Varolo

Varolo

The first thing I should say about Varolo is... wow. It's brilliant, valuable, easy... and best of all, completely free! It took me awhile to review this source and decide on whether or not I should add it to this Blog, as, quite honestly, it takes a little bit of time to generate a cash flow worth mentioning. But considering how little time and effort you actually have to put in to achieve that cash flow, it's definitely worth it!


About Varolo:
You know all those commercials you grumble about, don't pay attention to, and skip when you have the chance? Well, advertisers are having a hard time finding a way to reach customers, and they believe that this is costing them business. That's where Varolo comes along. Varolo offers a ton of incentives to lure you into watching these commercials! Aside from this, after each commercial you watch, you have to rate.. so not only does the advertiser reach their customer base, they get to figure out which marketing strategies work the best! Hopefully this will make for even better Super Bowl commercials.




What You Do:
First, you sign up. Second, you watch a few commercials, rate each commercial, and watch more. Third, and most important, you tell your friends about it, get them to sign up and watch commercials.


Varolo has a lot of different incentives and ways to make money. Just by watching the commercials, you get points that you can redeem for fantastic prizes, you get automatically entered to win the weekly jackpot ($200 - $1000. This week, it's $625), and you can get gift cards (for gas, groceries, etc) after some ads.

Keep in mind, you do not earn money by watching these ads. Remember how I mentioned earlier that the most important step is to get your friends to sign up? Well, that is your key to earning cash. You see, you don't get paid per ad that YOU watch (although you can get a lot of nifty things that way). Rather, every time someone you have recruited watches an ad, you earn money... and what's really cool, is that when anyone THEY have referred watches an ad, you get the money for that, and so on! The drawback you only get pennies for the ads watched by your referrals and their referrals. But, it all ads up. Remember, as I said, it may take awhile to actually earn enough money to get excited about (this actually depends on how many people you are able to get signed up, so it could be soon!). Though considering how much effort it is, it's totally worth it.

Now, I know what you're thinking... if your main source of revenue is indirectly achieved by signing someone up, then what if no one actually watches ads and only recruits other people? That's the part where Varolo is brilliant. You earn your money based on other people watching the ads, but in order for Varolo to actually disperse the funds to you, they require that you watch a certain amount of commercials! In other words, if anyone wants to make money themselves, they have to earn you money as well.


How to Get Started:
In order to get started, you need to be invited to take a "tour," which is link to a video that gives you a crash course on how Varolo works.    (If you'd like to get started now, click here.)

Once you've watched the tour, you have the ability to either create your profile, or learn more about Varolo by watching the "full presentation," which is an 8 minute video that gives you more detail. I highly suggest you watch this video! It's very important and gives you a full, detailistic orientation of how Varolo works.


Recap and Summary:
I know that I occasionally ramble and don't make sense. So, here's a short, blunt version of everything I just typed...





Step 1:  Watch the tour video. This is found on the Varolo Website. Click the following link or type into your browser: http://www.varolo.com/village/Unorthodox

Step 2:  Watch the full presentation. Once you've finished up the "tour," be SURE to watch the full presentation! This will ensure a full understanding of how you get paid. After that, create your free profile.


Step 3:  Tell your friends! This is how you get paid. Each commercial your friends watch, you're paid for. Each commercial THEIR friends watch, you're paid for too!


Step 4:  Watch the commercials. In order for you to actually RECEIVE the funds you've earned, you must watch the commercials yourself! This really isn't so bad, though. These are the same commercials you watch on TV. (You know, the ones that you skip with your DVR, which is why Varolo was invented!)


Step 5: Enjoy the money!


The Good, the Bad, and the Money...

The Pros:

• Well, money. Of course.
• Easy to use.
• You get points that you can use to purchase awesome items, like an iPad, or various other awesome stuff.
• You get entries to win a weekly jackpot, usually $200 to $1000
• You get awesome discounts, coupons, and promotions from some of the advertisers
• You can get gift cards, on top of all that!

The Cons:

• It may take awhile to earn enough money worth even mentioning.
• Because it is so easy, and free, some people have a hard time believing it isn't a scam and won't sign up.
• You have to watch the commercials you skip on your Tivo and DVR.

Getting Started on eBay

Ah, here we are. The following will be a quick review on how to get started on eBay. Soon we will also be adding resources to help with your eBay adventures.

Register for eBay and PayPal.

First things first. You need to register at both eBay and PayPal. Why both? Well, you use eBay to sell your items and make money, but you must use PayPal in order to get paid. No worries, it's free to register for both!

PayPal is a great thing, really. It's very secure, protecting both buyers and sellers... and every one on eBay uses PayPal.. In fact, it's the only eBay approved way to make/take payments, other than directly charging credit cards.

Go to www.ebay.com to register for eBay.

Go to www.paypal.com to register for PayPal.

You will need to add a bank account and credit/debit card to be able to make/accept payments from PayPal. Adding a bank account can take a few days (they need to make small deposits into your account in order to ensure they have your bank information correct, and they are able to make deposits), but it is necessary. Make sure you have it all set up before attempting to sell anything on eBay.

 Get Some Supplies, Create an Inventory!

The possibilities for supplies are absolutely endless! However, one VERY important thing to do before going and blowing any money on an inventory is RESEARCH! You need to make sure you can sell what you buy, and sell it for a good profit. In many cases, you want to avoid large, unusual shaped or heavy items, as items with a hefty shipping price have a hard time selling... and you don't want to use money out of your own profit to ship an item! Please see our Resources post!

Personal Items

This is ALWAYS a great place to start. Somewhere around the house, there's got to be an item or two you don't need and would like to get rid of. Rather than having a yardsale, try selling it one eBay! You may get more for the item that way.

Thrift Store Items

I was surprised to find out that this is such a great place to find inventory. I always thought that thrift store was a dirty place with second-grade items that weren't worth a second look. BOY, was I wrong! Since I've been prowling the thrift stores in my area, I have found a LOT of items in excellent condition, great antiques for really cheap, old and new treasures worth quite a bit of money, and even BRAND NEW items with their original tags still attached! I was shocked. And every time I go into the thrift store, I'm more and more surprised at the value of some of the things I find.

When you do get items from your local thrift store, you want to make sure of several things:

• The item is clean.
•  The item is functional/operational (if applicable).
•  There are no major flaws that would be detrimental to the item's value.
• If the item isn't in the type of condition of something you would own... it's probable that no one else wants it in that condition, either.

There are a lot of treasures in your local thrift store, and it is an excellent place to start! It is VERY low cost.. you don't need to spend any more money on it than you want to, and it's a great place for LOW cost supplies.

Yard Sales

It's no a secret that yard sales will often have amazing deals on items worth quite a bit. Some times, you'll find items at a yard sale that you can sell for about double what you paid for it... this will usually take quite a bit of hunting. You'll often find items you can sell for some profit.. and a lot of times, going to a yard sale will be a waste of time. But don't get discouraged, and DO NOT eliminate this as a way to gain inventory! You never know where you'll find the items that buy for for a couple dollars.. and sell for hundreds.

Dropshipping

The most important rule of dropshipping: DO NOT look for dropshippers in search engines! Many times you'll have to pay a fee to use their services, and their items are too expensive to make much of a profit anyway. Companies that advertise themselves as only dropshippers can be scams (there are MANY that are!), or really aren't worth it.

So, where can you find drop shippers? Well, let's start with this. A legitimate dropshipper is usually just a wholesaler that is willing to send products that you pay for directly to the customer's address. Keep in mind, wholesalers DO NOT charge a monthly fee. Occasionally, they will charge you per order to do the extra shipping, but the fee is generally minimal. A lot of companies don't charge an extra fee at all!

Keep in mind, though, that legitimate wholesalers will require you to have a business and sales tax/reseller license. If you don't have one and/or are not planning on getting one, DON'T worry! There are plenty of other ways to get great inventory.


Bargain Stores- Ross, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Burlington coat Factory, etc.
Again, here is another surprising place to find inventory.. especially in their clearance sections! A great example of this is come CK onsies I found for $6.99 at Ross, and sold for $25.95 on eBay, three days later! It's always worth a look!

Storage Units
This is something I suggest for the more experienced eBay user, as they'll have more of an ability to recognize things they'll be able to make a profit from simply by a glance.

Usually, there are storage units in your area that will auction off items that are stored in their units.. most times, they'll auction off the entire lot within a unit. This is because the property is either abandoned, or the owner has not paid rent on the unit.

Getting your supplies this way can be incredibly useful and very profitable... but much like yard sales, it can occasionally be a wash. When going to a storage unit auction, you generally can't simply start buying every unit you see willy-nilly. Make sure you do some research.. or even better, wait until you have a good amount of knowledge on what you're able to sell on eBay for a profit. The reason for this is that some units will have items in there that are only junk, things you can't even sell on eBay... and you don't always get to have a good look at the items in the unit before partaking in the auction.


Local Newspaper / Online Classifieds
This is another great, low cost source of inventory. If you prowl your local classifieds frequently, you can find AMAZING deals! You see, many people will list items in classifieds as a means to simply get them out of their way. Sometimes, they even list FREE items! It's definitely worth checking out.

Take Photos of Your Supplies / Items to sell.

 The first, and absolute most important step of listing your items is getting a good clear product photo. Remember, the photo is usually what captures the buyer's attention! Aside from this, your photos will show the condition of the item, which could be a deciding factor for many buyers.


Here are a few tips for good product photos:

1. Have a nice, crispy background. White really works best! You can use poster boards for this, or a clean white sheet. If you vouch for the sheet option, make sure you get ALL the wrinkles out!

2. Take multiple shots of the item. This way, you can show all sides of the object if you want.. if not, you can choose the photo with the best angle. (It is always best to have multiple photos in a listing.. it helps a buyer feel more comfortable.)

3. Good lighting is key. Hint: Do not use the flash on your camera! A flash can distort the colors of a photo/product, and make it look white-washed.  Try to use natural lightor 'daylight' lamps, as artificial lighting can make your product appear yellow or green.

4. Be sure to take a photo showing any damage or flaws. You always want to be honest in your listings... it will help the buyer feel comfortable, and put more trust into purchasing this item.

5. Blurry picture a no-no. Do not include blurry photos in your listing! If a photo comes out blurry, retake the photo!





To be continued...

Did someone say eBay?

I'm sure you've heard by now that eBay is a great way to make extra cash, fast, and a lot of it. It's advertised everywhere- TV, all over the internet, spam emails... I even saw an ad for "Learn How to Make $ on Ebay!" in the local newspaper once. Usually when you see these ads, though, it's required you purchase something in order to get the know-how... and it usually isn't cheap. There are also a lot of advertisements about stores that will sell your items on eBay, for a price...

Honestly, the eBay thing is so easier than most people think. You really don't need to go to a store to do it "professionally" for you.  All it takes are a few tips and tricks from people who actually make a living doing it! Again, I'm not guaranteeing you'll make big bucks on eBay- remember, there are no get rich promises here-  it all depends on you, how much time you commit, how hard you work, the amount of research you put in, etc.

eBay can definitely be a fun and easy way to earn a little extra income!  You can devote as much or as little time to it as you like, and there are endless sources of information to help you on your way... you can find much of it for free! We will be posting more and more resources for selling on eBay every day, and also get readers ideas/strategies. Be sure to check back often!