Real Life Business

 
Since school has been back in session my life has consisted of going to class, doing homework, and sleeping.  Now, I'm beginning to miss my blogs and Entrecard and LinkReferral and I'm once again having a hard time trying to manage my time.  You see, it is similar to what my microeconomics book says.  I have to consider not only the benefits but also the costs of making more time for one thing as opposed to making time for both things.  At some point my business became less of the store and more of my blogs and I actually enjoy blogging a lot more than I enjoy running a store, which probably explains why I haven't updated it since August and it is now November.  Well, it's a sunk cost.  There's no sense in dwelling on the past.  Hopefully, I'll get around to updating it soon and making a little money.  Times are pretty hard right now.  On the bright side, I have to say thanks to my new link buddy @ http://dimmusacio.blogspot.com/.  I've noticed a nice increase in traffic and I appreciate the comments!  Anyway, I want to briefly share something I learned from microeconomics that I'm sure many online sellers would benefit from knowing.  The online market is a somewhat perfect competition.  The demand is almost inelastic.  What does that mean?  It means that anybody can become a seller and anybody can be a buyer.  There's not much room to raise prices or lower them because there is always a seller with a better deal than yours.  So, regardless of whether or not I close my store, I don't have a huge impact on the market.  Only a very fortunate few make their living from selling online and that took a great deal of hard work and effort.  Keep in mind that these are not words of discouragement, but rather encouragement.  Do a little research before becoming an online seller and a brief course in economics wouldn't hurt, either.

P.S.  At least my precious dollars going towards college tuition aren't going to waste.  I've actually learned a thing or two since my first year of college.
 
Tweeting Away 10/02/2009
 
Some people use their Twitter profiles strictly for business.  Some people use theirs strictly for fun.  I use it for a little bit of both.  Why?  Well, for one you're prone to lose followers if all you do is use it to promote your website.  But I also use my Twitter for both professional and personal reasons because it keeps me from going crazy.  I already have a hard time grasping the majority of the important things in life.  If I take things too seriously, I'll lose my mind.  I need to have some luxury in order to not get stressed out and in a short Tweet I can express a great deal that's on my mind and I can let my followers know that I've written another article or updated one of my blogs (I think I'm a blog junkie now).  Twitter can be pretty useful since I do get a few genuine interest clicks to my websites according to my stat counter.  I think that my main point today is not about using Twitter as an advertising tool, but about keeping yourself sane and using it not only as an advertising medium, but also as a luxury.
 
 
My mother used to fuss at me about living up to my fullest potential.  Now I'm actually trying to do that.  To everyone else I look a little foolish since I'm handling my financial situation in an unconventional manner, but it makes perfect sense to me because I know my vision.  It's not like I need a reality check because I have tried to see this from all possible perspectives.  Sometimes you have to disregard some of the things that people say that are meant to encourage but still discourage you in order for you to make progress in the direction that you need to go.  For all of the times that things seemed just a little too hard and the future didn't look so bright, I am thankful.  I read on another blog somewhere that we all owe it to the person in a worse situation than ours, if not ourselves, to be the best that we can be.  Admittedly, I haven't always done that but I can definitely appreciate those words now.
 
A Word or Few 09/18/2009
 
I'm not a great blogger, I know.  I imagine that one who follows this blog would think something along the lines of "If she runs her business like she runs this blog, then she must be doing mighty terribly."  Well, it is something like that.  Since school started again my schedule has been a little off and to be honest, I have been forgetting to post.  Of course, if I ever want to get out of debt, I'm going to need to fix that because once I get my degree and start looking for a job I won't be able to make those excuses.  This semester I'm taking a class in Microeconomics and I must say that it is quite interesting.  Most people immediately think that it is a tough subject, but it really isn't.  I find it interesting mostly because it's about money but I also find it extremely helpful.  For anyone that is looking to get into selling products or services it is an awesome class to take.  Like me, a lot of novice sellers really don't know what they're getting themselves into when they just jump right into the game.  All they know is that they want to make a profit.  Well, you need to know a little more than that if you want to make enough profit to pay the bills.  I suppose you're always selling something.  Even if you're making a living off of your blog you're still trying to sell your blogging skills to blog readers.  Anyway, in the very near future I'll try to find a few links to better explain the market for you.  See you next time!
 
 
The last few weeks have been pretty hectic.  I just got back to school last week and I've been looking for work, so I haven't had the time (and honestly, I have forgotten a couple of times) to update the blog.  I'm back now.  The next post will be on Wednesday.  Since today's post is somewhat of a filler until Wednesday, I figured I should probably share one of my useful links and explain exactly how and why it's useful to me.  This week it is Swagbucks.  Now, this isn't just some lame attempt at trying to push my referral link.  I really am trying to introduce you to something that is potentially useful.  I was looking for a search engine that I could use, that is sponsored by either Google or Yahoo that I could get rewards from since I do so many daily searches for free.  I'm always looking for ways to get extra cash and I figured that is the best way to do it.  With Swagbucks you get points for searches from time to time that you can exchange for cash or prizes.  I prefer either the $5 Paypal payment or the Amazon Gift Certificates.  I do a lot of research just as a student and even more as a writer, so it's great for me.  It has been good so far, I'm sure it will only get better.  I can use the extra $5 for food that way I can use my other funds towards paying off debts and funding my business.  That's awesome.  There are other sites similar to this and I have looked at most of them.  I'm sure there's a reason why I didn't join any of those but you should definitely look into it if it is something you're interested in.  Happy searching!
 
 
It took me all of fifteen minutes to choose the name TP Random two years ago and I still don't think that I really like it.  I haven't been able to think of anything better since then so I figured it's best to stick with what I have.  Once I chose the name TP Random, I started putting it everywhere.  If you've seen the name TP Random on any website, more than likely I'm the one who put it there.  It's only been recently, however, that I've really thought about it.  What does that name say about my store?  I'd say it's pretty catchy.  It's not unprofessional sounding.  I've heard much worse.  Then there are all of the legalities that go along with declaring a name as yours.  You have to make sure that no one else has it.  I suppose I could've called my store "Tara's Gift Shop" but that's so ordinary, and common.  There are probably a bunch of those.  After deciding the name there's all of the paperwork and copyrighting...and fees.  I think what sparked that thought was me trying to figure out whether or not I'll use a pen name with my writing.  I think I might.  Of course, I'll have to claim my name.  Your name can really say so much about you and what you have to offer, especially since you're the one that determines it.  What are you without a name?  Nobody needs a label but we all need a name.  How else will people know who and/or what you are?  That's the first step in networking.  It's the second (maybe third or fourth) in actual business setup.  You can't put your name out there unless you have one...making it legally yours can help quite a bit, too.

Further reading at Entreprenuer.com - How to Name Your Business
 
 
I'm still selling goods.  I'm now also selling my writing services.  Trust that my writing skills are far superior to what I display on this blog.  In the past couple of weeks I've been making a few transitions and I've also learned a couple of things about myself.  My natural talent is writing, but I'm better at some styles of writing than I am at others.  I guess it's just like being good at selling cameras and not so good at selling lingerie.  There is a difference between selling the two.  There is also such a thing as spreading yourself too thin.  I've tried my hand at internet marketing, online sales, and a bunch of other stuff (I'll go into further detail about each venture later), but I never really succeed at any of it because I attempted to do so many things at once.  There's not much to regret about it because I learned a great deal from all of it but I never really saw a financial profit.  Like I said before, I'm taking my own advice and I'm doing something that I both like and am pretty good at and I'm going to try to make some money with it.  The store will sort of be a part-time gig.  I'll still put some effort into it, just not as much as before.  Every other week I'll update it and I'll still promote it.  However, most of my free time will now be spent writing.  If anybody is going to make money off of me, it should be me, right?  Now, if only I can get that whole tax thing worked out...

In the meantime, I suggest looking through the entrepreneur.com website and finding some really useful info.  If you're like me and need a little help with the financial aspect of small business, sole proprietorship, then you could benefit from some of the articles there.
 
 

Happy Wednesday!  Even happier actually posting on a Wednesday like I'm supposed to! 

I've been thinking a bit about my store.  I have worked on it.  I have put countless hours into it.  It has been long and tedious.  However, I still haven't made the profit that I'm looking to make.  So, I think that instead of the full-time effort that I've been putting into it, I'll just make it a part-time effort and focus some of my energy in some other venture.  I remember writing a post a couple of months ago about pursuing a business that you actually care about.  Well, I love to write.  I have tried to deny it for many years but I cannot anymore.  Might as well take my own advice and try my hand at freelance writing.  It could be very profitable.  I have not forsaken the store, I'm just in the process of setting it up to be low maintenance so that I won't have to give it as much attention.  It'll be a side project from now on.

On a different note, I'd like to take time to thank a few people that stop by on a regular basis by linking to them.  Thanks guys!

The Hillbilly Journal
My Tangible Wealth
Call Center Gal

 
 

So, last week's post is nonexistent because I didn't write it.  Well, I can explain that.  I officially have TP Random back up and stocked with items worth selling!  Inventory is low right now but in the coming weeks I'll be working my tail off trying to build it up and get a steady flow of traffic.  A little bit of social networking, a traffic exchange (the one that pays bonuses after surfing X number of pages), and a lot of persistence are in the now and future.  The closest thing to paid advertising that I do will be with Clixsense since I can exchange the money that I earned for advertising credits.  I'm taking baby steps but I'm finally getting to the point where I can manage just about everything that I do.  I have set specific days for when I work on the store, the blogs, and all the other stuff.  That alone has lifted a huge weight off of my shoulders.  Making something like a schedule can insure that everything at least gets a little bit of attention.  The ultimate goal is to make everything flow in a nice, smooth, harmonious way.  I came to the realization that even though I'm looking to make money, I'm also looking  to gain some of those character traits that I deem important so that I can improve my quality of life.  So, in my freetime I'll be checking out entreprenuer.com and trying to learn a few things.

 
 

So, things still aren't really going my way in regards to the store.  I can't be totally be upset about it, since disorganization has been a roadblock.  Now, I'm getting to a point where I finally learning how to manage all of my activities so that I may dedicate a set amount of time to each one, and therefore reap the rewards of my hard work and dedication to all of them.  Right now, I'm in the process of setting a few goals.  One of them is to set specific days and hours which I'll designate for the store, blogs, and other things.  I'm having to downgrade from where I was before, since I don't have the money to really put into the business (not that I had it in the first place).  Progress will be made, I'm sure.  It's a good thing I never claimed to be an expert at this.  I'm learning as I go along.  At times I wonder what exactly I got myself into when I started this venture.  I could just drop everything now and try something else, but I've done that too many times before.  The goal is to continue to move forward and hopefully, sooner than later, a profit will be made.  So, BuySellCommunity is once again my home until I can pay the rent again.

 
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