Cashing In On Kids Crafts
During school vacations, most parents are at a loss for what to do with their kids. They seek out day camps, lessons and workshops; anywhere they can take their kids to get the kids out of their hair for a few minutes!
If you enjoy kids and love crafts, you are in the perfect position to offer relief to these parents. It’s also great if you have kids of your own. You can enlist them to help you out. Read more…
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Playing Dough Dough
Although there are many brands of playing dough available on the market today, you can create something that is different. Be creative with your playing dough by adding glitter and some other form of accessories to make the play dough look attractive, and wanted by children.
Children love color and so the more colorful the dough you create, the better your business will fare. So why not create some playing dough for kids of all ages and make it a fun, beautiful and lucrative business for you! Read more…
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How To Be A Doll House Doctor
For my thirty-fifth birthday, my parents gave me a really unique gift – a baby doll. Not just any baby doll, mind you, but my baby doll, Elizabeth. The last time I’d seen her I was still in grade school and she was disjointed, literally, and dirty. But, now she is beautiful, almost like new.
My parents had admitted Elizabeth to a doll hospital where she received a special brand of plastic surgery. I remembered playing nurse to my toys as a young girl, but I hadn’t realized that real doll hospitals existed and that real doll doctors worked there.
What a wonderful occupation for someone with a love of all things that make childhood memories so sweet!
One great thing about being a doll doctor is the fairly low cost of starting your business. Another benefit is that you can work as much or as little as necessary, depending on your time constraints and financial needs. In addition, it doesn’t require much advertising. What it does require is creativity and a love for dolls.
Making money as a doll doctor is something that can easily be done in your own home, especially for those just starting out. The first step is to decide on a specialty. Just like in a real hospital, not every doll doctor works on every patient. Some repair dolls from specific eras. Some work only on cloth or composition dolls. Other doctors perfect a certain skill such as restringing, eye replacement, dressing, or wigs.
The art of doll repair is something that you can learn as you go. Don’t feel you have to be caged in by your first chosen specialty area. Classes and programs are offered throughout the country by various museums, doll hospitals, and organizations. At Morgan Collectibles (www.joanmorgan.com) you can attend seminars to fine-tune your skills. The United Federation of Doll Clubs (www.ufdc.org) offers all kinds of educational opportunities and support.
Once you begin your business, the advertising is relatively easy. Placing an ad in the yellow pages is helpful for finding customers like my parents who had one special doll they wanted repaired. But if you can reach collectors, your business will really increase. Advertise your services at doll shows. Contact museums and join related associations and organizations. Reputation and word-of-mouth are your best bet in finding new clients and keeping them.
Many doll doctors find their passion for dolls growing the longer they work. Some end up expanding their business into showing and collecting. Once you perfect your skill you could even get paid to help others become masters of doll repair.
There is not an adult alive who doesn’t have fond memories of a favorite childhood toy. For me it was Elizabeth. Seeing her beauty restored lifted my spirits and took me back to my youth. If you have a love for dolls, consider becoming a doll doctor. Not only will you be rescuing dolls, you may just be resuscitating the spirit of its owner as well.
Helpful Resources:
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Make Money As A Nanny P.I.
Nanny Surveillance Service
It is actually healthy for parents to be away from their children occasionally. It is a healthy practice for children too; sometimes children need a break from their parents, as much as parents need one from them. So, they should never feel that they are bad parents if they ask or hire someone else to take care of their children.
Show concerned parents how to be assured of the safety of their little ones when they are not with them. Offer them a surveillance service that will keep an eye on their children and babysitter interactions. You can offer to set up a reliable way to record the goings on in their home while they are gone. Show them how they will be able to watch footage of the day’s activities in their homes.
By offering to provide this service for parents on a temporary basis until they are convinced of the safety of their children, you save the parents from spending a large amount of money installing a permanent surveillance system that they don’t need.
You could easily charge $25-$50 per day for your services. This should appeal to the parents that do not want a permanent surveillance system installed in their home. Try to advertise in magazines and newspapers that advertise childcare, all parents magazines are a good investment too. Where ever there are children’s products is a good choice for advertising. You might even see if you can leave information in local Pediatricians’ offices, they should be happy to be able to offer such a service for their patients’ safety.
This is a wonderful service to offer parents; it should be a quick growing business idea choice for you. Once you start working with parents, they will start telling their friends about your service and you will notice that many of your customers are from word-of-mouth advertising. You may want to think of a way to compensate those that are referring their friends to you. Because this is one of those services that people will probably choose to use more than one time, keep this in mind too. Every time they change Nanny’s or babysitters, they will want to use your service again.
Resources:
parenting.ivillage.com/gs/gsbabysitting/0,,b5ktkpmf,00.html
www.azcentral.com/families/articles/0319fam_nannycam.html
dpl-surveillance-equipment.blogspot.com/2008/02/nanny-catcher-baby-sitter-
hidden.html
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A Clever Travel Product For Children
There is nothing more annoying than traveling with bored little ones! Keep kids happy and entertained with this product and the parents will be happy too. You could collect a number of things kids can do in a vehicle at your local dollar store or a warehouse store online. Make different kits for different age groups. Put together kits appropriate to different age groups such as; infants, toddlers, 4-5, 5-8, and so on. You could sell each kit for about $50 each. You can also create separate kits for boys and girls.
Any parent that has traveled even a small distance with their children knows that it is not only torture for the children, but for the adults too. Prepared travel kits for these kids is an answer to many a parent’s nightmare. The more creative you make the kit, the more popular your kits will be. Be sure to offer different kits with-in each age group. This way there will not be duplicate kits for each travel experience.
When making the decisions on what to include in these kits, be sure and make kits appropriate to travel by bus, train, and plane ( which will have boarding restrictions). They will be vital to the trip and the adult’s sanity, so make sure they will be appropriate for the trip. It would be a bad thing if the child were not able to bring the kit on board for the trip. Remember how frustrated the other customers who are boarding along with you will be!
It is always good to include a vast variety of different things in each kit. This way when they get bored with one item they can explore and play with something else for a while. After some time has passed, they will then again be interested in the original item.
Small electronic, or mechanical games, are always popular with children and keep the older ones busy for quite a while. Nevertheless, do not forget the old faithful toys and games of times past. These old-fashioned, simple toys always seem to end up being a child’s favorite toy. Of course, make sure that you do not include loud toys. Anything that makes noise should have headphones included. Be sure to always include any batteries that may be required and even some extra ones for back up.
Offer each kit wrapped like a present for the excitement of the kids. Try to include everything the child might need during a trip too; a small plastic bag to put trash in, a small package of wipes for cleaning their hands, etc.
Books on tape are an excellent idea for children that enjoy reading or enjoy someone reading to them. Be sure to include the matching book, so they can follow along if they wish, or just enjoy the pictures while listening to the stories.
Some parents may prefer building their own baskets. You should offer this option too. Offer to put their choices together, charging a single price for each item they include. You can also offer to include treats that are not perishable, such as crackers, raisins, candy etc.
If you have core kits for each age group, it can help simplify the shipping process. For children that are not traveling by car, it could be helpful to provide the kits in backpacks. They do not need to be expensive, just easy for them to transport.
You should be able to charge about $50.00 for each kit. Remember that the older the child, the more important it is to make the kits appeal specifically to a boy or girl. You do not need to specify the difference; just inform the buyer of the different items included.
Resources:
www.babyscholars.com/traveltoys.html
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Child Care Provider With A Twist
This is not about the baby sitting jobs that you know of. This is a unique service which provides a lot of convenience to people who are very mobile in their day to day life. It’s good for them since they wouldn’t need to arrange for a baby sitter every time they visit a conference and it’s good for you as you would be earning much more money in a shorter amount of time. It’s a job that will not only earn dollars for you but will also make you popular with the masses.
You will offer your services as a one time baby sitter at events where the attendees are accompanied by children. Your customers could include: Conference Venues, Wedding Reception Venues, Function Centers and all kinds of party venues. You can charge on a per hour, per child basis e.g. $10 per hour, per child, with a minimum charge of $200.00.
It doesn’t take much of an effort to start this business. The first thing is to gather a few tips on baby sitting. This could also include ideas for group games and toys too. Group the tips and game-ideas etc into age-based categories. Shop over the Internet or contact the local wholesale store to buy toys, games and other stuff required for keeping the children entertained and busy. Remember that this type of baby sitting job is different because you would be taking care of more than a couple of children; so group games will really become handy.
It would be good, if you can get an estimate of the number of children expected and their approximate ages. Just check this with the venue owner or the event organizer; otherwise you will have to go with some approximate numbers. As you gain more and more experience, you will be able make more intelligent and accurate guesses. You can also keep collecting data from various jobs you do, and use it for analysis and estimations.
Tip: Offer discounts to customers who are able to provide an estimate of the number of children expected.
Based on the number of children expected and their ages, you might have to arrange-for or hire some other baby sitters too. In fact, it’s a good idea to keep a list of baby sitters handy at all times. Include the contact details, the rate, availability time periods, on-call availability and preferences for each babysitter. To gather this information, you can initially make use of the Internet or run an ad in the local newspaper. Also look for ads in baby care magazines and keep track of flyers posted by babysitters at various places. Keep this information organized in a spreadsheet that you can update on monthly basis.
Tip: You can also distribute some inexpensive gifts like small puzzles, crayons, etc. to the children (stick your contact details on each of these gift items). This will bring more business to you and to the venue owner (which again translates into more business for you).
Some parents might contact you for baby sitting jobs at their homes. Such jobs can be used either as fillers (when the business is dull) or as mainstream jobs that can be outsourced to other babysitters (you can charge a referral fee from them).
Advertise your services by sending your brochures to the owners of various venues in your locality – conference venues, wedding reception venues and function centers. Advertise in wedding directories and post fliers at party supply stores.
If your service is professional, you will soon find your business soaring high in the skies. It’s a very neat idea.
Resources:
Baby sitting tips/games:
www.scholastic.com/annmartin/bsc/tips.htm
www.indianchild.com/Babysitting/babysitting_games_activities.htm
Websites of event sitters:
www.eleganteventsitters.com/index.html
www.eventsitters.com (this domain for sale)
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How To “Deliver” Your Way To More Money
There is nothing more exhausting than having a baby. There is formula to make, night feedings, diapers, and sometimes an endless supply of crying! Every new mother experiences the frustration of trying to keep up with the house, her family, and the new baby. It seems like an insurmountable task. There are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything without having to get up in the middle of the night to change and feed the baby. Tempers get short and everyone in the household suffers.
There is a solution for at least part of this and that’s where you come in. You could provide a disposable diaper delivery service which would give the new mother some of the support she needs. This could be a service that delivers disposable diapers anytime.
-How to Get Started
Starting this type of home business is easy and has very little startup costs. You will probably want to get a supply of different sizes of diapers, some business cards, and a flyer. You will need a car for the delivery but that’s it!
The business cards and flyers can be created on your home computer and printer (or a commercial printing service) with the help of business card blanks and bright colored paper from an office supply store. The business cards come with a template that is easy to use on MS Works, MS Word, and Publisher. These programs can also be used to create the flyer. You can even put little pull-off tabs on the bottom of the flyer so anyone interested can easily keep the information handy!
-Getting Your First Clients
If you have a Welcome Wagon in your neighborhood, this can be a good place to start. Contact them and let them know that you would like to have your services included in their welcome package. You could offer a discount for new service through their referral for the first week or two. Provide them with some flyers and business cards to include in their packet.
Another method is to post your flyers at places like local pediatricians and grocery and convenience stores. You might also contact any local hospitals and see if they provide any new mother packets that, you can include your flyer and business card in.
Also, give your business card to everyone you meet. Tell them to feel free to share it with others.
-How to Figure Pricing
You will probably want your first clients to charge a, per-delivery fee. However, as you get to know your clients, you could offer them a monthly payment plan. This could include a specific number of deliveries, with a specific amount of diapers included. If you charge a fair price, you will find that you always have enough rewarding and profitable work!
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