Comments on: Do You Have Time to Run a $100,000 Internet Business?

By: ScottUA

ScottUA — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:38:18 +0000

This is a great post Christine. It’s a reality check to some people who have preconceived notions of running an online business. A business is a business, whether you have it online or in the real world. What’s even more interesting is how it affects your personal life and how you’ve made some trade offs and practical adjustments. More success!

By: Phil

Phil — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 20:40:04 +0000

I get my bubble mailers from www.Royalmailers.com , very good stuff with free shipping.

By: EzyAs123

EzyAs123 — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:22:40 +0000

Hello Christine,

I have to congratulate you on being able to run and grow your online business, especially while doing all that is necessary to keep a family going.

Personally I spend far too much time in front of the computer working on my business, and sometimes for no money back at all.

There are a lot of people online who say running an online business is easy mony, and in some ways that can be true, but just like any business, be it online or offline, you really have to work at it. Yes I did say that 4 letter word “work”.

If anyone thinks it’s simply a matter of sticking up a few web pages or creating a blog then you better do some more research and read the stories of successful people online. No one achieved their success without a lot of hard work in the beginning.

There is no magic formula or golden key. It is simply a matter of finding what you are good at or your passion and then getting in and doing somthing about it.

Never give up if it is ‘really’ what you want to do.

Ian

By: The Genius Wire :: 5 October 2007 | Genius Types

The Genius Wire :: 5 October 2007 | Genius Types — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 08:03:42 +0000

[…] The Genius Wire :: 5 October 2007 How to Run a $100,000 Internet Business -Christine Olson […]

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:02:42 +0000

Deron,
I don’t know much about golf equipment but the best thing you can do for yourself is start small and do your research to see what is selling and for how much. I know one guy who sells sports equipment, first he started selling his old ski boots, then he talked to local sports shops to buy their clearance merchandise and now he contracts with major retailers to buy up all their returns. Best Wishes on your venture!

By: Deron Sizemore

Deron Sizemore — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 02:53:47 +0000

@ Christine

Thanks for the reply. Sorry if I came off rude in sounded like I was asking who your suppliers are. That wasn’t my intent and I was asking more of a general question as I didn’t know how e-commerce businesses such as yours are usually ran. I’ve heard of people selling goods online through a site, but once the sale is complete they do nothing but collect a profit and another company actually sends out the merchandise. Although, obviously from the pictures, you keep all of the merchandise on hand.

For example, if I made the decision that I wanted to sell golf supplies. What should be my course of action to start? Buy up a bunch of golf supplies hopefully getting them at discounted bulk price and then sell them for a markup price straight from my home? Or would the normal course of action be to partner with some golf business and sell the merchandise but let them send everything out and deal with the overhead while I take a cut of what I sold it for?

Hope that makes sense. I’m a total noob with e-commerce stuff.

By: Christine

Christine — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 02:25:49 +0000

@ Deron
There are several places people can find books to resell. I won’t give up my suppliers because it has taken me several years to find these contacts. Some great places to start are garage sales, church rummage sales, estate sales, library book sales, and thrift stores.

@ Richard
I have always ran my business part-time. In fact, I started it on $500 and during start-up I only needed to spend 1 – 2 hours a day running it because I just wasn’t that busy. I began the business 1 year after my first child was born. Books were the first product I ever tried back in 1998 when I worked at my dad’s bookstore. I was amazed at how well they sold. Times are different now and competition is heavy so I have to use a lot of different tactics to be noticed. I didn’t start selling books for myself until 2003 and have slowly built my business to what it is today. I have tried to carry a few different product lines that didn’t go over so well. Now I try to stick with books and book related items.

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 13:24:55 +0000

This post is interesting. It seems to cover the operational side of the business once it’s past the startup phase. Here is my question for Christine:

How many hours did you spend getting it off the ground? Did you start the business before having children? What did you fail at selling before finding these books?

By: Self Improvement Courses

Self Improvement Courses — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 13:01:34 +0000

Congrats for your efforts! It will be good lead for many others who have a passion to start their own business. Planning and organizing is the important part of a successful business. You have maintained it both. Your article will give confidence to many other. Best wishes!

By: Business » Do You Have Time to Run a $100000 Internet Business?

Business » Do You Have Time to Run a $100000 Internet Business? — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 07:12:12 +0000

[…] Joshua M wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI run a retail internet book business from home. I have a two and a five year old. When people hear what I do they say “Aw, that’s great you can work from home and be there for your kids.” Sometimes I smile and sheepishly say “Yeah”, … […]