Business in Minutes

From Zero to Millions in less than a year with On-Demand

2011-03-22T10:00:00.000-05:00

The mainstream press is finally starting to catch on to just how powerful the new on-demand publishing tools are for independent writers, musicians, and artists. This story here about a 26-year old women named Amanda Hocking has been circling the web for the last two weeks and explains how she has used the Amazon Kindle platform as well as CreateSpace print on-demand to publish her books. She started publishing in April of 2010 and it is estimated that she has sold over 1 million copies to date. Not bad for 11 months.

You can check out her entire catalog of books here.

To learn how to build an on-demand business, pick up a copy of the book “Business in Minutes – How To Profit From the On-Demand Revolution” at CreateSpace, Amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble.com.

From Idea to Sale in Under Seven Days

2010-11-17T15:00:00.002-06:00

One of the best features of on-demand is the quick speed to market.  A few weeks ago, I had an idea for a new brand called Railroad Threads - a line of apparel for railroad enthusiasts - and within seven days I had made my first sale. Here is the story.

One evening, while drinking a few beers with a good friend of mine, we started discussing funny ideas for t-shirts related to the hobby of railfanning and railroading.  (Talk about a niche market!)  After about an hour or two of brainstorming, we had over 50 different ideas. I had originally thought about going to a silk screening company to have some samples made and attempt to sell them through an online store. However, there is no guarantee that my favorite design would be what other people would like.

So before spending several hundred dollars buying inventory, I decided to instead invest $12 in a domain name and open a store on Zazzle for free. Using Photoshop, the designs were created and uploaded to the Zazzle system.  With all the products ready to go, I then created a basic website at http://www.railroadthreads.com/ with links to the products on Zazzle. I also created a Facebook page and Twitter account to help spread the word. The total time investment was about 4 days (or just over 30 hours) and $12. By day 6, I had already broken even on my investment.

This is the power of on-demand. Literally, in one long weekend, you can go from idea to full scale business. What are you waiting for?

To learn how to build your own on-demand business, pick up a copy of the book “Business in Minutes – How To Profit From the On-Demand Revolution” at Amazon.com.

Best Selling Author Leaves Publisher to Go On-Demand

2010-08-24T10:30:00.003-05:00

Seth Godin, one of the leading thought leaders on marketing as well as a best-selling author, announced on his blog that he will be leaving his publisher Portfolio and sell his work directly to his fans. His vision is to provide content to fans of his blog and his books through e-Books and self publishing. This is not his first foray into the on demand world. One of his books, Permission Marketing : Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers, was sold through a self publishing venture just over a decade ago.

This is illustrating this growing trend for authors, musicians, filmmakers, and other content creators to move away from traditional distribution channels and move their work on-demand. The revolution continues...

To learn how to build an on-demand business, pick up a copy of the book “Business in Minutes – How To Profit From the On-Demand Revolution” at Amazon.com.

Business in Minutes Book Sale

2010-08-16T15:05:00.000-05:00

For a very limited time - a limited quantity of the book "Business in Minutes" will be available at a very low price on eBay. It is so low you will have to visit eBay just to see it.

To learn how to build an on-demand business, pick up a copy of the book “Business in Minutes – How To Profit From the On-Demand Revolution” at CreateSpace, Amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble.com.

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On Demand and the Minimalist Business

2010-07-22T12:00:00.006-05:00

One of the best parts of the on-demand revolution is that is takes some of the risk out of starting your own business. Your start up costs will be minimal and you can get off the ground and running in such a short period of time. While the book Business in Minutes How to Profit from the On-Demand Revolution focuses on the nitty gritty X's and O's of getting your business off the ground, Far Beyond the Stars blogger Everett Bogue has written a wonderful book about the bigger picture of running a business. The book titled Minimalist Business discusses ideas about building a lifestyle business that has low overhead, is location independent, and pays its customers. While I am certainly not a minimilist (Everett explains in his blog how he has lived with as few as 50 possessions!), the ideas presented in his book are solid fundementals of where many future businesses are heading. Do most business really need offices or even desks or even a location? These are good ideas to think about and incorporate as you build your on-demand empire.

To learn how to build an on-demand business, pick up a copy of the book “Business in Minutes – How To Profit From the On-Demand Revolution” at CreateSpace, Amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble.com.

Fast-Selling Hit Book, Business in Minutes, Released for Kindle Readers on Amazon.com

2010-07-06T06:00:00.001-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 6, 2010

Fast-Selling Hit Book, Business in Minutes, Released for Kindle Readers on Amazon.com

On-Demand Business Book Now Available for On-the-Go Lifestyles

July 6, 2010 – Author Jim Spavins has launched the Kindle version of his insightful business book, Business in Minutes - The On-Demand Revolution and How to Profit From It, on Amazon.com. The ever-growing popularity of the Kindle reader provides instant access to a book filled with insightful advice for building on-demand businesses.

“Nothing is more ‘on-demand’ than the Kindle reader,” says author Jim Spavins. “It allows users to download and begin reading a new book in 60 seconds or less, and that’s a good fit for my book, Business in Minutes.”

Business in Minutes shows everyone how to create products and sell to the mass market without the need to purchase inventory, fill orders or even ship the product. On-demand service only manufactures products when a customer makes a purchase. Utilizing case studies, Business in Minutes teaches success by example and helps those with passion harness the power of the on-demand business model.

“I wrote this book because I wanted to give passionate people an alternative,” explains Spavins, “an alternative to forking over their life’s savings to gamble on their future. There are so many lucrative ways people can build a successful business with limited financial and time investments.”

Making Business in Minutes available on the Kindle allows readers to draw tips from the book wherever they are—on a lunch break, on the road, or in the comfort of their own home. With Kindle’s vast library - currently over 620,000 titles available - Kindle for PC, and Kindle for iPhone apps, more readers are relying on the Kindle than ever before.

To learn more about Jim Spavins and Business in Minutes, visit his website at http://businessinminutes.blogspot.com/ or find him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/BusinessinMinutes or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/BizinMinutes.
About Jim Spavins

Having built several successful on-demand businesses, Jim Spavins presents in his book Business in Minutes lessons learned and a practical step-by-step guide for enterprising content creators to get an on-demand business off the ground and running. Jim is currently the Managing Principal at Isthmus Ventures, based in Madison, Wisconsin, which specializes in businesses using on-demand services.

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Video Games for the On Demand Revolution

2010-06-24T13:00:00.001-05:00

Self publishing is no longer just the domain of book authors and musicians. Even video game designers are getting into the gig. According to the magazine Inc. one of the hottest growth areas for start-up businesses in is self published video games. (Read the article here) There are numerous outlets where game designers can get there creation out to the public from Apple's iTunes store to Xbox Live. There is no time like the present to cash in on the on-demand revolution.

To learn how to build an on-demand business, pick up a copy of the book “Business in Minutes – How To Profit From the On-Demand Revolution” at CreateSpace, Amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble.com.

On Demand Books at the Register

2010-04-20T10:00:00.033-05:00

For the last 10 years, On Demand Books, has been working to create a print on-demand machine that will allow books to be printed at the register at bookstores, newsstands, and libraries. Their machine - the Espresso Book Machine - has found its way into several smaller book stores over the last few years. In addition, the company has been working to sign content providers to a have a catalogue of books that can be sold from their machine.

The cost to produce a book with this machine seems to be inline with what is charged currently by the numerous print on-demand publishers. This means that the retail prices for the print on-demand books could be the same as any on the shelf offering at their store. While the price of the machine is still probably too high for book stores (approx. $100,000 according to their website), over time this should come down. If book stores could decrease their real estate foot print by moving some of the current on the shelf inventory to a digital catalog, these print on-demand machines could prove to be a very lucrative investment.

This is exciting news for print on-demand authors. One can only imagine that when use of this machine reaches a critical mass, print on-demand companies, like Lulu and Createspace, would be willing to make deals to allow their authors the opportunity to sell through this network. Maybe, print on-demand books will finally make it into the book stores after all.

To see a YouTube clip of the Espresso Book Machine in action, click here.

To learn how to build an on-demand business, pick up a copy of the book “Business in Minutes – How To Profit From the On-Demand Revolution” at CreateSpace, Amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble.com.

Retropolis - A Blogging and On Demand Vision

2010-04-06T10:00:00.000-05:00

When looking around to find stories of print on-demand business, one of the more interesting artist and illustrator sites around are the ones created by Bradley W. Schenck. He has created numerous print on-demand business including "Retropolis: The Art of a Future that Never Was" which uses three different print on-demand companies for products – Zazzle, CaféPress, and Printfection. The site features plenty of different products for sale from t-shirts to clocks to posters and integrates them all into one website.
For those of you who have a good grasp of computer coding, Mr. Schenck also offers a very informative blog which he outlines some more advanced coding tools that can be used to create a steamlined web presence for your print on-demand products. You can check out the print on-demand section of the blog here.
If you have an on-demand business success story, than we’d love to hear from you and post it here. Send us a quick email through the Isthmus Ventures contact page.

To learn how to build an on-demand business, pick up a copy of the book “Business in Minutes – How To Profit From the On-Demand Revolution” at CreateSpace, Amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble.com.

An On-Demand Business Sure To Hit Your Funny Bone

2010-04-01T10:00:00.001-05:00

It’s almost that time of year again, where millions of high school and college students will take the march to “Pomp and Circumstance” and graduate. This annual event presents an opportunity to create a gift that relatives and friends can give to the graduates. Zilly Books provides gag books in their Everything I Learned series for just such an occasion. Started just last month, the company offers a large selection of gag books for numerous events including graduations, birthdays, holidays, and career milestones.

The idea of gag books has been around for a long time; however, using print on-demand technology keeps the start up costs low. The books are all printed at Lulu.com and are shipped to the customer within a few business days. The entire business went from idea to sales in just over 45 days. This is part of the speed and ease of using companies like Lulu to create products on-demand.

If you have an on-demand business success story, than we’d love to hear from you and post it here. Send us a quick email through the Isthmus Ventures contact page.

Disclosures: Zilly Books is part of Isthmus Ventures, the company which operates this blog and published the book “Business in Minutes – How To Profit From the On-Demand Revolution.”

Make On-Demand An Extension of Your Business

2010-03-25T10:00:00.005-05:00

While this blog and the book are geared towards those who want to start a new business, why not use print on-demand to expand your current business? Could you add a product to what you already do that could enhance what you do? On-demand is a low cost way to add an additional revenue stream and reach customers all over the world.

To learn how to add on-demand to your business, pick up a copy of the book “Business in Minutes – How To Profit From the On-Demand Revolution” at CreateSpace, Amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble.com.

Mr. Splashy Pants Saves the Whales with On-Demand

2010-03-23T10:00:00.003-05:00

About two years ago, Greenpeace was looking to raise awareness and money for its campaign to save the whales. The group created a poll to name a whale that they wanted to track in the Pacific. One of the names was Mr. Splashy Pants. This created an internet phenomenon but also gave Greenpeace a great meme to place on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and so on. So where did Greenpeace turn to capitalize on the publicity? To CaféPress and their print on-demand products. They opened a store with ‘Whale Goodies’ featuring Mr. Splashy Pants. For a non-profit organization, not having to pay for inventory, they are able to save their money and use it towards their mission. To see the story of the Mr. Splashy Pants, see this talk on TED here and to see the store, click here.

To learn how to build your own on-demand business, pick up a copy of the book “Business in Minutes – How To Profit From the On-Demand Revolution” at CreateSpace, Amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble.com.

Stress Level versus Cash Flow for an Entrepreneur

2010-03-18T10:00:00.002-05:00

I had a friend while I was in business school – let’s call him Charlie – who was specializing in entrepreneurship. However, Charlie, being a bit older and wiser than most of us in the business school program, decided he did not want to be like one of his classmates and start a business. Instead, he wanted to go work at a young business that was cash flow positive. At the time, I was a bit confused. All I wanted to do was start my own business and I thought what could be more fun than being there at the beginning. You’d have the opportunity to mold a business and see it grow every step of the way. Plus, when you make it big, you will have the biggest payoff.

So, when we all graduated, Charlie found a job with a small start up who had been in business for a few years. It had just reached the point of being cash flow positive while several of my other classmates and I decided to take our ideas and turn them into businesses. What I discovered, was that my friend Charlie was right. The enthusiasm and excitement of starting a business slowly fades away as the initial cash from the investment gets spent and revenue trickles in. As pictured below, from my own experiences with my business and without any real scientific study, is a graph of the entrepreneur’s stress level as it relates to cash flow with their business.

Starting a business from scratch is one wild ride. I think for most entrepreneurs, it involves a lot of long hours and some sleepless nights in the early days of the business. I was able to talk to my friend Charlie from time to time about his job, and his stress level was always way below the classmates that had started businesses. I’d still encourage anyone who has the desire to start a business to do so. Just be ready for the stress curve!

The book "Business in Minutes - How To Profit From The On-Demand Revolution" is now available. Purchase from CreateSpace here.

The 2010 US Census and Market Research

2010-03-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

Have you seen all those commercials about the 2010 US Census? Unless you are living under a rock, you probably have. All of the data that is going to be collected will be a gold mine for the on-demand business owner. In Chapter 3 of the Business in Minutes book, market research for your business was outlined. Take a look at some of these links to various data sources at the homepage for Census.gov.

Thanks to the American taxpayers, all of this information is free to use by the public. This data is a great starting point for general market research. It will give you some broad ideas and hopefully point you in the right direction for your market study.

To learn more about all the market research you will need to do as well as other market research resources, pick up a copy of the book "Business in Minutes – How To Profit From the On-Demand Revolution” at CreateSpace, Amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble.com.

MTV Using On-Demand For Next Release

2010-03-11T10:00:00.004-06:00

The idea of using print on-demand for a long time has been refered to as the 'vanity' press since it allowed anyone with an idea to create a product and sell it with limited quality controls. Generally, the idea was that a publishing company or record label would be able to better screen products. The idea that any of these companies would use these techniques would draw snickers and snide comments. However, some of these bigger companies have been learning the benefits to producing products on-demand.

MTV announced recently that they would be releasing the new TV show 'Jersey Shore' through Createspace (the same on-demand company that publishes the book 'Business in Minutes'). A news post on the Wall Street Journal's Market Watch tells the story:

"Using the CreateSpace DVD on Demand platform, networks such as MTV can distribute a wide range of content and get it to market faster than traditional methods of DVD distribution. The innovative, cost-effective and green-minded solution allows networks to avoid estimating market demand and missed sales due to stock-outs on popular content during peak demand. CreateSpace is the perfect solution for major networks' most buzz-worthy content, as titles can be manufactured in response to customer demand, meaning it will always be in-stock and available for expedited shipping to fans. CreateSpace enables organizations like MTV to distribute their titles on-demand on Amazon.com and other channels, including Amazon Video On Demand."

It seems as though some of the biggest content creators in the country are now beginning to see the benefits of on-demand, so what is stopping you from doing this for yourself?

The book "Business in Minutes - How To Profit From The On-Demand Revolution" is now available. Purchase from CreateSpace here.

Developing 1000 True Fans For Your On-Demand Business

2010-03-10T10:00:00.001-06:00

If you are serious about starting an on-demand business, you are going to need to spend a lot of time marketing your business and developing a following. This does not happen overnight. Chapter 5 in the Business in Minutes book, lays out what you need to get your marketing and sales plan off the ground, however, there is another aspect that needs to be addressed. This is building a fan base that will support your continuing efforts to build a sustainable business.

One of the best discussions about building a following to make a living was in a blog post on The Technium titled 1000 True Fans (link is here). For the most part, those folks working in the print on-demand world will be in this realm of sales and exposure. The point of the post was that the individual starting a business needs to reach out and find 1000 true fans. There are examples that are discussed in the blog post and comments section of folks making a living with a 1000 True Fans. As you build your business, keep this idea of 1000 True Fans in mind.

The book "Business in Minutes - How To Profit From The On-Demand Revolution" is now available. Purchase from CreateSpace here.

On-Demand Primer and Resources

2010-03-09T10:00:00.007-06:00

One of the questions I am asked is what is on-demand? On-demand is a printing process by which a book, CD, DVD, t-shirt, or other item is printed when an order from a customer is received (or demanded). There are several companies that allow authors, musicians, filmmakers, graphic designers, hobbyists, and others the opportunity to create their own content and sell items on-demand. What this means is that there is no costs, other than time to create the product, to sell an item.
Yes, anyone can make money from selling these items. As a sampling, here are several companies that I have used, or still currently use to sell products: CaféPress, CreateSpace, Lulu, and Zazzle. Each is a bit different in what services they offer, but generally, all of them are essentially free to use. You can make books, CDs, DVDs, apparel, gifts, artwork, and many other items through these companies. Take the time to explore each and determine which is right for you.

When you are ready to start a business using on-demand, pick up a copy of the book "Business in Minutes-How To Profit From The On-Demand Revolution" at CreateSpace, Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.com.

Business in Minutes Book Preview

2010-03-01T13:42:00.001-06:00

The new book will be available within the next week. In the mean time, here is a little preview of the book:

If you could spend your day doing anything you want, what would you do? What is that one thing that will make you jump out of bed early in the morning and stay up until late into the night? The answer to this question is your passion. What would you do if there was a way to turn that passion, with little additional time or monetary investment, into a part time business that will provide you with passive income?

If you have ever had the thought of taking your passion and building a business, all the tools you will need to build a world class company with valuable products are just a few keystrokes away. The early 21st century has seen the rise of companies that allow individuals the opportunity to create products and sell to the mass market, on-demand without the need to purchase inventory, fill orders, or ship the products. These companies' on-demand service produces products only when a customer makes a purchase.

This book will help those with a passion harness the power of the on-demand model and organize a profitable business model, develop a successful marketing and sales plan, produce quality products, and create a powerful web presence.

At the end of every chapter, there is a case study section called "Business at Work." In each of these sections you will follow an example business that was run for over a year with the on-demand business model. The business was designed to serve a small market but show how easy and simple it is to create a part time business that will make money.

So, are you ready to take your passion and create a business around it? If the answer is yes, then Business in Minutes will be the guide to help you succeed.

Creating an On-Demand Business

2010-02-15T21:00:00.000-06:00

As this blog evolves, it will focus on the numerous companies designed to help folks with a passion, turn that passion into products they can sell.

Within the next month, the Business in Minutes website and blog will be launched along with a new book that will be a primer for those who are unfamilar with these services or how to run a successful business around them. Make sure to follow us on Facebook for regular updates.

Welcome

2010-01-23T14:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the Business in Minutes blog! Stop by soon for more information.