Posted by gcot on Sep 21, 2009 in Extra Income Ideas | 0 comments
Senior Computer Training
Let's face it - most seniors do not know how to use a computer, but would love to learn. My husband and I are currently teaching my parents how to use their computer and it takes a lot of work and time. You could easily turn this into a successful business. You could charge about $25 per hour for this service.
A few age groups today were never exposed to computers while attending school. Many would love to have the opportunity to learn to use a computer. If you feel that you have the skills needed to teach basic computer skills to others, this could be the 'business idea' for you!
Working with Seniors can be enjoyable, they are eager to learn this new way to communicate with their families, send and receive pictures, and surf the web for items they are not able to find in their area stores. It is such a good tool to use for looking up information such as Social Security Benefits, Medical plans for Seniors, and so much more. Learning to use computers can help them obtain new jobs also, that they may not be considered for without the understanding of computers. After all, most registers are computers now, in the greater majority of stores.
Remember that teaching people these skills will call on a person with patience. Keep the teaching very simple at first until your students master the very basic computer skills. If you are able to, the best way to teach others how to use computers is by letting them follow you in the basic steps until they are comfortable to start exploring a little on their own. Usually the closest skill they may have learned that is similar to using a computer, would be working with a typewriter. A good place to start, or if they have no typing skills, you might encourage them to learn the basic skills of typing first. Then show how a computer key board is so much better than a typewriter. So many more things are accomplished with a keyboard attached to a computer.
Because the population of seniors is growing yearly, this is a 'business idea' that could be very successful. This could last you a good 25 years or more. As your business grows you will be able to offer a variety of different classes on using the computer to send e-mails, how to type a document using Word, how to surf the web, using any number of software products that they may be interested in learning.
Because you are dealing with seniors you will find that they are eager to learn and willing to work on these new skills at home. They may be slow with some things because they are aged, but that is where your teaching skills will help them, have them accomplish repetitive exercises. This will help them learn and retain the information longer. Make the exercises fun, but stress also that they can look back and see how much they have learned to encourage them to not give up.
Help them build a little portfolio, printing up everything they have learned each day and help them see that they can reference the portfolio if they may forget a step or two. This is like a security blanket; they should feel comfortable looking back in it all of the time. If you choose to teach a class of seniors, it will make them more comfortable learning with other seniors. This also allows them to meet other seniors that have the same interests and motivations.
You could easily turn this into a successful 'business idea'. You could charge about $25 per hour for this service. If you offer classes, you might bring the price down a little but you still will make a sizeable amount of money per class.
You might check with your local city and county services, see if they offer educational courses for seniors, if they do you can sign up to teach computer skills to them. Also, check with local retirement communities, convalescent homes, assisted living centers, just anywhere that you think might be willing to invest in classes for their members.
Resources:
http://www.aarp.org/learntech/computers/
http://tamingyourcomputer.com
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Posted by gcot on Sep 20, 2009 in Extra Income Ideas | 0 comments
Save Pets
Emergency situations can strike without a moment's notice. Disaster and Emergency Kits are vital to have on hand and have saved countless lives. Are most people prepared when a disaster strikes? Sadly, the answer is no. And for many people, it is because either they have no idea what items they should have on hand for an emergency, or they put off putting together a disaster kit and it becomes one of those things on the 'to do' list that just never gets done. For the few people that actually ARE prepared for an emergency, most forget that they will need to include necessities for their pets as well! This is where you come in!
There are very few resources available to people for preparing for their pet’s needs in case of an emergency. You will create an online business that sells disaster, emergency, or first aid kits for pets of all kinds. Planning and proper preparation will help your customers to evacuate with their pets safely and speedily. These kits will be a vital part of this preparation.
What should your survival kits include? This is entirely up to you. You will likely want to buy certain items from a supplier in bulk, to keep the cost of constructing each kit to a minimum. Keep in mind when designing your kits that many people have multiple pets in their homes. This means that, in addition to offering a kit that includes everything a single pet may require in an emergency circumstance, you will also want to offer kits that contain enough amounts of each item to properly care for multiple pets.
You will also want to consider the likelihood of different kinds of emergencies around the country. Remind people of all the different types of emergencies that can occur, and how they can be prepared for each kind. Some would require just provisions for a length of maybe 24 hours. Some circumstances require a person to be prepared with food and supplies that would need to be able to last weeks. You will also want to make sure that your kits include some sort of sturdy travel case or bag that is resistant to the elements and that makes the supplies easy to travel with during an emergency situation. Here are just a few of the possible emergencies that people should be prepared for:
--Floods
--Earthquakes
--Tornados
--Ice Storms
--Wild Fires
--Hurricanes
--Home Fires
--Disease Outbreaks
--Acts of Terrorism
Here are some suggested items to offer your customers for their kits:
--Dry Dog, Cat, or Bird Food Rations in various sizes and various forms of packaging with long shelf lives
--Packets of Moist Dog and/or Cat Food Rations in various sizes and various forms of packaging with long shelf lives
--Disposable feeding bowls
--Small Toys
--Leashes and Collars
--Water purification tablets
--Boxes of water
--Chemically activated heat packs
--First Aid Kits
--Chemically activated light sticks
--Small flashlights with batteries
--Small Tarp
--Thermal blankets
--Sanitary bags appropriate for disposing of feces
--Litter Box kit
--Canine whistle
--Pet Carrier (light weight)
--Photo lamination ID kits
--Brochure on safety measures to follow in an emergency situation
--Popular Pet Medications
--Flea and other Insect repellants
--Sanitary Wipes
In addition to all-inclusive kits, you may also want to offer these items for purchase separately, or in bulk. The more options that your customers have, the more confident they will feel that they are taking every needed precaution to prepare for the future. You will also want to offer books on disaster preparedness and include brochures in the kits that help them best store and use their emergency kits.
Resources:
http://www.quakekare.com/
http://www.homelandpreparedness.com/
http://www.survivormall.com/
http://www.fema.gov/plan/index.shtm
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Posted by gcot on Sep 19, 2009 in Extra Income Ideas | 0 comments
Cook Up Some Cash
If you love to cook and have two hours of free time a week, this sure fire moneymaking pursuit is just what you need.
Everyone loves complements on their cooking. Moreover, most people would love to cook wonderful, chef-like meals, but have no idea how to begin. Let's face it, a fancy cookbook recipe is not always the best way to figure out how to make a new, exotic dish.
If you have a few great dishes up your sleeve, Oriental, Latino, or anything out of the ordinary, you can earn big bucks teaching classes. Even if you just have a knack for making those complicated recipes come out perfectly, you can be a cooking teacher.
All you need is a kitchen, a place to buy your more exotic ingredients, and some great recipes. If you can cook, you can teach.
Begin by putting an advertisement in your local newspaper. Also, if your area puts out a list or calendar of events and classes, list your class there. Hang up posters with your class info. All ads should include menus for each class, so that people will know exactly what they can learn, a price, and a must-bring list for the class. You should also post what your student limit is. This could be between 1-3 students minimum, probably no more than 5 or 6 maximum. You've heard the old adage about too many cooks in the kitchen... it stands true for a cooking class also. If you are industrious and get a hold of a space with several stoves and sinks, like a home-economics lab in a school, you could probably take on more students.
Plan your menus ahead of time and require students to preregister so you can buy the right amount of ingredients. It's a good idea to have several dishes, you can demonstrate in front of the class and then assign students to each dish if you like and have a sit-down meal at the end of class. Show the students how to present the foods also as an added treat.
Generally, cooking classes will run about 2 hours. Test and time your recipes first and add on about 30 minutes for instruction time. Stick to recipes that don't include very advanced maneuvers unless you plan to build up to that level over several weeks.
Charge your students enough to cover the ingredients, time, about $10-$25 per hour (plus ingredients) should be appropriate. Remember that this hourly wage will be multiplied by the number of students you have. Charge higher fees for individual, one-on-one classes. Always tell your students where they can find special ingredients and provide the recipes in print for each student so they can cook the recipes at home, too.
It is your decision whether to hold one-time classes or ongoing ones. You could have a monthly fee, with one or two classes per week, each week building on skills learned the week before. Alternatively, you might try themes; Italian, Mexican, Indian, German, Chinese, or Polynesian food, for example. Another idea is to have a new style of food each week. This creates an ongoing interest and will keep students returning for more classes.
Invite people to bring friends to class to build your client base. If you are short of clients, you might offer a slight discount to previous clients who bring in new students. Moreover, if your classes take off like wildfire, schedule more. The great thing about cooking classes is that you can do three or four of them in a day! It's up to you how much you want to earn.
Resources:
http://surlatable.turnstilesystems.com/ProgramDetail.aspx/480620
http://www.mymommybiz.com/ideas/cookingclass.html
http://www.goveg.com/getActive-level3_class.asp
http://www.ehow.com/how_2054510_teach-cooking-class.html
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Posted by gcot on Sep 18, 2009 in Extra Income Ideas | 0 comments
Bandannas and Profits
Today, most people call them Do Rags. They like to wear them for fashion and to protect their head, or hide on a bad-hair-day. Some use them as a safety device on hiking trips or other outdoor adventures in case they need a tourniquet. There are many different reasons why people buy them and use them. You can create a variety of these types of Do Rags and sell them. Your price per Do Rag will depend on materials needed and how you construct them. You will have to set your profit margin.
Just in case you are not sure of what a bandanna is - the definition of bandanna is: a bright cotton scarf, or a large square of brightly colored cotton or silk cloth worn over the hair, head, or around the neck. However, these days they are more often referred to as 'Do Rags'.
You can design and create a variety of these types of Do Rags and sell them. Something that is a plus about this item is that males and females wear Do Rags; this gives you the opportunity to appeal to a good size marketplace where you can offer a large variety of different designs and sizes, appealing to all ages and both sexes. People like to wear them for fashion, to protect their heads, or if they are experiencing a bad-hair-day. Some people use them also as a safety device on hiking trips, or other outdoor adventures, in case they may need a tourniquet. Therefore, as you can see there are many different reasons why all types of people buy them and wear them.
The prices that you charge per Do Rag will depend a great deal on the materials that you decide to make them from and how you construct them. If you sew, you can choose to design and make them yourself, this could help you make 'designer' Do Rags and make a good profit. You can also choose to buy these items pre-made through a wholesaler or directly from a manufacturer. These decisions are exclusively up to you to decide. Carrying a full range of different prices is probably your best bet!
This 'business idea' product could be offered to the public in many different ways. You could offer your Do Rags on-line to the entire world or start small and have intimate Do Rag parties with your friends, family, and neighbors; just as the typical home party products we are familiar with, and let your business grow from there. This is also a great item to sell at flea markets, fairs, and bazaars. This is a good way to pick up lifetime repeat customers also.
Whatever way you decide to start your business, remember that advertising is always a good investment. Just like shoes, people can never have too many Do Rags either, so encourage your customers to be repeat buyers. Make sure that you are able to contact them with information on your newest designs and sales.
Resources:
http://www.stazzon.com/
http://www.industrialsafetygear.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=heat_stress&gclid=COeM6L-EkZQCFQuwGgodbCJEtg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do-rag
http://www.hiphopcloset.com/durags.html
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=doo+rag
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Posted by gcot on Sep 17, 2009 in Extra Income Ideas | 0 comments
Hey, I am Pregnant!
When parents are getting ready to welcome a new baby into their family, it is one of the most exciting and magical parts of their lives. They just cannot wait to let the world know about their future baby and celebrate this once in a lifetime event with their friends, colleagues, and loved ones via pregnancy announcements. Instead of settling for the boring average card found at their local drugstore, they want to announce the new life in a special, fun, creative and cute way!
This is where you come in! If you are an imaginative, creative person, you most likely can come up with lots of unique ways to help these people announce that they are expecting. You can create cards with your own personalized sketches, drawings, cartoons, or silly rhymes. You could also use a program like Photoshop to alter a photo of the very pregnant mommy-to-be and make cards that are truly unique for the couple who is expecting!
You should sell the personalized cards in sets, starting with sets in increments of 10 for about $12 to $20 dollars per set. The cost would likely range between these prices to cover the time it will take you to personalize the card design and any special paper or ink requests. Offer your customers many design options. Some will want something along the line of a postcard and others will want something more elaborate like a wedding invitation with a glossy, colorful design on the front of the card and a foil-lined envelope. Having a selection of pre-made cards on hand for your customers to choose from can help them get a good idea of what they can potentially have created for themselves or allow them to choose a design that you have already created that will fit their personality and style.
You should create a website to help your potential customers find you and to allow them easy access to samples of your work. You can also use your website to provide them with pictures of the different grades of paper, envelopes, fonts, and inks available to them.
If your customers decide to have you create a card featuring the expecting mommy showing off her growing belly, encourage them to submit several clear photos taken at different angles so that you can create a selection of options using the photos along with different background options.
You could offer the expecting mother a wide range of theme backgrounds for the pictures of her with her growing belly. You could even use sonogram pictures. A few minutes of creative thinking would provide you with many more ideas, but here are a few to get you started:
- The mother sitting on the edge of a bird's nest and surrounded by eggs
- The mother standing with an image of a flying stork carrying a bundle in the background
- The mother sitting on an oversized flower, surrounded by petals
- The mother holding a bunch of balloons and drifting into the sky surrounded by clouds
- You could also come up with lots of creative one-of-a-kind designs to decorate the cover of other cards
- Draw a little cartoon of the baby flying its own little plane with a banner flying out behind it
- Seat the baby in it's very own little director's chair with a movie clapper and bullhorn handy announcing, "I'm coming!"
- Create a background resembling a sports trading card with family information and the due date in the place of sports score averages
The options really are endless. Use your imagination and offer the new parents something new and creative. No one likes to be boring and especially at such an exciting time in their lives, couples will want to create a pregnancy announcement that will potentially adorn the fridges and note boards of their friends and family.
In addition to the website you will be creating, you should also initially print up a flyer of some kind to help you spread the word about your new service. You can post these flyers in any location that groups of people generally frequent but especially in places such as hospitals, obstetricians' and pediatricians' offices, day care centers, preschools, playgroups, local photo labs, toy stores, and stores that sell baby products and maternity clothing. Don't forget about other places like grocery stores, medical services buildings, health food stores, libraries, and community center bulletin boards. Once your business is established, your amazing products and word-of-mouth sales will help your business grow and you will have a huge client base in no time at all!
Resources:
http://www.surfingbaby.com/
http://www.babycachet.com
http://www.birth-cards.com
http://www.fetalgreetings.com
http://www.littleangelannouncements.com
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