DoNanza.Com Review

 Daily Advice Link - How I Increased Sales 350% With Press-Releases

http://donanza.com

Freelancing can be a lucrative career, if you know what you’re getting into. Advantages to freelancing include the freedom to choose your work schedule and the projects you agree to, how much time you invest in each of the jobs you take on, the freedom to work anywhere you deem conducive – at home, at a coffee shop, even out of town. You may also start working straight out of bed, if you so please, with your pajamas on.

That said, however, don’t let the good stuff lull you into believing freelancing is all milk and honey or where the grass is always green. Freelancing comes with disadvantages, too – the most common of which is failing to land regular, if not long-term, gigs to keep your money vessel replenished.

There are sites like oDesk and Elance that connect clients and freelancers. And then, there’s DoNanza.com, a freelancing search engine that allows anybody to find available freelance jobs that match his expertise or field of interest. Being a search engine, DoNanza pores through as many cracks in the Internet to get the most comprehensive set of results. It doesn’t, in any way, compete with Elance, oDesk or other freelancing platforms. Instead, DoNanza “completes” them as it ultimately directs traffic back to these platforms.

Aside from its basic listing services, DoNanza also offers 1Click Advertising, a feature  that allows freelancers private job requests – meaning, no competition, minimal effort, more job prospects and more chances of landing a job – for a fee.

As well, DoNanza integrates several freelancing apps like Conduit Mobile, which makes your DoNanza site mobile-friendly; Fanzila, a Facebook fan page app that helps you create a powerful social media presence; KashFlow, an app that automates credit control, billing and payment reminders; Paymo, which provides project management, invoicing and time-tracking tools; Base CRM, which easily manages your contacts, sales and customers; and a whole lot more.

If you’re a publisher, DoNanza’s Publisher Program allows you to integrate either the DoNanza widget or project board into your site. Publishers are compensated when a reader posts a job via the widget or a freelancer starts a job that he/she found on the publisher site.

If properly utilized, DoNanza can be your springboard to a successful freelancing career.

[Via - PickyDomains.com]

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Odd Jobs: How to Have Fun and Make Money in a Bad Economy

Holy cow alert - From 0 To $30,000 A Month With Dropshipping

We've covered all kinds fo business ideas - from strange (like making money by suggesting domains for other people) to outright bizzare (Shoot Your Loved One). Lately, we've been covering a lot of 'regular' startups - from very promising looking JetRadar.com, to the rising star of corporate social intranets Bitrix24.com

But since reading, writing and sharing about highly unusual business ideas is a never-dying passion for us, we are more than happy to pass the news about Odd Jobs: How to Have Fun and Make Money in a Bad Economy , a really cool book written by Abigail R. Gehring that got thumbs up from Seth Godin himself.

Abigail is isn't your regular business book author. Rather she is the editor of Back to Basics (an Amazon.Com best seller), Homesteading, and Self-Sufficiency, and author of Odd Jobs and Dangerous Jobs. She’s practiced living self-sufficiently since her childhood in Vermont, being home-schooled, home-canning jams and jellies, and enjoying natural crafts.

So this book isn't about getting rich, but rather about how to make decent income and have fun during this challenging economic environment (which frequently involves having muliple side gigs). I don't think the book is available in libraries yet, so grab your Kindle and get reading!

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Link of the day - If You Sell Links On Your Site, I Will Buy Them Off You

The Mom And Pop Business - Successful Parenting Startups To Watch

Daily Advice Link - Free Logo Service


1. http://www.4moms.com/

Meet the Origami the world's first power-folding stroller, brought to you by Pittsburgh-based 4moms. With the push of a button, Origami folds and unfolds, operated by built-in generators that charge as you walk. The stroller even has an LCD screen that displays the battery charge, distance walked, current temperature and a cute image that confirms the Origami "knows" a child is in the seat. (The company promises the device will not fold up and "eat" children.) This is a seriously high-tech stroller, with a price tag to match: It retails for $850.



2. http://www.babble.com/

Online magazine Babble has been shaking up the parenting industry since its launch in 2006. Loaded with informative, controversial and often humorous content that includes everything from C-section facts and stroller-buying guides to dad blogs, Babble has seen its audience grow an average of 15 percent each month since launch. About 5 million people checked out the free magazine in December; Time recognized it as one of the 50 Best Websites in 2010.



3. http://www.plumdistrict.com/

Plum District introduced the daily deal trend to modern moms. The site offers bargains (up to 80 percent off) from local businesses that appeal to savvy moms, such as spa trips, family activities, weekend getaways and cool gadgets. Plum District has clearly found its niche: Founded in 2010, it recently closed a $20 million Series C funding round and had nearly 1 million subscribers as of December.



4. http://kidworth.com/

Kidworth is a free online service designed to teach children how to save and spend money wisely. Parents create an account, then set long- and short-term financial goals with their kids, such as saving for college or donating to charity. The goals can be shared through social media, e-mail or Kidworth's electronic invitations and holiday cards; family and friends can donate to the cause by purchasing gift cards online. Kidworth launched in December 2010; the value of goals processed through the site has reached more than $110,000.



5. http://pickydmains.com

Buying baby name books is so 1990s. Founded by a busy dad, PickyDomains was intended as a risk-free naming service for businesses and domains, that is until media wrote about wacky Canadian couple who crowdsourced their baby name to the company (baby boy was named Color Sword Raven). Another reason for PickyDomain's popularity among parents is that working as a namer usually takes only 10-15 minutes a day, where as other freelancing gigs typical for the stay at home moms and dads, like writing, telemarketing or being a virtual assistant, can take a few hours out of each day.

[HT - Webiot.Com]

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From Hobby Calligraphist To Home Based Business

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http://robbiecrawfordstudio.com

The moment Robbie Crawford touched a calligraphy pen to paper, she fell in love with the beautiful form of handwritten expression.

That was more than 30 years ago.

Now, at the age of 60 and after 36 years in nursing, Crawford has finally chosen to do what she loves.

She retired from her nursing career in September to start her own full-time calligraphy and engraving business out of her Tallassee home in Blount County.

"I decided when I retire that I would do something I would love to do for the rest of my life," Crawford said. "This is so much fun, so much fun."

The baby boomer spends her days writing fancy letters on certificates, addressing wedding invitations and using a dentist's drill to engrave calligraphy on wine bottles and decorative stones.

After years of doing calligraphy work sporadically, never believing she could make a career of it, she said she finally took the plunge because nursing had become difficult and exhausting. She worked night shift on the oncology floor at Blount Memorial Hospital the past nine years.

"The hours were horrible," Crawford said. "I thought, 'You know what? I'm going to do it.' I knew I had the talent. I knew I had the skill. Plus, it's marketable. People always want something personalized."

Crawford first learned calligraphy as a 26-year-old working in Memphis. During one of her women's Bible study meetings, a member taught calligraphy.

"You don't have to have good handwriting," Crawford said. "Calligraphy is an acquired skill. The more you practice the better you get."

It's all in how someone holds the pen, she said.

When she first started, she thought

she was good, but now she laughs at how "primitive" her first tries were.

She began practicing every day for about an hour. That's about all she could do without her hand cramping.

It took eight years for her to become comfortable enough to sell her calligraphy work.

She had several successful years doing calligraphy part-time while still working as a nurse.

At one point, a greeting card company offered her $5,000 for rights to a print she did with the story of Jesus written in calligraphy in the form of a Christmas tree. They wanted to put it on a Christmas card, but Crawford didn't sell it. She still uses it today for her own work.

When she and her husband moved to Chicago for her husband's work, she lost her calligraphy contacts and stopped selling her work.

The couple moved to the Maryville area in 2001 because they wanted to move back to Tennessee.

While working at Blount Memorial, she did calligraphy for family and friends about once a month, keeping her skills fresh.

She put a small calligraphy studio in her basement complete with a writing desk, a filing cabinet of hundreds of her prints and framing equipment.

She recently added an engraving station.

She never thought of engraving before she heard of an engraving course given by Ken Brown, a widely recognized calligrapher.

When she teaches calligraphy at local art stores, she uses Brown's book. She took a short course on engraving in Dallas in November and since then has been hooked.

"I can't keep away from this engraver," Crawford said. "I engrave all the time. Even if I don't have an order, I just engrave glass."

Some of her favorite items to engrave are wine bottles and small stones on which she engraves people's names. She said the stones are perfect wedding favors.

She personalizes perfume bottles and has even engraved golf clubs.

As part of her new business, she also attends bridal shows, perfume events and craft fairs promoting her business.

She keeps a calligraphy pen in her purse so she can write people's names on the spot.

The best part of this venture, she said, is that she doesn't have to watch the clock to see when she has to leave for work.

She has more time to spend with her husband, fish and hunt for rocks in the woods with her grandson.

"I wake up happy and excited to get down here," Crawford said. "My life is my own for the first time in a lot of years."

For more unusual ways to make money, visit this site.

[Via - KnoxNews.Com]

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Doba Review

Daily advice link - Freelancer? We are hiring!

Have you ever thought about setting up your own online store but got put off by the necessary paperwork, a need of big financial investment and too much potential risk? Well, have you ever heard of drop-shipping? Exactly. It’s a way of moving goods from the manufacturer directly to the retailer without going through the usual distribution channels. There are many companies on the market offering drop-shipping softwares and solutions; one of them is Doba from the United States, the industry leader.

Jeremy Hanks, the Co-Founder and Chairman of Doba, explains how it works. “We’ve provided a web platform so that small-business retailers that are selling predominantly through e-commerce can come online and access an inventory and fulfillment system. We help retailers find products to sell and help wholesale providers find retailers to distribute their products.”

According to Doba, all you need to do is find the products you want to sell, list products for sale across the web and fulfill orders without having to store, pack or ship anything. They guarantee the lowest drop-ship price. And they also provide a Money Back Guarantee in case you’re unable to recoup on your initial purchase in product sales by the end of your membership.

At the moment, you can choose three different subscriptions depending on various options like supplier access (core or pro), size of your inventory (between 1K and 25K), Pre-Pay possibility (on or off) and Elite Seller Report feature (on or off). There is Doba ($59.95 per month or $599.50 per year), Doba Advanced ($69.95 per month or $699.50 per year) and Doba Pro ($89.95 per month or $899.50 per year.

Once signed in, you’re going to have access to more than one and a half million products consolidated into one catalogue which you can search through by category, brand, price etc. You’re going to create your own Inventory List which you can customize and edit according to your needs. You’re going to be able to Push to Facebook and eBay. You’re going to have access to training materials, special deals and many other available features. It’s too good not to try it.

And you can try it any time and for free! The company is now offering a 7-day trial (here is a coupon for 14-day free trial). You provide your email address (future username) and create a password, fill in your contact and credit card details in case any sales are billed during this period. You can sign in from any country all over the world; however, Doba only operates within the United States. This means that all your activity, i.e. sales, marketing and client service is going to be focused and operating in the U.S. Taking under consideration that the U.S Retail Industry operates in trillions of Dollars, there’s plenty of market share for everybody.

For more unusual ways to make money, visit this site.

[Via - Madconomist.Com]

* - do you own a web-based business? We'd like to profile your website, too.

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Site of the day - PickyDomains.com, world's first risk free naming agency

20 Ways Any Student Can Make A Few Bucks Online

There are literally thousands of ways to make money online. They range from affiliate marketing, blogging, domain parking, web designing and many more. But most of them, like any other real world business require time and patience to bring in a decent amount of cash every month. Contrary to the general belief, there is no get-rich-quick scheme online.

Having said that, there are various ways which help you get started quickly and make a few bucks. These are great for college students who can spare a few hours every week to earn part-time income. Instead of delivering pizzas and serving coffee, they could now work from the comfort of their home and make money.

The following list contains 20 such websites/methods which can help teens and college students generate some cash quickly.

Sell Stuff

1.eBay

Buying and selling on eBay is probably one of the most common methods to earn money online. It's not that difficult to understand the process and get started. In fact a huge number of people around the world make their living by buying and selling stuff on eBay everyday.

College students can utilize eBay to sell old unused items and generate cash. Also they could trade on this site and make money. Here is an article which shows you how to do that.

2.BuyMyTronics

BuyMyTronics is a cool site which will buy all your gadgets including old and broken gadgets. They pay through paypal within 48 hours of receiving your gadget.

Since most of the college students love gadgets and usually have a repository of old ipods, zunes, cellphones etc, they could quickly sell them off on this site and make money in the process.

3.Zazzle

If you are creative and love drawing, painting and making designs, then you could use Zazzle to earn some nice part-time money . The process is simple and innovative. You sign up with them and apply your designs on products like t-shirts, mugs, cups and many other items. Once you are done, it can be published for sale which when bought earns you a royalty on that sale. Check how it works.

4.Craigslist

The potential of Craigslist as a money making tool is endless. Not only you can quickly sell just about anything on this site, you could also offer a service like writing, translation etc and get hired. Since it is the most popular classified ads site in the world, college students should not ignore it.

5.Cafepress

Cafepress is a site similar to Zazzle which lets you put your designs on different kinds of merchandise and earn a commission when they are sold. You can also sell books, audio and data cds using this service.

Writing, Reviewing & Blogging

6.About.com

About.com, the popular how-to and information site offers a become a guide program which college students can utilize to write on their favorite topics in their spare time.

You can set your own schedule and choose from a diverse range of topics to write on. They've got an attractive compensation plan too.

7.Elance

Elance is a marketplace where writers and freelancers can advertise their services and have people hire them. Article writers are usually in great demand on this site and it is a nice way to make a part-time income by writing articles for clients around the world.

8.Associated Content

Associated Content is a user-generated content site which publishes articles on almost all topics you can imagine. It pays the writers an up-front fee when they submit an article and also a performance based bonus depending on the traffic the article receives.

Check this article which describes how to make money by writing for associated content.

9.Paid Blogging Sites

Although making money from blogs isn't easy and it requires time and perseverance to make a consistent income through blogging, there are certain paid blogging networks like PayPerPost and ReviewMe which pay you immediately after creating sponsored blog posts.

Dosh Dosh has an excellent list of 17 such paid blogging sites.

10.Squidflix

Squidflix is a cool site by Squidoo which lets you quickly review movies and earn a monthly income based on the traffic your review receives. It might not be instant and huge income but for someone who loves watching movies, it could be a fun part-time activity that generates some cash too.

11.SharedReviews

SharedReviews is a user-generated review site where you can review a large number of products which includes movies too. Create reviews and get paid based on the votes and the pageviews it receives by the end of the month.

Consulting and Tutoring

12. Tutor.com

Tutor is, as the name suggests, an online tutoring and homework site where students could get tutored on various subjects by teachers over the internet. If you are enrolled in a college, can devote at least 5 hours every week and consider yourself well versed in your subject then you may check out their apply to become a tutor page.

13. H3

H3.com is a unique site which could get you good rewards for referring competent individuals for jobs. An employer can offer a reward to his network of friends on the site if they can refer the right candidate for the job. If the candidate you voted is selected then you stand to get a portion of that reward.

Check out their how it works page to understand the process better.

14.Ether

Ether lets you offer expert advice on the topic you consider yourself an expert in. Set your hourly rate, create an ether account, get a toll-free number with a unique extension, set the time when you want to receive calls and get pre-paid phone calls from people who need advice.

Ether takes only 15% so it's definitely a nice and viable option to generate extra cash in your free hours.

Programming & Troubleshooting

15.Scriptlance

If you are majoring in computer science and love playing with codes and scripts then Scriptlance should be your first target. It's an online marketplace for coders where they could earn as low as $5 and as high as $5000 depending on the kind of project they bid on.

16.Crossloop

If you've been helping friends and family over the phone in troubleshooting their computer problems, it's time you make some money out of the process. Crossloop is a marketplace for computer helpers which comes with a screen-sharing software. You can create a profile advertising your skills and get paid by hour while you solve computer issues of people all around the world.

17.Odesk

Odesk is a website where clients can find programmers, web developers, coders and people with various other computer related skills and assign them tasks and projects. Hence it is another way to earn freelance income while you are in college.

Other Interesting Ways

18.Pickydomains

Pickydomains is an innovative site which offers what's really a great way to make money online. You just have to come up with unique domain names which are not yet registered (yes, believe it or not there are many of them which are yet to be taken). If your domain is accepted then you get paid $25 via paypal which is good money for few minutes of a college student's time.

19.Video Sites

If you love making videos then there are a number of ways you can earn through them online. Video sharing sites like Metacafe, Revver and many more offer pageviews based compensation for the videos you upload to their site. Here is a nice page which lists various such video sites and the earning potential.

20.Buxr

Buxr is a discount coupons and deals site which thrives on its vibrant community of members who submit deals they come across on the internet to the site. The site rewards the most voted deals and the most active members so this is another way for college students to make money while having fun searching cool deals.

--------------------------------------------

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Sniff The Mold

Link of the day - If You Sell Links On Your Site, I Will Buy Them Off You


http://www.1800gotmold.com/

Impenetrable rainforests, palm-studded beaches--Hawaii has many stirring sights. But for Jason Earle, the putrid, mold-ridden Hilton Hawaiian Village's Kalia Tower in Waikiki was most inspiring. In 2002, during a sojourn to the Aloha State after he ditched a nine-year career as a stockbroker, he watched as the $95 million hotel was closed down one year after opening because of ventilation problems. "They thought it was a $500,000 mold problem, then it grew to $5 million," he says. "In the end, it cost $55 million to fix."

The closure got personal after Earle talked to one of the cleanup workers and read about health problems associated with mold. As a child living on a small farm in West Windsor, N.J., Earle had had serious respiratory problems that were eventually diagnosed as asthma compounded by chronic pneumonia as well as allergies to grass, wheat, corn, eggs, milk, cotton, animals, pollen and just about everything else. He had lived like the Bubble Boy, but after moving to a new house nearby, Earle's health problems had miraculously evaporated. Everyone assumed he had outgrown his illnesses, but in retrospect, Earle became convinced mold had debilitated him.

"After reading about the Kalia Tower, I asked my dad if we had mold in that house," Earle says. "He laughed and said we had actual mushrooms growing the basement."

Earle became passionate about detecting dangerous fungi and after traveling, settled in New Jersey to work for a mold-remediation firm. When he heard about a dog that had been trained to sniff out hidden moisture, he flew to Florida and bought the dog, a black Lab named Oreo, and set off on his own, combining traditional detection techniques with Oreo's sniffer.

1-800-GOT-MOLD? was a hit. (An inspection runs an average of $1,200.) And Earle began franchising the concept this year, training a small battalion of mold-sniffing labs in Florida and opening 23 locations in New Jersey and the Carolinas. He expects to open 30 more in the next 12 months and more than 300 in the next three years.

How big is the mold problem?
The mold-detection industry is growing fast, and we're the only national brand. About a third of Americans suffer from asthma, allergies, sinusitis, bronchitis and other respiratory problems. That's100 million people sensitive to mold issues. According to one website,

80 percent of homes will eventually have problems with flooding or leaks. We also try to market ourselves through doctors and medical services, not real estate companies, and emphasize mold's health effects. That's a huge separator for us.

Why use dogs?
With the dogs, we can offer superior service, and they create a tremendous amount of confidence. The dogs almost validate the human inspector because people naturally trust dogs so much. It's a huge marketing advantage. Plus, scheduling a mold inspection is up there with scheduling a root canal--it's not fun. The dog changes the dynamic. We don't use dogs as a replacement for anything, but they give us an even greater amount of data. They pinpoint problem areas that would be missed, and they reduce the size of remediation to the smallest dimensions, so there's no need for wholesale demolition of a wall.

How do clients react to the dogs?
It can be an emotional experience when homeowners see a dog alert in a room they know is a problem or makes them feel sick. It validates their concerns. They don't feel crazy anymore.

Do you breed moldhounds?
No, we use rescued female black Labs and Lab mixes. We use Labs because they are the friendliest and America's favorite dog. For some reason, black dogs are usually the last to be rescued, so we get them from kill shelters. Females are easier to train, and have a better sense of smell.

Are you still allergic to mold?
I tend to limit my time in moldy houses, and I haven't experienced the symptoms I had as a kid. I think that going in and out of so many houses with mold has reduced my sensitivity, kind of like getting allergy shots. But that's just my theory.

For more unusual ways to make money, visit this site.

[Via - Entrepreneur.Com]

The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone: Easy New Ways to Make Money from Your Interests, Insights, and Inventions

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How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneur's Guide by Dan S. Kennedy

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Make Your Ideas Mean Business

Link of the day - If You Sell Links On Your Site, I Will Buy Them Off You

Just Us Hens - Meet The Chickensitters

Link of the day - If You Sell Links On Your Site, I Will Buy Them Off You


http://justushens.com/

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNNMoney.com) -- You've heard of cat-sitters, dog-sitters and, of course, babysitters. But chicken-sitters?

In Portland, Ore., a city known for its deep do-it-yourself streak and poultry-permissive laws, two backyard farmers have stepped up to meet an unusual need: watching hens when their owners go on vacation.

In May, Rhonda Piasecki, 43, and Sharon Rowland, 35, launched Just Us Hens, which they believe is the nation's first chicken-sitting service. The business partners, who each boast a full roost of laying hens (four for Piasenki; eight for Rowland), met last year working at Portland's Urban Farm Store.

"At the store, you'd just talk people's ears off about chickens," says Piasecki, who is also a drummer for Klickitat, a local jazz-rock band.

But the seed the store sells started to aggravate Piasecki's asthma, right around the same time that Rowland decided she wanted to spend more time with her 3-year-old, chicken-loving son Sterling. A friend suggested that Piasecki become a "chicken consultant," while Rowland's husband floated the idea of seeking out hen-sitting gigs.

So the women teamed up to offer a slate of services: $15 per visit for hen sitting, $25 for hen health house calls and $50 an hour for consultations on urban agriculture. In late May, they launched a blog, followed by a full website in early July. They also publicized their services at Portland's online chicken chat group, PDXBackyardChix, which has more than 1,000 members.

The fledgling company has only a handful of customers. But as word passes through Portland's substantial population of urban hen keepers, they hope Just Us Hens will take off.

There's certainly an audience for it. Chickens are all the rage in Portland, where longstanding city regulations allow residents to keep up to three of them -- but no roosters -- without a permit. Even Mayor Sam Adams has a brood: three hens, all named Alma. (Adams let his chief of staff's daughter, Alma, pick the names.) Hundreds of chicken enthusiasts will turn out on Saturday for Portland's seventh annual Tour de Coops, a self-guided stroll through 25 backyard hen houses, including the mayor's own.

One of Just Us Hens' first customers was Renee Wrede, a nurse in Southwest Portland who worried about what would become of her new flock when she and her family took a beach vacation. Rowland signed on to watch "the girls": two barred Plymouth Rock hens, one Ameraucana, one Blue Laced Red Wyandotte and one Welsumer.

During daily visits, Rowland fussed over Poppy, Hyacinth and the other chickens, holding and petting each one. After she fed and watered them, she emailed Wrede to report on how the birds were faring in her absence.

Wrede was thrilled and says the service exceeded her expectations.

"We do have a house-sitter, but she has no idea about chickens," Wrede explains. Rowland, on the other hand, was hard-working expert: "She even scooped the poop!"

The proprietors of Just Us Hens pride themselves on creative problem-solving. "We welcome weird situations," Rowland says.

Piasecki has developed a homegrown solution for a common poultry problem: hens plucking their own feathers. She located a chicken-loving seamstress in Arkansas, who she claims is the nation's best source for chicken aprons. The aprons run $7.50 apiece and can be draped over the chickens' problem areas. "They fit perfectly!" she says.

Just Us Hens isn't the only chicken-related business to take flight in recent years. Katy Skinner, of Yacolt, Wash., runs The City Chicken, an online clearinghouse of chicken-keeping wisdom.

She's seen entrepreneurs make money selling prefabricated coops or coop blueprints, as well as giving classes and lectures. But hen-sitting? Even for a seasoned chicken guru, that's something new.

"This is the first I've heard of a hen-sitting service," she says. "I hope they get a lot of business!"

For more unusual ways to make money, visit this site.

[Via - CNNMoney.Com]

The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone: Easy New Ways to Make Money from Your Interests, Insights, and Inventions

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Link of the day - If You Sell Links On Your Site, I Will Buy Them Off You

Making Money From Vynil Clocks

Link of the day - If You Sell Links On Your Site, I Will Buy Them Off You



http://pavel-sidorenko.com/

The invention and application of the digital players marks that the mankind have entered the Digital Age, during which period people seldom use vinyl records or CD players. But we never forget them, and designer Pavel Sidorenko has applied the clock idea to vinyl records, creating several clocks of various shapes. You see, here is a gun, a bird, a rabbit, a chair, a teapot, and all of them are laser-cut. Fantastic!

For more unusual ways to make money, visit this site.



[Via - INewIdea.Com]



The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone: Easy New Ways to Make Money from Your Interests, Insights, and Inventions



IdeaSpotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea



How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneur's Guide by Dan S. Kennedy



101 Businesses You Can Start With Less Than One Thousand Dollars: For Stay-at-Home Moms & Dads



Make Your Ideas Mean Business



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How To Turn Dogwalking Into A Profitable Franchise

Link of the day - If You Sell Links On Your Site, I Will Buy Them Off You

http://www.fetchpetcare.com/

Dog walking is one of those in-between occupations--something you do to get through law school or while waiting for your script to be picked up. That also means it's often a fly-by-night service, where professionalism is the exception. At least, that's what Paul Mann decided back in 2002 when he was looking for a pet sitter in Berkeley, Calif.

"I went through the yellow pages, and I couldn't find anyone I felt comfortable handing my keys or my pets to," he says. "That's when I had my aha! moment."

Soon after, Mann, who had co-founded a high-tech job placement firm and founded a software company, bought a bag full of leashes and launched Fetch! Pet Care. His idea had legs--thousands of them. Within a year, his small company had 1,000 clients served by 70 pet sitters and two full-time dispatchers. In 2004, he franchised the concept, and today Fetch! has 200 franchisees and 5,000 sitters in 39 states, doing everything from taking pups out for a midday poop ($16 to $22 per visit) to boarding dogs ($40 to $50) to driving them to the vet ($15 to $22 each way). Some sitters are even trained in pet massage. This year, Mann hopes to take the franchise international, and partnerships with big names like AAA and Petco mean that Fetch! is bagging a bigger share of the $45-billion-plus U.S. pet-care market.

How did you "professionalize" pet care?
My previous tech jobs focused on systems, how to streamline operations to make them reliable, dependable and maintain costs. I automated all the back-office operations for Fetch!, and that helped us concentrate on building a large staff of professionally trained pet sitters. Within weeks, as chief dog walker of the company, there was more demand than I could handle.

Why did you franchise?
This is a real hands-on business; we're talking about live animals. The business is all about accountability. I wanted people with a stake in the business, not only financially but I also wanted them to put their heart and soul in building a sustainable business. We care for about 50,000 animals and we have to be on time. We're the FedEx of animals: We
deliver the pet-care world on time.

Have people cut back?
Pet care is the seventh-largest retail industry in the country. The estimate is 5 percent year-over-year growth; it defies the economy. Pet parents have to go to work longer and travel more, and they still need pet care. They're turning away from day cares, where their pet can be beat up by an alpha dog, and letting them stay in a safe and comfortable home territory.

Any strange requests?
People have had us cook really nice organic meals for their dogs. We've had a sitter who had to sleep in the owner's bed with three giant dogs. Once, an animal rescuer had to go away and we had to send in a team of sitters to take care of her 25 or 30 dogs. We do everything, even taking care of pet tarantulas.

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[Via - Entrepreneur]

The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone: Easy New Ways to Make Money from Your Interests, Insights, and Inventions

IdeaSpotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea

How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneur's Guide by Dan S. Kennedy

101 Businesses You Can Start With Less Than One Thousand Dollars: For Stay-at-Home Moms & Dads

Make Your Ideas Mean Business

Link of the day - If You Sell Links On Your Site, I Will Buy Them Off You