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How I Finally Make Money with Simple Woodworking Project

FroggerSquid by FroggerSquid

Woodworking Project.. How to make money from it?

Hi, there. I want to share my experience with you on how I have made money through a simple woodworking project and made a living out of it..and the best of all,I start this project without using any cost at all.

Why am I doing this?
I want to help fellow Internet Marketers that still struggles to make a stable income from the internet. (I know the feeling, trust me..) A few polls around the internet show that 80% of internet marketer still struggle to generate more than 500 dollars a month.

Don't I fear everyone will become my competitors?
Not at all, because this strategy is locally based, and it depends a lot on your own creativity.

Let me assure you that this is purely a business strategy. It has nothing to do with multi-level marketing or any such thing. You won't find this idea anywhere else because this is the first time I reveal it to anybody (I never wrote an eBooks before) and I choose Squidoo to be the place to share it and hope lots of people will get the benefit from this information. I will even show you some image of my actual project for the first time here. (you might be laughing when you see it)

Contents at a glance..

Brief history

about me..

About three years ago, (I was still working as a contract worker in a Government sector), I started my journey by doing some Adsense Marketing. It turns out ok, but I struggle to make it as my main income stream. I have tried virtually everything, create my own website, using Clickbank, Commisssion Junction, Affliates program you name it. It's all end up in a disappointment. The income stream is not stable enough. At one point, I think it is impossible to make money online.

Time is not on my side, with my work contract expiring in a few months, I still struggle even to pay for my rent. I know I had to move fast and think of something that can generate my income quickly. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, I came out with this crazy little idea which I never have thought will be my life saver. I must warn you though that this is not a set and forget strategy. I really put a very hardworking effort just to make sure it's success.

Woodworking? Is it a difficult thing to do?

No it is not..

I really think that if you can draw a straight line, you can use a ruler than you can do woodworking. It is also fun when you start to see some results. Basically, when I start, I just need a piece of paper (to draw), a pencil, a ruler, an eraser, a hammer and a screw driver. I don't even have to use a saw..!! I got all of them ready in my house and that is why I didn't spend a single cent to start this project.

The project!

drum roll please... :)

The first project I did was to build a custom made stall to sell burgers. Yes, you read it right. Custom made stall made of plywood to sell burgers. What is so special about it? It can be folded and easily pack in order to stuffed it into the back seat of the car, any car. It makes it easy for hawkers to open a burger stall virtually anywhere without too many hassles. You can see the pictures below. (a picture tells a thousand words)

You can copy this project if you want, but depend on your local, try to think what the people in your area need. Maybe they want something else such as custom made fish pond, custom made garden chair and table or even a gazebo. One thing for sure is people loves custom made things. It makes them feel different than the others. Uniqueness is what people want. That is why series like the custom motorcycle, pimp my ride is so popular on TV right now. See what I mean?

My First Real Project Picture Gallery

You can start laughing now.. :)


This is my actual 3D drawing using Google Sketchup!



My finished product, complete with custom design banner!



Yes, customer choose the color and yes I know how to use Illustrator and Photoshop :)



Look Ma! it can be folded :) I told you so!!

The Master Plan.. Revealed!!!

(This is exactly what I did...)

Ok. If you think that I have to build the first product and then advertise it, you are wrong. I told you before that I didn't use a single cent to start on this project. How do I start then? Good question. I will lay out the master plan for you now to make it easier to understand.

1. Create a 3D Design of your product with Google Sketch Up (Burger Stall in my case). This program is free and takes about a week for me to learn. And the program offer free downloadable content, readymade design. But make sure you can build it or at least ask someone to help you with.


2. Get the final 3D design image and publish the advertisement on a free, buy and sell web site, something like eBay, but a free one (there is a lot of choice, depend on where you live, it is much better if you target local customer because you will negotiate directly with them.)


3. Set the price. My price is so much lower than my competitors. (Complete stainless steel unit sells for about USD 1000 at my place. I set the price for my stall at around USD 300 (think this will get me customer? You bet I am :) ). If you know the price of plywood material, it is far less than that. For my project the cost is only USD 50!! For a complete set. So I got a margin of USD 250 for each burger stall I sell.


4. This is important..! I always ask my client to pay half the full amount for a deposit. (in my case USD 150) and soon after I got the payment I can start the building process. Do I spend any of my own money up until this point? No, I haven't. In fact, I already have the profit margin of USD 100 before I start.


5. I told you before that I didn't even have a saw right? It is because I ordered the plywood with specific measured length and the supplier did all the cutting works. All is left for me to do is to assemble the plywood with the help of a screw driver and a hammer. I finished building it usually within a day or two..all by myself!


6. I set 3 days period for one order just in case. Later, the customer came to collect at my house. Yes, they came to collect by themselves. There is absolutely no transportation cost here, and don't forget, I also collect 50% of the remaining balance (USD 150 for me) to complete the deal upon collecting the finished product. :)


7. But just before that, make sure to take a picture of your actual finished product because you are going to use the real one on your next advertisement update. You can go on and make a review on your latest customer who bought it and how they praise on the quality of your product. (This will surely get you more customers). This time you can show your 3D image alongside with the real actual product.


8. That is it. Weeks after that I have got sms and calls non-stop almost every day and I already add more item to my products line-up.


9. How I add my product? After a month, I am looking for a guide on the Internet for a collection of a simple woodworking design and found several books that provide me with thousands of ready made design. You can check it out below.

Learn to create and build a new product!!

This is where i gain more knowledge about woodworking..


Wood Plans Woodworking Carpentry Download
Ted's Woodworking: "Provides some of the very best plans, easy to understand and clear step by step instructions. I learn to build several beautiful garden tables and chairs which sells well with this book.."


Woodworking for home: "Not as many plans as Ted's woodworking but out of 14,000 design, I thought the plans are very well selected, very clear information and easy to sell product. One of my best seller, a gazebo, I have learned to construct it from here.."

What if I really don't like woodworking?

This is a proven business strategy and what eventually became my first stable income in my life. Even if you really dislike woodworking, another way to do it is to select a good plan in those books, hire some good carpenter to build it, and you can also make a profit (lesser than if you do it on your own). I started out without using virtually any cost at all, and It is a fun project for me. Making some good money while doing what we really love. The best of all, I always have time to spend with my family.

My performance so far..?

what's next for me..

Currently, I normally received 5 to 10 orders per week on a different custom product, and has gathered an income for more than USD 10k (clean profit) per month. Surely not a millionaire income we all looking for but this will take care of my monthly overhead, family expenses, travelling and some other things.

Just a few months ago, I set the business mode into complete automation. By automation I mean, I hire a worker who is a good carpenter, bought some professional tools (you can check some of the tools I've bought below) and hire a clerk who has good computer knowledge, to help me pick up the phone, reply for email and invoicing stuff. I am a full time Internet marketer right now, and I can focus on a different way of money making. Other than this business, I also ran a website design company which has a high income return. (perhaps, I will tell about that in another lens)

Professional Woodworking Tools!!

These are the best brands available, I bought and use some of these and they really are up to their reputation..

You just can't go wrong with these..
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Some Professional Tools offering from Amazon!

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Gain Woodworking Knowledge with these Books!

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The Final Word!

So, that is my experience of starting my own profitable business by doing some simple woodworking project. I know some of you might have a much better ideas than me. Looking at my first project above, I think many people will be laughing. (I know because my mum and my wife still laughing until today! - they don't believe anyone will buy my product..) I have proved them wrong and some of my best seller products right now includes a custom made gazebo and a fish pond.

Feel free to comment or share your experience with me. Give me the links to your site or squidoo lens,I would be happy to learn from all of you. Thank you for stopping by.

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This UpMarket page written by

FroggerSquid

I loves woodworking. It involves doing a design which I already in loves with and will make people happy if we can make a custom made product especially... more »

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