108: Back To | More Ways To Make Money | Write And Sell Your Own Rap Beats Or Song Music And Lyrics

How many times do you watch and listen to top bands and think you could do better? If you often do that maybe you should have a go at it yourself?

It’s an unlikely way to make some money but that’s no reason not to consider it if you have musical talents yourself. And in reality you don’t need to be able to sing or play a musical instrument yourself nowadays either – if you know how to do it you could still be able to sell your own rap beats and music to young artists with virtually no musical knowledge at all!

Fancy learning more? If you do, you’ve come to the right place.

If you have the right software and you do have something of an ear for music, then you can start selling your rap beats online in a very short time indeed.

The key to getting started is to do a search for some software and buy something that will enable you to create a selection of rap beats from scratch. The more practice you get at this the more you will start to develop a sound that is uniquely yours – and that is what will ultimately sell your rap beats to the people who are looking for them.

It will also help to set up your own website so that you can sell your offerings directly off there. You can sell them via other sites as well, but there is nothing like having your own dedicated site to promote your wares. Make sure you have a good domain name and you put related keywords in the writing on your website to attract those people who will be looking for your kind of music.

You could also have a crack at writing your own song lyrics. It helps to have some knowledge of music here though, as you will need to be able to write the music to go with it – even if it is just the basic notes and chords to show other people how it would sound in a very rough way.

You then have the choice of whether you want to sell them directly to aspiring young artists or to studios, but whichever way you do it you need to make sure you know what you are selling them for. It’s worth delving into the subject of rights and payments in far more depth than we can do here, since you want to make sure you price them fairly but also don’t do yourself out of a nice profit at the same time.

There is always the chance that you could end up writing a number one song! If you did that and you had sold the lyrics or rap beat for a small one of payment, you could literally have to sit back and watch as the artist who recorded it made a fortune and you didn’t. So be wary of how to go about this aspect of the business, and get professional advice on the best way to do things in this respect.

So do you feel as if you have some music inside you? If you do, start looking into the idea of getting that software and creating your own website to get started right now. So long as you start out in the right way you could be selling your own music to all kinds of bands and names both now and in the future.

But leave us a comment first before you start creating those raps!

107: Start Your Own Snail Mail Newsletter Service

Even though there are hundreds of thousands of newsletters you can elect to receive via email thanks to the power of the internet, a lot of people still like to receive a paper copy that they can keep. At a time when everything is so easily disposed of, it’s arguable that a paper newsletter actually has a longer shelf life, since it’s much harder to throw away something tangible than it is to hit a button and delete it out of your inbox.

But how easy is it to set up your own snail mail newsletter service? Surprisingly, it might just be easier than you think…

So what makes a successful snail mail newsletter? They are easy enough to create these days thanks to desktop publishing, and if you hit on a popular subject and end up with hundreds of subscribers you can get the newsletter printed up properly.

But the key factor is the subject you pick. What are you going to write about? You need to be able to charge enough for the newsletter to cover your costs and make some profit, but you need to provide information that can’t easily be found elsewhere.

The great thing about a newsletter sent in this manner is that it can literally be almost one hundred per cent information and nothing else. So for example you can have something like an eight page newsletter (or maybe even less) that is packed with information and no fluff, and charge a reasonable amount for the info you provide. And with a newsletter that size you can put it into a normal envelope and post it at the cheapest rate possible because it will be so light.

You can get some use out of the internet when you are thinking about creating your own snail mail newsletter, because you can use it for research. What subjects could you use for a newsletter? Is there anything you already know a lot about that enough people would be interested in? You also need a unique angle so find out what else is being offered on that topic and position your own offering differently if you can.

The next step is where to find customers – and this is where you can use the internet to help you even more. Ideally you should set up a website that promotes the newsletter which will draw people in from the search engines and hopefully encourage people to sign up to pay you for the newsletter. A blog on the same subject can also be a good idea, as it gives you a chance to demonstrate to prospective customers that you know what you are talking about and can be a good source of information.

But how often should this newsletter be produced for the maximum effect?

Monthly is generally the best idea for a snail mail version, since it will give you plenty of time to gather new material together, write the newsletter and get it printed and mailed out each time. It’s a good idea to get off to a good start by making sure you have enough material for two or three newsletters so you don’t have to panic about doing the next one as soon as the first one is mailed out. This will also give you additional time to make sure you can attract plenty more subscribers.

I can’t stress enough the importance of doing your homework before you get started though. Making sure you choose a good subject, you have enough material and you can provide something that no one else can is guaranteed to give you the best shot at creating something that is likely to stick around for some time.

Think about having regular columns as well, as this helps to create a familiarity with the newsletter that you wouldn’t have otherwise. And offer people a free sample issue to get started – it will bring in a lot more subscribers as a result.

So – are you ready to start your own snail mail newsletter? If you are, leave a comment below to let us know how this blog entry helped you! And good luck.

106: Start Your Own Podcast On A Topic Of Interest

If there is a subject that you love talking about, then you owe it to yourself to find an audience for it through podcasting.

Although this is still a fairly new medium as far as making money is concerned, it is clear already that there is money to be had, as some people have latched on to several ways that they can do just that with it.

The key is to find a subject that people are interested in and reach that audience in as many ways as you can by making your podcast available to them – and then it’s just a case of waiting for the money to start rolling in.

Okay, so you have a subject you love and you could talk about for hours. Does that make a podcast? No – you need to work on it to make sure you can create podcasts that everyone will want to listen to. You need to script each one at least roughly so that you know what to expect. Otherwise there will be a degree of umming and aahing and you don’t want that. Short podcasts – let’s say fifteen to twenty minutes for example – do very well, so you don’t want to be waffling on for hours at a time. Keep the structure tight and well planned.

The next step is to work out how you will make money from them. It is possible to treat podcasts in much the same way as you would treat e-books, CDs or DVDs – release them in a program that you can charge money for. Perhaps one or two a week on a specific subject, revealing information that people would be prepared to pay for.

Be wary of this though – you can’t do this unless you have really good information that people cannot get elsewhere without paying anything.

Another good way to make money from podcasting is to use it as a way to promote an existing business. Let’s say for example that your business sells e-books. You could start a podcast on e-books in general and mention the name of your website, or perhaps some of the books you sell, once or twice during the podcast itself. This can provide very good publicity and your sales should start to go up as a result.

You can even make special offers to those people listening; offer them a bundle of books on a specific subject, or a special package deal that lasts for a limited time. Direct them to your website to buy it and see what revenue you get from that. If it works well you can extend it to take place with each podcast you make. This in turn should get you more listeners as well.

If your podcast becomes very successful you can also sell advertising space on it. Businesses are always looking for new ways to find new customers, and if your podcast can connect them with their ideal target audience then you can make extra money in this way too.

Some people have even started creating special promotional items that feature the podcast itself, and sold them to their listeners. Not only does this fill a need if your podcast is that successful, it also means that you get some additional publicity yourself.

There are plenty of ways to make money from podcasting, but as always you will get the best results from researching your subject and finding out what people want first. Once you can do this you stand a better chance of starting a podcast that will run for a long time, and pick up more and more listeners as you go.

And don’t forget YouTube. If you aren’t charging anything for the podcast itself, you could film yourself doing it and put it on YouTube for some valuable extra publicity.

Got some ideas already? If you have then there is no better time to get started – but leave us a comment first! Good luck.

105: Start Your Own Local Pool Cleaning Business

We’d all love to have a pool in our back yard, but when it comes to maintaining it and keeping it clean, that isn’t something we like to do ourselves. Can you see a business opportunity here?

If you develop your business properly and market it in the right way to the right people, you could very soon have more customers than you know what to do with. Pool cleaning is also something that most people can pick up, and if you like being in the outdoors then you will certainly love this opportunity since you will be able to get out and about and meet new people every day.

Swimming pools are fantastic, but no one likes cleaning them. That’s why pool cleaning businesses tend to do very well if they are run by someone who has a great care for their work and knows exactly what to do to keep a pool in tip top condition.

The first step is obviously gaining that knowledge. You can start finding out what you need to know by visiting local pool suppliers and asking them how you would keep your pool clean if you were to buy one from them. This is a bit cheeky but you’ll get the info you need!

You can also find out a great deal by going online and learning from other people who do the same thing. Jump onto Google and look up pool cleaning trade contacts or something similar, and see how many results and leads you come up with. You’ll soon know where to go for supplies and how to go about the actual cleaning process responsibly and efficiently. Try looking up ‘Pool and Spa News’ to take a look at the website of the trade magazine itself.

But how do you advertise your new business? One of the best ways is to put ads in all the local newspapers, but you could also put ads in shop windows and maybe your local library as well. Leafleting door to door isn’t the best option since not everyone has a pool. The best way to do this is to go onto Google Earth and check out your local neighborhood to see how many people have pools; you will then know which streets are worth leafleting!

Get a simple website up and running as well as soon as you can. It only needs to be a few pages – a home page, a page that describes your services and a contact page will get you started. As long as people can contact you for more information that’s the main thing.

You will also be able to get new clients via word of mouth if you do a good job, since people will naturally want to recommend you to others. You could always get some fridge calendar magnets made up with your business details and contact numbers on and hand them out to new customers when you find them, so that your name will always be close at hand when they need to call you to arrange for a fresh clean of their pool.

You can also diversify into cleaning spas, which gives you another income stream and widens the potential customer base you can market your business to. Spas also tend to be used during the colder months and not just in the summer as well, unlike most swimming pools.

So if you’re ready to dive in so to speak, start planning your pool cleaning business now by taking a look at that website to broaden your knowledge. But leave a comment for us by using the form below first!

104: Start Your Own Local Fashion Tours

You don’t need to live in a world famous city to get into the fashion tours business – many large towns would benefit from such a service, particularly if that town brings in a lot of tourists.

You need to be quite confident to take on this kind of opportunity to earn money, because you will be showing a group of people around your local town and revealing local knowledge about the best places to go for a bargain.

But if you think you’ve got the confidence then it could be a real money spinner for you.

If the idea of becoming a tour guide appeals to you then keep reading. You would basically be booking groups of people onto your pre-arranged tours and showing them all the best places to go to get the latest and best fashions in your area. You could stick to a specific theme for your tour; for example you could do some research and find out where all the cheapest shops are to get bargain outfits, or maybe all the shops that are a bit out of the way and are usually only frequented by the locals.

This takes a little organization as you will obviously need to research a good route to take and show them shops that they might not find otherwise. You would then charge a fee for each person to take the tour, and you could also provide a map of the area with all the shops you show them clearly marked on it.

The best way to make this work is to get the various shop owners to approve of your business idea in advance. If you let them know you will be bringing in new customers for them, they will probably be more than happy to give you a small percentage – say 5% maybe – of any purchases that any of the people on your tour buy.

You could expand the idea to cover a full day if it is successful, and charge more as a result. In this case you could also recommend a particular restaurant or café for lunch, and possibly arrange a deal with the owners of that venue in a similar way to the clothes stores themselves.

If you try this out and you like it and have some success with it, you could even consider buying or hiring a minibus in which you can pick people up from pre-designated stops. There are plenty of ways in which you can vary this service to find what works best for you in your area.

You could even add other days into your schedule as well that aren’t related to fashion. Ghost tours are always popular and anything which shows people a different side to a particular place always goes down well.

So long as you keep the punters happy you shouldn’t have any problems developing this into a full time business. Just remember to serve your customers well and news of your service will soon spread to bring you new customers.

Eager to get started? Use the form below to leave us a message first, and then get to know your local town a little bit better!

103: Start Your Own Local Business Selling Something That You’re Passionate About

One of the keys to being a success in business is definitely to start up in an area you have a natural interest in. You wouldn’t start up a restaurant if you hated food, or start selling flowers if you had no interest in them and they made you allergic.

Everyone has a passion for something and whether it is model trains, photography or cell phones that passion could hold a terrific business idea for you to capitalize on.

A lot of people think that in order to run a local business you need to find an outlet of some kind and rent out expensive premises to stand any chance of making any money.

But you don’t have to start out that way. In fact the best start to any kind of local business can often be through getting a market stall of some kind, if your business is suited to it. There will still be an outlay to rent it but it’s cheaper than a proper shop and it can get you off the ground and into profit a lot quicker on many occasions.

The main point to think about is whether your passion can be converted into a profitable business that will attract enough customers to keep going. You might need to do some research here to make sure your idea will fly, but even if it doesn’t look encouraging you might be able to alter the angle of it to appeal to a wider audience.

For example you might have a passion for making scenery for model train sets by hand, but there might not be enough of an interest in that to build a successful business around it. But if you were to start a model shop and make some of your scenery in front of the customers while the store was open, you would no doubt attract a lot of interest and probably more customers as well. You could use your hand built scenery to enhance all the model trains you put on display.

You will often find that with a bit of lateral thinking and some solid research you can find an angle on most subjects that would work well as a proper business. And it might not be something you make either. If you love computer games and there isn’t a games store in your local town at present, why not think about opening one yourself? Even if the major stores sell computer games, people will get to know you as being someone who loves them yourself and who knows which ones to recommend and which ones will work on what type of computer. Knowledge like this will put you head and shoulders above the competition.

The great thing about starting a business around a topic you love is that news of your passion for your subject will spread among customers by word of mouth. Eventually you will build up a good customer base even without advertising (although you should of course do all you can to draw in new people in as many ways as possible; the more visible you are the better).

In the end the amount of effort you put into your business will be far easier than it would be for a business you didn’t have the same passion for, and that alone will give you the determination and passion you need to succeed.

But before you rush off to start making plans, make sure you leave a comment for us below!

102: Start Your Own Local Bin Cleaning Service

Throwing our trash away is part of everyday life. But don’t you just hate that smell that wafts up to meet you every time you open the lid to throw in another piece of trash?

Bins that are kept outside get subjected to all kinds of abuse. They have to withstand all weathers and hold all the leftovers, spoiled food and other remnants that we don’t want to keep inside. No wonder they smell less than fragrant from time to time.

But if you can stand the smell you could be making a lot of money from those bins. Grab a peg and come closer to find out more about this lucrative opportunity.

One of the best things about this business is that you will never run short of customers. Everyone has a trash can, and I am willing to bet that very few (if any) of those bins smells anywhere near good.

This makes for a huge business opportunity for you, and it’s easy to advertise since you can simply get a whole batch of leaflets printed up and deliver them door to door to get you started. State your price on the leaflet and offer the customer 20% offer if they produce the leaflet when you arrive to clean their bin.

That is a good discount and you can bet that a lot of people will take you up on the offer. It also guarantees that more people will keep the leaflet for longer instead of throwing it away.

You can start this business with very little cash, since you can manually clean all the bins if you have the right equipment to do so – all you need is long handled brushes and cloths, disinfectant and some elbow grease in the first instance.

When you want to step things up a little (or if you have the money available to begin with) you can buy or lease a van and some more advanced cleaning equipment. There are also a number of franchise opportunities in several countries that provide you with everything you need to get started in your own area. If you are prepared to plough some real cash into this business then it could be the way to go. You can find out more about this opportunity by using a search engine to find the franchises operating in your country.

It all depends on how you want to run the business. If it is a part time, casual concern then you might want to keep things simple and start by offering your services to people you know to begin with. You can then spread the word via word of mouth to include other people locally.

The beauty of this business is that however you approach it you will be visiting clients regularly to keep their bins clean and fresh. You can reasonably expect to be cleaning them every week or two, which means that once you have built up a good customer base, you have a regular ongoing income that you can pretty much rely on.

So if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, write a comment below and then get started by designing a simple leaflet to promote your new business.