Homemade Cookies for Sale Gave This Big Cookie Baker a Great Home Business

The owner of Big Cookie, LLC provides homemade, gourmet, individually wrapped cookies for sale as his home business. Did this full time baker always think he would operate a gourmet cookie delivery business? Heck, no!

Aaron Brilliant, a civil engineer by trade, was the guy that showed up at parties with a box or bag full of store bought cookies as his hostess gift. Time and time again he would get ridiculed by his friends for showing up with his box full of stale “goodies.” He’s a good-natured guy that doesn’t mind when his friends poke fun at him, but he thought he would have the last laugh when he showed up to a party with a 30-pound vanilla cake! I’d like to say that this monster sugar bomb was an enormous hit and his baking career was born, but alas, the cake was only mediocre at best. However, the baker to be was ignited inside Aaron and he knew he just had to get it right. He set his sights on cookies. Not just any cookies with little chips of store bought chocolate in them, but correctly engineered, preservative free, cookies concocted from a compilation of the finest recipes with the finest ingredients that will ruin your desire for any other cookie but a Big Cookie. I speak from experience because I’ve tasted the Big Cookie. Let me be honest…I’ve tasted A LOT of Big Cookies!

The Big Cookie Business Was Born

Aaron’s homemade cookies were so good, that his family and friends encouraged him to pursue making cookies as a business and offer his homemade cookies for sale online. That’s exactly what Aaron did! He took a leap of faith and quit his engineering job to bake Big Cookies full time (Not always recommended!). After several months of having his Big Cookie brand developed and website created, in addition to advertising materials, labels and boxes for cookies, Aaron is in business and selling his homemade gourmet cookies from his website. He has also rented a table at a local farmers’ market (The Farmers’ Market in Elverson, PA) to get some local exposure for the big taste of his Big Cookies!

The Big Cookie Difference

It’s an unbelievably hard thing to do to quit a full time, mortgage and bill paying job to devote everything to a dream of doing what you love as a business. Aaron loves baking his cookies and he has the passion for it.  He also knows he has something different in that his background as an engineer (with that “engineering mind”) has given him an edge in how he measures his premium ingredients, and continuously looks for improvements with every cookie flavor he bakes. That’s the only way I can describe it. I’ve never had a cookie better than a Big Cookie. Period. In addition, with every order he sends out, he includes his signature “Big Cookie Bonus.” The Big Cookie Bonus” is a cookie weighing 7 oz. that sits in its own holder, cradled above the dozen, individually wrapped cookies below (actually, Aaron includes the Big Cookie Bonus in 1/2 dozen orders as well). This one gigantic bonus cookie is like getting an extra two plus cookies in your order!

Big Cookie Flavors Make Big Cookie a Standout

Aaron’s home cookie business is definitely headed in the right direction. Not only does he have his engineering background the finest ingredients and recipes to send his business rocketing to homemade cookie business stardom, he has also come up with the most delicious cookie flavors. Here’s a list of his flavors on his website now:

Big Milk Chocolate Chunk

Big Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Unity

Big Oatmeal Cinnamon Raisin Harvest (the best oatmeal raisin cookie you’ll ever taste!)

Big Smooth Butterscotch Walnut (a Big Cookie favorite)

Big White Chocolate Cran-Cherry Twist

Big White Chocolate Pecan Crunch

Big Chocolate Trifecta

Big Double Dark Chocolate Blackout

Big Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Unity (my absolute favorite!)

Big Double Dark Chocolate Coconut Getaway

Big Super Six Combo: Six of the Big Cookie favorites–

• Big Milk Chocolate Chunk
• Big Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Unity
• Big White Chocolate Cran-Cherry Twist
• Big White Chocolate Pecan Crunch
• Big Oatmeal Cinnamon Raisin Harvest
• Big Smooth Butterscotch Walnut

Big Chocolate Lover’s Combo: A dozen of  the fab four!

• Big Double Dark Chocolate Blackout
• Big Double Dark Chocolate Coconut Getaway
• Big Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Unity
• Big Chocolate Trifecta

Soon, Big Cookie will be offering a gluten-free gourmet cookie line as well. Look for this on 1BigCookie.com soon (A good reason to bookmark the website!).

Do You Need a Reason to Buy a Big Cookie?

Good news! You don’t need a reason at all to buy Big Cookies! I bought them for a friend who broke her leg, and to take to an Easter dinner celebration with family. You can buy them for gifts, for yourself, to bring to the office to impress your co-workers with your knowledge of fine gourmet baked goods! Folks, don’t let anything stop you from ordering Big Cookies; you won’t be sorry! Plus, you’ll be supporting a genuinely, nice guy (yep, I know him personally) who thoroughly enjoys baking cookies and seeing the smiles on the faces of everyone that tries them.

Can there be a better home-based job than this? Big Cookie, be careful! You may outgrow your digs before you know it!

SPECIAL DISCOUNT…Aaron at Big Cookie has been kind enough to extend a 10% discount on cookie orders for MyMochaMoney.com readers in addition to the 10% discount currently running on his website. Visit 1BigCookie.com and enter “BC10-mymochamoney” (no quotes) at checkout to receive your discount! Offer expires May 31, 2013.

Can you really get half price shoes with this technique?

This post isn’t going to be long but I thought readers of MyMochaMoney would want to know about this technique to get half off shoes or maybe more. It’s possible you already know this information but since I didn’t and I’m a deal hound, I thought there might be others out there that don’t know you can do this when buying shoes.

It’s simple really. Have you ever found a great pair of shoes on let’s say Zappos.com or 6pm.com at a great price, maybe half the price of the same shoes you saw at a retail store nearby? I have and I quickly made my purchase online, and waited for my order to arrive.

What I didn’t know is that you can print out the deal you found online and take it to your neighborhood retailer that sells the same pair of shoes and most times they will price match (call first to make sure). I know this technique works at bigger retail stores for electronics and other types of products but I never thought to try it on shoes. This is great news because now you don’t have to wait for the shoes to arrive, and in some cases, pay shipping (neither Zappos nor 6pm charge for shipping).

Looking for a Job? Tap into Your Personal Networks

Think Outside the Box When Looking for a Job

With the current competitive landscape of the job market, it’s a no brainer that you have to get creative and resourceful when looking for your next job. It’s unlikely that you are going to find your next paycheck from the company advertising on Monster.com or even on a hiring company’s website. However, the friend whom you play tennis or take Zumba classes with, may just hold the keys to your next paying gig.

I was in awe of my close friend, who has been a stay-at-home mom for years now, having three interviews with three different companies within a two week span. She decided it was time for her to go back to work, part-time to start, now that her kids are older and the oldest one can keep an eye on the two younger ones. She shifted her mindset to finding a job, and let everyone in her life know her intentions. She was ready, and she opened herself up to the possibilities of re-entering the workforce.

The Power of Your Personal Networks

My friend has a number of different groups and activities that she is involved in. She belongs to a book club, plays tennis, takes Zumba classes, volunteers at her kids’ school, keeps up with old friends, is active at church, and is an overall warm and caring person. She is social and quick with a compliment. When it was time for her to start looking for a job, she was able to tap into the large network she created for herself. The people she associates with weren’t the ones who had a position to offer her, but they knew of positions that were currently looking to be filled and for which she was qualified.

My friend updated her resume (she believes a part-time position at her kids’ school last year helped get her foot back in the business door) and sent it to the folks directly responsible for assisting in the hiring process for three different positions at three different companies. She received interviews for each position.  A couple of days after one of the interviews, she was offered a part time job at a company nearby. Not only that, she had asked to have Friday’s off and they were agreeable to this request. The work hours during the other days are 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m., and the pay was significantly more than what she could have earned in a part-time retail position. This new work schedule allows her to drop her three kids off at school before work, be home in time to help them with their homework, drive them to after school activities, and make a warm dinner for them. The perfect position for her! And yes, it was a friend’s husband that hired her.

Write it Down, Tell Everyone, and Be Specific

So if you’re looking for a part or full time job now or in the near future, write your perfect position down on paper (refer to my post, “Write it Down, Make it Happen” to learn about a book that describes the power of writing your goals down). It’s a way of “putting it out to the world.” Don’t underestimate the influence of your friends, neighbors, acquaintances and social groups. Let everyone know what you’re looking for in terms of the perfect position, the skills you possess, the hours you wish to work, and the ideal compensation. It’s not enough to tell people “you need or want a new job.” You need to be specific. It’s amazing what people remember when you are specific. It often causes the person you are talking to to recall a specific job she or he knows needs to be filled.

You never know, your weekly Saturday tennis match may just result in a Monday morning interview!

Is This Keyword Research Program the Answer to End Writer’s Block?

If you write on a blog, website, or some other place on the internet (maybe to earn some extra cash on websites like Hubpages or Squidoo) yet struggle with writer’s block, this keyword research program will put an end to your misery.

How many times have you sat down at your desk with fingers poised on your laptop keyboard waiting for some divine intervention to strike inspiration into your brain. I can’t tell you how many times this has happened to me. Sometimes, I don’t even make it into my office. I come down the stairs and glance at my empty chair in front of my desk and think, “I should be in there writing.” However, I keep walking past the office and down the hall, looking to busy my hands and brain at some other task because I have writer’s block yet once again.

Hundreds of Long-Tail Keyword Phrases at Your Fingertips

So what if there was a keyword research program that filled your brain with literally hundreds of long tail keyword ideas to write about? If all you had to do was type in a few words and an asterisk where you wanted different words generated, and idea topics were generated in mere seconds? How great would this be? Keyword Researcher does this.

You know when you start typing a few words into the Google Search bar and Google automatically tries to guess what phrase you’re searching for? Well, Keyword Researcher acts like this Google Autocomplete scraper and returns a ton of long-tail keyword phrases that you can save. When this is done automatically for every letter in the alphabet, you are left with hundreds of long-tail keyword phrases that will end writer’s block forever!

Keyword Researcher Explained–Video

The great news is, Keyword Researcher is free to try. With the free trial, it will return keyword phrases starting with the letter A and stopping with the letter H. The full version returns keyword phrases for the rest of the alphabet. If you want to purchase the program in its entirety, I’ve secured a limited time discount for My Mocha Money readers–$37.97 with a 60-day money-back guarantee. My suggestion is to give the free trial a try to see if you like it. That’s what I’m doing right now and I absolutely love it so far and haven’t had a day of writer’s block since I downloaded it!

Take me to Keyword Researcher now for my FREE trial!

Happy New Year to current and new MyMochaMoney.com readers! It was in November, 2008 that I started this blog and I’m thrilled to still be writing on it (over 260 posts now ) and have the readership that gives me the motivation to continue, so for that I am grateful to all of you.

Click here to read my full story on why I started writing on MyMochaMoney.

Since this is the start of a brand new year, I thought it would be a great idea to include some new content I’ve been kicking around in my head for many months now. I’ve dedicated the blog to writing mostly about my greatest passion, finding legitimate work at home ideas that I’ve personally tried and know work, like practicing arbitrage using Amazon, finding items on Craigslist to resell, finding easy things to sell on eBay, and selling used books on Amazon. For the most part, I’ve stayed away from internet marketing topics and making money on the internet because there are so many great blogs and websites dedicated to this topic. That has been hard for me since I do make money from internet and online marketing (not much, but some) So, for 2013 I’ve decided to  include it all and hopefully my experiences with learning, growing and profiting from internet marketing, as well as my other work at home ideas will benefit you.

I’m learning from other bloggers who are successful that being transparent in your writing is critical to growing your readership and forming a relationships with readers. I know I can do better at this. I plan to include the good, the bad, and the ugly of what I’m working on, the tools I’m using that work or don’t work, and how I’m getting it done when there is limited time in the day to do it. I’m hoping this will help you too, and if you have ideas or tools that could help others do a better job of earning REAL money at home, then please share it here on the blog so others can learn from you too!

I’m excited to bring you more content about working from home regardless of whether it’s internet marketing based, or selling clothes at a consignment shop that pays cash upfront (see my post, “How to Make it an All Cash Christmas Dave Ramsey-Style“). One thing I haven’t done in the past, and will continue NOT to do, is recommend any product or service to my readers that I haven’t already tried and had success with, or know and trust the person whose products or services I might recommend. That is my continued promise to you.

In the upcoming weeks I hope to tweak the look of the website. It’s a new year so it’s time for a fresh look (I’ve already taken the blog from three columns to two…what do you think?)! Thanks again for stopping by and hope to have you as a regular reader and contributor of MyMochaMoney!

Several months back I started to listen to Dave Ramsey’s radio show, and decided to practice what he preaches. If you don’t know who Dave Ramsey is, he is a personal money management expert who discusses personal finance topics on his popular syndicated radio show. He helps others get out of debt, instructs folks not to use credit for anything and if you can’t pay cash for it, you shouldn’t buy it. What qualifies him to teach these principles? He rose to the top financially at a young age, and then crashed and burned and was forced to file bankruptcy. He rose from the ashes to build an empire based on what he learned in his journey, and passes this information on to all who want to follow his philosophy and live a prosperous life.

In the past, we’ve paid for Christmas gifts, decorations, wrapping paper, a Christmas tree, and everything Christmas on credit card–like most Americans. Then, in January and February, get the big fat credit card bills in the mail and wipe out the checking account paying them off in full to avoid any fees and charges. Often we “robbed” another account to accomplish this.

We may not have debt like many of the folks that call into Mr. Ramsey’s radio show, but I think we could benefit from paying attention to where and how each dollar gets spent, including not being so reckless with our money around the Holidays. How are we going to do that this year? By making it an all cash Christmas–Dave Ramsey style.

At the beginning of this past summer, we started eliminating the use of our credit cards and developing a budget at the beginning of each month so we could know where all our money was being spent during the month. This is the toughest part! This worked for June and then fell apart in July and August when we took several vacations to the beach. We stuck to our budget in September but it fell apart again in October (November’s budget is set up and we are committed to sticking to it). However, just knowing that a budget was set up, made us at least more aware of how we spent our money. For me, that meant less meaningless trips to Target. For my husband, it was less lunches out in the city. We may not have been counting every dollar, but we were more conscious where it was going every time it left our wallets.

A couple of months back, we decided how much money to set aside per month for gift purchases. I set up a separate savings account with our bank just for “gifts” which includes birthday and special occasion gift money in addition to Christmas gift money. I have a set dollar amount automatically transfer from our main account to this separate account on a daily basis. For me, it’s easier if a small amount of money comes out on a daily basis, instead of a lump sum once a month. In addition, gift buying may occur at different times during the month and to know I always have money in that account keeps us from robbing the main account, and also doesn’t allow us to overspend in our gift buying which we have done in the past.

In addition to the gift savings account being set up, I’ve taken it upon myself to see what other ways we can come up with extra cash for Christmas. Maybe I’m just plain weird, but I get a kick with coming up with new ways to make a few bucks without becoming an employee. I don’t use any money that I make online for the purchase of gifts. That money goes into a SEP IRA, or back into my business (Which includes an almost daily Starbucks Mocha drink–needed for sustained energy and alertness on business tasks. Try it and you will see!) so I can’t rely on any of that money for gift buying at Christmas. I just need to get creative.

One of my stops yesterday was to Plato’s Closet. Plato’s closet is a consignment shop with franchises in the Northeast where you can take your gently used name brand clothing and exchange them for cash or credit to shop in the store. I took three pairs of jeans and an older pair of gently used Uggs (the knit ones) to sell.They were crowded, so I dropped off my things, ran some errands and returned within the hour to see how much they were willing to offer me. They offered me $48 so I accepted it. Maybe I could have made more selling those items on eBay, but I don’t know for sure. Plus, there was very little hassle involved and I had the cash in my pocket the same day.

How much Plato’s Closet will offer you for your items will depend on whether your items are in demand, the style, the condition they are in, and the store’s current stock level. If you don’t have one of these consignment shops in your area, you may have another consignment shop local to you that does pay cash on the spot. Do a little research and call around if something like this is of interest to you. I definitely will go back with more things to sell!

I’m also going to check around the house for some things I can sell on Craigslist. I personally have had great success with Craigslist when selling items, but you do have to be careful of scams–especially at this time of year. If you do find a buyer, see if you can make the exchange at either yours or their place of employment, or at a public location (not in a parking lot). I have done a couple of transactions at my house but these were for children’s items that I sold to local moms, and the items weren’t worth hundreds of dollars. Sometimes it’s just a gut feeling on where you think is the most appropriate place to make a transaction.

I do have a few things I can list on eBay, but I much prefer Craigslist because I don’t have to give up a percentage to eBay’s PayPal when I accept money. I may try to list these items first on Craigslist, but if they don’t sell, then I’ll try eBay.

In addition, I’ll try some Amazon arbitrage. OK, here’s where I go against Dave Ramsey’s philosophy about using credit cards, but maybe not. I’m not sure where he stands on credit cards for business. I do have an Amazon credit card that I use for purchases I make on Amazon.com, other websites and local stores that I can buy and resell. When I use this card, I get points which transfer into dollars–dollars I will use for, you guessed it…Christmas gifts! As long as the balance gets paid off each month, I make money with my arbitrage scenario, AND I earn dollars back that I can use towards Christmas gifts, what’s the harm?

Dave would say the harm is in the risk. The risk being how do you know what you are buying is going to sell for a higher price or sell at all? This takes a little bit of experience but if you can make your worst case scenario that you break even, then you still walk away with your Amazon points. This sometimes can be a little too much work for the pay off, but if you turn a profit on the majority of the items you sell, then this could be a fun and lucrative way to earn your cash for Christmas. However, I highly suggest that if you want to try this method and be successful at it, you keep a spreadsheet of some sort to keep track of your purchases, sales, and Amazon credit card points. I also suggest getting experience using the arbitrage method with buying less expensive items at first. There is a learning curve involved.

November and early December is the perfect time if you’re crafty to sign up for selling your wares at craft fairs. If you can sew, paint, bake, build, or anything else that has an end result people will pay money for, you can earn some extra cash for Christmas. Don’t think you can make enough inventory in time for an upcoming fair? Contact a friend or two who are also crafty and sign up together and share a table. Between two or three people, you will have enough stuff to sell. I’ve done craft fairs in the past and sold hand painted items. I was able to make $100 or more on a weekend afternoon.

If you aren’t crafty but know someone who is who might not want to personally set up at a craft fair, suggest that you can sell their handmade goods for them for a percentage of the sales. What if you approach several people about this– you automatically become a mobile consignment shop earning commissions from several different crafters. That’s cash in your pocket and extra money for Christmas!

Black Friday 2012 is quickly approaching. Many deal-seeking folks are already mapping out their early morning route to hit all the major retailers offering the products they want at the best prices of the season.

Below is a list of the top websites that are dedicated to Black Friday information and more importantly, the Black Friday flyers that are being leaked early or released openly to the public. Here they are:

Black Friday 2012
The Black Friday
Black Friday Ads
Black Friday

Word on the street is that Target is opening their stores at 9:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving, an hour later than Walmart and Kmart. Wow! Let the turkey digest already folks!

It’s also been leaked that Target will have all-day deals on Target.com. In addition, they will offer a $10 gift card off of purchases of $50 or more on apparel, accessories and home from 4:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Target’s leaked preview ad is only 2-pages long, but showed some pretty decent prices such as $49.00 for the Nook Simple Touch e-Reader (you save $50), $147.00 for the Apex 32″ Class LCD HDTV (you save $100), and $99.99 for the Nikon L310 Digital Camera (you save $100).

Want to go directly to one of the big retail stores that posted their Black Friday specials? Check out the Super Savings on the Season’s Top Gifts with Ultimate Online Specials at Walmart.com!

Can’t get out or won’t go out on Black Friday? Don’t forget Cyber Monday deals the Monday after Black Friday!

Since my blog is called MyMOCHAMoney, and I do write about ways to save money and find deals (among other things of course), I cannot ignore the fact that National Coffee Day 2012 is tomorrow, Saturday, September 29.

The following is a list of all the places you can go to score yourself a free cup of coffee tomorrow, or get some kind of coffee deal. I wouldn’t suggest you go to all the places that offer free coffee unless you have some sort of sick need to intoxicate yourself with caffeine on a Saturday morning (perhaps because of a rather interesting Friday night). Enjoy!

Caribou Coffee: Get a free cup of small Amy’s coffee with coupon, or pay $.50 for a medium, or $1 for a large. Coupon can also be shown from cell phone.

Dunkin’ Donuts: For September 29 and 30th only, Dunkin’ Donuts is offering 16 oz. packaged coffee for only $5.99 at participating Dunkin’ Donuts locations nationwide. Limit 2 per guest. Also, there’s a coupon for a small hot or iced latte for only $.99 good through 9/30. Get your Dunkin’ Donuts coupon.

Einstein Bros Bagels: They had specials every day this week to celebrate National Coffee Day 2012, so take advantage of the last two days. Friday, September 28, you can get 50% off a Vanilla Hazlenut Latte, and tomorrow, Saturday, September 29, there’s a Buy One Get One Free Pumpkin Latte deal.

Kangaroo Express: Kangaroo Express is offering a 12 oz. Bean Street coffee for $.01.

Krispy Kreme: Free 12 oz. cup of coffee on Saturday, 9/29. Also, 75 fans will receive FREE coffee for a year to celebrate Krispy Kreme’s 75th Anniversary! Visit Krispy Kreme for details.

McDonald’s: Free 12 0z. coffee from September 23-29. Participating locations only. No coupon needed.

Starbucks: Buy one 12-count box of Starbucks K-cups and receive a 2nd pack free! Deal ends Sunday, 9/30. Participating stores only (hmmm…this is a good deal if you have a Keurig–actually, a really good deal. But non-Keurig owners are out of luck!).

Tim Horton’s: Buy one coffee, get one free on Saturday, September 29. Like Tim Horton’s Facebook page to get your coupon.

Like FREE drink and food deals? Visit eatfreeonyourbirthday.com for a list of restaurants that offer eat free on your birthday and more deals!

I can’t think of a better app to save money than the Coupons App for Android or iPhone. I don’t know about you, but I have tons of apps on my phone and iPad that I’ve used maybe once or twice and completely forgot about. Not the Coupons App. I check this app not once, but several times a day. With so many discounts and freebies listed, it’s my go to app in the morning before I even start my day.

What makes this app even better is that it’s free, and right now, it’s one of the top five apps in the Amazon app store for Android. Here are some of the Coupon App’s features:

• Access real-time coupon updates everywhere
• Use barcode scanner or search by name to find available coupons and deals
• Share coupons with friends and family via text, e-mail, Facebook, and more
• Add coupons to your calendar or bookmark them for later

Another great feature of this app is that it shows the cheapest gas price and where in relation to your location right at the top when the app is opened.

Some of my favorite coupons or notices to date were the Regal Cinemas $1 kids movies on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings during the summer, the Regal Cinemas free small popcorn coupon, the Michael’s craft store coupon for 40% off a single item (because I forgot mine from the Sunday paper at home), the few bucks off $10 coupon from Ulta, and all the different restaurant freebies and deals that are listed throughout the day.

If you don’t have the Coupon App yet, I highly recommend downloading it today. I know I’ve saved more than a few bucks with it and I’m sure you will too!

DogVacay.com offers the perfect business for people who want to earn extra money and love dogs. Whether you own a dog or not, you can be a host family for people looking to have someone watch their dog in a loving home while they are away.

This business offers a win-win-win scenario. The dog wins because they get to stay in a real home and not in a cage at a kennel, and receive love and attention from a qualified host. It’s like their own mini vacation! The dog parents win because there is insurance, they receive photo updates, and customer support. In addition, they can schedule and make payments online, AND there is a 100% money-back guarantee. The host wins because they earn extra money (maybe even a living) watching dogs,they create  a free profile at dogvacay.com, and they have a no-hassle way of getting paid.

My sister is a host on dogvacay and raves about the service. As a host, she sets her own rates and decides what types of dogs will fit best in her home. In her case, since she has small dogs and a cat, she hosts only smaller or elderly dogs, hence her business name, Little Dog B&B located in Collegeville, PA.  She is able to earn extra spending money on the side in addition to a full time job.

Since all hosts create a free profile on the website, you would list all the benefits you could provide a family in watching their dog. You also want to include whether or not you are out of the house for more than several hours at another job like my sister did in her profile. You can check out her profile for  Collegeville dog sitting as an example of a successfully written host profile.

Think you’re ready to become a host for Dogvacay? Check out dogvacay.com and set up your free profile now!