He recently lost his job and has been applying all over town for weeks or months trying to find an even better job than the last. Slowly, reality kicks in and you start looking for any job, even one you hate, with the sole intention of finding something to help pay the bills. As the situation becomes more and more frustrating, you slowly start looking for creative ways to earn money from home. Start by looking for something with ease of entry and great advantage. Consider moving house and selling items on eBay. You do some research and soon discover that you are not alone. Literally thousands of people are standing in your shoes and looking at those companies they have seen or heard of success stories about. You know, the little old lady who made thousands selling hats he found at a garage sale or the 18 year old who made 150k selling his first house. The reality, however, is that the vast majority of eBay sellers or house flippers are not making the money they thought possible. In fact, most of them make very little, if any, because the competition is fierce and the experts take the lion’s share of the profit pie. That brings you to this article!

In an economy like the one we live in today, creativity is essential. Get-rich-quick schemes that actually work are rare at best. Getting ahead in today’s economy takes creativity, a good business plan and the will to make it work. Our answer… LIP BALM! You hear names like Chapstick and Burts Bees and your mind immediately goes to the little stick that moisturizes your lips and fits conveniently in your pocket. The average person never considers the huge profits that can be made from such a small item, but in this article we intend to open your eyes. We intend to outline a number of basic ideas that can turn that small stick into big profits. Keep in mind that all of the ideas below are based on buying bulk or custom lip balms from a company like Bulk Apothecary or any of the dozens of other lip balm manufacturers in the US.

1. A great way to make it in the lip market is to create your own custom lip balm line and market it in the same way as Burts Bees or Chapstick. Burts Bees is the classic example of how someone turned a small idea into a big profit. They started slowly with the simple mint balm you know and love. They began to sell it throughout the city. Slowly, they built a loyal following, and eventually, with a few SKUs added, they had a business worth over $900 million (based on Clorox’s purchase price a couple of years ago). Not bad for something that gained momentum with a lip balm stick. Now, although this is the dream scenario, there are thousands of companies that are doing the same thing on a smaller scale and making a fantastic living. All you need is a good idea, a nice label, and you’re in business. Go to smaller retailers and try to get them to pick up your newly formed product line. After all, this is how thousands of people start their own product line and it’s a simple recipe for success.

2. Another great way is to buy an off-label lip balm on the web and start your own party/wedding favors business. You can currently purchase unlabeled products from companies like Bulk Apothecary for .28 per unit. You pick up a small amount of inventory, get a good printer and some printable labels from an office supply store, and you’re open for business. Most personalized lip balms are sold online for $0.60 to $2.00 per unit. A huge win for something with such a low upfront cost and ease of entry. Not to mention, advertising on Facebook or other social networking sites is all you need to really build a successful business. Also, since most people will buy 100-500 pieces at a time, the volumes can really add up quickly. So can profits!

3. The last way may seem the craziest of all. Market yourself online as a lip balm distributor or manufacturer and sell it to other companies looking to make money selling your product. Companies like Bulk Apothecary sell their unlabeled lip balm for as little as .19 per unit in very large quantities. There are thousands of customers who use lip balm for all kinds of reasons. Whether they have their own brand, have a small custom lip balm website, or even if they are a private label manufacturer themselves, but don’t have the equipment to make their own lip balm. Whatever the case may be, at .19 per unit there is plenty of room to buy in bulk and promote yourself as a great distributor/manufacturer of these tiny money making sticks.

The ideas listed above are just a few ideas to spark your creativity. There are countless ways to make money from something as small and inexpensive as a Chap Stick and all it takes is a little ingenuity and hard work. With any luck, you could be the next big lip balm winner. The only thing to watch out for is trying to do something most people don’t think about. Changing houses may sound more glamorous, but believe me, there is more money to be made from lip balm if you find your niche.

Danny Pellegrino is the Vice President of Bulk Apothecary and a long-time veteran of the custom lip balm industry. Today we market private label lip balms for some of the biggest names in the industry and pride ourselves on offering the best quality and prices anywhere.