For those of you who don’t know what a Macquarium is, allow me to explain. Macquariums are simply old Apple computers that have been transformed into usable aquariums. They typically house Betta fish which find them to be the perfect size home and require little upkeep.They are extremely popular with the Apple crowd and hard to find, which is why I thought they would be a great business idea.

I started my business by building a prototype (which I still have to this day). Once I learned the best way to build them, I started looking for cheap or broken Apple computers that I could tear apart. This turned out to be the toughest part of the business, as even the ancient Apple computers can fetch a pretty penny. However, with some determined hunting I was able to find a few on Craigslist and Ebay at a good price.

Building the Macquariums was easier than you would think. I preferred to make my aquariums out of the Apple G4 cube which is pictured above. It looked the most stylish and was the easiest to assemble. More or less, the process involved hallowing out the electronics from the acrylic cube and then perfectly cutting a piece of Plexiglas to superglue to the bottom of the case.

Once the aquariums were built I listed them on Craigslist and Etsy.com for $150 each. I sold my first six within two weeks. My margin was around 50% which left me with $425 in profit. Making the aquariums only took a few hours total, so It was well worth my time.

I stopped making my Macquariums as The Penny Hoarder blog began to take up more of my time, but I wanted to share this story with you so you could see how easy it is to start a business on the side. You don’t necessarily need to pull your hair out building an empire. Small businesses can be exactly that…small.

If you are crafty or good with tools, start thinking about things that you could refurbish or re-purpose to sell. Heck, feel free to steal the Macquarium idea. Spend the weekend getting creative and figuring out what you can do to start generating some extra cash this month.

Before you head off and begin your assignment/enjoy your weekend, take a look at the picturee of my little Betta fish above. His name is Stevie and this him going for a swim today…

Good luck Penny Hoarders!

The post Weird Business #5: “How to Make Money Selling Macquariums” appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

Lodger, flatmate, housemate, roommate, etc, whatever you wish to call them, splitting the costs of where you live is a common and easy way to reduce your monthly housing expense and free up some cash, or just get a place to live that fits in with your budget.

For myself sharing a flat or house takes me back to when I was at university and all of us poor, starving students had to share a place to live; either off campus in a house or flat, or on campus in the student dorms.  No one could afford a place of their own.

Fast forward to current times and current economies, and splitting the costs associated with housing can make good financial sense.

Let’s look at the costs involved with housing; first there is the rent or mortgage payment each month.  This would be the largest expense involved with a place to live.

Next would be the electricity and also the gas, you need heating, hot water and lighting.

There also can be a phone expenditure, although more and more people are just using their mobile phones or some form of VOIP or Internet phones.  Which leads us to the expenses of accessing the Internet each month.

And of course lets’ not forget our council taxes, although many of us would like to forget them.

All of these expenses can add up each month, especially with the cost of electricity and gas on the rise.

So if you have a home that has two (2) or more bedrooms, why not open it up for a roommate or lodger.  You can charge a flat rate each month, or charge a flat rate and split all utilities each month.  In some instances if you have more than one roommate, splitting the utilities can be difficult as you need to sit down, do the math, and then collect that amount from each person.

Over the years I have advised people who have come to me with debt problems to take in  a lodger or housemate as a way to bring in some extra cash to be used to pay down the bills and pay off their debts.

Now this is not an option for everyone I agree.  Some people need and require their own space and sharing their home is not an option.

Then there are those who have let/rented a place to live or bought a property with the sole intention of sharing it, as they know they would struggle to pay for and maintain the house if they did not have the extra income from the tenant or housemate.

So sharing your home can be a smart and financially powerful move depending on your situation and financial goals.

Author’s Bio:

Jon Emge is a Senior Advisor and Content Manager at www.Lifequotes4u.co.uk. Jon is originally from America who moved to Liverpool because of his love for the Beatles. He is a published author and has assisted and advised clients on personal finance. In his spare time he enjoys listening to music, going to the odd festival and practicing his poetry skills!

The post Would You Share Your Home to Save Money? appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

Each time you open your closet and see those clothes, you probably see £££ signs, symbols of how much money was wasted for clothing for a one-time event.  Now, though, you should look at those garments and see £ signs as a different symbol–a way to make money!  Cha-ching!

The Founder of Hire My Clothes

Two years ago, 15 year old Summer bought a prom dress.  Then, a few weeks later she had to spend a mini fortune again to buy another formal dress for a different event.  The third time Summer needed a formal dress, she and her father decided to visit a rental store and pay half the price to rent a dress instead of buying another.

Summer came up with the clever idea of launching a website where people could find clothing and accessories in their local area to rent for less than they could at stores.  After a few months figuring out the logistics, HireMyClothes was launched.

How Does It Work for Renters/Sellers?

If you have clothes or accessories that are gathering dust, list them on Hire My Clothes.  You can offer your items for rent by the day, or for sale, if you would like.  And you can list nearly anything; they have categories for designer wear, sports wear, baby wear. There’s also a special section for kid’s clothes, which makes it the perfect for solution for making some extra cash on the clothes your school age kids have outgrown like school blazers.

Once you found a renter, you can either meet with the renter in person to hand off the garment, or you can send it through the mail. Right now the service is only available in the UK, but they hope to later open it up to the USA.

Either way, if it’s an expensive item, you’ll want to ask for an upfront deposit. (If you’re meeting in person, make sure to meet in a public spot and let others know where you’ll be for your own personal safety or have a friend with you)  If you’re shipping out the garment, the renter/buyer will have to pay the full amount in addition to shipping fees before you send it.

You can also share your listing from you listing page to your friends on Facebook using the Facebook share button on your listing page, this will display your item and the title of your listing on your Facebook page for your friends to like and share getting your listed item for hire/sale even more exposure.

How Does It Work for Those Renting/Buying?

Simply browse the clothes and hire or purchase the item you would like.  Before doing so, you’re free to ask the owner questions about the garment.  Then, place your order, if hiring the owner can decide if they would like to rent to you or not.

Pay upfront to have the item shipped to you or collect in person. A deposit may be required if it is for hire. If you would like to meet the owner in person and receive the garment you’ll be required to pay reserve fee first to get the owners contact details and pay the rest of your fee when you meet the person, this is usually a small fee for the owners time and is deductible on the full price when you receive the item.

When you return the item in the same condition you received it, you’ll get back your initial deposit.

Here’s an example of what a listing looks like:

How Much Does It Cost?

Unlike eBay, for people who are listing and renting or selling their clothing on Hire My Clothes, there is no listing or selling fee both for individuals and businesses who list clothes for sale. Businesses who want to gain further exposure can pay a monthly fee to have their internet address and shop details displayed on the results page.

For people who are renting or buying, Hire My Clothes offers a distinct advantage to buying new or renting at a rental store–usually Hire My Clothes’ prices are much more affordable.

If you have items in your closet that are gathering dust, Hire My Clothes is the perfect way to make some extra cash.  Plus, you’re helping other people who don’t have to spend so much money to look great at a formal event.  Even as a seller, you, too, might want to rent out a dress instead of buying yet another one to sit in your closet.

Why not spend this weekend looking through your closet for all of the unused clothing that might be able to make you some cash!

Good luck Penny Hoarders!

The post How to Make Money by Renting Out Your Clothes appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

Although there is no legal obligation to work with an accountant, you should seriously consider doing so as early as possible. In fact if you wanted to you could do all of your accountancy work yourself , but you would almost certainly expose yourself to increased business risk if you do so.

A good accountant should be able to save you at least as much as they charge you each of your early years though helping create the best strategies for tax planning.

When you have been in business for a few years and you are well established and know a lot more about what you are doing then you may decide that you can bring some of your accounts work in-house, but there’s no point trying to do that at the outset. When you have to concentrate on getting the orders in and keeping the valuable new customers happy you won’t even want to be thinking about optimizing your tax situation. So leave it to the accountant.

Strangely, and somewhat scarily, anyone can become an accountant, you don’t actually have to have passed any qualifications. So here’s your first rule in finding an accountant for your business – ensure than the people you will be dealing with are qualified and registered with one of the main accounting trade bodies. That will bring you a degree of protection should you be unfortunate enough to work with one of the few rogues who are out there.

The main trade bodies are: The Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAS). The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). Be sure you know which your potential accounting partner is affiliated to, it should be at least one of these.

If you first rule is checking that the accountant is a bona fide professional, then the second is finding a practice that is suitable for your business. While a firm like PWC might have some of the world’s most qualified accountants, it will be structured to handle the affairs of multi-national businesses and while you might need them one day, you probably don’t yet. You want to find a partner who is prepared to hold your hand through your learning phase, but be big enough to help you as you grow too.

If your business is small and you have no intention of growing much then you might be better off finding a qualified book keeper who will cost less, but is less likely to be able to give the breath of tax advice that a bigger business might need. If you do grow you may need to move on to a business that can help run your payroll too.

Another important factor is just that simple thing of chemistry. You will need to share all sorts of topics with your accountant for them to serve you as best they can – so you need to get on with them.

You could do anything that your accountant will do for yourself. However doing so exposes you to unneeded risk, and will probably cost you in the long run.

The post How to Choose an Accountant appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

Its people, energetic, enthusiastic and welcoming, are the country’s greatest asset, no doubt about it. That’s why the country will get back on its feet at some point, despite currently lurching from one crisis to the next. Egypt’s infrastructure is modern; its banking and financial sector is also sound, not to mention knowledgeable. The major multinationals are all there, HSBC, Barclays, Citibank and others. They’ve been operating in Egypt for decades. If at some point you’re in need of business banking services from HSBC, or from any of the other banks, then you’ve plenty of choice!

Seriously, Egypt perfectly illustrates how the would-be entrepreneur must always keep up with fast-moving events, not only in the country of interest, but also in the wider region where geopolitical and economic challenges may unexpectedly impact business plans.

Events since the beginning of the Arab Spring and the consequent Egyptian revolution of January 2011 underline the need to keep checking with government agencies, such as the US State Department, which regularly issues travel warnings for US citizens intending to travel overseas. But, from a business perspective, other organisations are also there to give specific economic intelligence and advice, an excellent example being Export.gov. In fact, no matter where you intend to start up or to expand a business, Export.gov should be your first port of call.

Go check out their website and you’ll see it’s full of the latest information on just about every country, with more than enough to help you make some early investment decisions. If you need something more specific than simply contact them via email or telephone. There’s a full page of contact details available.

So, what exactly are the benefits of expanding your business overseas? There are lots of good reasons for doing so but the bottom line is profitability. Yes, not a dirty word, even in today’s politically correct times. Otherwise, why would you bother going into business in the first place, whether at home or abroad?

Having said that, much of course will depend on the type of business you’re running. Import export is a good example and location may very well play an important part here in terms of access to target markets. Setting up in Egypt will certainly give you that with Asia on the one side and Europe on the other. So it’s a good choice.

But it’s not purely about access to markets, important though that may be. Other considerations may come into play including cheap labour costs, with the ability to hire and fire as and when; a benign regulatory environment; minimal corporate and personal taxation; repatriation of profits; low cost of utilities such as electricity and gas; and cheap warehousing and office buildings, with the option of bespoke units if required. All of these benefits, and more, are available within the free zones of the United Arab Emirates. Now there’s a location well worth checking out. Find out more on the Export.gov website by clicking here.

The post Benefits of Expanding Your Business Overseas appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

If you are a budding small business owner, there are a number of things you should do to start your business.

Before Your Business Opens

Before your business even begins, you will want to develop a business plan. This plan can serve two main purposes. First, it helps guide you as your business grows and flourishes. A business plan states what you want the business to do and how you want to grow it. Second, a business plan lets potential investors evaluate whether they want to fund your business or not. In addition, they can determine the potential profitability of your business.

Second, you will want to seek investors, if necessary. Not all small businesses require funding. If yours does, you will need to find backers. There are plenty of traditional avenues to pursue, and some people even look to peer to peer lending companies like Lending Club to get financial backing.

Third, prepare to accept payments. If your business is conducted over the Internet, you will need to set up a website and prepare to accept payment. Even if your business does not have a web presence (though it should), you will need to have a merchant account through a company such as BetterMerchantAccounts to process your payments.

When Your Business Opens

After your business is open, you should continue to pursue funding, if necessary. Besides cash loans, consider grants.

Hire a tax professional. If you haven’t done so before opening your business, hire an accountant who can help you keep your books, if necessary, as well as prepare and file your taxes. The laws can be more complex for businesses, so you want to make sure your taxes are filed correctly every year.

Third, make sure you have all of the required licenses and permits to operate your business. If you don’t, you could face a fine, or your business could be temporarily shut down.

Finally, if your business continues to grow, you may find that it becomes larger than you can handle on your own. In that case, you will want to consider hiring employees. Of course, when hiring employees, there is another round of paperwork that you will need to file to make sure everything is done legally.

Starting your own business is both exciting and time consuming. While this is an outline of most of the steps you will need to take, keep in mind the entire process may take months. However, the process is well worth while so that you can be a small business owner and achieve your American Dream. Many small business owners go on to own large corporations that are extremely profitable. Could yours be one of them?

The post How to Start a New Small Business appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

And it’s also not always about creating something new. When Steve Jobs built Apple, computers had been around for decades. Jobs didn’t make the first computer, he figured out how to make them smaller so that more people could have access to one. Cars weren’t new when Henry Ford introduced the Model-T. Ford innovated ways to sell cars for cheaper so that more people could buy them.

Hindsight is 20/20. It’s easy to look back at Ford and Jobs and conclude there were more opportunities in their time. However, opportunities still abound today, if you have an eye to spot them. One entrepreneurial venture that is booming right now is cleaning out foreclosures.

What is the Foreclosure Cleaning Business?

The housing bust has created a glut of foreclosed properties. Nearly 4.4% of all mortgages have received a foreclosure notice. Once homeowners move out, banks look to get the property on the market and sold as soon as possible. However, there is one major obstacle banks face in moving the houses to sell: cleaning.

Former mortgagees have no incentive to get properties in saleable condition when they leave their homes. In fact, most foreclosures are riddled with trash and property that foreclosed homeowners don’t feel like transporting with them. Foreclosed homes need a lot of TLC before they are ready for an open house. With a large inventory of bank-owned properties, there’s a need to hire cleaners.

How large of a need? From 2007-2010, foreclosure home cleaning businesses expanded 1,000%.

What’s the Work Like and What Does it Pay?

Those looking to start a foreclosed home cleaning business need a flexible schedule. Banks often need cleaners at a moment’s notice and work needs to be completed on a strict turn-around. Often weekend work is involved and some properties require a lot of work before they are in selling condition. However, the jobs pay well, often averaging between $500 to $2,500 per house.

Another way that foreclosure cleaners make extra money is by selling things that have been left behind by the previous homeowner. You obviously want to check with the client, but often times they’ll ask you to clear out anything left behind in the house. It’s your choice whether to dump the stuff, keep it, or sell it.

One time I was asked by a client to dump a left-behind treadmill and washing machine. I ended up making an extra $300 (in addition to my cleaning fee) by selling them on Craigslist!

How to Start Your Own Foreclosure Cleaning Business

The good news is that you don’t need much to start this type of business. All you need is a telephone number where you can be contacted and some cleaning supplies. The crux of business success is getting jobs. To accomplish this, you’ll need to do a bit of networking.

The best place to network is with real estate agents who specialize in selling real estate owned properties. They aren’t too difficult to locate. Simply call up local realtor offices and ask for the agents in charge of selling foreclosures. It might take some selling to get listed their cleaning vendor list, but if you have a competitive price and flexible schedule, there is no reason you can’t make in-roads.

While realtors are your best bet, you can also advertise on websites that have cleaning service directories. Also, it can be useful to contact local banks directly and reach out to real estate law firms. All this doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get cleaning jobs, but banks won’t know how to reach you if you don’t advertise.

However, with payment of $500 per house, you won’t need many jobs to earn a little extra money.

Good luck Penny Hoarders!

The post How to Make $500/week Cleaning out Foreclosures appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

Education is one of the world’s leading industries and by the year 2017 the private tutoring market alone is expected to top $100 billion.

Parents are worried about the quality of their children’s education. Class sizes continue to grow and schools aren’t able to meet individual needs, yet parents often lack time to help their own kids with schoolwork.

Schools are testing all age students more frequently, and college prospects have to pass placement and scholarship tests.

No wonder the demand for tutoring is growing.

That’s good news for your business, but also for your competitors. Your success depends on smart, strategic marketing. This includes a successful email marketing campaign. There are nearly unlimited ways to promote yourself, but unless they are cost-effective they aren’t worth your time and money. Fortunately marketing can be very affordable, and fun, too.

1. Create a plan

Developing a marketing plan based on your overall business goals will keep you focused and help identify the strongest promotional options.

Consider the specific services you offer. Do you specialize in some subjects? Or provide online tutoring? You’re marketing yourself as well as your business, because tutoring is very personal. Why are you the best choice, as opposed to another tutor?

Consider your target audience. With younger students you’re advertising to parents, whereas with older students you’re advertising directly to them.

Consider the size of your sales territory. Perhaps you have a franchise business, or you’re independent, operating from a store-front, your home, or your students’ homes. Your territory has to be large enough to provide plenty of prospects to support your business. Unless your students always come to you, how far are you willing to travel?

Your business type and size will dictate what kinds of advertising make the most sense for you.

2. Look beyond traditional advertising methods

Unless you have a very large budget, typical mass media – including print and direct mail – aren’t good choices for a specialized service like tutoring. However, local radio and cable TV can be cost-effective, and a direct mail campaign might be worthwhile if you concentrate on a small area with a high concentration of prospects.

Yellow Pages advertising is expensive, and while it gets criticized as no longer being effective in the Internet-age, it’s still something you might consider.

On the other hand, a high quality brochure, small posters and business cards can be very versatile. Post them anywhere families gather or you find community bulletin boards — public libraries, community centers, sports facilities, coffee shops, grocery stores. Periodically check your posts and replenish if necessary.

3. Network, network, network…

Word-of-mouth advertising is free, and third-party recommendations tend to carry more weight than anything you say about yourself.

You can get referrals from:

• Friends and classmates of your students.
• Friends, neighbors and co-workers of your students’ parents.
• Local public and private schools. Build relationships with teachers and guidance counselors and leave behind brochures, cards or a poster.
• Coaches, whose team members must keep up their grades.
• Your own friends and colleagues.

Join the Chamber of Commerce and attend networking gatherings. Join other leads groups, Rotary, teacher or tutor organizations including LinkedIn groups. Offer to speak at PTA, service clubs and other community groups. Request testimonials from students, parents, teachers.

4. Online marketing is CRITICAL

A good website – with good search engine optimization (SEO) — is your most important marketing tool. A professional look says everything about you and your business, but you don’t have to unload lots of cash to get an appealing and high-functioning site. Include all your course offerings and those all-important testimonials. Offer downloadable articles as well as your brochure. Put your web address on all other marketing materials.

Many people these days do everything they can to block traditional advertising, which is one reason why social media marketing is so important these days. And it’s free. So create a presence on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and make the most of them with visuals and testimonials. You can connect with prospects, convert them to customers and expand your marketing reach with online sharing and recommendations.

Learn about content marketing to improve your SEO and maximize your online branding opportunities. Content drives people to your website, so create an e-newsletter and a blog, posting information readers can use, not just self-promotion. Make a short video about how to study, how to pick a tutor, etc.

Always work to capture your prospects email addresses with “sign up for our quarterly e-newsletter and get your first class free” or some other enticement. ASK readers to forward or share your posts. And make sure your brochure, blog and e-newsletter have a look that’s consistent with your website.

5. Be Seen Everywhere – A Few Places You Should Be Advertising

Penny Hoarder: Advertising via search engines should be a priority for any tutoring business. If you’re not familiar with Adwords, take a look at the image below to get an idea of what I mean. Those listings up at the top are sponsored and a great way to get your name in front of new clients…

Because pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be very tightly targeted, it can be quite cost-effective even if your business is very small or strictly local. Set a budget so you don’t overspend, and get professional assistance to assure the best return on your investment.

Take advantage of free online advertising via Craigslist or other sites. Or create a Groupon offer – you might not profit from it, but you can get excellent visibility.

Here are a few more potentially valuable ideas:

• Offer referral incentives and family or other group discounts.
• Hold an open house.
• Offer free short workshops or seminars on learning-related subjects.
• Advertise on retail merchandise bags or receipts.
• Use promotional give-aways, but make sure they’re useful and relevant to your business.
• Partner with other local businesses that cater to your age students. Create cross-promotions such as “complete 10 tutoring sessions and get 15% off” your partner’s products.
• Say yes to sponsorships that will put your name in front of students or parents — ball games, school activities, community events, etc.
• Write a periodic newspaper or trade journal article.
• Put a sign on your car. You can wrap the whole thing, or just use adhesive or magnetic signs, but make them consistent with your other visuals and keep your vehicle clean.
• If your business operates as a private school, you may be eligible to become a Supplemental Education Services Provider through the No Child Left Behind Act.

Take the same advice you’d give your students – do your homework. Then track all your marketing efforts to determine what works best and most cost-effectively. Refine what’s working and eliminate everything else. And keep at it, because repetition and consistency are the keys to marketing success.

Reader question: Have you ever tutored someone for cash? Or have you ever hired a tutor for your kids? What was your experience like?

Bill Hazelton is CEO & Founder of Credit Card Assist, an industry leading credit card comparison site, offering advice and tips on balance transfers, the very best cash back rewards programs and all things credit-related.  Subscribe to his RSS Feed or find him on Google+, Twitter and Facebook.

The post Start a Tutoring Business THIS Weekend (& How to Find Paying Clients) appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

In the 1600’s, a single tulip bulb was worth a small fortune. At the time, tulips were thought to be one of the most vibrant and colorful flowers you could acquire. Couple its beauty with the fact that it is difficult to produce new tulip bulbs and tulipmania was born.  For seven years, the prices for tulips rose until it finally crashed. It’s a story often used to invoke economic bubbles, but really it was just one of the first consumer crazes.

The latest bout of tulipmania has nothing to do with tulips. Instead, it plays basketball for the Knicks. Linsanity has gripped the nation. Who knows how long people will be interested in the NBA’s latest and brightest star Jeremy Lin, but until his luster fades, there is money to be made. Where there is an opportunity, there are many entrepreneurs trying to cash in.

Here are some of the ways people are trying to cash in on Jeremy Lin’s rise to stardom.

Acquire and Then Sell Jeremy Lin’s Underwear

You can put away the signed basketball and trading cards. It’s 2012 and nothing says collectible memorabilia like a pair of boxer briefs. An “alleged” pair of Jeremy Lin’s underwear has been spotted in auction on eBay. The seller started the bidding at $1,000, but later took down the bid. No word on whether the sale will resume or is concluded. However, you can’t blame an opportunist for trying.

Jeremy Lin Trademarks

Entrepreneurs are so fast, Jeremy Lin doesn’t even own the rights to his own name. For $700, a Chinese company purchased Jeremy Lin as a trademark six months ago. That means any company looking to use Lin’s name is going to have to pay a fee to the trademark owner for those rights. It might not sound like much, but when you consider the fact that companies like Nike want to create a Jeremy Lin line of shoes, that trademark can mean serious money.

Speculate on Trading Cards

One of the most successful Jeremy Lin speculators was a man who bet big on trading card appreciation. Yair Rozmaryn made over $20,000 in profit when he decided to purchase a Jeremy Lin rookie card for $1,000. Yair believed that at $1,000, the card was undervalued and his gamble was correct. The card sold on eBay for over $21.000.

Where There is Mania, There is Opportunity

What’s the point? So long as there is Linmania, there will be easy ways to make money. People are obsessed with Jeremy Lin , but few people are seizing on the opportunity and delivering on those needs. You too can get in on the opportunities in the wake of mania.

For example, you can create a great Jeremy Lin t-shirt or mug design and sell it through CafePress. CafePress is an online store that sells products you design. You simply upload your vision and CafePress will sell it in their store and give you a portion of the profits when items sell.

Mere days after the world took note of Jeremy Lin and already there are 7 eBooks about him. One of the first was published within 72 hours. There’s a thirst from consumers to know more about the biography of Jeremy Lin. Perhaps there’s room for an 8^th digital account of Lin’s life?

Finding a good opportunity is always challenging, it’s not everyday that you stumble across a pair of Lin’s underwear. However, if you can innovate an easy way to deliver to consumers without a large investment, you can make serious money.

Good luck Penny Hoarders!

The post How To Cash in On The Jeremy Lin Mania appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

Photo by Don Bergquist

It’s one of those jobs that sounds great in theory. I mean, who wouldn’t love a job planning parties?

Truth be told, event planning is a stressful job suited only for the most organized and detail-oriented personalities.

As an event planner, you are required to handle the details of the location, you’re the budget planner, and you’re in charge of all of the logistics; including the invitations, activities, lodging, entertainment, decorations, food and beverages, transportation and so on….

Still, if you’re up for the challenge, we’ve got a few tips to help you succeed…

The Competition

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges for a new event planner is the competition. There are tons of other companies and individuals who offer event planning and management. So, if you are just planning to start one, you will have to be able to start it in a whole new and unique way.

Try to find a specialty that sets you apart. Maybe you have ties to a local celebrity that can come to the event and take pictures. Or maybe you have offer a type of food or photography that is completely outside of box.

Another tip to beating the competition is to start small. It might be counter-intutitive, but when you’re first starting off it might be a waste of time/money to market yourself to people who have never heard of you. Try planning parties for friends and family members and as you gain experience and testimonials, it’ll be easier to market yourself on a larger scale.

Additionally, most successful event planners find that word-of-mouth is the most effective type of advertising. Try leaving your business cards on the catering table and interacting with guests so that they know you’re the one who planned the event they are attending. If the event goes well, you’ll likely be their first call when they need to plan a party.

A Few Other Tips…

• Get yourself certified – Get yourself certified as a Certified Special Events Professional or CSEP. This will help you attract customers with a higher budget. Moreover, this is going to help you get the hang of things and plan a better event.
• Make friends with other event planners – Although your competitors probably won’t let you see their business plan, you can learn a lot just by interacting with other event planners. Learn from their successes and failures.
• Constantly upgrade yourself – You should never become complacent with what you have achieved. According to Tommy Hilfiger “I think it’s dangerous to think that you’re successful, because then you become complacent”. Always try to outdo yourself…
• Research on the USP factor – USP or Unique selling proposition is the consideration presented by the seller. As an event planner, you are actually selling your ability to manage and plan events so figure out something extra you can offer during the interview process.

Good luck Penny Hoarders!

Author’s Bio: Martha Jackson loves to write financial articles and she is a contributory writer associated with the Debt Consolidation Care Community and has written several articles on debt consolidation, debt settlement and get out of debt for various financial websites. She holds her expertise in the Debt industry and has made significant contribution through her various articles.

The post How to Make Money as an Event Planner appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.