BYTE MARKS
Catch Z's and cash at same time

By Burt Lum

Make money while you sleep! That's what every red-blooded capitalist wants to do. But in the real world, you may toil away at your 9-to-5 job, get abused by your boss and feel that the harder you work, the less you get paid.

Wouldn't it be great if you could sell something on the Net, market it to a global customer base, and provide the service 24 hours a day, seven days a week?

And you could do this all while you're snoozing?

You might not be able to quit your day job, but what I am about to share with you opens up some cool possibilities.The site is called CafePress.com.

Here's the scenario:

You've been on the Net for several years. You have your own Web site, even started a blog. Let's assume you have something interesting to say, and your friends start visiting your site.

Slowly but surely, your visitor count increases, and now you have people from all over the world visiting your site. A gathering coalesces around your Web site.

Things are getting exciting.

Obviously, there's work involved if you are to get people to visit and return to your site. My assumption is that it's your passion, and you consider your Web site fun.

Part of your online presence requires branding. You may recognize this concept as it's used by corporations seeking to differentiate their products in the marketplace, whether they are soft drinks, sports wear or computer gear. The concept s useful also for individuals and small businesses.

Your branding might be as simple as a logo. It's part of what people identify with when visiting your site.

So, why not market that image? Here's where CafePress.com comes in.

It has created an online service that allows you to take that logo and put it on cups, T-shirts, mouse pads, caps, bags, etc.

CafePress.com handles the payment transactions, inventory and product fulfillment.

All you do is decide on which items you'll feature your logo. It's a free service, and you do not lose ownership of your design.

CafePress.com makes it easy for individuals and small businesses to sell their logo products.

All you need to do is link it to your Web site and keep those visitors coming. ;-)

Reach Burt Lum at burt@brouhaha.net.