Clicking on any of the ideas will bring up the information on all of them. I have doubts about some of the income potentials that he lists, and I suggest you do additional research before starting any of them. A couple of paragraphs is not enough to adequately describe how to earn money on these endeavors or the problem you may face. For instance, blogs need to have advertisers or merchandise for sale, zoning laws may prevent you from having yoga classes in your garage or doggy daycare on your property. Anyone can call themselves a coach, using Udemy a 10-hour course may provide you with a certification, but all you have is information and handouts. Little or nothing is said about the listening skills and powerful questions that credentialed coaches use.
If you are looking to make some money though, you can certainly use this list to jump start your own creativity.
The books and the workshops are out there. Monetize your passion…. Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow …. Start Your Business Now ….. Making a Living Without a Job….. So how do you actually do this?
Step 1: Brainstorm. Take a moment, or hours, or even days to write all your ideas down. Do not think about what will work and what might not work.. This is your brain storming session and you are allowed to write down whatever comes to mind. Turn your censor off.
Step 2. Make a List. Take the list of ideas from your brain storming session and write each idea on a separate piece of paper or index card. Use as many cards as you need. Each idea should have its own card.
Step 3: Categorize. Look at each of your ideas, and sort them out, put them in categories. Are any of them similar? Do some of them go naturally together so they all might be done within one business? For example, you love to cook and you love to help people with dietary restraints find foods and recipes they can use. These two ideas would go in the same pile. The cards that state your love of doing stained glass and decorating your home for the holidays will go into separate piles.
After someone dies their family is left with the accumulated possessions of a lifetime. After selecting the items that have particular meaning or value to them, they must find a way to sell the items so the house can be sold or the apartment cleaned out and rented. Usually they will hire an auction service to run an estate sale. This means that everything gets sold but some things will be sold very cheaply.
So how can you make money? To get started, buy the cheap remains from the auction service directly or at a rummage sale they may have after the auction. Once you know the market and business well, you can approach families to buy the entire contents of the home of the deceased.
Hobbies can often be turned into business ideas that can make you money. As a digital photographer you can make money from your photos.
Stock photography is one of the best ways to break into the online digital photography market. You can sell your photos to supplement your income and help businesses get the right images for their websites, newsletters, magazines, e-zines and other media. If you surf the Web, your may fine that many of the photos look the same. Your photos, if they are of sufficient quality, can add a new flavor to what is currently being offered.
Many photographers are daunted by the stock selling process but in reality it is very simple. Here are some ways to get started.
Understand how the stock photography business works. On these sites, customers can purchase pictures or lease them for a certain amount of time. On some sites, photos are free to use when signing an agreement of use and including a link back to the site. As a photographer, you will make more money if your photos are leased as opposed to being sold. The one time sale may net you some cash but the lease will provide a continuous source of income off of that one photograph. And, many people can pay to lease the photograph at one time. Through the leasing process, your work will be viewed by a large audience. Start by researching current stock photography sites. Find one that offers the leasing option to customers and also has an easy-to-navigate site. This is the site that you may want to begin with to test the waters with your work.
Continue researching stock photography sites, but now take a careful look at the photographs. What do they have in common? What types of photographs are selling/leasing well? Can you produce photographs that are similar yet also unique? Depending on your photographs consider submitting them to a specialized market.
Produce some high quality work to submit. Businesses using these sites are looking for professional quality at a price they can afford. You may have to submit to several stock photography companies.
Do more research. Make sure you understand how each stock photography company works so you know what kinds of images to submit, what licenses to grant your work, and make certain that this is not a company that exploits its contributors.
Create a website or blog with links to the stock photography sites featuring your work. This will send more people to view your photographs and may lead to other opportunities in the future.
Are you a shutterbug? If you like to snap pictures at family events or just out in the neighborhood, put that camera to good use in ways that will earn you money for your efforts. This article mentions eight ways that you can make money with digital photography.
The world of photography has changed since the instant camera was developed. With a digital camera, you can take a not so good shot and make it perfect using a variety of software options. Best of all, pictures can be printed on quality paper on your printer or at a store kiosk for just a few cents per picture.
Technology has created memory cards much like the flash drive storage medium to file and save pictures for sharing on the Internet. You can easily upload pictures from the memory card to your friends, family and a blog or website if you have one.
1. Stock photography. This business is growing. For website newsletters, magazines and articles, publishers look for photos that capture the essence of their articles. It is not terribly convenient to go out and snap some pictures every time you need one. Selling stock photographs to businesses and individuals is convenient for them and lucrative for you.
2. Wedding photographer. Okay so if you aren’t a professional you won’t be the main photographer at first but you can be hired to take candid shots at the reception or wedding photos after the ceremony. The happy couple can order as many pictures as they want and you can create wedding CDs of the pictures you took.
3. Newspaper pics. If you are in the right place at the right time, you might capture photos that are worthy of the newspaper. When news happens, a newspaper photographer might not be on the scene. You can capture the moments and sell them to newspapers. Snapping shots at community events may also earn you some money from local newspapers.
4. Magazine photographer. Create a portfolio of photos that you’ve taken and submit them to magazines. Looking at your work, they may hire you for assignments. Magazines are a tough market to break into so cut your teeth on other smaller assignments for local newspapers.
5. Local photography business. Ever gotten a mailing that shows cars for sale or houses for sale? Someone had to take those photographs. It could be you. Hire yourself out to area businesses to do the photographs for them.
6. Event photographer. Some families like to document their events like family reunions, christenings, bar mitzvahs and birthday parties. You can be the eyes in the room catching candid shots of everyone.
7. Photography website. If you know a lot about digital cameras and photography, create a website to sell photography products. Keep visitors and customers coming back with engaging content on various aspects of photography.
8. Teach a photography class. Those cameras look easy to use but some of those symbols can mix people up. Teach others to use their digital camera and create great pictures that they, too, can market as a business.
Do you like photography? What started off as a hobby can become a new business venture.
If you are considering going into business, you may want to consider having multiple streams of business. Having multiple streams means that you have more than one profit center. Now you may hold the belief that one should be focused and put all your effort into just one product of service. Being focused is necessary but most big businesses have a primary product or service and more than one profit center. Small businesses, too, can benefit from having more than one source of income in a changing economy.
There are at least three reasons to consider having multiple streams of business
Economic
You’ve chosen a business that can bring in only a certain amount of profit. You can write only so many resumes per week and then there are weeks when you have too few clients. There is a limit to how many dogs you can walk before and after your full-time job. You can only accept so many children into your popular after-school art classes. You love what you do; it brings in some income, but you are limited by time and/or space.
Growing Your Main Business
Developing new business streams might be a way to grow your main business so it brings in more money or to enables you to do it full-time. The resume writer can offer interview coaching or job search coaching, of publish an e-book or paper on Amazon on how to ace interviews. The dog walker might have a blog or website about dogs that has space available for advertising or that leads visitors to online retailers to purchase their products (affiliate marketing). The after school art teacher could do affiliate marketing of art and craft supplies for children or create a course (online or DVD) or a membership site for moms who want to learn how to teach art to their children. (Desired by moms that home-school and moms that are concerned because art is one of those subjects that cash-strapped school systems have eliminated from the curriculum) These ideas are all related to your core business but they provide another source of profit.
Variety
You need variety and change. You can’t see yourself focusing on one thing for the rest of your entrepreneurial life! So make or do the several things that you want to do. Maybe you will have a business for each season. Maybe you will blog about something you find fascinating and do affiliate marketing for a related product. Maybe you will write an e-book on how to do something and promote it with YouTube videos. You probably have more than enough creativity to pull this off.
Some of the above examples of streams are active and some are passive. Active income streams generally involve a trade of work for money, which means that your time is consumed. If you are already trying to do too much, you may want to consider a passive income stream because once they are set up they provide income without additional work contribution. Some passive income streams require significant money to start with, but significant cash is not needed to publish an e-book, start a membership site, become an affiliate marketer, or create apps.
So how can you identify what new stream of business you should try first or next? Barbara J. Winter in Making a Living Without a Job: Winning Ways for Creating Work that you Love offers a number of tips, that have been adapted for this blog.
Figure out what you want to do. Brainstorm, mind map, ask your friends and family what you do best. Then pick out one stream of income that you will be happy doing and put it at the top of your list. Prioritize any additional ideas that you might like to try later.
Estimate how much it will cost to put each of your priority business streams into operation. This step will most likely require some research. Interview people who are in a similar business, use the internet to find the wholesale cost of item you will need, make an appointment and talk to someone at the SBA (Small Business Association)
Estimate how much profit each of your potential streams will generate in the first year. You are looking for a realistic view of what your profit margin will be during your start-up.
Take a look at the analysis you have done on these business streams. Which will cost the least to start? Which will be more profitable? Do you have the time and energy to get the stream started?
The best solution is to choose the business that will make the most profit and cost the least amount of money to start.
Since it is almost Halloween, today’s weird Wednesday post is adapted from the book 1001 Ways to Make Money If You Dare. All these businesses have risk factors and they all can potentially provide some income. On a personal note, I would not be willing to do any of them!
FYI: Question marks (?) indicate the risk factor and dollar signs ($) indicate potential monetary reward.
Clean Out Attics, Cellars, and Barns
OK, you will have to deal with cobwebs, dust, and debris, but folks are willing to pay so they don’t have to do it themselves and haul the trash away. It is also quite possible that you might find things of value in their junk. ?? $$
Be a Gardener – Plant Flowers and Tend Gardens
Flowers can brighten anyone’s day, but planting seeds or transplanting seedlings can do in a lady’s nails. Get the word out in your town that you will plant the flower gardens and tend them all summer. ….
Get more customers who have vegetable gardens. These folks start out with high green ideals as they plant the seeds or transplant the tomatoes, squash, and eggplants. Only problem is their green zeal quickly disappears as the weeds appear. Go doubly green and save their gardens for a price. ? $$
Breed Feeder Animals Where do pet stores get those little mice that get fed to pet snakes? These mice are spawned for one purpose. Talk to local pet stores and see if you can under-price its feeder animal supplier. ?? $$
Farm Emus
If you have some space, you can raise emus. The market for these big birds in the U.S. is growing, The birds are adaptable and do not take up as much space as livestock. Their meat is low in fat, but the entire animal is valuable. Not only the meat, but the claws, skin, oil, and feathers can be used and sold. ?? $$$
Build Solar Panels and Windmills
Sunlight and wind are free. Construct and install solar panels or build windmills and help people bring their electric bill down to almost $0. To find out how visit http://www.earth4energy.com/video or http://www.makeyourownwindmill.net?? $$$
Sell Write-It-Yourself Term Papers
It’s not ethical to sell term papers to students but you can do the research and give them an annotated outline! You can do research on subjects you love then write the outlines for papers on this topic. Provide the excerpted research and annotated outline to desperate students who can now legitimately write their term paper. Advertise on Craig’s List in college towns. ? $$
Home School Other People’s Kids
Maybe you don’t want to home school your kids but if you have the teaching skills you can hire yourself out to teach on a one-on-one basis, so overprotective parents who have no idea how to teach can still home school their child. ? $$$
Deliver Nondelivery Take Out
Some of the best restaurant food is take out only. Make money picking up the foods from restaurants and delivering it to apartments and dorms. ? $$
Be a Belly Dancer
Secretly you watch Bollywood movies and imitate the dance moves. No one needs to know who you are. With a veil over your face you can get paid for your hip-shaking dance routines. Post your ads online and get paid for entertaining. ? $$
Become a Boudoir Photographer
Scantily clad photos of oneself make the perfect Valentine Day present, but women need someone they feel comfortable with to get au natural in front of a camera. Help them relax. Use aromatherapy candles and serve some chamomile tea then start the photo shoot. ??? $$$
If you are seeking ideas for what type of business to start do try shadowing someone who doing something you are interested in like a bed and breakfast or wine bar. The suggestion for doing an informational interview is also a great suggestion, but you may want to interview someone who is operating a business at least 50 miles from where you might start your business, so you do not appear to be a competitor.
No ideas at all!
Look at a copy of the noncredit course being offered at your local community college. Some of these course may suggest a new business idea.
Visit www.fabjob,com Check out the dream careers and purchase any books you are really interested in.
Consult a Profiting from Your Passions coach for one or more sessions. Explore you passions, skills, interests, assets and who will want what you have to offer.
Some businesses slow down on a seasonal basis, summer or post Christmas; other businesses see income dwindle in response to economic factors. So what can you do if a slowdown occurs.
Mind Map
First, do some brainstorming and then pick an important project or goal that will help increase income. Some ideas to jump start your thinking process are listed below. Second, create a plan, you want to get all your ideas out of your head onto paper, and then organized before you begin. Make it a visual, you want to be able to see your plan Create a flow chart or do mind-mapping to produce doable action steps. Never tried to use mind mapping, YouTube has some good instructional videos.
Here are some ideas to jump start your brainstorming session:
Redo your website: Home page, About page, Product or Services page. Make sure your copy is compelling. What will they gain from hiring your or buying your product?
Your Opt-In Gift. Is it old and tired? Should be something more interactive like a “quiz” or a choice of the best opt-in gift. Maybe your Tip Sheet or White paper should be turned into a video.
Create more visibility for your business. At the very least be on YouTube. If you want to be more professional, start an online radio show or an online TV show.
Not using Facebook Fanpage or Twitter – get started.
If you have content, turn it into products and generate a new income stream.
Turn your content into an online course or create a membership site.
Offer Teleseminars or Webinars to attract new clients.
Plan a workshop or group program.
Clarify your niche. Are you reaching out to the right audience? Is your language and imagery appropriate? This is important if you are not a member of the demographic group you are trying to serve.
Get support. A business or writing coach; someone to help you with technology, join a Meet-Up entrepreneurial group ……
When you are buying or selling a house only three things count. Location, Location, and Location.
Is location a factor if you are starting a business?
Location Factor #1 – Mindset: Your location may make a difference in terms of what you think and know about small businesses. I have only lived in Massachusetts, so I will mainly use my state as an example. In the medium –sized cities, especially in the central area of the state, I see few examples of small businesses; a few small restaurants usually owned by immigrants, insurance agencies, psychologists and counselors. In the smaller the cities and towns I see more examples or small businesses and seasonal businesses, especially in western Massachusetts, on the North Shore and on Cape Cod .
In Worcester, my current hometown, my resume clients want jobs, even those well over 60 years who have been out of work for several years. If I suggest that they start their own business – I get a response of “NO…. never heard of anyone doing such a thing successfully.” They don’t even notice the examples that do exist – solitary massage therapists, yoga studios, in which one owner began slowly ant then hired additional instructors. In the small towns to the west, my older clients are more likely to look around and see people who have started a “Boomer” business – Photographer, Handyman, Mideastern pastries, computer repair.
Gallery
Last week I was on vacation on Cape Cod. Small businesses
Gift Store -consignment
are everywhere. Mini art galleries, gift stores, gift stores that sell gifts and crafts on a consignment basis, (fairy doors and accessories, any one?) photographers, wood carvings, all kinds of jewelry businesses, massage therapists working out of colonial homes, and many homes that apparently convinced their owners to start bed and breakfasts. On the Hyannis waterfront, fishing shacks have become the artist’s
Artist Shanty
shanties.
Fairy Door
Location Factor #2 – Working from Home: If you are just beginning it is convenient and you can’t beat the low price. For some part time businesses, it is ideal: an internet business, landscaping, dog walking, coaching, some types of crafts. Since no customers visit your business, all you need is some space, a telephone number, and your lap top.
Your home may not be suitable for businesses in which you will be having face-to-face contact with your clients, unless you have a separate space for your business. I run my resume business, halfpreneur.com, and my college teaching profession from what used to be our dining room. I can easily block off the room from the rest of the house, if clients enter through my front door. Unused In-law apartments can become a business space, a friend ran her Reiki and hypnosis business from the “apartment” that no relative needed.
If you plan on seeing customers, you also need to check on the zoning requirements of your city/town.
Location Factor # 3 – Choosing a Location: If you cannot work from home for some reason, you will have to rent, lease, or share space. Subletting an office or using a space that specializes in new businesses (sometimes referred to as incubators) may give you some instant visibility, and the price will be lower than renting a place on your own, which as a part-time entrepreneur you probably do not even need.
If you are making a food item, you may need to rent time in a commercial kitchen. Check the laws in your area, if you a producing a version of your family’s famous salsa or fudge. Before renting or leasing a store for you craft items, check the market by starting at craft fairs or specialty consignment shops. Look at trends in your area, you may want to run your craft business only during the summer in an area that has tourist traffic and use the internet and craft fairs the rest of the year.
For any small business, especially for one serving actual customers in real time, you first must determine that there is a need for your product or service. Location will make a difference in terms of attracting business and what you can charge. If my resume service were located in Boston or New York, I could be charging much higher prices for my services! www.career-development-services.com
