Taking Effective Product Photos

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Back to the regular grind. I will be finished with my semester in about 2 weeks of classes, including my finals. This may be my last post for a couple of weeks as I prepare for, and take my finals.

I have gotten my Wine Making Kit online, as well as the required Wine Making Kit Refill


If you have any sort of web store, or are selling any items on the internet, or anywhere, for that matter, you will need to take enticing product photos. I will try to provide a short description of a technique for taking simple, effective product photos.

1. You will need a place to take the photos.

I fashioned a simple "photo studio" which serves my purpose. You may, if you wish, purchase a "home product studio" from several retailers. These are more professional, and have everything you need, but you will pay for it.This is effective, and will serve your purpose if you have the cash. You can find this studio at first street, among other places. If you have $60 to spare on your business, go ahead. I do not, however. If you will be taking TONS of photos, this is worth it, I, however, do not have enough turnover to make it worth my while.

I fashioned my own studio which works very effectively. I simply used 4 different pieces of computer paper to fashion my own little studio. I just took a little time, and some tape, and formed exactly what I needed, add a light to the picture (it's a pun, get it?) and voila!

To make these:

• I folded the side pieces, so, when laid on top of the other piece of paper, they would reach the end.
• Tape them to the back piece of paper.
• Tape the bottom piece of paper to the walls.
• You are finished making it.

Now, you need a light for...lighting. I shine a nice light straight up, and then use another piece of paper to reflect the light back down onto the products. This gives a nice light effect (DO NOT USE A FLASH!)

I turned off the lights in the room, shined my light straight up, reflected the light back down on the product, and got a result as follows:
A little quick photo editing yielded me:
This was as simple as pie. Well, it sounds simple as pie, but how exactly did I do it?

2. Get a decent camera

I used the Panasonic Lumix FZ28, which I just got, and think is an INCREDIBLE camera. You do NOT need a super complicated camera. Certainly, the nicer the camera, the nicer the photos, but you will not get bad photos from a less than stellar camera. Ideally, you will want some manual settings. I set my shutter to 8 seconds, at and ISO of 100, and got great results.

You do not need to be perfect, but here are the settings I used:
Shutter priority
ISO 100
Shutter time of 8 seconds (Also tried with 6, and 4 seconds with good results)
NO FLASH

You will likely need a tripod, or some sort of stable place to put your camera. With these long shutter times, it is very easy to get a blurry image. You can get a cheap tripod on e-Bay. While not necessary, make sure you at least have a way to keep the camera very steady.

If you can set these settings, try them out. The important thing is to try to work out what settings are needed for your own camera. These worked for me, but may be terrible for your settings, only time will tell.

3. Edit the photo

At the very least, you can put your photo up without any editing, but you will benefit from some editing. If you have adobe Photoshop, and you know how to use it well, you are pretty much done with anything I could tell you.

You will want to do some cropping, which can be done in very simple programs, even windows picture editor can crop. If you want to do a little more work, try GIMP. It is a toned down photo editor like Photoshop, which is completely free. I have used GIMP do do some very nice effects, and though I don't like it as much as Photoshop, it works well. I used a clone stamp tool to fill in some areas which were not what I wanted them to look like. For example:




This was the original photo, taken with only the little photo studio I fashioned.












You can see the difference that can be made upon a photo with just some simple editing tricks.






4. Publish the Photo

You'll want to make sure you save the photo in the proper settings for your personal sales website. My main requirement is that I save in a square. Beyond that, it can be in any size, and it will be fixed by ecrater.


I hope that helps out, it's a simple process, and it can be repeated for any products. Picture here were my Wine Making kit, and Wine Making Refill Kit.

• Make a simple studio
• Get a simple camera
• Take some photos
• Do some editing
• Sell some products

If you have any questions, please contact me at ContactUs@dorm-gear.com

If you have read this post on facebook, the complete blog is available at www.dormroombiz.com

Basic Sourcing Information

As my readers will know by now, I have been putting together a wine making kit to sell on my store. I have been working on this for a while now, at least a month, I'm not positive how long (I should probably pay attention in the future) but I have met a couple of delays. These delays could have been lessened if I had developed a better sourcing strategy.

A sourcing strategy sounds like a big term, meant for bigger businesses, or eat least larger small businesses, not a dorm room business. A dorm room business is just purchasing, right? Buy products and then sell them. Well how are you going to choose what to buy? How do you choose where to buy from, or how many you'll buy? That's a sourcing strategy; it doesn't have to be the incredibly complicated procurement systems some companies use.

I needed a few products for my kit, and my ultimate goal was to find the most cost effective products that would still provide quality for my customers. If my customers purchase products that are of low quality because I decided to only go for cheap products, that reflects poorly on me. No one cares if I tell them "oh, my supplier messed up" because to them, I messed up. Think about it, if your supplier got the product from someone else, you don't care, if your product fails, you have issue with your supplier.

I did quite a bit of searching on the Internet. First, however, I developed a list of products that make home wine making easy, and then a list of items that are required for home wine making. These required products are the ones I chose for my kit. Some products make things easier, but they are not required, and thus would be stuff my customer does not need. So, my product development strategy was to develop a bare essentials product that was quality, but cost effective. I had a target price in mind, $10 for the kit, so I knew about what I could pay for the different parts of the kit.

So, on to sourcing; I knew what I needed to get, so I found the lowest cost suppliers I could find. I had it narrowed down to about 4 different suppliers for the least expensive products. I then eliminated those suppliers that did not have everything I needed, even if the products were not lowest cost. Something to remember is that with low volumes, shipping cost can be a major deal breaker. I had thus narrowed it down to 2 suppliers, which I was ok with; 2 suppliers to put together these kits. I was fine with it until I got a shipping quote at $18, on about $40 worth of products. Back to the drawing board.

I did a cost analysis (adding together my costs per kit) of using just the one other supplier, and it wasn't great, but I thought I might have to do that. Then, a few more Internet searches, and I finally found a company that had EVERYTHING I needed, and at the lowest prices. I have no idea how they were able to do this, but everything was a quality brand, so I purchased everything from them.

I did not think it all through, however, because I ordered 30 1 oz. doses of a liquid sanitizer (BTF Iodophor) which is required, and I received 7 4 oz. doses, and 2 1 oz. bottles. That did not work, so I talked to them, and they told me to send them back, and they would re-bottle them for me. I sent them all back (except the 2 1 oz. bottles) and got 28 1 oz. bottles back. The problem...the bottles they use leak. Iodine stains, and is nasty stuff, so I decided to change my product. It cost me more, and I COULD use the Iodophor, but I decided my customers would not like products that could leak all over everything.

I knew there was one supplier (Mr. Beer) that sells affordable, one-step powdered sanitizer. I bought 25 of those packets, and it comes out, with shipping, to about the same price as I was paying, so I'm ok. I'm currently waiting for the products to show up, but I think I'm going to put up the wine kits on the store once I get a shipment confirmation from Mr. Beer, so I can start advertising.




That was a long story just to make a few points, so I'll try to bullet-point the important stuff.

• Develop a product plan
• Figure out exactly what you need for your store or product
• Develop a list of potential suppliers, google is your friend for this
• Look for overlap, where suppliers can supply a large portion of your store
• Do a total cost analysis (Cost of product, plus tax, shipping, etc.)
• Develop a list of 1-3 suppliers, and commit.
• Remember, you might save money on shipping per unit by buying in bulk, but don't forget about your personal storage abilities (ex: A dorm room cannot store large boxes of shirts)
• Make your purchase, and be excited to have stuff to sell
• Be ready to adapt in case something does not work out.

I hope those are some helpful points. If you have any questions about this process, PLEASE feel free to contact me using the contact button on the right.

Also, remember, if you would like to submit a guest post, I am still accepting them. I love to get other points of view out there.

If you are reading this on facebook, you can find the complete blog at: dormroombiz.com

Legality

I'm going to talk a little bit today about legality. Unfortunately, a MAJOR aspect of any business, is the laws governing it. Whether you are a major corporation who is subject to millions of rules, from the SEC, down to local laws, or you are a small entrepreneur who is not subject to nearly as many laws, how can you figure out what laws apply to you? Breaking a law can not only be expensive, it can shut you down.

First of all, a few resources you can use
Business.gov
Small Business Guide at Business.gov
Findlaw.com - Link to the small business section of Findlaw
Small Business laws at findanswers.com

So there are some resources for small businesses to find some laws that might apply to you. This is, however, DORMroombiz. We are all about dorm room businesses, and there is another level of laws that apply to you. You should definitely read any material available to you about the rules in your particular dorm complex. Please be sure you read this information, there may be some rules that you don't think make sense which are strictly enforced. I thought I would be allowed to have a harmless toaster oven, but they are strictly forbidden. This is a non-business example, but you get the point.

My dorm life contract DOES specify that I may not sell items from my room. I have interpreted that to mean I may not turn my room into a store, which I would definitely not do. If you choose to break these rules, you may get away with it, but if you get caught, it can be severe. Some have even been kicked out of the dorms. Remember, if you get kicked out, you VERY likely do not get a refund.

I voted, have you?

This is just a friendly reminder that today is election day in America. If you are eligible to vote, YOU SHOULD! It doesn't matter if you vote for Obama, McCain, Nader, or simply write-in Mickey Mouse, it is your right, and duty to vote.

Remember, if you don't vote when you are allowed to, you have NO right to complain over the next four years if you don't like what happens with the president.

I just wanted to remind everyone that today is the election day (as if it's easy to forget) and that you should GET OUT AND VOTE!

I'm still alive

Hey everyone. I am not dead, just very busy. I still don't have time to post. My internet has been on the fritz lately, so a repair guy is coming out tomorrow hopefully. I have 2 exams tomorrow, and a huge paper due friday, plus a job offer that expires Friday.

This is pretty indicative of the past month...oh yeah, I also have to figure out housing for next year; I'm busy. So, I'm not dead, I have not given up on this blog, I'm just very busy right now.

Wine Kit Update: I am still awaiting one product to put into the kits, then I can begin selling them. Exciting!

Winemaking in the Dorms, and the Professional Development Symposium

Well, I've taken the plunge, and decided to buy the supplies to put together the kits. The order was quite large for some items, so I have to wait for this supplier to receive the extra product from their own suppliers, then I will have it shipped to me, and I will put together the kits. I hope these work. I know I would have loved a product like this when I first moved into the dorms.

Something not a lot of people know about wine...it will get a group inebriated much faster, and differently than regular beer or liquor. This is not proven to my knowledge, and this isn't a statement of fact, but from personal experience and first person accounts, wine gets people more "messed up" than other alcohols. Being a potential 18% alcohol by volume doesn't hurt either.

Topic over (Do not drink or manufacture or possess alcohol if you are below the legal age in your jurisdiction, or if doing so would violate any law, rule, statute, etc. that applies to you)

I just got back from a Professional Development Symposium put on by the Multi-Cultural Business Students at Michigan State University. It was a pretty helpful meeting; it consisted of 4 breakout sessions, and a very interesting keynote speaker during lunch. The meeting took place at a very nice Marriott, and we got plenty of free stuff :) When I left my room at 8 am, my roommate and suitemates were still up. Crazy! Here's a breakdown of the day.

8:30 - 9:00 am : Registration and Breakfast. We registered, got our $25 deposits back (we would not get them back if we did not attend, and this would pay for the food and services we were not using...financial incentive to show up) and then we received a free leather portfolio. I almost brought my own, but I read the e-mail at the last minute and found that we would receive our own new portfolios. I now have 3 portfolios, and I have a feeling that isn't the end of it.

Breakfast was a continental breakfast with coffee (thank you!) and pastries; I had a very tasty and moist blueberry muffin.

9:00 - 9:30 am: Introduction/Welcome - Speech explaining the day basically. I've been to enough of these that I was able to figure it out.

We then had to choose one of 4 breakout sessions to attend: Our options were.
1. Resume/Cover Letter Workshop - EATON Corp.
2. Dining Etiquette - Enterprise Rent-A-Car
3. Understanding Offer Letter Packages - Kevin Leonard, Multi-cultural Business Program
4. Personal Financial Management - MSU Federal Credit Union

I chose the Resume/Cover Letter Workshop, and Understanding Offer Letter Packages for my 2 morning sessions.

9:30 - 10:30 Resume/Cover Letter Workshop - This was a bit of a waste. I expected it to be more in depth information about resumes, but she even said the info on the slides was taken from an MSU website. Helpful, huh? I did learn some from them when the Q/A began, however. They seemed knowledgeable, and provided some good answers. I asked if my objective should be tailored to the company, and they said basically, no. I did not learn a whole lot from this, and would rather have attended dining etqiuette, but oh well, live and learn.

10:45-11:45 am Understanding Offer Letter Packages - This was much more helpful. Kevin Leonard is a very funny man, and he also has a wealth of knowledge. He began by walking us through the negoitaion process of job offers. The best tip we got was that we should not negotiate without other offers on the table. Also, if you know you are being offered a good salary, TAKE IT. If you are $6,000 over the industry high, they want you, and are making a generous offer.

We then went on to discuss the various aspects of the offer letter, and what to look for. Benefits, Travel, Insurance, etc. were all covered, and he said sometimes...many times, one needs to pry into HR to find the policies on Benefits. We talked briefly about the 401(k) (contribute maximum dollars that you can to it, especially early on) and overall, this was a very beneficial session.

Then Lunch

11:45 am - 12:45 pm - Lunch - Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ernest Betts, Assistant Dean for Multi-cultural Business Program (MBP) Dr. Betts was a highly skilled speaker; he spoke about the coming together of different cultures in business like has never before been seen. He discussed some common stereotypes about Americans, as well as some of the cultural aspects we should be aware of for other cultures. In Korea, if asked to hum a few lines of your favorite song, stand up, and belt it; singing is a passion in Korea. He said a client will overlook mutilation of the language, but not mutilation of the culture. If someone came to our country, and spoke very minimal english, we would get a translator, if someone came to our country and hit our children, we would be offended. Get it?

The food at Lunch was sub-par. When you are in a hotel dining room with people in tuxes serving you, you have certain expectations. The salad was good (simple salad, peppercorn ranch dressing) and tasty rolls. The entree, however, was sub-par. The chicken specifically was tough, with rubbery parts, the sauce tasted like it was from McDonalds, there were grains of rice that were crunchy, mixed in with cooked grains. The beans and carrots were good. Dessert was a very rich chocolate tart; incredibly rich. Imagine a pie slice of chocolate. Coffee was a little bitter too, unlike the coffee in the morning; the coffee in the morning was strong and delicious.

The afternoon sessions were all new, and we had 2 to select from those as well.

1. Dressing for Success - Whirlpool
2. Public Speaking - Robert Johnson
3. Graduate School: GMAT, GRE, LSAT - The Princeton Review
4. Networking/Career Fair Preparation - Target

1:00-2:00 pm Networking/Career Fair Preparation - I felt this was a very helpful session, given the fact that there is a career gallery only days away. We discussed how to open up the discussion, how to develop power stories to tell for different situations. They said that based on a trait that is brought up, we should have "power stories" that show us in a good light. It should be consise, 30-60 seconds, and we should finish with what we learned from the experience. That was basically all we learned, and it was a good skill to learn. I highly recommend everyone learn how to form and deliver a power story.

2:15 - 3:15 pm - Graduate School: GMAT, GRE, LSAT - This was interesting. I didn't really realize how expensive these tests are until today. $225 for the GMAT alone. Yikes. They are Computer Adaptive Tests, meaning based on whether you get the question right, the next one will be either harder or easier. Cool. We talked about some basic test taking strategies, and the guy was pretty funny. Process of Elimination was a good theme. Here is a sample question he gave us to demonstrate this concept. First, he asked us the capital of Malawi. Know it? No one else did either. Then, he gave us these answer choices:
A. London
B. Tokyo
C. Paris
D. Washington D.C.
E. Lilongwe

Know the answer? It's a good demonstration of the idea. He also said statistically guys score better than girls. It's because guys don't over-analyze. For example, a guy might think "Hmm, don't know the answer at all...I'll go with B" Girls might think "Hmm, I don't know this at all, but I think it might be that one, I don't really know, maybe it's this one, are they trying to trick me, maybe I've heard of that one, could it be C? I'm going to get this wrong, and I know I got the one 3 questions ago wrong, I'm going to fail completely"

4 seconds to like 4 minutes. Saves time for guys. This isn't a rule of course, just an idea to keep in mind, if you don't know the answer, you won't be able to analyze it out. I asked him about the 2+2 program at Harvard, and he is a HUGE fan of them. You get accepted to Grad School and a job simultaneously. Work 2 years, then MBA for 2 years. Cool system. I then answered a question correctly (how many points is the GMAT essay out of A:6) and got a book "The 109 best internships" which I REALLY wanted. Sweet.

I skipped the goodbye speech by accident. I didn't think it was going to happen. Anyway, I'm going to go play some sports. I was out for 8 hours, so I'm ready for some rec time.

Save some money, make your own

Note: The information provided in this blog purely educational, and in no way is its advice recommended or expected to be followed.

The cost of booze got you down? If you're over 21 (and ONLY if you're over 21) you could make your own. It is perfectly legal for Americans to make up to 100 gallons of FERMENTED beverages each year without being taxed. That being said, some states do still have laws that make it unlawful to manufacture ANY alcoholic beverage. It is YOUR responsibility to understand your own laws in your state, county, city, township, neighborhood, campus, and ANY other law, rule, regulation, etc. that applies to you.

Ok, so it is possible to make your own wine very easily in your dorm room (make sure it is legal, remember). I am planning on putting together a kit for making wine in a small space (assuming it is legal, do you get my recurring theme?) that I will sell on my store.

I have not priced everything, but I expect the kit to sell for $13-$15. It includes:

• 5" Funnel
• 5' 3/8" Vinyl Tubing
• 1 packet wine making yeast
• 2 packets of sanitizing solution
• Hose clamp
• 2 Balloon airlocks (made in house, very clever design)

It will require the purchaser to buy their own ingredients. These ingredients are:

• 1 gallon water
• 3 cans grape juice concentrate
• sugar

It comes out to like $7 the first batch you make, plus say $15, so $22 for the first batch. After that however, subsequent batches would be much cheaper. I could sell refill supplies on my site too (yeast, sanitizing solution, and balloon airlocks) which would need to be refilled.

What do you all think? Is it worth it to make your own wine (for those of legal age) which comes to about 18% abv. It is VERY strong, and can get a sufficient group inebriated (as long as they are all of legal age)

I'd love to hear comments.

Note: I do not condone, nor does this potential product condone any underage drinking, it is the readers responsibility to understand any laws, rules, regulations, etc. that apply to him or her.

Update on the Store

Well, as many of you know, I currently have a store over at www.dorm-gear.com which is hosted by e-crater. I've wanted to get an independent storefront (independent of ecrater) for a while now. I checked out some hosting services, and they seems pretty nice; I think hostmonster is the best of them all. It's $5.95/mo for 12 months, so it comes out to about $84 which is reasonableish. I also found a website called buyitsellit.com which is like e-crater, but MUCH more customizable.

Does anyone have any opinions on these two stores?

I also have a new product that I am currently pricing that I think should do VERY well. I'm keeping it on the down low right now, but trust me, it's GREAT. Anyway, that was just my quick update, don't really have time to do a lot of updates right now with my class schedule (Accounting 300 is hurting me pretty bad) but I will soon once I get a better grasp on my classes.

That's a good lesson for those who are just starting college, understand your limits, and don't go nuts until you do understand them. If a class is beating you up, realize that you will need to spend MORE time on it, not less (as so commonly seems to be the case for some reason)

College Preparation #6: Save Your $$$...and the trees

One of my biggest expenses in college my freshman year was books. I spent close to $1200 on them that first year. You DO NOT need to do that! Just do what I do now, buy international, or not at all.

There are international editions of books available that are much cheaper, and lighter than the American counterpart. They are in high quality color prints, and are softback. They say they cannot be sold in the US, which is not true. I buy mine on e-Bay usually, but they are all over the internet. However, MAKE SURE you get the high quality ones, you can get super cheap copies from China and India, but these are basically xerox copied black and white pages, and suck. The best part about buying these books, is you can usually re-sell them to other students for about the same price you paid for them (sometimes more) so you have nearly a 100% average recovery.

Another thing to look for is to make sure they say EVERYTHING in the book is the same, not just the passages, etc. because some books do not have the same example problems, and if you don't have the correct problems to work, in some classes, you will not do the correct homework. Be careful about it.

If you can't find an international edition, are afraid to buy them, or your book does not come in an international edition, try buying from other students. There is an entire website here at Michigan State dedicated to putting students in contact with other students for ads, books, and professor ratings (as well as other stuff) and I love it. There are other sites that let you get in touch with other students as well. If you must buy your books from the book store, do it, and then at the end of the semester, sell them to other students and get more than the book store will give you. They'll do it because they will pay less than the book store will charge them.

Be careful of professors who try to make money off their students. I had a professor ******* ******* who taught my Managerial Marketing class. He was an interesting guy, who was so ridiculously full of himself. Anyway, this isn't a critique of him as a professor; he owns a publishing company in Chicago (I checked it out, it is listed as one of his residences) and he "writes" a "new" book each semester, then requires it, and charges students $125. So he's making like 300 x $125 = $37,500 each semester (is my math correct?) Which makes me TERRIBLY mad. I wish I had known beforehand so I could save some money. My chapter ten also ended on a random word. It ends

"The nation's nonprofit sector generates amazing revenues every year and controls a"

Note: The name of this particular professor was blocked out to avoid any legal issues.

Guest Post: Thomas Jowers on Worms

Thomas Jowers is a blogger out of Abilene, TX. He is attending (at the time of the start of his blog) Hardin Simmons University. I've chosen 2 of his blogs to illustrate the amazing creativity that is out there. You can read more of his blog over at www.buckadayblog.blogspot.com

The premise of his blog is to post about his goal of generating at least one dollar a day through strategic investments.

Without further adieu, here are two of his posts that I found interesting.

New Idea
Labels: Do the Worm Posted by SeekerBug on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 1:45 PM

I had a great idea for a small money making business (I hope).

I was trying to find something that I could do to help the environment. (I was actually going to buy a solar phone charger off of ebay) I was looking on ebay for ideas, solar power, wind turbines, etc..... then I came upon vermiculture! That is where you have a worm/bed and you put shredded paper and food scraps into the worm pile and they eat it. After a while, you have organic matter for your garden, since I just planted my herb/tomato/onion garden last week, I liked this idea. Plus...since I do a lot of stuff online, I am always printing items off, giving me an abundance of paper.

So I decided I was going to do it, all I need is the supplies, I already have dirt! I need some containers, (I am sure I can find some barrels in my grandpa's scrap pile for free) All I really need is the worms, (and I am too busy to catch my own) so I went to the bait store to buy some worms, THEY WERE OUT!!!!!!! I told the old guy what I wanted the worms for and he said that if I can get a colony started, he would buy all of his worms from me!!!! (The red wiggler type, not the night crawlers)

So here is my thinking....I recycle paper and food scraps......saving them from the landfill, and I get worms to sell! From the little research that I have done so far, it shouldn't take much capital to set up and hardly any to maintain.

I will post a list of items needed to do this, a business plan, how much this is costing me, and the plans and pictures of me building my home made vermiculture farm.

From what I have read, you can do this on a small scale in a house -or- garage and won't take up a lot of precious time. So, there you go, let me see if I can make some money and save the planet at the same time! If you already have tried this, send me some tips or insights!I actually started out with the intentions of just helping the environment, then the money bug hit me when I found a small niche that I could inhabit.


Those Recycling Worms
Labels: Do the Worm Posted by SeekerBug on Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 5:14 PM

This post will be updated periodically as needed. If you remember, I started the work project for two reasons: to make money and to do something Green!

So...on this post I will keep track of how much has been recycled or saved from the landfill!

To start out:
2 tires
2 plastic barrels
1 newspaper
1 pc of junk mail

March 20th
3 pc of junk mail
coffee grounds
coffee filter

March 24th
Some brown lettuce that I forgot to eat in the fridge, about 1/4 pound

April 2nd
about 4 cups of green ruffage from when I was cleaning some vegetables

April 17th
Coffee grounds
2 tea bags from Starbucks (I had a cup of tea for lunch)
*How many other worms do you know of that get Starbucks! LOL

April 31st
1 newspaper
3 pc junk mail

College Preparation #5: Make Money, and save it!

There are a few good tips in this blog, so read it all carefully. I first need to expand on a few of my previous college prep blogs, but then I have a couple of extra tips.

First of all, I don't know if I mentioned this before, but it bares repeating. Now that I think about it, I'm almost sure I've talked about this. When you are drinking, or know you will be drinking, have a plan for food. Alcohol can be expensive, but when you add $10 for Chinese food or something each time you drink (you will almost always eat when you drink) it adds up fast. Think about that, if you drink 10 times (you will) then you will be spending around $100 on food alone. Yikes. If you have an all night dining service on campus, that's great, you're set. If not, have some backup food. The most important thing to remember is that no matter what you say, chips won't sound as good as a greasy pizza, or nice oily, spicy orange chicken.

I think frozen meals can be good, or rather chilled meals, since you are not likely to have a freezer that can keep your food cold. Consider frozen/chilled pizzas. If you can get away with just eating chips, that is fine, but like I said, have a plan, no matter what. I always liked stealing food from the cafeteria and keeping it for later, that way I can have a burger, or orange chicken maybe even, for free. If you must order food, split it with someone. If you both get a pizza, it's a lot cheaper (a lot of pizza places have good deals for late night eating too)

You'll be fine, as long as you think ahead; and remember, it's ok to get Chinese food or pizza or burgers when you drink, just not EVERY time.

Secondly, for those who have to travel to and from school, via airplane or some other method that uses luggage that you will be storing at school, try to find luggage that is not rigid. I have 2 suitcases that I use that are solid, and do not shrink at all, they have stiff sides. This is a ridiculous waste of space. You DON'T need to do that though, they make very large bags that are soft sided that you can simply fold down and store under a bed, or anywhere where you have what would have been useless space before.

MY MOST IMPORTANT TIP OF THIS BLOG!

Get a freaking job. I know, that sounds like it sucks, and you're already SO busy with school, and partying, and you would rather stay with your friends and not go out. Also, I believe you would rather not be a beggar before you get out of school. Now is the time to start applying for jobs. You don't have to even leave the building to get a job usually. There are some companies that will pay to do services on your computer without you having to leave your room even. I was doing research for a professor from my room that paid well, and I didn't have to leave, so I could do my work at 2 in the morning.

You can get jobs working in the building, the cafeteria, or at a store nearby. Schools have lots of jobs open for students, that is part of the deal, so you can get a job with the school, and you are only competing with other students. I would suggest just getting out, asking questions, and finding a job. Even if it doesn't pay well, get one, and look for one with better pay, the important thing is to get some cash flow.

If you can do it, get a job working for yourself, that would be nice, sell stuff on e-bay, or buy cheap books on e-bay and other places and sell them to students at your school for less than the stores. I tried starting up an online store, and now that I have time to devote to it, I can actually work on making it profitable (technically, it already is profitable) I know you would rather be partying, but it's a paradox. No work=more partying, more partying=higher cost. Work=less partying, less partying=less $ spent. So there ya go, you will very positively affect your cash flow if you work, and you will do it in more ways than one, by increasing money you receive, and decreasing your cash outflows.

College Preparation #4: Save Money on the Move

I am back from England, and preparing to head off to school. I can finally start updating again, but here's the first post, and I hope you enjoy it.

Ok, so if you are making a significant move to school (requiring a flight) there are some ways to save money. The first time you move in you will likely have to drive, which can be a pain if you have a long drive (like, say, Texas to Michigan, like I did) but that is just one time to get all your stuff there. If you do not bring much stuff at all, you can still fly in, although it'll cost plenty of money. Have someone drive with you to school, so they can take the car back (unless of course you will be keeping your car)

If you ARE keeping your car, a lot of this doesn't make much sense, this is for the person who is not taking/keeping a car at school. After the initial move however, you should never have to drive it again. I fly to and from school each year. You'll need to find a place near school where you can store your stuff. I know there is one place near Michigan State where you can store your stuff, and what's nice is that they will even pick up and drop off your stuff for you. I personally keep my stuff at my Grandma/Uncle's house when I'm not at school. Your best bet if you don't have family is to become friends with someone who will live in a house over the summer, so you can just store your stuff at their place.

Ok, so your big stuff (TV, fridge, microwave, etc.) can be stored in those places, but all your other stuff that you want to come home with you will need to make it to your house. If you don't have enough room in your bags for the plane, there is another option. If you have some stuff that is light, but takes up lots of space (ex: light clothes, laundry bag) you can simply ship it to yourself. It takes up space, but since it is light, it won't cost too much. Stuff that takes up a reasonable amount of space and a reasonable weight, can go in your checked baggage. If you have anything that is very heavy and does not take up much space (ex: books, computer) can go into your carry-on bag.

Other space saving tips:

1. Keep your DVDs in a DVD/CD wallet. I have 2 64 capacity wallets for all of my movies and any TV shows that I want that I have on DVD. I see people who take all their movies to school in the boxes, and I can't believe it. When you get your own place and it would look nice to have them in the boxes, do it, but when you're traveling to and from school, and living in tight quarters, put them in a wallet.

2. Space bags DO work. Ok, so the space bag things do work if you need them, although they need to be used with the right clothes. You can get some that don't require a vacuum too. If you put T-Shirts or shorts in there, they won't decrease in size much, but if you put in bulky sweaters or coats or something, you can really increase the density of your bag, which means you can pack more into it.

3. Use both of your carry-ons. Some people actually still don't know this, but you get 2 carry-on items. You get a carry-on, and a "personal item". Most college students take a backpack as a carry-on, but that is a "personal item" so they could actually take another small bag. I always take my backpack and suitbag as my carry-ons.

4. Make sure you don't ship anything too important. If there is something important to you, do NOT ship it, that is a recipe for disaster. I had a box lost coming home from school once, and if I had put something important in there, I would have cried. Make sure the REALLY important stuff to you goes in your carry-on, so you don't lose it for sure.

5. Make sure you can carry all of your stuff. If you will be traveling to another airport, then have to take the bus or walk to your destination, make sure you can carry all of your bags by yourself. You might have help checking in your bags from a friend/family, but when you get to your destination, it's all you.

England

I will be in England until August 12, so my updates will be sparse. I will try to update as much as possible, and you might get a few updates that are just about Cambridge, but just know they will be sparse.

Quick Money Tip: Make Your Money Work for You

So even if you're broke, I still suggest making your money earn you some money. There are a few options out there. You can keep it in a savings account and earn about .000000000001% interest (come on, you know it's a lame interest rate) or another option is to get a checking account that earns interest. I think one of the best ideas is to open a money market account. The best one by the way, with absolutely no minimum is Paypal. I am earning 2.38% as of the writing of this blog. Not great, but better than my savings account.

I was earning 5+% but since the fed lowered rates, that number dropped. The great thing about paypal is it takes about 3-4 days to get your money into it, same amount of time to get it out, and there is no minimum (you need at least $1 to earn interest though) I put in extra money when I have it, and pull it out when I need it. You can even keep all your money in there, and use a paypal debit card (although I don't recommend this; I have no experience with this card, so I can't speak as to it's quality)

There are other options, but just remember, even if you don't have thousands of dollars, you can still earn better returns on your money. I would love to say more, but I'm very busy getting ready to go to England in 5 days.

College Preparation #3 : Don't over pack, but bring enough storage

Ok, so here's a few quick tips (it's late, so I can't type long) Do not over pack for school. I see so many people (myself included) get there for their Freshman year and they have WAY too much stuff, mostly clothes. Here's a hint: you can do laundry every week. On the other hand, you can never have enough storage, mainly, vertical storage.

Dorm rooms are notoriously small, but they have some height. In a 12x14x12 room, there is 2016 cubic feet of storage. If you use storage only 3 feet tall (which is a rare height, usually it's closer to 1 to 2 feet) you are utilizing 504 cubic feet, that's only 25% of your storage. I suggest getting some tall shelving units, and where you can (wherever you do not have walking/living area) put SOMETHING tall. I suggest taking care of small things, they add up. One thing that took up lots of space in my room was photo frames, so I began making these:

I can hang them on the wall, and then I simply place the photos in there, and voila, instant vertical storage, that takes up MUCH less horizontal space (100% less actually) You can buy these pre-made at my webstore: dorm-gear.com I think they are really nice to use.

As for packing, pack everything you KNOW you need, then get rid of half of it. This rule is very true for those who are going to school within driving distance of school. If it is a hassle to get stuff to school, it is easier to bring to school then take away. I took too much stuff, so I brought some home when I went home for Christmas. Just remember, if you bring it to school, you have to do something with it in the summer, and no one (besides family) stores stuff for free. If you live near home, take very little, and if you need more, tell your parents, they will be happy to have a reason to come visit you (make sure they buy you some fresh groceries while they are there) It is much easier to add if you are within driving distance. Just remember, very very few people will bring just enough stuff. You will have more flexibility if you have enough storage space.

College Preparation #2 : Don't drink away your college fund

Disclaimer: I do not condone underage drinking. In the United States it is illegal for any person under the age of 21 to possess or consume alcohol.

Ok, so one of the biggest non-school related expenses in college is alcohol. It's a fact of life, parents, you need to accept it, students, you need to understand it. Many many freshmen get to school and go NUTS. They can finally drink freely, and they do it. I'm not going to say not to drink the first week or two, don't skip classes because of it, but for the first month, most freshmen are drunk most of the weekend. I won't say not to, because you won't listen to me; it's kind of a right of passage I guess. Anyway, your first few weeks, you'll be at parties where you won't spend much on booze.

IF you decide to have someone buy alcohol for you, you will spend lots of money very quickly. Don't believe for a second that you will "buy a bottle of captain and make it last a month" You'll drink it in two days, or one night if other people are with you (drinking alone=alcoholic) If you are not careful, you'll be eating ramen for the rest of college. I had a couple of friends who the first week each got a bottle of Grey Goose Vodka...$30 each (good price) and after that they were drinking Popov Vodka...about $10 each. Grey Goose was for a 1/5th, popov for a handle; you do the math.

Drinking good stuff for a special occasion is ok; we celebrated many a birthday with a bottle of champagne and good liquor. You just cannot keep up the good stuff. You also can't keep up buying alcohol every weekend. I knew two kids who spent about $40 a weekend on alcohol alone; they had to explain to their parents why they were spending so much money.


Moral of the story; too much alcohol will make you go broke, but so will buying only the good stuff. Get good stuff every once in a while (everyone deserves to indulge) but learn to drink the sub-par quality alcohol. If you drink very rarely, you can get away with buying better stuff. The point is you need to keep your costs down; I have literally seen people drink away all their spending money.

Another hidden expense is the food you buy when you're drunk. Find the best pizza places with low costs. Also, find some Chinese, and make a little plan before you drink. I feel pizza and Chinese are the best foods while drunk. Go in with some other people and buy something in bulk; a large pizza, lots of Chinese, and split the costs, this will save you some money as well.

Just remember, with some careful budgeting and planning, you can have fun and save money.

College Preparation #1: Complete a Dorm Roommate Contract

Well, for those of you who are reading this who are not in college yet, but whom are preparing for school, I am going to put some tips on here that I think you could use.

Preparing for college is one of the most exciting things I have ever done, and the most "exciting" aspect of it is of course the roommate gamble; I HIGHLY recommend taking a random roommate. If you have a friend you think you would like to room with, I recommend rooming in the same building...NOT the same dorm. There is no better way to ruin a friendship than by rooming with someone. If you have known someone as something besided a roommate, it can ruin a friendship; however, if you meet someone new and become friends with them while they are your roommate, you will be able to deal with it, and you will be good friends/roommates.

My roommate and I are friends now, and are rooming together again next year. My roommate and I from my freshman year did not get along so well. We weren't hostile to each other, but we definitely didn't click. If I had roomed with my best friend from before school, I promise you I would not be friends with him today.



If you are taking the plunge and taking a roommate blindly (which, as stated before, I highly recommend this) I also will tell you: you WANT a roommate contract. If you don't want to tell your roommate you want to do a roommate contract, talk to your floor RA and ask them to require a roommate contract. It might sound dorky, but trust me, I promise you won't need to bring it up, it is helpful because it forces you to bring up issues before they become issues (ex: I wake up at 6 and go to sleep at 9 every night, or...I take naps during the day from 2-4, or I will not allow partying in the room while I am trying to study/sleep) You can also get over the issues like whether or not members of the opposite sex will be allowed in the room at certain times. I am trying to find a copy of the contract we had.

Another nice aspect was we ranked the following by which gets priority use of the room: Socializing, sleep, studying. We had sleep first, then socializing, then studying (you can go to a study lounge to study, you can't do the same to socialize)

Anyway, I will continue trying to find a good roommate contract you can use, and post a link here. If possible, I will find the one that we used, because it worked well.

Note: If you and your roommate are comfortable talking about this without filling out a contract, still use one, it brings up issues like "can I eat your food? And under what circumstances may I?"
As well as many other issues

I'll be out of town.

Quick update. I found a shopping cart I can use on my independent store, where I don't use ecrater. That is basically all I need beside web hosting. I will continue using Google Checkout, and will design my own site. I need a host...if you know any cheap or free ones, let me know :)

I'll be in Florida for a little while, and will not have regular internet access, so I'll not be able to post for a few days.

New work on Webstore

Well I've begun working a little bit on the store again. I've got some down time since I just got my wisdom teeth out. I am working on creating product photos for the other glowing shot glasses (finally) and hope to have those finished soon. I've been neglecting the store I feel, and need to get going. I have some plans for the store this summer:

• Get a real store up instead of just using ecrater
• Get new product photos
• Create pre-made magnets so people don't have to rely on doing their own designs

Those are my 3 main goals. I would also like to find some new products, but I'll be out of the country for a month, so I don't have a lot of time to work with it this summer.

Summer Projects YOU can do

Well, if you're anything like me, you're in the summer, and you need money. I plan on spending lots of money when I go to England this summer on my study abroad, unfortunately, as the dollar is dying out against the pound, that is going to be difficult. It means I must either spend TONS of money, or just not buy much. I would rather have the option of spending TONS of money (wouldn't we all)

I need to come up with some projects to do, so I thought I would post some of my ideas.

1. Sell stuff on e-Bay
There are lots of things out there you can sell on e-Bay, and even more places you can find that will tell you how to do it. I am currently selling some old Yu-Gi-Oh cards I found. I bought them as a gift for my cousins, then lost them. My cousins are no longer into these cards, but other people are, and I will sell some stuff to them.
It's actually possible to make LOTS of money from projects like this: I used to make a couple hundred a week from selling Trading cards (back when I was 12ish) There's lots of money in it, but you have to do some homework. Learn the best ways to procure, repack, sell, and ship the cards. I had good suppliers (usually other sellers on e-bay selling boxes of cards) I sold the individuals that were good, shipped them in the bubble envelopes, and turned good profits. You'll also have to learn the game a little so you know which cards are good to sell, and which ones can be either trashed, given away to someone who plays, or sold in "grab bag lots" (a trick I actually created on e-Bay...they have been around in real life for some time, but I was the first to implement them with trading cards on e-Bay)

2. Mow Lawns
I will not be doing this, since my knees are bad from football, but you can! It does not have to be lawn mowing, it can be any physical labor people don't like to do. It sounds simple, but there really can be BOATLOADS of money in this. The best things you can do is first figure out what other companies in the area charge to mow the lawn; you will need to beat these prices. You will then need to decide who you would like to service. If you are mowing lawns, it will be houses near yours since you won't want to lug your lawn mower across town. If it is something with lighter equipment, you can expand more fully. You will also need to advertise. You can post on bulletin boards, send out mailers, even go door to door to tell people about your products (make sure this is all allowed before you do it) There are many opportunities out there: you can clean pools, do gardening, paint outside or inside, mow lawns, change peoples oil, anything you feel you can do well, someone will probably pay you to do. I once had a business managing other kids businesses, since I felt that was my strong point.

3. Get a plain old job
There are many good paying jobs out there that you can get. I am not one for getting jobs, since I like to be my own boss, but if you want one, here are some tips...work in a restaurant, or an office building. If you are a server, you can make BANK on tips (chili's around here, servers make about $100 a night) office buildings you will also get better wages/salary. Don't work somewhere like a grocery store, you make minimum wage with no opportunity for more.

4. Steal it
Just kidding

5. Have a garage sale
If you are anything like me, you have old crap in your room and house that you don't use anymore because you're at college. Talk to your parents and have a garage sale. You can get others involved and make a real event. Advertise in local papers, and be prepared to sit outside all day. You can probably make a couple of hundred bucks from your old crap.

6. Sell stuff online
You can use a website like ecrater.com to create a store for free, and you can sell some of your wares online. This is similar to e-Bay, but you would simply have your own store. It's very easy to set up, and you can even buy a domain name to mask it.

7. Invest what you DO have
If you want, you can even start investing in the stock market (provided you have enough money to cover the commissions with your returns) I highly suggest doing lots of homework before you buy a stock, and for your own benefit, read up on how to invest. My dad is very involved with reading Jim Cramer and watching his show, Mad Money. He's entertaining at least, and I believe he has some good tips. My biggest tip, don't buy stuff simply at market price, set a price, otherwise you could end up selling your stock for $0.01 or buying a share for thousands. Trust me on that one. Cramer's show is on at 6pm and 11pm Eastern on Weeknights.


I hope some of these ideas either provided you with a good idea, or helped you to come up with a good idea of your own. I hope you all make lots of money this summer. Just remember, the best way to stimulate the economy is to spend the money you make. Don't spend MORE than you make, but keep that money moving through the economy.

OFFERING FREE SHOT GLASS FOR DORM-GEAR

FOR THREE DAYS ONLY!!!

I am offering a free glowing shot glass from my online store, dorm-gear.com on any purchase of $5.00 or more. All you have to do is go to my webstore, add $5.00 or more to the store, then add a Glowing Shot Glass of your choice (Red, Green, Yellow, Blue) and check out.

The coupon code to use is FREESHOT

Just check out the store, and see if there's anything you want (the glowing shot glasses are awesome)

Click Here to go to dorm-gear.com

My design on Shirt.Woot

For those of you, Shirt.Woot (a subsite of Woot.com) hosts a derby each week. Amateur's design a shirt that follows a theme, and anyone who has ever purchased a product on any Woot site (Woot, shirt.woot, and wine.woot) may vote on designs. You can vote on any shirt design. I have entered a shirt design, and would love anyone who has ever purchased anything on a woot site to vote for it.

To vote, when you go to the link, click on the thing on the top left of the shirt that says "I'd want one" Thank you all so much.

Click Here to See my Shirt Design

Also, anyone who is going to do that revolution money exchange offer I explained in the last post, I can only do it for the first 50 people who sign up by May 15th. After 50, you'll still get $25, but I won't get the $10, so I can't send you any of the money I get. They say it ends on May 15th (although it was supposed to end April 15th and they extended it one month, so maybe they'll do it again)

A Chance for ALL of you to make $30 with 2-5 minutes

I just signed up for a new website called Revolution money exchange. It is similar to Paypal, and just like Paypal, to get word out about their new website they are offering a $25 bonus to everyone who signs up.

If you sign up through my name, I get $10; if you do so, I will send you $5 of that $10 through Revolution Money Exchange. That way, I get $5, you get $30, which is more than if you just signed up normally. I think this is pretty much a win-win for everyone. If you have ANY questions, let me know.

I checked out whether or not this was a scam, and it is legit. I even did a google of "Revolution Money Exchange Scam" and it returned a couple questions about it, and there were many people assuring it was legit. It has been around for a little while now anyway.

Here is the link to click on.

Store Updated

All of my inventory is now available on my store (dorm-gear.com) I finally got it all updated, and I'm very excited, I think I can finally start some advertising. I know I'm going to put up signs around campus; I feel that will be the best advertising. If you have any ideas, I would LOVE to hear them.

I have also begun work on an access database to manage my orders, products, and inventory. As it turns out, this is a bigger project than I had expected; I guess I know less about access than I had previously thought. I finally figured out how to do some things, like automatically add one to my highest invoice number, so they are sequential, but I will not have gaps in the data. I want to build it using mostly forms, so I can have a very simple method of adding data to the database.

I think what I'll do is just take my time trying to get this system up and running, I don't think it has to be rushed, but it's also a great learning experience. It doesn't help that I'm really sick right now, so I'm not doing much of anything right now. I thought since I slept through all my classes, I would go ahead and do something a little beneficial.

Anyway, again, check the store at dorm-gear.com, I'd appreciate it.

Stay Safe!

Quick Update

After a very long time of waiting, I finally put all my new products up on the store.

dorm-gear.com

Go to see all the new fun products I have up there.

Also working on an order and inventory/customer management database. Fun huh?

I'll update more later, just wanted to throw out a quick update before I go to bed.

If you're reading this on Facebook, you can see the full blog at dormroombiz.com

Leadership Journey by Philip Morris

Well, this weekend was an incredible experience. I went with the Eli Broad scholars to a leadership journey sponsored by Philip Morris, and I must say it was much more than I had expected. First surprise of the day...we're staying at the Westin and we each get our own rooms.It was quite a nice room, with my very own king size bed, and a big plasma TV, it was quite an experience to say the least. However, the room was not the reason we went to Southfield, we went to learn about leadership, and Philip Morris really knows how to teach leadership. I'll admit I was skeptical about going on this leadership journey which was paid for mostly by cigarettes, but I feel better about it afterward.
They did not avoid the topic at all, they were very ready to talk about the issue. At one point, one of the District Managers said "Do you have any questions about the company? It can be the good stuff or the bad stuff; I don't know if you've heard...but we make cigarettes." We discussed some of the issues that they face with rising health consciousness, and what they are doing to try to sell cigarettes as responsibly as possible (I still don't think it's possible to sell cigarettes responsibly) There are a new type of smokeless cigarette called Snus that are available in Dallas I believe, that should be nice for cutting down second hand smoke.
Anyway, the journey was not about Philip Morris either, it was all about leadership. We learned different techniques and thoughts about what leadership is, and what makes a good leader. One of the people we talked about the most was Sir Shackleton; he led a journey to Antarctica to try to cross the land continent. When he got stuck in ice, they changed the plan to try to get home, instead of cross the continent. After like 2 years, and MANY risks, including riding 800 miles from Elephant Island to South Georgia Island in a tiny rescue boat (a journey that he should have gotten lost on, since there was no land in between, and therefore, no landmarks) he eventually got every single man out alive. I felt he was a good leader as far as compensating for a poor decision in the first place. One of the DM's Mark Barton felt he was a poor leader who made a bad decision, who then became a very good manager. There is a difference between a leader and a manager, he said.
We also discussed various other aspects of leadership which I won't bore you with right now, but it was really inspiring to hear some other aspects of leadership that I would not normally have thought of. The biggest aspect is that a leadership not only deals with how the leader treats the followers, but how the followers treat the leader. I just always thought a good leader knew how to lead, I didn't really think about the fact that he/she needs a good follower.
Anyway, there was MUCH more to it, but for now, that will have to do. If you want some more details, just shoot me an e-mail and I'll let you know what we talked about; it's simply too difficult to put it all into words, since it took a day and a half.

Do business ideas help all businesses

As I've been slowly getting this store going, I've been trying to apply some concepts from the business classes I'm taking. I am trying to set up an inventory system, a customer database, an order database, as well as a table of product information, and supplier information. I got to wondering, is this overkill? I mean, yeah, a small business should have these systems in place, but this is a small business, run out of my dorm room. My inventory is probably less than $250, and I'm just not sure if I have the type of business that requires this kind of organization. I've thought about it a lot, ever since I took my Managerial Marketing class. I used to apply those concepts to different businesses I've run in the past, not actually applied them, just thought about how those concepts could have helped it more.

I guess these systems are good to have, just in case this thing does blow up and I need a management system, it would be better to have than to not have. Also, this does provide good practice for when I need to do this in the real world. I'm simply creating an Access database, which doesn't require much (but man, if you mess up Access, it just doesn't work) but I'm also thinking it's powerful enough to run a small business. the more I type the more I think this probably is a good idea, since this could ultimately help me to run forecasts and produce some effective charts, so I can see how my business is running.

My ITM group is working on this project right now, where we have to take our "grandfather coffee shop" that we "inherited" and write about how we could use a few aspects to technologically advance it. We talked about a biometric payment system and it seems pretty cool. I wish Michigan State would use this kind of technology. You set up a central account, and can link a credit card to it, as well as your address, phone number, and a username and password. You then set up your fingerprint next time you come in, by putting in your password and recording your fingerprint. Then, each time you come in, you place an order, scan your fingerprint, and it automatically charges your credit card. I thought that would be nice for state. You could use your spartan cash (campus cash account, lets your swipe your ID to spend your money) and even get into the cafeterias with it. You could also use it to provide access to different buildings, say Student A has clearance to use the chemistry labs, he can use his fingerprint to open the door. It just seems like that could be a fun technology to work with. Of course there are some security issues, like what if someone loses their finger, or entire hands, they wouldn't be able to use the system. Also, let's say some unsavory characters wanted access to your stuff, they might do something you wouldn't want to happen to you. I know that's one reason they dont' do this with ATM's, same with retinal scanning; those are body parts, but their not exactly body parts you can't lose.

This weekend, the rest of the shot glasses are definitely going up, as well as the temporary tattoos. I figure the tattoos are good add-ons, I just hope people don't only buy those, because then they'll be paying $5.50 for shipping a little $0.50 tattoo. I should include that in the description. I wonder if ecrater will allow you to do something like that, where it costs $1.00 shipping if they buy it alone, but nothing if they buy it with something else. My shipping tables are specific enough, and they can't be made specific enough. Anyway, keep reading, I'm back into posting.

Check out the store:

www.dorm-gear.com

I got the shot glass up

Well, it's not where I expected to be at this point, but I have one shot glass up on the store. I plan to put more of them up, but I'll be generally without internet this weekend. You can see the shot glass on my store, they're really quite cool.

www.dorm-gear.com


I also have some temporary tattoo's to put up, as well as 3 other colors of shot glass. I got my first order on the site, but Google Checkout screwed up and I didn't get an e-mail, so 6 days later I find out I have an order waiting. I felt really bad, but it went out on time. That's all I'll say to protect privacy. Anyway, I know I've been falling off on posts, but I'll post more next week, I finished my week with 3 exams this week, with a very small amount of sleep; next week I'll have plenty of time to take care of this.

I got more Inventory, it goes up after my break

Well, I'm on my spring break right now in Texas, but as soon as I get back to Michigan, my new products go up on the store. I got glow shot glasses, 16 blue, 16 red, 16 green, and 12 yellow. One of them was pre-cracked (it came glowing, which means I can't sell it) so the company I bought from put a credit on my account so I can get an extra one next time I order from them. I also bought a bunch of temporary tattoos. I was going to put these up before spring break, but I decided to wait until after spring break to upload the products and really promote the store. I figured if someone ordered something while I was in Texas, there was no way I could fulfill the order, and that would be bad for business.

Since I got to see one of the shot glasses pre-glowing, I was able to see how cool it was. It was really quite awesome. I just thought it was going to have a little novelty, but I really liked taking a shot out of it, there's something cool about a glowing shot glass, it just felt right :)

Anyway, I should probably begin uploading the products on Monday, and I'll start serious marketing. As far as I can tell, I am going to have some of the least expensive glowing shot glasses on the web. The tattoos are going to be great add-ons to other products. They'll be cheap, but they're really cool tattoos. I got the armband ones, wristband, and a couple types of Chinese symbols. I figure they're fun little items that people can pick up with their purchase.

This is going to be a short post, because I have to go get ready for a dentist appointment, but it's been good to get a few thoughts out there and let everyone see where I am.

I got my mP3 Players!

Well, I got my mP3 players yesterday from woot! I am either going to sell them on e-Bay, or I am now thinking maybe I'll sell them on my store. I made a little photo booth to take pictures, and I'm pretty proud of them. I used my desk lamp to provide really nice lighting, and they turned out real well (after like 40 tries). I have thought about it and I think I'm going to end up listing them on my store instead. They're priced right, so I think it might generate a little buzz, and if they don't sell, I can always put them on e-Bay. They're Sandisk Sansa m240's. I have one pink and two silver. They're pretty nice (I tested them to make sure they work since they're refurb) and they were quite functional. If I didn't buy them to sell them, I would probably use one. They have a built in voice recorder, and FM tuner; those are both features I think are great. It felt nice in my hand too. I was surprised too, since they're refurbs, I expected them to be of poor quality scratched up, but I couldn't find a single scratch on them, and they all worked fine. The other feature I particularly like is that they run on one AAA battery, which means if the battery runs out...you can just replace it, which is an awesome feature. Anyway, just letting you all know how that is coming. Here's some of the product photos I took, they're not edited yet.

The silver one

The Pink one

The Complete Package

I'm pretty proud of the product photos I have here, they turned out really nicely. I just used printer paper to create the box, and a 20-LED light for the lighting, then my micro zoom feature on my camera. This stuff isn't so hard after all. The last photo used a flash.

Well, that's really all for now. Keep checking for updates, and keep checking out the store for new products.

www.dorm-gear.com

Store is Launched!!! View www.dorm-gear.com

I've just launched my store! It's got a few products up, nothing too much, but it's a start.

Visit www.dorm-gear.com

That's all I had to say, I'm very excited!

Cheap Dorm Food

Well, I tried making the quesadilla's, and they were dynamite! It was simple, tortilla down, mexican cheese spread out on it, meijer brand chili powder sprinkled over top, and another tortilla. Microwaved it for like 20 seconds, and it was awesome. This will sound weird, but it reminded me of the really good spot in a bean burrito from Taco Bell...you know, the sauce pocket that always forms and is really the best part of the burrito. This entire quesadilla was like that; the tortilla got soft, (since there was no direct heat, it couldn't become crispy) but I kind of liked that, it was a very different quesadilla, and I loved it.

My spring break plans are set now. I'm heading to Detroit for like 4 days, and then heading out to Texas for another 4 days. The Canada trip was put on hold due to lack of interest, it will happen at a later time. I like this anyway, I get to see some family in Detroit, and then see my Parents and friends in Dallas too, so it's not too bad.

I am going to upload my webstore soon, it should be coming out in the coming week hopefully...actually, I think I'll wait till after spring break to do it, so I'll actually be here to ship out items in the even that I get any orders.

I had a plan for a little business to start over the summer. Inspired by Neville's water selling idea (see it here) I am going to try to find a way to sell drinks/candy at the pool this summer. I have to contact the homeowner's association to see if I can do this. I figure I'll offer them a share of the profits, and then to help with trash, I'll offer a refund if the kids bring back the trash, to encourage them to throw things away. Of course we'll clean up at the end of the day anyway. I am going to try to get a few friends in on this, so we could share posts, and also the costs. I thought about this for a while last year too, and I figured out we could make a KILLING on this stuff if it sold. There is relatively little startup costs, just the candy, drinks, and wood/paint to make the stand. It folds up real nicely, into very little to carry, if I build it right, it will be great.

The Front of the Stand, with a plastic window to display candy.

The Back of the stand, where we would sit
This is the stand all folded up. The top comes off
Another View

We would paint the stand, and come up with a different name, this is just a 3D model to show what it would look like, approximately. I think it could be a very profitable model. I put together a quick spreadsheet just for the candy, using a supplier I found online. I see high potential. Unfortunately, I can't get the image to work right now, but the numbers are good, ranging from a 44% markup to 114% markup. Woot!

New Highs

Well, oil closed above $100 a barrel for the first time ever today. Scary huh? Tea prices are also increasing, which is crazy, I wonder if this is just a fad, or if it's simply the American market catching on to the greatness that is tea. I have been making more and more Green tea than coffee, and that's saying something since I bought some REALLY good coffee (Kona Coffee, which is absolutely incredible) Bad times for Lipton? Or does Lipton grow the tea too, because then they would be a good buy.

With oil prices continually increasing, would it pay to invest in alternative fuel sources? I checked out some companies that are developing sustainable Hydrogen creation, and quite a few of them are quite cheap. Some are even as cheap as $0.08 per share. That doesn't necessarily sound like the most sound investment, but would it be worth it to throw $50 to them as a purely speculative investment? I mean, $50, minus $4 for the fee, means $46 of stock at $0.08 per share. That comes out to 575 shares. If that goes up to only $0.10 per share, that is $57.50 per share, at $4 to trade, that would be a $3.50 win. What if they developed a serious technology, or got bought up and went up to $0.20, that's $61 profit. I'm not saying it's a sure thing, but it may be a good speculation given the increasing price of oil. Others may have the same idea's soon. My own personal investments are in treasury bond indexes, which haven't been strong lately, but it's a good 3-5 year investment.

Investing is a funny thing, because when you think about it, the stock market doesn't really depend as much on whether or not a company is doing well. If you are investing long term, it does matter, but for day traders, the only thing that matters is how the market will react. We could just invest in companies X, Y, and Z, and we might have the same effects on the markets. I read Liar's Poker, which my Uncle sent me, and it was really amazing how the world's events could affect the markets. For example, would you think that Chernobyl would cause the price of potatoes to go up? Maybe, but not 3 minutes after it was announced. There is a story who just minutes after Chernobyl was announced recommended a buy for potatoes. Just an interesting thought.

I have found a few new things to cook in the dorm room to save money. Beside the Sushi that I have been making (write to me if you want instructions) I am also now making Ramen (original, I know) and I just bought stuff to make quesadillas, in the microwave. They're quite cheap, just tortilla's, cheese, and some spices (I'm simply using some chili powder, and I'll steal Tabasco from the cafeteria) I'll let you know how it turns out.

I am excited, the leadership conference with Philip Morris is coming up. That should be GREAT. It's through the Business honors program, Eli Broad Scholars. We'll go to some site and do some shadowing, and hear many speakers, all provided for us by Philip Morris (it's FREE!) I also have a trip to Traverse City coming up with the Glee Club, and it looks like I will be going to Texas for Spring Break. That's most of my travel plans for the upcoming months.



A congratulations to Barack Obama who has now won Wisconsin as well (that makes 9 in a row). A congratulations to John McCain as well, who is warding off Mike Huckabee's fight in the GOP Primary (even though he cannot statistically lose) I encourage EVERYONE to vote in the remaining primaries if your state has not been visited yet, and in the general election this November. Whether it's Obama vs. McCain, or Clinton vs. McCain, you should vote for whoever you feel is the best candidate (even if they are a third party). Use your right to voice your opinion; a single vote might not make a difference, but if you don't vote, you are not voicing an opinion. It's a small voice, but in a nation of 300 million people, everyone deserves a voice, if you don't vote, you are losing your right to speak up, no matter how quietly it happens.

Here is the remaining schedule for the Democrats and Republicans. Unless specifically listed, each state applies to both parties. I urge you to utilize your right to vote.

• March 4th
• Ohio
• Texas
• Vermont
• Rhode Island
• March 9th
  
• Wyoming (Democrats Only)
  
• March 11th
• Mississippi
• April 22nd
  
• Pennsylvania
• May 6th
• Indiana
• North Carolina
• May 13th
• Nebraska (Republicans Only)
  
• West Virginia (Democrats Only)
• May 18th
• Hawaii Convention (Republican Only)
• May 20th
• Kentucky
• Oregon
• May 27th
• Idaho (Republicans Only)
  
• June 3rd
• Montana (Democrats Only)
  
• New Mexico (Republicans Only)
• South Dakota

Please note: any financial advice given here is merely my opinion, and is not meant in any way to provide legitimate suggestions. All investment decisions are solely your own decision, and your liability.

My first Woot! Purchase with intent to sell

So I made a purchase on Woot! the other day, and I'm pretty excited about it. I bought three Sandisk mP3 players, which sell for about $20-$25 on e-bay, for $35 total. They're pretty nice actually, I just don't need one 'cause I have my iPod. I'm hoping to make a couple bucks on this, and at least I'll have the experience of buying something on Woot! For those who don't know what Woot! is, it's a website that offers deep discounts once a day on certain products, if you get the product, you get the discount, but once they sell out, it's over. It's found at www.woot.com

Every so often, they'll get some products that are re-sellable (there's a limit of 3 items per person) and this is the first one that seemed pretty solid on e-Bay. I'm trying to find something to get me back into the e-Bay groove, but I just can't think of anything, I've hit a sales wall :'( Any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated, although I know anyone reading this would probably keep those to themselves.

Valentines Day is coming up, and...well, I think it's a fairly pointless holiday, but it does help to stimulate the economy to a small extent, so it can't be all bad. It's definitely a consumer holiday though; however, whoever enjoys it, enjoy it with all your heart, just because something might be a consumer holiday, doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy it if you want to.

It's been a little while since my last post, sorry about that; I had 3 exams in a matter of 2 days, and that kind of adds up the other work to be done, I wasn't really thinking about the blog. I ended up getting:
ITM 309: 33/40 (82.5%)
MSC 303: 44/50 (88%)
ACC 202: 17/18 (94.4%)

I'm pretty pleased with those scores, I expected a perfect score in Accounting, but the others went well. I usually score around an 80% on the first exam, then step it up to around 95-98% on the last exams, which so far has always averaged out for a 4.0. This isn't exactly my toughest semester (I just moved on to Oxy-acetalene welding in my Welding class) but these classes still require some work. I also started thinking about what to do with my schedule: I think I'm keeping the Supply Chain major, I'm also taking all the Accounting classes (though they won't give me the extra degree) with a specialization in Entrepreneurship and maybe International Business. This should get me a good first job (goal is $60,000 a year) and from there I should be good to get a free MBA.

Anyway, I am still looking for an effective way of making money on the internet from this room. I am going to make custom magnets, if anyone has a funny idea for a magnet, I would love to hear it, if I decide to use it, you might make a little cash :)

I'll keep you all posted on how things are going. Also, the senate approved the stimulus package with a few changes, I won't outline them, but if someone wants to guest post them, I'd be happy to put it up.

Economic Stimulus Package

So the lawmakers are trying to push through an economic stimulus package. It is not a "tax rebate" because the money can go to people who do not pay taxes. It breaks down like this (at this point in time, after it goes through the senate it could theoretically change)


If you are Single:

• If you made over $3,000 and did not pay taxes, you get $300
• If you made over $3,000 and did pay taxes, you get $600
• $300 more for each kid you have
• If you made more than $75,000 you lose 5% for every $1,000 over $75,000. Over $87,000 you don't get anything.

If you are Married:

• If you made over $3,000 and paid no taxes, you get $600 (total)
• If you made over $3,000 and paid taxes, you get $1200 (total)
• $300 for each kid you have
• If you make more than $150,000, you lose 5% for every $1,000 over $150,000, stopping at $174,000

I got these numbers from bargaineering.com

I'm not quite sure whether this is based on 2006 or 2007 income, but I've heard multiple times that it is based on 2007 income. Also, I'm not sure whether or not you can get a check if you are claimed as a dependent on someone elses taxes.


I encourage everyone who gets a check to buy stuff, that's what it's for. Don't save it, or you could pay down some debt (which actually, with the credit squeeze, will help more than in previous rebates) Ideally, you would use this money to buy things you wouldn't usually buy, that was made/developed in the USA. This is the ultimate consuming with this money.

I'm rambling on now, and I'm not sure whether or not I'm making sense, but I thought I would just tell everyone some details about this. I'll keep you updated.

If I get a check (I made enough/paid taxes, but I am a dependent) then I will probably buy an xBox and a TV. That's my plans. I could just be a dick and wait to spend it till I go to England this summer :)


If you have any updates to these numbers, please feel free to e-mail me, and I'll fix them.

Is Dorm Room Business Legal

Here's something everyone should consider before trying to run a business out of your dorm room: Is it even legal? I don't mean as far as the actual laws go, but read your housing contract, see if you're allowed to run any sort of business. I just read an article about an NYU student who sold beer paraphernalia out of his dorm room; he was kicked out of student housing. You can find it here: Click Here

I think some businesses should definitely be allowed in dorm rooms, provided they don't get out of hand. This is an example where the University may have been justified in their actions, seeing as he was apparently over-running the mail room with boxes of merchandise. I encourage everyone to read that article, it's a good one.

I would love to hear about any dorm businesses any of you have started out there! Small or big, anything would be great to hear about. Click on the submit a guest post on the right hand navigation bar and send an e-mail detailing your dorm room business. If you would like to keep it confidential just let me know and I won't post it online.


Well, it's tax season! I was thinking about volunteering with an organization on campus that helps low income and foreign students with their income taxes. It's a community service, and it seems it would help with my interests. I figure it would be a good experience, and it's a good looking community service. Any thoughts?

This is going to be a short one, I just thought I would throw out a few thoughts for today. Looks like my e-Bay auction didn't so well...I didn't really expect it to, just taking a little gamble.

Have a safe and wonderful day.




As usual, if you are reading this on my imported facebook blog, you can find my full blog at wwww.dormroombiz.com

I'd like to talk about Debt

I was watching a commercial for one of those debt consolidation services, and I began to think, "This service shouldn't even have to exist," The amount of unnecessary debt out there sickens me. I understand taking out a loan to pay for a house, or car, but when people go into debt on their credit cards, well that's just sickening.

Based on what I hear from these commercials, 6 out of 10 Americans are in some sort of debt. There are somewhere around 40 million Americans under the age of 19 (US Census 2000) so if our population is around 300 million, that means 260 million Americans are of legal age to own a credit card and take out a loan. 260,000,000 x 0.6 = 156,000,000 Americans in debt...approximately. If you ask me, this is 100% unacceptable. If you can't afford the new shoes that are $80...DON'T BUY THEM! I know this could weaken our consumer economy, but we can survive it.

What is the point of owning someone money? So you can owe them more money? With the rates on credit cards rising to near extortion levels, why would you want to owe someone money. If you have a 12% credit card (college student cards can rise to near 30%) then using the rule of 72, in 6 years, your debt will double. That sounds like a long time, but so many people are simply sitting on their debt, and allowing this to happen. It's a record boom for the Credit Card industries, the only loan industry that's hurting right now is the Home Mortgage industry (and it is hurting BAD)

American Express made $3.7 Billion last year. Some of that profit comes from charges retailers incur when you make a purchase with your AmEx, but a lot of that is probably finance charges and fees. MasterCard made $3.3 Billion last year for many of the same reasons. Discover is sitting pretty at $561 Million for...you guessed it, the same reason. Do you realize that when you don't pay a credit card in full, you are simply giving up your money for a frivolous purchase?

Now, let's set some things straight, I don't dislike credit cards, I think they're great; they can give you an advance when you don't have your cash yet, and the rewards can be great. The issue people run in to is simply paying the minimum each month. The credit card companies would like you to do no more than simply pay the minimum each month; that is their optimal customer. Why? Because you will rack up finance charges like crazy. For the rewards alone, credit cards are worth it, airline miles, cash back on Discover, hotel rewards, but in order to get these rewards, you will have a higher APY, which means higher finance charges, which means it costs more to buy things than it should. I pay EVERY credit card I have in full every month, and I have NEVER had to pay more than anything is worth.

This takes a little more work than simply buying on a whim and worrying about it later, but it saves a lot of money too. I spend around $400 a month on my credit cards probably. If I simply paid the minimums, that would be $325 a month that gets charged. With an Average Daily balance, and an APR of 12,%, that comes out to 325(1+.033)^30 = 358.76 for the first month. After the second month, with another $325 of purchases, it comes out to $754.80. I am now paying $904.80 total on only $800 worth of stuff. Do you see how much difference paying off your cards in full makes?

The ultimate idea to take away from this is: If you don't have the money to spend...DON'T SPEND IT. Our country spends more money than it makes, which means someone has 6 out of 10 of us by the balls. Don't overspend. Don't go into debt, and don't overindulge. It's simple common sense.

I didn't even get into our national debt, which is ultimately a good thing, just not at it's current levels. I'll talk about that at a later date.

As always, comments are greatly appreciated. If you're reading this on the imported facebook note, you can see my full blog at www.dormroombiz.com


I have my auction still up on e-Bay, if you are interested at all, view the auction.

You can view the image by going here. If you mention that you went there from my blog, get $2.00 off shipping!!!

Again, just click here to see the item.

If those links didn't work, copy the following URL into your address bar and hit enter.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290200159125