Should You Start Your Own At-Home Jewelry Business with KEEP Collective?

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Judging by its own descriptor, KEEP Collective sounds great: You get to design your own personalized keepsake jewelry. Also, you help others design their keepsake jewelry and make a commission from your sales.

KEEP Collective has a very catchy slogan: “Design your own jewelry business from home.”

So, is it worth your time and money to get involved with KEEP Collective? Let’s find out.

What is KEEP Collective?

This direct sales company was founded in 2014 by Blythe and Jessica, who, the website story goes, quit their corporate jobs to start KEEP Collective. The company itself sells personalized keepsake jewelry through a direct sales model, meaning that it hires independent contractors, called designers, who purchase company inventory and sell it to their personal customers. There’s also an MLM side to the business because designers can recruit other designers and make commissions from their sales.

KEEP Collective sells two main lines of products, called Keepers and Charms. The Keepers are the base of the jewelry item, such as a bracelet, earring, bag, key fob or necklace. To these Keepers, one can add specific charms like birthstones, engraved metal plates, lockets, timepieces, etc.

The Keepers range in price from $29 to $49 and are made from either leather or silicone. Necklaces range from $19 to $79. Bags are three sizes and range from $29 to $79. These prices do not include the charms.

Once you have your Keeper selected, you can purchase different charms for personalization. Charms range from $9 to $34.

While you can shop the website and purchase your jewelry online, the company heavily promotes direct selling to others by becoming a “jewelry designer.”

You become a jewelry designer by first purchasing a starter kit from the company. There are three sizes of starter kits. The Basics Kit retails for $99 and provides you with a personal website, training and support. You do not receive any actual products to sell, however.

The Essentials Kit costs $149 and includes everything in the Basics Kit, $500 worth of Keepers and Charms, a display tray and a leather swatch ring.

The Business Builder Kit costs $349, includes everything in the Basics Kit, $1,000 worth of Keepers and Charms, a display tray and a leather swatch ring. You also receive a foldable neck display, three display pillows and five gift bags.

Once any one of the kits is purchased, the newly-minted ‘jewelry designer’ can start her marketing. In this regard, most designers use social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to promote their jewelry. Of course, designers can also host parties, whether in their homes or online. Likewise, each designer has a website she can use for promotions and announcements.

What is the KEEP Collective compensation plan?

With KEEP Collective, designers make back 25%-35% of their sales volume as commission. As the below chart shows, designers can technically make enough commission money to actually replace their job income.

Designers also earn commissions by recruiting other designers and building their team (i.e., downline). Downline levels go down as deep as six levels, enabling designers to earn up to 6% from the sales of others.

Is KEEP Collective a worthwhile business?

The good:

The product is nice. Keepers and Charms, as well as the bags and other items from KEEP Collective, look very presentable and can be worn for both casual and formal events. They are each unique in that they are customizable, and so are perfect for events like weddings, graduations, etc.

The company is young. Because KEEP Collective was started only three years ago, it has not yet reached complete market saturation. So, if you can recruit others and/or sell a lot of product, you can rise relatively easily in the ranks. As the below map shows, there is still room to grow.

The not-so-good:

The items aren’t cheap. To create a single Keeper and Charm jewelry item for yourself, you’ll need to spend anywhere from $28 to over $100. The bracelet Keepers are made from relatively inexpensive materials such as leather and silicone, so it makes no sense why they are priced as high as $49.

This means that it will be difficult to sell vast quantities of jewelry to all but the more affluent of customers who don’t mind shelling out a few hundred bucks on keepsake jewelry. KEEP Collective will not be an impulse purchase, that’s for sure.

The commissions aren’t high enough. Making 25%-35% in commissions is kind of ridiculous when you consider that you’re the one marketing the products, selling them, hosting parties, collecting payment and maybe even shipping the pieces out. If you’re going to perform three or more jobs for a company, you should start making commissions that are at least 50% (or higher.)

Also, without higher commissions, designers are limited in what kinds of promos and discounts they can offer. A designer can’t run a 50% off deal, for example, or at least not very easily, because then she’s making very little money for herself.

Are designers bailing? If you search for KEEP Collective on eBay, you’ll find loads of items priced at rock-bottom prices. Here are just some eBay listings for KEEP Collective items that are running way below retail value:

For a relatively young company, having over 1,000 eBay listings featuring heavily discounted merchandise is a troubling sign.

Don’t keep KEEP Collective

If you’re interested in creating custom jewelry for yourself and others, you could easily dropship many KEEP-like items from AliExpress and save yourself a ton of cash. You could even try selling off your excess items and see how well others like them. With AliExpress, you have lots of custom jewelry to choose from, as just this one listing indicates:

Quite honestly, you could even start your own KEEP Collective business, paying others a commission for each jewelry set they sold. But, that’s a subject for another blog post.

The bottom line with KEEP Collective is that there just isn’t enough of a bottom line to justify the work involved with selling this jewelry. Plus, the jewelry itself isn’t cheap, so many potential customers will pass on the impulse to buy. With so many other jewelry vendors out there, including custom jewelry vendors, the KEEP Collective unique value prop just isn’t that unique.

Will Selling Jamberry Nails Products Give You Financial Freedom?

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If you’re a regular on Instagram, or even eBay, you may have come across Jamberry products by now. In fact, it seems that as the economy improves, more and more Jamberry products surface on social media as well as selling platforms.

What is Jamberry Nails?

Started in 2010 by three sisters who wanted to curb the cost and time involved in a visit to the nail salon, Jamberry began as an economical and efficient solution to manicures and pedicures. The company sold products such as self-apply nail wraps, TruShine gel enamel systems (i.e., nail polish), and LED-powered nail heaters. Here is a sampling of the products that Jamberry offers:


These products are not available at retail stores; instead, Jamberry is a direct sales corporation that sells its products to independent consultants. The consultants, in turn, sell the products to individual customers.

As is the case with direct selling, consultants not only make money when they move product, they also earn “overrides” (i.e., commissions) on the consultants they recruit. Here is a breakdown of Jamberry consultant levels:

In this chart, the ‘legs’ are actually recruited consultants. Why would a consultant (C) want extra legs? Because extra legs equals extra commissions and rewards, as shown below:

Finally, consultants can also earn higher commissions if they push more product. The standard commission on Jamberry products is 30%. However, consultants who sell $3,000+ worth of product can increase their commission level to as much as 40%.

How do you get started with Jamberry Nails?

Jamberry consultants get started by ordering a $99 starter kit (plus S/H). The starter kit contains four nail wraps, 40 nail wrap designs, application tools, cuticle oil and a nourish hand crème. Once the items in that kit are tried and/or sold, the consultant can order more products from Jamberry, keeping 30% of the money as her own commission.

The full size sheets contain 18 nail wraps of different sizes, which can cover two full manicures. The wraps are individually cut, shaped and heated into place using either a regular hair dryer or the LED-powered nail heater.

Consultants are advised to move product by hosting parties. These parties can be performed at their homes, online (e.g., through social media sites) or via catalog (e.g., catalogs left at work).

While the business model sounds reasonable, and while at first glance, the 30% commission sounds high, here are some reasons why Jamberry Nails isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be:

  1. The market is oversaturated. Search for Jamberry Nails products on a selling platform like eBay and you’ll find over 22 thousand listings for these products. Many product listings feature items going for less than their retail price on Jamberry.com. This is not good because it indicates that Jamberry Nails sellers are selling their items at loss.

For example, Jamberry Nails nailwraps are supposed to be sold at $15/sheet, netting the consultant $4.50 in commissions. However, this eBay listing certainly didn’t alot for that 30% commission:

2. The products may have a fungal issue. Search for the keyphrase ‘Jamberry Nails fungus’ and you’ll find a host of results describing a fungal issue that develops between the cuticle and the wrap. Other issues have included cracked nails (from overdrying) and nails that won’t grow.

3. The commission is too low. Jamberry Nails claims that it offers women a way to make a regular yearly income from home. Let’s assume a regular yearly income is $40,000. If you crunch the numbers, that means you’ll have to sell $133,333 worth of product each year or $11,111 per month. Given that the nail wraps retail for $15 each, you’ll need to sell 741 of them every month through those aforementioned parties. That’s a fairly tall order.

Conversely, many affiliate products listed on Commission Junction or JV Zoo offer a 50%, 70% or even 100% (on intro products) sales commission. With no S/H fees to worry about, these affiliate products are arguably more profit-generating than fake nails.

4. The product was a recession hit. Jamberry Nails made its debut during the last recession, when people couldn’t splurge on professional manicures and pedicures. But that was seven years ago. Nowadays, people are more likely to be employed or involved in a business- and they would rather have someone else do their nails.

Why? Because doing a proper mani/pedi with Jamberry Nails takes quite a bit of time and skill to master. Read through Beauty Judy’s review of her adventure with Jamberry Nails wraps and you’ll see why. Don’t forget that self-administered manicures can only be performed with one hand, which further increases their level of difficulty.

5. The product just isn’t that good. What initially attracts people to Jamberry Nails is the fact that there are hundreds of really ingenious designs to choose from and wear. Unfortunately, that’s where the fun stops. Many Jamberry customers report how they were disappointed with how their finished nails looked, with the wraps falling off in just days or even hours. Even when the wraps stayed on the fingernails, they often had bubbling and lifting at their edges. Filing the wraps to make them more even with the underlying fingernail only served to fray the plastic.

Should you start a Jamberry Nails business?

Before you sign up with this company and fork over $99 on its starter kit, buy a few wraps on eBay and see how they work with your nails. You might find that you love them…or you might find out that this product won’t adhere or takes too much time to apply.

If you can’t figure out and showcase your own product very well, you’ll have a hard time selling it to customers.

Otherwise, you should consider the compensation model that this company offers. Is a 30% commission sufficient for your needs and the amount of work you’ll need to put in? Can you really sell hundreds of nail wraps each month? And how will you deal with customers who want refunds or exchanges?

As with any MLM, recruitment of others is often the name of the game if you wish to increase your earnings and gradually do less work for your commission money. Are you prepared to recruit and tutor others? Will you be available to help them out if they run into a snag or customer issue?

Have you sold with Jamberry Nails before? Please let us know your experiences with the company in the comments below.

Should You Start Your Own Younique Business?

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Multi-level marketing companies such as L’Bri, Avon and Monavie used to spread their direct marketing via home parties and trade show events. Recently, many MLMs have taken to social networks to spread their word (and sales). A large number of MLMs have chosen Facebook as their route, using Facebook Groups to advertise products via virtual product parties (i.e., sales events).

This is certainly the case with Younique. This MLM company, which was founded in September 2012, is unique (sorry) in that it markets almost exclusively through social media. Thus, many of its “presenters,” as they are called, use Facebook to host virtual product parties.

What products are offered through Younique?

This MLM company offers women’s cosmetics, with most items ranging from $20-$60. Some items, like the moisturizers, cost a bit more ($65). While these items are on the higher end of the scale (in terms of prices), they still aren’t grossly expensive. By comparison, L’Occitane sells their moisturizers at prices ranging from $60-$120, and Algenist face creams are similarly priced.

The Younique sales model is MLM-based. Presenters that join the company must pay $99 for a starter package. They must also make $125 in personal retail sales (PRS) within three months to remain in the program.

To move up to the next level (yellow), a $1,000 PRS amount must be reached. The following level (pink) requires recruitment of one presenter and company wholesale sales of $2,000; this means that the recruit is purchasing $2,000 of merchandise to sell. However, the pink-level presenter’s PRS amount is decreased to $250.

At level white, presenters earn 20% commissions on sales. At level yellow and beyond, 25% commissions are earned.

Regardless of how you cut it, Younique places a heavy requirement on pushing product. Presenters who can’t hack it and don’t sell enough product are deactivated. So, unless a presenter is willing to purchase product with her own cash, she had better be out there, selling Younique products.

As a result, many Younique presenters have chosen to reach wider audiences by having virtual parties on social media outlets such as Facebook. Here are just some of the products that have been featured at Younique Facebook parties:

Younique virtual parties on Facebook and other social media run a familiar course:

  1. The presenter creates a Facebook group devoted to Younique buy, sell and trade.
  2. Periodically, the presenter put an item or items up for sale- but not their prices.
  3. Viewers are asked to PM (private message) the presenter for product prices.
  4. The presenter PMs interested parties with prices.
  5. Viewers either buy or don’t buy the product(s).

By not showcasing the product prices, presenters can entice viewers with the product(s) first. Sending PMs to people also opens up communication channels, transforming a cold lead into a warm one.

While there are some testimonials from successful presenters, the truth of the matter is that 95% of new presenters in Younique quit the company after a few months. Only 1-3% of Younique presenters truly ‘make’ it, in that they make a reasonable (and regular) monthly commission without needing to buy their own product.

With such imposing stats, is the Younique business model worthwhile?

The good:

  • The $99 startup cost is fairly low for any kind of business, MLM or not.
  • The company not even five years old, which means fewer presenters and market saturation.
  • Many Younique product are made from organic and/or animal-free ingredients. Animal products, such as hairs used in the brushes, are harvested humanely.
  • Presenters receive access to their own selling website.

The not-so-good:

  • Only 51% of the population will use your products.
  • There is pressure to sell $125 in product (in the rolling 3 months) or be deactivated.
  • To maintain their levels, presenters must reach their sales goals every month.
  • Downline commissions can only be earned if presenters maintain at least one active presenter, reach $1,000 in lifetime PRS, and earn $250 in PRS each month.
  • Presenters must not only sell their own products, they must also come up with ways for their active presenters to sell their products.
  • With starting prices for Younique products being $20 and above, the items aren’t exactly in the “mindless splurge” category.

Thus, as you might infer from the bullet points above, Younique places heavy emphasis on recruitment, large downlines, and lots of product advertising and selling. If you have a bad month or get sick, you may lose out on your commissions. If you take a long vacation, you are similarly placed at a disadvantage and will need to hustle like mad to make up for your lost sales.

Virtual parties may seem like a great advertising idea at the outset, but the fact is that most of your social media friends will eventually tire of your party ads and ask Facebook to not show your announcements in their news feeds.

So, you’ll be spending extra money on Facebook Ads to get your products out there and noticed by people outside of your circles. If you decide to host actual house parties, such events will also cost you in terms of time, food and drinks.

Still, if you like having virtual and/or real parties and are a social butterfly by nature, this may be the ideal gig for you. There is also the potential for selling Younique products quite well in rural and isolated areas where brick-and-mortar stores are few and far between. Of course, this only works if those rural and isolated areas have money to spend on higher-end cosmetics.

Have you sold with Younique before?

As with all MLMs, we aren’t particular fans of the business model in general. With most MLMs, the first hurdle is having to sell inferior products at inflated prices. There is often heavy pressure to sell first within your social circles. Once you exhaust your sphere of influence, the pressure moves to recruiting the people you know to sell to their social circles. This model just isn’t sustainable in the long run.

Have you tried selling Younique before? Have you attended a party, virtual or in-person? Do you have experiences with their products? Sound off in the comments below.

WordPress Page Builders 101

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One of the biggest complaints that new WordPress user have is how hard it is to get a post or page to look “just right”.

While WordPress is pretty easy to use, this is a justifiable complaint if you’re trying to create a post that isn’t in a simple blog style format.

In order to create something a bit different, you would need to learn CSS and HTML at the very least to achieve your desired look.

The beauty of WordPress though is that there are thousands of clever people out there looking to solve peoples problems and of course they listened and created plugins called Page Builders.

What Are Page Builders?

These plugins allow you to create complex looking post and pages through an easy to use drag and drop system.

Often these are done from a front end point of view, where you actually see your site and drag and drop elements on to the page so you can see the content forming in front of you.

Some page builders are slightly less fancy though and utilize a backend system where you add multiple modules to create the same effect but without the visual feedback.

Page builders allow you to add all sort of things to your pages, including:

  • Text content
  • Images
  • Columns
  • Widgets
  • Galleries
  • Counters and Timers
  • Call to Actions
  • Optin forms
  • And many more

Not only that but most page builders offer pre-built examples that you can load and modify to your needs.

This flexibility, especially with the ability to create sections and blocks on the page make page builders incredibly powerful.

When to Use a Page Builder

Page builders fill a void in WordPress and allow people, even those who might not know a lick of CSS and HTML, to create beautiful looking pages.

This can lead to some people getting a bit carried away with using page builders, often when it’s not needed.

What then are ideal candidates for page builders?

#1 Home Pages

If your theme doesn’t allow you to create a complex, beautiful looking home page (which to be fair a lot do nowadays), then a page builder is the perfect option.

Simply create a new page, build it up with the page builder and then assign it as your home page and you’re done.

#2 Landing Pages

If you’re interested in marketing with your site, then you likely know the power of landing pages, and page builders make these a snap to build, especially builders like Thrive Content Builder which seem to focus more on landing pages.

#3 Complex Posts

Most of your content is going to be pretty straightforward text with some image thrown into the mix.

There are occasions though when you need more than that.  One type of post that I personally find hard to do in the WordPress editor is lists style posts where you want images on the left and content on the right.

Trying to get them even and orderly is a nightmare, but page builder make this easy with their row and column structures.

When Not to Use a Page Builder

One thing I consider a mistake when using page builders, is using them for everything!

If you have an article that is basic text with a few images, using a page builder is overkill. Not only does it make it slightly longer to produce the said article but using it on every single post and page can potentially have a negative effect on site speed.

Problems with Page Builders

It’s not all rosy with page builders, there are definitely some considerations to make before you use one.

#1 SEO issues

A lot of page builders generate quite a large amount of additional HTML that gets added to the page making it less semantic which may affect SEO.

#2 Speed

Some page builders make use of shortcodes to load and display your content, some simply have extra calls to the database. Both of these add weight to a site which can slow down page load speeds.

#3 Locked in

Like using a theme with too much functionality, some page builders make it very difficult to stop using them or to swap to another page builder. I’ve seen it where if the page builder plugin is disabled the content is simply gone. That’s not an ideal situation. Even if the content remains, it could be strewn with broken shortcodes or simply just plain and lacking the detail you added in.

#4 You don’t learn

Page builders make it easy for newbies and non-techies to create wonderful looking pages but that comes at the price of never learning basic HTML and CSS. Those skills are advisable for any marketer or site owner to learn, even if just at a basic level to help in situations where a page builder cannot be used.

Top WordPress Page Builders

There are lots and lots of page builder plugins available for WordPress, but here’s a selection of what I think are some of the best ones that you can use (in no particular order).

Beaver Builder

Beaverbuilder

Jam packed with features and templates, Beaver Builder is one of the best page builders out there.

It uses front end views and one thing I love about this builder is the fact that once disabled, the content remains.

The main downside to this plugin is the price; at $99 it’s not the cheapest option. It does however also have a free “lite” version available on WordPress.org.

As well as that the cheapest option does not support multisite, so if you need that be prepared to pay $199.

Elementor

Elementor

This page builder is relatively new to the field but it does offer a lot of different features and templates. I couldn’t see anything that specifically wowed me, but there was an overall sense of quality to the plugin.

That being said it does lack in some areas, especially editing inline text.

Still it’s easy to learn and use and at $49 it’s affordable for most budgets.

Page Builder by Site Origin

Siteorigin page builder

What’s impressive about this page builder is that you get all the features and easy to use systems that other page builders have, but it’s free.

It actually confused me because as a marketer my first question was how do they pay the bills? The answer is via premium addons to the plugin!

This plugin does have some flaws in that it’s perhaps not quite as easy to learn as others and the front end editing isn’t as fluid as other plugins, but for free these are minor concerns.

Divi Builder

Divi builder

Bundled with the popular Divi theme, Elegant Themes also provide the functionality in a separate plugin.

The problem with the theme is that if you decide to change theme and used the builder, you’re stuck! This plugin changes that but only slightly as the content is still locked to the plugin.

That aside, Elegant Themes have created an excellent product here with lots of features and templates thrown in.

At $69 it’s middle of the road price wise.

Visual Composer

Visual composer

If you’ve ever browsed themes on Themeforest or even bought some, you might have come across Visual Composer. It’s often bundled with themes and is still the best selling plugin on Codecanyon, Themeforest’s sister site.

As a plugin it performs excellently with yet again numerous features thrown in.

Downsides would definitely be the use of shortcodes to generate the content and some possible conflicts with other plugins.

At the price point of $34, it’s definitely the best value for money out of the premium plugins listed here.

Thrive Content Builder

Thrive content builder

The final plugin I’m going to mention get’s a lot of use from marketers as it has a higher focus on marketing related aspects rather than more general use.

That being said you can still use it to create beautiful pages even if you’re not marketing with your site.

The front end view is simple to use and deceptively powerful.

The Bottom Line

Not every one will need a page builder, and you should really look at your needs before opting for one.

Ultimately most page builders are similar in what they offer, which makes it hard to choose between them.

As such it’s important to test each page builder out to make sure it definitely has everything you need before buying – most plugin developers offer demos nowadays.

Used with care and selectively, page builders are an excellent addition to your WordPress toolkit and can help take the design and look of your site to the next level.

4 Apartment Rental Scams to Beware of and Avoid

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Springtime often brings forth thoughts of moving into a newer, closer or better apartment. Likewise, some freelancers wish to set up shop at a location outside their home, or to work from a location that is closer to their client’s headquarters.

Unfortunately, scammers are well aware of the springtime move tendency and try to capitalize on hapless renters. Here are four common apartment rental scam scenarios that you should be aware of (and avoid):

Apartment rental scams to avoid

Scenario #1: You scan the newspaper and find an apartment with many amenities at a super low rate. You call or email the owner of the property and they are more than happy to show you the apartment; however, you must first provide your personal information, such as your social security number, address, bank account numbers, birth date, etc. Once you provide this information, you never hear from the owners again.

The real deal: More than likely, you’ve just been a victim of an identity theft. The scammer is a hacker who will now attempt to access your personal records and make purchases on your credit cards and/or bank accounts.

Scenario #2: The owner in question is not available because s/he lives abroad, is a missionary, in the military, etc. However, s/he will gladly accept your application and security deposit and send you the keys (via an agent, lawyer, etc.) to the apartment once these materials are received. Once you send your application and wire the money, you never receive those promised keys or hear from the owner again.

The real deal: You’ve just had your money and identity stolen by someone who created a fake apartment rental ad. That person could in fact be out-of-state, or even out of the country. The so-called agent, lawyer, etc. is imaginary.

Scenario #3: The ‘owner’ answers your ad inquiry and even agrees to show you the apartment. You are then asked to fill out a rental agreement, provide your bank and other information, and leave a security deposit plus one or two months’ rent. When it comes time to move in, however, you find out that not only is the apartment no longer available for rent, but that the “owner” you dealt with has long since left town.

The real deal: A scammer broke into an unoccupied apartment and showed it to you as their own. Alternately, the scammer is a buddy of the actual renter/owner of the apartment and is using the place as a base of operations for his/her scam. In some cases, the scammer is an evicted tenant of the apartment and is using it to collect money from unsuspecting renters before being kicked out by the sheriff.

Scenario #4: You find a reasonably priced sublet on Craigslist and agree to take it for a few months after meeting with the current renter and landlord. You provide your information and deposit, then have trouble getting in touch with either the renter or landlord. Upon conducting some research, you learn that the real landlord not only doesn’t allow sublets, but has even disallowed Craigslist ads of rentals because of sublet scammers.

The real deal: Scammer duos pose as renters and landlords and list properties that they either have access to and/or can pretend to own. Unsuspecting renters provide their information and security deposits and may even receive fake keys. Once the transaction is complete, the scammers disappear, leaving their victims with worthless keys and no address to call their own.

How to not be a victim of an apartment rental scam

Each of the following above scenarios can be prevented if you follow a few simple protocols when apartment-hunting.

  • You are not required to provide any of your personal or financial information, nor any money, as a condition of viewing an apartment.
  • You should never wire money to anybody, ever, and especially not without first viewing the property.
  • If the actual property owner does in fact live overseas, use your credit card or Paypal to secure your claim on the property. Reputable owners will often ask that you use a verified third party rental website to place a deposit.
  • Before providing anything to an ‘owner,’ check with the city/county website and verify actual ownership.
  • When dealing with a potential owner via Craigslist or other ad, call the listed phone number and talk to the person one-on-one. Verify everything that the owner emailed to you to ensure that his/her email wasn’t compromised.
  • Be leery of owners who appear too eager to rent their apartment to you, or who don’t care about your background screening or whether or not you can sign a lease.
  • Don’t believe that any owner would rent their place remotely- most owners want to actually see their renters before saying yes to them. Alternately, absentee landlords will entrust their property to a local real estate management company.
  • If an apartment is priced far below the price points of its neighbors, there could be a scam afoot.
  • If you must pay money, use your credit card, Paypal, or a verified apartment pay website. Never pay with cash or personal check. Never wire money to anybody.

The FTC provides additional information on apartment rental listing scams and how to spot them.

What if you become a victim of a rental scam?

If you do unknowingly become the victim of an apartment rental scam, you should first contact the police. In such situations, legal authorities may already be aware of the scam, and your testimony might help solve the case and catch the culprits.

If you answered an ad, get a hold of the publisher and notify him/her of the issue. Again, the publisher may have additional information on the scammer that could be provided to the police.

Contact the FTC by dialing 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or going to the FTC Complaint Assistant. If you suspect that your scammer is based outside of the U.S., file your complaint with Econsumer.

By taking the above noted steps, you’ll not only provide valuable clues to authorities, but you’ll help warn others about the scam.

Is 100K Factory Revolution Worth $2,497?

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Once in a great while, I encounter an online income training program that makes me stand up and take notice.

100K Factory Revolution is one such program.

Why?

Because this program has a price tag of nearly $2,500. If paid off on an installment plan, 100K Factory Revolution costs almost $3,000.

What exactly justifies this high price tag? To answer that question, let’s first look at the program itself.

What is 100K Factory Revolution?

This Internet marketing training program is the creation of Aidan Booth & Steven Clayton, who both earn a full-time income from e-commerce. The 100K Factory Revolution program strives to have members earn $100K/year from four websites that they create and build, and then monetize using Facebook, Amazon and Google PPC ads (among others). The program also teaches members how to drive traffic to their websites and to sell affiliate products.

The 100K Factory Revolution is the newest iteration of the original 100K Factory Revolution, which was launched in 2015 and then revamped in 2016. The newest 100K Revolution product is set to officially launch on February 27th and contains a so-called “secret weapon.”

The program makes some very bold claims, such as how its members earn thousands of dollars each week. Also, in just 60 days, members can earn $100K/year through their own e-commerce websites by following the steps outlined in the program.

These are some hefty claims for any online marketing training program to make. E-commerce is a tricky subject as I’ve seen results where people basically hit the lottery and find a store that works well right from the start. HOWEVER, experience tells me that one must build content-rich, SEO-optimized websites, generate traffic, build email lists, and create actionable offers in order to hit the income levels outlined above. And this is all in addition to creating or finding desirable products to sell.

Can 100K Factory Revolution truly deliver on all these needs and tactics and ensure that its adherents earn 100K in just 60 days?

One big clue came from the case study that the program offers on its sales page. Here, you are offered the opportunity to download a case study of someone who went from earning $0 to $750K+ in just 7 months, and all by using just one website.

If you are at all considering purchasing 100K Factory Revolution, please download and peruse this program’s featured case study content. Why?

Because this report highlights, in very fine detail, just how the program will help you create $100K websites in the space of just two months.

The 100K Factory Revolution training plan

As reported in the case study, 100K Factory Revolution consists of an 8-week training program that results in four e-commerce websites with an average 5% conversion rate on product sales. The steps are as follows:

  1. Hand-pick a product. Here, you are instructed in how to pick popular products that not only sell well, but are highly adaptable to social media platforms, have high profit margins, an approachable price point, etc. Example products to sell and to avoid are shown.
  2. Install your store. “Test beds” are discussed as a way to test products for their potential to make money. In essence, you set up “rough-hewn” test websites and check their traffic and conversion rates early on. The websites with the best numbers are kept and the others are scrapped.
  3. Identify your buyers. You identify your target demographic for your product and then craft your ads to that demographic. The program also introduces you to the ‘Audience Matrix,’ a tactic for identifying who is most likely to buy your product(s). 
  4. Initiate Traffic Machine. Here, you balance the cost of your advertising against product sales and find the optimal formula where you spend the least ad money for the most product sales. A “top-secret, number-crunching advertising super-computer,” called Vulcan, is introduced. This is also the “secret weapon” mentioned earlier, and one of the main points of the 100K Factory revamp for 2017.
  5. Optimize conversions. You optimize product sales by trying different selling tactics, including using different pricing/shipping models, trying different ad types and retargeting, refining the target audience, testing different website designs, leveraging the buyer email list, etc.
  6. Launch your super funnel. The super funnel, as described by the program, consists of launching optimized sales pages to your audience that capture its attention and wallets.
  7. Rinse and repeat. Here, the program tells you that you should shoot for a “modest” goal of making $8,000/month. That comes out to over $100K/year.

So, can this program deliver on its promises?

Pros and cons of 100K Factory Revolution

The 100K Factory Revolution program does make a lot of bold claims about how you’ll be earning thousands of dollars per week in just a few days.

There is also the assumption that, as long as you select the right products and optimize your products and ads, you should be making hundreds of dollars each day.

Could this be the case? Sure, your Powerball ticket may also hold the winning lotto numbers. It simply isn’t as easy as picking a product, creating an ad, and raking in the money.

Spending $2,500 on the program itself will be just the tip of the spending iceberg for you. With all the emphasis on Facebook and AdSense ads, you’ll need to dedicate your money to ad space on various social media sites and the Web itself.

A lot of your ads will fail as well. You can write off the loss of course, but it’s quite easy to lose a lot of money.

Finally, for the information you are provided, you can certainly find cheaper programs. This is on the higher end of eCommerce training we’ve seen.

As we haven’t taken the course, we cannot comment on the quality of the training and that leaves us with this question for you…

Has anyone tried 100K Factory Revolution?

$2,497 is a little too steep to throw down just to review a product, so we are opening the discussion floor up to you guys in the comments below. Please, if you have tried the program or have eCommerce experience, let us hear it.

Should You Trust Preston Ely’s Real Estate Mogul?

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If you haven’t heard of Preston Ely before, he is the name behind various real estate investment and other entrepreneurial products including Flip Your Way to Financial Freedom, REO Rockstar, Wake Up Wealthy and Instant Guru. He’s also authored several books including No B.S. Real Estate Investing, Instant Probate Profits, How to Steal Houses From Banks. The guy also has his fingers in fitness, Internet marketing, fantasy sports, gold investment, and personal development.

It goes without saying that this guy is everywhere. But for this review, I’m looking strictly at the real estate side of Preston Ely, and namely, his product called Real Estate Mogul.

What is Real Estate Mogul?

In a nutshell, Real Estate Mogul (REM) is a real estate “school” and member forum that offers daily lessons, spreadsheets, tools, scripts, listings, and member support for people looking to invest in real estate.

In essence, members are taught how to become real estate wholesalers, paying cash on-the-spot for foreclosed or otherwise distressed properties. The purchased properties are then renovated and either rented or sold. If sold, the properties are priced to make a significant profit for the seller.

The plans offered by REM are as follows and range from free to $197/month.

realestatemogul1

You get quite a bit of quality information even with the free REM plan. Since my signup on May 23rd, I’ve received (roughly) weekly emails like these:

realestatemogul2

REM offers a large range of helpful products and tutorials in its paid plans. Within its elite plan, members gain access to a number of experts, including those on commercial and multi-family properties, foreclosures and REOs (real estate owned), private money, short sales, and marketing. The plan also offers life coaches and rehab specialists, plus two “market insiders” who have ties to lawmakers in Washington, DC.

These experts regularly publish posts and lessons in categories including deal-getting, funding, investing strategy, market news, etc. One example of an expert-authored post is “As a wholesaler, what’s the best way to handle HUD closings?” Another example is “Private money demystified Part 1: Targeting the right people.”

There are also weekly training calls that are offered through the REM platform.

Another feature of REM is its real estate listing area. Here, you can look up properties that other members own. You may wish to buy these properties, or you can use the area to list your own properties as well.

Finally, REM offers a ton of generated forms, contracts and scripts for members to copy and use. Some of these items include attorney letters, buyer scripts, commission agreements, invoices, and REO cancellation letters. These items help newbie investors ease into the world of real estate negotiating, purchasing, renting and selling without having to hire a lawyer to create every single required document.

forms

Within the REM area, members are awarded “Mogul points” for reading content, watching training videos, etc. These points help the members rise in the ranks of the REM social platform. When sufficient Mogul points have been earned, these new experts can now also create and post lessons and other content.

One such expert is Chris Bruce, who has posted numerous videos on both REM and YouTube about his experiences in real estate buying, selling, assessment, negotiation, etc.

Real Estate Mogul negatives

As with any product, there are some drawbacks with REM. To begin with, there are several concerns about the recommended tactics for buying/selling real estate at wholesale.

One example is REM’s recommendation to use bandit signs to advertise real estate buying intent. You’ve probably seen bandit signs at some point- they are the signs on poles that say “We Buy Houses!” or something to that effect.

The problem with using bandit signs is that they are illegal in many states and communities.

Another criticism of REM is that members receive extensive instruction on how to buy distressed properties but not enough information on how to rehab these properties after the sale. This is an issue because home renovations can quickly lead to mushrooming costs for the buyer. Furthermore, it’s not difficult to obtain a loan to purchase property- but it’s a huge hassle to convince a bank or other lender to finance the renovation of property that the buyer has no intention of living in.

Preston Ely, the figure behind REM, has actually bought only a handful of properties, according to other criticisms. One critique even points out that Preston Ely doesn’t like real estate investment!

Finally, REM does’t offer enough information on actual marketing. For example, what are the best tactics for purchasing a FSBO (for sale by owner) property- flyers, phone calls, business cards? While the REM platform provides many forms, it doesn’t clearly state which forms work best with a particular property sale and when they should be sent.

Should you invest in Real Estate Mogul?

REM is not the cheapest product around; the elite membership will cost you almost $200/month. However, you do get a lot of advice and support from a number of experts. You also get templates to use during your own negotiations with house sellers and buyers.

As a result, REM is a worthwhile product to purchase if you’ve been exploring real estate investment and require sage advice and information. While there are some kinks with the product, it appears that, overall, REM is a sound investment.

Can EZ Money Team Really Help You Make Money Online?

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Recently, I came across an online income opportunity called EZ Money Team. Jeffery Hart is the name you first hear when you go to the EZ Money Team sales page and start watching its nearly 30-minute long video. Here’s a picture (taken from the sales video) that is attributed to Jeffery Hart:

jeffery hart

Jeff claims that he developed an online money-making system that is the following:

  1. Easy to use: You don’t need to know how to use a computer to get started with EZ Money Team.
  2. Step-by-step: Jeff teaches you everything you need to do to start generating an online income.
  3. Inexpensive: EZ Money Team training costs just $49. When you try to leave the sales page, your final cost drops to just $9.
  4. Foolproof: Jeff claims that anyone can use this system to get rich.
  5. Automated: Jeff portrays EZ Money as being capable of making money through different “set and forget” software platforms.

As an example, Jeff describes a down-on-her-luck single mother of three named Sarah. She became enrolled in the EZ Money Team and, within no time at all, paid off all her debt and is now buying a new house.

Incidentally, this is “Sarah,” who Jeffery claims used to live on food stamps. Now, however, Sarah has over $120K in just one of her bank accounts.

EZ Money Team

The EZ Money Team sales video doesn’t reveal too much about exactly how you’ll be making money online. Instead, you’re encouraged to purchase the system for its low price of just $49 $37 $9.

However, if you go to YouTube, which is the host for this sales video, you’ll notice that the video’s creator, who goes by ortease121 and oortizIII, has several EZ Money Team videos posted here. One of his videos discusses the training modules for EZ Money Team, which are noted as being part of the program’s paid training. Whoops!

So, what do you get to learn from the EZ Money Team after paying for membership in this program?

EZ Money Team training

The EZ Money Team training program is divided into several modules, and each module has you complete a different task.

Module 1: Affiliate account and website

You are instructed to create a Clicksure affiliate account and a CoolHandle-hosted website. Clicksure is free, but CoolHandle ranges from $3.95 to $8.95/month.

module 1

Module 2: Email marketing and managing clicks

Jeff recommends using Clickdrop to generate online leads, and ClickMagick to track emails click and to mask your affiliate links

Clickdrop is an email list and traffic exchange platform where you’ll pay anywhere from a few cents per click (via PPC) to even thousands of dollars for large email lists. ClickMagick costs between $12-$66/month.

Module 3: Traffic generation

Jeff recommends WebFire as an automated lead-generation system, and Video Firestorm as a video creator. Money-generating campaigns are introduced as a method for getting traffic to and conversions on your website(s).

Drive Traffic Updated

Module 4: Tips and tricks

Interestingly, in this module, Jeff tells you how you can avoid online scams. He also goes through a FAQs section where he answers common questions about the program.

Module 5: Platinum and Gold membership bonus programs

The Platinum membership offers you the opportunity to create your own “product” by giving you your own EZ Money Team platform, so that you can create your own lessons.

With the Gold membership, you get 50 VIP swipe emails (prewritten email copy), plus access to WebFire.

From the videos, I’m suspecting that Platinum membership costs $99, and Gold membership runs about $199.

The problems with EZ Money Team

While all this training and software sound good in theory, there are several red flags that made me reassess the inherent worth of EZ Money:

1. Fake testimonials.

Remember “Sarah,” the single mother of three who uses EZ Money? I found her photo through iStock:

istock

If this photo of Sarah is fake, I’m betting her bank account shots and recorded phone call testimony are also fake.

2. There is no Jeffery Hart.

Oscar T. Ortiz is the actual creator of EZ Money Team, and that also explains his chosen YouTube names. Why is the name Oscar Ortiz important, and why would he use a fake name to begin with?

Because Oscar is promoting several other online scam systems, as shown by his own EZ Money Team platform:

EZ Money

Million Biz Pro, My Internet Success Coach, and Steal My System are all online scams- and these are the products that you’ll end up also promoting if you start using EZ Money Team. Do you really want to promote online scams?

3. Upsells and cross-sells galore.

At an point in the training videos, when Jeffery/Oscar discusses using WebFire or Click Magick or some other software, he always asks that you click the link below his video to get signed up. Why?

Because every software platform he talks about is also his own affiliate product. So, even if you end up making no money through EZ Money Team, Jeff/Oscar will certainly make a handsome commission from you.

My verdict: EZ Money Team is a no-go.

At first glance, EZ Money Team sounds like a decent system to get into, along with its useful tools and training. Problems start appearing the minute you take a closer look at just how this system operates and who is really making a profit from its promoted products. Furthermore, the EZ Money Team creator has you promoting online scams.

In summary, there are better online trainings out there that don’t ask you to compromise your principles.

Cash In On Your Fiction and Short Stories with These 20 Literary Sites

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Recently, I was reading the biography of Philip K. Dick, the author of such notable stories as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (the story that the movie Blade Runner was based on), Total Recall and Minority Report.

Philip published 44 novels and 121 short stories in his short lifetime of 53 years. It is assumed that part of the reason for his prolific writing is that this is how the author earned his living. When Philip needed some money, he relied on his imagination to produce a story; that story was then sold to a magazine.

Authors today can still make money by writing fictional stories and essays and selling them to magazines as well as traditional and online publishers. The easiest way to do this is by submitting the work to a literary journal.

There are plenty of such journals to choose from. While many literary rags are tightly associated with a college or university, others are “free -standing” structures headed by a devoted team of editors, journalists and sometimes even marketing folks. In most cases, these individuals have regular jobs outside of their literary interests.

20 Sites to Get Published (and Paid) for Your Literary Submissions

Here is just a sampling of 20 available literary journals that pay money to writers for submitting their prose, essays and poetry. Most of these sites are free to enter and submissions can be made online (saving you on postage).

Abyss & Apex– This journal accepts entries on “speculative and imaginative fiction and poetry” and looks for stories that are character-driven. Payment for published entries is at 6 cents/word for up to 1,250 words, and it appears that longer entries (up to 10,000 words) receive a flat rate of $75.

AGNI– This print and online journal accepts essays, poems and fiction for nine months of the year. Accepted entries are paid $10 per page for prose and $20 per page for poetry, with a $150 maximum payout.

Analog– This print and digital magazine publishes science fiction stories 20,000 words or under. Winning stories are paid 8-10 cents/word. Science must be an integral part of the submitted story.

Apex– This magazine is looking for sci-fi, fantasy and horror short stories that span no longer than 7,500 words. If accepted, payment is 6 cents/word.

Asimov’s Science Fiction– Started by the author of the same name, Asimov’s Science Fiction accepts stories up to 20,000 words in length that are strongly character-driven. Winning stories are paid out at 8-10 cents/word for the first 7,500 words, and 8 cents for each word over 7,500.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies– This periodical seeks narratives that introduce alternate worlds and/or realities and focus on character trajectories. Submissions should be no longer than 11,000 words. Payment is at 6 cents/word.

Boulevard– This publication accepts essays, fiction and poetry of up to 8,000 words. Payments for published submissions are $100-$300 for prose and $25-$250 for poetry.

Camera Obscura Journal of Literature and Photography- This periodical accepts prose and poetry submissions, with published entries being awarded $1,000. The general word guideline is 250-8,000 words, but the periodical is quite flexible on this matter, and even entire novellas (up to 30,000 words) are accepted. This was one periodical whose guidelines I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Cincinnati Review– All genres of fiction are published here, with the criteria being that the “work has energy” and is “rich in language and plot structure.” Published entries earn $25 per double-spaced page.

Clarkesworld– Submit your sci-fi and fantasy fiction here; published entries earn 10 cents/word up to the first 5,000 words, and 8 cents/word for each word beyond 5,000. Entries must be between 1,000-16,000 words.

Lightspeed– This sci-fi journal accepts science fiction submissions that range from 1,500-10,000 words in length, with stories around 5,000 words preferred. Writers who are published earn 8 cents/word.

Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition– Started by Ernest Hemingway’s granddaughter back in 1981, this contest accepts stories no longer than 3,500 words. The prize is $1,000 plus publication of that story in the Saturday Evening Post.

One Story– This periodical publishes just one story of literary fiction every three to four weeks. Stories must be between 3,000-8,000 words, and accepted entries earn $500.

Shimmer– This periodical is looking for speculative fiction stories that contain strong female characters and plots. Contemporary fantasy tales are most welcome. Payment is at 5 cents/word or a $50 minimum. Submitted content should not span beyond 7,500 words, and the preferred length is 4,000 words.

Strange Horizons– If you enjoy writing “what if” scenarios, this magazine is looking for writers of speculative fiction. Accepted entries must be 10,000 words or under; payment is at 8 cents/word.

The Antioch Review– Article, fiction and poetry submissions up to 5,000 words are welcome here, and published entries are paid at a rate of $20 per printed page.

The Georgia Review– This journal publishes essays, fiction and book reviews on varied topics. While there is no length limit, the majority of published stories run about 5,000 words. Payment is $50 per printed page.

The Sun Magazine– This publication accepts several different literary media, including essays, interviews, fiction, and poetry. Submissions should span no longer than 7,000 words. Payment ranges from $300-$2,000 for essays and interviews, $300-$1,500 for fiction, and $100-$200 for poetry.

The Threepenny Review– This publication accepts fiction stories up to 4,000 words as well as poetry and pays $400 and $200 for published entries.

Virginia Quarterly– VQ accepts fiction spanning 2,000-8,000 words, poetry and even non-fiction. Payment for short fiction is $1,000+, poems are paid out at $200 each or $1,000 for a set of five. Personal essays or literary critiques get 25 cents/word.

How to Get Published and Paid for Your Fiction (Again and Again)

One of the advantages of online submission is that you can take one short story or poem and send it out to a handful of literary sites without too much effort. This vastly increases your chances of being published- and paid.

Another good tactic? Read the submission guidelines. Editors say over and again how many literary submissions are good…but fail to meet submission guidelines and so are deleted or tossed. Don’t lose out on your chance to be published because you didn’t read and follow directions.

You may also wish to invest in some writing and editing software, which can save you on time and frustration down the line. The Novel Factory is a decent piece of software that costs about $40 and helps you organize your chapters and characters. The Hemingway App helps track your spelling and grammatical errors and alerts you whenever you’ve committed a writing faux pas (like writing in passive voice).

Finally, don’t become discouraged if your first attempt at getting paid for your literature doesn’t work out. Most authors have to make several attempts- and draft revisions- before being published. If you are able to, find yourself a fellow writer, editor, or even a friend to look over your words before sending them out. And accept their critique in stride.

Making Money from Others: Building a Marketplace Site

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As an online entrepreneur you generally have two choices: sell your own products/services or promote other people goods as an affiliate.

These are both great and profitable options, but what if there was a way to create a scalable business that requires no creation of products or inventory?

Well there is, it’s called a marketplace.

What is a Marketplace?

A marketplace is simply a place where people can buyer from multiple sellers in one location, a town market or malls are perfect real world examples.

Online is no different: a single site that allows sellers to add their products and purchasers to browse said products.

This is defined as a Two Sided Marketplace.

There are lots of already well known marketplaces online:

  • Amazon – allows anyone to sell their stuff, and reach a wider audience.
  • Etsy – a marketplace for craft and handmade goods.
  • Airbnb – connecting private accommodation owners with short term renters
  • Themeforest – providing a home for WordPress theme developers
  • Fiverr – showcases a wide variety of cheap tasks and services

Why 2 Sided Marketplaces Work

Creating a two sided marketplace has a number of benefits for an entrepreneur.

First off is profit. Depending on the business model you choose, you can skim off the surface of both sides by charging people to list and by adding to the transaction charges for customers.

Obviously you may not want to do one or the other instead of both, but the option is there.

Secondly is that once a marketplace like this is set up, it can become very stable. Sellers have a tendency to stick with the marketplace as moving is difficult and costly.

Take Themeforest for example. If a seller leaves they then need to do their own marketing and if they sell the products on Themeforest and their own site, they get a lower percentage of any sales on Themeforest which could cost them thousands.

This tactic by Themeforest might be heavy handed but it helps keep sellers working with just them.

For buyers

The centralized location makes it much easier for customers to work with: there’s no need for them to go from site to site and waste time on search engines when they can just visit your site and find exactly what they need.

For sellers

A place to list their products with (in theory) no marketing needed to bring in traffic, no need to handle payments and refunds and a targeted audience. It’s perfect for one person or small companies to get their products out there with little work or risk.

It Ain’t Easy

Getting started with an online marketplace is possibly one of the hardest routes to take with ecommerce, but the profits can be incredible.

The Chicken and the Egg

Which came first? It doesn’t really matter of course, but the issue is that if you don’t have sellers, you have no buyers. If you have no buyers, you can’t attract sellers!

This conundrum is the most difficult aspect to overcome.

There are ways though, through what’s called “seeding”. Seeding is effectively jumpstarting a marketplace when you are just starting.

Focus on One Side First

The most common way to start a market place is to build up one side first. For example OpenTable which is a company that handles reservations for restaurants started by just offering restaurants a way to handle reservations electronically.

Only after it got enough restaurants on board did it open up the booking system to customers.

It built up one side, the restaurants, and then let the flood gates open by introducing the customer element.

Offer Something Better

By offering tools or systems that are better than your competitors you can entice sellers/customers over which will bring the other half as well.

Airbnb got traction when they included a tool to post to Airbnb and Craigslist at the same time. With Craigslist’s own posting tool being difficult to use, the easy to use Airbnb system enticed renters with both ease of use and the ability to post to two sites simultaneously.

This allowed them to bring renters over to their platform, while reducing the risk to renters (they still get to post on Craigslist). Having renters posting, meant that customers would actually be interested what they have to offer.

Build Around an Existing Product

This is really only going to work if you’re the owner of said product otherwise you might run into legal issues. The basic idea is to have an extensible product that others can create for; software is great for this. They then sell the products on your site’s marketplace.

The ecommerce systems Woocommerce and Easy Digital Downloads are excellent examples of marketplaces built around a single product.

It’s Slow Going

The thing with marketplaces is that it’s a long haul, there’s no quick buck to be made with them. It takes time to build and seed the marketplace so it’s at a stage where it becomes the de facto place to go for that niche (Etsy for handcrafted stuff, Themeforest for WordPress themes, etc.).

While a lot of marketers expect to get a return within 6 – 12 months for a project, a marketplace can barely even be growing by the time a year has passed.

This makes it difficult to know whether what you’re doing is actually working or not. Pivoting too early means you might lose out on the site blossoming into a marketplace. Hanging onto a dud project may mean an increased financial loss.

Your Niche Matters

Let me be blunt: it’s highly unlikely you will build the next Amazon!

Building a varied marketplace like Amazon takes a lot of time, and money to do. Even Amazon started small and focused on specific products. Even Amazon started off by just selling books.

Instead take a hint from other successful online marketplaces and focus on a niche.

Whatever niche you go with you must make sure it’s a two sided niche that has enough potential or existing sellers to draw from.

Marketplace Platforms

The great thing about building an online marketplace right now is that the costs are much lower than they used to be: no longer do you have to spend thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on a custom built site.

The get a Minimum Viable Product up and running to test out your idea is as simple as creating a WordPress site, and installing an e-commerce plugin and a marketplace theme such as the awesome Marketify.

As well as WordPress most hosted and self-hosted e-commerce systems have a multi-vendor system that allows you to create a marketplace: Magento, Drupal, X-cart and Shopify all have different options you can use to create a marketplace.

As there are so many options available, there’s something for everyone’s budget.

The Bottom Line

As with any online venture building a marketplace has risks, perhaps more than any other way of making money online.

It will take time and dedication to start seeing a profit, but once built marketplaces are incredibly stable and long term businesses.

Earn Cash While You Travel with These Mobile Apps

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Wintertime is rough. After the holidays pass, the gloomy and cold days of winter settle in and test even the hardiest of souls. Therefore, it makes perfect sense why many freelancers and even employed workers choose to escape to warmer climes.

There’s just one problem with these winter vacations: How do you make money while you’re frolicking in the ocean or drinking your third margarita amidst the cacti? While some of us can take our work with us, many of us can’t.

Luckily, mobile technology has come through with a solution to this dilemma. In fact, it’s come through with several solutions. Here are several mobile apps that help you earn cash while you’re watching that football game in Pasadena (and trying hard not to brag about it to your Facebook friends) or snorkeling amidst the coral reefs of Hawaii.

1. Airmule

Got extra space in your 50 lb limit luggage? That space could end up paying for a good portion of your airfare. Using the Airmule app, you can easily advertise how much space you have available in your personal luggage as well as your flight. Interested parties will then contact you.

If you’re worried about noncompliance with the TSA’s “don’t-accept-packages-from-unknown-persons” rule, know that Airmule vets its senders and their materials so that the items are legal to send and pass all security checkpoints.

Once you land at your destination, you can hand deliver your package to the recipient, or you can request that Airmule complete the handling for you. Hand delivery, incidentally, is compensated extra.

Currently, much of Airmule’s shipping goes from the USA to China; however, other locations are being added.

2. Roadie

Why drive an empty car when you can earn money for that extra space? As a driver with Roadie, you’ll be paid up to $50 for transporting and delivering items locally. However, if you’re about to embark on a long-distance voyage, you could make several hundred bucks per delivery, and especially if that delivery includes a live pet.

Why would someone wish to use your services versus those of the USPS, FedEx or UPS? Oversize items that won’t fit on a plane can cost a pretty penny to ship. Travelers become even more nervous if they’re shipping a prized possession, a delicate family heirloom or a beloved pet. For these reasons, personalized item delivery has become popular through mobile apps such as Roadie.

An added incentive to using Roadie is that you can deduct your mileage, on-the-road hotel stays, and meals as a business expense.

3. Presto InstaShops 

This mystery shopping aggregator works with several dozen mystery shopping companies, so you’ll never lack for an assignment that’s close to you. Even better, the app tracks your geographic location and “points out” which shops are closest to you.

When you click on a given geotag, you obtain a short blurb of information about the shop assignment. Should you be interested, you simply click on the assignment and apply for it. If you’re an experienced mystery shopper and/or have a high shopper rating, you can self-assign your shops without waiting for approval- this makes it even more convenient to mystery shop on-the-fly.

Using this app, I’ve been able to do drive-thru assignments without even leaving my car ($4-$6), receive compensation for shopping at an outlet store ($20 in merchandise + $25), and check out tourist attractions for free with bonus cash (tickets + $20).

4. Field Agent

Another on-the-go mystery shopping and odd job app is Field Agent, which pays you up to $20 for quick jobs completed at grocery stores, gas stations, banks or even in your own home.

Example Field Agent jobs include the following:

  • Scavenger hunt jobs that pay a few dollars to locate an item in your home, store or even at your friend’s house.
  • Photo submission jobs that ask you to locate a certain store product, endcap, promotion, price or display.
  • Survey jobs where you answer 5-10 questions and earn a few bucks.

With Field Agent, not all listed stores in your given area will have the app’s requested products or promos. This is why it’s good to be traveling; inevitably, you’ll locate a store that has what you’re looking for.

5. Shopkick

Are you traveling by a mall or grocery store? Then be sure to download and activate Shopkick, the app that pays you to walk into stores and scan merchandise. Successfully completed tasks are rewarded with points (known as kicks) that can be redeemed for gift cards.

It doesn’t take a lot of scanning before you’ve racked up the necessary kicks for a gift card. Some items give you 100 kicks a piece just for being scanned. At 500 kicks, you already have $2 in gift card money.

One of the best ways to make money with Shopkick is to visit shopping malls. There, you might score points at a handful of stores and be able to redeem your earnings right on the spot, before you even return to your vehicle.

Submitted receipts that feature previously scanned items earn anywhere from 100-2500 points. On occasion, you’ll also score points for watching short product videos.

Earning money while on-the-go is possible

The days of foregoing any kind of money-making activities while enjoying your vacation are over. Nowadays, the person who is traveling has several unique opportunities to make money. Many of these opportunities are available via mobile apps. By making money on-the-go, you not only slow down your ‘cash burn’ rate, you might even find a way to extend your time off.

An Insider’s View of TextBroker.com

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We received a tip about TextBroker.com on our freelance writing jobs directory page. Halina, who had signed up for TextBroker after reading the comment, has offered to share her experiences since joining the program. Here they are.

I’ve been writing freelance for two years now, starting with Helium, then moving on to Associated Content, Constant Content, and lately, Textbroker.com. I’ve also written articles for my company and even submitted a few pieces to local Madison newspapers. The pay has been decent but nothing for which I would quit my day job. At this moment, I’ve made over $1400 on Associated Content, about $400 on Constant Content, and exactly $10.87 since joining Textbroker two days ago.

I initially discovered Textbroker because of a comment about it on www.ivetriedthat.com. I decided to give the site a try and signed up. Textbroker requires that you submit a writing sample in order to be assigned an author star rating of 2-5, with 2 stars being considered average, 3 stars good, and 4 stars being excellent writing ability. The 5 star rating is reserved for professional writers, and I’m not yet sure how one obtains that qualification.

Within the same day, I received my author rating of 4 stars. This allowed me to claim and submit articles that requested a writing quality of 2-4 stars. The higher one’s star rating, the more one is paid per word, so it pays to submit your best writing sample. Currently, my pay is 1.5 cents per word.

My first submission was accepted within 12 hours of submission and paid me $4.90 for about 400 words. The next day, I submitted another article, which was also quickly accepted and paid $5.88. I then received two DirectOrders, which is when clients request that you write for them specifically. I have since submitted one DirectOrder, which was then returned to me for editing. I re-submitted the article today. Should I have the latest article accepted, I will make up to $6.00 (the article is 400 words).

Textbroker will also evaluate your accepted articles and assign them a rating. The better your articles, the higher your rating and payment per word.

That I like most about Textbroker is that you do not have to write long articles. Many client requests are for 150-250 word articles. Coupled with the higher than average payment per word, that means I can easily turn out 2-3 articles in one evening and make a quick $15 or so. What I don’t like about Textbroker is that you need to wait a long time for payout; the site pays everyone only once a month, on the 10th of the month (update: as of now, Textbroker pays out weekly. Thanks Jennifer!).

This post was written by Halina. When not hunting out money-making opportunities online, Halina can be found making money on Associated Content at the following site: Associated Content.