The stock market has been a money making machine for many investors over the past 70 years. Investors from Warren Buffett to Carl Icahn have built fortunes by buying and selling the stocks of individual companies. They were smart enough to take advantage of market dips and advances historically. It’s important to carve out tour investment strategy before jumping in the market. You can make money in an up, down, or sideways market as long as you have a plan.

Here are 3 ways to make money in any type of market.

1. Buy shares of a company.

The easiest way to make money in the stock market is by buying shares of an individual company. As a company’s earnings increase and investors bid up a stock, you can take advantage and make money. This strategy works particularly well during bull markets. Even shares of a bad company’s stock tend to surge during bull markets as long as they are in the right sector.

Remember all of the dot com companies that traded at impossible valuations despite the fact that they had not yet made a dime of earnings. There was also the oil bubble of the late 2000’s in which it seemed that every stock skyrocketed regardless of the fundamentals. A bull market is a great time to make money investing.

2. Short a company’s stock.

You might be surprised to know that you don’t need a bull market in order to make money investing. You can make money investing by shorting shares of a company’s stock in a bear market. Short selling involves borrowing shares of a stock from another investor and making a bet that the stock’s price will decline.

Short sellers use margin to sell shares of a security. This involves paying interest to the brokerage and maintaining enough cash in your account to meet the account requirements. As a short seller, you will have to buy back the shares that you borrowed at a later date. Short sellers make money by buying back shares at a lower price than they borrowed them at.

3. Sell options.

You can create a nice income stream for yourself by dabbling in the options market. There are a number of different ways to make money by selling options. You can sell options to other investors that want to buy a stock or are looking for protection in the market. You can sell options that you already own and collect a premium from an investor.

You can also make some extra cash by writing and selling option contracts. You could write a call or a put contract and collect the premium. This is a way of making money during times when the market is stagnant or stuck in a trading range. The main risk in writing option contracts is that the options writer may be forced to buy back the options contract if it is exercised.

Have you tried any of these methods? Which one have you found to be the most successful?

I’ve started many small businesses to try to generate new streams of income. Some of the ideas have worked well and continue to provide revenue; others turned out to be bad ideas and failed.

I hope that hearing about some of my experiences and why they did not succeed will be valuable to anyone trying to start a business online. Lack of experience played a big role in the failure of many of these ideas, but the lessons I learned from each have taught me how to be successful today.

My 5 business ideas that failed

1. Fitness web center

A couple years ago I read Jack Welch’s book “Winning.” I’ve wanted to start my own business for a while, and after reading that book I realized that I didn’t have to come up with a brilliant invention to have a successful idea. I started looking for a cheap but profitable business that I could buy, and I ended up buying a website off of ebay.

I had no idea what I was in for. This website only made money if the owner advertised it. I did not know how to advertise online, and I lost the money I invested to buy the site and the money I spent trying to advertise.

But I learned a lot along the way. I pushed myself to learn the basics of web design and I started learning SEO, which has lead me into many other opportunities. Because of that first website, I went on to create my own websites, some of which also failed as you’ll read below, and others that are successful and growing.

2. Wine Blog

This idea didn’t fail as much as it just didn’t succeed because I gave up on it. I like wine a lot and I did some research in Google to see that a lot of people were searching for the phrase “cheap wine.” I looked at the search results and did some other research and figured I could be #1 in Google for cheap wine. I got my wine blog to #1 in a few months.

The only problem here was with me. I didn’t do enough forward thinking. I never considered what I would have to do to build an audience and determine if I was up to the task. After 6 months I was tired of drinking and evaluating cheap wine 3 times a week. The cost was adding up and I just didn’t want to do it anymore. I sold that wine blog for about as much as I had invested in it.

3. Web Directory

A few years ago website directories were a great way to build links to website to improve your sites ranking in Google search results. These directories charge a fee to list your site, and some sites charge recurring fees. I wanted in.

And after getting in, I learned that web directories were losing their value, and fast. Google would be penalizing them because they are by nature against Google’s entire link philosophy. Also, it was very difficult to create a site with enough value that people would want to pay to have their site listed.

I should have done more research before I started, but sometimes you never know thing until you try them.

4. Surfing Website

I really thought this idea would be a winner. This was the second website I created. I looked at other niche surfing websites and saw that they were earning $500/month or more and I thought I could do the same and better. I spent months putting this site together and thinking about how I would monetize the site.

It wasn’t until I finished building the site that I realized why the other sites were successful. They had a community. I wasn’t prepared to build a community like theirs. I didn’t have daily photos of the beach (I unfortunately live too far away) and I didn’t have a forum with useful content. I tried adding new features, but it wasn’t enough to keep a steady stream of traffic.

This site didn’t work, but I improved my web design skills to the point that I could really hack up a wordpress theme. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this skill would save me thousands of dollars later when I went to build new sites.

5. Social news site

Social news sites are supposed to run themselves right? Sites like Digg or reddit allow users post content and vote on the stories they like. I never knew the hours it would take to administer a social news site. The spam these sites get is insane. And there is a lot of work that goes into approving and filtering content. While I knew that I could outsource those tasks, it would cost money. I’ve never made a social news site profitable enough to be able to afford a full time employee.

Lessons Learned

So, lessons learned: be forward thinking, never sign up for something if you think you will get tired of doing it, consider the level of effort each task will take, and if you want to pay someone to do the work for you, make sure you know how long it will take to make the site profitable before you launch it.

There is nothing wrong with taking an idea or product from one industry and implementing it in a different way with a different product in a different industry. The key is understanding the root of why an idea succeeds or fails. Success is much more than having a good product.

It’s not fun to watch your peers get promoted while you stay stuck in the same job. It’s also not fun to do the same job and earn the same paycheck for 10 years or more. Unfortunately, most people find themselves in that exact situation.

If you went to college and then got a white collar job, chances are that you’re looking to get ahead of the pack. You have dreams of becoming a manager, director, or executive some day. But if you aren’t careful, you’ll find yourself stuck doing exactly what you are currently doing five or ten years from now. In this fast changing business world where more and more jobs are being outsourced every day, that is a disastrous place to be.

It’s dangerous to play it safe in your career. Here are the top five reasons you won’t get promoted.

1. You don’t want it bad enough

Do you want to be promoted? What are you doing about it?

Employees do not have a right to be promoted; it is a reward for hard work and commitment. How many people do you know that think they deserve to keep their job or be promoted because of the number of years they have been in a job? If that idea rings true for you, it’s time to change your attitude.

2. You aren’t improving yourself

Education, certification and experience are all key steps in climbing the corporate ladder. As an individual, you are your own brand, and developing a skill set is an important part of the product you offer. If you are not working to improve yourself each day, moth and year, then you will be stuck in the same job forever.

3. You are not an expert in your industry

Knowing all there is to know about your business means that you understand your industry, competitors, and product inside and out.

To reach a point of expertise, do things like research everything you hear but don’t know about or understand. Read magazines or blogs related to your field. Seek out and learn as much information as you can, so that when the boss asks your opinion on an issue, you can give an informed and educated response rather than “I don’t know.”

4. You only focus on daily tasks

The old philosophy that working as hard as you can at doing what your boss tells you so (s)he will think you are a good worker and give you a raise or promotion is dead.
Everyone is replaceable. If you want to want your boss to notice you, you obviously need to complete your work on time and as expected, but you also need to create value for the company by thinking out of the box and improving processes, systems, and strategies.

5. You haven’t asked

You need a track record that demonstrates that you are a valuable employee by consistently performing at the level to which you want to be promoted. But here’s the kicker: if you never ask, chances are, your manager will never promote you. Not all bosses see your promotion as their priority, so you need to put it on their radar by asking. What does asking look like?

There are many opportunities to make your desire known. When you meet with your manager for a one-on-one, find ways to express your goal of being promoted to the next level. You can talk about the things you are currently doing to improve the business, or how you have already improved it, and make a strong case for yourself. When the time comes, you need to be bold. Tell your manager flat out tell what you want. If you have clear and well thought out examples to give for why you deserve a promotion, your boss will respect you and give you a straight answer about the possibility. Use your boss’s feedback to develop a plan to climb the ladder.

Chances are you have bought something from a drop shipper before. Drop shipping is used when someone sells you a product that they do not own or manufacture, or keep an inventory of. When you place the order, they fill your order directly with the manufacturer and have it shipped to you. Hopefully they turn a small profit in the process. Drop shipping is something people can do from their home or online as a way to build extra income.

Advantages of Drop Shipping

There are many advantages in using the drop shipping technique but online stores benefit the most from this amazing shipping tool. Since drop shipping method does not require the retailer to actually keep the products being sold on the shelf, the latter saves plenty of storage space because the wholesalers take care of this business aspect. Warehousing can be costly for any retailer but through drop shipping, this could be eliminated and would even expedite the overall delivery time of the requested item because it will ship from the nearest distributor directly to the identified location of the buyer.

The advantage for people like you and me is that we get to sell quality products that we don’t have to manage.

Successful Businesses Using Drop Shipping Methodology

Many e-commerce companies and auction sites such as e-Bay, Amazon.com, and uBid.com enjoy the benefits of utilizing the drop shipping technique. Each purchase made on these online businesses is shipped directly by its distributor or wholesaler, so the primary function of these e-commerce platforms is just to provide the details on the availability and significant features of the products they offer to consumers. The longevity of these sites affirm their success in using the method of drop shipping.

Companies with Drop Shipping Programs

There are several companies that have excellent drop shipping programs like Doba, Shopster, and SaleHoo. Doba partners with many wholesale suppliers and manufacturers throughout the United States who drop ship items for Doba members. All you have to do is become a Doba member to take full advantage of the company’s drop shipping methodology. It does not matter if you only have a small business or home-based firm, Doba will provide for your drop shipping needs. Shopster, on the other hand, provides a simple solution for online auctioneers by providing drop shipping services for the 700,000 products that the company keeps in its inventory. You sell Shopster’s products and the company drop ship your order from its warehouse and pays you afterwards for making the sale. SaleHoo is another company that provides excellent drop shipping service due to its partnership with over 8,000 legitimate wholesalers and suppliers worldwide. Currently it has total membership of over 75,000 sellers which proves the legitimacy of SaleHoo in the drop shipping arena.

Tips for Success

To be successful in selling your products online, you must find a legitimate partner that can drop ship your customer orders and even warehouse your items. Do not just sign up with anyone because there are many scammers with empty promises. You may try the companies mentioned above since they are already proven in the drop shipping industry. With proper and thorough research, you will not fail in selling products online. There are tools available for you to utilize so you will not be on your own.

Starting your own franchise is a great way to build wealth. Some of society’s wealthiest individuals were franchise owners. They started with a unique concept that would work well in different markets. They then granted franchise licenses to individuals and companies for a fee. The franchise license gave the business owner the right to sell the franchisor’s product in a certain territory. The great thing about franchising is that you still own your business idea and can generate a revenue stream for years to come.

Let’s take a look at four CEO’s that were able to take a business concept and turn it into global franchises.

Dunkin Donuts

William Rosenberg took two American breakfast favorites and put them together. Dunkin Donuts is known throughout the world for its great coffee and donuts. Rosenberg oversaw the expansion of the company into 37 different countries. The company started off selling coffee, pastries, and sandwiches. These items were so popular that they still comprise the Dunkin Donuts menu today. Rosenberg started a mobile catering business that brought meals to workers at breakfast and lunch time.

McDonald’s

You would think that the founders of McDonald’s would be multi-billionaires but this is not the case. The McDonald’s brothers may have started the McDonald’s restaurant but Ray Kroc put McDonald’s on the map. Kroc was a visionary and was able to take a local struggling McDonald’s restaurant and turn it into a national chain. He opened a chain of restaurants around the country emphasizing fast food at low prices. Today, McDonald’s is the largest fast food chain in the world.

Subway Subs

If you have heard of $5 dollar foot longs then you know the works of Fred De Luca. De Luca cofounded the first ever Subway Sandwich shop with Peter Buck in 1965. De Luca started Subway Sandwiches with a $1,000 investment from a family friend. His $1,000 investment has generated a great return. Subway has franchises all over the United States and is the number 2 ranked franchise in the world. De Luca’s $1,000 investment has placed him on Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans. Today, De Luca has a net worth valued at $1.5 billion dollars.

7 Eleven Stores

John Philip Thompson Sr. had the foresight to take a small convenience store and turn it into a global chain. Thompson’s strategy was to sell products direct to customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. He created private label products such as the Slurpee and the Big Gulp. These products drew customers to the convenience store since they were only sold at 7 Eleven. Today, 7 Eleven is an international chain of convenience stores with nearly 40,000 locations. The company now generates nearly $17 billion dollars a year in revenue annually.

What do you think is the best franchise idea of all time?

Photo by lousyliving
I had an idea recently about starting a new website. It’s a site that is based around my full time job and I think there is a lot of potential for the website to catch on. I caught myself staring at my monitor just thinking… “Will it work, will it succeed, can I do it?”

The concept makes a lot of sense to me but I don’t know if it will work. The only way to know is to try.

I think that is true in a lot of areas of life. We get so caught up in the unknown that we never start down the road to success.

We can spend days or even months thinking through our best ideas. But if we never take action then we can be sure of one thing, that idea will fail. I don’t want to never know if that one idea I had would have worked. I’m going to start taking steps toward making that idea a success.

Along the way I think I picked up the idea that failing was not an option. That attitude will prevent us from creating new ideas that solve problems and create wealth. Failure is an option and I’m working on getting rid of any thought that says that it’s not ok to fail. Once you say it’s ok to fail you immediately increase your chances of success.

I’m going to set a reasonable deadline for me to finalize my thoughts around this idea and start working on it’s success. Once I reach a point where I have some results with the website I’ll let you know what it is and link back to this post. Until then, wish me luck!

Further reading:
I recently came across an inspiring blog post that we featured in our Moneyed Up Monday series called I must do the thing I think I cannot do. It’s a great read if you have the time and want to improve your thought life.

One of the lessons that many have learned from the recent recession is the importance of creating income diversity. Income diversity involves cultivating more than one income stream so that if one source of revenue in your personal economy takes a hit, your entire financial well being isn’t destroyed. One way to begin cultivating another source of revenue is to engage in income investing.

What is Income Investing?

The main goal of income investing is to build up a regular source of income through carefully thought out investments. During tough economic times, your income investments may provide less, but if you have chosen your investments well, the flow will not stop completely.

With income investing, you receive regular cash payments monthly, quarterly or semi-annually, depending on how the investment is set up. There are two main types of investment usually used when building a portfolio with an eye toward income investing:

• Bonds: Bonds are basically loans you make to some organization. You can make these loans to companies or governments. The federal government offers Treasuries, and you can invest in municipal bonds on a more local level. It is also possible to invest in foreign bonds. When you invest in bonds, you receive regular interest payments from the organization. When the bond matures, you get the principal back as well, and you can re-invest it if you wish. The main risk associated with bonds is that the organization can default. When using bonds for income investing, it is often a good idea to make sure that many of them are from a source considered stable, with little risk of default.
• Dividend Stocks: Other options for income investing are dividend stocks. A dividend is a payment that some companies make to shareholders on a regular schedule. This is a cash payment, in the form of a portion of company profits, separate from earnings you receive as a result of increased share price. You receive a payout based on how many shares of the company you hold. Companies can increase or decrease their dividend payout according to circumstances, though. When looking for dividend stocks to add to your income investment portfolio, it is a good idea to look for a stable, established company that have a good track record of earnings and good management.

Person to person lending is also becoming a viable option for income investing, since you receive regular payments from borrowers. However, you do have to be concerned that the individuals to whom you are lending money will default.

The advantage of income investing is that even during times of recession, you still have a revenue source that can help you with your budgeting. With bonds, the interest payment doesn’t diminish, since the interest rate remains the same. While dividends might be cut in some companies during a recession, there is still usually a payout, so you still have income.

Getting started, though, requires some significant capital. In order to invest enough money to receive a large enough payout in interest or dividends, you might need to put in quite a bit of money. With dividend stocks, it is possible to use dollar cost averaging to begin building up your shares, but it may take some time to acquire enough shares in a company for the dividend payment to provide you with a solid source of income. It is also possible to invest regularly in smaller denomination bonds as they can, with the smaller interest payments eventually combining to create a large enough income stream.

Some prefer to build up a cash reserve in a high yield savings account and then invest in a combination of bonds and dividend stocks all at once. However you decide to proceed, though, it can be a good move to begin building up an income generating investment portfolio, providing you with an income stream during tough times.

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Entrepreneurship is the backbone of the United States economy. Capitalism relies on an individual’s ability to assume a risk based on their expectation of profit. There is no bigger risk than starting your own business. It takes planning, preparation, and perseverance to be a great business owner. Today, we are going to take a look at an individual that has climbed from small business owner into billionaire businessman.

You have probably never heard of Michael Ilitch until the last week. His name and face has been plastered all over the news recently. The 655th richest man in the world is trying to buy the Detroit Pistons.

Ilitch is an 81 year old billionaire from Detroit, Michigan. He already owns the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers. He is seeking to become one of the few three sport owners in the history of professional sports. Ilitch amassed his huge fortune through hard work, determination, and management skill. The chain owner has a net worth valued at $1.5 billion dollars.

Things weren’t always so easy for Ilitch. His childhood dream of being a major league baseball player ended due to a knee injury in the minor leagues. After this he worked as a door to door salesman and at an awning business until he saved up enough money to start his own business. Ilitch and his wife managed to accrue $10,000 in savings. They borrowed the other $15,000 from the bank and began their entrepreneurial venture.

He started a neighborhood pizza restaurant business in Michigan in 1959 known as Little Caesars Pizza Treats. His restaurant was known for offering customers quality pizza at affordable prices. As the restaurant became more successful, Ilitch decided to start franchises all around the country. The company opened its first franchise in 1962. Today, Little Caesar’s Pizza has more than 2,000 locations and is the 3rd largest pizza chain in the United States.

How was Ilitch able to turn one small pizza restaurant into a successful pizza franchise? He did it through his great business acumen and ability to recognize opportunity.

Ilitch saw a need and developed a product to meet this need. He offered consumers a product that they wanted at a great price. Little Caesars is still to this day known as the home of the $5 pizza. The fact that Little Caesars is still standing is a testament to Ilitch. The pizza chain has survived economic depressions, changing consumer tastes, and increased competition. Papa Johns and Pizza Hut are no slouches in the carryout pizza industry.

Ilitch has made a number of acquisitions in recent years. His holdings now include Little Caesars Pizza, Blue Line Foodservice Distribution, Detroit Tigers, Red Wings, MotorCity Casino Hotel, Champion Foods, Uptown Entertainment, and Olympia Development. These different businesses together generate over $2 billion dollars in sales annually. Mike Ilitch is a great example of American entrepreneurship at its finest.

The current economic climate has everyone looking for new ways to make money. People are trying everything from taking a second job to reducing expenses to make ends meet. One of the best ways to take control of your financial life and increase your earning power is by becoming an entrepreneur.
Here are 5 businesses that you can start to make extra money.

1. Start a consulting business

American companies are outsourcing jobs left and right to save money on salaries and benefits. You can benefit from this growing trend by starting your own consulting firm. Companies love consultants because they can pay them fees without the long term obligations of paying benefits. The best areas to consult in are ones where you have an expertise that can benefit others. You can make money as a computer consultant by solving company and individual IT problems. You can become a financial consultant and help individuals address credit problems and become more financially responsible. Be sure to check with your state to see if there are any regulatory requirements for your new business.

2. Start a publishing company

You may be surprised to learn that it is very inexpensive to start your own publishing company. You can start your own publishing company for a nominal cost. All you need is a fictitious business name and a few hundred dollars. All you need to do is create a LLC and register with the state. There are lots of authors that are looking to be published. You can publish books, magazines, e-books, or any literary work. Not only are you helping people realize their dreams, you are receiving compensation for it.

3. Start a delivery company

Customers at furniture stores and retail businesses are often in need of someone to deliver their newly purchased products at a reasonable cost. Most businesses will often take weeks to deliver a product and charge $125 or more for home delivery. You can underbid these companies and deliver to a customer’s home and make a profit. If you don’t want to deliver large items, start a small item delivery company. You can deliver groceries and household products to busy customers that are unable or unwilling to pick up their own items.

4. Start a business brokerage

Business brokers act as middlemen between prospective buyers and business owners looking to sell. Business brokers receive thousands of dollars for negotiating transactions between buyers and sellers. They help determine the value of a business and handle all parts of the negotiation process including all discussions and interviews between both parties.

5. Start a college admissions counseling company

Many parents spend sleepless nights worried over their kid’s college prospects. They worry over whether of not their child will get into college and how to pay for it. That’s where college admission experts come into play by helping students get into their college of choice. They review applications, essays, and provide needed advice to families. Some college consultants even help families find sources for college funding. They provide scholarship information and help with FAFSA form questions. College admission experts can easily make hundreds of dollars an hour for their advice.

Photo by lexielacava

Tom Gores was born on July 31, 1964 in Nazareth, Israel. His mother is of Lebanese descent, and his father was of Greek descent. His family believed they could have a better life in America, so they left Israel in 1968 and moved to Genesee, Michigan. Tom’s uncle sponsored his family’s immigration and provided a house for them to live in. When Tom was only 10 years old he began working for his uncle in his grocery store, and he kept working during all of his school years.

He attended Genesee High School in Genesse, Michigan, where he excelled in sports. He earned a scholarship to Michigan State University because of his outstanding sports record, and he received his Bachelor of Science degree there in 1986.

Tom and his brother Alec attribute a large part of their success to their uncle, Tom Joubran, who was a successful businessman, and taught them and mentored them during their growing up years. In honor of their uncle’s 50th wedding anniversary in 2002, Tom and Alec donated $250,000 to their old high school, Genesee High.

After Tom graduated from college, his brother Alec helped him finance a company that sold software to lumberyards. The business was not successful, but Tom learned a lesson from the venture. He discovered that he had to get customers hooked on his system, and collect a continuing stream of income by selling upgrades or leasing databases if he wanted to make money in computers.

Tom moved to California and worked for Alec’s computer company and later for his private equity firm. They used their own resources for the most part when they made their deals, so they received all the money when they sold their investments at a profit.

In 1995, Tom Gores founded a private company, Platinum Equity, to purchase weak divisions of Fortune 1000 corporations and turn them into profitable ventures. The company is one of the fastest growing and largest private companies in America. His leveraged buyout business is based in California, and he, his wife and their three children live in Beverly Hills. Platinum Equity also has regional offices in New York, New York, Boston, Massachusetts, and London, England.

Platinum Equity buys troubled businesses and makes the necessary changes to turn them around and become successful, often combining several businesses into one profitable organization.

Tom is generous with his time and his wealth and gives support to various charitable organizations. St. Joseph’s Hospital, UCLA Medical Center and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art are some of the associations that have benefited from his leadership, and he uses some of his free time in coaching his children’s youth basketball and soccer teams.

By learning to work and excel in sports at an early age, he developed good habits that helped him to be successful later in life. His net worth is estimated to be $2.2 billion dollars, and he is one of the youngest people to be listed on the Forbes list of World’s Billionaires as well as their list of Richest Americans.

Flipping houses can be a quick and profitable way to make money with real estate. There are always potential risks with any investment, but it is possible to reap huge rewards when you know the mistakes to avoid when flipping a house.

Pros to Flipping Houses
Every potential investment property can be described as either a “keeper” or a “flipper.” A flipper is a house that an investor buys with plans to quickly resell it for a profit, ideally in less than six months. A keeper would be purchased with the intent to hold onto the house for a year or more, often as an income (rental) property. There are advantages to flipping a house.

• Frequently with a flipper property you can find a seller who is motivated to sell and may be willing to sell 25 percent or more below market value.
• Homeowners who have been in their homes for many years and have substantial equity accrued are often more willing to sell below market value for a quick, easy sale.

Cons to Flipping Houses
Flipping houses is certainly not as easy as they make it look on TV, and there are a few disadvantages to consider.

• For a property owned less than one year, the profits from resale are taxed at the normal income tax rates.
• Fixing up a property is not for everyone and can take a substantial amount of time.
• Even when you know the mistakes to avoid when flipping a house, reselling a property for a quick profit means you miss out on potentially bigger profits from the property’s long-term appreciation.

Risks of Flipping a House
There are a number of mistakes to avoid when flipping a house. Investors who are new to flipping often get greedy, taking on too many properties at once. Proceed cautiously and focus on one property at a time.

Never purchase a property without a thorough inspection. Even with an inspection, a home that appears to be structurally sound may have unexpected costs once renovations are underway.

Know ahead of time everything that will need to be done to the house and have your renovation materials picked out well before the transaction has closed. Keep the design and colors of the house simple and neutral in order to appeal to a wider range of potential buyers. Whites and off-whites are generally your safest bets.

Take the time to do your research about real estate investing and flipping properties. Know the area where you are looking at properties and the local economy, and do not buy a property because you love it. Emotional buying can get you into trouble. Remember you are doing this to make a profit.