Does anyone have any good ideas on how a stay at home mom, who homeschools can make money at home? I have tried to make a go with my dry rub seasoning, but that seems to be going no where, had that for 2 years now, maybe some ideas on how to make the seasonings go better. I am really out of ideas here. ANY help would be lovingly appreciated...Thanks. Kristean

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), February 15, 2002

Answers

Response to HOW do I do it ??

My wife makes a little money every week babysitting other people's small children on our farm. It's not much extra work for her, so she says, because our kids keep each other busy with their little playmates, and Connie just acts as referee. In our area she gets $4 per hour per child, and has two little ones that she watches three days a week. I think she's currently pulling in a couple of hundred dollars a week, she got the business simply by posting an ad at our local safeway.

Do you have property? Rental income is (in my opinion) about the most profitable thing you can do on a farm these days. We rent pasture to some folks with a horse, and hope to rent out our guest house at some point. We also rent space for a shed to a man who raises carrier pigeons. For $75 a month he gets to put a small (8x10) shed on our property to house his birds, and he feeds and cares for them. Some deal. Wish I could find a hundred guys like him.

Good luck!

-- chuck in md (woah@mission4me.com), February 15, 2002.

Response to HOW do I do it ??

One thing that I have been kicking around is making compost teas bags, using worm casting/compost. Then there is always the selling of information, repackaging and compiling of thing so that they are more reader friendly. Really need to know what your interests are and other things to suggest something more specific. Some people do piece work for various cottage enterprises, homework tutors online, selling fresh produce/herbs/eggs locally, etc.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), February 15, 2002.

Response to HOW do I do it ??

Hey Kristean,

Some ideas I have made money with...being a homeschooling mom not withstanding..

1. Big garden, sell extra produce.

2. Sell extra fruit.

3. Grow and sell perennial plants and trees.

4. Pick wildflowers and sell boquets. (a resturaunt used to buy all of the wild sunflower blossome I could supply for their tables for a dime a blossom)

5. Alfalfa Sprouts...used to sell 200 pounds a week when I was in college and grad school in chicago back in the 70s for 1.45 a pound.

6. Raise and sell free range poultry

7. eggs

8. leather tooling and sewing...people pay a fortune for a hand tooled saddle or briefcase.

9. canvas sewing...used to make and sell canvas grocery bags and feed sacks.

10. decorate pumpkins

11. make and sell furniture

12. make and sell knives and other tools.

13. restore old machines for profit.

Most importantly, stick with it long enough to know that it won't work before you quit. Be flexible, remember the three most important rules of selling...advertise, advertise, advertise, and then be sure that your quality is unsurpassed. Finally marketing, marketing, marketing...if they don't know you are there they willnever know that you have the best rub in the universe.

Best of luck.

Oscar

-- Oscar H. Will III (owill@mail.whittier.edu), February 15, 2002.

Response to HOW do I do it ??

someone asked what i like to do...Well my likes, cooking ( professional chef, well used to be. Now im a personal chef.LOL ). sewing, quilting, gardening, normal homesteading stuff. But I live in a really " vogue " area. by that i mean, when i tell people i make my own butter , they say " You can do that ? Is that legal ? ". so anything down home is out of the question. LOL... Kristean

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), February 15, 2002.

Response to HOW do I do it ??

I think you may have answered your own question - personal chef! The kind where you go to a person's house and cook their food for them (that way you don't have to worry about food prep licensing), you could probably take your kids with you. A gal at our church is cleaning house and cooking 2 meals a day for an older couple and they are paying her $300 a week cash and they love having her kids over. If your in a "vogue" area, there may be a great opportunity either with "professional" people by cooking meals to be consumed right away or to freeze and heat up after work.

Good Luck! BTW I work from home by telecommuting, it's pretty tough but allows me to be home with the kids and keep an eye on the livestock.

-- Michelle in Ok (kellycalves@soon.com), February 16, 2002.

Response to HOW do I do it ??

kristean btw thanks for the rub i havent tried it yet but will soon. how about dry jerky seasoning? but really have you ever been to a auction and seen what home made quilts sell for. id try e bay for your seasonings. best of luck Bob se,ks.

-- Bobco (bobco@kans.com), February 16, 2002.

Response to HOW do I do it ??

One thing to decide is if you're in business or not. A lot of people want to do childcare out of the home, for example, but balk at providing an SSN or tax number when the person paying them needs it so they can claim childcare expenses on their taxes because they (the provider) don't want to pay taxes. This also applies as far as deducting your expenses, as well as being able to fund your own retirement account.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), February 16, 2002.

How about crafts? I have been giving advice in the "Cooking and Crafts" thread. It's under the heading of "How and what to sell at crafts shows". Check it out if you think you would be interested.

-- Jo in Pa (farmerjo02@yahoo.com), February 16, 2002.

If you are a chef==make and decorate wedding cakes! They cost little to make and cost a pretty penny to buy! $600-1000 around here! I figured I could make one for less than 20$ and they wanted 500$! Nice profit...

-- Debbie T in NC (rdtyner@mindspring.com), February 16, 2002.

Sorry--I forgot to add to use your fresh flowers to decorate them!

-- Debbie T in NC (rdtyner@mindspring.com), February 16, 2002.

I have found that the key is in doing several things. Here is some expamples:

1. Ebaying is one. Children's clothes sell very well -- I go to garage sales and if they have a whole table full nice items, I will offer to buy everything they have for $10-$50 -- depending on the amount of clothes and type. People will almost always go for it because they know there is always lots left over and they don't have to mess with them. I bring them home, sort and clean them. Donate to charity any thing that is not perfect. Match them into outfits and what is left over I sell as a lot unit. I always profit no less than 95%;
2. Sale of eggs;
3. Sale of herb plants;
4. Make crafts and sell to sell at craft shows. For some great hints from some one who knows how to make this work go to the Cooking and Crafts Forum and click on the series of threads on the topic;
5. Financial help to the elderly. Often when one person passes away, the other has not idea how to balance a check book or pay a bill. Many don't even know how to properly write a check. Showing them how to be self-sufficient and avoid the "sharks" who prey on the elderly to sap them out of thier money by convincing them they need "someone to take care of it for them". You could charge a reasonable fee for a days worth lessons on bill paying, checking account lessons;
6. Crafting or cooking classes;

As far as your dry rub seasoning goes, if you have a good product you might just need to market it differantly. Have you tried giving away some free samples and including an order form? Do you have a webpage? You set one up for free! There are several sites to do this. You might try doing a google search to find simular products and see how they are marketing thier products.

Best of luck Kristean! You just have to try differant things and sooner or later one will click!

-- Karen (mountains_mama2@hotmail.com), February 16, 2002.

This is way off the wall, but here is it anyhow! I met a woman last weekend who is a telephone phycic! She makes $9.00 an hour and a $2.00 bonus for every person she can keep on the phone for 20 minutes. She works 5 days a week 11pm to 7am Thursday thru Monday, every 5 weeks she gets the weekend (3 days) off with pay.

She told me that 90% of the calls are from drunk Men, she will ask them their name or location and they say your the Phycic you tell me and she tries to continue that game for 20 minutes to get the $2.00 bonus. People who are actually looking for Phycic help she gives them a few standard answers most only stay on the line for a minutes.

She said it is structed just like a "real job" with scheduled breaks. If you are sick you must call and let them know you want be working that night, if you take to much time off you lose your job. You must have a home computor, your "Boss" may silentl contect you through the computor to be sure you are not sleeping. She said sometimes you may not get a call for a couple hours and you are free to read or watch TV as long as you check in through the computor to let them know you are avalible for calls.

She has been doing this job since May and when she reaches a year she will get a $500.00 bonus and will be eligble for 2 weeks paid vacation and be able to join their Employerer contibuted 401k program.

Homestead related, NO, but she does work from home. She found this job at the monster.com site.

-- Mark in N.C. Fla. (deadgoatman@webtv.net), February 16, 2002.

I taught piano, organ and keyboard lessons when my kids were young...many years ago.

If you are good at cooking, why not some cooking lessons? Perhaps on Saturday mornings one week you could teach how to make a certain kind of cake or pastry; another Saturday teach some general cooking info...there's so many folks who don't have anybody to teach them no days!!!

Diversification is the key! I write for two different newspapers now and always had a home office when my kids were little, and continue to do so now (we were a homeschool family but they're all grown now!). My husband has a handyman business where he does all kinds of carpentry, electrical and MINOR plumbing jobs. But he's not above plowing somebody's rose garden too. I also sell a few dozen eggs each week. And sometimes sell some freelance articles...

Make money in more than one way and then when one of those ways are slow it won't be a disaster! best wishes

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), February 16, 2002.

Kristean, I am wondering if perhaps strategic marketing might be the area you need to concentrate on. A homebased business has to cover all its bases, from financial planning through production all the way to personnel management (yourself- dont get burned out!) and sales. And then you must manage your accounts. It's all in your lap. Most people are gifted in only a few of these areas. But if you want to make a product to sell out of your home, you have to push yourself in each of these areas, to make the business work.

What type of people would be interested in your product? What kinds of places do they frequent? Where do they shop? How can you reach them?

I am getting into homemade soaps. I am aiming at a specfic type of person to market to: the economical purist. (Because that's who I am; I understand those kinds of people.) I am currently actively exploring the local organic food co-ops, and local health food and bulk food stores.

Have a brainstorming session. What type of person are you trying to market to? Are you aiming at personal sales at retail prices, or are you willing to market in bulk to restaurants? (Bulk sales would produce a quicker profit, even though the unit price would be lower.) What restaurant manager should you visit first? How should you construct your sales pitch, to appeal to this person's business? In the case of personal sales, how will you reach the people? What type of advertising should you employ, that would appeal to those types of people?

Just a few thoughts to get you started!

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), February 16, 2002.

About your rub. I would go to a place that sells fast food meat for dinner. We have a hot case in our store where you can buy ribs chicken and stuff like that. Tell them about your rub and let them try it. If they like it and there customers are loving it. Ask them if you could sell it at there counter. You will sell them theres for cost! They might go for it. If they are a grocery store don't buy your spices there to mix at home because you can be sure they will watch what you buy and make there own then this won't work. Somone did this where my mom lives and it went like you wouldn't believe. She sent me a bottle and now every year I ask for some on my birthday. She sends me 4 big bottles. It is the best stuff. Good Luck.

-- Teresa (c3ranch@socket.net), February 16, 2002.

Check the archives... there were a few threads a while back about CSAs. I don't know much about them, but from what I remember it consists of selling produce to people on a weekly basis- they "subscribe" and get a box of whatever's ripe in your garden. From what people were saying it sounds like you could make a decent amount of money off of them. Good luck!

-- Sarah K. (ladynuala@hotmail.com), February 16, 2002.

Kristean, You already have a product that you like. Why not try marketing it better? Try contacting your extension agent (in the USA) and see what they have regarding promoting your state's products. Here in WV we have a large tourist complex that sells made in WV products. A place like that could help you sell a larger quantity.

-- Anne (Healthytouch101@wildmail.com), February 16, 2002.

If you don't already have a copy, request a free e-book from me on How to Earn Extra Money in the Country. Perhaps something in their will trigger a thought on an enterprise for your situation.

Recently heard from someone who is building up a successful dove release business (weddings, funerals, etc.) as the result of seeing it in the book.

It is free to anyone; however, it cannot be sent to hotmail.com accounts. Those will have to find another account to have it sent to.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 16, 2002.

I set up a booth at our local Farmers Market last year with my homemade soap and facials etc. This was much need exposure for me. I picked up many new customers and now have a larger customer base for repeat business. Your seasonings would be an outstanding addition to a market especially since it is most productive during grilling season.

-- Homestead Mom (carmenblack@vol.com), February 16, 2002.

My Aunt altered clothing and baked for her income. Do you have any idea what aloaf of homemade bread or a pie sells for to a woman not well versed in the homemaking arts? They pay any price.

-- BluecreekRog (rw285@isoc.net), February 16, 2002.