Emergency Cash Generators

Christmas Tree Prices Hit $200 in Hawaii

2004-12-20T10:02:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't You Like To Be in the Christmas Tree Business In Hawaii:

Yahoo! News - Christmas Tree Prices Hit $200 in Hawaii: "HONOLULU - A shortage of Christmas trees in Hawaii has raised prices to more than $200 each, drawing complaints from cost-conscious shoppers who are eager to buy trees before the holiday. "

Got Junk? Here's Any Easy Way to Turn it into Cash!

2004-12-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

You've probably heard that you can make some extra cash by listing unwanted household items on eBay. And you probably have a lot of unwanted stuff cluttering up your home: Collectible items, clothes, CD's, nick-nacks, etc.

The problem is it takes a lot of time to create the auction listings. You have to take pictures and come up with inviting descriptions for all the items. And, if you are not experienced with eBay you may have a hard time getting bids on your items.

Of course, if you are wanting to learn eBay, listing your unwanted clutter can be a great way to get started.

But, if you just don't have the time there is another option:

Hire a Trading Assistant.

Trading Assistants are experienced eBay sellers who, for a fee, will list your items on eBay.

You can search for a trading assistant in your area using this directory:

Trading Assistant Directory

Most Trading Assistants charge a percentage of the final value -- usually between 20 and 30 percent -- plus eBay listing fees. Look for Trading Assistants with high feedback ratings. This indicates that they are experienced and will know how to list your items for maximum exposure.

This is a great way to turn your unwanted junk into extra cash.

James

Business Idea Journal Posted

2004-12-11T06:39:00.000-08:00

I just posted an issue of the Business Idea Journal online. You can access it at this link:

http://www.business-ideas.biz/ezine/vol2num2_rfs.html

James

A Real Work at Home Assembly Opportunity?

2004-12-02T14:34:00.000-08:00

You have probably heard of the scams in the "home assembly" type opportunities.

Here is how this scam works:

You see an ad that offers free information on how to work at home assembling crafts. You order the information and they send you a brochure showing you the types of products they are looking to have assembled along with an order form to buy the supplies to assemble the products. You see, even though you could buy the supplies locally for much less, they have to make sure you are using only the highest quality. Of course, they will be the only source for these "high quality" expensive supplies.

So you bite the bullet and buy their "high quality" supplies which they send along with an instruction sheet. You follow the instructions exactly and spend days assembling the products to their specifications. You carefully pack the products into a shipping box and send them to the company for payment. Then you wait.

Six weeks later you are still waiting for payment. Then, you receive an envelope in the mail. Finally a check! You anxiously tear open the envelope, pull out the contents and...

It's a letter rejecting your crafts. You see, you didn't follow the instructions exactly. The glue wasn't applied correctly. A bead fell off during shipping. You should have zigged when you zagged. Or any of 100 canned rejection excuses.

But, why would they do this? Because they have no buyers for the crafts. They make their money selling you the materials.

Over the years I have seen hundreds of these Home Assembly opportunities. None were legitimate.

However, I recently received a recommendation for a company that appears to be legitimate.

The company is Disciples Cross

Basically what you do is make crosses.

You can read all about it in the link above but in a nutshell you can make money two ways:

1) Make the crosses and selling them to others, or gift stores.
2) Make the crosses and sell them back to Disciples Cross.

If you check out this opportunity please let me know how you do so I can report back to others. I am still skeptical because I don't understand why they could not just have the crosses mass produced for pennies instead of hiring "home workers." But my sources have told me they have been paid for the work they did and they are very pleased.

Comments anyone?

James

New Business Idea Journal Posted

2004-11-28T11:02:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

I just got back from visiting my family in Virginia yesterday and was greeted with 690 emails to sort through. The spam really piles up when you take a few days off, doesn't it. :)

I did get a little bit of productive work done through. I am starting to get past issues of my ezine, the Business Idea Journal, posted online.

Here is the first issue:

Business Idea Journal: Parents Making Cash

To Your Success,

James

Revenge of the Turkey!

2004-11-24T08:11:00.000-08:00

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

James

Unusual Subscription Service

2004-11-23T16:27:00.000-08:00

Here is an idea from one of my newsletter subscribers that I thought you would enjoy:

This 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 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 has worked out profitably for him.

See: Business Week Article for more details.

How about 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!

Submitted by Bill M.

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 underwear 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. :)

James

Money Making Driving

2004-11-16T10:42:00.000-08:00

Wow, I didn't realize how lax I have been in posting lately. It's been a crazy, busy month but I am going to try to work in a post every couple of days from now on.

Here is an interesting -- little-known -- way to make extra cash...

We've all seen brand-new cars being delivered, often 10 or more at a time, from the factories to the dealerships, on the back of long, car-carrying trucks. But have you ever seen recreational vehicles delivered that way? Or ambulances? School busses? Even limousines?

It takes a big workforce to get these vehicles delivered. In the USA and Canada at least 100,000 people are doing this at any given time (and additional thousands in Australia and Europe), working either full-time, part-time, seasonally, on-call (when the regular drivers for a company are all busy, and a supplemental driver is needed), and even just on weekends, by people who work "9-to-5" jobs during the rest of the week.

The weekend drivers typically earn an extra $150-350 per week, by doing this! Knowledgeable full-time drivers typically earn $45,000 to $60,000 a year. And the income for couples is even more comfortable!

For more information see...

www.roadrat.com

Stupid Google Adword Tricks

2004-07-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

February 2004 was my first full month of seriously using Google Adwords to make money and I made just under $500.00 promoting my own and affiliate products. I'll reveal some specific techniques I use in the next post but right now, I want to tell you about my very first experience with Google Adwords and the mistakes I made.

If you are not familiar with Google Adwords you can find out more by visiting https://adwords.google.com/ Or, for a detailed video that shows you how to sign up for a Google Adword account and steps you through the process of setting up a Campaign see www.emergencycashgenerators.com

My first Adwords experience was last October. It was on the Saturday of the Lunar Eclipse. I was on the internet looking for web cams that were scheduled to show the eclipse because it was overcast in my area and I really wanted to see it (I am an Astronomy nerd)

Anyway, after a couple of hours searching I found 10 or 12 web cams that were scheduled to show the eclipse. That is when I got the "bright" idea (honest -- it really sounded like pure genius at the time) that I could throw up a website and use ClickBank to sell access to the links that lead to the web cams. I figured there were other people that would also not be able to see the eclipse because of bad weather. Plus, I had been itching to test out Google Adwords and this seemed like a good opportunity.

So off I go, putting up a sales page to try to promote this stupid thing along with the welcome page to deliver the product. The whole thing took me about an hour to throw together. I charged $5.00 for access to the web cam links.

Next I stumbled around in Google Adwords until I figured out how to create the campaign and select keywords. When I did I was disappointed to see that Adwords estimated <1 for every keyword even though I had little competition. I had several hundred keywords and I think in total it estimated that I would get 4 clicks a day. I almost dropped the project then but I went ahead and finished it and set my daily budget. I didn't really notice what I had set the daily budget to -- what difference did it make with only 4 clicks a day, right?

There was about an hour before the eclipse would start so I went out jogging and came back to find that...

My Entire Daily Budget of $50.00 had Been Gobbled Up!

I have no idea why I set the daily budget so high. I guess I figured I could watch it and reduce it if I needed to -- hell, I am a product development genius not a freaking accountant!

I achieved a 9% click through rate with that campaign. 0 sales. $50.00 thrown down a big rat hole.

What went wrong? Obviously Goggle's click estimates did not take into account that many more people would be searching for 'Lunar Eclipse' on the actual day of the Lunar Eclipse then any other time. Genius Product Developer missed that little minor detail too. :)

I didn't touch Google Adwords again until mid January. And now I take Goggle's Estimates with a grain of salt.

Next time I'll reveal some of my profitable Google Adword techniques.

Christmas Cash on Auto-Pilot

2004-10-14T07:25:00.000-07:00

I just received a very interesting phone call from Skip Rosell.

Skip has figured out how to turn the Letters From Santa Business Kit (see the Christmas Cash post below) into an automated money maker. Skip's program involves NO face-to-face selling. No phone selling. You can do it all from your home. You simply mail a few letters and receive hundreds of orders.

I can't explain Skip's program in this short post so if you would like to learn more simple send Skip an email at: mailto:dckegler@aol.com?subject=Santa Put the word "Santa" in the subject line and Skip will email you all the details.

James

Killer Profits On eBay

2004-10-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

My good friend Karol Gajda has just released a very important report that will turn the auction world on its head.

What Karol reveals in this report goes against everything you’ve ever read about making money on eBay. This special report definitely isn't going to make eBay Powersellers happy. :)

Karol has agreed to allow me to give you this special report for free -- but it will only be available for a limited time so you better download it now.

So with that said, here it is... http://www.emergencycashgenerators.com/wsp/

Get the report, print it, read it, and take action!

Do it now before one of life's distractions gets in the way... http://www.emergencycashgenerators.com/wsp/

James

Christmas Cash

2004-09-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

It's not too early to start thinking about Christmas and how you can make some extra money offering a fun product that parents and grandparents will want to give to their children and grandchildren.

With the arrival of the Christmas Season there is an opportunity to make some extra money creating Personalized Santa Letters for children in your area. Write a Letter from Santa to that special child .. and charge $6-$9 per letter.

Your clients will fill out a questionnaire with the child's name, age, favorite cartoon show, favorite cartoon character, names of 2 friends, names of brothers and sisters -- or any other information that you can create into an interesting letter from Santa.

Here is a link that leads to a low cost "Letters from Santa" business package that includes, Letters from Santa Templates (in MS Word format), graphics, marketing material and How To manual:

Letters From Santa Business Kit

Targeted Local Email Newsletter

2004-09-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

The concept is simple -- pick a topic that generates a lot of interest in your area then create a free emailed newsletter that focuses on that topic.

One topic you might consider is the Restaurant Sanitation Inspection Reports. Don't laugh -- when presented in a tabloid journalist style these things can be really interesting and controversial. People have both a morbid curiosity and a genuine interest in knowing what kind of things were found in the food at their favorite restaurants.

Restaurant Sanitation Inspection Reports are public record and should be freely available in your area.

Restaurants would probably not be your best advertisers. :-)

Another topic you might focus on is Yard Sales. Currently the only place people having yard sales can advertise in is the newspaper or shoppers. Create a free weekly emailed newsletter that lists all the area yard sales and provides more information than a small classified ad in the newspaper.

At first you'll have to get your listings from the newspapers but as you grow you can begin charging people to list with you.

Turn a Rainy Day into Extra Cash

2004-09-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you can make money by simply being in the right place at the right time with the right product. Here is a way you can make $100.00 profit within a couple of hours with this concept.

First, go to you local dollar store and buy as many rain ponchos as possible. You can usually get them two for a dollar.

On a rainy day, go to any baseball, soccer, or football game and stand outside the event on the street and sell your ponchos for $2-$3 each.

Or, go to your local mall and sell them to people exiting the mall. While they were inside, they probably didn’t even realize it had started raining and will hate the thought of getting wet going to their cars.

Lots of people will be happy to pay $2.00 or more to keep from getting wet.

You can even sell umbrellas. They go for $5.00 each and you buy them for one dollar at the dollar store.

You may come home with your feet wet but your pockets will be full.

Trash Can Transporter

2004-09-20T05:53:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting idea submitted by one of my ezine readers, 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.

(end of James' post)

I asked James a couple of followup questions:

How many customers do you have?
Do you have any trouble getting paid?

His reply: I started with 10 homes the first day of signups but just by word of mouth it was up to 20 at the start of my first full month of service and this is in just 5 blocks (from bus stop to home). Since I am starting to get questions from other parts of the neighborhood, my sisters are going to divide them up and start their own 'routes'.

I haven't had any problems on getting paid because of keeping the price low enough that anyone can afford my service. I put out the envelopes to send payment on the pickup day before the end of the month, so far all have arrived within the 2 weeks I allow (If it isn't here by the 2nd pickup week then their cart will remain on the street.)

I actually came up with the idea on a rainy day that my mom was complaining about having to dodge all the trash cans that were floating down the street!

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.

It's a Seller's Market On eBay

2004-09-19T19:54:00.000-07:00

If you have been thinking about selling on eBay now is the time to dive in.

September marks the start of the eBay buying season and I can tell you from my experiences this year is starting strong. Just about everything I am listing on eBay is selling and at very good final prices.

So, if you have items around the house that you would like to get rid of and make a few bucks -- NOW is the time to start listing them.

If you have never sold anything on eBay before you can learn the basics by watching eBay's How To Sell Tutorial. Here is the link:

How To Sell Tutorial

Making Money in The Office

2004-09-18T08:28:00.000-07:00

I found an interesting post on a discussion board about a guy who made money selling a certain item to his co-workers. Actually he didn't have to sell this item. His co-workers would see a sample on his desk and ask how they could get one. Once they bought the item they would natually display it on their desks where others would see it and ask where they could get one.

He eventually quit his job and turned this part-time venture into a home based business.

Click this link for details

Here's a Product that's Selling Like Hotcakes on eBay

2004-08-28T07:40:00.000-07:00

Sylvia Heisler over at AuctionTools4u.com emailed me a tip on a hot product to sell on ebay.

The product is here

As you can see you can purchased these for $5.25 each. They are selling on eBay for as much as $48.00. Click here for a list of completed auctions

This is a perfect example of a fad.

According to Dictionary.com a fad is a product or idea that is taken up with great enthusiasm for a brief period of time. It's like a wave that washes over society and seems to permeate the population regardless of socio economic position. The fad quickly reaches a peak and then it disappears -- usually faster then it appeared. That's why you shouldn't rush out and buy 100 of these things in the hopes of making a killing.

If you do want to try selling this item I suggest you start with a small order of 10 or less.

It will be interesting to watch this fad as it develops.

Storage Unit Auction Item Sells for 6 Times Cost

2004-08-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I posted about buying items at Storage Unit Auctions that you can resell on eBay and elsewhere.

Here is a product I bought at an auction for $10.00 and sold for $61.00 on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5714168154

This particular auction was one in which the auctioneer sold the items piece by piece as opposed to auctioning off the entire unit at once. I didn't have time to stay for the entire auction but there were some very nice items that could be picked up very cheap.

However, I noticed a lot of trades people and contractors there and they were really bidding up the tools. Most of the good power tools went for almost retail even though they were used. The reasoning is that if the contractor needs a tool for a certain job or is looking for tools he frequesntly uses he would rather get a used one then buy a new one at full retail even though the price different is only $10 - $20. Or at least that is what one of the contractors told me when I asked him why someone would pay $90.00 for a used tool when he can get the same thing brand new for $110.00.

Certain items in particular areas are going to be over bid. In my area, since there are a lot of contractors, power tools are one of those items.

On the other hand, there are a lot of other items that go for practically a song because people don't have any practical use for. For instance, I was the only bidder for the reel to reel tape player.

I also noticed a surplus of bicycles that sold for practically nothing. In fact, the auctioneer usually grouped the bicycles together in lots of two or three just to get an opening bid for them.

I'm going to do some research on eBay and come up with a list of bicycles that seem to sell well and take this to the next auction. This might be a great little niche to exploit.

How To Find Lost Treasure in Your Neighborhood

2004-08-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

Several years ago an old gentleman, we’ll call Mr. Raleigh, passed away. Mr. Raleigh had worked as a janitor for the same company for over 40 years. He lived simply, never married and generally was a quiet and decent man.

His heirs were going through his possessions to close out his modest estate. Among the odds and ends of papers and receipts that make up any life, they found a shoebox full of old stock certificates with a company name they didn’t recognize.

They almost threw the stock certificates away along with many other pieces of paper that had no meaning except to Mr. Raleigh. Just as our heirs will do someday. All of our lives are filled with such tiny pieces of memories.

Research revealed that Mr. Raleigh had gone to work for the company named on the
certificates during an economic recession. The company like many others was struggling financially. It was a period of time when jobs were very scarce and any job was not to be sneezed at. The company made a deal with Mr. Raleigh. The company could afford to pay him very little. But, they would let him sleep in the boiler room and he could eat his meals free in the company cafeteria. They also agreed to give him small amounts of stock in the company in exchange for his janitorial services. The stock was virtually worthless so Mr. Raleigh just put it away.

You can see where this story is going. Research on the stock certificates revealed the company’s present name is Xerox Corporation. The stock given to Mr. Raleigh had split 30 times over the years and was worth in the neighborhood of 20 million dollars.

These valuable documents could have easily have been discarded as worthless. Luckily the heirs were alert enough to take the time to find out their value.
To answer the original question, Yes! There are many treasures lost and hidden all
around us.

Granted, few will have the value of Mr. Raleigh’s stock but there are still untold thousands of small but valuable items to be found.

Looking for lost and hidden treasures requires A.K.A. These initials stand for Attitude, Knowledge and Alertness.

A strong positive Attitude is a major requirement of all good treasure hunters. This will allow you to eagerly accept that there are untold lost and hidden treasures around waiting to be found. The right attitude will keep you from getting discouraged and will keep you going rather than give up.

Knowledge is very important. The layout of the town where you live is valuable
information. The location of old parks and playgrounds, circus and carnival sites are a few examples of valuable information.

Knowing the value of various items and especially collectibles is important. A successful treasure hunter is a warehouse of information about all sorts of odd facts. A small piece of information can turn out to be priceless in recognizing a valuable object.

You don’t have to become an expert to learn to recognize a valuable item. You only need enough knowledge to become suspicious that an item may be valuable. Hang on to the item until you can research the value.

Alertness is absolutely necessary to recognize a recovery opportunity when it presents itself. Train yourself to "see" what others ignore. We all fall into the trap of failing to see things that are very familiar.

Try looking directly at things around you with a new eye. You’ll be amazed at what will appear that you’ve never noticed.

It will take some time and work to train yourself to see differently and to be alert to recovery opportunities at all times. You’ll enjoy the effort and the world will never be the same as you master this talent.

How many coins did you pick up in parking lots and sidewalks in the last week? How many rings and pieces of jewelry? If the answer is none you need to work on your alertness and probably your attitude. I can assure you that you have walked over several lost valuables.

Develop a habit of parking at the far end of the lot and keeping your eyes open as you walk to and from the stores. You’ll find that in a very short time, you’ll begin to find all kinds of items literally under your feet. They’ve been there all along. You just weren’t "seeing" them.

This doesn’t mean you should walk around with your eyes constantly on the ground. Quite the contrary, glancing down briefly as you walk is only a small part of being aware of your surroundings. Think "Look up, Look down, Look all around."

Sidewalks are a good place to keep your eye peeled. Look along the edges where grass is thick. Be especially alert around bus stops, people drop lots of things around bus stops.

Look closely at the chain link fences as you stroll. They are natural collectors of debris. The wind will pile all sorts of litter against fences. Some of this litter can include currency.

Recovering valuable items is a terrific thrill and one I’ve enjoyed my entire life.

On the subject of recovering lost items, I strongly recommend you return any item that’s identifiable to the owner. Honesty is the best policy and will always pay off in the end.

I always return any item I find if I can identify the owner. It’s a real kick to hand a found item over to the person that lost it. Often the owner lost the item years ago and long ago gave up any hope of ever seeing it again. Some times there’s a sentimental attachment for the owner that far exceeds the monetary value the item might have.

Believe me the feeling you’ll get by returning items like this will provide a much greater reward than the loss of the cash value.

Excerpted from "How To Find Lost And Hidden Treasures In Your Neighborhood" by Ernest Barnett. "How To Find Lost And Hidden Treasures In Your Neighborhood" is available as a free bonus with Emergency Cash Generators

Storage Unit Auctions Yield Buried Treasure

2004-07-31T07:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a little-known technique for finding merchandise to resell on eBay or in your local area.

As you probably know Storage Units are rented to people who need extra temporary space to store their household items. You have probably rented one yourself or know someone who did.

What most people don't know is if the renter doesn't pay the monthly rental the storage company owner will auction the contents of the unit to the highest bidder. This allows anyone to buy used (and sometimes new) merchandise for pennies on the dollar.

Sometimes these units are auctioned "winner take all" where the entire contents are auctioned to the highest bidder. I have seen units go for as low as $25.00 for a small unit up to $300.00 for a unit with lots of meechandise and closed boxes.

Other times the auctioneer will pull items out of the unit one at a time and auction them individually.

One thing that is common to all auctions is the "grab bag" aspect. If there are closed boxes in the unit the auctioneer will not allow anyone to open the boxes. They are auctioned site unseen. If the auction is for an entire unit the bidders are not allowed to go into the unit to inspect the merchandise. You must assess the contents from the outside to determine if and how high you want to bid.

Here are some tips for assessing the contents:

Bring a high powered flashlight with you. The units are usually dark and since you can only view the contents from the outside a flashlight will help you spot clues that others may miss.

Look for "Name Brand" merchandise. This generally means that the owner of the contents is brand aware and appreciates higher quality merchandise. This is a big clue that other unseen items (such as items in closed boxes) are of higher value.

Look for well organised stacked boxes that are sealed. This indicates that the boxes haven't been tampered with by the Storage Unit Company prior to the sale.

Dust on the contents. Usually means that the contents have been stored for many years. There could be items in the boxes that are now collectible.

Addresses on boxes. If you can see an address that is from an upper class neighborhood it increases the odds that there are valuables in the unit.

Moving Company Boxes. A person who goes to the expense of hiring a moving company likely has some high quality items in the unit.

So where do you find these auctions? They are sometimes listed in the Auction Section of the newspaper. If a Storage Company goes to the expense of advertising the auction in the paper it usually means they have a lot of units to auction off. But it also means there will be a lot of bidders and more competition.

The best thing to do is call Storage Companies in your area and ask when they will be holding their next auction. Many times a storage company will have a small unadvertised auction with only a half dozen or so units up for bid. These can be real bargains because fewer bidders show up and you have less competition for the units.

Storage Unit Auctions can be a great way to pick up resellable mechandise cheap but you must be careful you don't get burnt. The best way to learn the ins and outs is by attending a few auctions as an observer only. Don't bid, just watch. You'll quickly learn what others are willing to bid for a unit of a particular size and with particular types or merchandise. You can then determine after the bidding is over if a unit was over bid or if it was a bargain. Knowing this will help you determine how much to bid when you are ready to participate.

Here is a GREAT Technique that You Can Use to Find Products to Sell on eBay.

2004-07-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

I have a real treat for you today.

Listen...

One of the most profitable (and little-known) methods for selling on eBay is to find small wholesale companies that aren't already overused on eBay. And you can find these companies right in your local area.

My good friend and eBay Super Guru Karol Gajda has put together a short online video that shows you how to quickly find these Wholesalers in your local area.

Karol has graciously allowed me to share this video with you. You can view it here:

How To Find Wholesalers In Your Area

A Business You Can Start in 10 Minutes for $0

2004-07-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here is another idea from Biz Idea Journal subscriber Skip Rosell. Skip is a real doer who is working on several business to business advertising sales projects.

Here in Skip's words is exactly how to do this...

Use the classified section of your local paper online and find “Moving Sales” These ads will have a phone number in the ad. Copy the number and paste into Google. This will give you the name, address, city Etc. Copy these back to a database of your choice. Do all the moving ads in the paper. You will find them under merchandise for sale, yard sales, etc. The best way is to insert the word “moving” into the search box of your local online paper’s classified section.

Now that you have the names of the people moving sort them by telephone exchange. The telephone exchange number is the three numbers after the area code: Example: (845) XXX- 1234 Where the X’s represent the exchange numbers. You know your area and if all the numbers are within say 20 miles then you can use them all. Otherwise just pick the numbers that are.

Now in the same newspaper search for “Cleaning”. This will bring up all the ads that have cleaning in them. Most of these will be one-person businesses advertising cleaning services.
Copy these and bring back to a new database. Almost all people that move clean the place up and a lot of them would prefer to hire someone else to do it.

Now you are ready to make some money. How much money you make is up to you. It will be decided by how much “work” you do. This is not hard work but you must start and work at it. You can do the same thing for all the painters, man with a truck, carpet cleaning, and many, many other businesses.

The best way to tell you how you make money with this business is to describe how it came about:

I sold a cleaner an ad in my mini directory (editor's note: the mini directory is one of Skip's Advertising businesses) and then he asked if I knew of any other low cost ways of getting business. Since I was in the classified section of my local newspaper I told him he could send a post card to all the people that are moving. I explained how to do this and he asked how much I would charge to do it for him. I told him fifty cent each to address and mail a lead generating post card. I then asked how many he would like mailed each week. Since he thought that these movers were about the best prospects he could get for his cleaning business, he said all I could get. I had to slow him down. I told him I can get about 15 per week in his zip code and I could work out from there and get as many as he wanted. The more he took the more travel he would have to reach each sale he made. We decided on 50 per week for a month’s trial. Total $100.00 for a month.

I then printed up 15 sheets of 32lb stock with four post cards on each. Using an excel database I mail merged the addresses with a filter on the database for his zip code. Then did the same for the zip codes next to his until I reached 50. Total time to print and address the cards was 15 minutes. It took me a little time to get the names into the database and doing only one business would not be very profitable. So I called a painter. Tried to sell him my mini directory, failed, but told him about the post cards. Sold him on 50 post cards a week also.

Now why am I telling you about this business? I have too much on my plate right now to start & test another unknown business. But it looks promising and I would like someone to try it out to see if it can be profitable. The price has to be tested, the wording on the post cards need testing, etc.

(end of Skip's post)

Skip has given you the basic concept so now I want to expand a little bit and show you how to make this more profitable.

First off, instead of sending a postcard for each business what will work better is to come up with a Moving Out Directory. This would be simply a directory of businesses that people who are moving may need the services of. Contact each of these businesses as Skip explained above and sell them on the idea of being included in your directory. Here is a list of possible businesses that offer services to people who are moving:

Pressure Washing
Gutter Cleaning
Heating and Air Conditioning Servicing
Off Site Storage Facility (or PODs)
Painting
Moving Service
Tree Removal
Lawn Service/Landscaping
Handyman
Driveway Pavement Repair
Deck Cleaning
Window Repair
Hauling
Roofing Repair
Property Management Service
Exterminator
Carpet Cleaning/Replacement
Real Estate Agent
Mortgage Broker
Appraisal Service
Home Inspection Service

If you can get one business from each of these categories to pay you 50 cents per directory and you mail 100 directories a month that would earn you an easy $1000.00 a month. These businesses should jump at the chance to be in your directory because:

1) You offer them exclusivity (only one business per category allowed)
2) They could do this themselves BUT it would cost them more then 50 cents per address.
3) All the businesses above advertise in my local newspaper. They are spending much more then $100.00 a month and they are not getting anywhere near the targeted exposure you could offer them.

That is the idea in a nutshell. GO FOR IT!

James

Subscriber Success Story

2004-07-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July Holiday.

Today I was going to write about Google Adwords and the techniques I use to find and promote products. After two hours of writing I realized that there was no way I would be able to get everything into a short Blog post. So, I have decided to create a free course about Google Adwords so I will not be limited by the format of this Blog. I'll let you know when it is ready and give you a link to download.

So, instead I would like to tell you about an Emergency Cash Generator that one of my subscribers put to use and grossed $450.00 in less then a week.

This business involves painting reflective address numbers onto the curbs outside of houses.

Yes, that's right...

Curb Painting!!!

Now, hold on a second. I know this isn't the most glamerous business. But, if you want to earn some cash quickly with almost very little start up costs this is a great way to do it.

There are almost never any rules for house numbers in residential areas. Some have large numbers on the door, others small numbers or name on the mailbox, on the side of the house (usually under the ivy or behind the rosebush) and still others have no marking whatsoever.

Now, if you have ever tried to find an address in a strange neighborhood, you have undoubtedly experienced the frustration of looking for a house number where there are none displayed. Most people understand this frustration which is why it is not difficult to make money solving this problem.

One of the really great things about this business is that you don't have to do any personal selling. No knocking on doors. No telemarketing. No expensive ads.

The way you market this service is with the help of hundreds of "lean mean marketing missiles!"

These "marketing missiles" will cost you about 2 cents each.

They have but one purpose -- to sell your curb painting service. That's all they do. That's all they know. They are little missiles flying through the neighboorhood targeting each home and getting you business. And since they are so cheap, you'll want to deploy as many as you can in each neighborhood.

What are these missiles? Flyers! Flyers that you distribute to each house in your targeted neighborhoods.

I have a sample flyer that you can print and use. This flyer was designed to be educational and highly motivational. It tells people why it is important to have a highly visible address painted on the curb in front of their home. It informs them that the addresses will be painted starting the next day and gives the price and directions on how to get their curb painted:

Sample Flyer

That one page flyer is pure marketing dynomite! It does all the selling for you and allows you to spend most of your time painting the curbs and making money.

When you are ready to get started simply print out the flyer and take it to your local quick printer. Use goldenrod colored paper. Make 300-500 copies. These should only cost you 2-4 cents each.

Check Mail Boxes Ect. if you have one in your area. They sometimes run a 1 penny per copy special.

Self service copies at Home Depot is also cheap but I have found the quality is sometimes bad. Run a few samples through the machine before you commit to 300 copies that are fuzzy or smudged.

Note: If you work with the font and spacing of the flyer you can probably get two flyers per page and cut your flyer costs in half!

After you have made your copies you are ready to begin distributing them. Target middle class neighborhoods that are mostly single family homes. Don't bother with condos, apartments or rentals -- these complexes usually have maintenence people that take care of curb painting.

Before you start distributing, one other thing you need is a roll of double sided tape -- the kind that is sticky on both sides. As you are distributing flyers attach the tape to the top of the flyer and stick it to the doorknob of the front door. The owner can then use the same piece of tape to attach the flyer to the window or door. You don't want to lose a sell because the owner couldn't find a piece of tape.

Do NOT place the flyer in or attach to the homeowners mailbox. You CAN attach the flyer to the mail box post however it is more effective hanging from the doorknob where the owner can't miss it. Also, Do not attach the flyer to any painted surface as it may pull some paint off.

The best way I have found to distibute the flyers is to park your car at the beginning of the street and distribute up one side of the street until you hit an intersection or run out of houses. You can save a lot of time if you cut across the lawn of houses that are grouped together. Then distribute on the other side of the street.

Once you finish one street drive to the next one, park and distribute up and down. You'll find this much faster then driving from house to house. You should be able to distibute 90 - 120 flyers an hour using this method. Keep distributing until you run out of flyers.

The next day drive back to your distribution point and look for the flyers in the window or front door of the houses you visited the previous day. Stop and record each address. Continue until you have recorded the addresses from all applicable houses.

Now it's time to buy your supplies. You will need the following

1 gallon of green paint (made for concrete or asphalt surfaces)
1 4" Paint Brush
Masking Tape
White Spray Paint (you will need appx 1 can for every 10 addresses)
Glass Traffic Beads
Salt Shaker (Fill the salt shaker with glass beads)
Wire Brush
Small Broom
Cardboard
White Chalk
Address Number Stencils
Invoice book
Self Addressed Envelopes

The Glass Beads may be hard to find in your area. Start with the paint stores and ask around. The glass beads are used to sprinkle on the painted numbers to make them reflective. You may be able to find them at a craft shop. If all else fails you can order them online at http://www.timestriping.com/cat-page_5.htm. A 50 lb bag costs $18.00.

Begin by painting the green backgrounds. If there is already a number painted on the curb, go ahead and paint over it with green paint. If not, locate the background in front of the front door. Use the wire brush to scrub the area to loosen any dirt. Then use the broom to sweep the area to be painted.

Take some cardboard and cut it into an area about 6 x 12 inches. You will use this as a template. Place the template on the area to be painted and use your chalk to make an outline of the template. Line up your masking tape aound the chalk lines to form a 6 x 12 inch rectangle. Use the brush to paint the area inside the masking tape with the green paint. Remove and discard the masking tape. Reuse your cardboard template.

Continue to each house and paint the backgrounds. Once you have finished painting the last background, go back to the first house and begin painting the numbers. Do this by placing the appropriate stincils in the center of your already painted background. Be sure to verify the address by reading it off the flyer. If there is any doubt compare this to the address on the house.

Using your white paint spray each number. After each number sprinkle the glass beads on the wet paint. You need to apply the glass beads quickly to insure proper adhesion.

After you are finished with each address go to the door and ask the homeowner for payment. If they are not at home leave an invoice (this can be a simple note on a legal pad) and a self addresses envelope.

That's it. A nice simple money maker you can use anytime you need it.

How To Find Extra Money In Your Pocket Every Week

2004-06-28T04:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a way to literally "find" extra money in your pocket every week.

It's a simple technique. Something most people don't do because they don't want to take the time. In fact, I just started doing this a few months ago -- and when I did I started putting an extra $5.00 or more in my pocket every week.

What is it? Simple: Start checking your store receipts for errors. Especially grocery store receipts.

I used to never look at my grocery store receipts. I just assumed they were always right. After all, they scan the item and the computer rings it up automatically. It should be a fairly accurate system, right?

Wrong! Grocery store prices are very dynamic. The grocery industry has gone to using VIP and loyalty cards and many times an item that is supposed to be on special is not entered into the system correctly. The first time I checked my grocery receipt for errors I found two items that I was over charged for -- for a total of $6.50. After this I started checking all my receipts for errors and found that I was being overcharged an average of $5.00 a week.

Incidentally, I mentioned before that the grocery store industry has gone to the VIP and loyalty card system. I just heard an expert on a radio talk show say that you can save approximately 2% on your groceries by patronizing grocery stores that do not use VIP or loyalty cards.