The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them.
Enforced by the FTC, the Mail or Telephone Order Rule applies to orders placed by phone, fax, or the Internet. The FTC Merchant obligations rule spells out the ground rules for making promises about shipments, notifying consumers about unexpected delays, and refunding consumers’ money.
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The Crafts Industry is experiencing a significant surge, evolving into a $14 Billion Dollar Business and showing no signs of slowing down, as indicated by a recent study conducted by ASU. With the majority of crafters launching their ventures from the comfort of their homes, the industry has become a thriving ecosystem for creative entrepreneurship.
In the United States alone, it’s estimated that over 126,000 individuals sustain themselves through the products they craft, illustrating the substantial economic impact of this sector. Surprisingly, many craft households outperform the average American family economically, boasting a median income of $50,000 annually compared to the national average of $39,000.
Moreover, the realm of arts and crafts presents a plethora of opportunities for business ventures beyond the creation of crafts themselves. Entrepreneurs can explore various avenues to enter the crafts industry, even if they don’t directly engage in crafting activities. With such versatility, this vibrant sector continues to attract innovative minds seeking to capitalize on its immense potential.
Selling online is also one of the quickest and easiest way to begin making make money online. Selling handmade products in online platforms like Etsy, eBay, or Amazon Handmade offers a low-cost way to begin selling your handmade products online from the comfort of your home.
Sell Crafts On Your Own Website:
You can use WordPress WooCommerce to set up an online store and cut out the middle man and save on fees charged by online marketplaces.
Start a Craft Membership Site
A craft membership site is an online business that limits access to its content to paid members. Membership sites can provide a way to fund ongoing projects by offering exclusive content to paying members. For example, visual artists can allow paid members to be part of the creative process while working on long-term projects. Membership sites can also be a way for video content creators to monetize their work beyond YouTube ad payouts or direct sponsorships.
Membership sites typically require paid memberships on a recurring basis, such as monthly or annually. The content can include a variety of types, such as exclusive videos, blogs, articles, podcasts, webinars, screencasts, and white papers.
Start A Craft Blog
You can offers tutorials, shares crafting tips, Monetize a crafting blog with affiliate programs and earn money. It is a great way to earn extra money which can lead to a full-time career!
Sell Crafting eBooks
Publish and sell downloadable craft e-books on your topic of expertise. How-to books have always been popular even before e-books hit the market. People are naturally hungry for information. This could include step-by-step instructions, templates, and tips for completing specific crafts.
If you have a popular craft product, then selling digital patterns for various crafting projects including step-by-step instructions, could be a good money maker for you. You could also develop patterns for publication in magazines and books.
Craft supplies are in high demand! If you have a knack for sourcing materials or making crafting supplies, you can sell them online or in-person. Craftsmen, both amateurs, and professionals need craft supplies to produce their products. Craft supplies are hard to find in rural towns, making selling craft supplies a high-profit potential online business idea ! This could include selling yarn, fabric, beads, tools, patterns, quilting supplies and so much more.
DIY Craft Kits
Create and sell DIY craft kits that include all the materials and instructions needed for a particular project. This appeals to individuals who enjoy crafting but may not have the time or expertise to gather materials and plan out projects themselves.
Crafting Subscription Boxes
Offer a subscription service where subscribers receive a curated selection of craft supplies, tools, and instructions on a regular basis. This provides a steady stream of income and keeps customers engaged. You can promote the subscription service on your own website.
Customization and Personalization
You could offer personalized or custom-made crafts tailored to individual preferences. This could include monogrammed items, custom jewelry, engraved products, or personalized artwork.
Share your skills and expertise by organizing workshops, classes, or craft parties. Topics could range from basic crafting techniques to specialized skills like quilting or glassblowing. There are several platforms where you can teach craft classes online and potentially make money.
Teach From Your Own Website
You can create and sell your own craft classes directly through your website. You can use WordPress and free Learnpress plugin to sell digital products like online courses on your own Website.
Skillshare
Skillshare is an online learning community where users can take classes on a variety of topics, including crafts. As a teacher on Skillshare, you can earn money through royalties based on the number of minutes watched by premium members of your classes.
Udemy
Udemy is a popular online learning platform that offers courses on a wide range of subjects, including crafts. You can create and sell your own courses on Udemy and earn money through course sales.
Teachable
Teachable is a platform that allows you to create and sell online courses. You can design your own course materials, set your own pricing, and keep a larger percentage of your course sales compared to some other platforms.
Patreon:
Patreon is a membership platform that allows creators to earn money from their fans through monthly subscriptions. You can offer exclusive content, behind-the-scenes access, and other perks to your patrons, including craft tutorials and workshops.
Host Live Virtual Craft Classes
Zoom can be used to host live virtual craft classes and workshops. Topics could range from basic crafting techniques to specialized skills like quilting or glassblowing. While Zoom is not a dedicated online learning platform, You can charge participants a fee to attend your classes, either through a third-party payment processor or by sending invoices directly to your students.
Teach Craft Classes Offline
There are craft shops that offer free classroom space to promote their products in your craft projects. Check with your local craft shop for teaching opportunities. Earn extra money teaching craft classes at a college or university through their community-based adult enrichment program. There are many retired people, who want to make good use of their leisure time and would enjoy learning new crafts.
Teach crafts as a freelance craft teacher or recreation aide in a retirement home. There are some churches that will allow you to teach a craft class to their members as a fundraiser. You would share a small percentage of the money charged, such as 10 to 20 % of the fee charged per student.
You can organize or participate in crafting events such as craft fairs, markets, or pop-up shops. This provides an opportunity to showcase and sell your products while networking with other crafter’s and potential customers.
Check with the local chamber of commerce or search your State’s website for listings of upcoming shows and fairs.
Many local colleges hold annual craft fairs. Some independent craft show promoters set up craft shows at local churches. Some churches host their own craft fair as a fundraiser.
Other event ideas is to offer crafting activities or workshops for corporate events, team-building exercises, birthday parties, or other special occasions.
Selling on consignment is a practice frequently used by artists and craftspeople. It literally means that you are giving over your work to someone in the business of selling handmade products, such as a craft consignment shop. The retailer keeps a percentage of the sale price as a commission once a sale is made.
The travel and tourism industry is the third-largest employer in the United States, supporting over 5.85 million travel-related jobs. Selling your crafts to tourists is a great way to earn an extra income. Check out local shops selling to tourists and see if they are willing to sell your handicrafts on consignment.
These are simple recipes for effective natural pesticides. Applied to gardens, they can replace toxic, commercial brands that can produce harmful health and environmental side effects. These pest controls must be applied at least once a week, and twice if it rains.
Hot Pepper Solution
A general repellent, it is effective for caterpillars, cabbage worms, ants, aphids, beetles, and cutworms.
Recipe: Finely chop 15 peppers and add 1 liter of water. Steep for 24 hours, strain, and apply.
Onion Brew
Onion brew repels a variety of insects, including ants, aphids, army worms, and especially borer insects such as caterpillars.
Recipe: Finely chop 4 cups of onion and add to 2 liters of water. Steep for 24 hours, strain, and apply. Best used when fermented.
Garlic Brew
This brew works to repel many insects, including ants, aphids, and caterpillars, as well as nematodes.
Recipe: Finely chop one-half cup of garlic and add to three-fourths liter of water. Soak for 24 hours, strain, and apply to plant and surrounding soil.
Mint (Mentha)
Mint is relatively easy to grow, if given a lot of water, and once established, can be hard to stop. It can be grown alone or planted among other vegetables, though it should be kept away from cucumbers. It can be used as a repellent against aphids, cabbage pests, and flea beetles, as well as against bacterial diseases.
Recipe: Cut fresh mint leaves and citrus (orange or lemon) peels to make a repellent. Place the pieces in a small pan covered with water, and bring to a boil. Soak overnight and apply during the evening watering.
Tomato-Leaf Spray
This is a particularly effective repellent for aphids and caterpillars, but should not be used on tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, or potatoes.
Recipe: Pack 1 quart of tomato leaves in a sturdy, heat-resistant bucket. Pour 1 quart of boiling water over the leaves, and let the mixture steep for one hour. Next, strain the mixture through a cloth, squeezing the leaf dregs to remove as much liquid as possible. Dilute the mixture with water before using.
Wood Ash
Sprinkling a layer of wood ash around the base of plants a couple of times each week will repel some surface-feeding insects, slugs, and snails by causing dehydration. Wood ash is very fine and gritty, so it works well to deter chewing insects when dusted over certain crops. Once ash gets wet, however, it loses its deterring properties. Continuous use of ash may increase the soil pH or accumulate salts to levels harmful to plants.
Neem (Azadirachta indica)
Neem trees are abundant in many regions and can be used as a very potent natural bioinsecticide. Neem’s extracts have an effect on nearly 400 species of insects, including major pests (moths, weevils, beetles, and leaf miners). The most effective insecticide comes from the seed, but the leaves can also be used. These extracts do not kill insects directly but effectively prevent their reproduction.
Recipe: Dry leaves in shade, as UV rays from the sun break down azadirachtin, their principal chemical compound. When leaves are dry, pound and mix a generous handful of the powder with 10 liters of water. Let steep for 12 to 24 hours. Strain and apply during the evening watering.
Gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium)
Gliricidia is a wonderful tree for soil amelioration due to its ability to fix nitrogen. Its leaves can also provide an insecticide that is effective on both chewing and boring insects.
Recipe: There are two ways to use Gliricidia. First, pick leaves and place near plants to be protected. When they become dry, remove or leave as mulch, and reapply fresh ones. Second, pound a generous amount of leaves, add a small amount of water, and soak for 24 hours. Strain and apply during the evening watering.
Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum)
Tobacco contains nicotine, which can be used as a potent insecticide. (Be careful, as nicotine is a poison and high concentrations can be lethal.) Target organisms include aphids, cabbage worms, caterpillars, flea beetles, grain weevils, leaf miners, mites, stem borers, thrips, rust, some fungi, and leaf-curl virus. Note: Do not use on tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, or potatoes.
Recipe: First, dry and pound the leaves. Add 20 grams of tobacco to 1 liter of water, soak overnight, and apply during the evening watering.
Soap Solution
Certain brands of hand soap, particularly the local homemade varieties that are plant-based, and some liquid dish detergents can be used in solution as a contact insecticide. (Dry dish soaps and clothes washing detergents should not be used.) To be effective, a soap spray must be applied directly and must thoroughly cover the insect. Most soft-bodied insects and mites are susceptible to soap sprays, including aphids, caterpillars, lace bugs, leaf hoppers, mealy bugs, mites, liver worms, saw flies, scale crawlers, spittlebugs, springtails , thrips, and white flies. Soap solutions can be harmful to certain plants, so caution must be used. If in doubt, test a small area on the plant and wait 24 hours to see if there is an effect. To be safe, always rinse the area treated with water a few hours after application of soap spray.
Recipe: Use 2 tablespoons of grated soap per 1 1/2 liters of water. Apply directly with watering can or homemade broom.
Bug Juice Spray
Gardeners use these sprays effectively to control pests. Pests of a given species will not feed on the plants if members of their colony are found dead on those plants. The smell serves as a repellent and as a warning for the other incoming pests. This is an especially effective insecticide for small garden plots or nursery spaces, but not practical for large-scale operations.
Recipe: Liquefy one-half cup of the targeted beetles, bugs, caterpillars, or slugs in 2 cups of lukewarm water by grinding and straining. (It’s easiest to make this concoction by mashing the bugs and slowly adding in the water.) Dilute one-fourth cup of the bug juice with 1 1/2 cups of water, and spray all plant surfaces thoroughly.
Hillbilly Breath
This homemade insecticide can be used as a catch-all as it deters many different types of insect pests.
Recipe: Mix together in water some chopped mint, ash, garlic, tobacco, and no more than 1 tablespoon of soap. Steep the concoction for 24 hours, strain, and apply the solution with a watering can or a homemade broom.
Beer
Beer attracts slugs. Place a saucer or cup just below the soil surface and fill it with beer. Slugs finding their way into the container will not be able to get out and will drown.
Standard Procedures for the Preparation and Application of Homemade Extracts
These recipes are courtesy of the Peace Corps Gardens Training Package..
Starting a senior program is a wonderful way to promote social engagement, physical activity, and mental stimulation among seniors. The types of activities that seniors would enjoy can vary widely based on their interests, abilities, and mobility. Here are some popular activities often enjoyed by seniors:
Remember to consult with the seniors in your program to understand their preferences and needs. Flexibility and making them feel included are key to creating a program that caters to a diverse range of interests and abilities. Additionally, consider the physical and cognitive abilities of your participants when designing activities to ensure everyone can participate and enjoy the experience.
As a retailer of general merchandise or handmade goods, you are in the market to make a profit. As a craft artist selling handmade goods, buying your supplies from local retail craft stores might work out okay for a while, but to break it all down, buying wholesale means higher profit margins for you. The lower the price the higher the profit! That’s why you as a retailer need a wholesaler.
You are a retailer if you plan to sell products to the general public. Retailers are businesses that sell merchandise, (in small quantities) to the general public for personal or household consumption. In some cases, retailers sell merchandise to businesses and institutions. Retailers may operate stores, designed to attract a large number of walk-in customers or sell their goods online
Unlike retailers, wholesalers sell products in bulk. The whole idea is wholesalers sell merchandise to other businesses below the retail price for the purposes of reselling the product or for other business purposes.
Wholesaling consists of manufacturers, the producer of a product. In general, a wholesaler is a middleman or distributor who sells to retailers, jobbers, other merchants, and industrial, commercial, and institutional, and general consumers. Wholesalers may be sales branches maintained by manufacturing businesses, for the purpose of selling their products. They also may be agents or brokers who arrange for the purchase or sale of goods owned by others, often on a commission basis.
Importers are businesses that purchase products from manufacturers outside of their home country due to the lower cost of the products (who often sell to wholesalers). For example, an importer would be someone who purchases products in bulk from say China at low-cost prices and sells them to a wholesaler or direct to retailers.
Retailers have higher profit margins when they purchase their products wholesale with the intention of reselling the product as-is or in a finished product such as raw materials. Craft supplies used to make a finished handmade product would be considered raw material.
Wholesalers are in the business to sell merchandise to other businesses at lower than the actual retail price the product sells to the general public for. The retailer’s profit is the difference between the wholesale price and the retail price.
A legitimate wholesaler will require your sales tax permit or business permit. Your sales tax permit will serve two purposes.
You still may be required to show proof of your business license. Wholesalers normally require you to purchase products in bulk with the intention of selling directly to the consumer. By buying in bulk, you receive a significant discount (typically 50%) which allows you to make a decent profit when selling goods at the retail price.
Exclusive distributors: (manufacturers grant certain dealers exclusive territorial rights to sell their product). It is unlikely that a small retail business will be able to buy directly from a high-volume wholesaler or manufacturer.
There are, however, many smaller manufacturers and wholesale distributors who will sell and ship to small businesses. You will be required to provide a sales tax Id. There are many businesses that claim to be wholesalers but their prices tell another story. I call them discount retailers, a legitimate US wholesaler will require your business license or sales tax id information.
It is not always easy to find wholesalers since many of the wholesalers of the products you may need are often not found locally. You may want to start by checking your local directory for wholesalers, purchase a professional wholesale Industry specific directory or a Trade magazine. Some wholesalers will advertise in trade magazines and/or participate in trade shows.
For maximum income potential, buying your resale products wholesale or below wholesale by importing them yourself, is the key to higher profit margins.
One good hot selling item and you could be set for life! Not only does importing offer low cost with high-profit potential, but it also paves the way for you to find unique items not sold in the US. The lure of low-cost products has always been the incentive for importing from China and other places. After years of experience selling online, I find that importing your resale items is a great way to stay one step ahead of the competition, on the Internet and pocket almost 100% of the profit.
Continue readingPlanning is the most important part of setting up a blog, website or online store. Content is the hardest, most time-consuming part of any Website or blog development project. Planning your blog content in advance helps you ensure each piece of content you publish will help you reach your marketing goals. Start by preparing a few starter blog articles.
You should prepare an about me page and any other information pertaining to your blog or business website you would like to make known. Site policies and privacy notices should also be apart of your plan. In addition, you should also do the following:
The Navigation Menu:
The site’s navigation system is like a road map to all the different areas and information contained within your site and provides a clear, simple path to all the web pages from anywhere on the website.
An Internet hosting service is a service that runs Internet servers, allowing organizations and individuals to serve content to the Internet. A hosting company provides the space you need on the Internet to publish or your website or install content management software such as WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal, etc. There are different types of web hosting packages you can purchase,.
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A shared web hosting service is a web hosting service where many websites reside on one web server connected to the Internet. This is generally the most economical option for hosting, as the overall cost of server maintenance is spread over many customers. The advantage of shared web hosting is that it is usually offered at affordable rates.
The disadvantage is the security issues, a shared hosting service also affects your website’s performance as it has to compete with other websites over the same limited amount of server resources. If one of the other websites experiences some extreme traffic, it could slow down your app or website too! There is a workaround for each of the issues mentioned, that being said many small businesses will start out with a shared hosting plan.
2. Virtual private server (VPS) hosting.
A virtual private server is a virtual machine sold as a service by an Internet hosting service. The virtual dedicated server also has a similar meaning. A virtual private server (VPS) is your website running on its own server. VPS hosting creates a virtual environment that imitates a dedicated server (where you get a server, and all its resources, to yourself but it can be costly when compared to shared hosting. Depending on your budget some other options are:
3. Dedicated Hosting
A dedicated hosting service, dedicated server, or managed hosting service is a type of Internet hosting in which the client leases an entire server not shared with anyone else.
4. Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting makes applications and websites accessible using cloud resources. Unlike traditional hosting, solutions are not deployed on a single server. Instead, a network of connected virtual and physical cloud servers hosts the application or website, ensuring greater flexibility and scalability.
5. Managed Web Hosting
Managed web hosting is when a hosting service provider leases you a dedicated server but manages the server themselves. The provider controls your server, conducts software and hardware maintenance, provides security, monitors activity, and takes care of backup services.
Setting up a web site online is the easy part, choosing a hosting company that has your back, is the most important thing when setting up online, because if your hosting company is not on board with your success, then you are like a boat without a paddle, eventually, you will sink. If your hosting company can not help you then ask yourself who can?
Choosing the wrong hosting company can cost you time and money. The hosting company you choose should be able to offer you not only the tools needed to run your businesses successfully online but the 24/7 support needed to set up their hosting plan and using their applications. A good hosting company should be able to offer advice when you run into problems with their applications!
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If their server is down more then it’s up, then that will mean loss of potential income for you because your customers can not reach you.
Many web hosting companies offer cPanel to customers as part of their hosting package. cPanel is an online Linux-based graphical interface (GUI) used as a control panel to simplify website and server management. cPanel allows you to publish websites, manage domains, organize web files, create email accounts, and more quickly and easily.
Install popular free open-source software applications available on the Internet such as WordPress and many others, with one-click installation and without any knowledge of coding or Internet software installation.Be sure to inquire as to whether they have quick installation of the free open-source software applications you are interested in using. If not cPanel do they offer any automation of Popular free Open-Source Tools and Applications?
A simple search of the Internet for Affiliate Marketing programs will produce hundreds of thousands of results! To start, enter “Affiliate Marketing Programs” in the search engine of your choice. Not all affiliate programs are legit, do your research before joining an affiliate marketing program.
To see if anyone has had a problem with the affiliate program you are interested in search online for reviews.or complaints about said company.
Do as much research on the company of your choice as you can and ask questions of concern. Another way to start out is to join an Affiliate Network.
Affiliate Networks:
There are many companies that pay Affiliate Networks to manage their accounts including big-name companies. Some of the best affiliate programs can be found by signing up with an affiliate network. Affiliate networks house major companies such as Walmart, AT &T staples, best buy and hundreds of others too numerous to name, you get the idea. The affiliate network does all the work and keeps you updated on how much money you make through reports generated on their site.
To get started you sign up with an affiliate network as a publisher and provide them with all your information including the websites you will be posting affiliate’s banners and links to. Normally you are able to place links on multiple websites that you own. Before choosing an affiliate program it is a good rule of thumb to look over their merchant’s program agreement. Pay special attention to the commission percentage. Look out for how many days after a visitor from your site makes a purchase before you will be entitled to credit for it?
To sign up with an Affiliate Network you will be required to provide your taxpayer information and the method of payment you prefer. Once you are signed up and approved, you have the option of applying for the companies you are interested in becoming a partner affiliate with. You may have to wait a day or two or longer to find out if you are approved for the affiliate program you selected.
To be on the safe side affiliate beginners should select only affiliate programs that are apart of an affiliate network. The following is a list of well known Top Affiliate Programs not necessarily in the order I have them in.
Rakuten Advertising, formally know as Linkshare, is reportedly the largest affiliate network, with over 10 million affiliate partnerships, Rakuten offers over 2,500 affiliate programs. As a publisher, you can partner with thousands of leading and emerging brands across a variety of industries
CJ is said to be the largest affiliate marketing network in North America (though it operates globally) in addition to its regular pay-per-action affiliate program, the company also offers a convenient Pay Per Call program to help affiliates “ensure they get paid commission for the leads they generate, thus further monetizing existing ad placements and having the opportunity to expand their promotional…online and offline campaigns.”
Chicago-based ShareASale has over 2,500 merchant programs and features brands such as HootSuite and PS Print. ShareASale has received excellent ratings, with the company’s reputation/security, ethics, customer service, and ease of commission payment receiving glowing reviews.
Placing fourth in the 2012 Blue Book of Top 20 Affiliate Networks, for a reporting system that “far surpasses other big networks,” this is one of the largest and most diverse affiliate programs available.
As most people know, Amazon.com offers such a wide array of products that there’s bound to be something to fit your niche. In fact, they offer over a million products from which you can choose to monetize your website or blog. Amazon Associates is a pay-per-sale affiliate program.
ClixGalore is an Australian PPA (pay-per-action) affiliate network that also has offices in the US, UK, and Japan. The company offers various types of programs, including PPM (pay-per-impression), PPL (pay per lead), PPS (pay-per-sale), and PPC (pay-per-click). Many programs pay in US dollars.
Some well-known brands that use ClixGalore for their affiliate offerings are Bluehost, Time-Life, Trend Micro, Citibank, and Fox Sports Shop. While not as widely known as some of the other affiliate networks, ClixGalore is a solid network that offers thousands of potential merchant programs. The network also offers a two-tier network. By referring other affiliates to the network, current affiliates can receive a portion of their earnings.
PeerFly is a PPA network with its own proprietary software system. The network made the 2012 Blue Book of Top 20 Affiliate Networks, which stated regarding them, “They are courteous, helpful, and point you in the right direction.” PeerFly accepts publishers from all over the world and offers thousands of merchant programs.
A well-known affiliate network, ClickBank features digital products, such as e-books, software, and membership sites. The program reportedly offers up to 75% commissions on its tens of thousands of products. Commissions are paid weekly, and direct deposit is available to its affiliates.
Over the years, this network has remained popular, though some have questioned a few of its practices.
MaxBounty came in sixth in the 2012 Blue Book of Top 20 CPA Networks, though it didn’t make a showing in the Blue Book’s top 20 affiliate networks. In business since 2004, the network was founded on the philosophy of paying its affiliates more.