Insight From Tyler Carlson, A Flashnotes Best Seller: Why You Should Get On Board

By Francine Fluetsch on February 28, 2014

Flashnotes.com is the student-to-student study materials marketplace. Flashnotes.com gives college students what they need most–more money and better grades. To learn more about Flashnotes, click here.

image via www.empactshowcase.com

Did you know that you can be making a decent amount of money for selling your notes online? You’re already taking the notes, so why not make a couple of bucks in the process?

Flashnotes.com is a website where students can buy and sell notes for classes to and from one another. Here is the inside scoop on Flashnotes, and why you should get involved with this awesome organization.

Tyler Carlson, a fourth year exercise science and entrepreneur/business student at Florida State University, is one of the top sellers for Flashnotes. He has been writing notes with them for a year, and was working with a similar company two years prior, so he definitely knows his stuff. He heard about Flashnotes and fell in love with the team and the site.

image via upchiro.com

So how exactly does Flashnotes work?

Carlson started selling notes for the classes he was in, either typing them or scanning them and sending them in. Typing is usually the way to go, since it looks cleaner, but if you have a bunch of science-y equations, it is totally okay to scan it.

“What you do is you go on the site, pick the class name, upload your notes, add a short description, and then Flashnotes will give you a link to your notes,” Carlson said.

At Florida State University, the students use Blackboard as a way of communicating to each other as well as professors, and so Carlson would send out an email about the notes he uploaded onto Blackboard, and then students would be able to check it out.

The key thing is that you have to promote your notes. Sometimes Carlson would give out a free copy of his study guide to a few people, as long as they would in turn promote his link so other people would know about it and buy the notes.

Whenever someone buys your notes, Flashnotes puts the money directly into your account via PayPal.

 Let’s talk money.

Carlson said that first you pick your own price for your notes, and then Flashnotes gets 30 percent of the profit and you get to keep 70 percent.

image via www.blueborrowednew.com

A lot of students get annoyed by this but Carlson said that Flashnotes allows you to set up shop 24/7.

“If you were selling notes by yourself, you’d have to set aside extra time and would only be making money when you were actively selling to people,” he said.

You are paying for convenience and in the end are going to bring in a lot more revenue than you would be able to if you were selling your notes all by yourself.

Carlson said that the majority of the sales are usually made 10 hours prior to a test, since everyone is scrambling to know the material.

Now you may be thinking, “well how much money are we talking?”

*Drum roll please.*

Carlson said that in his peak he was making between three to four grand a month! (I’m guessing your jaw just dropped because I know mine did). Of course Carlson is experienced, but he said that a freshman girl that just started writing for Flashnotes made $1,800 in one month.

 The money isn’t everything.

image via www.theexecutiveroundtable.ca

Sure, the money part is awesome, but Carlson emphasized to me that a wonderful advantage of working for Flashnotes is the networking opportunities.

“Working for Flashnotes is a stepping stone to your career goal,” Carlson said.

Embedding yourself in a small company and becoming a part of its growth is a great way to get yourself out there. Carlson said that all the executives at Flashnotes are happy to help students with connections to other jobs and are willing to vouch for them.

One of Carlson’s favorite questions to ask people is “If you could wake up tomorrow and do something that may or may not deal with your major, what would it be?”

He said that a lot of students “put blinders on” and only study for an upcoming test and then forget it all. They are skating by with binge studying, and aren’t taking in the big picture. When it’s time for them to graduate, Carlson said that a lot of students are scared and don’t know what to do. He said you need to get out there and gain experience, and try new things, and Flashnotes can get you there.

This article, by Rich Grant, provides some ways to build up networking skills and emphasizes, just like Carlson, how important networking is for college students.

 How to writes notes that will sell.

A best seller at both Flashnotes and the note company he worked for prior, Carlson definitely knows the ropes to note taking. He said the secrets to good notes are:

1)   Talk to the professor ASAP.

You want to get “buddy buddy” with them and show them that you have an interest in the class.

“If you get your teacher on board, they may provide you with certain things that will be on the test that you can add into your notes (highlight it in a different color) and this will make your notes more appealing to other students.”

image via blog.foundid.com

2)   Host review sessions (for free).

Hosting review sessions shows others that you are engaged in the material, have a willingness to learn, and obviously know your stuff.

Carlson said students who show up to the review sessions usually become customers for life because they can see the quality of your work and knowledge first hand.

3)   Realize all the benefits.

Sharing your notes with people will not only help them learn, but it will help you learn as well. You are practically getting paid to study and do well on your exams! Keeping the bigger picture in mind is the key to staying motivated and writing good notes.

Here are some more tips on how to take great notes.

Flashnotes is the future.

image via scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org

Carlson said that “in the last two semesters, over 70 percent of students haven’t purchased all of their textbooks.”

Flashnotes is changing the learning landscape and is allowing students to save money and get quality notes that will help them more than a $250 textbook that the professor will only reference once.

Change is coming: are you ready to be a part of it?

Post your notes and study guides for sale today on Flashnotes. To learn more about Flashnotes, click here.

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