Make Time Work for You

How do you make time work for you?  By creating something that will keep paying dividends even after you have stopped updating it.  I know – easier said that done right?

There are several options for this.  Most of them require some sort of skill though.  That skill either has to be writing, designing, taking pictures, or some other craft that produces good results.  We are looking for something that produces a tangible product that can then be used over and over again.  A single promotion or product that once done can be purchased by the masses with little to no additional effort on your part.

Here are some options for this type of project:

• CafePress, Zazzle, SpreadShirt, etc.  – with these you upload a design and can set up a shop to sell that design.  Of course if you upload lots of designs you have more of a chance of selling one and they each have their own marketplaces where people can find your designs.  If you would like to try something like this, head on over to From Pink Slip where I am going step – by – step on how to set up these types of shops.
• Blurb, Lulu, etc. – These types of sites allow you to publish your own book.  Each has different tools available for different needs.  Write one book, get it published on their site, and again you can use their marketplace to have people find your product.
  • If you do write a book, consider using the CafePress, Zazzle, etc. to Mitchendise your products.  Not familiar with Mitchendise?  Head on over to Mitchendise and see how to create merchandise for your products.  I am currently doing a step-by-step process on how to lay out a book for total creation.
• Writing articles for ezines and others.  These types of sites take submissions from writers on virtually any subject.  The site then allows website owners to either buy or have for free these articles.  If the website owners have to pay, then generally you would get a portion of that.  If the website owners get it for free, then you would typically just be in for some “free” publicity since you put a brief description of yourself at the bottom of the article along with a link to your site.
• Design 3D images – yes, there are a couple sites out there that allow you to upload your 3D images so others can use them in games, sites, etc.  You set the price and get paid when people purchase your products.  The first site that comes to mind is TurboSquid.
• Software application – create something for the iPhone or the gPhone.  Their marketplaces are available for developers to submit their applications to. 

There are a lot more ideas out there.  I am just trying to show how you can leverage your skills to produce one product and sell it several times.  All of the items above require some skill, some practice, and generally have low startup costs (from $0 – a couple thousand for the right software). 

Lets do some math:

Write down the time it takes to create one product, now write down the $ you get from a sale.

Divide $ by time and you get $/hour spent on that product. 

Each time you make a sale, that $/hour number gets bigger and bigger since you are only increasing the $.  The hours are fixed once you load the product into the site’s marketplace.  Of course if you want to do promotion that will also change those, but you can see how this could be worth while (assuming you create good products that people want to buy).

Have any other suggestions on other sites or products to create?  Do you think I am way off base?  Need an example?

Leave a comment, let me know.

Chuck