Best Money Making Ideas

Steam Your Way to a Tidy Income

Dust, pollen, pet hair, and pet dander are the major causes of allergy and asthma symptoms today. New vacuum cleaners have HEPA filters to capture these particles, or use a bagless or steam vapor system. The problem is that not everyone can afford them although they may need them.

Dust, pollen, pet hair and pet dander are the major causes of allergy and asthma symptoms today. New vacuum cleaners have HEPA filters to capture these particles, or use a bagless or steam vapor system. The problem is that not everyone can afford them although they may need them. These cleaners are useful for cleaning things besides floors. Most of them make it easy to clean upholstery and drapes.

You may be wondering what this has to do with making money. No, I’m not suggesting you sell vacuum cleaners! This home business does involve the use of one of these machines though.

-How It Works

One lady. Jenny, got one of these wonder machines because her son was allergic to dust. She promptly vacuumed her whole house including drapes, windows, corners and crevices. When her son came home from his day at school, she noticed that he did not have any trouble breathing like usual.

The next weekend some friends came to visit. The husband had the same problems with dust as Jenny’s son. That evening they had a blast and when her friend got Jenny in the kitchen, she asked what she had done to the house. She had noticed that her husband did not have the sneezing or itchy eyes that he usually had whenever he came over. Jenny told her friend about her new vacuum and her friend asked if she could try it. Since Jenny knew how easy it was to use and her friend worked all day, she volunteered to do it.

When she had completed the job, Jenny’s friend handed her some money and thanked her profusely. Jenny went home thinking about how to start her new Mobile Drape Cleaning business.

-What You Need to Get Started

Of course, the main thing you will need is a great vacuum that will make the job easy. If you already have one, you are way ahead in the process of starting your business. If not, you will need to purchase a machine. Look at the resources at the end for some great machines.

The other things you will need are a car, some business cards, and a few flyers. Hopefully, you already have the car! The business cards and flyers can be made on your computer using pre-cut stock from any office supply store. Choose a bright colored paper for the flyers. Make sure you include your contact information.

Give the business cards to everyone you meet. Post the flyers on every bulletin board you can find. You could also place a small ad in the local paper. Something like DRAPERIES CLEANED IN YOUR HOME SAVE $$$ 555-4321.

Resources:

http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html

For information on the Sharp full line of vacuum cleaners, contact Sharp Electronics. 1-800-BE-SHARP or visit the Sharp Web site

Bissell Cleanview Bagless
http://www.bissell.com/Search/FAQ.asp?FAQ_id=322&cookie_test=1

Saphir 2000 Steam Cleaner
http://www.steamvaporclean.com/vs_vsc.htm

Non-Allergic Cleaning Service

Start a cleaning service that specializes in performing cleaning services without the use of harsh, allergy triggering chemicals. You and your staff will use only cleaning products that are natural and much less likely to give your customers an allergic reaction. You can charge between $40 and $60 an hour for these services.

Start a cleaning service that specializes in performing cleaning services without the use of harsh, allergy triggering chemicals. You and your staff will use only cleaning products that are natural and much less likely to give your customers an allergic reaction. You can charge between $40 and $60 an hour for these services.

More and more people are developing allergies and sensitivities to common household chemicals. (Often referred to as ‘Multiple Chemical Sensitivity’ or ‘MCS’.) Some sources estimate that between 2 and 10 percent of the population suffer some disruption of their lives due to MCS. Some of the symptoms experienced by these people can include headaches, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, earaches, itching, sneezing, sore throats, skin rashes, breathing problems, and many more unpleasant experiences. It is no wonder then that these people are searching for cleaning options that do not involve the use of harsh chemicals.

Since most working people do not have the time or energy after a long day at work to clean their homes the way they would like to, they are compelled to hire a service to get them clean. However, since they already suffer from chemical allergies, finding a cleaning service that uses cleaning products that will not trigger their allergies can be a very frustrating process, and in some cases virtually impossible. This is where you come in!

You can perform all the vacuuming that the home needs with a vacuum that uses special HEPA filters to remove more allergy triggering elements from the air and surfaces of the home. These filters are becoming a standard feature on many vacuums on the market and should not be difficult to locate. The use of HEPA filters will especially appeal to your customers who suffer from additional allergies due to mold, pollen, and dust.

You will also offer people the option of cleaning some of their belongings that they use less often for an additional fee. For instance, perhaps they are preparing for a dinner party and would like their special silver candlesticks or fancy platters polished for the occasion in addition to the normal home cleaning services you will be performing. You will need to familiarize yourself with the proper care for different metal surfaces. There are some that can be easily permanently damaged by improper handling. Brass, copper, and pewter can be cleaned using a simple recipe of equal parts vinegar and salt, thickened with flour. This method is both cost effective and environmentally friendly. Chrome items can be cleaned using a towel dipped in vinegar. Just remember not to rinse it afterwards. There are also recipes available online for cleaning silver safely without harsh chemicals. (Some people even use white toothpaste.) The recipes are inexpensive and won’t cause those nasty fumes that many silver polishes generate.

You can also offer to sell your customers additional cleaning products at a small profit for them to use in between the cleaning visits of your service.

Keep in mind that your natural cleaning services will also appeal to people without chemical allergies but who are very mindful of chemical effects on the environment. These people would appreciate the environmentally friendly cleaning products that you will use.

Lastly, people will need to know how to find you! You will likely want to advertise your services by running a visible ad in a local phone directory, listing your business with an online business directory, and also by printing up flyers and posting them in places where people who might throw a dinner party or own lots of items needing polishing might frequent. Be sure to include popular lunch places and coffee shops! Most post offices and grocery stores also have bulletin boards that they will allow you to place an advertisement on. Be sure to take advantage of any public bulletin boards in your immediate area to find the people who are looking for you and your services. In no time at all, you will have built up a large clientele base, many by word of mouth as they witness your professional services in action!

Resources:

http://www.alerg.com/page/A/CTGY/CLN2

http://extoxnet.orst.edu

http://householdtraditions.com

http://www.naturallymaidcleaning.com/store/Default.asp

Need Quick Cash? Time to Clean House!

Take a look around your house, right now from where you are sitting. Take note of things surrounding you that you never use, don™t like and are just sitting there collecting dust. These items are taking up space in your home that you could utilize for other useful things. A cluttered house isn’t a comfortable environment, and it only causes messiness and a general look of destruction. Wouldn’t you like more space, and less clutter? Well, you can do both and make a few bucks while you are at it. Grab some empty boxes, and let’s get to work!

Start with your living room. Take a good look around and begin collecting items that you don™t use, don’t like, etc. Don’t let your sentimental side take over during this process. If you are a pack rat by nature, you might want to have a friend or relative who isn’t a hoarder help you. They will tell you, “No, you don’t need that. Throw it in the box! Generally, if something has no use, it goes.

Go through each room separately, and don’t worry if you don’t complete this in one day. Go through your kitchen, closets, hallways, attic, basement, bedrooms, etc., each one by one.

After you have collected all of these items, it’s time to get to researching. Pull out your phone book, or online local directory and begin looking up places you can go to sell these items. As the old saying goes, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Yes, you can sell them!

Search for pawn shops, hawk shops, etc. These places will look through your items and choose the ones that they think will sell in their store. If you are a good negotiator or sales person, you will do well in these shops. You can negotiate with the owner, saying why a certain item is worth more than their proposed price. Sell it! Persuade them into buying your items at a reasonable price. They want your items, because they are going to resell them at a higher price for profit. Tell them why they will still make a good profit off your item! Most pawnshops love to buy and sell movies, CDs, video games, books, musical instruments, jewelry, and so much more. It’s kind of like a yard sale, except you go directly to the buyer.

However, if you are not a great negotiator, have a friend or family member who is go into the store for you. Keep going to all the pawnshops in your area until you have visited them all. You will most likely have items left over that none of them want. That’s okay. Save those items for a yard sale, or donate items (books, videos, etc.) to your local library. You could also just set them up at the end of your lawn with a sign that reads “free”. That will get rid of them! Everyone loves something free!

Good luck, and remember to negotiate everything! Get your money’s worth for everything. You won’t always win a negotiation with a pawn shop owner, but there is no harm in trying.

Helpful Resources:

http://www.yardsalequeen.com/

http://www.yardsalesearch.com/

http://money.howstuffworks.com/pawnshop1.htm

Home Organization Service

Do you have an innate knack for organization? Are you good at sorting, labeling, and finding effective ways of using storage space? Do you have good people skills with an innate ability to empathize and communicate in a personable way with frustrated customers? Then you are just the person needed to help these unorganized people out! You can charge between $30 and $90 dollars an hour or agree up-front on a flat fee to complete the project.

Do you have an innate knack for organization? Are you good at sorting, labeling, and finding effective ways of using storage space? Do you have good people skills with an innate ability to empathize and communicate in a personable way with frustrated customers? Then you are just the person needed to help these unorganized people out! You can charge between $30 and $90 dollars an hour or agree up-front on a flat fee to complete the project.

It is difficult to keep a home organized, especially when there are children or multiple pets in the home, or if the primary occupants work full time. Most people simply do not have the extra time or expertise to organize their homes well. If you have ever shopped in the isles of a store where storage items are sold, you will have noticed that there always seems to be many people filling up their carts with boxes, crates, sets of matching hangers, and label makers.

People are inspired by home improvement shows and have the best of intentions, planning to get their personal spaces under control and yet very few people ever manage to completely conquer their clutter and disorganization. Some people do manage to get started tackling their organization problems and then quickly become overwhelmed and give up. Others discover that all their time and efforts spent organizing were for nothing because they quickly become disorganized again as soon as their project is finished, since they lacked the experience needed to plan for effective day-to-day use of their space.

If you have an innate knack of organization skills then you are just the person needed to help these people out! You can offer a service where you should first visit a person’s home and inspect each area of the home that the person is having trouble organizing. Then you will discuss a plan of action with them and then swoop in to provide them with an organized and uncluttered living space.

Each home will have different organizational needs. Your initial visit will give you an opportunity to discuss with your potential customer the areas of their space that most frustrates them. You can also find out how much they would like to participate in the sorting and organizing process. You will need to discuss whether they are willing to dispose of or donate items that are seldom used or if their goal is to keep everything and just find a way to store it in such a way that it can be found and used easily. You can charge between $30 and $90 dollars an hour or agree up-front on a flat fee to complete the project.

You will also need to find out what organizational and storage tools the customer currently has on hand and you should be able to provide them with additional organization items. You can offer to accompany them on a trip to an organizational store to help them make their own choices when it comes to colors and sizes of organizational tools.

Another option that may appeal to people, who have very little time to dedicate to the organizational project, would be for you to just work your magic. Automatically providing whatever organizational or storage items that are needed, then just submitting a bill to them for the supplies purchased, charging them a small additional fee to cover your time and travel expenses incurred while procuring the items for them.

This can include helping them acquire and set up shelving or finding the appropriate size filing cabinets or furniture to help them effectively store and organize their belongings. Perhaps they need to find a way to store old paperwork, sort through and keep up with incoming mail, or perhaps just organize a flood of incoming books, magazines, and paperwork for their work lives.

You should familiarize yourself beforehand with the products available in your local office supply and organization supply stores to be able to offer your clients a large array of options.

You will want to advertise your service in a local phone book and offer your potential customers a website with photos and extensive descriptions of the services you are making available. People are more likely to turn to a business with a friendly face than just an impersonal phone number. Try to offer referrals from former customers with included before and after pictures of the services, you rendered them.

Dress professionally when you visit your clients and stay organized yourself. If you appear organized and have a positive outlook, then you are halfway there!

Resources:

http://www.napo.net/

http://www.certifiedprofessionalorganizers.org/

http://search.shopgetorganized.com/search.aspx?keyword=Organizers&leftnav=9

http://www.containerstore.com/

http://www.revolutionhealth.com/healthy-living/relationships/time/home-organization/index?s_kwcid=organize%20clutter|949271454

http://www.lifeorganizers.com/

http://www.stacksandstacks.com/bins-boxes-crates/

http://www.fellowes.com/Fellowes/site/products/productscategory.aspx?loc=left&Name=WORKSPACE_ORG

Offer a Tile Cleaning Service

Tiles are difficult to clean, especially those with texture to them. It is hard to clean the dips and grout in them. Many people would rather pay someone else to do it for them. You could charge $50 per house cleaning and offer to come back every week.

Cleanliness is something everyone is particularly interested in nowadays. However, it is not that people can always clean as much as they want to. They may not have the time, or the patience to do so much of cleaning. It is at times like this that they look for people who are more than willing to do the cleaning work for them.

The basic cleaning of sweeping and mopping of floors is rather easy; however, when it comes to really cleaning the tiles, then you may sometimes need the help of an expert. This is why it is rather feasible starting a tile cleaning service. Tiles are generally difficult to clean, especially tiles with texture in them. The dips found on the tiles are hard to clean. Therefore, you can offer your services at an affordable rate of perhaps $50 per house cleaning, and offer to make this a weekly routine. Customers are sure to oblige to this offer!

Not much of an investment is required to start a tile cleaning service. Of course, you need the usual mops, buckets, and detergents; that is all. In addition, of course, you will have to have a strong pair of working hands. Sometimes, it may prove to be better having an accomplice or helper who will help you with this job. This way, you can cover more cleaning jobs, and thus generate a better income.

Having some knowledge on cleaning stubborn stains proves to be beneficial to you. This is because sometimes the tiles may have lots more to clean than the usual stains. You can get information on what to use to remove different types of stains through the Internet and from books. Of course, it is better if you try out these methods before actually endeavoring to use them on the client’s tiles. You would not want to cause more stains than there originally were! Different types of tiles have different cleaning needs. So implement the right treatment for the right tiles, so that you get the right results!

You will have to be doing some marketing to do well in your tile cleaning service. You could have some business cards and pamphlets printed so that you can distribute them. Place pamphlets in shopping malls, clubs so that all homeowners get to see them, and get to know about your tile cleaning service. Distribute your business cards to potential customers and once you get a few clients, their referrals and word of mouth should prove to be sufficient to provide you the clientele you need.

One thing you have to maintain as a tile cleaning serviceperson is your weekly visits. Never require the homeowner to call to remind you about your weekly tile cleaning. Once you maintain a routine, your established good reputation with the householder will be a positive one. After you establish yourself in cleaning tiles of houses, you could perhaps venture to clean tiles of commercial establishments like offices and schools. This step could lead to much more revenue and growth.

Helpful Resources:

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/fc_ceramic_tile/article/0,,DIY_13812_2269566,00.html

http://www.myhomeimprovement.com/?m=44&page=prev_list&cid=107

How to Make Money Stopping Germs

Everyone knows that germs spread disease. This happens when we shake hands with someone, touch things other people touch, sometimes just breathing the same air as a sick person we can get the germs they have. When our kids go to school, the doctor, to church, almost everywhere, they are exposed to germs. But what can we do about it?

Everyone knows that germs spread disease. This happens when we shake hands with someone, touch things other people touch, sometimes just breathing the same air as a sick person we can get the germs they have. When our kids go to school, the doctor, to church, almost everywhere, they are exposed to germs. But what can we do about it?

I’m not suggesting that you quit going anywhere, keep your kids at home, and quit touching anyone! There is still a way you can help and make money at the same time.

-How You Can Help Fight Germs

Since children are the number one carriers of most illness, the best way to start is with kids and the thing they do most - play.

Many businesses provide a separate area for children to play in while waiting for their parents to complete whatever business they have to take care of. Whether a church, fast food place, waiting room, or day care center, they all have toys for kids to play with. These toys get dirty from daily use and seldom get cleaned. (I’m sure you have noticed how dirty some of the toys are at these places!) So how does this relate to you making money?

Well, what you could provide is a Toy Cleaning Service. This would involve cleaning children’s toys for businesses with play areas (churches, fast food places, waiting rooms, day care centers, etc.) since most businesses don’t have the time for their staff to do this tedious job.

-How to Get Started

You probably already have all you would need in the way of cleaning supplies stored in your cupboard to get started, but additional cleaning supplies are a minimal investment.

The other thing you will need is business cards. These can easily be created on your home computer (or through a commercial printer). If using your own computer, programs such as MS Works, MS Word, and Publisher make this task quick and easy. You can purchase business card blanks at most office supply outlets.

-Getting Your First Clients

Contact local pediatricians and other doctors, churches, day care centers, gym, any place where you know they have a child’s play area. This can be done in person or by phone. Let them know what you are doing and ask if they need someone to clean their toys. If you visit a place with a child’s play area, provide them with one of your business cards. Give a business card to everyone you meet. You never know who will need your services.

After you have done your first job, ask them if they would like you to return in 2 weeks, a month, or whenever they choose. If you do a good job, you may have more work than you need just through word of mouth advertising!

Helpful Resources:

http://www.sba.gov/

http://www.homemakers.com/Health&Fitness/prevention/naturalgermkillers-n238883p2.html

http://www.aboutcleaningproducts.com/green-cleaning.php