Free from 9 to 5 Chronicles of people and ideas to inspire and achieve freedom from a 9 to 5 job

Business venture from right field

My fiance is a very artsy and crafty person. She recently made a ring bearer pillow, flower girl basket and garter for a close friend of ours who was getting married. I was amazed at the quality of her work (no bias here, really ) and consequently took pictures of the wedding set she made to post in an eBay auction. Lo and behold, someone bought it, so she made another set and we shipped it (after taking more pictures).

Then another friend saw the first set she made and wanted one to give as a gift. My fiance sold yet another set. This led me to whip up a simple e-commerce website for her: www.elegantweddingshoppe.com.

I also put up another eBay auction, but no one bid this time and the auction expired with no winner. I’ve since listed another eBay auction and we are trying again. This happened in a matter of weeks, but the great thing was, aside from the cost of the ebay/paypal fees and domain registration fee, which totaled less than $20, we didn’t have to put any money upfront to start this business.

I still need to learn how to market better and bring more visitors, but even with just 2 sales, this unexpected and unanticipated business venture is quite exhilarating. And I could use any marketing tips that you have!

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