SweetGigs Newsletter: January 25, 2006
http://www.SweetGigs.com
A SweetGigs Publication

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SweetGigs- Your Ultimate Resource for finding Paying Work or Making Extra Cash without being stuck in the 9-to-5 grind!
 

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Letter from the Editor:

"So, how's the latest gig going?"

It's a question we get asked a lot here at SweetGigs. You see, we're not just writing about the gigs we list on our website and in this newsletter; we're getting out there and trying them out, too.

We've been through the confusion of figuring out the details of a new program, and made all the mistakes ourselves, so that you don??™t have to. Of course, that often means we're still learning, too. So we like it when readers send in any tips or ideas they have for new gigs or how to make old ones even better.

And while we do sell what we consider to be valuable information (like our Mystery Shopping Packet with over 200 listings of mystery shop companies and the books in our bookstore), we don't believe that it??™s necessary to pay someone to let you make money.

What that means to you is that you can be assured that the one thing you'll never find in SweetGigs is a program that??™s going to scam you in the long run. Some of our ideas might take a little work on your part, or a little investment on something like advertising or supplies to get started. But you??™ll never be asked to pay us for the privilege of working for us. (We don??™t mind however, if you want to support us by buying business-related books through our bookstore or clicking on any of our advertiser??™s links.)

We hope in return that you'll consider SweetGigs to be a reliable source for the best info on moneymaking ideas and tips.

So how's the latest gig going, you ask?

It's going great! We??™re having fun and making some cash in the process. Now let me tell you about how we did it... 

Your Editor,

Colleen Buckley

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Main Article: Sell Your Stuff on eBay

Everyone loves eBay. The online auction site has become not only one of the most popular sites on the Web but one of the most popular ways to make extra cash on or off the web.

If you're new to eBay and want to get your share of the online auction pie, you'll have to start by deciding what you want to sell. The easiest way to start on eBay is to sell your own stuff. Dig through your closets, root in the basement and pull out those old boxes in the attic to find things that might be worth selling.

Start small by listing only one or two items at a time to get used to how the system operates. eBay charges a minimal price for a basic listing -  currently $.35  - and includes one picture free within the listing. The easiest option for pictures is usually to take them with a digital camera and import them directly into eBay, or if the item is small and flat to just use a scanner to create an image.

One of the most common questions from new eBay sellers is how to determine your price. Set it too high and no one will bid, while a lowball price might keep you from making as much as you should. One easy way to check is by using eBay??™s Advanced Search option to look at completed auctions and see what others have bid for similar products.

The final thing to remember when selling on eBay is to protect your feedback rating as if it were gold. Be sure to send out items you've sold as quickly as possible and thank your customer for bidding.

Once you've cleaned out everything you're willing to part with from your home, it's time to start hitting local garage sales, flea markets, estate sales and auctions. Listings for most of these can be found in the classified section of your local newspaper. Frequent online auction sellers recommend that when you start using these venues for finding products to sell, try to stick with one category of merchandise at first, getting to know what products sell best and how to judge the condition of items in that category before branching out into multiple categories.

Now that you know what you're going to sell and at what price, click on the "Sell" link at the top of the eBay site to start getting your share of eBay auction profits.

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Check out the newest diet craze- The Sonoma Diet- designed for people who love good food and wine.

For more details, go to:

The Sonoma Diet

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Book Review: Publish Your Own Magazine, Guidebook, or Weekly Newspaper by Thomas A Williams

If you've never considered publishing as a business you might want to get into, this book might just change your mind. If you're already interested in publishing as a potential moneymaker, it provides all the dirty details you need to get started today.

This book is slanted toward the kind of publishing that will really make you money. It isn??™t designed for someone who wants to publish a small literary magazine out of their basement, but for someone interested in ad-driven publications (like the tourism booklets filled with ads on local restaurants or the apartment guides prevalent in almost every community.) These kinds of publications can be extremely lucrative and this book gives the insights needed to succeed at it. Aimed at the entrepreneur with little startup money, the book details how to sell ads, find inexpensive help and how to get cash in hand from your advertisers before you have to pay the printer.

With step-by-step instructions on each type of publishing venture, you'll be selling ads and publishing your own magazine, guidebook or weekly paper in no time.

Buy the book from our bookstore:

http://sweetgigs.com/bookstore.htm

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Ads:

Love to Shop? Want to Get Paid for It? Our Mystery Shopping Packet can get you started! Click here to get information on over 200 mystery shopping companies ready to hire you to shop for them:

http://sweetgigs.com/shop.html

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"All in One" Web Hosting! - $7.77/month! From PowWeb Hosting. http://www.sweetgigs.com/hosting.html

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Contact newsletter@sweetgigs.com for information on advertising your products or services in this newsletter.

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Tip of the Week

Where do you get your ideas? Whether you??™re a freelance writer, an eBay entrepreneur seeking out the next hit product or an inventor looking for a new product idea, the latest news may literally be in the midst of the latest newspaper. Make a habit of scouring the paper for ideas you can potentially develop into moneymakers. Here at SweetGigs we get three daily papers, one local, one national and one international. We look not only at the headlines on the front page, but at the local, entertainment, sports and living sections to get insight into what the general public is thinking about right now.

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Improve Your Life/ Improve Yourself

You're probably a giving person. You probably have plans for ways you'll help others once you've made your fortune. But when you're trying to make money, you don??™t always have money to help out people or organizations. Fortunately, there are no-cost ways to help right now that don??™t take any cash and very little of your time. They're called click-to-donate programs, and they make helping those in need easy.

Click-to-donate sites work like this: The charity sets up a page where sponsors offer to pay a certain amount of money for every person who clicks on the designated link and views their ad. Often, the sponsors have some basic relation to the charity, like a manufacturer of ecologically safe products advertising on a site to help the rainforest. Most sites screen their sponsors well to prevent offensive ads from appearing.

Some of our favorite click-to-donate sites are listed below:

http://www.care2.com/click2donate/

http://www.thehungersite.com/

http://www.freedonation.com/

http://clickforwolves.com/

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Sweeps of the Week

Win a home entertainment system from Hormel. This is an instant sweepstakes, so there's no creativity involved, simply fill out the form and click to see if you've won.

Hormel Sweepstakes

Also check out our other contest and sweepstakes listings at:

http://www.sweetgigs.com/sweepstakes.html

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Thanks for reading this issue of SweetGigs Newsletter!