also available there, at malls, convenience stores, beauty shops, sports stores, hunting and fishing stores, or anywhere else you can think of.
The wholesale prices are very low which means you can earn a good profit through reselling. Yes, this IS something I'm going to be doing!
Even if you just put the word out through your network of friends and relatives, posted them on eBay auctions, or showed them to your co-workers, you could easily create a market for your line of sunglasses and generate some income from them.
The big plus is that you'd also have them to wear yourself or give as gifts. My mind keeps rolling along thinking about this and I'm ready to invest a little money (it's not much to get started) and see what I can do with this kind of opportunity.
You all know I've sold my hand crafted jewelry, painted plates, purses, and other hand crafted items. I love making them and will continue to do so. But these sunglasses could bring in a bit more money and I don't have to make them.
LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on. Labels: Buzz, Entrepreneurism, Shopping
