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In my first post on this subject I wanted to give you an overview as to the realities of e-commerce in this day and age. Selling things online isn’t as easy as it used to be, though it can still be a highly profitable venture, provided you do your market research well in advance.

Next we covered what products to sell online (a subject we’ll obviously be returning to again and again). We talked about how important it is to be able to stand out from your competitors, including some of the big-league mega-retailers, and one great way to do this is to find a smaller niche, rather than trying to be the next Amazon or iTunes.

Lastly, we discussed the pros and cons of physical goods versus digital downloads. Physical goods, whilst they can be quite profitable, by their nature, are far more logistically demanding. A lot of thought has to go into choosing the right packaging, postage provider and other considerations such as having delivery dates and your own returns policy. (Things which we will be looking at in more detail throughout this series.)

Digital downloads, on the other hand, are virtually instant, with demand for items like games, apps and e-books is continuing to rise, and everybody wanting to own an iPhone, Android or Kindle, finding a nice niche for yourself could become a highly profitable venture indeed.

Whichever route you choose to take, be it physical goods, digital downloads, or both, there’s one thing you need to think about carefully before you do… more »

In our introduction to selling “stuff” online we discussed how online commerce has changed retail forever, and how the big boys – both the regular established retail giants and the online retail titans that threatened them – have since consolidated their grip making it harder and harder for independents to compete, which is why having a proper business plan and a clear selling strategy is so important.

If that sounds daunting, don’t worry, essentially speaking that means doing your due diligence, as any budding entrepreneur ought to, and thinking long and hard until you have found the answers to the following questions:

1. What exactly are you selling?
2. Who do you intend selling it to?
3. And how exactly do you want to sell it?

Seems like pure common sense, right? Yeah well it should be.
But you’d be surprised how many people actually don’t have an answer to even one of those questions.
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“How do I make money on the internet?” – at the end of the day, that’s pretty much what this site’s all about right? And the only reason you’re here right now, reading this, is because you want an answer to that question.

Truth is there are millions of people out there – right now – who’ve already found the answer.
They’re involved in various different enterprises ranging from e-commerce to affiliate marketing, day trading to freelancing. In addition to this there are countless more people who, each and every day, come up with new and innovative ways of making money. So really, the possibilities are limitless.

Nine times out of ten, though, when somebody thinks about ways to make money on the internet, the first thing that pops into their mind is “selling stuff”.

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The virtual assistant industry came into being during the 90s as the web began to gain massive adoption allowing the telecommuting revolution to begin in earnest. For the first time employees were now able to work from home on either a temporary or permanent basis. The first virtual assistants were entrepreneurs who chose to go freelance, offering their services as contractors or consultants, rather than employees.

The term virtual assistant (or VA) derives from personal assistant (PA), the virtual part denoting the fact that the work is carried out from a remote location via the internet. more »

Here are some interesting statistics on entrepreneurs in the US.

This article provides a summary of American entrepreneurial trends from a report by the Harvard Business School. It provides some fascinating insights into the world of entrepreneurship. more »