So, You Want to Make Money While You Sleep

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, you can make money while you sleep. It is easy. All you have to do is Join a site like Etsy or eBay or start your own web site, list something to sell, go to bed and wake to an inbox full of orders.

If only it were that easy.

The first thing you have to do is decide what you are going to make. If things go good, you will make a lot of them. So pick something you enjoy making.

Then you must decide if there is a big enough market for your creation. Maybe you can't live without a left handed moustache mug, but how many others share your desires?

OK, so there is a market for your mugs.  How many other sellers are there? Will you get lost in a sea of eleventy million  other mugs?

So, you feel the market is not saturated and there is a place for you. Good.

So make your mugs, list them and head off to bed, dreaming of becoming the next mug magnate.

Slow down, cowpoke.

Would you buy a mug you have not seen?  It is time to get out your camera and take some pictures. Not any old every day snapshot type pictures.  Good clear pictures that show the details.

How does anyone know you have magnificent manly mugs for sale? It is now time to put on your marketing and promotion hat.  You will need to title, describe and tag your mugs so they can be found by search engines. This is known as SEO - Search Engine Optimization.  There are many free on line guides to help with this.

Don't forget, you will want to be paid.  You will need to set up a PayPal account or some kind of manner of accepting credit/debit cards.

And when you do get a sale, how are you going to get it do the customer? Have all your shipping options researched ahead of time.

Oh and customers like variety. Put your mug making hat back on and head back to the shop.

I am not even going to try to discuss record keeping right now. But you will need to know, if you sell something the state and local governments consider you a bona fide business. You may think you are just making a little spare cash from a hobby.  Unfortunately, their definition trumps yours.

Enough for this today.

I have a loaf of bread about ready to come out of the oven.