Okay, so maybe it’s a little late for making money by selling products for Halloween.  But now is the perfect time to ramp up for the big push toward Christmas.  If you have one or more established sites, you’re in great shape.  But there are things you can do even if you’re just getting started here at the end of October.

And of all the ways you could possibly make money online, I think the fastest and easiest way to go from zero to profitability as quickly as possible would be to start a niche store.  This is especially true throughout the holiday season.  I’ve operated several of them for well over a year, and they continue to provide a nice monthly income.  Although they’re fairly easy to set up for someone with a little computer knowledge, they can be tricky for newcomers. The niche store site provides some good reference material to help you get started, but feel free to ask me a question if you get stuck.

I’ve learned some interesting ways to create sites that attract visitors and keep them coming back.  And I continually look for ways to add value to my sites beyond just the products that are available to purchase.  This is very important because anyone can set up these niche stores and compete with you.  You have to find a way to stand out from the crowd.  And you have to know how to get the visitors to your store in the first place.

That’s why from now until the end of the year, I’m going to be offering lots of tips and tricks for getting the most from your online niche store. There are several store scripts out there, so you don’t necessarily have to go with the one I recommend.  In fact, I’ll cover a couple of the others as well.  But I happen to have my preference simply because I think it’s the easiest to set up and maintain.

Go ahead and subscribe to my online niche store blog to be sure to get every tip as I post them.  It’s time for the holidays, and you’ll want to be ready for making some good holiday cash.

Here are a couple of earlier posts that may be helpful as you begin to build your new store:

Choosing a good web host 

Getting content for your niche store

Reasons for starting an online business

Finding good niche keywords

Getting traffic to your online store

“The sky’s falling…” 

That’s seems to be all we hear and see these days. 

The stock market’s down, age-old banks and insurance companies are dropping like flies, our retirement accounts are being decimated, we’re piling up so much debt that our grandchildrens’ grandchildren will still be paying it back, and on and on…

But did you know that many millionaires were made during the Great Depression of the early 30’s?  Most of these were the result of having plenty of liquid cash to invest in undervalued assets.  That’s the absolute best way to profit from hard times.  When times are tough, cash is king.  Because so many are already deep in debt or simply can’t borrow enough to keep afloat, those with cash to spend will find real bargains.

But what if you fall somewhere on the other side?  What if you’re in debt, barely paying the bills each month, or out of work?  How can you possibly find a silver lining to the dark cloud of the current economic environment?

What I would suggest is that you first stop thinking of the current situation as “bad” or “hopeless.”  I’ve heard these terms used a lot lately by friends and family, and thinking like this will only make things worse. 

Instead, try to think like an entrepreneur…

People still have money, and they’re still spending it.  I promise you this will not change.  Even if we were to enter a period far worse than the Great Depression (and this isn’t likely), people would still be spending money.  Granted, the items they buy might change, but the money will be flowing somewhere.  So you really just have to keep an eye on where the money is going and try to get in on the action.

One thing to watch for is mass panic. 

Gas stations are running out of fuel because of panic, banks have lost a lot of capital due to panic, retirement accounts are being depleted because of panic, and the list goes on.  The global economic system is based, in large part, on the perception of the masses.  When everyone feels good about things, they invest and spend.  When they don’t feel so good, they save and pay down debts.  And when they get really scared, they cash out their retirement accounts and stuff cash under their mattresses.  They’ll even start to sell off assets just to have cash on hand.

The media plays a huge role in this these days.  So watch the news.  When the news reporter says that it’s time to panic, get ready to buy assets at rock-bottom prices.  And when the President says this himself, you can bet that the wealthy are laughing all the way to the bank.

Just as businesses everywhere are “going green” to make a buck off of the new environmental movement, you can profit from the panic that results during tough economic conditions.  You can make money just by offering encouragement to those going through difficulties.  They’ll pay you to offer them hope in their darkest hour.  You can make even more by lighting a fire under them and pointing them toward the exit.  Show people how to make extra money in these “tough times” and they’ll invest in what you have to offer.

And here are a few ideas for you to profit online:

Offer free advice on weathering the tough economy. 

Provide tools for calculating debt repayment. 

Include links to affiliate programs geared to debt reduction. 

Include articles on investing in gold and other precious metals and place Google ads on the page for a little extra income.

Include articles on positive thinking, and run ads.  Or give away an encouraging ebook in exchange for an email address.  Then follow up with more encouragement with an occassional promotion for a niche-appropriate product or service.

There are many, many ways to profit even in the worst of times.  As long as you keep your head - even if you’re struggling financially yourself, you can make it through.  And with the right approach, you will actually end up in a better position on the other side as a result.

eBay recently launched their new affiliate program, called the Ebay Partner Network.  Commission Junction has managed their affiliate account until now.  If you’re not familiar with sites like Commission Junction and LinkShare, they manage the details of paying commissions to thousands of online publishers for many of the largest online sales sites.  With today’s launch of eBay’s new self-managed system, publishers will have more tools and resources available for promoting a huge array of products.

Plus, this is also great news for anyone selling on eBay.  With an army of affiliate marketers working day and night to promote your products, you’ll likely sell more with less effort.  If you haven’t heard, the number of web publishers promoting products on eBay is growing like wildfire.  That’s because eBay pays a percentage of their take on each transaction that is referred to their site via a third party publisher’s site.  And, what’s even better is that, as an affiliate publisher, you can promote products all around the globe through eBay’s partner sites in countries all around the world.

I’ve been making money as an eBay affiliate since last summer, and my income has grown steadily as a result.  I’ve enjoyed working with Commission Junction, and I plan to continue working with them to promote their expanding list of products.  I’m equally excited about the new eBay-managed affiliate program.  I’ve checked it out, and it looks very promising.  As I transition my sites to the new system, I’ll report my results.  You can see an example of one of their new affiliate web widgets in the sidebar to the right.  There are several different types of widgets available, and many more are on the way.

In the meantime, be sure to give the new eBay Partner Network a look.  It might just be the ticket to your online success.  And be sure to subscribe to the Profit with Your DotCom feed to stay on top of new and exciting ways to grow your new online business.