#1 – Using eBay and Amazon to Sell Good Condition and Vintage Items
One of the very first things I did online was open an eBay store. This, ladies and gentlemen, is your bread and butter. Especially for beginners. What can you sell on eBay, you may be asking yourself? Anything! Absolutely everything. But my suggestion is to have a branded, themed store.
Where people go to you for weird snacks you can’t find anywhere else. Some thrifted and revamped vintage clothes. Or whatever you seem to have a lot of around the house. Consider looking at different hobbies and interests trending right now that also appeal to you. That way you can have incredibly detailed descriptions and an active participation in a community.
I opened my first eBay store about 12 years ago now and it helped me earn thousands over the years. It’s not my focus anymore but I still highly recommend it as a reliable and confidence-building way to make a living off the internet.
If you do eventually, or outright, choose to work with Amazon however, they have this program called Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). All you have to do is collect stuff, put it in a box, send it off to them and they’ll list and sell it for you. That’s digital entrepreneurship on easy mode. And people kill it. I haven’t started yet, but just typing this makes me want to try at least fill one box of weird shit per month.
#2 – Designing Original Art for Viral Trends and Sending Etsy Ads to Listings
This skill for turning original and unique artwork into physical merch is called Print-On-Demand. And it’s actually my number one way to earn money online. Because in my opinion, its the most fun. Especially when you hop on trends super early and impress your friends with the speediness of your wit.
The process is simple – I use Printify to upload my artwork onto a huge range of products. This website already has multiple print shop providers collaborating on one platform. Which makes it easy to find exactly what you need for your online store. And if one shop runs out of an item, another will take over the production automatically.
You can open an online store completely for free if you wanted to. Listing on Facebook Marketplace and Etsy only costs money when you make a sale happen. That’s the beauty of print-on-demand. Plus, there is no need to hoard hundreds of unsold merch in your basement. Once a customer places an order, that’s when the product is manufactured just for them. And delivered right on time.
#3 – Create an Assortment of Digital Downloads like Clipart, Cricut Files and Printable Wall Art
Any file type you can imagine is a digital download. Whether it’s for stationary obsessed working mom’s downloading printable planners, or a streamer looking to revamp their online profile – this market is booming with all kinds of people to serve with your aesthetically pleasing designs.
In 2020, the Cricut online community exploded. And especially for those selling original designs, patterns, silhouettes and more. Cricut machines cuts shapes and letters and more out of vinyl with an automated process. Crafters are using hand lettered phrases, flower graphics and brand logos (uh copyright infringement for making dupes? Its a thing). They put these vinyl stickers on everything they own. I even put my own Quarantine & Chill sticker on my blender.
You can sell the art for personal use, and you can also upsell the license to professionals and other companies looking to use your designs in their branding, marketing or even their products. Hello lifetime supply of passive income if Target or Wal-Mart ever puts your concepts on their shelves.
Absolutely every kind of file type is sellable. From audio sound effects, music intros for YouTube channels, or images like textures, templates and clipart for t-shirts. This field is massively huge and if you find an underserved, specific but trending niche – you’ll be golden. Who needs help right now? What industry of workers could possibly use an updated resume? What catchy phrases related to watching murder documentaries and making shark coochie boards could you put on mugs?
Tools I recommend using if you venture into this area : Canva Pro, Etsy and PlaceIt.
For a more in-depth explanation of digital downloads, or what I like to call eProducts – grab the eProduct Empire Course now for only $25! Learn alllll the different types of virtual products you can create and how to get started with close to zero upfront costs.
#4 – Investing in Cryptocurrencies and Hodling for a Very Long Time
Another internet phenomena that happened earlier this year, NFT’s, are just like these digital downloads I’m talking about. Except the creators of NFT’s have more of a selective interest in the crypto area so their art is more focused on that. It’s the same thing though. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. We’re just “minting” our art onto the Blockchain now – and possibly earning residual income for eons.
These non-fungible tokens are the equivalent to the 90’s Pokemon card phenomenon. Which has its spikes of desirability off and on over the years. But now we have these collectibles like CryptoPunks that have become huge symbols of status and relevance.
You could easily get into the NFT space, hold onto a couple of rare tokens and flip them for a hefty profit while things are hot. But let me warn you, this is an extremely volatile market. I’ve never seen such savagery in the art world. And it’s only going to get worse. It is however, changing people’s lives forever. And a lot of underrated artists are blowing the fuck up because of this movement. Which I love to see.
On the other hand, buying, holding, staking and yielding a wide variety of cryptocurrencies will only do you good. Dumb money is fun money! There are literal Dogecoin millionaires out there now. The new rich are banking on decentralized finance, and apparently so is the rest of the world. Yes, really. Even the poorest countries have cell phones. But what they don’t have are banks. Though that’s not true is it. A couple of simple app downloads and they can send money to anyone, anywhere – with little to no fees I might add.
Resources I recommend to get into the crypto space: Coinbase, Robinhood, OpenSea and MetaMask. You will have to open a MetaMask account to use many of the crypto-based websites and marketplaces for NFTs so definitely start there. Then use either, or both Coinbase and Robinhood to start accumulating and trading. Buy low, sell high – never ever ever ever ever panic sell. Hodl gang! Hodl for dear life.
#5 – You Don’t Have to Do This But – Provide “Virtual Assistant” Services
If you’re going to provide services – charge high. And do it right out the gate. Don’t ever lowball yourself. Or try to fit someone’s low budget. Never budge. Stick to your boundaries. The grocery store never barters for food which is a necessity. Why should you discount your hard work, time, energy and education for measly few dollars? You shouldn’t. Stick with me, kid. I’ll help you around these cyberparts.
The best way to start is to do something super simple for someone. And then try to automate as much as possible in that process. Except for building the relationship. That has to be real from the get-go. Only help those asking for it. Unsolicited advice will get you chucked from most Facebook groups. Even more so if you spam links to your offers every digital doorway you walk through.
I really wouldn’t recommend using Fiverr, Upwork or any of those freelancer sites to start off. Make a social media account, for free, and build a base around common interests where the vibe flows most naturally. It could be on Instagram, Tik Tok, or even MySpace. For me, Pinterest hits the most for my content. And its my least favorite app. But! Its super easy to automate a constant presence with scheduling apps. I don’t really need to be there for every click anyways. Neither do you.
What else do we work online for if not to work the absolute least and actually live our life? That’s why selling services is my least favorite. And I did this for years. Websites, logos, funnels, chatbots, eMails, eCourses, eBooks, etc. etc. For hundreds of people. And a median price for each gig was about $200. I was also too tired to do more than 1 or 2 gigs per week. Which capped my income at $1k-$2k.
That’s my story though. Not everyone has had the same experiences. That’s why I’m telling you to charge a lot. At least $1000 per gig. That way you can serve each client with more focus and attention and ambition to make something amazing happen together.
I hope you enjoyed and got a lot of ideas from this article. Follow me @stardust.graphics on Instagram and @melanie.stardust on Tik Tok.