June 4, 2008

Help Someone Out and Put Cash in Your Pocket... Maybe Now
James Will Get the Credit He Deserves... Stay up Later for
More Money... Turning Your Plans into Action... and More.

** Help Someone Out and Put Cash in Your Pocket
By Adrian Newman, Founder of e-Wealth Daily

Who says you need to work a second job in order to put some extra money aside toward a special purchase, lowering your debt, or your retirement fund? There are hundreds -- probably even thousands -- of people in your town or city who need someone like you to "help them out" a day here and a day there, and they will be willing to pay you in cash. You just have to know who they are and when they will need you.
 
Finding people who need a helping hand isn't too difficult to do. This is where your networking skills will come into play. Start with your neighbors and friends -- ask them if they need your help or know of anybody who does. If you ask five or six people, then you've just created for yourself a "jobber pipeline," which can come in handy quite quickly and with good results.
 
If you don't want to ask around, then a small, inexpensive ad in your local newspap! er can do wonders. A friend of mine spent $30 in his town's weekly (free) paper on an ad that just said, "Neighborhood guy can help you out with any of your home- related projects or needs." He included his name and phone number in the ad and, within hours, his phone was ringing off the hook. When I last saw him, he was on his way to a senior's home to help the owner replace a few light bulbs. He charged her $25 for a simple task that took minutes and she was glad to pay it.
 
There is money to be made in almost anything you can possibly imagine, but you have to be selective in what you choose, because not everybody will want to pay you in cash. A professional "jobber" does a lot of different things and makes a business out of it, but you don't have to go that far. As long as you stay away from offering your help to businesses -- unless they offer to pay you in cash -- keep yo! ur sights on people who are willing to pay you out of pocket.
 
By the way, being a jobber doesn't mean you have to break your back working in construction or landscaping. I'm suggesting that you do things you are good at, which you find fun and interesting enough. Choose to offer your services in an area you have some talent in -- if you do a good job, then you most likely will get called back and referred to others.
 
Another friend of mine has a son who videotapes weddings on the weekends. He is always on the lookout for an assistant who can help him throughout the day. For simply changing batteries, plugging in extension cords, and doing some other basic tasks, he gets paid $125; gets to eat for free before, during and after the wedding; gets picked up and dropped off; and is required to socialize with the wedding guests to get them in the mood to be filmed. Some of the guests even tip the assistant!
 
House-si! tters and dog walkers are common part-time jobs that you can take up if you are retired, for example. Many years ago, I house-sat for a friend of a friend and all I had to do was drop in once a day, feed the cat, water the plants, and pick up the mail for the month the family was on vacation. They paid me $500 for my services. Imagine doing two or three of these a month and making $1,000 or $1,500 extra for less than an hour of work a day.
 
Remember, though, people will only call you back if they can trust you. When people need your help, they expect you to be reliable, show up on time, and complete the task without cutting corners. If you do all three -- and you're a fun person to deal with -- you could make thousands of dollars a month just by helping people out in your spare time.

** Maybe Now James Will Get the Credit He Deserves
By Bill Hebden, the "Reclusive Millionaire"

This is a moving story. Literally. I had to move my daughter out of her apartment the other day. That's where I ran into James.

James is a porter at the 12-story apartment building where my daughter lived for the past year. To move in or out, you have to reserve the freight elevator, which means you have to enter the building off a back street that was designed about 275 years before the invention of the automobile. It's a very skinny street. I'm driving a long cargo van.

On the sidewalk of this skinny street, atop eight steep cement steps, is an unpainted steel door with no doorknob. To get to the freight elevator, I've got to enter the building through this door.

Skinny as this street is, there's no signage indicating it's a one-way street. Either way, nothing's getting by until the van's loaded and I move it out of the way.

As I pull up to the cement steps, the steel door pops open. There's James flashing a smile.

He pushes and pulls a bunch of things in the elevator and we go up. Operating this elevator requires a fair bit of skill and dexterity. You have to open and close the door by hand, for one. But more fearful, the elevator has a throttle. But no breaks.

If you don't have to have a "feel" for easing off the throttle as your floor approaches, the hallway is either two feet above or two feet below the elevator floor when you open the door. James landed level every time. He made it look easy.

We walk into the apartment and James sees that it's just me and my wife and daughter. He also sees a big leather sofa, two oversized and real heavy red leather wing-back chairs, a large HDTV, tables, and stuff... stuff... stuff.

He offers to help with the heavy stuff and it dawns on me that I'm the luckiest guy in the city. I don't know what I was thinking. If it were just me and my girls, my van would still be blocking that skinny street.

When the job was done, James said to me, "Here's what you can do for me." I was all ears as James continued, "Could you write a letter or a note to my boss about how happy you were with my help?" I said, "Sure."

James explained that management only let him know about negative feedback from residents. He wanted to fill management's files with glowing reports. And you should do the same.

When you do a good job, get the credit you deserve. Ask customers for letters expressing their satisfaction. Ask them to send the letters to your boss. If they send letters to you, show them to your boss. Build a book of these letters. Use them to convince new customers you are good at what you do. It won't cost you a dime.

** Stay up Later for More Money
By John Hurd, Chief Wealth Researcher

I can certainly understand why many people believe that 9-to-5 workdays are the least appealing work situation. Each morning, you and the great majority of the rest of the population must fight through crowds and traffic -- then repeat the same thing all over again on your evening commute home.

As a 9-to-5er, you and millions of others must try to fit in doctor's appointments on your days off, line up with everyone else to get your groceries at night, and then visit attractions on overcrowded weekends. And, if you're not doing something you love while at work, well, the stress just adds up.

All right, so what's the answer when you still need to make money? Many people have already found that, by flipping their workday and taking the night shift, they are able to avoid many of the stresses related to working during the day.

If you're a commuter, that means your train ride or drive in to work is going to be far less hectic, since you're no longer traveling at peak times.

If you have children, you could get more time to spend with them during the day and, while you're at work, they're asleep.

And, you may find that you even earn more money for the same amount of work when you take the night shift. Many companies offer an incentive for late-night hours on top of a regular hourly wage.

If you're ,making the transition from working for a boss to working for yourself, you may also benefit from switching to the night shift. For example, a friend of mine has started her own yoga training and products business. In order to help her with extra funds, she works late-nights and earns an incentive that she puts towards her dream business plan. During the day, she has time to meet with clients and run her classes.

If you're not used to late nights, a transition to the night shift may be difficult at first. However, when it comes to increasing your income with just a slight change, becoming a night owl certainly has its perks.

When I was growing up, I must've heard this phrase thousands of times: "A failure to plan is a plan for failure." Of course, when I was younger, I used to dismiss these words of wisdom, but as I aged and became more involved in business, I came to see their undeniable value.

The fact is that if you do not plan your actions and take a variety of factors into account when conducting your business, you will almost surely slip up along the way. It's important to do your best to develop a thorough plan of attack when conducting your affairs.

Of course, it's impossible to plan for every little detail that you may encounter. For starters, if you did, you would never get any actual work done because you'd always be planning; new things to deal with seem to pop up by the second when you're running a business. In addition, things will come up that you may have never anticipated and require on-the-spot decision-making. However, there are ways to make planning in even difficult-to-plan-for situations a little bit easier.

The first is to consider different scenarios that may arise and develop a plan of action for the ones you consider most likely to occur. Not only does this leave you in decent shape if an unexpected twist arises, but it also lets you think a little more analytically and perhaps stumble upon a great idea that you may have otherwise never considered.

Putting together a schedule is also a way to help you stay on top of things. A schedule keeps you organized and sets up your daily tasks, so you're always aware what needs to be done and don't have to waste time trying to remember what you should be doing. It also helps you move easily from task to task without distraction or long intermissions.

Taking the time to plan your course of action could make the difference between great success and monumental failure. Be sure to properly prepare yourself for the tasks that lie ahead, ensuring you take full advantage of the opportunities they may present.