First Step: Understand the Difference Between Making Money and Earning Money

How can you make money? The question is quite broad and nonspecific except for the end item which is money. The fact that the question is about earning money means that working is not the choice to use to make money. In that case, this article will only focus on the making money part of the question instead of earning money. The difference is quite clear between making money and earning money. The latter does not give you the dependence to make your own decisions. You will have to account for your time on a time clock and report to a boss. Therefore making money is more attractive because there is a freedom to use your time as you please.  Any goofing off will discredit your business and will also take away from your company or what ever you decide to do to make money.

Step Two: Select Internet Resources

The easiest way to make money is to use internet resources. The internet is still quite an unexplored business area even though online ways of communicating has been around for a long time. The big computer contraptions used to have to be kept in a cold large room to facilitate its workabillity and enhance its performance. These large computers were mostly found in the government offices and buildings as the department of defense always had to be conflict ready.

Now the computer has been reduced to the size of the palm of your hand with the introducton of smart phones and iphones. The laptop computer has replaced the desktop computer in popularity because of the ease in carrying it from place to place. Mobility is playing an important role in the viability of having a computer and the laptop seems to win in this department. In a home business situation, the laptop can be sat atop a desk and provides much more desk area to work from because the cathode ray tube, the keyboard, and the speakers are all on one portable unit.

Step Three: If Affordable Use a LapTop Computer

Because of the 24/7 communication capability of computers, it is suggested that the home business owner use the laptop. There are many Wi Fi (internet availability) areas such as Barnes and Nobles and even Burger King that provide for internet access away from home. The business owner of today must learn about the document filing system of the computer and how to use accounting software based on the type of business.

Step Four: Sell a Product or Provide a Service

Once you have decided on the type of computer and the laptop should be the computer of choice then you can begin making money. The easiest way to make money and has been history proven is to sell products or provide a service. The easier choice is to sell a product because of the internet, the product will have to sell itself. Write with descriptives about what the product can do. Decide on what product you are interested in selling.

Most people look around their homes or garages to see what they do not need but may be useful for someone else. If you have ever had a garage sale, then you know how to look around your place of residence for items that you normally give away to charity. The items that you select should be small and portable and able to be mailed to the buyer as now you are the seller.

Step Five: Invest no more than $100.

If you are unable to find any useful discards around the house or apartment, you may want to look up WebWholesaler on line and invest no more than $100 in the product that you have decided to sell. Jewelry is an excellent money maker at flea markets or swap meets but the competition is too great online to get visitors. There are companies who can put your products on the first pages of Google but the cost is too expensive. As this is a trial selling period, do not spend more than $100 on this venture.

Do invest in an inexpensive digital camera that takes clear pictures and to connect to your laptop computer. Samsung and Polaroid EasyShare are excellent digital cameras. You may want to sell digital cameras as the computer industry has just about erased the viability of the old instant photos or disposable cameras. Take digital pictures of the products that you wish to sell.

Step Six: Become a Member of eBay.com, Amazon.com or Overstock.com

Open an account with ebay, amazon or overstock.com. These are the three internet sites that offer a place to sell the items that you have decided to sell. Take the digital pictures and follow the procedures to connect the camera to the computer. Log onto either ebay, amazon, or overstock. Use amazon.com only if you have decided to sell books, CD's, or movies. Amazon has a computer server in place that can picture these items for you. You do not have to take pictures of these items to be sold on amazon. You must however have the ISSN number and the correct title of your media.

If you decide to sell a product, then you may use ebay.com or overstock.com auctions. The latter is less interactive and is almost dormant in the auction category so you should select ebay. Ebay is very interactive and is probably one of the earlier social networking sites providing chat rooms to discuss products. Like hubpages, ebay do not allow selling in these interactive areas such as forums and chat rooms. Selling is allowed where specified on the ebay website.

Step Seven: Open a PayPal Account

Open a membership at ebay and the membership is of no charge. At this time you should open up a PayPal account for easy payment onto your debit or credi cards from sales. Log onto PayPal.com and follow the prompts to open an account. This payment procedure is secure and is used internationally.

Read all of the help modules on the ebay website before you began to familiarize yourself with what ebay can do. Click on the option to be a seller instead of a buyer and choose the category in which to sell. Study how the other ebayers are selling products like yours and use their marketing strategies. Most ebay sellers are there to make money like yourself so you should be able to find good tactics on making money. There are also books available off line about the ebay website but you should be able to maneuver about the site without any problems

Step Eight: How to Price Your Products

Study the pricing strategies so that you will not spend more on shipping than the product and the profit combined. Do not offer free shipping as you are just getting started and do not have the infrastructure to recover costs from shipping costs. Ebay also have a convenient shipping measurement field that can help you decide what to charge for shipping. Be reasonable but be cognizant that your pricing structure determines if you will make any money. If everything that you use is priced too high, you may not get any bidders. Use the reserve option in bidding only if you want to assure that you get the minimum asking price for your product. Most buyers do not like reserve because it takes away from their bidding freedom. If at all possible do not use the reserve pricing feature on ebay.

Step Nine: Do Not Procrastinate with Shipping Sold Products

Follow all of the ebay rules and provide good customer service by not procrastinating once you have sold an item. Explain your shipping and handling policies in the appropriate place on the ebay website. Again be reasonable and do not make the customer think that you are trying to make a profit with the shipping. Read the feedback received from your customers and try to improve if needed. The sellers can no longer leave any comments as ebay decided that it's revenues depend on the buyers. Ebay charges fees with items listed so assure that your pricing consider the minimal fees that ebay charges for listing an item.

Step Ten: How many items to list on ebay

On your laptop computer, you can monitor your sales away from home or at home. The online method of selling products is the easiest way of making money online. The online community is the best place to sell because there is no ovehead, rent or utilities to pay. Do not list more items than you can account for and the ebay business should be an easy money making venue for extra cash.