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Home Business Ideas & Plans Roundtable: Subscriber Submissions
| Editor’s Comments: Cynthia’s aquarium cleaning idea definately has merit. I remember as a kid my brother and I had a small 15 or 20 gallon aquarium that we had to clean every month. Man, I hated that job. It took hours and we made such a mess we would end up having to clean practically the whole house after we finished. It would have been much easier to take the whole thing outside and hose it down (why didn’t we think of that?) This idea could be the basis for a nice little part-time business for kids (or even adults). A lot of people have aquariums these days. Print up some flyers on your computer and post them around town on bulletin boards, in pet shops, at the mail boxes in apartment and condo complexes. Charge a reasonable fee or $20.00 — $25.00 for a once a month cleaning. Just 20 clients could earn you an extra $400.00 - $500.00 a month. You could do 20 aquariums in one weekend if you are fast. |
Daily Fax Advertisements
Submitted by Daren L.
The business idea that I have to offer is a daily fax advertisement. There are a few e-books on the internet that you can purchase on the subject. The business requires going out and contracting several business’ in your town, and charging anywhere from $25.00 to $50.00 per week to place their ads on a daily fax sheet. Restaurants are the best to work with as you can list their daily specials. Then you send these faxes to about 200 offices or business’ in town (making sure to leave a number in case they wish to be removed from your fax list). With today’s technology, faxes can be sent in bulk using a computer and a fax program. Once business’ see how effective this type of advertising can be, there may be dozens lining up to advertize in your daily fax.
| Editor’s Comments: As long time subscribers to my Biz Idea Journal know I came up with the idea to send restaurant Lunch Special faxes to office workers many years ago. Daren’s idea to use this method to advertise other businesses is a natural extension. |
Roving M/C
Submitted by James Y.
How about this for a business idea? Roving M/C in shopping centres. Stand at the front of shops using a microphone to advertise specials. Talked to a guy at a shopping centre today who makes very good money. He owns the portable PA system with a radio microphone and contracts to individual shop owners in malls and indoor centres. Need permission from the shopping centre manager in some cases. Attributes? Good voice with variable pitch. Ability to deliver good strong sales messages. No real dress code other than smart casual. Rates are negotiable but usually by the hour or half-day. Can sell to other shops and sometimes can move from one show to the next!
| Editor’s Comments: What a neat and unusual idea. I can see this being done at a different mall or shopping centers each week so as to not “wear thin” the uniqueness of it. You could probably make $200.00 — $300.00 per appearence. Another idea would be to incorporate jugglers, magicians, camedians, etc into the act to create more of a fun interactive atmosphere. |
Computer Dictionary
Submitted by Chris
I am thinking that somebody should do a computer dictionary with all the terms and explanations of terms such as search engines, ezines, popups, paypal, and all the jargon used in computer correpondence. I am sure there are many computer illiterate people out there just like myself. Actually you could do it in the form of a newsletter and in each newsletter add a new word and explanation. It could be something with a very miinimal cost however if there are a lot of people out there that don’t understand a lot of this they wouldn’t mind paying a litttle bit for it.
| Editor’s Comments: Not a bad idea for an information product. I know of a lot of newbie ebooks being sold that deal with specific topics (such as ebay, paypal, clickbank) but I cant’s think of one that incorporates them all into one ebook. That together with a comprehensive glossery of terms could be a great product for newbie internet users. At the very least it would make a great free giveaway book that you could use to sell other products such as hosting service, merchant accounts, autoresponders, etc. |
E-book Creator/Coordinator
Submitted by Joseph M.
Contact web site owners and offer to write an original e-book that they can sell on their web site, to their existing and prospective customers. You can charge the owner a flat fee to write the e-book or you can splt the commission with them for every e-book they sell. To obtain your content for the e-book, simply ask the web site owner what subject they’d like their e-book to be about. Then, simply research the subject online, go to your local library, or ask the web site owner a series of questions to obtain your content. When people place orders, the e-book can be e-mailed to them, you can send them a hard copy through “snail mail”, or both. You can process payments for the e-book through paypal (free) and simply add a paypal order button to the owner’s site. Using a 3rd party order processor like paypal is an especially good choice if you’re doing a commission split on e-book sales, because it allows you and the owner to monitor sales from a neutral source. If you’re working strictly off a commission split, make sure the web site owner agrees in writing to offer your e-book on their web site and/or to their mailing list. You wouldn’t want to invest your time into writing an e-book for free without being guaranteed specific marketing and exposure by the site owner. In return, you should guarantee the site owner will have ample opportunity to proof and request changes to the e-book before offering it on their site. Writing just a few e-books for just a few web sites with large followings can result in a significant number of sales. This opportunity will allow you to profit off of the existing relationships that web site owners have with their customers and web site visitors. All of the selling is done by the owners of the sites you write e-books for.
| Editor’s Comments: I think Joseph has really hit on a great idea here: Go to the people who already have an established market and create a product specifically for their customers. You could also use ClickBank to process the orders. |
Cartoon Murals
Submitted by Kathy
- Go to local library take out popular Disney books such as Cinderella, Little Mermaid , Peterpan. Choose clear face shots or the most popular scenes and make copies of the pages until the image is close to lifesize. Make several copies to turn the picture into a stencil. Costs only $0.05 per copy.
- Goto local paint store or chain store and purchase small or large cans of primary colors on the leftover section or rejects/returns section for half price or less. You can mix these primary colors to make many variations of colors.
- Advertise for free at local churches, supermarkets and other bulletin boards or place an ad in the pennysaver or other local paper for childrens murals - can develop into other areas such as truck and trains or sports etc.
- Can charge by the mural or by the hour based on size, and complexity.
| Editor’s Comments: Proceed with caution. If you try this you may wake up one morning to find a very pissed off 5 ft. tall mouse at your front door! Disney has been know to go to great lengths to protect it’s copyrighted characters. Better to have an artist create original characters for you. |
Resume Lead Broker
Submitted by Joseph M.
Sell contact info. (i.e. name, phone number, address, etc.) of resumes that employers are interested in. As opposed to “head hunters” or “employment recruiters” who only make money if and when one of their clients get placed in a job, you can charge employers $5-$100 up front, by selling them the identity and contact information of resumes that meet their criteria for employment. You can set your price based on the starting salary of the position. You would initially provide employers with “anonymous” resumes (no contact information). Even if you were to charge $100 per name, you’d still save employers a great deal of money as compared to what they’d normally pay a headhunter (typically 20%-30% of the job’s first year salary!) you can sell the contact information for one resume to as many employers as you’d like. Your only job would be to collect resumes and fax them to interested in employers with your rate sheet. Resumes can easily be collected by placing a few inexpensive classified ads in the help wanted section and by posting some flyers around your area’s college campus. You can also sell your contacts to traditional employment recruiters in bulk. A good add-on to this business would be a resume writing service which can be started by simply obtaining some inexpensive (or free) resume writing software.
Dog Toenail Clipping
Submitted by Mary D.
Here’s something I wish someone would do for me: Dog toenail clipping is a 2 person job for my dogs and I’d gladly pay someone $5-10 to drop by my house and help me every couple of months. For a warm hearted dog lover that’s good at doggie cosmetic duties this might be a nice little part time endeavor. (and check ears for ear mites too!)-
| Editor’s Comments: I have the same problem with my dog. She hates 2 things: Baths and Toenail Clippings. Why not combine the 2 and start a Mobile House Call Doggie Wash and Manicure service? Here is a related idea for infants: |
Baby Bubbles
Submitted by Deborah R.
We have salons (grooming services) that are mobile for pets, how about a service that provides bathing and massages for newborns? May have one central location or perhaps make appointments to visit. Carefully file nails, give a gentle soothing bath, wash the hair, supply a pert little bow or neat hair style. May supply a tshirt with your company logo once the bath is done. Warm moist baby lotion is applied after the bath is done. And if that is too much to imagine maybe supply a gift basket with baby supplies for such a bath to do at home with information on infant massage. Each visit at home could cost $30 an hour and the same may be charged for the do-it at home gift basket.
Top Secret Recipes
Submitted by Bill M.
Here is a business I thought up myself. I thought it would be good for your contest. The idea is to teach a cooking class. But not just any cooking class. In this class, students will learn how to cook versions of dishes from their favorite restaurants. They’ll make dishes like Boston Market Meatloaf, Chili’s Chicken Enchilada Soup, IHOP Pumpkin Pancakes, Lone Star Steakhouse Chili, Outback Steakhouse Bushman Bread, Tony Roma’s Baked Potato Soup, and even the Soup Nazi’s Mexican Chicken Chili! (Remember the Seinfeld episode with the Soup Nazi?). They’ll make sauces like TGIFriday’s Jack Daniel’s Grill Glaze, Arby’s Sauce, and Big Mac Sauce. They’ll make desserts like Mrs. Field’s Chocolate Chip cookies, Nestle’s Baby Ruth Candy Bar, and Girl Scout Cookies Thin Mints. You can get a lot of recipes for free from: http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/ http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/recipes.htm The website owner, Todd Wilbur, has a number of Top Secret Recipe books out as well. http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/thebooks.htm The draw for the class should be large with the Top Secret angle and the fact that you will be making restaurant favorites. People love secrets! Put an ad in the local paper mentioning that the class will be making Soup Nazi soups. People will love it! (By the way, I made a couple of the Soup Nazi soups, and they were amazing! And I’m no cook…) At the end of the class, you could have everyone make a dish on their own time, and have a feast at the last class. If the class is really popular (it should be) you can either take on more students, or raise the prices higher to fit the demand.
Trash Can Transporter
Submitted by James Jenner
Being 16, I needed a means to earn money that would not interfere with my school work and extra activities but would give me spending money for school supplies and other activities. In our neighborhood we have wheeled trash cans to place trash in for weekly pickup. The city law requires that they must be put out at the curb no sooner than 7pm the night before pickup and taken back in by 7pm the day of pickup. The homeowner is subject to a $200 fine if they are out too soon or left out too late. Since many people were not getting them put up, I started offering a service where I would pull the can from the curb back up beside their house for $5/month. I printed flyers out on the computer and placed them on doors where the cans were still at the curb when I came home one day. Right now most of my customers live between where I get off the school bus to home, so I simply do it as I walk home. At the end of the month I will leave a reminder with a preaddressed envelope where they can send the next months payment. One customer, who works third shift, has even offered me $15 to put out and pick his up each week. With only 20 customers, I can make enough to pay for what I need each month, and my 2 sisters are picking up people who call from different parts of the neighborhood to be their customers. And the best part was it didn’t cost anything to get started and a pack of envelopes has been my only expense.
Editor’s Comments: I asked James a couple of followup questions: How many customers do you have? Do you have any trouble getting paid? His reply:
I really like James’ idea. In fact, in the area I live we have the same problem. If we don’t get our trash cans wheeled back by a certain time we are subject to a $175.00 fine. James does this as a was to make some part-time money. But, in my neighborhood there are probably 1000 houses within about a 2 square mile area that use the roll out containers. You could probably get 100 or so of them to pay $10.00 a month for such a service. That’s $1000.00 a month for work you only have to do once a week. You could also earn extra money by charging $5.00 — $10.00 to clean, sanitize and deoderize the cans. |
Vehicle Pockets
Submitted by Victor Morris
Hello, We’re Vehicle Pockets, Inc. based in Milwaukee, WI. We have A sales building product that just makes good sense. You can start seeing new customers immediately!!! 1000’s satisfied. Distributors Wanted! To learn more or order one today - visit: http://www.cardpockets.com/
| Editor’s Comments: I almost deleted this one because of it’s commercial nature. Actually, I did disqualified it from the contest however, I thought it was worthy of mention. It looks like a great concept. |
Greeting Cards
Submitted by Connie H.
My business idea is to send greeting cards for people. Clients could be busy business men who do not remember anniversaries and birthdays. They will never be yelled at again for forgetting. Also, sending cards to their clients on holidays shows the business cares. You could have a nice selection of cards on hand. Your price would include keeping their list, dates, and postage. Many senior citizens no longer send cards because of their eyesight or handwriting. They would be glad to pay to have someone do this for them. You must be organized enough to know how long it takes the mail to reach destinations and make sure it is the right type of card. Each client would have to provide a list of friends and relatives along with correct addresses and dates to remember. Prices could go by the type of cards or the number of cards sent in a years time. Greeting cards can be bought in bulk to keep your costs down.
| Editor’s Comments: Greeting or thank you cards are a great way for businesses to stay in contact with clients. A business that specialized in keeping track of the details and sending these cards could do quite well. |
Romance Rendezvous
Submitted by C.M. Lewis
The Romance Concierge would rent a hotel room in a nice hotel, upon request. He or she would then ’set the mood’ for the type of event that the client requests. (i.e., Anniversary, Honeymoon, Birthday, Valentine’s Day, etc.) The client would be billed for total expenses incurred, plus an additional fee for the concierge’s services. The client could also give some personal items to the Concierce in advance, to be ‘placed’ in the room prior to the ‘guest’s’ arrival. Also, the client could pay for additional items to be placed in the room, upon request. Such items could include chilled champagne, roses, soft music, rose petals strewn on the floor and bed, chocolates, balloons, and appetizers. The list is endless. Upon setting the room up, the concierge would then depart the room before the client and their guest arrives for the evening. The client and their ‘guest’ would then go to the hotel room to spend the evening or the entire night to celebrate the important event. Just imagine the look of astonishment and delight on the ‘honored’ guest’s face when he or she enters the hotel room amid chocolates, appetizers, soft candlelight, jazz music, chilled champange, balloons and rose petals floating around in the jacuzzi filled with scented water.
| Editor’s Comments: Another great idea! If you try this just be sure to collect your fee and all expenses up front. You wouldn’t want to be left holding the bag on an expensive hotel room fee. |
Nostalgic Ads
Submitted by Rob G.
Here is a very unique and easy business you start
start for practically nothing. You can get old magazines
off Ebay that contain a lot of nostalgic
advertisements… stuff like old coke ads, automobile
ads, even department store that have gone out of
business. What you do is remove each individual ad,
mount and sell it as framed artwork. Some old magazines
like Colliers, New Yorkers, House Beautiful, etc,
contain 10 - 20 full color ads in each issue.
| Editor’s Comments: You can find low cost frames for these ad clippings at thrift shops. Big lots also sometimes has cheap pictures which you can buy, discard the picture and salvage the frame. |
Software Cards
Submitted by James N.
For the last couple of years now I have been creating
what I call Software Cards.These are just cards I create
and print from my computer and cut out.(Two cards per
sheet of card stock.)In side the card I put a 31/2 disk
with a small software program or some interesting
utility I find that’s free online and download it to the
disk. I give them as Christmas cards or Birthday
cards,etc; Everyone seems to really enjoy the idea of
getting a card with a gift. I sell the Software Cards
for $6.50 . Simple proccess-Someone buys a card for
sombody’s birthday and they get the gift at the same
time included. Hence the name Software Cards.I only
download the totaly FREE software.NO shareware stuff. I
use mostly programs that everyone would use such as
1-system Lock [ locks your desktop so nobody can use
your computer while your away ] 2- Candy Clock [ A
colorful & highly configurable desktop clock program
,the clock face can have any picture you have on your
computer.Great program ] 3- VCatch [ a virus checking
program that will check all files sent or downloaded to
your computer. ]
There are 1000’s of these small wonderful programs
that can be used in the Software Cards.Most of them can
be used by anyone with a computer.
| Editor’s Comments: Take this simple idea and add a twist: Create 30 — 40 different greeting cards each with it’s own unique program inside. For example, a birthday card could contain a program that prints out one of those “On the Day You Were Born” papers. A graduation card could contain a funny animated cartoon. The possibilities are unlimited. |
Get Paid for Giving Directions
Submitted by Deborah R.
Most cities have informational services but who do
you call when you get lost and can’t find your way?
If you have a computer you can use Map Quest to chart
where the customer is now and where he wants to go. You
may use the map on the screen to tell the customer where
to go and how to get there.
You may charge a modest fee per call by credit card.
You may list yourself with the visitor bureau as well as
yellow pages and have local restraurants to pay a fee to
you for advertisement. When people visit they need
someone to recommend a good place to eat:)
Paper to Electron Newsletter Conversion Service
Submitted by Sue M.
Look up current newsletter publishers and inquired
about offering your services to change them over to an
e-newsletter format. Of course, the subscribers would
have to submit their e-mail addresses and they all would
also have to be online…. but maybe there would be a
few publishers that would welcome an online format and
in turn offer a cheaper price to their subscribers….
So the consultant who is changing over to the online
format would not have to produce the content, just put
it online and send it out for a monthly fee. Or if a
publisher doesn’t want to change the newsletter over to
online, they could send out, between publish dates, the
updates to the newsletter via a short e-newsletter…
| Editors Comments: Not a bad idea. I would imagine there are a lot of paper newsletter publishers who would like to publish electronically but don’t know how. This could be a great niche business. |
Sue also included an additional idea that,
coincidentally, I have been working on myself:
Lunch Special Email Service
Submitted by Sue M.
Another idea I had was taken off your fax lunch
specials to businesses idea. Instead of faxing to
offices, go to the offices and gather e-mail addresses
and e-mail the lunch specials out. You could charge more
for the restaurants advertising at the top of the e-mail
versus the ones on the bottom…. This would be more
appealing to the restaurants as it actually gets
delivered to the desktops of many more individuals…
You could make it a weekly e-mail rather than a daily
fax. Also, you can emphasize that a person forward this
e-mail to associates and business partners. That way the
advertising gets spread around. You can have a “please
subscribe me” link at the bottom where people who have
had the e-mail forwarded to them can subscribe for
themselves.
| Editors Comments: Stay tuned. I am working out the details of this one and will be publishing my findings shortly. |
Unusual Subscription Service
Submitted by Bill M.
Here is a twist on an idea that is already being
profitably done. I see no reason why this shouldn’t also
work.
The model that it is based on is a subscription
service for black socks. See http://www.blacksocks.com
and http://www.blacksocksusa.com
Their business is simple. They have a simple website
which sells a choice of black calf length or black knee
length dress socks. (Actually, they also added white
socks for health care workers recently.) You can get a
pack of 3 either 3, 4, or 6 times a year. The owner
believes in keeping it simple, and it had worked out
profitably for him.
See:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2002/tc20020724_9718.htm
My idea is a subscription service for white t-shirts
(undershirts).
Just like businessmen need a steady supply of black
socks, they also need a steady supply of plain white
undershirts. With the wear and tear of everyday use and
washing, and sweat staining the armpits, men go through
white t-shirts quickly.
You could offer v-neck and regular. Keep it simple.
White only. Send packs of 3 or 6 either 3, 6, or 12
times a year.
Wholesale t-shirts can be found easily by doing a
search on google. If you ran the business like the guys
from blacksock.com, you would concentrate on marketing,
and leave the order taking, fulfillment, and shipping to
outside contractors. Just as the blacksocks website
received a lot of free publicity in the press, I think
this concept would too. And I’m sure that wives would
order a subscription for their husbands who don’t renew
their t-shirts often enough!
| Editors Comments: Women may not immediately see the need for this service so ladies let me try to explain: You know us guys will wear the same underware or socks or t-shirts until they have holes all through them and practically fall off our bodies. Right? I am sure you have seen that first hand. So, why do we do this? Because not only do we hate to shop — we hate going anywhere that even sells clothes. It has to do with our mom’s taking us shopping when we were kids and making us try on clothes. Arggg — it make me squirm just thinking about it. |
Love Letter Writing
Submitted by M. McClaugherty
I have been told that I am easy to talk to, perhaps
that is because I listen pretty well. I have, in the
past, helped people to write letters and poetry to the
significant others in their lives. After discussing what
was on the person’s heart/mind, I would help to put
these feelings and thoughts down on paper, in a way that
was honest and heartfelt, yet perhaps a bit more
eloquent, romantic, if that was the occasion. Though I
never charged a fee for this, I have since begun
actively pursuing my freelance-writing dream and
included this in my listing of skills…..Sometimes it’s
hard to find just the right card for someone to say what
we want; wouldn’t a custom homemade card, (even if it
contained no graphics), make you feel special knowing
that someone felt that you were too important to just go
grab a card with preprinted sentiments and took the
extra steps to really express to you how much you mean
to them?! What’s neat about this is not only can you
make some extra income, but also it is something that
you can really enjoy doing- (with a minimum of
expense/start-up costs).
Handicapped Parking Cop
Submitted by Jo Graeber
Being permitted to park in a handicapped parking
space, I find it very irritable when others without
permits are parked there. In my city, we have a posted
fine of $100. (Where I used to live, it was $500!) But,
it seems, there are not enough law enforcement officers
to spend their days writing tickets for such things. So,
it is totally ignored and unenforced!
So, here’s my idea:
Nowadays, many people have digital cameras. Why not
take a picture of the offending car - a shot of the car
parked in the illegal space, a shot of the license
plate, a shot of the front of the car showing NO permit
hanging from the mirror or on the dashboard. Minimum 3
shots. (If you have a zoom, you could even get a shot of
the driver getting into or out of the car.) You should
not have to get out of your car if you’re in a good
place. If you do have to get out of your car, take the
pictures and leave immediately to avoid any
confrontation from any people around who are wondering
what you’re up to.
You have NO confrontation with the driver. The
pictures are the proof. With most (if not all) digitals
you can see immediately if you have a clear picture or
if you need to take another. No flash should be needed
that might gain attention. All is done like a “spy”!
(Didn’t you always want to be a spy?)
Now, the illegal parker gets a fine of $100 (or
whatever your fine is). Perhaps your city will pay half
to you and they keep half. You both profit! And, the
illegal handicapped parkers will become less (or
hopefully not!). It won’t cost the city a dime, as you
get paid when the ticket is paid. You pay would depend
entirely on how many illegal parkers you can find.
First person to turn in the picture gets the reward.
(If destination was the same.)
The post office is a great place! Shopping centers,
malls, courthouse … the list is almost endless! Find a
good place to park and sit and watch. They’ll just come
to you.
Perhaps this can be extended to parking in fire
lanes, parking within 10 feet of fire hydrants, double
parking … anything in your city that is illegal and
requires a fine.
Anyone should be able to do this - older folks,
teens, anyone with a digital camera. Perhaps a Polaroid
or regular camera would work as well, but it would be
more costly.
My digital uses a regular floppy disk which is
terrific for just handing over the pictures. You could
upload your pictures to your computer and put them onto
a floppy or perhaps email them directly to the
appropriate office of your city.
The handicapped can “get even” with those who abuse
their spaces! and make money, to boot!
| Editors Comments: Jo has really set the bar with this idea. It is exactly the type of thing I was hoping for when I started the business idea contest. It’s unique, unusual, and has the potential to make someone a great deal of money. The biggest problem I see is getting the local authorities to work with you and honor your tickets. But, if you think about it there is really no downside for the town or locality. They would be collecting extra revenue without having to invest any time, money or man hours. Approach the mayor or town managers and pitch your idea as a way the town can raise some additional revenue.I sent Jo the following email to get her comments:Jo — The only problem I see is that some people forget to put the handicapped sign on the car when they park. Are you issued some kind of ID number that you could make a copy of and send with the ticket in case you are really innocent and just forgot to put up your handicapped parking sign? Here is her reply:
|
Street Smart - The Talking Map
Submitted by Jo Jo Graeber
First, you need to collect some city maps. I got one
free at the Chamber of Commerce. I got another free out
of my local phone book. I found one in a kitchen drawer
that was about four years old. (They don’t update maps
very often - but you will!) You can also check maps
online. Just go to google and type in city maps. You
should find several that will have maps of your city. I
also found a large Atlas map of my city in Wal-mart
which costs me more than I care for.
Now, why will your map be different? Your map will
have NO drawings. There are people who cannot read a
map. Some may be able to read them, but cannot see the
tiny, tiny lines and print - or just can’t fold and
unfold a map! You can offer them something different.
Your map is written out. You have a starting point.
My starting point is my local main post office. If you
were a newcomer to town, anyone could tell you how to
get to the main post office. If you’ve lived there a
while, you also know how to get to the post office. It’s
a great landmark that probably won’t move for many
years. All your directions should start from there.
My original idea for this came from garage saling. I
missed out on some sales because I didn’t know where the
street was. We got tired of folding and unfolding and
wearing out our map. So, I decided that it would be nice
to have a book that could tell me how to get wherever I
wanted to go. To get to Blair Street in my town, you
start at the post office.
Belleview Road - left on North Main Street, left on
Boulevard, left on Lindale, right or left on Belleview.
Blair Street - Cross North Main Street to North Street,
left onto Blair.
True, not all are this short. This was an example,
but even those that are really far away, don’t take much
room to write out.
Of course, street names are in alphabetical order. If
you know the “section” of town the street is in (North
Anderson, Shadow Subdivision, Belaire Estates), you
could add that in the beginning, especially to
differentiate the streets if some have the same or
similar name. Some have street, road and avenue, all
with the same first name.
True, not all are this short. This was an example,
but even those that are really far away, don’t take much
room to write out.
You can include the little neighboring towns or write
them as a separate book.
You can sell this book, but you’d make more money by
giving it away free!
How you make money: First, the ads. When you print
your book, you sell ads - front cover, back cover,
inside front, inside back, full pages, half pages
quarter pages. Decide if you want color. Talk with
printer for all the details. Color ads cost much more
(so you charge them more).
Another way to make money is when you write your
directions. You could offer an incentive - buy a full
page ad for XYZ Company and each time your direction
calls for Murray Avenue (the address of XYZ Company) and
your direction goes by this company, mention the company
in the direction. (Makes your directions easier to
follow as well!) Turn left at XYZ Company on Murray
Avenue or turn on Phillips Street (two blocks past XYZ
Company). You want your directions to be as easy as if
you were telling someone how to get there.
When I mentioned this idea to a realtor in Florida (I
was excited about selling them to garage sale shoppers),
he said he’d take the first 10,000 copies himself for
his realty company and I could do what I wanted with the
rest. I know this is a winner! Every pizza delivery,
furniture delivery company, policemen, garage sale goers
– just think of the uses!
At the end of the book, you could offer a free ad in
the next issue if someone is the first person to submit
a street (with directions) that was not included in the
book or was in error. The key word here is “first”. Or
if you decide to charge for it, they could get a free
copy of the next issue. The first issue is your hardest
as you are writing them all and doing the ads. However,
after that, it will only be updates every couple of
years (streets grow fast!). Every new issue, you sell
ads again (add to the older ones or create new ones) and
take in the revenue. If someone wants their company in
the street directions, use the computer to find the
streets and insert the company name.
This is a great job for someone do to at home, except
for the selling of the ads. If you can find someone you
trust, ad salespeople work on commission, or you could
advertise your book when it’s close to being finished
and some of the advertisers can come to you.
| Editors Comments: What a unique business idea! It used to be if you needed directions all you had to do was stop off at a convenience store. Not any more. Nowadays people who work in convenience stores barely speak English. You can’t expect them to give accurate directions. A book of written directions would be a good product for lost travelers. |
Fresh Bread Delivery Service
Submitted by Nicci A.
If you have your own transport, and don’t mind
getting up very early in the morning - Then this is an
ideal small business to consider.
Customers can pay a monthly fee to have fresh bread
delivered to their house every morning or as needed
during the week.
You could also charge a small once-off fee to have a
secure, lockable “bread box” (similar to a post/letter
box) installed outside the customers house. You may have
someone build the “bread box” or make some extra cash by
building and installing the box yourself. This can
advertise your company name and contact number to help
increase the awareness of this service you are
providing.
Negotiate with a local bakery that opens very early
in the morning, to get fresh bread, as per your
pre-ordered requirements, at a good price. Then deliver
to your customers before they have even woken up.
When your customer wakes up in the morning their
fresh bread will be ready & waiting in their own “bread
box” outside. They know that they don’t have to rush out
late at night or early morning to get bread for
breakfast or those lunch-time sandwiches.
| Editors Note: Elizabeth Collins sent me the following email:
I told her to go for it and was very pleased |
Pom-Poms and Self-Esteem
by Elizabeth Collins
We’ve all seen the advertisements: “Easy work,
excellent pay, workers desperately needed to assemble
products at home,” or “Urgent: Home workers needed to
stuff envelopes;” you get the idea. As intelligent as I
like to pride myself on being, I must confess that I
have fallen for too many of these too-good-to-be-true
offers of immediate wealth with minimal effort.
After seeing many advertisements for assembling
products at home, I thought I should give the business a
try—after all, I liked to work with my hands, and
getting paid for it sounded great.
When I called the number on the advertisement, the
company explained how their system would stay with you
until you found a job, and if you weren’t totally
satisfied you could have your money back. Did I say
money? Yes—they did charge; I guess workers weren’t
needed too desperately. I willingly gave them my credit
card number as they told me that it only cost $26.00 to
get started. I waited eagerly for my “business kit” to
come in the mail. After a couple weeks, it finally
arrived. My first disappointment was that instead of a
“business kit,” I got a small, cheap booklet with typed
names and addresses of places who were looking for
people to assemble products for them. The instructions
stated that you could send a letter with an SASE
(self-addressed, stamped envelope) to each company
requesting their employment information. Not one to give
up easily, I typed a letter, copied it, and sent out
letter after letter. By this time, postage alone had
cost me more than the manual, not to mention my time,
envelopes, etc.
Another couple weeks of precious time slipped by as I
waited for the companies who desperately needed help to
send me information on how to apply. The answers that
came in my mailbox were anything by encouraging:
“Assemble whirly-gigs with wooden ice cream sticks—sell
at your local flea market. Plans: $5.00” “Like cross
stitch? Now we’ll pay you to have fun. Cross stitch a
baby bib (about 6 hours worth of work) and we’ll pay you
$2.00!” You know, I did try the cross stitch one for
about a day—just enough to realize that my level of
skill and patience did not match up to the $2.00
incentive.
The business I settled on sounded very easy:
“Assemble pom-pom bears at home; we’ll pay you $6.00 a
dozen plus materials.” How could you mess up on pom-pom
bears? “This is the business for me,” I thought. This
company sold all the materials for the bears and
strongly encouraged that I buy all my supplies from
them, but I didn’t have time to wait on them for this
first round—they said it would take 3-6 weeks for
delivery of the supplies. I went to my local craft store
to purchase pom-poms, eyes, glue, and ribbon—each bear
must have a little bow. I worked industriously on that
first set of bears, and sent them off to the company.
I remember how proud I was with my first check—about
a month after I had sent the bears in—all of $6.00 plus
material allowance, which wasn’t quite enough to cover
my expenses, so I had to take some of my precious $6.00
profit to put back into the material fund. When I made
the next set, I tried to set a record of time—the first
set had taken all afternoon. I gained some speed,
although I was still far too slow to ever get rich
quick—or even get rich at all. Two or three weeks after
I sent my bears in, I received a letter telling me that
some of my bears didn’t pass the scrutinizing
inspection—some of the ears were crooked, the nose
pom-pom wasn’t exactly centered—and if I wanted them
back to try to redo them, I’d have to prepay the
postage. Well, I’d spent a lot on materials, so of
course I wanted those bears back.
When they finally arrived, I vainly looked for the
great deformities in the second collection, but couldn’t
find anything.
However, I figured I would redo them and try to make
them “perfect.” Oh, what sorrow! Have you ever tried to
undo glued pom-pom bears without making a bigger mess
than what was already there? Well, by the time I sent
those bears off again, I had the sinking feeling that my
life’s fortune was never meant to be tied up in a mound
of pom-poms. Sure enough, my worst fears were realized
when the letter came again, “Your workmanship has
utterly failed; if you would like to receive these
pitiful specimens back to see if you can work miracles
on them and cause us to pay for them, please send us a
check for $4.00 worth of postage.” The second time, I
forgot it; I’d already lost all my $6.00 “profit,” and
now I was working on my saving account. I looked in
consternation at the bags of pom-poms, and thought of
the time and futility of this business. This was a
moment that my self-esteem plummeted to the 6-foot-under
level. I couldn’t even make pom-pom bears right! I mean,
didn’t most people learn that in Kindergarten? There’s
nothing worse than a big, scary letter, telling you that
you failed Pom-Pom Construction 101!
Unfortunately, I had not failed well enough. I
couldn’t get my original $26.00 back because I had found
a job, hadn’t I? And weren’t there more addresses in the
book to be tried?
A word of advice to all those who ever think of
trying a get-rich-quick scheme: Don’t do it! Sorry, for
all of you who have made millions doing pom-pom bears, I
don’t mean to offend you. But for those of us who don’t
have time or money to waste on stuffed animals—DON”T DO
IT!
Here is a picture of my rejected bear.
Bio:
Elizabeth Collins is currently working on another
work-at-home business: Medical Transcription. She has
checked this one out thoroughly and is looking forward
to being done with training. As final suggestion, she
states that you should consider researching the Better
Business Bureau’s rating on any work-at-home offer
before you sink your money into it. You may find them at
www.bbb.org.
Home Care Service
Submitted by D. Humphrey
Consisting of a service for elderly or shut-ins. The
services you can provide are as follows:
1- A daily telephone call- to check in with them
keeping them both company and letting them know someone
cares about them and is thinking about them.
2-Any errands that they may need done, examples
running to the Post Office, grocery store, pharmacy or
to pay bills.
3-You can chauffeur them around to run some errands.
(Helping get their things done that they can’t do on
their own plus getting them out of the house will help
cheer them up).
4-Any light cleaning that they may need done that
they can’t do themselves . (example taking down drapes
and cleaning, vacuuming, or dusting in high or hard to
reach areas).
Note any jobs that they ask that you might not want
to do you can always open the phone book and look for
services there and set it up for someone else to do that
for them like mowing their lawn, tree trimming…etc.
There is no limit to the variety of services you can
provide. You can have one day of cleaning per week, one
day for helping with laundry…etc.
For all these services you can charge a fee per
service or you can offer a flat fee every week or month.
Like a package deal offering all the above services
listed in the package.
Football Prediction Scam
Submitted by David M.James, this isn’t a exactly a business idea but
something I read about recently. It’s basically a scam a
guy perpetrated on football fans who like to gamble on
the games.
The guy used his laptop to send E-mails to 1,000,000
E-mail addresses he harvested from football discussion
boards. His “product” was a football game prediction
program from MTI (some people thought it was MIT). He
explained that originally the software was used for
weather forecasting but with changes in the variables it
could be used for the winning football team in any
football game.
What he did was separate the list into two groups of
500,000 E-mail addresses and sent to one list one team
winning that week’s game and to the other list the other
team winning. He then discarded the losing team list and
broke the winning list into 250,000 and 250,000 E-mail
addresses and did it again. He did this for SIX WEEKS.
By that time the remaining people who were always on his
winning list week after week thought his software was
Godlike. He charged them $5,000 each, which most people
gladly paid for SIX successful “predictions” in a row
(they thought they could recoup that money in no time
with their new software package and their bookies). Of
course, there was no software package and everyone got
fleeced but I still think it’s a great con. Not that I’m
advocating scamming people. 
| Editors Comments: Caviot Emptor! If this isn’t illegal it is definately unethical. |
Selling Ultima Online Characters, Spells and Objects
Submitted by Mark Lute
I play an video game called Ultima Online. In this
game you create your own online character within the
Ultima world — sort of like Dungeons and Dragons if you
have ever heard of that. Anyway you become your
character in the game and you travel through this world
and interact with other players, as well as collect
treasures, spells, weapons and other objects.
Anyway, I have found that there is a whole section on
eBay where you can sell your characters, objects, spells
and other items. Right now there is a guy selling a rare
“virtual” Ginseng Root (used to make spells.) There are
currently 5 bids and it’s up to $54.00.
In addition to Ultima Online there is another similar
game called EverQuest that is also popular with online
players.
| Editors Comments: I verified the eBay auctions and some of the bids are outrageous. Do a search for “Ultima Online” and/or “Everquest.” I just checked the completed auctions for EverQuest and a Level 62 Ranger tribunal (whatever the heck that is) went for $400.00 and there were 32 bids. A Level 60 Mage went for $250.00. Amazing. |
Sneaky — but Legal — Way One Woman Uses to Get Free Postage Stamps
Submitted by Anon.
I read about this “technique” and thought you guys
would get a kick out of it. You know the weekly penny
saver rags that have free personals ad? One woman has
figured out how to use them to get free postage stamps.
She places the following ad in the “Women Seeking Men”
section:
| Attractive, Uninhibited and Voluptuous is how I would describe myself. Looking for someone to pamper and have a “no strings attached” discreet rendezvous with. Age, race or looks don’t matter. Send reply describing what you have to offer and when you are available. Also enclose 3 postage stamps and I will send photos and rendezvous instructions to those I choose. Impress Me! Send to: Box 123 Penny Saver, 100 Pine Rd, Smallville, KS 48222 |
She says that her mailbox is jam packed daily with
envelopes filled with 34 cent stamps and some pretty
interesting letters. As for her technique being
“devious” she says that her ad specifically states that
she will only be sending photos and instructions to
those she chooses. She just hasn’t chosen anybody yet!
Photo Jockey
Submitted by Michael Ironfeather
The other day my wife and I decided to clean out a
few closets and have a yard sale. We found quite a few
things that we had forgotten we even owned, we even
found a gift we had received 30 years ago for our
anniversary, ugliest vase you have ever seen!!
One of the most amazing things we found was two boxes
of photographs! Old pictures we have taken over the
years that just never got put in albums. You have some
too? We really did mean to put them in the albums,
but… And I would estimate that there are close to 2000
pictures in those 2 boxes. I wonder how many other
people have boxes like that?
This could be a very lucrative small business! The
customer would buy the albums and then call you; you
would pick up the albums and the boxes of pictures and
take them home to work on while you watch TV. Ask
around, friends and family, I think you’ll be surprised
by the number of people with the same problem!
Let’s use me and my two boxes as an example. I see
your brochure at the drug store sitting on the film
counter, or maybe I see it on the bulletin board over at
the senior center. After reading it I decide to give you
a call. “I have about 2000 pictures” I say. “Can you
help me”? “Yes I can” you say with a smile. You then
proceed to explain to me how your business works and
what exactly you do. You have two pricing systems, one
for when the pictures are all sorted and arranged by
date and or subject; and another price if they are like
mine and just all jumbled together in the boxes. Since
mine are all jumbled up I will have to pay the higher
fee or spend the time sorting them out. I choose to pay
the higher fee! I will need to go down to the store and
purchase the type of albums I want used, or I can pay a
little extra and have you do that also. Once everything
is together I call you and you come and pick everything
up and take it home.
Now, if you are nimble fingered this should be a
breeze. You can do this while you watch your favorite TV
program. I like to use the albums with the sticky pages,
you know, just peel back the top and stick the pictures
on, real easy. This is the kind of album you buy if the
customer wants you to take care of the whole process.
The trick here is to keep a steady pace. If you have to
sort the pictures, then do that first; don’t try to sort
and paste at the same time, it never works. After the
pictures are all sorted, either by date or subject, or
both; then you can start putting them in the albums.
What would I be willing to pay for this service of
yours? Well since I don’t have to sort them, I would
think about ten cents a picture. Maybe even 12!
You see this isn’t just for me; my children and
grandchildren will get these pictures someday and it
would be nice if they were all in albums and labeled.
(I’ll do the labeling, don’t worry) The point is, this
is my grandkids heritage, their ancestors and family
members. Pictures are a record of who we are and where
we have been. I remember a tintype picture we have of a
great grand uncle, Tobius Wise, he fought in the civil
war. In the picture are uncle and 2 of his friends
standing around a table, we never paid much attention to
the others in the picture because we had no idea who
they were, we found out years later that the gentleman
sitting at the table was Ulysses S. Grant! We are very
proud of Uncle and that picture.
This is the selling point for your service,
“Preservation”, preserving the history of a family. Some
people see pictures as a never ending family story.
Wouldn’t you want your great great grandkids to know
where they came from, what their family has done, I know
I do! Preserving the past and our heritage is very
important.
Now I know it sounds like we’re dealing with pennies
here. Five, ten, maybe twelve cents. Well do the math..
2000 x 10 cents = $200 ! If I sorted all the pictures
out and bought the albums and even delivered them. For
five cents a picture, that’s still $100 for pasting
pictures while you watch tv! This is a great way to earn
a little extra money, for vacation, or a family weekend;
maybe a get-a-way for you and your ’significant other’!
Save for that special item you want. There are lots of
possibilities in this.
Advertising would consist of a small handbill and a
business card. You could get 4 handbills on a sheet of
paper. Take them to anyplace that does film developing,
the local drug store for example. Also any place that
sells film or cameras; call on a few local photographers
and ask if they would make your flyer part of their
sales package, and offer your service to them also,
maybe at a reduced rate in exchange for the advertising.
Senior centers are another good place. Talk to the local
party supply house also, people always take picturers at
parties.
Putting together special albums is another side of
this business; I remember a wedding I went to, a young
lady was taking pictures to put in a ‘remembrance’ album
for the bride and groom. This is another service you can
offer at bridal shops and other specialty stores. We
have a ‘remembrance’ album of my brother, we lost him in
war. My daughter-in-law has a similar album for her
childhood dog, her best friend for 17 years. Once you
get started I think you will see many places where you
can ’sell’ your business. And the “specialty Album”
service could become a whole business all on it’s own.
Path Renovation
Submitted by Clive Looker
All you need, is a bag of cement, a bucket, a tin of
pva glue, a stiff broom and cement colouring and you’re
in the ‘make over’ business
How It Came About
Some years ago, I lived in a property which sported a
one hundred and twenty foot garden and a cement path
longitudinally similar. The garden and the path were
enchanting.
Now, time is a great healer they say. It is also a
great destroyer. Over the years I became disenchanted
with my once enchanting path. The cement surface became
scruffy and spoiled the look of the whole garden. For
some time, I put off repairing the path. I had visions
of a major renovating job. I conjured up a mental
picture of me spending weekend after weekend, fixing
shuttering to the path edges and hand mixing, vast
quantities of concrete for a re-surfacing job. But that
never happened. One day, after a long look at the
problem, a little research and a lot of experimentation,
I started work on the path and by the end of the
following day, had a beautiful new path, which cost next
to nothing in materials and hardly raised a bead of
sweat to my brow.
Over the next year or two, I perfected the process
which I now reveal to you. So start your own path
renovation, ‘make over’ business and soon you could be
enjoying a very healthy income. You shouldn’t have any
competition either, for to the best of my knowledge, no
one else does this.
What’s Involved?
The idea is to pour liquid cement onto a path and
pattern the new surface with a stiff broom or patterned
roller. This process is only suitable for a path which
is still basically sound in its foundations and whilst
it may not be a permanent solution, it will be a
relatively inexpensive ‘make over’ and will defer a
major path overhaul for several years.
Preparation Is All.
To be sure the ‘make over’ is going to last a few
years, it is essential to pay special attention to
preparation, so remove all dirt, dust, oil and grease
from the area before you start. Fill any cracks, dips or
recesses with a mortar mix, made from three parts sharp
sand and one part cement, then leave for twenty four
hours for the repairs to harden.
In the event that there are no such repairs, then
continue with the next step immediately
The Method
Mix 4 dessert spoons of pva glue to every pint (half
litre) of clean cold water and apply to the area with a
watering can or broom. This solution will ensure a good
bond between the existing path and the new surface.
Mix a quantity of cement and the pva/water solution
in a bucket, until it is the consistency of single
cream. (Note: there is no sand in this mix)
Ensure the area to be covered is still damp. If it
has dried out, treat the area with a little more pva/water
solution. Pour the creamy cement mix onto the path and
distribute it thinly and evenly over the area, with the
aid of a stiff broom.
If more than one mix is needed, to cover the area,
leave the coating in a ragged line and sprinkle the edge
with a little water to prevent it drying out, whilst you
prepare the next mix. Overlap the coatings and work the
second mix into the first, to obliterate any sign of a
join.
To remove any sign of imperfection or joins, etch a
pattern onto the surface as it hardens. The speed with
which the cement dries, will obviously depend on both
the surface on which the cement is laid and the ambient
temperature at the time.
Interesting patterns can be made, using a stiff
broom, a brush, a patterned cement roller, designed for
the job or even a foam pattern roller used for
decorating walls.
Another way of decorating the cement is to use
leaves. Take a number of fresh leaves, sycamore or horse
chestnut are particularly good, and lay a few singly,
face up, here and there on the surface of the wet
cement. Press them down to make an imprint on the soft
surface and leave them. Once the surface is completely
dry, pull the leaves off the surface. Don’t worry about
any pieces of leaf that are left in the cement, they
will wear away very quickly once the path is walked on.
Leave to dry overnight then apply a final coat of the
pva/water solution as a sealer.
Arouse Your Artistic Bent!
Cement can be coloured if desired. Use powdered
cement colouring, available from most builders merchants
and many DIY outlets.
For more than one mix, weigh the colouring and cement
powder accurately, before adding the pva/water solution,
this will ensure that each mix is the same colour.
Do not rely on measure by volume.
There are several alternatives here. You can either
:-
- Wait for the first coat of plain cement to dry
then pour a coloured mix onto parts of the surface
and use the broom to make a pattern. - Add cement colour to the mix before laying it
- Wait for the first coloured layer to dry and add
further coloured mixes. - Make each mix a different colour and mingle the
various colours before they dry. - Mix equal portions of pva glue and water and add
cement colouring. Use this to paint patterns on the
cement surface as it hardens.
Notes
Apart from improving the appearance of scruffy paths
and patios, this process is particularly effective on
those concreted areas were the aggregate is close to the
surface makes the walking area slippery when wet. This
process is not difficult to perfect but it does need a
little practice. Inspect friends or relatives cement
paths or patios and offer to do a ‘make over’ free of
charge. Once you feel confident you can start plying
your trade.
Ken Mathie & James Jones - Co Authors
