Post: #101

How do you guys feel about more mundane strategies, like rental properties? I know in America that might not be a good option these days, but I think in Canada it could still fly. My little bro just got a management job in a fairly small city in eastern Canada, and he told me it took him like 2 and a half months to find a spot to rent, as everything there is typically booked solid. I've been thinking about trying to get some scratch together and building like a small 4 apartment building in a city like that.

Post: #102

(12-16-2011 10:25 PM)Chilled Wrote:  How do you guys feel about more mundane strategies, like rental properties? I know in America that might not be a good option these days, but I think in Canada it could still fly. My little bro just got a management job in a fairly small city in eastern Canada, and he told me it took him like 2 and a half months to find a spot to rent, as everything there is typically booked solid. I've been thinking about trying to get some scratch together and building like a small 4 apartment building in a city like that.

there will always be a need for renting.

i plan on renting out a place when i relocate to south america for 10 years or so.

Post: #103

(12-16-2011 10:25 PM)Chilled Wrote:  How do you guys feel about more mundane strategies, like rental properties? I know in America that might not be a good option these days, but I think in Canada it could still fly. My little bro just got a management job in a fairly small city in eastern Canada, and he told me it took him like 2 and a half months to find a spot to rent, as everything there is typically booked solid. I've been thinking about trying to get some scratch together and building like a small 4 apartment building in a city like that.

Thats a great idea, the RE market is Canada is fairly healthy and I have many friends who do that all over Canada, we never had the big crash in housing prices that they did in the States (although some predict we will) . I bought a brand new 2 BR condo on trendy Whyte Ave in Edmonton a few months ago, but I rented it out through a company to a guy whose payments cover mortgage, condo fees and property managment fees.

Its not a quick way to get rich for sure but I think real estate and rental properties in particular are going to be part of my personal investment strategy for years to come!

Post: #104

i have a normal day job, but recently i realized there is a market for pro athlete game equipment (shoes, uniforms, etc.) and since a few friends of mine are pro athletes in the area i live in, i have partnered up with them so that they can take advantage of this market and brand themselves a little bit at the same time.

ive acquired a lot of high end memorabilia (stuff you usually cant buy in a store) from these guys and they tell me to sell it and share any profit from it. needless to say, this is potentially a very lucrative venture. we are in the process of starting up a company in the near future.

Post: #105

(11-25-2009 04:15 PM)Peoloom Wrote:  

(11-25-2009 03:07 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  "im investing a little money into a vending/washing machine business"

Good move.

All CASH.

things like these can be a gold mine. Back when I was working in finance and had money, a friend of mine hit me up for money to start a laundromat. He showed me some financials that I simply couldn't believe -- shops making $10k+ profit per MONTH. Once you get an economy of scale in a location established, I could imagine a laundromat franchise in a high-density area easily being a six-figure passive income after farming out the management.

But alas, I couldn't bite the bullet (start-up costs were high and I knew I was moving on to graduate school soon).

I am wondering if this kinda thing still makes a good amount of passive income? Anyone thought on where to start this?

Post: #106

(12-23-2011 11:51 AM)at350zguyy Wrote:  i have a normal day job, but recently i realized there is a market for pro athlete game equipment (shoes, uniforms, etc.) and since a few friends of mine are pro athletes in the area i live in, i have partnered up with them so that they can take advantage of this market and brand themselves a little bit at the same time.

ive acquired a lot of high end memorabilia (stuff you usually cant buy in a store) from these guys and they tell me to sell it and share any profit from it. needless to say, this is potentially a very lucrative venture. we are in the process of starting up a company in the near future.

Cool. If these guys are even halfway famous (regional college athletes for example), you should look into starting a clothing label with them as brand ambassadors and cash in on their fame/rep.

Post: #107

Currently I work a regular, soul destroying day job, but I only took this job because I came back from S. America broke and I wanted money to go travelling again. Thankfully I leave next month. I'm going to try and make some money when away this time, buying fake designer clothes, bags, watches etc in Bangkok to send home and sell. Can get good quality stuff for dirt cheap. Also going to set up some online stuff that hopefully will eventually generate me some income. And try and do some freelancing work online.

Post: #108

Thinking of doing Ebay drop shipping on the side, as well as a couple other jobs. I've heard mixed reviews about drop shipping. People say success depends on what product(s) you decide on selling, because that will make or break you.

Anyone who has done drop shipping, is it a hard/tough job? Can you do it on the side? Is there a lot of work involved? How much profit can you expect usually?

Post: #109

(04-11-2012 11:59 PM)1bliss Wrote:  Thinking of doing Ebay drop shipping on the side, as well as a couple other jobs. I've heard mixed reviews about drop shipping. People say success depends on what product(s) you decide on selling, because that will make or break you.

Anyone who has done drop shipping, is it a hard/tough job? Can you do it on the side? Is there a lot of work involved? How much profit can you expect usually?

Success with drop shipping depends on a few factors...

Is there good demand for the product(s)?

How much traffic can you get to your sales page?

Have you found a merchant who has great customer service and great prices?

There can be a lot of work, if you start getting lots of orders. You have to forward the orders to your merchant partner, so if you reach a point where you get lots of sales then there is more work. But much of the process can be automated for cheap. You can outsource.

As far as profit, depends on what you're selling... How much you profit on each sale and how many units you sell.

Post: #110

(04-12-2012 12:15 AM)Tbone Wrote:  

(04-11-2012 11:59 PM)1bliss Wrote:  Thinking of doing Ebay drop shipping on the side, as well as a couple other jobs. I've heard mixed reviews about drop shipping. People say success depends on what product(s) you decide on selling, because that will make or break you.

Anyone who has done drop shipping, is it a hard/tough job? Can you do it on the side? Is there a lot of work involved? How much profit can you expect usually?

Success with drop shipping depends on a few factors...

Is there good demand for the product(s)?

How much traffic can you get to your sales page?

Have you found a merchant who has great customer service and great prices?

There can be a lot of work, if you start getting lots of orders. You have to forward the orders to your merchant partner, so if you reach a point where you get lots of sales then there is more work. But much of the process can be automated for cheap. You can outsource.

As far as profit, depends on what you're selling... How much you profit on each sale and how many units you sell.

I have a couple ideas for products. Are there good sites specifically to find suppliers? Or am I supposed to just google it and look around, and work something out?

How can I outsource the forwarding orders process?

Thanks.

Post: #111

(04-12-2012 12:43 AM)1bliss Wrote:  

(04-12-2012 12:15 AM)Tbone Wrote:  

(04-11-2012 11:59 PM)1bliss Wrote:  Thinking of doing Ebay drop shipping on the side, as well as a couple other jobs. I've heard mixed reviews about drop shipping. People say success depends on what product(s) you decide on selling, because that will make or break you.

Anyone who has done drop shipping, is it a hard/tough job? Can you do it on the side? Is there a lot of work involved? How much profit can you expect usually?

Success with drop shipping depends on a few factors...

Is there good demand for the product(s)?

How much traffic can you get to your sales page?

Have you found a merchant who has great customer service and great prices?

There can be a lot of work, if you start getting lots of orders. You have to forward the orders to your merchant partner, so if you reach a point where you get lots of sales then there is more work. But much of the process can be automated for cheap. You can outsource.

As far as profit, depends on what you're selling... How much you profit on each sale and how many units you sell.

I have a couple ideas for products. Are there good sites specifically to find suppliers? Or am I supposed to just google it and look around, and work something out?

How can I outsource the forwarding orders process?

Thanks.

Just make sure you know that there is demand for your product "ideas." Lots of people have had product "ideas" without first finding out if there is sufficient demand to maintain a sustainable business.

To find suppliers you can try various searches that include the keyword "dropshipper." There used to be lists of reputable dropshippers being sold in an ebook or other format. There probably still are.

You don't need to know much about outsourcing until you actually start making some sales. I don't know the ins and outs of selling on ebay, but assuming that the orders can't be automatically forwarded to your merchant partner, you'll need to handle that part.

If you will need to do this manually, you can pay very cheap rates for foreigner workers in India or Asia to simply check new order emails and forward them to the merchant - after you start making good sales.

Post: #112

(04-12-2012 10:08 AM)Tbone Wrote:  

(04-12-2012 12:43 AM)1bliss Wrote:  

(04-12-2012 12:15 AM)Tbone Wrote:  

(04-11-2012 11:59 PM)1bliss Wrote:  Thinking of doing Ebay drop shipping on the side, as well as a couple other jobs. I've heard mixed reviews about drop shipping. People say success depends on what product(s) you decide on selling, because that will make or break you.

Anyone who has done drop shipping, is it a hard/tough job? Can you do it on the side? Is there a lot of work involved? How much profit can you expect usually?

Success with drop shipping depends on a few factors...

Is there good demand for the product(s)?

How much traffic can you get to your sales page?

Have you found a merchant who has great customer service and great prices?

There can be a lot of work, if you start getting lots of orders. You have to forward the orders to your merchant partner, so if you reach a point where you get lots of sales then there is more work. But much of the process can be automated for cheap. You can outsource.

As far as profit, depends on what you're selling... How much you profit on each sale and how many units you sell.

I have a couple ideas for products. Are there good sites specifically to find suppliers? Or am I supposed to just google it and look around, and work something out?

How can I outsource the forwarding orders process?

Thanks.

Just make sure you know that there is demand for your product "ideas." Lots of people have had product "ideas" without first finding out if there is sufficient demand to maintain a sustainable business.

To find suppliers you can try various searches that include the keyword "dropshipper." There used to be lists of reputable dropshippers being sold in an ebook or other format. There probably still are.

You don't need to know much about outsourcing until you actually start making some sales. I don't know the ins and outs of selling on ebay, but assuming that the orders can't be automatically forwarded to your merchant partner, you'll need to handle that part.

If you will need to do this manually, you can pay very cheap rates for foreigner workers in India or Asia to simply check new order emails and forward them to the merchant - after you start making good sales.

I see... ok makes sense. Thanks

Post: #113

Any engineers on here? Im going for my bachelors right now. A good start to make bank, but definetly not stopping there.

Post: #114

I've had a number of businesses. Some were a waste of time, some moderately successful (35 k/year), some quite successful ($400/day and up), and a few spectacular ($1000/day and up). I've been involved in electronics manufacturing, software creation, porn website development, bootleg DVDs, the health industry, and several other ventures.

The first step in any business is to identify a general market. For me that usually happens when I personally need something. I look around for solutions to my personal problem, and discover that either the problem is not adequately addressed by the market or that there is a high markup for the products sold in it.

Another way to discover opportunities is to look at what is selling on ebay. Often it's not difficult to spin off a similar product. Those businesses are often flash in the pan, but for some personalities the change is part of the fun.

After identifying a demand, the next step is to research your product. Ideally you'll want to do the manufacturing yourself. If you can import the product, that can work but it means that there is already some manufacturing and a degree of market saturation. Spend a few months in research and hire experts the field to design, program, or engineer your product. Grad students and even professors can be hired for cheap engineering - just walk around the campus and inquire. Manufacture in house if you can - keep your trade secrets close. Outsource the design of your packaging and then get your packaging labels, boxes and inserts printed.

For creating a website, choose some open source ecommerce software. I recommend zencart. Make the basic site yourself, and then hire a designer to clean up your work and spruce up your logo and graphics. Write your ad copy yourself. To do this, copy and paste all the ad copy from similar sites, paste it into your page, then re-arrange the best parts of that, and then re-write what you have left over.

The next step is marketing. Adwords, seo, renting banner ad space, and commenting on blogs and forums will go a long way. Try to create a word that can get famous so that when people search for that word they will find your website. For instance if you are selling a new type of butane powered laptop battery, pick a name for it, like "butebat". That makes your SEO work easier as ranking for butebat will take about 5 minutes. For some products you can hire a call center to do cold calls to a targeted list, and some products work well with offline ads.

For order shipping, use a fulfillment service.

For customer service, use auto-reply emails with a FAQ. Outsource what customer service you can, but for purposes of keeping your proprietary secrets, don't let too many people know what you do. So you may need to handle some customer service yourself. Limit your time spent on customer service, even if it means losing sales. Email is a killer time suck. But use your customer service queries to tighten up your ad copy and auto-reply.

It's possible, though very difficult, to have all of your income anonymous. I won't tell you how.

Don't tell even your best friends your business. And certainly never, never tell your girlfriends. No matter how close you are, one day she'll suggest to her new beau that he duplicate your efforts.

And finally, the number one most important part of developing a business is being able to pay your expenses while it is still in the development stage. Therefore your number one business skill will be none of the above. It will be living cheaply. This is easiest in developing countries.

Post: #115

I worked as a free-lance editor for a Korean editing company while I was on the road for 3 years (2008-2010). I edited computer science papers from all the big Korean universities.

You could choose your work-load and hours. If ever I was short of cash, I simply requested more papers, if I had a cash surplus, I simply requested to thottle back on the work-load if it was getting too high. It was all done over the internet. I usually worked about 4 hours per day in a local coffee shop or library from 4-8pm. That gave me the whole day free to explore the town and the whole evening too. The only stress point was the need for reliable internet connection, but other than that, happy days.

When ever I was short of cash, I simply called the managers and next day, more $$$$ in the bank, where-ever in the world I was. I gotta hand it to those guys, they always came through for me. For 4 hours work per day, 6 days per week, I was making up to $3000 per month for 3 years. This sort of reliable long-term income source is the free-lancers dream really.

You poor cats who have never experienced this sort of thing cannot imagine the freedom. You are bullet-proof. You can go where you want, when you want. On a whim you can jet off to a new exotic location. When-ever I got bored, I could just say fuck it, and move to the next town, the next hostel, the next country. I only worked when I wanted it, and only at the hours I decided. This is the power of location-less income.

Post: #116

Also automate everything you can. To do that simply identify the problem, break the solution down into manageable parts, and then hire people to write the code for your automation. Hire a freelancer on elance or getafreelancer or odesk or similar. If you can only come up with a vague notion of what you want automated, some programmers will still be able to come up with solutions, however I've found they work best if you give them very detailed tasks.

And learn to focus on the businesses that are doing best. I know it's appealing to diversify your revenue stream, but it's usually the case that focusing will yield a higher return on time invested. And it is for this reason that it's not a good idea to get involved in businesses with only moderate income potential; they will keep you from doing proper work on better projects.

If you think a new project will take little time, even to outsource, multiply that time by 5 and then divide the available time you think you have by 5. It's not a bad idea to test the waters for other ideas while you develop your main one, but generally it's better to pass by opportunities and excel at one solid business. Entrepreneurs often are the worst at gauging the limits of their time, and can stretch themselves too thin. Being eager and optimistic are not a character traits you want to develop. Limit your enthusiasm and be steady.

If you find that very rare employee who is a creative problem solver, pay them above standard wages and do your best to keep them. Consider bonuses and even profit sharing. Good employees come rarely. Treat them as family and consider them as lifetime allies.

Post: #117

(01-20-2010 10:29 PM)kingkong Wrote:  Clocked up 8 years experience programming computers and embedded systems in various domains. Got some contacts. Rewrote a couple niche business applications and sold them.

Everybody wants to think there's some kind of angle or hustle. G manifesto wants you to read dozens of shitty books. Others want you to believe you can start some stupid website and pull in substantial money on autopilot.

Here's how you make money:

1) On someone else's dime (employer or contracts) get really good at something hard and unglamorous. Emphatically NOT trading, poker, writing, or anything like that. Too crowded. Thinek plumbing, agricultural products, whatever. Specialized niche software in my case.

2) If you're truly good and it's a skill of any value, business opportunities will almost automatically present themselves.

3) Pounce on opportunities where you will own rather than be paid by the owners.

This plan will take you six years at a minimum.

+1

Truth has spoken.

Edit: I agree that the books thegmanifesto is pimping are shitty.

Post: #118

Offline Marketing.

Post: #119

(04-18-2012 01:11 AM)Seduction Sutra Wrote:  

(01-20-2010 10:29 PM)kingkong Wrote:  Clocked up 8 years experience programming computers and embedded systems in various domains. Got some contacts. Rewrote a couple niche business applications and sold them.

Everybody wants to think there's some kind of angle or hustle. G manifesto wants you to read dozens of shitty books. Others want you to believe you can start some stupid website and pull in substantial money on autopilot.

Here's how you make money:

1) On someone else's dime (employer or contracts) get really good at something hard and unglamorous. Emphatically NOT trading, poker, writing, or anything like that. Too crowded. Thinek plumbing, agricultural products, whatever. Specialized niche software in my case.

2) If you're truly good and it's a skill of any value, business opportunities will almost automatically present themselves.

3) Pounce on opportunities where you will own rather than be paid by the owners.

This plan will take you six years at a minimum.

+1

Truth has spoken.

Edit: I agree that the books thegmanifesto is pimping are shitty.

MAYBE part of it is true. But you most definitely can build a website that makes substantial cheese on autopilot.

I have a couple of friends making well over 6 figures - on auto.

I make a good autopilot income from a combination of affiliate marketing and per click advertising platforms like chitika, kontera, and google adsense.

My daily attention is not needed.

Rinse and repeat, and I can and grow my income to the size that I choose.

Now, if only I can stop chasing these fine ass Colombianas...

Post: #120

(04-18-2012 01:11 AM)Seduction Sutra Wrote:  

(01-20-2010 10:29 PM)kingkong Wrote:  Clocked up 8 years experience programming computers and embedded systems in various domains. Got some contacts. Rewrote a couple niche business applications and sold them.

Everybody wants to think there's some kind of angle or hustle. G manifesto wants you to read dozens of shitty books. Others want you to believe you can start some stupid website and pull in substantial money on autopilot.

Here's how you make money:

1) On someone else's dime (employer or contracts) get really good at something hard and unglamorous. Emphatically NOT trading, poker, writing, or anything like that. Too crowded. Thinek plumbing, agricultural products, whatever. Specialized niche software in my case.

2) If you're truly good and it's a skill of any value, business opportunities will almost automatically present themselves.

3) Pounce on opportunities where you will own rather than be paid by the owners.

This plan will take you six years at a minimum.

+1

Truth has spoken.

Edit: I agree that the books thegmanifesto is pimping are shitty.

+2

It's been said the first million is the hardest, after that it becomes easy. While I do not know if it is true, I can say that the working toward the first million is blood, sweat and tears.

Post: #121

(04-15-2012 05:52 PM)YUKnowWhatItIz Wrote:  Any engineers on here? Im going for my bachelors right now. A good start to make bank, but definetly not stopping there.

I am and engineer here.. Mechanical and Aerospace. Finishing my two masters degrees in two Weeks.

Post: #122

(04-15-2012 05:52 PM)YUKnowWhatItIz Wrote:  Any engineers on here? Im going for my bachelors right now. A good start to make bank, but definetly not stopping there.

Software engineer here...been doing it for 20 years.

$100,000+/year the last 12 years.
$150,000+/year the last 6 years including one $200,000 year, but that was as a 1099.

Post: #123

(04-30-2012 08:45 PM)UrbanNerd Wrote:  

(04-15-2012 05:52 PM)YUKnowWhatItIz Wrote:  Any engineers on here? Im going for my bachelors right now. A good start to make bank, but definetly not stopping there.

Software engineer here...been doing it for 20 years.

$100,000+/year the last 12 years.
$150,000+/year the last 6 years including one $200,000 year, but that was as a 1099.

that's full time employment though right?

Is it viable as a freelancer? Could someone spend 6-12 months hammering programming languages, solving problems, building the skills and mind for it then do it online while they travel? Or is that a pipedream?

If I could do it say 20hrs a week at even $30 an hour, from my laptop while I travelled, man... would just be perfect. I get the feeling that's wishful thinking though?

Post: #124

(05-01-2012 01:27 PM)RichieP Wrote:  

(04-30-2012 08:45 PM)UrbanNerd Wrote:  

(04-15-2012 05:52 PM)YUKnowWhatItIz Wrote:  Any engineers on here? Im going for my bachelors right now. A good start to make bank, but definetly not stopping there.

Software engineer here...been doing it for 20 years.

$100,000+/year the last 12 years.
$150,000+/year the last 6 years including one $200,000 year, but that was as a 1099.

that's full time employment though right?

Is it viable as a freelancer? Could someone spend 6-12 months hammering programming languages, solving problems, building the skills and mind for it then do it online while they travel? Or is that a pipedream?

If I could do it say 20hrs a week at even $30 an hour, from my laptop while I travelled, man... would just be perfect. I get the feeling that's wishful thinking though?

I know a few cats who do the 1099/independent I.T. thing. They work like 9 months out the year (full time) and travel the other 3 months. Instead of buying some single-family house (which they can clearly afford), they buy a townhouse or condo. Hell, a couple of them own a house and rent it out for additional income while living in a very modest apartment (since they travel so much).

Post: #125

Thats cool, yeah I like the sound of that.

What do you think about freelancing online as a programmer, specifically though? i.e. working from your laptop as you travel? I've heard mixed things, some people have said go for it you'll earn alot if you're good, others say you're competing in a global market with ultra-low wage workers from India, Eastern europe, Philippines etc and you just wont make much.