An Idea for a Small Business You Can Start Start-up costs range $50 to $500,000+, earnings $5,000 to $2,000,000++, skills from knowing nothing to running an airline. Bon appetit! ADVICE COLUMNIST -- ONLINE Start-up cost: $3,000 (PC, marketing, Web site hosting) Potential earnings: $1,000 - $50,000+ Advertising: Advertise in newspapers including niche publications such as university newspapers; post flyers at schools, social clubs; print business cards and distribute generously; and write and send press releases that might generate feature stories about your business. Equipment needed: Typical home personal computer as advertised in Sunday retail inserts. Word Processing Software, Database Software. WHAT YOU DO Consider marketing your online Advice Column to college students far from home, home consumers, demographic market segments (such as Gay Youths, ethnic groups, Teens, elderly) or focus on topic areas such as Etiquette, Fashion and Manners. Personal advice is free, but charge customers a subscription fee to view questions and answers (protect customer identities) from other customers and to access scheduled Chat sessions. Offer affordable advertising rates on your site once you can establish reliable traffic from identifiable demographics. Site Luring Freebies: Free e-mail responses to requests for advice. Host and monitor threaded discussion groups. copyright 1999 by IdeaGenie. FOR MORE on this and other great businesses you can start, you can buy an expanded guide at IdeaGenie. (Please note: IdeaGenie and Idea Cafe are independent.) Ideas for a Small Business You Can Start Classics