Category: Market

If you ask whether I can make money by completing market research surveys then the answer is undoubtedly yes, actually making money through surveys is like shooting fish in a barrel! However, like many guys, you would also be intrigued to learn first how this lucrative job opportunity came to pass, for a general knowledge. Large-scale companies make money by selling their products and services, and to get “a fee” for what their customers look for. These big companies must utilize a strategy to seamlessly survey their target audiences.

Becoming aware of their targeted audiences’ needs directs to the fact that these companies can actually customize their services and products. At the crossroads, users easily come in. Considering the targeted market that these companies attach a special significance to, they desperately need your feedback about their business’ services and products. Analyzing the info end to end, help them to optimize their services and products and evince ways how these can be marketed effectively. At this point, you have a bang-up opportunity to make the most of paid market research surveys and make a decent amount of money.

In yesteryears, volunteers were looked for but over the past few years, market research is being conducted online because of the rise of the internet. These days, large-scale companies particularly pay the individuals who are interested in filling out their surveys. Many pay cash while others also offer prizes after you have completed their online survey forms. Scout online to search these survey companies and when you find out a few reliable names, register with them. You can get paid a decent amount by carrying out market research surveys this way.

This lure does not come so easily or without making any efforts. If you take a look at most websites, you will find some advertisements in the page that lure to offer you payment for taking online surveys, but some of them merely end up with an attempt to sell the products, rather than taking to a company’s website to fill out form. You will have to become aware of the thing and in time be aware of how to filtrate out the fakes of the real ones.

However, as you have sorted out the real ones, you just have to fill out a form, attempt the survey questionnaire questions, and you are done. So making money through online surveys is not something out of the ordinary but it is practically an easy thing.

Internet mall and online shopping are synonymous to easy and convenient means of shopping. In a busy life, going and shopping for things in an offline market is more than a challenge. Heavy traffic jam and bargaining for price or deals are some of things you come across, while shopping on Internet. With the help of Internet stores or Online shopping stores, one can enjoy buying anything and everything without even leaving his or her home. This results in a great time saver for an individual. Therefore, it can be said that Online shopping is the process where the users go through internet to purchase products or services. Online shop, eshop, e-store, webstore, or virtual store evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services in a shopping mall.

Online shopping is a electronic commerce that can be used for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions, regardless of geographical restriction. With Online as a mode of shopping, one does not have to make trek to the grocery or discounted store with his or kids. With Online stores you can order anything you want with just a click of few buttons. While you place an order, you can get the product to your door step.

After a great success in the developed countries, this concept of Online Shopping is gaining momentum in India also. There are several virtual stores on the internet that sell different types of products to meet people need.. Online shopping India is preferred by the people when compared to the offline shopping. As a matter of fact, they save a lot of time on commuting and waiting in lines. The best part is that one can visit various virtual stores to compare prices and discounts, without leaving his or her house.

The online shopping portals are well designed so that every individual can enjoy shopping without any hassle. As a matter of fact, the online shopping stores are designed to help users in more efficient manner. These stores provide various type of products from trusted manufacturers and merchants in a single place and allow the users to shop across them all.

Well planned shopping sites bring users and merchants together in an user-friendly environment. The users can compare the price of different products and vendors. This facility of comparing prices and features prevents the users in engaging into frauds.

With its various benefits and attractive features, there is a huge opportunity for e-commerce or online shopping. India’s online portal are gaining more revenue from health and beauty products when compared with the other segments of products. Free worldwide shipping is one of the pleasing incentives used to persuade more customers to spend more money on their website. To attract more customers the websites owners have come with special deal to direct customers and distributors with free gifts, and special packages, while shopping.

If this is your first time, shopping for a bridesmaid dress may not be easy for you. You need to consider a lot of factors such as style preference, body types, and budget. It can be a little bit overwhelming for you. Although it’s a challenging process, if you follow a few simple tips, you can opt for the best outfit. In this article, we are going to share with you a few tips that will help you get the job done.

1. Have an Open Mind

There is no need to worry about what your friend is looking for. You don’t need to worry about the color or style that you are partial to. Instead, what you need to do is keep your mind open and try to look for the best thing.

If you get lucky, the first dress you try on will look fabulous on you. But it may also happen that that dress won’t look good on you at all the moment you come out of the dressing room. You just need to be positive and look for something that will look great.

2. Ask for Bride’s Advice

If your friend gives you the liberty to choose whatever you like, we suggest that you ask for a little bit of guidance. Find out if your BFF likes everyone to dress in chiffon for an outfit with sleeves.

You can also find out their length or detail preference. So, if the bride is looking for some fresh ideas, you may consider complementary colors. Alternatively, you can consider a silhouette as well.

3. Give Constructive Feedback

Do you want to put on an outfit that you don’t like at all? In this case, you don’t want to let your strong feelings out. Instead, you can just find a way to express what you don’t like. It can be an overly revealing neckline or a shade that may not match your skin tone.

An easy way to fix the situation is to spell out what you don’t like. Besides, this may help the bride guide you in a new direction. So, the importance of giving constructive feedback can’t be denied.

4. Go for the Right Undergarments

If you want to go to a bridal salon for the bridesmaid dress, don’t forget to put on nude underwear. Besides, make sure your purse has a strapless bra in it. This will allow you to try on any neckline or color without being distracted by a briolette or a flashy red bottom.

As far as shoes are concerned, it is better that you carry a good pair with you, especially if you have no idea which pair will suit you the best. When it comes to accessories, you can use some of your routine accessories. Hopefully, they will look great with your new dress.

Long story short, we suggest that you follow the tips given in this article if you want to go for the best bridesmaid dress. Making the best choice depends on the factors you consider why looking for the best outfit.

There’s more than one way you can make money selling on Amazon. I’m going to tell you about the main ones in this article.

First of all, Amazon Marketplace. Marketplace offers you an opportunity to sell products (not just books but a whole range of things) on the exact same page on Amazon’s website where Amazon sell the product themselves. So you get to compete with them head-on, and even get to compete with them on price. Selling prices are fixed – Marketplace isn’t an auction. You can list an unlimited number of items for free but what they call a referral fee is charged on each sale. Marketplace is for both new and used products.

Marketplace is suitable whether you just want to make some spare cash part time, but also if you want to start a ‘proper’ small business.

The other main way to make money is Amazon Associates. Associates is basically an affiliate programme.

How To Sell on Amazon Marketplace

It’s very easy to get started with Amazon Marketplace. You don’t need to register in advance. You can open a seller account when you list your first product.

If you already have a buyer account on Amazon you can add your seller account to that.

To register as a seller you will need a business name, an address, a display name, a credit card and a telephone contact number. That’s all you need to get started.

Go to the Amazon site, scroll down the page to ‘Make Money With Us’ and then ‘Sell On Amazon’. You will then see two options:

Sell a little or sell a lot? Amazon offers two entry points into Marketplace which they informally tag as ‘selling a little’ or ‘selling a lot’.

Basically ‘a little’ is for occasional and hobby sellers who expect to sell less than 35 items a month. It costs 86p plus a referral fee for each sale. You are also restricted to the product categories you can sell in. However, the advantage is that it costs virtually nothing to start and there are no ongoing charges if, initially, you don’t sell very much.

Selling ‘a lot’ is for professional sellers who expect to sell more than 35 items a month. You pay a 28.75 monthly fixed fee and a referral fee. You can sell in all the Amazon product categories.

It isn’t always viable to list low price, low volume products as a ‘sell a little’ seller. To do that you need to be a ‘sell a lot’ seller! However, I’d recommend you take the ‘selling a little’ route to start out with. You can always upgrade later.

Choose your option, then fill in the online form.

Pro Merchant Sellers

Once you are selling ‘a lot’ you will probably also want to become what Amazon call a Pro Merchant Seller. Pro Merchants have access to volume selling and bulk listing tools. There is a web interface that allows you to more easily manage your product descriptions, inventory and orders. You will also be able to export and import information to and from your account.

Once you get up and running the selling a lot/Pro Merchant option will work out much cheaper and, importantly, will allow you to work on tighter margins and make money from sales that those who sell just a little can’t.

Amazon Marketplace Selling – how to sell your products

Now let’s take a look at exactly how you put products up for sale on Amazon Marketplace.

The idea of Marketplace is that you sell your product on exactly the same page on which Amazon and any other Marketplace sellers sell it.

So, first, find the equivalent new product in the Amazon catalogue. Use the ‘Search’ tool at the top of the Amazon home page. Put in the product type and name and Amazon will automatically take you to the correct page to list it.

Next, check carefully that the product type, brand and model number or whatever Amazon has found for you is the correct one.

Once you reach that page you’ll find a button called ‘Sell Yours Here’. Click on it, sign into your seller account, and you can now list your product immediately.

Now this is the really clever thing about Amazon.

Assuming the product already exists in the Amazon catalogue a listing is ready made for you to use. You don’t have to write a description or upload a photo. All you need to do is state what condition your product is in (i.e. new or one of several standard used descriptions), state the quantity you have for sale and fill in the price you require. Also decide what postage options you want to offer. (At this stage you can also decide whether you are willing to send the product abroad or not.)

If you wish, you can add a further description up to 2,000 characters (not words). This will help you differentiate your product or offering from Amazon and from other sellers.

Then, Amazon will give you a summary of your listing to check and also confirm what their fees will be if the item sells. If you’re happy with this just click ‘Submit Your Listing’ and you’re off. Once you’ve done this your item is automatically listed until it sells or for 60 days (indefinitely if you’re a Pro Merchant).

What’s an ASIN? ASIN stands for Amazon Standard Identification Number. Almost every product on their site has its own ASIN – a unique code they use to identify it. If you know the ASIN you can list it directly using that. (For books, the ASIN is the same as the ISBN number on the jacket.)

For, a wide – variety of reasons, many parts of this country, have witnessed, significant price increases, in recent, real estate transactions! We have witnessed, near – record, low mortgage interest rates, the pandemic, and a great demand, for houses, in certain areas (with far more potential buyers, than those, seeking to sell), etc! How long, will this trend, continue, and, when, might, the overall market, calm down, and normalize/ correct, etc? When, might, this, slow – down, etc, because of a variety of factors, etc? With, that in mind, this article will attend to, briefly, consider, examine, review, and discuss, 5 possible influences, to consider.

1. Interest rates: Interest rates are, at, or, near, historic lows, for an expanded period of time. This has resulted in mortgage rates, at, or, even, slightly – below, 3%, which, historically, has not been witnessed, in recent times! How long, might these low rates, continue, and, how might that impact, the overall, real estate market? For every 1%, rates rise, the monthly carrying costs, on a 30 – year mortgage, goes up, about sixty dollars! How might, raising the monthly cost, by several hundred dollars, impact home sales, etc?

2. Job security: When, people, feel secure, in their jobs, etc, they are more willing, to consider, buying a house, and/ or, upgrading. These feelings make most people, proceed, with more confidence, in their longer – term, abilities, to make such a significant commitment, etc!

3. Inflation Concerns: Some consider, home ownership, a fabulous, tool, in addressing, the concerns, related to inflation. On the other hand, if/ when, the Federal Reserve Bank, determines, believes, and perceives, inflation, as a serious issue, which needs to be handled, their process, generally, includes, raising interest rates. When this happens, mortgages become more expensive, as a result, etc!

4. Supply and Demand/ Pricing/ Houses: The economic principle of Supply and Demand, should be considered, in terms of, its impact on the price of homes! What types of buyers, want to move, to a specific area? When, there is lower inventory, and buyers, outnumber sellers, it creates, a Sellers Market, which, generally, causes price rises! When, the opposite occurs, it often, brings – about, a Buyers Market! There are times, when something, in – between, happens!

5. Local considerations: Just, as we’ve witnessed, some regions/ area, have been hotter, during this current real estate market, the rate, and how long, a specific place, and house, will, see its value, escalate, will, most – likely, differ, also. In real estate, often, everything, is local!

No asset, or market, remains the same, for many reasons. Trends, conditions, perceptions, affordability, consumer confidence, inflation, etc, contribute, to markets, and the inevitable, adjustments!

When you manage or lease a retail property, it is important to keep the tenants and the property successful. The key to the process is the tenant mix. If you get the tenant mix wrong, people will not come to the property; over time the vacancy factor rises and the rents become unstable. That is the beginning of an income disaster for the property landlord.

So it is not just a matter of having the right tenants in a property; there are some other factors to consider such as:

• Placement of tenants in and around the property
• The time or hours that the property trades
• The number of tenants that are in the property how
• The anchor tenant and their intentions for future occupancy
• The reason shoppers come to the property
• Vacancy factors now and known to be happening later on
• Clustering of tenants into a pattern that works towards a better shopping experience

Let’s look at the last item on the list for the moment. Clustering is essentially the process of placing tenants near to each other if it is considered that the customers that shop in those tenancies could purchase from other similar or complementary tenants nearby.

When a customer is buying something, they are inclined to purchase again relatively soon. Having tenants near to each other allows that trend to occur. For that reason you can create a ‘cluster’. Here is an example of a successful cluster:

1. Ladies fashion
2. Ladies shoes
3. Jewellery
4. Perfume
5. Ladies sportswear

All of these shops would work quite well in the same zone or cluster. The cluster could be placed adjacent to the anchor department store tenant.

When you get a cluster just right, you can look to introduce alternative tenants into the zone that may encourage shoppers to stay in the common area around the cluster and shop further. That is where you find coffee shops and cake shops may work. A successful tenant mix is a planned process.

So a good retail leasing executive knows how to make clusters work in a retail property. Everything has to fit into the requirements of the shopper and the known changes to the demographic of the region.

A tenancy mix can be shaped by utilising the expiration of leases and known vacancy factors in the property. To the customer visiting the property, they just want to have a good time and get what they want in a convenient way. The moment a retail property does not do that anymore, the commencement of rent and vacancy issues will start. Plan your retail property for today, but always look ahead and make wise decisions regards tenants in the tenant mix. 

Online sales will continue to rise. Every webpage designed to sell a product or market a service should understand the future of online shopping.

There are several major variables that make online sales attractive to the worldwide market. These variables include:

1) Value of Products/Services offered

2) Dependability and Reputation of the Seller

3) Ease and Security of payment

4) Ease and Security of shipping.

Younger and wealthier shoppers are driving a wave of online sales. Many of these people – having some web familiarity and disposable income – have learned to shop online for price comparisons and other comparative data. If shoppers find a superior situation, especially regarding the above 4 crucial variables they will usually become online buyers.

Online buyers establish shopping habits. They abandon bricks and mortar stores and malls as value, dependability, security and convenience of online buying improves.

Although the online buyer cannot return an item as quickly in some situations as the buyer who can walk in and out of a Wal-Mart or Sears when the parking lot isn’t crowded or there is no line at the returns

desk, there are many other reasons to buy online.

Sellers of low-mass products – small books, DVDs, lightweight clothing have a marked edge in sales because shipping is relatively low in cost. The seller of these items doesn’t need to pay the overhead of a store, staff, parking lot, utilities, etc. They pay only storage and shipping which is becoming increasingly automated.

Although people are rightfully afraid of bankcard fraud, I believe all card services will continue to improve security and improve buyer dispute processes.

Fraudulent emails sent to credit card holders (and all business accounts for that matter) will continue to be a big problem. As both merchants and shoppers become aware of these fraudulent practices it will be more difficult to exploit people with business accounts at PayPal or Amazon.

There is a probability, partly because of the price of fuel, that delivery services will consolidate to some extent in the future so that you will receive one or two regular deliveries per day of all goods you have purchased – including groceries – along with mail and newspaper, etc.

Each person may also have a receiving station service in the future whereby the shopper picks up everything from one large, secured lockbox. If a delivery is very large or has accumulated over days, a key would be left with directions to a nearby, larger overflow box. Security, insurance, and energy costs would all be cut by these changes.

Grocers have experimented with many forms of advertising, delivery, billing and credit. All of these ideas are improved with online transactions. Shopping from several grocery chains will be easier when you get free delivery and easy to find price comparisons. You will even be able to subscribe to discount announcements of various products.

Online education – especially college level offerings – has been slow to respond to the potential sale of services by internet. Online degrees will become more common, less expensive, and more legitimized with standardized and secured testing procedures of students. The knowledge areas in the cognitive domain can be done completely by internet. Educational offerings in the behavioral and affective domains will be greatly augmented by online offerings and testing as well.

Larger purchases will also be more prevalent on the internet, especially for mass produced items like automobiles. You can test-drive several models locally, then cruise websites regionally for price, color, accessories, delivery costs, taxes or other charges. This is already being done, but with advances in registration and licensing as well as online financing and insurance – you may spend 25 minutes on a website and be legally driving your new car in the time it takes to meet the delivery-person curbside.

Internet download of tickets and coupons is becoming widespread, and this will continue. Insurance policies and other documents can be downloaded as well.

Internet social life is here – even simplifying the dating and matching processes. This computerized internet socializing saves time and money. While it may lack some of the intangibles, it also allows a more fully objectified set of tangibles, as well as leaving time for the intangibles that happen after screening.

The internet will also become easier to use: fewer viruses, popups, host and server problems. This adds up to faster, easier, safer and less expensive shopping.

As an artist, it can be tricky to know where and how to sell artwork. Exhibiting in local galleries will allow the artist to reach only a limited audience, and sales will be wholly dependent on who happens to come through the door on a given day. An online marketplace has a truly global reach, enabling works to be discovered and purchased by a discerning international art buying market.

There are dozens of acceptable ways to sell original artwork online. From using social media sites and groups, to creating a custom website, a shop on an online marketplace or joining an online art market or online art gallery. The choice depends on exactly what is being sold, the intended audience, the profile of the ideal buyer and the price asked.

Online markets for art

Art marketplaces or online galleries are the art galleries of the online world. Some of these online galleries are very selective in the works they promote, choosing to stick to a certain style or genre or being particularly concerned with the processes and quality of each piece. Others will require a certain level of previous success before considering a piece, effectively cutting out new artists.

Other art marketplaces and online galleries go the other way and allow anyone to post listings. These sites are useful to new artists, but are not as lucrative or as successful in pulling in sales as more established art marketplaces with solid reputations behind them.

How online galleries work

Most art marketplaces and online galleries do the selling for the artist, operating much like a gallery. The piece and its details are posted online (usually according to strict photographic standards) and are available for site visitors to view. The client places the order online, the artist ships the piece and provides proof of shipment and the marketplace pays the artist, less their commission.

Commissions can be as high as 30% and the responsibility is on the artist to ensure the piece is appropriately shipped to arrive entirely intact and undamaged, barring natural disasters and civil unrest. So why is the commission so high? In effect, the artist is getting access to a gallery, advertising and marketing where payment for these services is only made on closing a sale.

Services offered

It’s not a bad deal if it is considered that art marketplaces and online galleries are in the business of marketing art. The more works they sell, the more money they make. They have a vested interest in selling the artworks on their lists. Many destination sites are for serious art buyers, exposing new artists to a broad audience of paying customers.

In addition, online galleries are searchable. Seeing a particular listing may prompt a buyer to search for the artist’s name and other works, or even find their website (if they have one, which is advisable). Another bonus is the names of newcomers appear alongside the names of established and esteemed artists in the industry. There’s nothing like being in good company.

What to look for

There are a number of popular art marketplaces and online galleries and countless smaller, independent galleries market online as well. The best option is to find one that is completely free to join and has no membership fees. This will ensure money is not lost before it is made.

An online gallery should also empower artists to play an active role in creating and managing their own store, ensuring complete control over their online listings and profile. However, the online gallery should also market and promote listings for free. Preferably an online gallery should charge a commission below 30%, unless their service offering is exceptional.

Years ago, a press release was the best tool to use if you want your story to be picked up by media outlets. This is still what many new business owners believe which is why their first thought in marketing their company is by sending out a press release.

The question is, do journalists actually read them today? People rarely read nowadays so it might be time to consider new ways to market instead of using news release services.

The competition for a journalists’ attention is pretty stiff, almost everyone is vying for the much-coveted pick up by news reporters and be used as their next big scoop.

There are DIY methods that are also effective in getting media mileage. Let’s take a look at some of them.

You need to build relationships with your target journalists and editors. Start coming up with pitches that are personalized. Doing this will show the journalist that you did your homework in researching about them and their publication. It takes time and effort to do this and journalists appreciate this being done for them. A pitch that is targeted to their publications audience is heaven sent because it makes their job a lot easier.

Find out the name of your target journalist and make a pitch that is personal to him or her. Don’t send copy and paste pitches that are impersonal. Know more about the journalist and how your content will help him and the publication that he is working for. Show interest in his work by coming up with an introduction that you have read his work.

Use a subject line that can get attract attention. Don’t use generic “For your information” or “To whom it may concern.”

You can format your email as a blog post or article. Break the ice by being conversational, try to tell a story. Tag your email with keywords and include a link to your company website.

Before you send your email pitch, try to engage the journalist by sending a tweet. You can also turn your email content into one or two tweets. After sending your tweet material, you can follow up with your email pitch.

You can also try sending a message on Facebook. Add known journalists and influencers to your Facebook friends list. Start engaging by following them, liking their posts and commenting.

If you have the guts to do it, you can give a journalist a phone call to see if they are interested with your release. This will save you a lot of time and effort, getting a positive or negative reply will help you focus your efforts to other journalists or build upon what you have already started.

Why not go a step further and meet up with the journalist over coffee and make your pitch face to face. There are journalists who would take advantage of this invitation as a way to get out of their offices.

If you have built a relationship with the right reporter then you can reap the benefits of that relationship by giving an exclusive story. Reporters love getting exclusives which are newsworthy and relevant. Once they write your story there is a huge chance that you will get publicity on a lot of other publications. You get to achieve PR results without having to write a press release.

There is a trend of people preferring to watch videos than reading. There are over 500 million people watching videos on Facebook every day. A quick video can take the place of a free press release distribution and get better results. You can start sharing your video on the various social media platforms for better exposure.

If you’ve ever been to Toronto you’ll know that the city is a huge multicultural mix with great shopping opportunities throughout. Toronto is one of those cities where you can spend days just shopping, and with great reason, it is Canada’s biggest city and the shopping center of Ontario. My experience with Toronto was that it is definitely a great place for shopping, you can go store-to-store with amazing boutiques and great deals on downtown streets, but you also need a plan of action or you’ll be exhausted. I have outlined 3 of the places I had the best experiences of shopping in Toronto.

1. First, it wouldn’t be shopping in Toronto if you didn’t visit the Toronto Eaton Centre. The Eaton Centre is a huge shopping mall with absolutely amazing deals on designer clothes, great food, electronics and everything else you need. It is also, believe it or not, Toronto’s top tourist attraction with over 1 million visitors every week! You can get here through the Dundas or Queen subway stations and it is a shopping trip you will absolutely love. It is a very busy mall right in downtown Toronto, but you will find so many great deals it’s hard to resist coming here. It also forms part of the Toronto PATH underground network, which is great fun for tourists and locals alike. I bought some great clothes at amazing deals from stores here.

2. Next, when Toronto shopping, make sure to visit Chinatown on Spadina. Chinatown is a testament to Toronto’s unique multiculturalism, where you feel like you’ve stepped into another country from one block to another. In Chinatown you can experience great stores with fantastic Chinese culture, taste delicious Chinese recipes, and of course buy lots of neat things at great bargain prices. In Toronto’s Chinatown you can shop for clothes, paintings, lamps, antiques, jewelry and much more. I would go just to experience the food because the food I ate there is simply delicious! Definitely a unique place in Toronto and highly recommended.

3. Thirdly, Toronto shopping wouldn’t feel right until you visit the popular Kensington Market. This is the place to buy cheap stuff at great bargains and sales. You can find clothes, suits, decorations, great food, furniture, souvenirs and more great savings in this extremely popular shopping region. It really feels like a Toronto market experience and I enjoyed simply walking through and browsing the great variety of things on display, the rich culture and the essence of a wonderful Toronto shopping district. This place is a wonderful experience.