5 Tips For A Drop Shipping Home Business

With all the hype surrounding dropship wholesale products and using those products to run a successful home business, it’s important to know the following tips which will make your life easier as a home based entrepreneur.

First we’ll describe what dropshipping is and how it can be useful for a home based business.

Dropshipping uses three entities: you, the customer, and the dropshipper. You advertise products that the dropshipper offers, and when customers would like to buy the product, they contact your. This can be done through traditional means such as newspaper or the more current trend with mediums such as web sites or auction sites. You never actually purchase the inventory until the customer pays you for it. This gives you the capital to buy the product and take your cut of the profits before the dropshipper. Once the dropshipper receives the order, they ship the product directly to your customer, with your return address listed. The customer thinks you shipped the item and usually has no idea the item was dropshipped.

Now that you have a better understanding of what dropshipping is, the tips below will help you avoid some of the pitfalls that usually occur when using dropshipping in your home based business.

Check the Inventory

You definitely don’t want to sell a product from a dropshipper only to find out the dropshipper doesn’t have the item in stock. This is one of the most common problems in the dropshipping business. Some dropshippers use an available stock field in their product description allowing you to see how many items they have available for immediate delivery.

Careful With Shipping

Most people new to the dropshipping business don’t think much about shipping costs and how it can cut into their profits. Remember your shipping charges and be sure to pass them on the your customer. Some use a flat rate shipping charge that can cover most and provide a small profit when more shipping charges are collected and not used.

Dropshipping Charges

Different dropship companies have different fees for dropshipping. Each individual item may have a dropshipping charge even if the order is for more than one item. Others charge a monthly or annual fee. It’s important to know the fees associated with using each dropshipper.

Saturation

When choosing a dropshipper, you don’t want to choose a dropshipper that has a saturated market. The supply and demand principle is still true even in the online world. If hundreds of people are selling the exact same product as you, you’ll need some sort of incentive for them to buy from you. Or find a niche dropshipper that can provide unique products at good prices.

Beware the middleman

Finding dropshipper that provide the products you want to sell maybe your biggest challenge. There are plenty of middlemen just waiting to soak up all your profits. Most true wholesale dropshippers will require a tax id. They are inexpensive to obtain and can help lead your home based business to success. Dropship directories such as The Drop Ship Manufacturers List can provide you with lists of quality dropshippers.

Do You Really Desire A Business Of Your Own?

At one time or another in every life, one decides that he or she would like to open a business. You might be tired of someone else getting rich from your efforts or maybe you want the freedom that goes with owning a business.

But, is it enough simply to want your own business. What does owning a business mean? What does it take to be an entrepreneur? What do you need to open a successful business? There are thousands of businesses that open one year and within a few years are closed. Everyone has been to a restaurant or store one time and when they return in a few weeks, it is no longer there and something else has taken its place. If feels like it is a never-ending cycle.

Today, I need to tell you what I believe it means to be an entrepreneur and to own a business.
It is important that one must have is guts! Are you willing to put your life savings at risk? Everything that you have worked for in the past is now at risk. That savings account that is there as a safety net might have to catch you if you fall. You also must have a strong desire to have your own business. It is not enough just to want a business. You must live it, breathe it and sleep it. Therefore, you need to start a business that you will be happy with.

Although there will be good times and bad times, you need a business that you are committed to seeing through. There may be times that you have to miss a child’s baseball game or soccer practice. And when problems arise, and they'll arise, are you the person that can handle the stress of it all, or do you fold under pressure?

One of the leading challenges facing the small business owner is MONEY, or lack of it. Business experts usually recommend that you have enough money to pay your personal expenses for about a year. It usually takes at least that long to begin to show any real profit. So, the small business owner doesn't want to get into financial difficulty during the first few months. The biggest reason that small businesses fail is the lack of funds to continue the operation.

Another question that must be asked of the aspiring business owner is do I have the knowledge that it requires to operate a business and if not, can I find someone that will help me to make this business successful? Perhaps there are family members that would like to partner with you and make a family business.

Should you be unsure of the type of business that you would like to start, take your time to identify the business that is just right for you. There are thousands of different businesses out there, and it may take you a little time, but one of them is right for you. Identify whether your business has long term potential. You do not want to be on the tail end of a fad.

One of the newer types of businesses out there which are proving increasingly popular is drop shipping. Drop shipping takes away the problems of stocking a range of products, creating a website etc, you normally pay a small fee (that often includes a website) and you will have access to normally many thousands of products that you promote and earn a commission for each sale.  You can find a list of reputable drop shippers by visiting The Drop Ship Manufacturers List and this company have a very good reputation The Drop Shipping Wholesalers.

See how easy it is. Most business owners believe it is worthwhile. Because instead of saying I work for __________, you are now qualified to say I am a the boss!

By John Gilham

Top 5 Ways To Generate Low Cost Website Traffic For Your Website

There is one hard and fast rule in generating income for your website: A steady flow of website traffic. If no one goes to your site, it hardly bares a chance of generating an income. Many sites have tried and failed in doing so, and these results to the sites demise. It takes money to maintain an income generating site; it also takes money to make money. 
 

BUT, it doesn’t take a whole caboodle of cash to generate website traffic for your site. 

Ever wonder how does big hit sites drive traffic top their site? Most of them are spending tons of money to drive the traffic to their sites, investing in many advertising campaigns and different forms of marketing schemes and gimmickries. This is all worthwhile because, well, they are what they are now, high earning, big hitting websites. 

You don’t have to do this if you don’t really have their resources. There are many ways to generate low cost website traffic without having to spend what you don’t have or can’t afford. Many people have banked on high cost methods and have ended up losing their shirt over it. 

Here I present to you the Top five ways to generate low cost website traffic that could help your site a whole lot. Even if you only get a small percentage of successful visitors in to client ratio it still works especially if you get a high number of website traffic.  

Exchange Links. This is a sure and proven method. Rarely would you see a site where there is no link to another site. Many webmasters are willing to exchange links with one another so that they could produce more public awareness about their sites. You’ll soon see and feel the sudden upsurge of the traffic coming in to your site from other sites.

A major prerequisite in exchanging links with other sites is having the same niche or content as the other site. They should share a common subject so that there is continuity in the providing of service and information to what interests your target traffic. 

Exchanging links also boosts your chances of getting a high ranking in search engine results. It is common knowledge that search engines ranks high sites that have inbound and outbound theme-related links. With a good ranking position in the search engines, you will generate more traffic in your website without the high costs. 

Traffic Exchange. This is like exchanging links but on a different higher level. This may cost a bit more than exchanging or trading links but could be made cheaper because you get to earn credits. You can use those credits when viewing others traffic, while you earn credits when someone views yours.

Traffic exchange services are the viewing of another’s site or page. This is done vice versa where a site can use your sites contents and so can you to his or her site. You both benefit from each others efforts to generate traffic. The other sites visitors can go to your pages and know more about your site as well as theirs. Once again the public awareness of your sites existence is boosted.

Write and Submit Articles. There are many e-zines and online encyclopedias in the internet which provides free space for articles to be submitted. If you want to save costs, you can do the articles yourself. There are many freelance writers who are willing to write for you for a small fee, but to save money, it is wise to do those articles yourself.

Write articles that are themed along with the niche of your site. Write something that you have expertise on so that when they read it, they can feel your knowledge about the subject and will be eager to go to your site. Write articles that produce tips and guidelines to the subject or niche your site has.

Include a resource box at the end of your article that can link them to your site. Write a little about yourself and your site. If you provide a light, information-laden and interesting article, they will go to your site for more.

Make a Newsletter. This may sound like hard work because of all the articles you may need to use to build a newsletter but on the contrary, this is not so. There are many writers and sites that are willing to provide free articles as long as they can get their name in on your newsletter. This will also provide free advertising for them as well.

As your newsletter gets pass around, you can widen your public awareness and build an opt-in list that can regularly visit your site.

Join Online communities and Forums. This only requires your time and nothing else. You can share your knowledge and expertise with many online communities as well as your website. You can get free advertising when you go to forums that have the same subject or niche with your site.

Share your two cents and let them see how knowledgeable you are with the subject. As you build your reputation, you also build the reputation of your site, making it a reputable and honest business that could be frequented and trusted by many people.

Further Learning. There are many other e-courses, videos, learning material out there to teach you more about getting free and low cost traffic for your online store. If you are after a very inexpensive video series on how to create free traffic for your website, we personally found This Video Series at less than $13 was invaluable to our traffic building activities.

Create Your Own Shopping Mall And Work At Home

There is absolutely no disputing that the Internet has enabled tens of thousands of people to launch their own home business. And, with the economy in economic downturn, more people than in the past are looking for ways to supplement their existing income, to recover from a job loss, in order to hedge against uncertain times. An Online work from home business provides a large number of advantages.

You can make your own hours, to help you work while the kids are in school or after they've gone to bed at night. You can avoid the time wasted by the daily commute and don't have to pour money into your vehicle's gas tank going to and from work each day. Best of all, you don't have to answer to a boss, because you will be the boss!

Because the amount of cash consumers spend on the internet is at an all-time high, one of the better businesses you can launch is an internet shopping mall. While this seems counterintuitive - after all, where can you store all the inventory? - so many people are finding extraordinary success in selling online.

Exactly what is the secret? It's actually pretty simple. You just need to look for a supplier who will give you access to items that you can sell online, and then who will do the shipping for you. There are quite a few to choose from a Google search will help you find one. Put simply, you won't need to stock inventory, you won't need to deal with packaging and shipping; you only need to market the products. Ideally, the company you partner with really should have 200,000 or even more products from which you can choose. When you have access to that sort of inventory, you can become an eBay power seller or a star Amazon trader in no time at all.


When you're searching for a company with which to partner, find one that has at least three different plans. One might be an auction plan, with a one-time setup charge and no monthly fees. You ought to have access to low wholesale prices and all of the company's merchandise, without any minimum order.

Another choice may well be a website plan where you get your own website pre-loaded with all the products, where you can customize your website, and where no merchant account is required. A third option might be a website and auction plan where you could have the best of both worlds, and where you get a free domain and a free e mail account.

Beyond the plan options, you need to look for a company with no monthly fees, that provides free order fulfillment, which will dropship each and every product you sell straight to your customer. Put simply, you ought to be able to have a turnkey shopping mall that you can administer from home. You only need a computer.

You will of course need to generate free traffic so people know to visit your website. There are many e-courses and training modules available on the internet - and you do need top be careful (we have personally been stung by a few). If you have a website and want to generate free traffic for it, Traffic Building School is by far the best training we have come across - and for less than $13 one off payment it provides excellent information (without ripping you off!).

As for the types of items you sell, there are virtually no limits. The best partnering companies offer hundreds of thousands of products in categories like apparel, computers, electronics, health and beauty, home and garden, jewelry, toys and games, and so on. Generally, an internet shopping mall that provides a wide variety of items is a lot more successful than one that offers a smaller selection. We are often asked which is the best company to partner with. There are some great companies out there (as well as some dodgy ones as well!) However in our opinion we find Drop Shipping Wholesalers offers one of the better quality packages currently available in the market place, however you need to find what is right for you.

Starting up an internet business can be incredibly satisfying, as well as financially rewarding. The trick lies in partnering with the right company.

Drop Shipping Myths

For a lot of people, drop-shipping can seem to be like a perfect solution to start an internet business. While drop shipping has its place in the world, there have been many myths associated with it.

Myths are propagated by people who think they understand something, but don't. You may have heard many things, both good and bad, about drop shipping. But if you want to know the truth about something, you should go to somebody that actually works in the business, rather than someone who has little more than rumors and conjecture.

Having run a business using drop shippers as my product source, as well as having worked in the drop shipping industry, I have nearly 10 years of personal experience with drop shipping. Here are some of the common myths that I have often heard associated with drop shipping and drop shippers.

Myth #1: Drop shipping means big money for little work

Running a business is a lot of work! Sure drop shipping saves you from warehousing, inventorying, and packaging and shipping items. But in the end, you've still got a retail business to run. Furthermore, profit margins are thinner because the drop ship supplier takes on much of the risk involved with warehousing the products.


Myth #2: All drop shippers will be happy and willing to work with me

Some drop shippers will work with anybody. Those drop shippers will typically have a fee associated with them, or else their wholesale price is not as good. Other drop shippers have minimum requirements. For example, you may be expected to have several thousand orders per month.

Some drop shippers will even charge you a non-refundable application fee. If they decide you're not big enough to work with them, you lose your application fee.

Of the more than 50 suppliers Doba works with, several have application fees, a few have monthly fees, and several more only agreed to drop ship for us because we promised them high volume, something we can do thanks to the combined purchasing power of our membership. Fortunately, Doba does not pass along any application or monthly fees, and you never have minimum requirements.

Myth #3: It's impossible to make money with drop shippers

It is true that your profit margins will be thinner, but some of the internet's largest retailers use drop shippers exclusively as their product suppliers. If they weren't making money, then they wouldn't be some of the largest retailers on the internet.

Something that new entrepreneurs often fail to understand is that pricing is only one small part of business. If your focus is exclusively on price, then your business will never succeed because you'll be completely ignoring the many other parts of business that are required to succeed.

I once sold a product in a very competitive market. The product had an average 10-15% return rate, and the mean price was $19.95. I sold my product for $33 and had a return rate of 5%. My website also had a conversion rate about 2-3 times that of my competitors.

Why was I able to sell my product for 65% more than my competitors, maintain a higher conversion rate, and yet still experience far fewer returns? Very simply, I chose to focus on all aspects of my business, rather than just one or two like so many of my competitors were doing.

Myth #4: Drop shipping is the magic solution

Drop shipping is a specific service that fills a specific need. It is not a cure-all solution for business. Before jumping in, you should be sure that your business will benefit from drop shipping, and you should have a well laid out plan for making that happen.

Like all things, there are pros and cons to drop shipping. Make sure you understand how drop shipping will affect your business so your business doesn't end up a myth itself.

by Stuart Lisonbee

Earning Money On Ebay With Dropshipping

Many people are taking up selling on Auction web sites as a method of alternative income. Over the years, Internet has developed into a medium of e-commerce and slowly it's being filled up with virtual supermarkets. Today everybody wants a piece of the pie, which is the Internet.

We all want to generate quick bucks and get rich overnight. Appears like right out of a fairy tale. Selling online has become the simplest way to generate income.

Internet sites like eBay, Yahoo Shopping and many more allow individuals to conduct online auctions and buy and sell items online.

Majority of sellers on eBay comprise of homemakers, college going teenagers, and even individuals who work fulltime but sell their goods during their spare time. All of this effort is for getting rich overnight!

The Story Behind Ebay

Selling on eBay is getting very popular because the costs involved for setting up your store on eBay are virtually negligible.

The initial setup cost for a basic auction is really a nominal as 25 cents and includes description and one picture. However, eBay charges a percentage on the final bid price. and the seller can charge the buyer for this by including it in the handling and shipping charge.

With increasing access to Internet and millions visiting eBay everyday, this becomes the choicest and cheapest way to sell the goods and make a healthy income.

Drop Shipping- Sell Products without having the Hassles.

The term 'Drop shipping' has turned into a popular solution to selling goods on auction web sites.

This technique allows the vendor on auction web sites to trade goods without the need to have an inventory or the necessity to ship the goods. A lot of companies also allow the user to purchase their goods and then have them blind drop ship the product to your winning bidder.

The organization uses the eBay seller's name or company details as the return address to make it seem that the item actually came from them and not the true goods supplier.

The real supplier may nevertheless, handle the packaging, the shipping, and then any return of products.

We generally recommend you use a quality resource to find the best dropship companies such as Hienote who have probably the best resouce directory on the internet (they also have a free e-book to download).

Drop shipping has become popular because in this way of selling on eBay and other auctions, you don't need to pay for the product upfront until the auction has closed and the buyer has paid.

When the buyer makes the payment, your order is sent to the drop shipper and they'd complete the process including sending the tracking number for the shipment, which is then sent to the purchaser. This process makes sure that you earn money and risks are minimized for the retailers.

By Craig Relph