A Unique Interview with an Online Collectibles Expert
Copyright 2006 Monique Hawkins
There are many collectible enthusiasts. Some collectibles that people enjoy collecting include music boxes, glassware, vintage pottery, limited edition pieces, antiques, antique model cars, and NASCAR collectibles to name a few.
Some enjoy collecting so much that they choose to start their own business, which is exactly what Nancy of nancyscollectibles.com has done. A love for glassware, pottery, and limited edition pieces resulted in her starting her own website. I recently did an interview with Nancy about her collectible business. Let's listen in and get a behind the scenes look into what it is like to run an online collectible business.
1. Could you describe your online and offline business operations, your services and/or products in detail? My business is a one-person operation. On a weekly basis, I scour estate sales, yard sales, and sometimes auctions for new inventory. I take pictures of everything purchased and add them to my site. Most of the items are either antique or limited edition pieces.
2. What made you decide to start a business specializing in collectibles? What was your inspiration or motivation? I have always liked glassware, pottery, and limited edition pieces. I have collections of many types of things, some of which is California pottery by Kay Finch, Geisha Girl porcelain, Sabino figurines, depression glassware, Belleek porcelain, teapots, and chintz porcelain. My husband and I started going to live auctions several years ago for our personal wants and ended up with a lot of things that I knew I could sell on eBay. I sold on eBay for about 2 years and decided that I could do better with my own website, which is what I did.
3. What have been your major challenges/obstacles over the years? How did you overcome them? Knowing what to buy, how much to pay for it, and what to sell it for. I obtained several books for researching and lots of studying what others were buying, selling, and charging. Also, just experience. I still have some of my mistakes!
4. What specific types of online or offline marketing tools are you using successfully? I always have my business cards with me. Every opportunity I am given, I talk about my business to friends, relatives, or acquaintances. I have my monthly newsletter, which I hope is informative enough for my subscribers and light enough for them to enjoy, as well as learn. Also, hope that other sites pick it up and add a link to it on their sites. I have a link to my site on all my emails. Occasionally, I sell on eBay and have a page with a link to my site there. I have submitted my site to many directories.
5. Have you always envisioned yourselves doing what you are doing now? Has it always been a passion? What did you "want to be when you grew up"? I have always been a social person, but never saw myself as an owner of a website. My passion was collecting, not selling. I worked in an office for many years before I became a mother. Since then I have been a stay-at-home mom to my two sons. They were my passion and still are to some extent, but they are both grown now. My site has now become my passion.
6. What if your least favorite part of running your business? Your favorite part? My least favorite part is the bookkeeping part; it's very tedious and time consuming. My favorite part is finding the treasures and also helping someone find a lost or broken piece that may have been a family heirloom or just a childhood memory.
7. What are some of your favorite collectible pieces and why? Of all my personal collectibles, I would say my favorite is my chintz porcelain.
8. Is there any interesting history associated with some of your pieces? I have some pottery bowls that I have inherited from my grandmother. I have yet to identify the maker of them, but they bring back memories of my childhood when I spent time with her. Its probably not interesting history to anyone, but myself.
9. What important advice or tips would you give to someone who would like to start a business such as yours either online or offline? Start a business doing something you like! Do your research on how well that type of business is doing by others. Start small and slow.
10. For those antique and music box collectors looking to find valuable and interesting pieces for their own collections, where would you suggest they go either online or offline? How about those who are just starting a collection? You have more to select from online. More than likely on one of the online auctions. If you like adventure, go to estate sales, garage/yard sales, and live auctions.
I hope you have enjoyed this look into the world of owning an online collectibles store. To visit Nancy's site, go to http://www.nancyscollectibles.com/

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Established in May of 2005, http://www.My-Music-Box.com is a music box gift store specializing in music box products such as inlaid ballerina music boxes for ballerina rooms décor, whimsical carousel music boxes, and musical jewelry boxes. The company provides interesting information for music lovers of all ages. Owner Monique Hawkins is also the author of the blog "What You Never Knew About Music" http://whatyouneverknewaboutmusic.blogspot.com , and owner of the eBay store "Monique's Music Box" at: http://stores.ebay.com/Moniques-Music-Box Monique can be contacted at (540) 858-2885.


National League Is Heavy Dog For All Star Classic!
My, oh my, how time flies as it seems like yesterday that the National Leagues were the big bully on the block and the American League was snickered at by baseball insiders. Not these days however, as the AL heads into the Mid-Summer Classic winner of nine straight contests and also having not lost a World Series game in eight straight contests.

If we start at the catcher's position you will notice a huge disparity in production between the NL's Paul Lo Duca and the Braves' Brian McCann. They have combined for 9 homeruns and 59 RBI's while the AL duo of Pudge Rodriguez and AL batting leader Joe Mauer have 14 and 84.

At first base the NL should have a large advantage as they trot out Albert Pujols (29-76) against a designated hitter who will be forced to play defense in Big Papi David Ortiz (31-87). Ortiz is also coming off a 19 inning marathon on Sunday and the home run derby.

Second base is not exactly filled with marquis names as the AL will have light hitting Mark Loretta .305 (3-37) going up against Phillies' Chase Utley who has been awesome this year with (16-53).

I think shortstop is a tossup in the AL with Derek Jeter .345 (5-52) while the NL has Edgar Renteria who will replace Mets standout Jose Reyes.

Actually, the left side of the infield is an all Big Apple affair as A. Rod .282 (19-65) opposes hot hitting David Wright .316 (20-74).

Needless to say, it is the fountain of youth in the NL hooking horns with the big game performers of the AL such as Jason Bay, Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Beltran. The AL counters with Magglio Ordonez, Vladamir Guerrero and Ichiro Suzuki, 48 homeruns and 158 RBI's.

The real winners in this extravaganza are the residents of Pittsburgh who are certainly happy that the NFL season is right around the corner. Their Pirates are the worst team in baseball with a record of 30 win and 60 losses and are well on their way to a 100 + loss season.

Prediction:

The NL has plenty to play for and Tuesday night will be when they temporarily get well as they beat the AL 9-5. Time to Cash!
Bob Acton
Online Sports Betting


Turn Your Love Of Golf Into A Career With A Home-Based Business
If you were sitting on your deathbed, having been just told you have one single hour to live, how much would a second hour of life be worth to you? $100? $1000? Every cent you have? Chances are, at that point in your life, nothing would be worth more than another hour to spend with your friends, family, loved ones, or even just sitting under a tree, listening to the birds sing. Or maybe you would ask for just enough time for a quick nine rounds of golf on the public course?
So there's no question we'd value our time more when we know we have only a little left, but why does it take us so long to get to that mindset? We know we'll all die eventually, we know our time on this earth is limited, so why do we trade hours of our existence for minimum wage? Why do we slave at a job we hate for just $12 an hour, or $15 an hour, or even $30 an hour? Why don't we enjoy our time, rather than sell it off at rock bottom prices?
The answer to that is simple - we need cash. But rather than take the time to set up a situation where we make money for doing nothing, we do it the old fashioned, short-term thinking way - we go to work. We let someone else play golf, while we sit in a cubicle and help pay his or her mortgage off.
So why not make the change? Why not take the plunge and start a home-based business? Why not be the guy who strolls around a golf course working on his chip shot while others work for us, or while customers send you bags of money for maybe an hour of work each day?
Why not indeed.
Today's online world offers a litany of home-based business opportunities, from mail order businesses to consignment programs, to affiliate systems, to sub-contracting opportunities, and even the age-old multi-level marketing routine.
The first question to ask yourself is 'what do you want to do for a living?'
If you're a golf freak, you might say you want to be out on the course, so why not start there? The world of golf holds many possibilities, from selling golf products and accessories online, to creating a golf web portal with dozens of affiliate program ads hanging off it, to selling ebooks on how to improve your swing.
But those are just the home-based business ideas that everyone else is working on - in order to really set yourself apart and make ongoing passive income for minimal effort in return, you need to think outside the box, and make effort early to set things up so they can earn more and more over time.
There's no such thing as a 'get rich quick' home based business that pays you tens of thousands right away. Well, okay, maybe it exists somewhere, but systems that pay out large sums quickly invariably fall on their ear soon after. To really establish a business that pays you every week for eternity, you need to plan, work smart, invest a small amount of money and a large amount of time.
Carl is a pro golfer. Learn more about this spetacular golf and get discounts for some products.
http://www.freewebs.com/smithkarl