Let's brainstorm money-making ideas!
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How about starting a tutoring school at home for wannabe mystery shoppers, that perhaps need a little help with English...and need the sipport of an established shopper. If you take classes of 5 or 6, you can make $35.00 per hour.
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Are you telling me s4u, that I spelled sipport wrong, the nerve. oh yea, that would be support. I can't be purfect all the time.....gosh.
There are so many ways to make money out there now days. You have to look and be persistant. I was in restaurant work for 25 years. I injured my back and had to start all over again in my 30'ies. I then became a house keeper and the business grew. Then 7 years ago I was told that I have C.O.P.D. and had to give up housekeeping because of the chemicals. I was in my 50'ies and was scared to death. I found mystery shopping and merchandising. I also do demonstrations on the week-ends. I have learned to never give up because ther is always something out there for you.
My occasional housekeeper started employing people. Now she drives around supervising, while 6 people work for her. They get health insurance and all the usual benefits, she no longer has to clean houses, and she's a good businesswoman.. She even takes credit cards. It's not right for everyone, but I'm proud of her. She did very well for herself.
I to did the same thing. At one time I had 16 housekeepers working for me. A lot of my customers were businesses and when the bottom fell out of the real estate market in the early 90'ies everything went south. Housekeeping can be quite profitable. I had a housekeeper also but I think that she went back to Mexico. She was wonderful and boy do I miss her.
Mo, I am glad you are so resourceful.
A friend was having trouble with her crossword puzzle. I asked what she was looking for When she told me, I said the answer was "wheeler dealer". She asked how I know that. I said that's what I call my son. Another friend who heard it told me that he gets it from me.
They say that running businesses runs in families. My mother and my grandfather had businesses of their own. It must be an interest we come by genetically. My son and I are our own businesses. The rest of the family isn't quite like that, although some of the children of my sister and enterprising brother-in-law are getting that way.
A friend was having trouble with her crossword puzzle. I asked what she was looking for When she told me, I said the answer was "wheeler dealer". She asked how I know that. I said that's what I call my son. Another friend who heard it told me that he gets it from me.
They say that running businesses runs in families. My mother and my grandfather had businesses of their own. It must be an interest we come by genetically. My son and I are our own businesses. The rest of the family isn't quite like that, although some of the children of my sister and enterprising brother-in-law are getting that way.
I get a ton of emails on processing from home or processing rebates and make ioo. to 175 or more an hour are these for real? Has any one ever done them?
Phyllis
Kristee I believe signed up with a company and has sent them money under their "satisfaction guarantee or your money back" claim. I don't think she has been able to do anything with it yet. My reaction is that it is a variant on the old stuffing envelopes at home scams. If you Google "processing rebates" you will get a bunch of companies offering to sell you the how-to information and you will get some interesting feedback. One article the fees were being paid by the outfit that runs the website and the reviewer found the initial fee gave them lists to be purchased to be able to contact places that might be in need of rebate processors. I only scanned the article but it didn't sound very likely there would be any income from the expenditures. I suspect you would make more money collecting aluminum cans out of recycling bins ahead of the recycling truck and carrying them off to the recycler yourself to cash in.
Thanks, I figured if they want money up front theres a problem. Does anyone out there have a web site? If so are you successful at it.
Phyllis
walking dogs and ovr night Id like to know more about it, how did you get into that, did you advertise, know people, local papers, i love animals and have a great set up in my house to even have them stay over night,what do you have to do to get that business going .Lets talk shop 4 u. thanks
I would love to run errands for busy people,it's kind of the same as the shopping that we are doing now however I'm sure the pay would be better. Does anyone do this? Any suggestions on how to get started?
Sharon,
A woman near me does that. She goes to the medical center 60 miles away twice a day. I suppose she carries packages for doctors. You might find out who near you is doing it and how much they are charging. This woman works in a semi-rural area. I think it would be better if you were in an urban area. I notice that some taxis now carry packages. There are other courier services. You might check all their prices, then advertise, if you are in a highly urban area, in a high-dollar highrise. If in a rural area, you are pretty much restricted to flyers, radio (expensive), and newspaper, until you can get word-of-mouth advertising. I can't see this type of business surviving on business cards alone, but you'll need them to give to people who ask. Most people will not use this service, so your task is to locate the ones in your area who will.
A woman near me does that. She goes to the medical center 60 miles away twice a day. I suppose she carries packages for doctors. You might find out who near you is doing it and how much they are charging. This woman works in a semi-rural area. I think it would be better if you were in an urban area. I notice that some taxis now carry packages. There are other courier services. You might check all their prices, then advertise, if you are in a highly urban area, in a high-dollar highrise. If in a rural area, you are pretty much restricted to flyers, radio (expensive), and newspaper, until you can get word-of-mouth advertising. I can't see this type of business surviving on business cards alone, but you'll need them to give to people who ask. Most people will not use this service, so your task is to locate the ones in your area who will.
To RMWilson; That is a great idea and maybe everyone could link to the other sites as well
fortune8one.com on the web
Fortune8--
Wilson posted 9 months ago and is no longer here or not active. Watch the dates on people's posts. No harm done, but you may not get a reply if you ask a question. We have quite a turnover of members here.
Sharon--
In my county, people who do that kind of work charge heftily. They're hired mostly by well-to-do families who are accustomed to delegating any unpleasant or time-consuming jobs. But the errand people ("household managers"
also have overhead like newspaper advertising, a second phone, probably other things. And they're really on the ball. They have lists of contractors (I'm one of the contractors) to call for household repairs, they return books to the library and pick up at the dry cleaners, they order theater and baseball tickets. They make reservations for hotels, restaurants and resorts, book airline flights. Sometimes they have to lay out money because the family forgot to leave a check. In this area, you have to be savvy and efficient.
BTW, I went with a household manager friend to get baseball tickets at Yankee Stadium, and was blown away by the price of tickets!
Of course you can also do things for elderly people living alone, if they can afford you. I did little extras for a wealthy customer years ago, and occasionally I'll do plant-sitting or mail pickup while a customer is on vacation.
What kind of area do you live in?
Wilson posted 9 months ago and is no longer here or not active. Watch the dates on people's posts. No harm done, but you may not get a reply if you ask a question. We have quite a turnover of members here.
Sharon--
In my county, people who do that kind of work charge heftily. They're hired mostly by well-to-do families who are accustomed to delegating any unpleasant or time-consuming jobs. But the errand people ("household managers"
also have overhead like newspaper advertising, a second phone, probably other things. And they're really on the ball. They have lists of contractors (I'm one of the contractors) to call for household repairs, they return books to the library and pick up at the dry cleaners, they order theater and baseball tickets. They make reservations for hotels, restaurants and resorts, book airline flights. Sometimes they have to lay out money because the family forgot to leave a check. In this area, you have to be savvy and efficient.
BTW, I went with a household manager friend to get baseball tickets at Yankee Stadium, and was blown away by the price of tickets!
Of course you can also do things for elderly people living alone, if they can afford you. I did little extras for a wealthy customer years ago, and occasionally I'll do plant-sitting or mail pickup while a customer is on vacation.
What kind of area do you live in?
So that's how you got your assignments, Sneakers. I often wondered. I saw in another post that you drive. I guess you aren't in New York proper with the taxis, buses and subways. I know its inaccurate because people do drive, such as the taxi drivers, for example, but I had a picture of you carrying a toolkit and lumber on the city bus.
You are right about the timing Sneakers. But even old ideas can be good. So I am going to throw that one out again. A lot of people have their own webpages or sites for various reasons and the link codes are pretty easy to write. So why don't we share them. With the cost of linking and advertising these days on line it would be a good way for everyone to see what is going on with each other.
fortune8one.com on the web
Sandra Sue Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So that's how you got your assignments, Sneakers.
> I often wondered. I saw in another post that you
> drive. I guess you aren't in New York proper with
> the taxis, buses and subways. I know its
> inaccurate because people do drive, such as the
> taxi drivers, for example, but I had a picture of
> you carrying a toolkit and lumber on the city bus.
I don't do household manager, just an favor for my home repair customers. I was with a friend getting the baseball tickets. Read again. My primary business is home repair, secondary computer repair, tertiary MSing.
I'm not in NYC, but in NYS. I'm just north of NYC in a suburb. Of course I drive.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2008 01:29AM by sneakers.
-------------------------------------------------------
> So that's how you got your assignments, Sneakers.
> I often wondered. I saw in another post that you
> drive. I guess you aren't in New York proper with
> the taxis, buses and subways. I know its
> inaccurate because people do drive, such as the
> taxi drivers, for example, but I had a picture of
> you carrying a toolkit and lumber on the city bus.
I don't do household manager, just an favor for my home repair customers. I was with a friend getting the baseball tickets. Read again. My primary business is home repair, secondary computer repair, tertiary MSing.
I'm not in NYC, but in NYS. I'm just north of NYC in a suburb. Of course I drive.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2008 01:29AM by sneakers.
Did you say "I don't do household Manger?" ROTFL!!
I signed up today for something really interesting. Co-Producer of a Movie. Those of us who have signed up get a percentage of the movie. Doesn't cost anything and sounds very exciting.
I don't know all the details just yet but they will be forth coming this week.
I signed up today for something really interesting. Co-Producer of a Movie. Those of us who have signed up get a percentage of the movie. Doesn't cost anything and sounds very exciting.
I don't know all the details just yet but they will be forth coming this week.
Manager, goofy.
Probably a Youtube video filmed in someone's living room. The movie will net a profit of $0.
Probably a Youtube video filmed in someone's living room. The movie will net a profit of $0.
Sneakers, are you in a bad mood today?
Nope it's not a YouTube thing. They are sending out the "screen play" and the actors are doing their auditions on video. We can edit the screen play and pick the actors.
I got more info yesterday evening.
I did an edit for a movie several years ago but I was paid by the studio instead of getting a percentage of the take.
Which was a mistake on my part. The movie was a big hit.
I got more info yesterday evening.
I did an edit for a movie several years ago but I was paid by the studio instead of getting a percentage of the take.
Which was a mistake on my part. The movie was a big hit.
Sneakers the best place to find focus groups is on Craigslist. They pay very well but you have to be in the right demographic.
We live in the Los Angeles area and have just signed up with a staffing company to be paid members of the audience for television shows. We have accepted our first assignment and will be in the audience for a new show called Roommates. They pay $8.25 per hour with a guarantee of at least two hours and a promise of more work to come
We live in the Los Angeles area and have just signed up with a staffing company to be paid members of the audience for television shows. We have accepted our first assignment and will be in the audience for a new show called Roommates. They pay $8.25 per hour with a guarantee of at least two hours and a promise of more work to come
I would like to know about focus groups also,did you get any feedback on that Sneakers and what did you find out if anything??? If anyone knows let me know what it is all about and where to find out additional info.Thanks
Philface, I haven't investigated Craigslist. The other day, I was looking around in my mystery shopping websites, and found one that had focus groups. I can't remember which one it was since I didn't sign up. It said that there is a rumor out there that focus groups pay well but that, most of the time, they consider your feeling of doing something good as most of your pay.
An interesting assignment I've had twice was to pretend to be a job seeker for a company that employs route salesmen. I got it from a temporary agency. The company was training its HR department. The assignment paid $10 an hour (from the temporary agency).
One person who was there when I was there was asked to apply for real. They told him they were very impressed with him. The first time I was there, they asked if I really wanted the job. I told them no. I thought perhaps it was not a real invitation but a courtesy one. I got the impression that the upper management was male-heavy (from their pictures on the wall since there were no females at all), and that the route salesmen don't stay long if they aren't producing to a certain level.
How they treated the fake job applicants was also significant to me. We were told to be there at a certain time, 8AM, and only one of those days were we told what the delay was when they didn't call us until about 9:00. During the course of the day, we engaged in several interviews, and we had to stay in the waiting room between times. After an interviewer took me in, he offered me coffee, which I declined, but no one else in the whole company on either day told us we could even take a break to hit the machines. We also had to stay well beyond lunchtime.
What surprised me was that the company purchased its testing materials from another company, and never asked the traditional employment questions. For me, the questions were very frustrating, and in the final analysis, I told them that both times. They said that those questions enabled them to see the person's personality. One of the hypothetical questions involved ethics. I thought that the woman who explained it to us had a personal stake in the test, that perhaps she is the one who selected and purchased it, because she became agitated when I said that. I also thought they should develop their own fine-tuned questions.
One of the tests was to show an imaginary map and ask how you change your route when you got additional assignments the night before. Well, my fake resume prepared by the temporary agency did not cover merchandising and it certainly didn't cover mystery shopping. I could have said I do that all the time!
The fine print says there are no perfect answers. The man who interviewed me last had already made a mistake by not giving me one of the tests and trying to cover up for it when an evaluator pointed it out to him, so he was nervous. He had a "cheat sheet". I said I'd convert an assignment to a phone call, cut the luncheon meeting short, and make it to a promised social obligation. The interviewer was very upset with that answer.
He questioned the social obligation. I said I don't renege on social obligations. He was beside himself by then. I pointed out that the social obligation was to a child because the hypothetical mother is a friend I seldom get to see because this is a different town than I was supposed to live in, and that I should show up early enough to be there at the social event about two hours. At that time, one of the observers started using profanity and said that her grandchildren would not run out of fun in two hours (which was part of the detail I'd given). I have lots of personal incidental information, but I didn't pursue that.
I wasn't doing this for real, so there were no repercussions. I thought I'd point out to him that the fine print said he doesn't need a cheat sheet, but I didn't. Perhaps he would have had a better appreciation of me if I had, LOL. What a place! I wouldn't work for them if they begged me. It's probably only about 25 miles from home.
One thing that really disgusted me about that assignment was that, only after the second interview did I discover that my real-life "example" answers to their hypothetical questions had to be from the last ten years of work history. It was almost like that was an invisible way to discriminate against older people. I had used anything from my past I could think of for those weird questions. Some of the questions were out there. I had to think hard to come up with some answers.
I felt like they were playing games with applicants. How could they hire with anything but a subjective feeling? I have a problem anyway with places that hire others who "fit in" with their corporate climate. Just exactly who are they eliminating?
Anyway, the temporary agencies were one of my brainstorm money-making ideas. I used to work for some on a regular basis years ago when I lived in the city. Now I live too far out to make that feasible. It's supposed to fill in gaps when I don't have work. One of the agencies, which specializes in home health, called me several times, but decided on their own that the assignments were too far away, especially since they were only paying minimum wage.
An interesting assignment I've had twice was to pretend to be a job seeker for a company that employs route salesmen. I got it from a temporary agency. The company was training its HR department. The assignment paid $10 an hour (from the temporary agency).
One person who was there when I was there was asked to apply for real. They told him they were very impressed with him. The first time I was there, they asked if I really wanted the job. I told them no. I thought perhaps it was not a real invitation but a courtesy one. I got the impression that the upper management was male-heavy (from their pictures on the wall since there were no females at all), and that the route salesmen don't stay long if they aren't producing to a certain level.
How they treated the fake job applicants was also significant to me. We were told to be there at a certain time, 8AM, and only one of those days were we told what the delay was when they didn't call us until about 9:00. During the course of the day, we engaged in several interviews, and we had to stay in the waiting room between times. After an interviewer took me in, he offered me coffee, which I declined, but no one else in the whole company on either day told us we could even take a break to hit the machines. We also had to stay well beyond lunchtime.
What surprised me was that the company purchased its testing materials from another company, and never asked the traditional employment questions. For me, the questions were very frustrating, and in the final analysis, I told them that both times. They said that those questions enabled them to see the person's personality. One of the hypothetical questions involved ethics. I thought that the woman who explained it to us had a personal stake in the test, that perhaps she is the one who selected and purchased it, because she became agitated when I said that. I also thought they should develop their own fine-tuned questions.
One of the tests was to show an imaginary map and ask how you change your route when you got additional assignments the night before. Well, my fake resume prepared by the temporary agency did not cover merchandising and it certainly didn't cover mystery shopping. I could have said I do that all the time!
The fine print says there are no perfect answers. The man who interviewed me last had already made a mistake by not giving me one of the tests and trying to cover up for it when an evaluator pointed it out to him, so he was nervous. He had a "cheat sheet". I said I'd convert an assignment to a phone call, cut the luncheon meeting short, and make it to a promised social obligation. The interviewer was very upset with that answer.
He questioned the social obligation. I said I don't renege on social obligations. He was beside himself by then. I pointed out that the social obligation was to a child because the hypothetical mother is a friend I seldom get to see because this is a different town than I was supposed to live in, and that I should show up early enough to be there at the social event about two hours. At that time, one of the observers started using profanity and said that her grandchildren would not run out of fun in two hours (which was part of the detail I'd given). I have lots of personal incidental information, but I didn't pursue that.
I wasn't doing this for real, so there were no repercussions. I thought I'd point out to him that the fine print said he doesn't need a cheat sheet, but I didn't. Perhaps he would have had a better appreciation of me if I had, LOL. What a place! I wouldn't work for them if they begged me. It's probably only about 25 miles from home.
One thing that really disgusted me about that assignment was that, only after the second interview did I discover that my real-life "example" answers to their hypothetical questions had to be from the last ten years of work history. It was almost like that was an invisible way to discriminate against older people. I had used anything from my past I could think of for those weird questions. Some of the questions were out there. I had to think hard to come up with some answers.
I felt like they were playing games with applicants. How could they hire with anything but a subjective feeling? I have a problem anyway with places that hire others who "fit in" with their corporate climate. Just exactly who are they eliminating?
Anyway, the temporary agencies were one of my brainstorm money-making ideas. I used to work for some on a regular basis years ago when I lived in the city. Now I live too far out to make that feasible. It's supposed to fill in gaps when I don't have work. One of the agencies, which specializes in home health, called me several times, but decided on their own that the assignments were too far away, especially since they were only paying minimum wage.
Im still not sure what focus groups are all about. Are they companies that hire you to go in as a employee and fake a senario to see if people are doing their jobs...Who does focus groups,what do they pay, I know even on signing up for regular jobs they can ask wierd questions,trying to see if you will answer them different after putting the question in another way.I would like to know if you have to pay to get into focus groups, or are there legitimate companies paying?? Can you explain,sorry,I just dont know too much about it.
Goldierebel I know of two kinds of focus groups although I am sure there are others. One is product testing. This is where you and other panelists are asked to give your opinion about certain products. The other is a mock trial. This is where the attorneys for the plaintiff and the defendant present their case to you and you render a verdict in favor of one or the other. Since most cases are resolved before they get to trial it gives the attorneys a good idea of how their cases will be received.These are usually well paid. I have done three of them and pay has ranged from $75 to $250. Again though demographics pay a big part.
I hope I didn't confuse Goldierebel with my comments about the temporary agency. I didn't mean for that to be included under focus groups, but as a money-making idea.
I am glad to know that you know about mock juries, Philface, and how much they pay. Someone said on one of these threads that she signed up and never heard from them. I wonder if it would be more practical to contact the local lawyer's association and ask if they know of someone who uses mock juries. I wonder if they would use the same person twice. I live near a major city, and that would be worth driving for.
Yes, demographics are bound to make a difference. I was called for a real jury one time and not selected. All but one of the jurors was my race. It was a well-publicized race and the defendants were of the same one as most of the jurors. I could tell right away that the lawyer wasn't any good when he called me "sir" and someone else had to point it out to him! He said it was his congestion. After we were released, I wanted to shoot to them all, "Why did you call all of us and waste our time if you knew that you didn't need us?!!" Other than that one, most jury selections seem to balance the races, ethnic groups and genders.
I am glad to know that you know about mock juries, Philface, and how much they pay. Someone said on one of these threads that she signed up and never heard from them. I wonder if it would be more practical to contact the local lawyer's association and ask if they know of someone who uses mock juries. I wonder if they would use the same person twice. I live near a major city, and that would be worth driving for.
Yes, demographics are bound to make a difference. I was called for a real jury one time and not selected. All but one of the jurors was my race. It was a well-publicized race and the defendants were of the same one as most of the jurors. I could tell right away that the lawyer wasn't any good when he called me "sir" and someone else had to point it out to him! He said it was his congestion. After we were released, I wanted to shoot to them all, "Why did you call all of us and waste our time if you knew that you didn't need us?!!" Other than that one, most jury selections seem to balance the races, ethnic groups and genders.
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