How to make $300 a month as a teen?

How to make $300+ a month

• Hi, I'm looking for legit ways to make about $300+ a month. I have about $20,000 to spend but of course I would prefer to spend less. I have read other Google Q&A related to this, but found nothing really concrete. Ideally the income would be related to online activities. I've considered many options (eBay, Adsense, online shops etc..), but I either don't know what to sell or I don't know how to make money from websites. Points to consider are: I live in the Czech Republic. I'm IT literate. I'm not SEO literate. I'm a registered seller on eBay Thanks Dean

• Answer:

  Thank you for the clarification. I will accept that as an invitation to answer your question with the caveats I mentioned. The main problem with the comment (just as an example) which I see,is that it focuses on the means (how to build a website) rather than on goals. To establish a business, particularly an on-line business, you need to do two things: 1) Identify a need (find something which people need, and are not getting, or which you can provide better, cheaper, ... Building a website may be one of the means, once you have selected the goal and only THEN you decide to learn PHP, or hire someone to do it ot use something like Ebay shop .. This, to identify the need, is the market analysis part of business plan preparation. 2) Identify what YOU like doing, and what you do or can do well - the self-realization part This second part, is well discussed in the book "Do what you love, the money will follow" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0440501601/104-9148175-2368758?v=glance There are actually two books by Marsha: [ http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author-exact=Marsha%20Sinetar&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank/104-9148175-2368758 ] and I suggest you read both. The first understated 1) and assumed you 'Love to serve other people' and are able to do it. The second is balancing the two imperatives 1) and 2). BTW: We do put VERY LONG URLs into [ brackets] since they often get broken by line breaks. Brackets [ ] mean: paste all between [] but not brackets themself into the location bar. OK? To run a business means 'to devote a big part of you life, thoughts, energy .. to it' (Not all of your life, please). If you just want income, rather than occupation, do not buy a website. Rather, buy some CDs (certificates of deposit) or income stocks. http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/certificate/ http://www.smartmoney.com/magportfolios/stocks/index.cfm?story=stock-newincome2001 To operate a website which generates an income, you need to decide who will pay and why: Example : Right now the big three (ebay, amazon, google) are neglecting Eastern Europe (what Rumsfeld calls New Europe) meaning: It is hard for a person in CR, Poland, .. to buy stuff on eBay as half the listings ship 'to US only' or on Amazon.uk (which is extremely uptight and pricey about shipping to EE; They ship to HongKong for less) You can serve those people in the C.R. or EE, by establishing a proxy service, which will collect funds the CR way (bank transfer) and order (and perhaps check) the stuff in the US (or UK) and ship economically to CR and other EE countries. You would need a partner in US, UK ... but if you have some high-school buddies .. it may be possible. Or, you can serve the outside marke using CR resources: offering call center services, programming services, or some physical products to the global market. Examples of what not to do. 'Bohemian glass' exports are 'an obvious' and many people have tried and lost money on it. It looks like people who buy glass do not buy on-line. It's also costly to pack and ship and insure, etc. such a fragile product, especially to individual buyers. Make a search and you will see many websites located in US which try to sell Bohemian Glass: ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Bohemian+Glass&btnG=Google+Search So you need to move beyond the obvious and do some market research and offer what is not well offered. Examples of quality products that are not well-represented abroad: Furniture. Look for good new designers One award-winning designer/firm which still has a very small footprint even in Prague: http://www.polstrin.cz/ One crystal firm has high quality but is struggling to market in the U.S. Many of their products are similar to Swarovski http://www.preciosa.com/preciosa/cz/ If you are good at marketing, this would be the big time. Or, team up with a designer/manufacturer and design a product of your own using Czech talent. e.g. the Czech Republic produces very few beautiful glass table lamps. Venice, in contrast, produces some fantastic lamps known worldwide. Interview graduates of the glass/crystal trade schools, pick several who would want to have a business with you. Produce some, network with a local shop to sell them at first, then broaden the market. Or follow the Artel model: Karen Feldman did something like this, starting her own firm her producing her own glassware patterns. She started marekting abroad in very high end shops before she sold in Prague, I believe -- building a very exclusive reputation. http://www.artelglass.com/ As a native English speaker who can communicate with the 'locals' you have a jump on competition. Marketing (particularly for EE products) is an issue of trust and image building. If done well, it can work. Good luck Hedgie