Side Hustle Series – Bake Up Some Profits

by | Nov 19, 2008

With the holiday season ramping it now is the time to use your baking skills to earn some extra Christmas money. If you make exceptional cakes, cookies, and/or pies you are one of the few people that will be in demand. Not everyone can bake and the thousands of people around you with a sweet tooth will beat down your door once they find out that you can bake.

How do you get started? Make some samples and place them in the employee, teacher, or nurses’ lounge. Put your baked goods where people gather and leave a note letting people know how to get more. You could give out samples as an early holiday gift, sort of a holiday kickoff things. Attach your business card (make some up), brochure, or mini-flier to the package.

You will have to come up with a system to take orders and deliver your product. Another option is to bake up a batch of cookies, brownies, or other easy to bake and take item and sell them from you office desk or locker.

If you are daring place a classified ad on Craigslist.org, Backpage.com, or Kijiji.com. You can also sell your goodies (the baked ones) on eBay. They have a classified ad option for $10 that will remain on the site and searchable for 30 days. That’s not a bad value at all!

So there you have it. Another side hustle idea that you can run away with. Tweak it and make it yours. Let me know how it works out for you.

Single Mom Side Hustle Series – The Change Jar

by | Oct 8, 2008

Benefits: Easy to start, easy to remember, quick result

Material: Jelly jar, piggy bank, beer mug, aquarium, 5-gallon water jug, accessories to personalize

How To:

There are several ways to save money using a change jar. You can dump all your coins at the end of the day, week, or month. Your jar will fill up quickly with this method; however you may not get as much saved in comparison to saving only certain coins. If you go with saving only nickel, dimes, and/or quarters your savings amount will be larger. You may decide to save only pennies in one jar and silver coins in another. To take it further you may save all your half dollars in one place as well. It’s completely up to you to decide how you will save.

Your savings goal is important to decide. What are you saving your money for; a trip, a new pair of shoes, a new bedroom suite, a down payment on a house? The choice is completely yours. How long will it take to save for your targeted goal? You will have to find out how much it cost and estimate how long it will take based on the average amount of change deposited each day or week. To stay motivated, find a picture of your desired target and attach it to your container.

Saving your change not only benefits you but it also benefits your children. When they see the change jar they are going to ask you why you are keeping all that money. That is a great time to explain your project and teach them the importance of saving for the things you want versus using a credit card, getting into debt, and paying more in the long run. It is also a good lesson in learning patience and delayed gratification. They may want to set up their own change jar and save for they toy, video game, or clothing they’ve been wanting for a while.

So where are you going to find all this change? The bottom of your purse is the first answer that comes to mind. I am always accumulating change in my purse from where I have dumped the change after a purchase. Other places may be in your sofa and chair cushions, in your car under and between the seats as well as the little cubbies in the car. On the ground, at the beach, in parking lots, or anywhere that people spend money. You might even invest in a metal detector.

When your change jar fills up you can take it to either a local grocery store that has a coin exchange machine and get cash for your coins or go to your local bank and exchange the coins there. At your bank you may want to simply deposit your coins into a savings account. After you’ve accumulated the minimum amount, open a money market account and earn more interest on your saving. Once you’ve reached your goal you can withdraw your money from your regular savings account and purchase your long awaited product.
Rich Single Momma

Side Hustle Idea: 10 Reasons Why You Should Become A Virtual Assistant This Year

by | Mar 22, 2008

First of all, what is a virtual assistant (VA)? I like to explain it as a word processor gone wild. A VA is someone who works with clients, providing them with top quality support services without having to be physically present at a clients office. VA services are becoming more and more popular thanks to today’s technology such as email, the Internet, online instant messaging, fax, phone, and overnight delivery. Gone are the days of offices needing their support staff in the same building.

If you have a secretarial background or other support staff expertise and a love for computers and all the technology it offers, then here are ten very good reasons why you should start your own VA business this year.

1. Make An Income You Can Live On

It was reported by virtual assistant trade organizations that the average full-time VA working in the US would gross about $39,452 annually. Now that isn’t a bad income!
That is the type of money you can live on, even if you are a single mom.

2. The Need For VA’s Is Only Going To Get Greater

According to the George Washington University forecast of emerging technology, Virtual Assisting will become a $130 Billion Industry by 2008. Thanks to our growing technology, and the fact that it’s easier to just source out work to a VA due to the fact that a business doesn’t have to pay for any benefits when they out-source, this type of service will only get bigger and more in demand.

3. Are you feeling unfulfilled, unchallenged, and unmotivated? Is your current corporate job beginning to feel like a real drag?

Are you dreading getting dressed up, driving your commute to work, and working with a boss who is ungrateful and unappreciative? Do you love some parts of your job and despise other parts and wish you could do the parts you love more? Then becoming a VA might be something you need to look into.

4. Want to continue your professional working life without having to leave home?

Want the flexibility to work from home and have a better balance between work and life?
Maybe you’re thinking of having kids, or have had your first baby. You so want to continue your career, but you also want to spend more time with your children. Take a good hard look at the world of a VA. This type of home business will continue to give you the satisfaction of a career, while also offering you the ability to be there for your kids doctor appointments, their first step, school field trips, and running them around to after school events.

5. Gain the ability to work with people you want to work with.

Do you tend to click with certain types of people more than others? With a VA business, you can decide who you want your clients to be. Authors, salespeople, consultants, coaches, executives, entrepreneurs, and small business owners are just a few of the types of people you could work with.

6. The ability to do more than just one thing.

Looking for a little variety in your business? Don’t want to get stuck doing the same thing over and over again? Here is a list of just some of the things you can do as a VA.
  • Administration

  • Writing services (technical or creative)

  • Business/employee communications

  • Proofreading and editing, research (online or traditional)

  • Word-processing

  • Spreadsheets

  • Data entry

  • Database management

  • Message management

  • Scheduling

  • Bill paying

  • Simple website design

  • Newsletter distribution

  • Bulk mailing

  • Reminder services

  • Event planning

  • Special projects

  • Concierge services

  • Secretarial services

  • Research

  • Data processing/data management

  • Desktop publishing

  • Transcription services

  • Mail and email services

  • Telephone/fax services

  • Internet services

  • Bookkeeping

  • Purchasing services

  • Writing/editing services

  • Marketing services

  • Personal services

  • Santa letters

  • Proposal Writer

7. The ability to Niche yourself.

Choose just a few of the ideas above and take it one step further. Niche yourself. You might already possess knowledge in a certain area. You can contact those businesses you are already familiar with and work with them. Maybe in the past you had worked as support staff for a marketing company. If marketing is your thing, you can let businesses know that you can not only be their VA and take care of all their typing and database applications, but that you can also use your expertise to help them market their business.

8. Use the equipment you already have.

If you’re reading this article, then there’s a good chance you already have a computer, a printer, and fax capabilities. Why not start putting that equipment to good use and make some money?

9. The choice between working full-time or part-time.

Maybe you don’t want to work full time, but you need to do something to call your own. That’s great! You’ll be your own boss; you can decide how much or how little you want to work.

10. Being able to say you love the way you make money.

If just the thought of working with your computer and current technology makes you giddy, why not make money doing something you love? Grab hold of the opportunity to make as much money as you’d like and the ability to work from your home. You have the opportunity to decide who you want to work with, the type of work you want to do or not do, and your niche area. If this sounds like the perfect opportunity for you visit *** to learn more about starting your own Virtual Assistant Business.

For More information on this business visit: Bizymoms.com