Recently one of my students asked a great question: We have a product we want to sell online - and we need to make money fast. We already have a domain name. What should I do in the next 10 days?

Here are some ideas:

1. Take *good* photographs of your product. The picture will allow you to charge more, so get a great digital camera and take those pictures.
 
2. Write a good short sales letter that paints the story of the product - your reason behind creating it, benefits to the reader, vivid pictures of what it will mean to the buyer, etc.
 
3. Set up a paypal account and arrange to take payment.
 
4. Start lining up partners who will do an email for you. Find people who already send an email newsletter to your potential customer.
 
5. Plan to send sample products to the partners you want to work with. That will get their attention and you can seal the deal via email.
 
6. Set up your site on a template-driven site. It's something you can do yourself with no programming knowledge. You can choose a templates so you have no design costs. It generally includes hosting, so you have no additional hosting costs. You can upload your own photos.
 
7. You'll need a technical person on call in order to connect your web page and paypal - or at least someone who has a little backgroud in doing this. It's faster than doing it yourself.
 
8. Use this site for just this one project. Don't try to do too many things with it.
 
9. Look around for other sites with similiar ideas - selling  the same type of product. Then handle yours approximately the same way.
 
10. Prepare an email for your partners to send to their lists and get it to them a few days before their newsletter goes out. That means you need to get this ready now!

That's a quick 10-day plan. Get started right away and plan to start seeing sales in a little over a week.

Jeanette S Cates, PhD

Jeanette S. Cates, PhD is the creator of the Online Success System and author of Online Success Tactics: 101 ways to build your small business.

Dr. Cates is a frequent speaker at state and national conferences, with more than 300 presentations to her credit. Her fast-paced, information-packed presentations and her knack for explaining cutting-edge technology in easy-to-understand terms have gained her the reputation of being The Technology Tamer?. She has taken that same experience and applied it to the Internet to become your Online Success Guide.

As the owner of TechTamers she has developed a full line of learning materials, including more than 100 technology-based workshops, ranging from Introduction to eLearning to the 8-hour website. In addition, she has authored numerous tips booklets, special reports, ebooks, and audio albums. In 2001 she launched Tech4Speakers.com, a site dedicated to helping speakers use technology more effectively in their presentations, products, productivity, and online presence.

Jeanette is a Certified Technical Trainer and is conversant with more than 200 software programs. She is also a Robert G. Allen Infopreneur Master Trainer. In that capacity she edits the InfopreneurLibrary.com, an online resource for people who create and sell Information Products. She co-hosts the bi-annual Womens Power Summit and heads WINfopreneurs, the site for Women Infopreneurs.

Dr. Cates holds a PhD in Instructional Design and Technology and an M.Ed. in Adult Education, both from the University of Texas at Austin. She earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Trinity University. She is listed in Who?s Who of American Women and is a member of Women in Technology International and the National Speakers Association. Jeanette has been featured in PC World, Computer Shopper, and TechRepublic, among other technology-related publications.

Jeanette has been married for 36 years to Bob Cates, an Internal Auditor. They have three daughters ? Stephanie, Jennifer and Vicki, and are the proud grandparents of J.R., Heather, Megan, and Jaycie.