Dropshipping is a tricky business to get into. I will warn against dropship wholesale programs like the ones that show up when you Google search for ‘dropshipping’. Only because they aren’t a true dropshipper. They are the middle man. They advertise products with a “retail price” that is higher than any where else that you can buy the product (like Amazon for example) then they’ll list their price as the wholesale price which is more comparable to the actual “street price” thus leaving you with very little margins or even sometimes you can find the same product for cheaper on Amazon.

The ‘real’ way to get into dropshipping is to contact manufacturers directly. Large companies will most likely ingore your requests to work with an individual selling on eBay. Most eBay sellers that are able to make some good money are those actually have a brick-and-mortar retail store that sell their additional inventory on eBay. You’d have much better luck setting up a dropshipping agreement with companies if you had an established retail business in that niche.

You need to find a specific niche that will work. Consumer electronics are very popular for consumers. This means that everyone and their dog are trying to sell those things on eBay creating a lot of competition and very low profit margins.

I’m not saying that it’s impossible to get started with a eBay dropshipping business but you’ll spend far too much time and money before you see a return on investment. There are much better ways to earn money with physical products on the internet.

To get started with an eBay business, the best way would be to create your own physical products to sell. I’ve coached people that sell all sorts of things on eBay. I’ve seen the most success when people sell their own products on eBay. Make and sell candles or soaps. If you’re good with fixing things up. Hit thrift stores and garage sales to find things to restore and sell. By making your own product you have more control over your inventory and product selection. Once you begin selling regularly on eBay then you can start branching out to include other products that are related to your products. For example, if you make and sell candles. Find a dropshipper for Candle Warmers.

This will be the best way to get started with a dropshipping ebay business.

I would focus most of my time on Facebook and Twitter. I would have to say that the most important activities are connecting with people. Find similar interests with other social networkers and connect with them about something that they like or appreciate. Social networking isn’t about selling or advertising, it’s about creating [online] relationships. Then through those relationships, [advertising] should come naturally because your connections can become interested in you and/or your business. As a participant on these social networking websites, you need to add value to the ‘network’ by getting socially ‘involved’. That is where the real appeal about social networking comes from.

Once you have Facebook and Twitter under control, I would recommend expanding to YouTube.com, StumbleUpon.com and Digg.com. It will also help to have a blog and update it on a regular basis, a blog is something that can become ‘social’ as well. As long as you encourage blog visitors to comment on your blog posts and or participate in any other way. The blog should be linked to your social networking profiles and visa versa for the purpose of cross-promoting.

In a brief word, social media is one of the best ways to get started without a budget. It takes longer to build up a revenue because to advertise effectively on social media websites your advertising needs to be viral. That is to say, it needs to be memorable and has to have the appeal that your target audience will want to share it with others. If it is viral then fans of social media websites will ‘spread the word’ for you. So depending on what services you have to offer, I believe that through social media and creating a ‘viral’ ad is the way to go. I recommend that you focus your efforts on Facebook, StumbleUpon, YouTube, and Twitter. (Sorry Fast Pitch. You come if fifth though.) I am working on a social media viral ad for one of my online projects.

If you don’t yet, I also recommend having a blog and link your social media profiles to your blog. Blog about things related to your services but make your blog posts interesting. Perhaps with an interesting twist to the blog posts. Depending on the service that you have to offer, I recommend listing classified ads on free classified ad websites. Do this on a regular basis. It may not be the most effective but on occasion it will work even if it just sends web traffic back to your website or blog.

Another long term “budget-free” way to advertise is to ‘give away’ stuff whether it’s your services (depending on what they are) or something related to your services. Create “Raving Fans”, customers that are not only customers but your biggest fans. People that want to keep coming back for more. I think that giving away ‘free stuff’ to your customers and potential customers is a way to show them that you care. For example, you create a “Make Money Online” ebook and want to sell the ebook. In addition to the ebook, create a “Free Report” and give it away in exchange for your visitor’s name and email address. Build a permission-based email list and continue to show those people in your list that you care by asking them what they want then delivering it to them.

Once you start building some revenue from your services through these online advertising methods, I recommend that you create a budget for advertising. Then you can continue to use the above methods but also add paid advertising such as Google Adwords. Then you will be on your way to creating a regular stream of revenue through effective online advertising.