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We
were recently featured on Good
Morning America
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Staci
Wood: “By week, a virtual freelancer. By weekend, an eBay seller.”
by Michael Haaren
I met Staci Wood while interviewing for Anita Campbell’s Small Business
Trends Radio Show and found her diverse approach to work noteworthy
enough to request an interview. Among other entrepreneurial hats, as
we’ll get to in a moment, Staci is the show’s virtual Program Manager.
Like many of the people who listen to the show, Staci is also a “rat
race opt-out.” I’ll let her tell her story in her own words.
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STACI
WOOD: For more than 15 years, I was employed in various
accounting and clerical positions, in large corporations like Alcoa and
smaller businesses, too. I performed duties such as
business-to-business collections, retail collections, billing,
invoicing and data entry.
About 5 years ago, I started selling items on eBay. Having a passion
for collectibles and all things antique, I spent most of my weekends
pursuing this passion. Almost by accident, and out of a need for
additional income, I came to realize that feeding these treasures and
finds to the hungry online auction community can be a very lucrative
home-based business, in my case eventually leading to PowerSeller
status on the site.
Having suffered through a divorce, I eventually found that I needed a
more secure and reliable source of income and erroneously decided to
return to the work force. Finding a stale and repetitive office
environment filled with office politics and little room for personal
growth very unsatisfying, I again decided to attempt to develop a
home-based business. It was then that I was approached by Anita
Campbell of The Small Business Trends E’Zine to assist in show
scheduling for The Small Business Trends Radio Show.
That opportunity has grown into a home-based virtual freelancing
business that has since opened many doors for additional opportunities.
My current activities include show scheduling for The Small Business
Trends Radio Show as Program Manager. In addition, I also manage the
Small Business Trends forum, and online marketing and promotional work
for various associated websites.
The virtual freelancing brings a steady base of income, and because it
is part-time and work hours are flexible, it also affords me time to
develop an eBay business. As an additional activity within my
microbusiness, I have also decided to once again pursue PowerSeller
status at eBay. I specialize in pop culture, various collectibles and
antique Christmas items with a focus on all things vintage, reselling
my finds to a large online market of baby boomers longing for nostalgia.
I like to say: “By week, a virtual freelancer. By weekend, an eBay
seller.”
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Staci and I “sat down” by email for a few questions.
RRR: Which do you enjoy
more, your virtual freelancing role or your eBay activities, and why?
STACI WOOD: That depends on the
inspiration of the day. If I’ve found a really great, valuable and rare
collectible during my treasure hunts, then I become very enthusiastic,
excited and anxious to race home and create a listing for eBay.
But by the same token, if I’m involved in a virtual project that
presents quite a challenge, then I am equally excited and anxious to
finish the project as an accomplishment.
RRR: You've mentioned
doing online marketing and promotional work. For our readers who'd like
to increase their own freelancing workflow, what three marketing tips
could you share?
STACI WOOD: I would suggest
participating in online forums and communities, thinking about creating
a blog, and participating in sites like Work.com, where you can create
business guides regarding tips on virtual freelancing and network with
others on the site.
RRR: What are your most
popular items on eBay, and where can we see your current offerings?
STACI WOOD: My most popular
items tend to be vintage Christmas collectibles dating from the 1940's
to the 1960's. I normally begin running my Holiday items mid-November
through the last week of December.
I offer everything from Shiny Brite ornaments to large outdoor blowmold
lights and vintage Christmas light sets. My eBay listings can be found
by performing an advanced search by seller for "sannwood" or going to
http://tinyurl.com/y6n4fn . Past listings can also be found at
http://tinyurl.com/u4lb6 .
RRR: Many of our readers
would like to get started on eBay, but have never traded there. How
would you suggest that they learn more, and begin?
STACI WOOD: My suggestion would
be to visit the site and register on eBay. Once registered you
can begin buying and selling. Take advantage of the tutorials and view
the site map to visit the different pages regarding fees, terms, etc.
Ebay is incredibly helpful to it's members and walks you through the
process step by step. They also offer a live chat service for
instant help with stumbling blocks and questions.
If you’re not sure what people want - what people will purchase - start
by selling items around your house that you intend to part with, such
as old cameras, used children's toys, Christmas decor, etc. Research
the items briefly by performing an advanced search, at
http://tinyurl.com/y4ocr4 , and check the box “Completed listings
only.” This will reveal a list of the same items that have sold in the
past few weeks and the final value they sold for.
RRR: Please share some
of your favorite "do's and don'ts" about trading on eBay.
STACI WOOD: DON'T simply sell
your items for a fixed price or high starting bid. Remember what
eBay is all about - it's an auction site. People enjoy
participating in the auctions and they enjoy the bidding process and
tend to get caught up in it.
DO start your auctions at low opening bids. Almost all of my auctions
begin at $4.99. I’ve seen items run for a week at an opening bid of
$19.99 and they receive no bids and no interest. I’ve seen the same
items relisted with a low opening bid - and ultimately sell for $30.
The low opening bid catches the potential bidders’ interest and they
begin to participate in the bidding process.
RRR:
You were in the rat race, and now you're home-based. Many home-based
professionals have to contend with occasional feelings of isolation.
How would you suggest that readers avoid the "loneliness bug" and keep
their social networks healthy?
STACI WOOD: I like to try to
force myself to keep regular business hours when working at home. Of
course, there are many times that you’re required to depart from that
schedule, but I like to try and maintain a 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM schedule
with minimal work performed over the weekends.
Otherwise, it becomes very easy to find yourself working 10-12 hour
days and attached to the computer at all times - and that's when the
"loneliness bug" seems to creep in.
Keeping regular business hours can help make you feel more a part of
society and allows you the time to participate in it - rather than
living in a 24hr. "virtual community."
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Rat Race Factoids
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Work
From Home Scams
There
is a 42-to-1 scam ratio among "work from home" ads on the Internet, and
that is not counting the ones that arrive as spam in your inbox. [Read
our press release on this statistic.]
Average
Annual Vacation Days by Country:
United
States...........13
Japan...............25
Canada...............26
Great
Britain............28
Brazil..............34
Germany...............35
France................37
Italy.................42
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