How to save money while getting gift cards for free is nothing new, but the mobile applications that are readily available and free to download may be new to some people.  I do a fair amount of window shopping when I go out, both as a means to get a little exercise and as a means to get a better understanding what retail outlets are marketing at that point in time.  Yes, you can get gift cards to your favorite stores and other items for free and here’s how.
How would you like to get gift cards from your favorite stores such as Target, Best Buy, Amazon and iTunes, to name a few, just for walking into one of the selected stores and to earn even more points that you will redeem for gift cards and other items, you can scan preselected items presented by the mobile app?

This company offers you gift cards and other items for your time and effort and it is a free download to your Apple iPhone or Google Android handset.  The mobile app uses location-based technology to find the stores around you and even offers bonus points for visiting some retail outlets.

Once you download the mobile app, you will also be notified of deals and promotions in your area or wherever you’re traveling to.  When you sign up, you will get a promotion code to share with your family, friends and associates, so that they too can take advantage of the deals, promos and points earning opportunities.

The name of this location-based mobile shopping app is ShopKick and if you use my promo code:  lemon5296 when you sign up, you and I both will get bonus points.  Remember, after you download the free app and register, you too will get a promo code to use to sign up others and earn even more points.

So, far I’ve gotten a few iTunes gift card and a Best Buy gift card in just one month of checking in to places that I was going anyways and this week I’ll get an Amazon gift card to help with the purchase of a new hard drive.  Granted not a terrible amount of revenue that you can generate doing this, unless you have a boatload of people who use your promo code, otherwise its great for getting some exercise while you’re out and about.  Just another revenue stream that may be worthwhile to some of you.  If, you do decide to join, I would appreciate it if you use my promo code to get some extra points for  you and me.  The promo code is:  lemon5296.  Thanks and enjoy yourself while scanning.

Profitable Business Ideas have been the holy grail for Internet Marketers worldwide, but few and far do these business models consistently translate into online profits for everyone involved.  No doubt business profits are the lifeblood of any business, but achieving them 100% of the time, takes a certain level of expertise that many online marketers are not willing to share.  I chose to do otherwise and buck the trend and share what I know to be automated home profits that anyone can achieve no matter what level of business training they possess.

First and foremost, I’d like to say that yes, you can make Google profits and you can earn windfall profits sometimes, if you are first or nearly first to bring a business model online and share it with others.  Net profits however, are soley at the discretion of your business methods and best practices and of course, your overhead.    An example of a profit can be something that you did that was actionable, such as closing a bank account where the costs (fees),  far outstripped the rewards, thus saving you money over the short and long term.

Other examples of profits, could be you investing in a process or technology that returns a decent rate of return, such as 18% over a short period of time and being able to duplicate that process or technology, time and time again with similar results.  Remember, that saving is the same as earning and earning is the same as saving, so long as it results in additional revenue above and beyond the cost of acquiring that revenue.

Over the next few weeks, we will cover ways to add additional revenue streams that may seem small change at first, but cummulatively add to your bottom line.  These revenue generating streams will give you not only something different to do, but many have described as fun and educational.  We’d be amiss if we didn’t mention the element of risk and even this carries some degree of risk.  What we will introduce, carries for the most part, the risk of inaction on the part of the participant.  Stay tuned and profit from your understanding.

Working at home is a great business model and works famously for many people, so long as we are mindful about mobile security.   Mobile security can help to make or break any home-based business.  Here’s Why?  The most popular mobile operating system for mobile devices is free to anyone who wishes to use it.  Free is good and in the case of handset and tablet manufacturers, free is great.  So, great in fact, that the Android mobile operating system is on a slew of smartphones and tablet computers to the extent that those in the computer security business have expressed concern about its security.  Here’s what you need to know to protect your mobile identity.

Mobile security for the most part is still in its infancy and with time, more will be known about the threats to mobile devices.  What we do know is that any specific mobile malware tends to concentrate on attacking or embedding itself within the mobile operating system of the mobile device.  It doesn’t matter what mobile operating system you have on your device, at some point in time, it will be the target of malicious hackers.

Mobile devices are inherently mobile and generally lightweight and the ideal form factor for carrying with you just about everywhere.  It is that portability of your mobile device which makes you especially vulnerable to losing your smartphone or tablet computer, either by sheer forgetfulness or having it stolen while you’re away from home.

The amount of personal information that most people carry on their mobile device is astonishing to say the least, starting with the customization and personalization that makes your mobile device truly your own, in the hands of someone with ill-intentions, makes your device and your life especially vulnerable.

Most of the known malware out there to date, has concentrated on disguising itself as a trojan, usually within a game app and then seeks to transmit your personal data to remote servers.   There are a couple of steps you can take to protect your mobile device and data and most are common sensical.

You want to keep your device close by your side when you go out and if you do get up to go to the bathroom while using public wi-fi, if possible take your mobile device with you or have someone you trust, watch it while you’re gone.   If, you do decide to download games, be certain of your download source and be mindful if the game you downloaded is asking for more than the usual, “push notifications and location requests.    That could be a red-flag, if any app is asking for an excessive number of permissions.

To lessen the event that you may accidentally download an app that has malware embedded in it, it is recommended that you download your apps from known sources only that have expressed an interest in maintaining some level of security.  Avoid alternative app stores, because they may just be harboring malware-infested apps.

Avoid accepting text messages from people or parties that you are not familiar with.  Text message trojans, when opened, take money from your account by charging fees that may be excessive or unusual.

Some mobile security systems concentrate on security your data within your mobile device and some mobile securities have a remote feature that wipes your personal data from your device, if it is lost or stolen.  Juniper Networks mobile security allows for mobile devices to be used within corporate networks.  Open Kernel Labs, also provides enterprise-level, mobile security.

Like computer threats, mobile device threats will overshadow those of desktops, simply due to the overwhelming volume of mobile phones and tablet computers coming to market.  Billions of smartphones and tablet computers will be sold worldwide and that creates a ripe environment for people intent on malicious activities.

Corporations have taken notice and are doing something about the threats now and in the future.  Intel, the largest chispset maker, purchased Mcafee for a little more than $7 billion, so that they could introduce Mcafee’s security into Intel’s chipset.  Look for enhanced security features from Motorola, Citrix, LG, HTC, Qualcomm, Toshiba, ARM, Symantec, Spare Backup, Kaspersky, Trend Micro and Webroot.

There are a number of free mobile security downloads from Lookout Mobile Security, AVG and Splash ID.  Lookout’s mobile security protects Blackberrys, Android OS and Windows Mobile systems from hackers, viruses, loss and of course, theft.  It is a free mobile security download and there is a premium paid upgrade version.

AVG is probably best known for their computer security software and has entered the mobile security market and offers both free and paid mobile antivirus downloads.  Splash ID is a secure password manager and is available for virtually all mobile operating systems.

Almost all of the aforementioned companies in this article offer an affiliate program for those interested in selling their products and if not an affiliate program, you can find office supply stores, such as Office Max, Office Depot, Staples and even superstores such as Walmart and Target that sell some of the mobile security products mentioned, for those looking for a niche, income opportunity.  There are even domain name investment potentials, if you find the mobile security domain name you want, available.

Craigslist may have a viable alternative if it takes off.  eBay has announced a new feature called Instant Sale.  The concept is that if you have items that qualify, you can use eBay’s Instant Sale feature to sale those items, but only for a limited quantity.  Theoretically, you can submit your qualified item and eBay will give you an offer and if you accept, then you’ll ship the item (free shipping) and receive payment by PayPal, after receipt of the item.  See if you can benefit from eBay Instant Sale.

eBay is apparently trying to take advantage of the huge number of smartphones that folks are giving up for the latest and greatest, new smartphones that seem to come out about every six months, leaving a tremendous number of cell phones on the secondary market for others.

eBay’s Instant Sale website takes you through a few seamless steps to find your item within its database, where they will ask you a few questions regarding the condition of the item you want to sale.  You’ll be taken to an offer page, then  a checkout page and a shipping page.

If, you accept the offer given, based on your responses to the questions in the condition of the item page, you will then be directed to an eBay reseller who will send you a free shipping label for you to send them the item.

The eBay reseller once they receive your item, has two days to inspect and ascertain that the items is just as you described, the eBay reseller will then deposit your accepted offer amount into your PayPal account.

If, by chance the item you sent isn’t as described, the eBay reseller will then resubmit you an offer in which you have 5 days to accept or reject.  If, you accept the revised offer, then the eBay reseller will deposit the revised offer into your PayPal account.  If, you reject the offer, then the eBay reseller will then ship the item back to you free of charge.

Note that if you do not reject the revised offer within 5 days, then the eBay reseller will deem that you have accepted their revised offer and deposit the revised offer into your PayPal account.

For example, I put in the information for my iPhone 3gs, 32 Gb.  eBay’s Instant Sale interface didn’t ask about the color of the iPhone, although it comes in black or white and some people will pay more for the white iPhone, than the black iPhone.  It asked me for the condition: it’s excellent and whether or not there were any issues with the item: no issues, functions beautifully.  It’s overall condition is like new, no scratches and in perfect condition and the offer they gave me was, $200.

Well, $200 might seem like an okay price until you do a routine search on eBay and see that a similar iPhone 3gs in exactly the same described condition selling for over $300 consistently over several weeks if you check the completed auctions also.  You’ll have to sign in to your eBay account or sign up for eBay to see the completed auctions.

How eBay’s Instant Sale will work out in the long-term is uncertain, since it’s launch in October 2010, but for now, eBay is attempting to capture some of the lucrative resell market for smartphones in particular and cell phones in general.  As more and more people in the coming months and years, go from their dumbphones (voice & text) to smartphones (mobile apps & Internet), the sheer volume of mobile phones of all types coming back to the market as gently used and used cell phones will proliferate.

Bear in mind this doesn’t even take into consideration, the number of “serial updaters” or “first adopters,” which are people who like to have the “latest and greatest” gadgets available and smartphones are no exception.  Decide whether or not, eBay’s Instant Sale is right for adopting to your business model or not, but at the very least, profit from your understanding!

You May Also Like:  Making Money With Electronics Recycling

Do you have an iPhone? Would you like an iPhone? Would you like to know how you can make money with an iPhone?  Would you like to supplement your current income using iPhones?  Did you know that there are over four billion cell phone users worldwide?  Do you want to learn how you can make money in the mobile marketplace?

First, let me point out that this is not for everyone, but if you are adventurous at heart, then this might be for you.   Let me also point out that not all of the four billion plus mobile phone users worldwide have a smartphone, but most wished they had one.  That is where you come in.  People want what they want, when they want it and many people want the iPhone, no matter what generation it is, so long as it is the iPhone.  We will show you how to monetize your interest in the iPhone.

I must tell you frankly that in America, there is the prevalent contractual agreements that wireless providers lock you in to, be it for one or two years or more, if you upgrade within any contract period.  Being an Internationalist of American-birth, I can tell you that it’s a pleasure to have a Factory-unlocked iPhone and no matter what country I’m residing with for that month or two, to have the ability to have cellular internet at a respectable speed, to tether the iPhone with my Mac or Netbook and get some research done.

Having stated that, there are substantial numbers of iPhones of current and previous generations that are available for sale and some are for trade, but the sweet spot are those iPhones that are damaged or have known issues that are easily repaired or corrected that can be resold at a modest profit.

Granted, you have choices and if you should chose the iPhone as the smartphone to enrich your life and earn extra income with, you’ll be richly rewarded in time with wonderful devices that you would be proud to own, if you weren’t in the re marketing business.

Consumer electronics changes so rapidly that most people don’t keep their iPhones for more than a couple of years.  Apple provides updates as necessary about every year or so and at that time, some people elect to purchase a new iPhone or new to them, iPhone.  This presents an incredible income opportunity for those work at home enthusiast who are thinking outside of the box.

The fact that most iPhones can be legally unlocked, affords others to chose the GSM (wireless carrier) of their choice and fuels demand for a highly-desirable smartphone.  What makes the iPhone especially more desirable than virtually all the smartphones past and present, is the fact that you don’t have to sell most people on its benefits.

Most people are familiar enough with the iPhone to have desired one and you have the power to make their dreams come true.  Forget about the naysayers and Apple product haters, they will just distract you.  A better than good condition iPhone sells at a premium and slightly-used iPhone sells almost nearly at the price of a new one, but without the contractual wireless commitment.  People love the latest and greatest in mobile communications, but not everyone can afford to buy new or qualify for a contract wireless plan.  This scenario provides an aftermarket for those switching wireless carriers or upgrading with their present wireless carrier, leaving thousands of one and two year iPhones in workable condition to choose from to recondition and remarket.

For those of us in the United States, analyst predict that 12 million people will get the Verizon iPhone this year alone.  That creates a potentially potent market for used smartphones in general and iPhones in particular.  Sure you can make money by buying smartphones and reselling them, but you may have to do some marketing to make it happen.  The iPhone from its branding and place in the smartphone sector, practically sells itself.  You just have to have it in stock to sell it.

There is no business plan for selling iPhones.  It’s just a matter of knowing your local and regional market and go from there.  Some of you will want to learn how to do your own repairs and others of you will want to farm your repairs out locally.  The key is to understand what you can resell the iPhones you have for and go from there.  If, you would like to know more about this lucrative niche, let me know and send me a comment and we’ll point you in the direction that has proven worthwhile for us.

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The insane facts that those who want to buy and resell need to understand is that it is relatively easy if you know what to do and are armed with a sense of demand for each item that you wish to buy, to resell.  There is a learning curve, as there is with anything that you aren’t familiar with, but if you are willing to devote a few hours getting into the rhythm of what people are buying online, then you’re ready to begin buying, to resell.  Let’s get started!

There are a many online outlets to both buy and resell the items that you purchase locally or on the Internet.  Some of the outlets that have proven worthwhile are eBay Auctions, Craigslist, Backpage, Kijiji, which is now eBay Classifieds, Oodle, USFreeAds and Epage.  All of the aforementioned websites are great places to sell your items online, with Craigslist, Backpage and Oodle, giving you the option to sell and deliver locally or ship.

To get a sense of what items are in demand and anticipate what others are buying, before you start out on your purchasing spree, eBay completed auction listings are a good place to do your research.  You will find the “Completed Listings” on eBay on the left sidebar and you will need to sign in or join eBay, if you haven’t already, in order to see the completed listings.

Many people trust their instinct and purchase an item, only to find out that they are stuck with what they brought, because they miscalculated the demand for it, or worse yet, sell the item for less than what they paid for it.  Educate yourself about what you’re selling and what it is probably likely to sell for.

You do yourself a great service if you’re able to find items that still have their packaging,  boxes, labels and/or tags.  This things extend credibility among some of your buyers that the item was well taken care of, if indeed they were.  This will make selling the items easier in the future.  Concentrate your efforts on locating things that are in demand, of usable quality and of lasting materials, such as leather goods.  You will often find the more valuable items in the eyes of the thrift or consignment shop are in the front of the store, often in a glass cabinet.  Take a moment to see if there is anything interesting.

Once you know what is in demand and what people are buying, you are all set to start looking for inventory.  Yard sales, garage sales, thrift stores, consignment shops, and flea markets.  The key here is to be organized with your time, because you can spend an incredible amount of time looking and not really getting to the items that are worthwhile, so don’t get too distracted while you’re out on your hunt.

Looking back in hindsight from my own experiences, I found that buying second-hand or gently-worn clothing allowed me to cultivate a sense of who I was according to my own interpretive fashion sense.  It doesn’t mean that I was fashionably correct in the eyes of others, but I was shockingly comfortable in all that I wore.  I made a respectful income, enough to sustain a long vacation reading English Trade Law in England.

I believe to make a worthwhile income at whatever you do, there is a degree of satisfaction in what you’re doing and if you do it well, you can take extended trips abroad or check off a few items on your “bucket list.”  What worked for me was concentrating on a few areas that I felt some degree of knowledge and interest in.

Leather jackets that had easy to repair zippers, children coats, leather handbags and purses for both men and women and swiss watches, no matter how unusual.  In fact, the more distinctive the watch, I would buy it, even if it didn’t work, because I knew that I could resell it abroad.  Stick with what you’re interested in or what you know and if you’re motivated you can learn about other items in demand.

A hidden gem to sell your items, especially if they are clothing or shoes are consignment shops.  I haven’t really used consignment shops to buy things for resell, buy have purchased items for myself.  To be successful selling your items at a consignment shop, you have to match your items to the ambience or taste of the consignment owner.  Consignment shop owners/managers can be very picky at what they will take from you to resell, so it may not even be worth your time.  You have to more or less, be in sync with what the consignment owner or manager is offering to do well at selling anything.

You will do well if you’re buying for instance clothing and they are brand name, designer labeled clothing or something unusual and popular.  Expect to specialize in a particular size, style, vintage or modern-era with your clothing items to do well, but as long as what you have is in demand and it is selling, you should be okay.  Designer jeans that are in great shape tends to sell fast.  Look for popular names that almost everyone recognizes such as Old Navy, Nautica, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfinger, Diesel, Citizens of Humanity, Rockstar, Hudson, Dylan George, Mavi, Monarchy Current Elliot, Superfine, Genetic Denim, Red Engine, Dylan George and yes, even Levi’s.

Consignment shops generally offer you a portion of the sale price that can vary anywhere between 40 to 60% for you and the rest for them, so be sure to get the split first.  Don’t overlook the opportunity to buy and resell furniture and household goods.  Furniture and Household Consignment shops tend to be a better fit for furniture and other household goods, such as washer, dryers, etc.  Browse the furniture consignment shops in your area and emphasize the higher-income neighborhoods for nicer returns.

Here are your links to find a consignment shop in your area:

Consignment Shops:   Second-Hand Shops

Resale Shopping:  Thrift Stores

Best Consignment Shops:  Consignment Stores

The Thrift Shopper:  Thrift Shops

Consignment Pal:  Consignments by Zip Codes

American Pack Rat:  Bargain Hunters

Tips:

Purchasing items at a consignment shop, clearance sale, or factory outlet tend to be more expensive than a national thrift store, such as Goodwill or Salvation Army.  The local church or faith-based thrift stores tend to have the best prices, because often times you can haggle with the cashier about the price.

Use caution when you go into a “for-profit,” thrift store who partners with local churches and charities to have them collect items and then the “for-profit” thrift store purchases the items collected in bulk for a set amount of money and then gives the church or charity, on average about 25% of the proceeds once they sell the items through their affiliate, “for-profit” thrift stores at a considerably mark-up.  Examples are Savers, Unique Thrift and Valu Thrift stores.

Thrift and Consignment Stores are just another revenue center if you take your time and study what people are buying and meet their needs, you will do especially well for the time that you invest.  Any extra income you derive from your purchases and sales, should be proportionally reinvested and/or  serve as capital for your next income-generating venture.  Have fun and take yourself serious and profit from your understanding!

Imagine wanting to quit your day job, but don’t quite know where to begin or how to get started.  Well, if you bounce about Workathomepedia, you’re sure to find some of the answers to your questions, but if you’re looking for a specific item that matches your passion to sell, you’ve come to the right place.  Welcome to the realm of affiliate marketing search portal.

The category, affiliate marketing search portals involves putting as many of the known affiliate marketing partners all in one place and then providing a dynamic search feature that makes it easy to find the product or service that matches your interests.

Jounce, which means to go up or down, or bounce, is a premier affiliate marketing search portal based in Salt Lake City, Utah, put together by Internet Entrepreneur’s Tyson Quick and Kevin Mesiab.  Jounce makes it easy to find a product to promote or to submit a product to sell.  Jounce covers over 60 affiliate networks and has over 12 million affiliate products to promote.

Jounce is free to join and you can even search for products that you would like to promote and see the numerous affiliate networks that offer that product.  Don’t worry, you won’t have to sign up with the many affiliate networks individually, just Jounce.   Just sign up and get your referral link.  Take a few minutes to setup your profile and gather your affiliate networks and be sure to subscribe to the news feeds that interest you.

When you do a search for a product on Jounce, you can sort your products by commissions, earnings per click, how much your product costs and relevance.  Jounce even makes it easy for you to sync with any affiliate network you may already be a member of by letting you get your referral link, without having to log in to that affiliate network.

For market or niche research, Jounce is a plus, allowing affiliates to see what other products are being offered for a particular keyword, by price and by price.  You can glimpse at what your competition may be promoting and see whether you’re interested in that product, all without even having to join or sign up with Jounce.

In addition, Jounce offers a news aggregator that covers some 90 affiliate marketing network blogs and feeds them directly to their site.  Spend some time reading the news category and you get a sense of the pulse of how others in affiliate marketing are doing.

So, if you’re looking to follow your passion and quit your day job, spend some time thinking about what you want to promote and look around this site and others for a way for you to do that and enjoy doing what you really want to do, no matter what the economy is doing.

Since PC’s are an essential component to any company’s bottom line, the upgrade is not only necessary, but the foundation of their growth strategy.  There will be earning opportunities for any work at home entity who wishes to explore the PC recycling end of the Computer Industry.  Intel (INTC) flush with cash from its new range of microprocessors and demand for its products, along with its competitor Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and it’s sought after graphics-capable microchips, will help to fuel the demand for its products.  This is a great time to discover or rediscover the PC recycling business as an additional income stream or as a principle revenue stream.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) announced also that it is coming out with a new cell phone microchip and that is sure to cause many cell phone makers to employ AMD’s new microchip in their smartphones and touchscreen devices, especially considering AMD have received notable reviews regarding the graphic capabilities of its chips.  Look to see a need for people to collect and recycle smartphones, cell phones and Internet-capable mobile devices now and for the near future to come.

There will be opportunities even in the smartphone category as Apple (AAPL) has introduced a measure to overcome its latest iPhone’s reception issues by issuing free phone cases.  This may have tainted Apple’s reputation in the eyes of some, but let me assure you that the Apple crowds are a loyal bunch and you’d be hard pressed to separate their Apple products from them, unless of course Apple introduced something better.   That something better creates another opportunity for work at home enthusiast in that, when Apple’s loyal followers upgrade their Apple hardware, there will be an abundance of older Apple products that still have a useful product life to recycle or repurpose.

There has been concern by many that the netbook market is threatened by the introduction of Apple’s iPad and that it will do for mobile Internet consumption, what the iTunes Platform did for music distribution, essentially changing the way we consume music.  Could this be a good thing or a bad thing for the work at home industry?  Personally, I think that the iPad will spawn the acceptance of a new range of portable handheld mobile Internet devices, such as Mobile Internet Tablets, netbooks with optional keyboards and smartphones that behave like computers and give the users a rewarding Internet experience.

Those of us will find that iPad, much like we find our laptops indispensable and an essential part of our work at home strategy.  As we move to the Next Generation Internet with its expanded IP (Internet Protocol) addressing system, we will see a whole line of Internet-capable mobile devices come online.  Some we will cherish and others we will see as a fad and give casual mention of, but by no means will we see a saturation of technology hardware (PC’s, printers, smartphones, cell phones, etc.).  There will be technology hardware that will remain a profitable sector for those interested in recycling and repurposing, if not in this country, certainly in another country that has an increasing vigilant Internet population.

There are going to be more ways to grow your income working from home than you’ve ever imagined and for those who are willing to explore, go into or seek out these technology recycling opportunities, the supply of hardware will certainly outpace the number of participants.  Being a frequent traveler to Third and Second World Economies I can tell you frankly that the appetite for progress has not been quenched in the majority of the world and the demand for the items we may no longer have a need for, remains high, elsewhere.   Learn all that you wish about this dynamic PC and Smartphone recycling and improve your financial picture now and well into the future.