Make Money at Home

Realizing I would be snowbound and stuck at home for a few days my first thought was "Yippee, I don't have to go to my office job!" My second, less enthusiastic thought was "I still have bills to pay".  Naturally I started thinking of ways of making money that didn't involve shoveling my car out of a snow drift so I could drive to an office. 

Take advantage of the time freed up by not being at work to do some serious decluttering. As you declutter look for books, DVD's, CD's that could be sold on amazon.com. Amazon.com is my top pick for selling entertainment media because it makes selling easy. Amazon.com probably has the image of the media you are trying to sell already on the web site. This saves you the hassle of photographing it and the photo fees that you would have had to spend if you used eBay. Amazon.com also includes descriptions and reviews of books and other media so all you have to do in include a brief description of the condition of the product, such as like new, gently used, or looks like it was run over by a bus.

Amazon.com is great for selling books and other media, but for collectibles selling on ebay.com is worth a closer look. Ebay attracts millions of collectors and shoppers looking for everything imaginable. The down side of selling on ebay.com is that there are a lot of fees involved so whatever you sell should be expensive enough to cover the fees and earn you a decent profit.

One area that ebay does not dominate is in selling crafts. If you are a crafty type and you want to cash in on your creative talents check out etsy.com (the ebay of hand crafted goods) to see what it takes to sell your crafts online successfully. Like ebay, etsy provides online tutorials and tips on selling more effectively.

The web makes it easy to research business opportunities. If you have fantastic selling skills, skip the "I made 1 million a month working 5 minutes a week on my computer" programs and other gimmicks and check out companies.directsalesaid.com to find direct sales business opportunities that match your interest.

You don't have to be an entrepreneur to take advantage of online networking. Any aspiring business person can send a friendly note to another business person congratulating them for a recent accomplishment or sending them a link to an article or resource relevant to their business. It's easy to connect with relevant people and business organizations through Linked In. If being snowbound and not able to go to work fills you with delight, maybe it's time to look for a new job. Careerbuilder and Linked In are excellent places to look for jobs.

To learn the secrets of saving and making extra money, read  The Cheap Diva's Guide to Frugal and Fabulous Living: How to Shop Smart, Look Your Best, Decorate with Style, and Have Fun for Less Money!  You can buy Kindle version for only $2.99!