The #1 Secret to Money Making Success
Everyone wants to make more money. If you're looking for a way to get that promotion, grow your business, or just have some extra cash to go on vacation with this summer - here's the #1 secret for you:
If you want more money in your life- work hard! Your work ethic and the amount of time put into the tasks that are assigned to you will have an enormous impact on how much money comes back your way. There's no getting around it - if you don't put in the time and effort required, there is little chance of success.
However, I have found a great way to start generating more money in my life and it's one that I recommend you give a try.
I'm a huge fan of the books "How to Make Money" and "How to Get Rich" by Napoleon Hill . These books have been part of my life for over 20 years and they have had a major influence on my success. I've read the To Read Again book project almost every year since I bought it back in the 90's. The main idea behind these books is that you can increase your earnings by doing things correctly and doing them consistently - like working hard on Ebay for example. You can increase the amount of money you are making on Ebay by increasing the number of items you sell and by doing more of the same items. You can earn more and more money over time by investing your earnings in a bank account and then using that money to buy more products to sell on Ebay.
The problem is that most people simply forget about these books and move on with their lives without understanding how to create new income streams or expand what they are already doing so that they can earn even more.
Well, for me I wanted to use Ebay as a vehicle for selling my goods. I started in the winter of 1998 when I was 22 years old. I was living in a low-income apartment and needed to make some extra cash. At first, I made $100 per month selling my CDs and comic books on Ebay. Little did I know that this was just the beginning.
Over the years, I have made thousands of dollars selling thousands of items and have been able to accomplish many of my goals simply because I put in the time and effort to make it happen. I don't have any special skills or talents - it's just that I'm highly motivated and smart enough to understand what someone else is doing well (like managing Ebay) AND figure out how to do it myself.
Here's some of the things that have helped me build a successful Ebay business:
My first purchase on Ebay was my own computer. I purchased a Dell Optiplex GX270 from the Dell Store in North Vancouver. I used it for about 8 months and then sold it for a nice profit to another Ebay seller for $500. The very next day, I was in the Dell Store looking at an upgrade to my system and saw my old Optiplex sitting there - still brand new and just sitting there collecting dust. I bought it back from the other guy ($250), upgraded it to Windows 2000 Professional (which was free) and sold it again a few weeks later for $500 profit. From there, I started selling all my old computers and upgrading them to win 98/2k or later. By selling the same computer over and over again (especially if it was a Dell) - I was able to accumulate quite a nice collection of computers. My largest purchase by far that I made on Ebay was $10,000 for my Dell P-150 tower computer with 128mb of ram and a 15" monitor. It ran Windows XP Pro, had 4 hard drives, a CD burner and speakers in it (and is still completely in working condition today). The reason I bought so many computers was to trade them in at the computer store that I worked at - for credit. With a new computer, the Dell would give me $200 and I would use a portion of that to upgrade my P-150 tower. When it ran out of RAM, I upgraded the RAM using used memory modules. As people saw how fast this computer was running and how fast Windows XP worked - they wanted one too but they couldn't afford one new (or even used) - so they wanted to upgrade their existing computers with faster processors and faster RAM - which resulted in another sale for me.
As I was upgrading my computers, I was also learning how to use the Dell tools and their support (after all, this is what they paid me to do!). I got more and more interested in the computer industry - at one point I was reading every magazine and manual that I could get my hands on. When Dell implemented a new version of the BIOS - it completely went through my head that I could write this program for all their future BIOS upgrades. After about 15 minutes spent learning about their BIOS upgrade process, I went to work for them as an intern (this is in 1998). In exchange for my labour, I received a free Dell notebook computer, a free printer and $3/hour - this was way more than I could ever ask for. I worked hard (remember the 10,000 in 1 day? I actually did this twice) and saved everything I made. I ended up making $1,500/month working part time and learned a lot about the computer industry that would come in handy later on.
When Dell stopped the internship program in 2000 (they didn't need so many interns anymore) I was sad to see it go. I knew that I needed to find a new career so as not to be out of a job when the internship was over. I had been going full-time in 1998 and started out making only $12,000/year but by 2000, I was making $21,000/year - which wasn't bad for an entry-level position at that time. Over my time at Dell, I had netted myself almost $15,000 in profit from selling used computer parts on Ebay. Then when I sold my machine at work to pay for a new one - it got me another $2,000 to start with. I decided to make the jump from working part time and going to school full time - to working full time and going to school part time.
When I started full time, I was making a little better than $30k/year ($25/hour + overtime).
Conclusion (as of 2005)
By the time I left Dell, I was making $55,000/year. I also bought a new car (Suzuki Swift GTi), a nice apartment ($750/month) and I was still selling a few things on Ebay. Make no mistake about it - selling on Ebay is not passive income - you have to put in the time and the effort to make it happen! If you are not willing to do that then don't bother with Ebay.
I was so happy with my sales at this point that I wrote my first book called "How to Make Money Selling on Ebay" and it became an instant best seller.