Your Home Based Business and Your Job/Career

When people decide to start a home based business, it can be a very overwhelming experience. It is new to them and there are so many different ways, products and systems on how to make money online with their home based business.Let’s first talk about “where do you start and “what to look for in a home based business system”.When I first started, I was completely overwhelmed with all the different ways to make money online. There is a lot of crap out there and sifting through all this crap to find a good, proven system is half the battle to starting a successful home based business.The only advice I can give you, is to find a “home based business system” that has a beginning and end. It should be “step by step” and it should give you the “big picture.” It should be a system that is similar to when you went to school/college. First, you take economics 101; once you pass that you move on to economics 102 and so on. – this is the only way to make money online with your home base business. Making money online is a “learning process” and you must find a system that you can follow and learn from.Making money online is a “process” and not a “get rich quick” gimmick or “product. Making money online with your home based business will take you time to learn and develop. There is no such thing as “get rich quick”, so stay away from anything making these claims. Stay away from “this guy made $102,340 in 3 months” or “use this push button software and make $15,000 per month.” These kinds of “sales pitches” are false and misleading and I can pretty much guarantee that you will not duplicate what they claim, so stay away from them and save your money.So, where does you current job fit into the picture of making money online with your home based business?Your current job/career is a “critical piece of the puzzle” of having success online with your home based business. Never quit your job/career to pursue making money online unless you are financially sound and have significant savings. What do I mean about financially sound? Well, this is a personal decision, but what I can say is that probably 99% of us do not have the adequate savings to go it alone with no job. Be very careful with this decision as your current job/career is paying your bills, mortgage, living expenses etc. and you need to make sure this is covered each and every month to free your mind of unnecessary stress and future financial problems.Work at your current job/career and while working at your current job, work part-time (5-15 hours per week is all that is needed and probably the most common) on your home based business and learn the “online skills” needed to be successful with your home based business. It is an exciting process and it can change your life as you know it, if you put in the time, develop patience, be dedicated and blow through any obstacle that comes your way.These are some basic questions that you must address before you start any home based business or making money online opportunity. If you address these issues and develop a plan around these issues, you will be on your way to creating the life you want.The economy is in the tank, the political environment in all countries is in complete chaos and there is a world wide recession impacting each and every one of us. Normal everyday people are getting killed in the pocket book and there is no job security anymore.There is a solution….

How to Find Great Live Auctions for Resale Items

Hi, my name is Walt. I’m an auctioneer with 25 years of experience in the auction business and licensed in the state of MA. I own Quick Auction Service, a company that specializes in building and running custom auctions, I’m also the webmaster of my own site and have been on eBay for 8 years. Besides eBay, the types of auctions I run most frequently are antiques and on-site estate auctions, although I’ve run everything from business overstock auctions to charity & special event auctions.

I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for article is to help folks get the absolute most out of their auction experience.

Whether your fresh out of the package or a seasoned dealer I think I can offer something in this article to help you with your auciton adventures.

There may be as many reasons to attend auctions as there are types of auctions to attend. Maybe you want to attend an auction to buy items for re-sale on eBay, or some other market. Maybe you want to furnish your home with wonderful antiques, or you want to furnish your home as inexpensively without sacrificing quality.Some folks are just looking for a fun night out. With a little perseverance all these things are possible.

There are antiques and estate auctions, auto auctions, overstock auctions, absolute and no reserve auctions, real estate auctions, specialty auctions where only one genre of items are sold, tailgate auctions, live auctions, online auctions, sealed bid auctions, silent auctions, charity and fund raising auctions and many more.

Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar at an auction? You bet! Many times I’ve seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction on the same night for a good profit, although be advised, this should only be done after the auction is over.

There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some tips on how to find and attend the best ones.

Visit the genre of shops in the area that apply to the type of auction you want to attend. IE: If your looking for a good antique auction to attend, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right? But listen to what they don’t say as well as what they do say. Oftentimes when a dealer speaks poorly about an auction he or she attends, it may be likely that they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?

Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy ads are usually indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, (a set price on an item), and usually an enormous crowd. While any auction can be profitable to attend, it is usually best to steer clear of the glitzy ones, at least for the beginner.

Here’s the minimum you want to find out before you go. If there is a phone number in the ad, call and ask for the terms of the sale. What forms of payment do they accept? Is it an absolute auction? An absolute auction is one that has no minimum or reserve bids on items. These are the best auctions to attend! Is there a buyers premium? A buyers premium is like a tax that everyone who makes purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions these days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable but I feel much more than that is greedy, and the auctioneer that charges over 10% is counting on most bidders not doing the extra math as the bids quicken in pace.

A fair auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually at least 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and make sure to attend! Never attend an auction if you can’t make the inspection, not unless your prepared to gamble. Most auctioneers sell at a rate of about 100 items per hour, which is why they sell “as is”. They simply don’t have the time to give a detailed description of all the items. Since almost all items at auction are sold AS IS, there are sure to be some damaged, refinished, fake and incomplete items at any given auction. Beware of any auctions that offer very little or no inspection time.

Good auctions will usually have 150 to 400 lots. A lot may be one item or a group of items. The exception to this are specialty auctions, auto auctions, real estate auctions etc.

When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. See if you can find out about other area auctions they attend.

When you do find an excellent auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales, you help increase the bottom line of that business. It’s difficult for many auctioneers to keep the quality of merchandise consistent, so good attendance certainly helps. And when an auctioneer gets to know you as a buyer, he/she will go out of the way to accommodate you, to keep you coming back.

Home Based Business Ideas – Change Your Future By Starting A Business At Home

If you’ve ever thought about working from home then there are many different home based business ideas available to you out there but it can be a little scary to make that jump; the intention of this article is to take your mindset to the right place to allow you to explore this possibility.First of all let’s touch on the different types of home based business ideas that are available to you. Essentially they fit into 7 unique categories each based around a different way of making money so let’s list them out here:1. Advertising
2. Services
3. Subscriptions
4. Products
5. Commissions
6. Licensing
7. Being a BankWhichever of the home based business ideas you decide to go with it will be fundamentally based on one of the above models but in this article I just want to cover the most common one linked with home based business ideas and that is services.Home Based Business ServicesIn most of our lives we offer a service to someone and in exchange they pay us money to do so. We tend to refer to this as work and unfortunately it’s usually something we don’t like doing so how do you break the cycle and take back control of your life?Well one of the more common ways nowadays is to start your own services business from home. This can be a life changing moment because suddenly you start to see your ‘work’ not as work at all but something you bounce out of bed for with a smile on your face, imagine that. The first thing to do however is to decide which of all those different home based business ideas would be your calling and start to create a plan, a road map if you like to get you there. The following is just a small list of the many varied home based business ideas you could look at:1. Teaching from home (piano, academic, whatever your passion)
2. Web design
3. Writing articles for Internet marketers
4. Updating various social media for online marketers
5. Transcribing audio
6. Translation services
7. Scoring / editing films or shows (very achievable from home believe it or not)
8. Coaching (Skype is becoming ever more popular and gives you global potential)
9. Cooking (you can setup your own home cooking business)
10. Home nursery / child careNow think what you really love doing and before long you will find the idea that is right for you. I can’t help you with your decision but I certainly can and will help you plan your journey.Getting Started-Making That Leap Of FaithOne of the hardest parts of any journey is the beginning and you are bound to have worries and concerns about making the change. Let’s be frank here, you are probably going to leave a stable (albeit boring) job working for someone else and become in control of your own destiny. This means leaving behind security and walking into the unknown. Now this can be a scary experience but it’s also exciting and that should be your focus. The key to making the right start is to focus on the reasons why you are changing. Never lose sight of the goal, your ‘why’, as this will be the fuel for your vehicle throughout.Procrastination Is The Lock, Daily Action Is The KeyEinstein once said that the 8th wonder of the world was compound interest and although he was referring to money the exact same concept applies to time. The key to unlock your procrastination door is daily action and this works for home based business ideas just the same as for money. By doing a little every single day your business is going to soar but there are two caveats here. Firstly you need to take action EVERY day without exception, don’t miss even one single day. Make it a habit and you will slowly join the ranks of the highly effective people out there. Secondly, you need to be constantly reviewing, evaluating and then redrafting your goals and targets. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly it’s very easy to ease off the gas when you approach your target, a lot of us have trouble achieving closure on them and so by constantly pushing those targets forward you are always challenging yourself so that you never get complacent. Secondly, it helps you keep a regular track on your reason for doing what you’re doing, your ‘why’ as we called it before. This will stop you having your head in the sand and allow every day to feel fresh and new.