I have had many ideas for a business over the past few years, all of which I have not acted upon yet. I have not had a lot of money to get anything started until now. My wife is closing out a retirement fund and we will have a few thousand dollars to get something started. I don't need to earn enough to leave my job or anything, but a couple hundred dollars extra a month would really help us.

Below are all the ideas I have had to try to earn money and the problems I see with them. I think I would enjoy doing each of these ideas, some more than others. So can anyone help me with which way to go? Any help with the problems I have listed would be greatly appreciated.

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Idea 1: Buy items (shoes, electronic accessories, toys, etc) in bulk at wholesale to sell new at a discounted price on ebay. I know how to use ebay and have sold some items there in the past.

Problem: I have no idea where to buy items at wholesale. Good brand name items, not just piles of junk.
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Idea 2: Learn to sew and make dresses for girls age 1-5, sell on ebay, offer dress to everyone who bid even if they lost the auction.

Problem: I have no idea how hard it will be to learn to sew and make nice dresses people will want to buy. I suppose I can learn, but I may not be gifted in this way.
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Idea 3: Create a web-site that allows users to review just about anything (movies, music, video games, books, cars, clothing, etc.) Users will earn points for writing reviews, making purchases, having their review voted for positively, points can be redeemed for credit towards items or even cash.

Problem: I don't have the technical know how to create such a web-site or the money to hire people to do it. Also, there are many crappy review sites out the already and I'd hate to become one of them.
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Idea 4: Convert peoples VHS and miniDV tapes to DVD.

Problem: I know how to do this, but don't have equipment to provide high quality video. Also there are other sites already doing this that are more expensive, but can provide high quality. I also have no idea how much demand there is for this service.
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Idea 5: Start a video series about a wizard who accidentally brought himself to Earth and is trying to adapt to our world while trying to find a way home. This series would mostly be me in costume in front of the camera telling stories of my characters world. I have the equipment to do this and the know how.

Problem: Sure I may become an Internet celebrity, but I want to earn money, not fame. From what I have heard YouTube's partner program doesn't pay out very much. I could try for a sponsor like Matt Harding from "Where the Hell is Matt", but am unsure of how to do that. I also have no idea how much people would want to watch a fat bald guy wearing a wizard costume telling stories.
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Idea 6: Start a blog. Place Google Adsense ads on my blog and recommend products that I am an affiliate for with Amazon.com.

Problem: What the heck do I write about? There are hundreds of thousands of blogs out there already. How can I choose a topic that no one else is already doing and do it in such a way that people want to read what I have to say and might click on my ads.


Sorry this post got so long. Any advice on these ideas would be great.

Hi...

You named a list of things that you might do, but ina later post you mentioned that you use Auto CAD daily.

Could you do extra work (from home) for the company that you now work for? Could you talk with other companies (who might be short on employees) and see if you could do a few side jobs for them each week or month?

That is doing something that you are familiar with and it requires no learning curve. Plus, it shouldn't cost anything either since you are already doing it. If the computer that you use is the property of the company that you are currently working for.. then you could do extra work for them on that computer... but might need to buy a laptop and Auto CAD to do work for other companies. Either way, the money that you invest will be fore product that you own.

What about designing some playhouses (for the back yard) or something else that might have hard-to-find instructions for. Design a good, simple set for that item and then sell those on the internet. I did a search, a while back, for something and I found some designs that I could purchase. Just come up with a really nice design and then market it.

Anyway, that is my thought. Stick with something that you know... and don't throw your money at things that you hope will sell.

I sell my business opportunity to people all the time and I always want them to think about it first before paying me. Then, I tell them that their phone won't automatically start ringing just because they bought into a business. You have no idea how many people don't listen. They get excited about the business and then jump in. Then they won't do what is required to make it work. Probably because they are out of their comfort zone.

Good luck. You have a good skill already... just use it to create more income. That's my suggestion.




Jeff S.
Night Sky Murals
Award Winning Murals

www.NightSkyMurals.com (Product)
www.DarkSkyMurals.biz (Business Opportunity)

Featured in/on...

* The Robb Report's "Luxury Homes" magazine -
* Angies List
* in Affluent
* HGTV
* the FINE LIVING network

Thank you for your input Jeff. I'd love to work with AutoCAD from home for the company I work for, but we are down to 32 hour work weeks as it is and right now the industry in which I work is in a slump and not looking very good in the near future.

Working part time from home for other companies would be difficult. Usually the work I do is overseen by an engineer or surveyor. Any company that would allow people to work from home would want people that are more skilled than I am (Storm water design, septic design, etc). I have looked into this already and even contacted some companies, but so far it has not gone well, that is why I am seeking other types of work I can do from home.

I could try to do some design work from home, but I don't have AutoCAD at home, well I do have it, but it does not have a license so it is disabled. I can only use it if I purchase a license from AutoDesk for $5000-$6000 or whatever they are charging these days, or I can temporarily transfer a license from a computer that has a license.

So your idea of using what I know is a good idea, but one that would be very hard to put into practice, but thank you for your taking the time to reply and make your suggestions.

Sounds like you covered most of the things that came to my mind. Oh well, great minds... (right?).

Well... that's what I could come up with for you. Good luck in your quest. There have been many great ideas that have come about because someone was looking for a need to fill. So, look around you and see if you can find another need that needs filling. Good luck.

Jeff




Jeff S.
Night Sky Murals
Award Winning Murals

www.NightSkyMurals.com (Product)
www.DarkSkyMurals.biz (Business Opportunity)

Featured in...

* The Robb Report's "Luxury Homes" magazine -
* Angies List
* in Affluent
* HGTV's show - "I Want That"
*

Hey, I just thought of something. I was flying home from a painting trip (to either New York or California... I think California) and I sat next to a lady who makes a baby product that is supposed to be pretty popular. She has set up her business in such a way that she has people like us who can sell the product and then she will drop ship for you.

You talked about making dresses and/or shoes and things... but I think you were talking about doing everything. If you can design and build a good looking website... I would suggest looking into offering her baby product and maybe a few other things that the companies can drop ship for you.

If you would like the website and info for this lady... let me know and I will try and find it. We had our house broken into a few weeks ago and, among other things, they stole two laptops where I stored her info. But, I believe that I still have the napkin that I wrote her info on during the flight.

Anyway... it's another thought that I had. I thought that I'd have my wife do something like that too.

Jeff



Jeff S.
Night Sky Murals
Award Winning Murals

www.NightSkyMurals.com (Product)
www.DarkSkyMurals.biz (Business Opportunity)

Featured in...

* The Robb Report's "Luxury Homes" magazine -
* Angies List
* in Affluent
* HGTV's show - "I Want That"
*

Thank you for the suggestion, I would be interested in talking to her about her product. I can create a web-site, although I am not a great web-site designer I could probably come up with some thing that would be sufficient.

I have put together all of my contacts for vendors who are honest and trustworthy..
So if you are looking for namebrand clothing, shoes, purses, sunglasses, jewelry etc..
visit me
http://realwholesale.yolasite.com/

You could consider coaching/tutoring people to use AutoCad. You can do it locally or using services like Crossloop, you can tutor remotely. Depending on your comfort level with subject level you can create a blog around AutoCad. When I needed to learn Photoshop and Dreamweaver I turned blogs that provided information on these products.

That is also another great idea, but for AutoCAD training most companies turn to the resellers who have decent training classes that may be expensive, but they are effective and only take a few days. I have thought about doing a blog, but I am coming into the game quite late and there are many great blogs that many people, including me, turn to. Thank you for your suggestions though.

Idea #5 can earn money in a community called Current TV. This community is the only one that has dedicated telivision airing. The community is very much like a social community, members upload videos and the community vote on them. If a video becomes popular and chosen to air on the community tele station, the owner will be paid via PayPal.

Jaz Live Cash Culture
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