25 Part-Time Business Ideas

Looking to earn some extra cash in your spare time? We've got 25 great ways to get started!

Ever dream of running a part-time business while keeping your day job? Want to operate a sideline business along with your current business? Or are you simply curious about entrepreneurship, and want to test the waters before you commit to the world of commerce? Whatever your reason, here are 25 sure-fire ways to get started today with your own part-time business.

Antiques
Make new money from old treasures and have fun doing it! Scout garage sales, estate auctions and flea markets for great buys on antique furniture, toys, clothing and other treasures from the past. Rent space at antique cooperatives, or set up booths at weekend fairs to sell your antiques.

Computer Tutor
Whether you're an expert at Windows or Linux, desktop publishing or Web research, HTML or word processing, you can help anyone enhance their computer skills. Start promoting your computer-training services by teaching classes through organizations in your community which offer adult education courses.

Custom Jewelry and Accessories
Put your creative talents to work designing custom jewelry and accessories. Whether you work with sterling silver or recycled metals, clay or papier-mУЂchУЉ, there's a market for your custom earrings, pins, bracelets, necklaces and belt buckles at art shows, crafts fairs and holiday boutiques.

Espresso Cart
Brew up profits day after day! Specialty coffee drinks generate gross profits of 55.1 to 61.5 percent per cup, says the Specialty Coffee Association of America. So brush up on your coffee drinks, buy or rent an espresso cart, and head for sporting events, concerts and farmers' markets in your community.

Garage and Attic Cleaning/Hauling Service
Nobody likes to spend a weekend cleaning out the garage, attic or garden shed--it's dirty and time-consuming, and when it's done, there's still the task of hauling off all that discarded junk. But if you don't mind putting in the physical labor, a cleaning and hauling service can be a lot of fun. You can usually find a few treasures among the trash which most people are delighted to give away, and you can add to your income by recycling bottles, newspapers and metal castoffs. You'll need a pick-up truck or other vehicle capable of carrying everything from cast-iron sinks to old timbers.

Handyman
If it's broke, you can fix it. Your phone will ring off the hook with calls from homeowners, senior citizens and others who don't want to fix it themselves. Advertise in shopper publications and on bulletin boards, and drop off fliers at real estate offices. Then start repairing everything from leaky faucets to broken windows.

Home Inspection
Buyers need not beware when they hire a home inspector to conduct a complete physical checkup on their dream home. You'll inspect the house for structural problems and refer your clients to the contractors or handymen who can make the repairs. Knowledge of construction and your local building codes will get your business off the ground.

Medical Transcription
Work as an important member of a medical team without leaving your homebased office. There's big demand by hospitals, doctors, dentists, chiropractors and veterinarians who need outside help transcribing patient medical records. Training in medical terminology and linguistic skills will keep your business healthy.

Mobile Home-Entertainment Service
When it's dirty, disconnected or in need of repair, you'll save the day for homeowners who want their stereo, compact-disc player or videocassette recorder in working order. Brush up on your electrical and wiring know-how. Door-to-door fliers and calls to retail-store managers about your services will get your business off to a great start.

Mobile Window Tint
With some training and basic equipment, you'll be seeing plenty of green with your mobile window-tinting business. For best results, have a pager and van ready to help car, van and truck owners prevent heat damage to their vehicles' interiors. Other hot markets: homes, high-rise condominiums and office buildings.

Office and Home Organizer
Attention all neatniks: Help packrats, overworked executives, and other organizationally challenged individuals clean out messy closets, straighten files, and throw out the excess clutter. Putting your knack for neatness to part-time business use is bound to arrange some tidy profits for you.

Personal Chef
What's for dinner, honey? Great home-cooked meals for working parents and busy professionals who hire you as a personal chef. There's plenty of demand for this specialized service. So plan your menu, make out your shopping list, and go to work to satisfy your hungry clientele.

Personal Trainer
Pumping iron; pumping profits. Americans of all ages, sizes and shapes want to keep fit, trim and healthy, and they're willing to hire their own personal coach to exercise correctly. Spread the word about your physical-fitness expertise at health spas, running, swimming and biking clubs, and other athletic outlets.

Picture Framer
Get in the frame with a picture framing service. You can work with gallery owners, artists, portrait photographers and individuals who've purchased a print, painting or fine photo. If you aren't already a framing expert, read up, take classes at a local college or community center, then assemble your tools--including clamps, saws, miter boxes, glue, and a pneumatic or hand stapler. Establish relationships with local artists' groups, galleries, photographers and print shops that can give you their business or refer their customers to you.

Plant Leasing And Maintenance
Got a green thumb and a delivery van? You're all set to service corporations, home builders, health clubs and other businesses who want fresh greenery. Develop a steady clientele with a regular watering, pruning and fertilizing program and a full replacement guarantee.

Records Search
Using specialized databases, you'll search public records on your computer to help your clients find lost loves, check out questionable suitors, track down debtors, verify a contractor's track record, or dig up facts on a business opportunity. Clients include attorneys, businessowners and individuals.

Restaurant Delivery
Whether it's macaroni and cheese or a five-course gourmet meal, at-home meal replacement is fast becoming the newest way to dine. When customers want their restaurant orders "to go," you'll be "on the go" with your restaurant delivery service. A great way to make your late afternoons and weekends extra-profitable!

T-Shirt Design
If you're an artist in search of a medium, why not make T-shirts your canvas? Paint, draw, bead or appliquУЉ your designs on plain T-shirts, and spend your weekends showcasing your art-to-wear at farmers' markets and crafts fairs.

Wallpaper Hanging
Help residential and commercial clients turn drab walls into works of art with your wallpaper-hanging skills. Build a growing business with great referrals and repeat customers. Drop off fliers at paint and wallpaper stores; also, advertise in shopper publications, in homeowner-association newsletters, and on bulletin boards at local supermarkets and malls.

Yoga and Tai Chi Instructor
In today's hectic, fast-paced world, parents, business owners and students alike can benefit from the deep-breathing, relaxation and centering techniques you can teach them. Get started by offering classes at health clubs, through your city's recreation and parks department, or on your own.

The Sweet Success of a Chocolate Business

If chocolate is your passion, this could be the business opportunity youтАЩve been waiting for.

The verdict is in: Chocolate has officially gone from sinful to unstoppable. In fact, trend-watching firm Datamonitor named chocolate "the new coffee" in a list of the top 10 trends to watch. But that's not all: Studies have come out demonstrating the health benefits of flavanoids often contained in dark chocolate. Sales are soaring (dark chocolate sales were up 40 percent in 2006, according to Mintel International), and entrepreneurial opportunities are rich with promise. "Chocolate is more popular today than ever before," says Joan Steuer, founder and president of Chocolate Marketing LLC, a Los Angeles consulting firm that specializes in strategic forecasting and tracking trends in the chocolate industry. So stop drooling and take a bite of the action. Dark, artisanal, organic, socially responsible and nutraceutically enhanced chocolates are especially hot varieties, according to Steuer. Opportunities also exist in chocolate cafes, chocolate fountains and chocolate education, such as tastings. And you can't go wrong with basics like chocolate snacks or a shelf-stable ganache. Says Steuer, "The world of chocolate is wide open for anyone to succeed if they take the right steps."

Getting Started
Thinking of launching your own brand of chocolate? Follow these tips:

• Ask yourself three key questions. "Ask yourself, 'Where am I now, where do I want to be and how do I get there?тАЩ" advises Joan Steuer, founder of Chocolate Marketing LLC, a Los Angeles consulting firm that specializes in strategic forecasting and tracking trends in the chocolate industry. When answering, refrain from comparing yourself to the competition. Instead, focus on your strengths and your distinguishing qualities.
• Pool your resources. Have enough money in the bank to last you at least six months out, recommends Steuer, and form a board of advisors who can offer unbiased advice and suggestions. When forming your board, don't limit yourself to experts within the chocolate industry. Even people from outside of the industry can offer great insight.
• Love what you do. "For every entrepreneur, it's always going to be harder than you think it is, and you have to have great love and passion," says Steuer. "Don't just chase chocolate because you think you'll make money. It's hard to make money in chocolate. I work with struggling artisans as well as wildly successful companies."
• Keep your eyes wide open. Chocolate, in general, will never lose its appeal, but studies, research and taste buds can change with each passing year, bringing certain types or flavors of chocolate to the forefront. In order to keep up with these trends, Steuer stresses the importance of living consciously. "Don't have blinders on to other industries because that's often from where the best ideas come," says Steuer. "Look at technology and make analogies into our world. Look at art. Go into a container store and look at convenience. Is there a way to package a chocolate bar that peels like a banana so you can get at it more easily without unwrapping it? Those are things that I think about when I come up with ideas. I look at things and I think about the environment. You need to look everywhere for trends, and you'll easily then be leading the market instead of following."
• Believe in yourself and your product. "If you think your idea is ahead of its time, chances are that it's a great idea," says Steuer. "It's just a matter of letting people know why they need it and why it's different and better."

The Many Ways Of Making Money On The Net

Everyone has come across opportunities to make money on the net, be it starting your own business, being an affiliate member, autosurf programs, high yield investment programs (HYIP) etc.The list is endless and each program has its fair share of winners and skeptics.

Each venture has its amount of risk, be it in time, effort and finances. The norm is that the higher the risk, the better the returns. This is especially true for the autosurf and HYIP sites where the latter has sites advertising 100%+ profits in 24hrs for pretty much doing nothing except surfing or depositing, of course the risk factor has a direct correlation with the advertised returns!

The more stimulating and challenging, but equally rewarding is that of affiliate marketing, where an affiliate earns a commission for every sale made through his/her personal efforts be it through websites, emails or others. There are numerous internet gurus out there willing to share their secrets for a price to pave your road to success in the internet, teaching the various tried methods to drive traffic to your site, to reach out to millions etc. Do be careful of scams though!

The initial learning curve is steep but if you diligently follow through the steps, things do get remarkably clearer as one advances deeper.

What is involved in affiliate marketing? For starters, a small budgeting fund to secure the rights of a good program, setting up a site and advertising.

Consider this as an investment to your future wealth, an exchange of a current expenditure for future easier spending when your pockets are fuller! Or take it as tuition fees for a course in internet marketing if all else fails in convincing oneself.

Within the downloads, there are many good tips and strategies for increasing your site’s visibility via search engines, joining top affiliate sites, adsense, profiting from ebay, sales letters etc. effectively the ‘how tos’ to optimize returns from your site(s).

Every journey must start from somewhere, be it simply opening a door to take the first step or hitting that Enter key on your keyboard. Cash will not simply drop into your lap although the process has been simplified by these internet gurus.

Currently, one such program has an attractive web site builder package included when one signed up as a VIP member. For those daunted by the prospect of having to design and build a site, this will take a load off one’s mind.

Keep at it and keep an open mind, experimenting as you move along and the rewards will be more than the effort invested!

Making money isn’t the core issue of your business

Tips for Making One`s Work from Home Internet Business a Success

People are learning about the success which the combination of work at home opportunities and the Internet can bring.For those who have a work from home Internet business, there are a few tips which they can follow in order to make it more likely that success is imminent in this type of business.

Choose a Lasting Business

First and foremost, an individual who starts a work from home Internet business must make sure that the type of business which is selected is one which will stand the test of time. This means that an individual should not choose a sales product that is a fad and will die out in a year’s time. The business should be based on a solid concept which will continue to be a necessary item or service as the years progress. If the Internet business is not focused on a sale of goods or services, the owner should be sure to choose a home business that is one that will not fade in the future.

Make Sure Time and Effort Can Be Expended

Most businesses take a lot of time and effort in the beginning, and throughout in some cases as well, in order for them to be a complete success. If one is able to expend the necessary time and effort they will find that the business will flourish as it is getting attention that is needed to make it a success. Therefore, it is imperative to be able to spend a good amount of time and effort on the project.

Ensure a Good Work Space

When setting up a home office or area in which the home Internet business can take place, it is important that the workspace is beneficial and will be well suited to the purpose. With that said, it must be spacious, accommodating and promote a beneficial work environment. By setting up a good workspace the business owner will be helping himself or herself out in the long run by ensuring that work will get done and business will prosper.

Have the Necessary Equipment on Hand

Each business will require specific items and materials in order for the business owner to be able to carry out their daily business in an easy, efficient manner. In order to make the work from home Internet business a success, it is crucial to have all of the necessary operating equipment on hand.

Conclusion

A work from home Internet business is one which has good chances of success overall. However, the amount of success will depend on what the business owner does to make it happen and taking the aforementioned items into consideration might just help with producing a desired result.

Get These Work At Home Internet Jobs While They're Hot!

Almost 7 out of 10 American families are thinking of a business from home.

Not so many are really interested in internet marketing but at least they share a common goal of getting an income from the internet.

Every day such people launch new sites hoping to earn an income to sustain there ever increasing needs.

Today as we speak, 7 out 10 new online marketers are failing to make it and failing because of the same reasons which crippled the ones before them and which may be the same reasons why future sites may also not make it.

Of course if nothing is done the above may have little to do with change.

Now we begin to ask our selves; what is happening or what is not happening for this large number of sites to continue experiencing failure;

Below are some of the reasons why these new marketers fail to stamp their authority on the global village.

Many people are too impatient to build and grow their businesses; instead they fall for the brilliant conning language used in the Get rich quick! sales copies which keep roaming around cyber space promising thousands of traffic in minutes.

They end up buying a lot of junk and wasting a lot of precious time which they would have used developing their sites.

In the true sense of it, there is no such thing like get rich quick. So if you are out to get rich 24hrs, then am sure the Internet is not the best of destinations for you.

The so-called safe lists:

What are the safe lists? These are lists containing normally a large number of compiled email addresses.

Such lists are then traded for a value that is almost always extremely low for their likely true value.

Since the benefits always seem to overwhelm the risks, these new marketers always purchase such lists as a way to jump-start their online success.

At the end of the day we have a blocked ISP due to spam complaints and the website is on its road to failure/closure.

Search engine advertising:

Today search engine advertising is one of the most used advertising tools.

Let us look at ad words, for example Google ad words, for no money you bid on a number of words of your choice which you think will drive traffic to your site and you pay per click;

meaning that you pay after some one has visited your site, sounds like a very great idea, not so? I know of people earning 4 figured incomes just from ad words.

Yet again, even Google ad words do not seem to be for every one. For the ones who know how to use them aided by word trackers, this could be the best advertising they will ever adopt.

But so many people make the same mistake, the mistake of bidding on few but expensive words like home business, online business, working at home etc because such words receive most traffic.

But since the competition here is at its greatest, you end up having a high bill at the end of the day with a low conversion rate.

So once again because people are so in a rush for traffic, they end up on the road to failure.

Actually wise users tend to bid on many words with low traffic, less bidding price and as their click through rate increases (the people who join or sign up at your site when they click on its link) they end up paying less and being listed at higher places.

Content:

They say save the best for last! For me whatever the traffic to a site if the content does not hold then I guess less will if anything be achieved by the site owner as well the guest who of course may not have so much to loose given that other sites may provide the same service.

The opening page to your site is the king of the site therefore regardless of the inner content if you are loosing 7, 8, 9 or 10 in 10 of your site guests because of your opening page then am right to say you are not in Business.

Most people do not go on the Internet looking to buy products or sign up under different programs.

Actually most people go to the Internet because they are looking for particular information and may end up buying a product if impressed.

Let your site be equipped with information that your visitors may need and in that case you may be able to close in on a sale!

If you have read this far; I hope this information has helped to enlighten you more about Internet marketing and hopefully it may assist you to be the 1 out of the 10 who makes it online.

How to sell more online: Give visitors less choice!

In the 1990's it was common for online businesses to load up their sites with one or more menus having a rich choice of options and content for visitors to dive into.

It was thought that by giving as much information such as white papers, case studies, technical details, benefits, reseller sales material, and so on, that the visitors to the site would eventually find what they needed and make a purchase.

But today site visitors are less patient than ever. It's been found that the average visitor will click away from your site in less than 3 seconds. Also, we all know how much information overload we have in our inboxes and download folders.

So websites that give so much information and choice to the visitor are actually under-performing compared to sites that guide the visitors along a path towards a specific goal, such as signing up for a free report, coupon, or to place an order.

"Information overload is a critical and consistent problem, and in this study we found that Web users were more likely to say that a site had too many links as opposed to too few links," said Jeff Rosenblum, co-founder and research and strategy director of Questus, in January 2006.
Recently a discussion on choice has surfaced on the internet.

Marketing Experiments recently discussed the pros and cons of having choice on a website. According to a seminar they gave in October, 2006, "Too many choices fragment a prospect's attention. In a split test, we simplified from 3 columns to 1, the subscription process from 2 pages to 1, and reducing the number of subscription options from 3 to 2 resulted in conversion rate increasing 42% and revenues more than doubled."

Also a recent excellent article by Dr. Ralph Wilson discussed the differences between a "linear" site - very little choice, guiding a visitor along a path to the goal, and a "menu" site ? lots of options and choices, navigation to reach all over the site.

He doesn't judge one better than the other, but it's obvious there are some things we can learn from linear sites and possibly adapt our overly choice-rich sites to guide our visitors along a path to buying, more than we may have in the past.

A linear site will get you fewer sales of other products, but you'll get more sales of the products you are offering to the prospect. This implies that if you are selling one main product, you should have a linear sales process to optimize your conversion.

Dr. Ralph Wilson's bottom line on conversion potential is that a Linear Site has higher conversion potential because of specific focus, perhaps lessened somewhat because of limited choice of products. A Menu-driven Site has lower conversion potential because of greater shopper freedom, perhaps raised some because of product choice. You can pick any of thousands of vendors and see how they have so many options on their site it's not funny.

Want to see a linear site?

Go to any internet marketer's site? they know how to turn visitors into hot prospects and then into customers. Most internet marketer sites are simply a sales page with an order button, and maybe one link for affiliates to learn how they can promote the product.

Internet marketers have learned by testing and measuring, that it is better to grab a visitor's attention, pull them into the site, and present the benefits in a direct fashion.

Using a linear site and other internet marketing techniques, a pair of internet marketers recently sold over $10 million of StomperNet? a Search Engine Optimization membership site, in 3 weeks.

More and more online shoppers are getting used to seeing sites with less choice and so this concept is becoming more accepted.
Websites from the 1990's need to consider updating their marketing strategy to use this concept, which to most internet marketers is obvious.

What about your site?

Visitors to your site have come there for a reason.
If your site is wide open and offers them everything they could possibly wonder about, that's great but is it presenting it in the right order to lead them to an action ? such as buying your product?
Probably not, since people tend to hop all over a site and without any persuasive message the odds aren't good that they will take action.
People like to be led ? so why isn't your website doing that?
It's a well known fact that people will find excuses not to buy something even if they were perfectly qualified to. For example, if one sales page gives the option to buy, but has links at the bottom to various other areas of the site - .vs. another sales page having just a couple of purchase options, which do you think will perform better?
So try removing some of the choice from your site, and think of guiding your visitors in ? maybe offer an opt-in page which then leads to more information. By pulling your visitors into a funnel you will be able to measure each step along the way, and also build a relationship with your prospects at the same time.

Peter Koning

Why 90% of Online Businesses Fail To Make Profits

Not so many are really interested in internet marketing but at least they share a common goal of getting an income from the internet.

Every day such people launch new sites hoping to earn an income to sustain there ever increasing needs.

Today as we speak, 9 out 10 new online marketers are failing to make it and failing because of the same reasons which crippled the ones before them and which may be the same reasons why future sites may also not make it.

Of course if nothing is done the above may have little to do with change.

Now we begin to ask our selves; what is happening or what is not happening for this large number of sites to continue experiencing failure;

Below are some of the reasons why these new marketers fail to stamp their authority on the global village.

Many people are too impatient to build and grow their businesses; instead they fall for the brilliant conning language used in the Get rich quick! sales copies which keep roaming around cyber space promising thousands of traffic in minutes.

They end up buying a lot of junk and wasting a lot of precious time which they would have used developing their sites.

In the true sense of it, there is no such thing like get rich quick. So if you are out to get rich 24hrs, then am sure the Internet is not the best of destinations for you.

The so-called safe lists:

What are the safe lists? These are lists containing normally a large number of compiled email addresses.

Such lists are then traded for a value that is almost always extremely low for their likely true value.

Since the benefits always seem to overwhelm the risks, these new marketers always purchase such lists as a way to jump-start their online success.

At the end of the day we have a blocked ISP due to spam complaints and the website is on its road to failure/closure.

Search engine advertising:

Today search engine advertising is one of the most used advertising tools.

Let us look at ad words, for example Google ad words, for no money you bid on a number of words of your choice which you think will drive traffic to your site and you pay per click;

meaning that you pay after some one has visited your site, sounds like a very great idea, not so? I know of people earning 4 figured incomes just from ad words.

Yet again, even Google ad words do not seem to be for every one. For the ones who know how to use them aided by word trackers, this could be the best advertising they will ever adopt.

But so many people make the same mistake, the mistake of bidding on few but expensive words like home business, online business, working at home etc because such words receive most traffic.

But since the competition here is at its greatest, you end up having a high bill at the end of the day with a low conversion rate.

So once again because people are so in a rush for traffic, they end up on the road to failure.

Actually wise users tend to bid on many words with low traffic, less bidding price and as their click through rate increases (the people who join or sign up at your site when they click on its link) they end up paying less and being listed at higher places.

Content:

They say save the best for last! For me whatever the traffic to a site if the content does not hold then I guess less will if anything be achieved by the site owner as well the guest who of course may not have so much to loose given that other sites may provide the same service.

The opening page to your site is the king of the site therefore regardless of the inner content if you are loosing 7, 8, 9 or 10 in 10 of your site guests because of your opening page then am right to say you are not in Business.

Most people do not go on the Internet looking to buy products or sign up under different programs.

Actually most people go to the Internet because they are looking for particular information and may end up buying a product if impressed.

Let your site be equipped with information that your visitors may need and in that case you may be able to close in on a sale!

If you have read this far; I hope this information has helped to enlighten you more about Internet marketing and hopefully it may assist you to be the 1 out of the 10 who makes it online.