THis blog is now closed...move along, there is nothing to see

Well despite my appeals Google have confirmed that my account is disabled. As this blog was an attempt at an experiment using adsense to see how to make money without scamming people, it is pointless me continuing it. I will keep up my other blog http://simonsayslivelife.blogspot.com/ on a less regular basis, feel free to drop by and say hello.

Have a read through some of the ideas here and if you try them out good luck, I hope you make money.

Meanwhile to paraphrase Douglas Adams......so long and thanks for all the fish. ;-)

Missing you already.

Oh woe is me....

Any of you that are regular readers of this blog, will see a small difference now compared to last week. No adverts! Well I could lie and tell you that it was because I didn't want to take advantage of you, but that wouldn't be true. I did! Sadly Google doesn't think I should as they have disabled my account due to invalid click activity.

Despite my requests to explain, they have not told me what that means, the point is I am now down $108 and my get rich quick scheme is in tatters.

Oh woe is me!

Update on earnings

So I have been writing this blog for just a little over a month now. I thought it would be only fair to update you on my earnings from the different schemes I have talked about.

In no particular order:
Mutual points: Not a great success, after my initial binge, I have had a problem getting back into my account so I was stuck on just over 500 points. Today though it let me in, no reason apparent as to why it did not before. I will stick with this site as I have used it before and made money but it can be a tedious process. There are many "free" points opportunities, but mostly limited to one offs. Today though I joined Photobox through the site earning me 60 points and 40 free photos. Photobox has prints from 5p which seems reasonable, but I am looking for a Photobook. I searched using Buy Compare for some electrical stuff (earning 35 points for five searches). If all I did was this to get 3000 points needed to claim my £20, I will have to do this every day for the best part of 3 months ;-)
The power of this site is it gives points if you purchase, from a wide range of other sites, (i.e. it is a shopping portal) you get cash back effectively for buying something (which you were going to buy anyway) so it's worth browing. Lastly you can register you credit card with them and they will give you points if you use it in any of the shops they promote, even if you buy direct. Not sure how that works but I'll keep you posted.
Valued Opinions/Opinion Worlds, I have cancelled. I was getting two or three emails a weeks, but never seemed to be "suitable" for the survey. I have always been of the opinion these sites are more about getting valuable marketing data from you than about giving you anything back.
Win 4 Now/My Offers: Two other primarily marketing site, you have to give them a fair amount of information to get anything. So far have won nothing. By a strange coincidence the "competitions" always seem to be about what products you are looking to buy. In a lot of cases they ask for a mobile number (to notify you if you win.) Curiously, the only calls I am getting are cold calls to sell me stuff. Hmmmm.......!! I think I'll be dropping those shortly!!
Car boot/Baby Sitting/Delivery etc. Honestly, zilch (be fair I could have lied!) But I do have a lot of potential in my garage for car boot stuff.
Ebay: A few DVD's and CD's, but mostly small amounts. Total: £18.27.

So what has been the biggest earner for me so far, well funnily enough Google AdSense. Those little sponsored links to the side. If someone clicks through on one of those adverts I get a small kick back. Earnings to date $108.

Oh and those get rich quick schemes. Well to be frank I still wouldn't touch them with a barge pole and NEVER give them you credit card details. Many of them will tell you you are paying for shipping, but in the small print it says you are agreeing to them taking a regular payment every month until you contact them. Try and contact them, it can prove impossible....!

If I were a betting man

The Avon lady - bing bong Avon calling

A bit more on multilevel marketing.
My daughter is an Avon lady, Avon are a well established company, whose model is to sell direct through a distribution chain of home workers. They don't have shops. Your Avon lady (or man gender is not important) leaves a catalogue with you to browse at your leisure. You fill out an order form, she takes it orders the goods, which you pay her for on delivery. Delivery is free. She receives a commission on every thing she sells, which makes her a little side line income.

The benefits of this type of income are:
You can work from home
You don't carry stock so no initial outlay
No experience is necessary
Training and support

Avon offer a full money back no quibble guarantee on all products so you can sleep safe knowing that if a customer is disattisfied you will have a fall back plan.

As a small business this will not make you rich, but you can make a nice side income. Be aware you have to pay Avon for catalogues, but they cover the cost of delivery and returns. You can check out Avon here.

When should you consider it:
Works best in places where you have access to a potential customer base, through work at the office, at clubs, University etc. You can do door to door (cold selling) but that requires a certain kind of attitude. When people see the catalogue it tends to sell itself.
When not to do it:
If you don't like rejection, spare time or a moderate number of contacts.

On a similar vein have a look at the following as alternatives:
Amway: Same principals but health, beauty, home cleaning products etc.
Kleeneze: Another cleaning products catalogue but this one sells stuff you didn't know you needed, an example Goo Gone, gets sticky stuff of anything (it's amazing!!!).

Link failure whoops

For some reason the link to http://www.usefulmagnets.co.uk/ seems to have stopped working. (Sorry Nick). I have worked out why I cannot spell!!! The above link works fine, (but it is worth a visit so try typing it in if all else fails.)

Planning for the long term, Buy to Let

Right, this one is a significant risk but can also bring significant returns. Currently it is only available to those who have capital. The property market has always been the place where you can make big money and of course big loses. The buy to let market was until the credit crunch a growth area, but is not the easy entry it was before.

What you will need: Money for a deposit, just like when you buy your first home, this may need to be significant, if you are a home owner you can use the equity in your home to raise the deposit.

Market 1: The classic buy to let markets of students. Having a daughter at University I can confirm the cost of renting a student flat, of a high quality, equates to just shy of £350 a month. She is one of four people in her flat so £1400 income.

First find a property: Lets assume you are buying in an area that equates to the average house price, for a semi detached 3 bedroom house this is around £200,000.

Next find your mortgage: Lets assume a deposit of £60,000 (bear in mind you will also need to cover the costs of the purchase, which can be another £20000.) You would need to find £140,000 mortgage. Currently mortgage rates are low, for this exercise we will assume a fixed rate of 4.99%. Here's the maths.

Your mortgage (interest only) will cost you: £8000 a year.
In addition the cost of the deposit (assuming the same rate): £3000 a year.
Assuming a 3 bedroom property (you will actually let 4 rooms).
You may earn £75 per room.
This equates to £1200 a month, times 10 months is £12,000. A profit of £1000.
If you can let for a whole year (depends upon the area) you can add another £2400 profit.

In addition there may be capital growth over time. Remember though you will have to pay tax on any profit or capital gains tax, but you can offset costs against this.

Market 2: The holiday home market. My good friend Lee is a classic example of someone who knows a good thing when he sees one. He bought his property Shoebox Cottage on a thriving holiday park in Devon. Partly it was for an ideal place to take his family for holiday, but also he saw a way of earning some extra cash, renting it out. The cost of a holiday home varies so widely it is difficult to do a comparison, but remember that for holiday lets prices vary through the year and the season is shorter than the whole year, usually 8 months, so you will not be able to make a year round income.

Mind the gap

If you have seen my other blog you will know that I have had a couple of days away this week and am now back from my sojourn in Cambridge and raring to go.

So where were we? Oh yes credit cards and cash back! So that leads us to loyalty cards. These are many fold and come in many formats but fundamentally they reward you for spending you money. If I could find it, I have a wallet full of these, but there are only a few that I use in anger.

The most famous must surely be the Tesco store card (Clubcard, already mentioned) Tesco's clubcard points can be used for buying stuff in the shop, or exchanged for rewards (clubcard deals). Most famously they can be used to acquire Airmiles (more later).

Nectar, the equivalent from Sainsbury's can be exchanged for goods, or vouchers which can be used (again) for many rewards. The difference between Nectar and the Tesco's offering is that you can collect Nectar points with many companies. Have a look at their site for a complete list. The most obvious ones are BP (if you drive on business you can rack up points quite quickly), Ford (get points when you buy) or AA (run a car), EDF (points on your electricity bill) and Talk Talk (your phone bill ;-) One thing that is sometimes unnoticed is the ability to earn points through the Nectar shopping portal this opens up a huge range of everyday brands upon which you can earn points. TOP TIP: Use a Nectar credit card to amass even more points.

Morrisons miles card: Fill up with petrol, collect points. Get a voucher to spend in the shop.

Coop Dividend scheme: Probably the oldest of all the rewards schemes, the coop divi dates back to the origins of the company, which grew out of sharing the profit made on its sales with the customers it served.

Boots advantage card: Bog standard storecard, but if you shop at Boots get one. (Why not?)

Here's a good comparison site for these cards.

Credit and loyalty, Cashback and points

Firstly, a minor health warning. An out of control credit card can be a stone around your neck. Only spend money on credit cards that you can afford to repay in full. The ambition is to never pay interest, credit cards are close to usury when it comes to interest.

So what is the deal? Well there are a number of ways to make money whilst spending on your card.
1) Cash back: Some cards give you cash back on all purchases. Not only does it enable you to earn ££'s but gives you added legal protection. BUT REMEMBER: Pay the whole balance at the end of the month or you will undoubtedly end up out of pocket. So what's the buzz?
- Take the Abbey MasterCard: It will pay you 3% cash back for the first three months on food and petrol spending, up to £12.50 per month, for the first six months (Kerching! £75 for just buying your normal food and petrol.)
- Then swap to Leeds MasterCard for 1% cash back on everything you spend, until 30th June.
- Or get the Smile Classic card which will pay you 0.5% on everything you buy with with no annual limit.

2) Become a credit tart: This is not as easy as it used to be, but if you need to spend a lot of money, put it on an interest free card and put the money into an interest bearing account to earn you some additional cash.
- Get a card, like the Marks & Spencer credit card and you will get 10 months interest free credit on new borrowing. At the end of the 0% period transfer to
- Lloyd's TSB to get 0% interest on your purchases for 6 months.
Put the cash you would have spent into an interest bearing account, use this to pay off the balance of the credit card when required.
Another twist: Cannot pay off your card at the end of the interest free period, then transfer it to another 0% card. The Virgin card (at the time of writing) will give 0% on balance transfers for 10 months there is a transfer fee, but that equates to the equivalent of 2 months interest.
BUT REMEMBER, DON'T RUN UP A BILL ON A CREDIT CARD YOU CANNOT PAY OFF.

3) Cards that provide you with loyalty rewards: An alternative to earning cash is to have a card that gives you rewards. Some examples:
Virgin Atlantic Card: Gives you 1 flying club mile for each pound spent.
BA Amex card gives you one BA Airmile for each pound spent.
BMI Amex card 1.5 miles for every pound spent .......well you get the message surely, but at the time of writing this card will give you 20,000 free Airmiles if you spend £250 in the first 90 days, that will take you to Italy or Spain (and back ;-)
Nectar credit card: You earn Nectar points (2 for every pound spent) and 500 points equates to £2.50. Once again sign up today and get 7000 nectar points if you spend £200 in the first 90 days. That is the equivalent of £35.
Tesco credit card: Fastest way to earn Clubcard points. 5 points for every £4 spent in Tesco's and 1 point for every £4 spent elsewhere. One great thing about Tesco Clubcard points is you can swap them for Airmile, or even better, some fantastic deals on holidays and the like, where they are worth 4 times their face value.
BUT REMEMBER, DON'T RUN UP A BILL ON A CREDIT CARD YOU CANNOT PAY OFF.

Tote that bale, click that mouse, money don't come easy

When I started this blog, it was really a bit tongue in cheek. I was investigating the many get rich quick on the Internet schemes for a friend and this blog was a backlash at those sites. See my earlier blog.

The problem is I am really beginning to enjoy this. Perhaps I am a failed writer, I don't know, but either way I hope you find the information here useful and readable. Let me know. If you like what you see, feel free to link to me from your own web site of blog, it helps get my google ranking up if nothing else ;-)

Today's subject is cash back. In my first blog I mentioned two cash back methods, 1) Joining Internet cash back sites 2) Taking out a cash back card. Lets start with the Internet.


Firstly, if you are wary about putting to much information about your self onto the Internet, this is not for you. Many would think you right to worry about giving out too many personal details. The fact is though that cash back sites are driven, primarily, by targeting you with advertising that meets your profile, so the more they know about you the more they can target you. As research for this blog I joined a few of the current sites and I have rated them below, however I was already an experienced cash backer!! (More later)


So, mostly these sites are trying to advertise to you, get you to buy other peoples products. They entice you to do this by many ways.
a) Offering you cash!
b) Offering you incentives
c) Prizes

The ways they target you are varied but the main ones seem to be
i) Asking your opinion getting you to complete a survey
ii) Entering you in prize draws if you look at adverts or offers


My previous experience was with Mutual Points cash back site, here you earn points by registering and buying through their site. You can also earn points by printing coupons, writing reviews and reading and responding to adverts. Over the course of about a year, without spending any money, I earned about £250. Primarily through using a couple of price comparison sites and responding to adverts that did not require any commitment other than my email.

On a scale of 1-10: 8 Easy money, if a bit long winded. You have to visit every day to click through to earn your points. Downside: You can be enticed to click on high points items, which lead you to offers that you don't really want.


A more recent site I joined was Opinion world. This promised me the world, but has frankly delivered just Lichtenstein. This is a survey site. Surveys I have done so far have earned me nothing, but have earned a couple of contributions to a charity I would not normally support ;-(

On a scale of 1-10 0, Nada, Zip, Nothing: In terms of making money this has been a waste of time.

Win4Now - typical win prizes site. Haven't won anything.
My Offers - you enter a number of "competitions" all of which seem to require you to enter you mobile number, as you enter you amass prizes which can be claimed, but each prize requires payment of £2.99 post and packing.

Here are some example prizes:

As a 3 star member you could claim a pack of photo paper, a Britannca DVD or a pilates DVD As a 4 star you can get lego racers, fun 2 learn pc game or FBI files DVD
As a 5 star member I could get 1 2gb Flash drive, or SD card, or a Pedometer with FM radio

I will update this blog with progress later in the year.

New: Just in I joined Valued Opinions today, this promises me the world as well....watch this space ;-)

The art of crafts and the crafty arts

I live with a craft worker, she is into her crafts in a big way and has, frankly, made a reasonable supplementary income at times. She does this whilst holding down a full time job, it's amazing. If you are even a little bit dexterous you can do this (unlike me as I have five thumbs on each hand). The Wigjig site is a good place to start with loads of instructions for making stuff (plus you can buy all the necessary tools). To start with a couple of pairs of needle nose pliers and some wire cutters, will get you started (a good set will cost around £20 from you local craft shop).

Amongst the things my partner has made money on were:
Earrings: Buy the findings and beads on line from sites such as Ebay, or The Bead Shop (you need an account but registering is free). Aim for the more unusual beads and don't stint on the quality of the findings unless you aim to make cheap earrings. Remember some people have sensitive ears so perhaps use some real gold and silver findings for them. We found that making the drop interchangeable, meant you could sell a single expensive gold of silver finding and multiple drops to go with it.
Christmas cards: Try and make something different. We used FIMO modelling clay to make Christmas puddings, Xmas trees and other Xmas related items, mounted them on card. As added bonus the Christmas puddings had attachments on the back that allowed you to make them into earrings. Fimo is very versatile have a look at this example of what you can do with a similar product amazing
Jewellery: Once again, buy beads or other materials on line, in junk shops (old necklaces to be cut down and reused), car boots or even craft shops locally. Be as creative as you like, but remember the more time you spend on making the more money you will need to feel you got a satisfactory return.

I found this site quite useful Top 100 craft sites for reference.

In addition we had a short period of trading jewellery, sourced on line and sold at Xmas markets with some success. Aim for the Chinese suppliers, via Hongkong, for some fairly reasonable deals. We aimed for the teenage £ where quality was not always a concern, but bling per buck was ;-) Markup and presentation are key, price to sell, i.e. keep markup to a reasonable level. We gave away an organza bag (100 for £3.99) to make the sale a bit special and at 4p per bag was a no brainer.

More about snow people

I began to think about the different ways that people react to snow and realised you could categorise them. The list is not exhaustive but these are the ones I have seen this week.

The Adventurer - goes out in the snow to have fun, practices skidding his car doing hand brake turns, goes sledging, takes his kids wake boarding (dragging them along in his four by four).
The Risk Taker - doesn't think snow makes a difference, he can still drive at his normal speed, will over take you because you are not driving fast enough, especially in car parks.
The Stay at Home - doesn't go out in snow in case of slips and falls. If they do go out they won't take the car and go only short distances
The Optimist - Loves the snow and all it brings, spends all day looking at the weather forecast, hoping for more. Has their snow boots ready by the door.
The Pessimist - Hates the snow, expects that they will be snowed in, traffic will grind to a halt, food will run out in shops.
The Worrier - stays at home, because the government advises them to, but worries about not going into work
The Moaners - tut and huff around the supermarket, because people are in their way, gesticulate at you in your rear view mirror when you let people out of side roads
The Public Spirits - clear the snow off their drive, then the next door neighbours, check on older folk, deliver meals in their four by fours, make tea for the people clearing the snow.
The selfish - clear the snow off their drive then go and watch the football
The Bird Lovers - leave stuff out for the birds, watch it get covered by snow, leave some more out, watch it get covered by snow. Fret about the poor birdies. These are normally women, but men often like to see blue tits in the cold ;0)
The Grateful - so glad they invested in a four by four with traction control, despite the cost of petrol and "now you can see why!"
The Ever Child - insists to his kids that they go out and build a snow man then spends hours rolling up snow balls whilst his kids stand by and watch bemused.

You are not limited to one group, you can move between groups and indeed be a member of multiple groups. I live with an Optimist, Bird Lover, Public Spirit.

Back to normal next posting ;-) Enjoy the snow whilst it lasts.

Snow men, snow women, snow balls

Anyone in the UK will surely have had snow this week, which is a fairly unusual event for this country. As usual the country fell apart, doing a journey that takes me 20 minutes normally, took an hour and a half yesterday. I know other people who have worse tales of woe. I am not amongst those (many) people who berate the government, local authority, parish council and any one else for (choose any one) not gritting the roads/not being prepared/not closing schools/not opening the schools/not having enough snow ploughs/not clearing the side streets/not......the list is endless.

The one thing that I have found though is a revival of the classic English tradition of making good in adversity. I live on a hill. When we do have snow, if there is nothing on the telly, I can spend hours, sitting in our study watching the cars go up the hill, then slide back down, go up again then slide back down again. Usually, endless hours of fun. Not this week! Within a few hours of snow fall starting there were a team of people (my neighbours) shoveling the snow, laying grit and pushing people up the hill. Amazing public spirit. Yesterday I struggled to get up my drive, my wife came to help me push, next thing I know my neighbour was out with his shovel, clearing the snow from around my wheels and giving me a push. Fantastic, what a star. Later in the evening I looked out to see our pensioner neighbours digging away with shovels, clearing the drive. I went down to help them, "do you need to get out?". "No, we just thought it would be better if the drive was cleared for people to get up it."

Today, we went shopping and bought some bits for my wife's mother, who has been house bound by the snow. As we turned into the road, we were faced with a group of a dozen people with shovels and brushes, clearing the road. More genuine public spirit. Of course we helped them, it would have been rude not to, especially as they were clearing the snow from Mum's drive entrance. Great neighbours!

The funniest event for me has to be watching the Sainsbury's to You delivery van, go up the road (after a second fall of snow). Then slide back down. Drive up again. Slide down again. Park! A few minutes later a car turned up, obviously the customer, have stuff loaded into the boot of their car, only to take it back out again (the wrong delivery!) Just as they were finishing another Sainsbury's to You lorry went past, up the hill and made it all the way. Classic!

So what's the title about snow men and snow women? The question is what is the difference between them?

Marketing your wares 3, the art of becoming a big boy

If you remember the founding fabric of this blog is not making money on the internet, but it would be remiss of me to gloss over the potential ways of earning money through that medium. The whole concept of marketing on the internet is very attractive, a billion people to sell to in every country in the world, get it right and you can become a millionaire overnight (ish). The problem is though what to sell.

If you are a regular reader you will see some of the sponsored advertising on this site, promises you a six figure salary for minimum work. How can that be? The answer is internet marketing. What you may ask is internet marketing, the answer you will find, if you can be bothered to read though the grist, is you are marketing the Internet, i.e. telling people how to make money by marketing on the internet. But how do you do that I hear you ask? You sell them an internet marketing kit/solution/website/pamphlet, which tells them how to make money marketing (you guessed it didn't you), kits/solutions/websites/pamphlets to other people. Confused well don't be just accept that there are people out there who think that getting rich by taking money from other people who want to get rich is acceptable. Not me I am afraid. These schemes are making and I am sure will continue to make money for a select few who focus on them (did I say few, well many really) but ultimately it is unsustainable, someone has to be losing money for them to make it.

It's a bit like the stock market, people bought shares in the past to be a part of the company, because they believed in what it was doing and that it would grow, so the value of their shares would grow. Somewhere along the road we lost our way, people started buying shares because the value of the share would rise and rise it did as pundits promised it would. But continued rises are unsustainable, so the market "corrects" itself, for corrects reads drops. When it drops someone loses. For you to make a profit, when no value has been added, someone makes a loss. Now lets see if we can guess who? Is it the brokers (no! they are using your money and taking a commission whether you buy or sell) is it the company whose shares you bought (no! they already have your money, well someones for the original share purchase) is it the people short selling (selling shares they don't own because they will buy them at a lower price as it drops because they are selling so many (no! they are just gambling on the price crashing) is the pension funds investing your pension money (yes! but once again it's you money they are losing they have already taken their cut) is it the investment funds investing your savings (yes, same as pension companies) is it the small shareholder (mostly us).

So, if you want to have a look at this puff and wind marketing here are some examples you can look at.
The rich jerk thought I would start with the cream of the crop, this site taunts you into action, he is so rich (through internet marketing) you would be stupid not to join him. Here's the best bit, when you apply for his totally free web site, he gives you a $100 gas (petrol to us brits) card absolutely free, as long as you take out an American Express gold card. On top of this he will tell you all his secrets for just $9.95. Does it work (well obviously for him but have a read what Frank thinks about it at igotrippedoff.net. Not a happy bunny..... but he does suggest a number of other schemes that will make you rich.....now who is being ripped off?
My next favourite was Carbon Copy Pro who want to make 100 new millionaires, how, selling their fantastic internet marketing product will make you a millionaire for a small investment of $49.95, they even promote themselves on You Tube. Carbon Copy Pro - It's A Scam which is one of their salesman telling you how much money they make (now that's class).
Lastly the fun one 18kaweek.com, which promises to make you rich and gives you a free copy of the master key 24 lessons of what appears to me to be pure drivel, but it's free!!!

Seen a business for sale? Marketing your wares? Want to set up a Franchise read on

This is the big one, if you really want to make money, you won't do it working for someone else. For those of you of a nervous disposition please stop reading now as in order to progress this option you need to take a risk.

Once again, I cannot talk directly about setting up of a successful business that has made me millions, if I had done that I wouldn't be writing this blog would I, I would be selling you the concepts via Internet Marketing, whilst sunning myself in some far away clime ;-) I can however reflect on a couple of businesses that I know of that can be run part time and could become full time if you need.

For ease of classification I will start with low risk, low cost and work my way upwards. But first some fundamentals.
1) No business can succeed without having a market
2) You must have a good proposition
3) Businesses can fail more often than they succeed so do not commit money into a business that you cannot afford to lose
4) Manage your costs, if you make a loss you won't stay in business
5) The most important thing in business is your customer, no customer means no business.
6) Did I mention the customer? They are the most important thing, keep them happy!

So where to start, first spot your market, you are looking for a demand that needs filling, that you can fill. Early in my career, when the PC was in it's infancy, I worked for an insurance company as their PC support centre manager. My job was to support people using their PC's. I came up with an idea, if people had PC's at home they would learn skills that could be brought back into the office. So I put together a proposal that the company should lend their staff money to buy a home PC and reclaim it at x pounds per month from salary. I canvassed a few dozen people who nearly all thought it would be a good idea! Went to see HR who thought it was feasible, took it to the management team who sent me away with a flea in my ear. (Not their core business to sell computers etc etc.) The trouble was I was being rung up constantly by people wanting to know when the scheme would start.
Rather than disappoint them, I took the initiative. I contacted a well know direct sales computer company and negotiated a discount of 15% off their already keen prices, based on volume. Then got everyone who wanted to buy to a machine to choose one from the company price list, and give me a cheque for the cost less 5%. I then bought them the machine, kept the 10% profit and Robert was your mother's brother, we were all happy. See what I mean, there was a demand, I could fulfill it. For me it was even better as all machine came with support, so even when there were issues I could get them resolved for free. Sadly over time the opportunity died. PC's became more of a commodity item and prices dropped.
Risk on a scale of 1-10: 0, Investment on a scale of 1-10: 0

Lately the Intranet has made doing business so much easier. Nowadays you can buy stuff from China from your home PC and sell them via the web (you know what I feel about Ebay!) or car boot sales. My son has recently been doing the Young Enterprise scheme. His company decided to become a marketing organisation, selling gifts for Xmas was their first go. They found a web site selling costume jewelry at a reasonable price, bought £80 worth of stock (about 60 items) which they sold at a Christmas market. Each piece was packaged in an individual organza bag (price a few pennies) In the end they took home about £150 after the cost of their stall they cleared £70 profit in less than 4 hours. They didn't have a market (other than the Christmas gift market) but they offered value for money and were selling at the right time.
Risk on a scale of 1-10: 2, Investment on a scale of 1-10: 2.

Marketing a product, whether on the internet or directly can be a very profitable option. In my next blog we'll have a look at some options.

At the car wash, talking about the car wash yeah...become a car washing machine

Wherever you go these days you will see car washers waiting to pounce. Unlike the ubiquitous windscreen washers at the roadside, who come at you whilst the lights are red, these guys do it for a living. You park at your local store, whilst you are whizzing around the aisles collecting your groceries, they can make your car look as good as new.

Now I don't know about you, but when I wash my car I have to plan in advance. First thing, is the weather good, where in the shed did I hide the hose, is the garden tap still seized, where's the brush/leathers/bucket....and more. (Do you see what I am getting at, what an effort, so why would you want to do that. I am sure I am not alone. So now the boys in the car park get my business. It's a growth area in the economy! Why not tap into it.

How to get started? Well obviously you need a bucket and cloths, some soap a chamois and gloves if it is cold. Start with a rinse to loosen the grime and mud, start at the top and work down, then good old soap and water, focus on the body, then the wheels. Rinse of then rub down with a chamois, once again top to bottom, wring the chamois out when it gets to wet.

Finding a market: Start with the local area you live in. Drop cards through the door of immediate neighbours. Sound out the opposition, what are the boys in the supermarkets charging (I pay around £6 usually). Then it's get to work.

If you are feeling really athletic take it to the next level, go the whole hog and offer a Valet service. The plus side is you will earn more money, the down side is you are up against a stiff opposition from people like Simply Valet an essex based valeting company. Hey here's an idea I wonder if the franchise (oh hang on I am getting ahead of myself.)

On the subject of windscreen wipers, at this time of year with salt on the road and regular cold snaps, there may well be some cash to be made if you are near to a busy (but not fast moving road). Its difficult to know what the proposition should be, but I suggest a small change charge for a quick wipe. Stick under 50p. Be prepared for drive aways. Alternatively wander around you local car parks offering a quick clean. Don't forget to offer to clean the number plates, remind people that an obscured number plate can cost them an on the spot fine.

I'm the urban spaceman baby - a song from the archive

Anyone old enough to remember the band? The Bonzo dog doo dah band (go and google it), were an eclectic mix of busker, music hall and performance artiste's who made a firm impression on my musical tastes as a youth. The song Urban spaceman was ended with a curious long piece of tube, played like a trumpet whilst being swung around the head of the player. The point being, it doesn't matter what instrument you play, if you can play music, use it!!!

Along with Don Partridge, Bonzo Dog were probably the biggest single factor in my wanting to play an instrument. But sadly I cannot actually talk about this topic from experience. You see I cannot play any instruments, never could, probably never will, but if I could........

Busking is the term used for effectively "begging" with music. You find a busy spot with lots of passing (pedestrian) traffic and you perform! One thing to note, it is illegal, so a good pair of ruining shoes is a must with your tuxedo. You see buskers everywhere in major towns and cities when the sun is shining. They will be cause of the music you hear as you go down the escalators on the underground. You will find some often well presented person strumming some unfortunate rendition from the Beatles White album or Oasis. One time I saw a three piece string band playing Mozart, another a trombonist. The thing is they all had one thing in common, the good ones make money!!! You don't have to be perfect at playing the instrument, but if you are it does help.

This week BBC Radio one have been advising on money and one of the BBC radio DJ's was asked to go busking. You can see his efforts here. Alright he was rubbish at it, singing along to a karaoke machine, yet he still made £4 ;-)

So how do you start, well I suppose a good point is you need to be able to perform, either on an instrument or with your voice, or some form of act. Next you need a licence (or as stated above to be very swift on your feet.) There are a range of places you can get licences from here is a useful site to find out where you can obtain licences in the UK If you are not licenced, adopt the not bothering anybody approach. If you are entertaining you will draw a crowd, so don't set up your pitch somewhere that will cause a major obstruction. Plan your act, unless you have huge confidence, practice it in the bathroom. You are trying to impress not insult your audience.

If you are based in London, there is always the prospect of fame and fortune, indeed a number of people have reached the stars from minor beginnings, singing or playing Covent Garden (the old market not the opera house) seems a admirable starting point for any career. You can see jugglers, magicians, comedians playing the plaza and hear some excellent musicians and singers around the restaurant areas. This is the exception to the rule, as it is one of only a few places where busking isn't illegal. The market association pay a hefty licence fee for this, so you have to pass an audition to be approved, not it would seem that that is difficult judging by some of the acts I have seen there!

So why can't I play a musical instrument? It is not for want of trying I can tell you. I did take piano lessons in my late teens, Cheryl, who I worked with part time in my first job, was a professional musician, working to keep her head above water. She took on the task of teaching me the piano, which in itself wasn't unusual, but you see I didn't own a piano. So to practice I had a wooden (well cardboard actually) piano. In theory this sounds great, well actually that was the problem. No sounds. In those days to buy a keyboard was out of the question, they just didn't exist. I could have picked up a moog synthesiser for a few thousand pounds, (google it again ;0-) but I didn't.

In the end I had to give Cheryl the elbow, not because she wasn't a good teacher, quite the contrary, I was the worst student ever!! I still wonder where I would be now musically if I had persisted....imagine, Ant and Dec, Simon Cowell and me ;-)

Bar bar blacksheep do you want fries with that....mcdonalds mcdonalds kentucky fried chicken and a pizza hut

Whether you have finished worrying about the credit crunch or are still in the early stages of shock, one things that is going to be obvious is that a bit more cash will always be welcome.

I don't know about you, but in my area one thing is still popular, that is the local pub. Most pubs now also offer food, so my next tip focuses on the popular evening jobs of bar work and waitressing. These are not easy options, a busy pub will keep you run of your feet. Finding work here it is down to pure graft, but it is an area where you can find work "fairly" easily just by putting your face about. There is nothing to beat a pub crawl and that's exactly what I recommend. Visit the pubs in your area, ask them if they need any occasional help to start with, Make your self available at short notice to cover sickness, be flexible about your hours and you will get work.

Try and negotiate your pay before you actually have to work. It's easier to do this than argue after. Be firm! At the end of the day you are helping them out ;-)

If you want to try and make this a more long term approach, try some of the agencies. My daughter was quite successful in the summer with Blue Arrow mainly weddings in the summer and parties at Christmas, but also short term cover at chain restaurants. The pay is not brilliant and the hours can be long, but remember when your working you aren't spending money. Plus long hours means more pay.

Lastly, check out the many and varied local restaurants. I know it's passe but actually the much maligned Mc Donald's chains offer an opportunity not to be ignored. They tend to be open long hours, so lots of opportunity for part time hours. Like many of the high street brands they have gravitated to the suburbs in shopping malls and entertainment. In reality any restaurant chain offers an opportunity, but you have to ask. I heard a story recently of a friends daughter who knocked on the door of her local pizza express asking for a work, when asked when she could star, she responded "Now?" She got the job and is now the meeter and greater ;-) If you don't ask you won't get!!!!

And finally, what was I on when I wrote that heading? Well when my kids were younger we had a VW seven seater van, now remember this was in the days before it was fashionable to have people carriers. Even in those days my god daughter was a performance artist and spent the whole journey singing that song. Now she is an aspiring actress (she has just won the prestigious Sam Wannamaker Competition and will be appearing at the Globe). I am very proud of her!

Real estate agents don't eat cheese

Well I know strictly they do, but I needed an attention grabbing headline and I don't think "Walking the dog" does it for me, but that is today's subject. Exercise, not only does it keep you healthy it helps your mental state and what better exercise than walk a dog, over the hills and dales.....What do you mean you don't have a dog, surely not, well here's an idea, lots of your neighbours have dogs, why not offer to walk them?

We have a friend, retired, who does this for free, but many people would be willing to pay for it. Put a card up in your local shops, or join an agency like guardian angels or the mutley crew. Don't forget gumtree (see pet walkers and sitters.)

Which brings me onto another little earner, baby sitting. Lets be frank this is not tedious, as long as they stay asleep, but once they wake up it can become quite unnerving, so not something I recommend if you are faint of heart. However, not everyone has the same ideas of babies. My little baby is a Burman cat! I am lucky enough to have a neighbour with cats, we exchange the job of "baby" sitting each other's moggies when we go away, which happily never seems to coincide. The point is, I don't want to put her into a cattery and will happily pay someone to look after her and the house. Once again put a card in your local shop or try an advert in your local free paper. Worth a shot!

So what about estate agents? Well as we all know they are starting to feel the pinch. So I wondered what other professions they could take up? I am a great fan of Wallace and Grommit, so cheese always comes to mind. I thought, how about going into cheese making too as a business, everyone eats cheese don't they. Instead of micro breweries (which are springing up every where) we could encourage cheeseries (did I make that word up?) So here's a link to an excellent cheese recipe site. Fill your boots.

I blame my ancestry, the big screen is in my family tree

Well coming from a film making background, my father was a producer and editor, my brother still is, I had to put this high up my list. Like life modelling be prepared to spend a lot of time doing nothing, but the pay can be good, especially if you pick up a line or two. The BBC pays around £75 per day, but they are made of money. The recommended fee is £69 pounds per day with an extra £25 for a walk on part.

You do not have to live near a big studio, but if you do it helps, especially if they are remaking Ben Hur. To get started you will need a break, but normally if you get your foot in the door you will get more work. So how do you start?

There are loads of agencies on the web, but only one of you. Make an impression by sending them an unusual posed photo, the boring old head shot (slightly to the side and not quite smiling) is what everyone does, so be different.

If you are in America have a look at about.coms list of movies in production.
In the UK British films in progress is a useful site.

Keep an eye on your local papers, for announcements of filming in your area
Register with Stars in my eyes. com for their weekly email

or here's some suggestions for agencies courtesy of a forum on Money saving expert.com
http://www.rayknight.co.uk/
http://www.castingcollective.co.uk/
http://www.leescasting.co.uk/
http://www.2020casting.co.uk/

Don't be surprised if they ask you for money, although the more reputable ones will only take money when you earn it ;-)


As for me, my biggest part (soldier strangled by lady pirate) was done for love not money. We filmed in Cardiff docks (before it was made fashionable by Doctor Who this was). It was worth it to spend time watching a then unknown actress Thandie Newton although the film The Pirate Prince (made for TV) never got her the expected Oscar.

Art paintings, furniture and photography

Art for art sake: OK so we can't all be Picasso, but if you have a nack for art, it can become a money spinner.

There is a market for art, big art, little art. A friend of mine started painting when he got a paint by numbers set as a gift. Bit of joke really, but he enjoyed it so much he went out and bought paint, canvas and became a part time artist. He even has his own site go and have a browse. He sells his art around the world. I own this one it just caught my eye.

Some of my best friends are budding artists, there's a lot of it out there. An alternative to painting is to get your self painted. Most local painting groups will pay you to model, although I am not sure I could sit still for four hours. Have a look at some of these sites if you want to look into this more seriously.
The register of artists models: Just what is says on the tin, a UK based model agency, current rates are £8 to £10 per hour. (But you have to get your kit off ;-) You don't have to be fit, any shape or size is acceptable, the more curves the merrier ;-)
Have a google for other areas of the world.

Photography: I have a (reasonably) good camera, but some of my best photos have been by accident. Is there a photo you are really proud of? Try and sell it! My favourite site is Photo Dimension aimed at a broader market than just the professional photographer, it allows anyone to become a seller. Go and have a browse.

Got any old furniture lying around, stick it in your local auction rooms. We got £40 for a table that we were given when we first got married. (Remember Freecycle? Got a van? My local Freecycle has furniture on a regular basis, why not pick some up and sell it on. Oh god I said it out loud again, I'll be banished from Freecycling for ever.....)

(Disclaimer: I have only thought it would be a good idea, I have never actually picked up something on Freecycle and sold it. Cross my heart. But it would be a good plan don't you think? Doh.....!)

To paraphrase a Yorkshire man Ebay gum

Sorry, couldn't resist it.

OK lets start with an honest opinion. I don't like EBay. I never have, but it is a means to an end. It is a ready (huge) audience of people willing to buy your stuff, assuming you have the stuff they want. I mention it because it is another car boot sale, but not as instantaneous.

I use EBay when:

1) I have something small to sell
2) I have something I think is collectible and have a good idea of its value.
3) I have time to sell it
4) It's raining and I can't be bothered to go car booting ;-)

The plus side: You will (occasionally) get a lot of money for some things

The down side: You have to pack and send off things. You have to pay EBay and Paypal their slice. People will try and scam you for as little as they can.

There are numerous sites that can tell you about EBay and how to make it work for you, so I will only share my experiences.

• EBay can be frustrating, when you list an item you have a huge selection of categories to list it under. So before starting do some research to ensure that you list in the right place.


• I have sold mostly unwanted CD'S and DVD's on EBay, although I also successfully sold some unwanted OS maps and books. These are all easy to handle and post.


• I buy padded bags in bulk, they work out at a few pence each. I can afford to list unwanted Cd's at 1p, this means I don't pay insertion fees.


• I take the default postage and packing fee of £1.50, which means whatever I am bid I will make a £1 profit. Once again, if I sell for 1p good luck to the buyer. He is taking something I don't really want!

I think it is time to mention Freecycle. Now I know that technically this is against the spirit of the blog, but I love Freecycle as a way of getting rid of stuff. Here's how it works, you have something you don't want to take to the dump (either because you think it still has some life in it or you just can't be arsed) you put it on free cycle and someone comes and picks it up and gives it a new lease of life. Recently I got rid of a filing cabinet, a bookcase, some unwanted flooring, a huge fluffy cushion and some other bits and pieces in a few hours, made the garage a lot less cluttered.

Now here's the shocking idea, how about getting stuff from free cycle to sell on EBay. There it's out! I can't believe I just said that......

Car boot sales

Ah, this is a particular favourite of mine. I have never been a collector of things. I like my gadgets, like the next man, but don't need to have clutter around me to be happy. Well apart from my Cd's I suppose, oh and the books, oh and I suppose the computer stuff, but apart from those..........

I love car boot sales. The whole ethos is attractive, I have a load of stuff that I want to get rid of, but is to good to just throw away. I take this stuff along in my car sit with it in a car park somewhere and people come and give me money for it. Whilst I am waiting for them to give me money, I can read my book, listen to my Ipod or chat to other stall holders. It's a win win situation!

But what to sell? There are two golden rules:
1) never worry if you don't get what you think something is worth (you are selling it to get rid of it remember, if you think it is worth a lot sell it some other way (see EBay later.)
2) you don't want to take it home with you, if people offer to buy it take the money

People will barter, don't be afraid to barter too, "10p for that, it wasn't worth my while getting up early for 10p, give me £2.00! 50p?? My grandmother would turn in her grave, it was her prized possession, I couldn't part with it for less than £1.50! Oh alright then a quid!"

One thing I find cathartic is to get rid of the clutter that builds up over time. Start in your loft, if you have one. Why do we all keep stuff in the loft? Well for storage obviously, but what are we storing it for. Clear it out. Look at each item decide if you will ever use it again, if so what is it doing in the loft! Bring stuff down to the bedroom, or in my case the garage, you will have far less tendency to put it back up there again!

Then the rest of the house, you can sell anything at a car boot. Dust of those chintzy ornaments that your mum gave you for Christmas, you'll get a few quid for them.

Pricing things can be tricky. I never put prices on the goods, but I do have an idea in my mind what I would like for them, remember though this is about you getting rid of them and the buyer getting a bargain.

Plus sides to car boots are many, I have done well on some occasions and badly on others, but it has always worked out worthwhile. On average I have made about £15 to £20 per hour overall.
Down sides: You can get wet. When you turn up, the professionals descend like scavengers, these are the people who understand the value of junk, but don't let that stop you selling to them.

What to sell: Books, Albums, CDs, DVDs, ornaments, old garden tools, pictures, anything really, it's money for old rope (quite literally!).

Where to sell: Scan your local paper, schools, community centre notice boards, Carboot Junction or good old Gumtree or just use a search engine.

More hints and tips: Here is an excellent list of do's and dont's

Get a job

So I don't want to teach you to suck eggs, but getting a job is not just a question of sending in your CV. You have to differentiate yourself from the other candidates. How do you do that? Well here are a few simple suggestions:

- Don't send the same CV twice. Each one should be crafted for the job you are seeking.

- Make your CV stand out, no I don't mean garish colours, I mean focus your CV to the job for which you are applying and highlight the skills they are requesting.

- Keep your summary snappy, not too much detail, when I sift CV's I glance down them so make your skills obvious (Ability to leap tall buildings, x-ray vision, wears underpants outside trousers.)

-If you are submitting to a general site, such as jobs.co.uk or total jobs make sure you highlight your talents in as many different ways as you can. If you use an acronym put the full meaning too or vice versa, this will help when people are searching to ensure you will get a hit.

Here are some useful sites I have come across in my time.
The Ops ladder: Plus points: Good site for jobs in excess of 50K, CV critique, Minus points: Chargeable to do anything other than the simple stuff, but sign up for their regular email to get free tips and hints.
Gum Tree: Not just a jobs site but also a classified ads site (see later). Allows you to focus on your local area. Affiliated sites around the world.
Total jobs: Major site used by larger corporates. Plus points: CV Checker - allows you to check how good your CV is by answering a few sensible questions. Search for jobs by key words and location. Salary checker - find out what your worth. Graduate Zone - just what it says on the tin.
Monster: Another major site. Plus points: CV Checker, New letter, Major Corporate clients, You can set up a "profile".

Linked in: Although not technically a job site, this is the job equivalent of Facebook, Bebo and other social networking sites. It allows you to make contact with old and current colleagues and build a network of people through them. Use it as a show case for your talents, experience etc. Plus points: People can recommend you for work you have done, you can link in to people through other people you know. Minus points: There is a charge for the more ethereal stuff, but you can build a fairly good network just through the free stuff (here's my linked in profile.)

There's no such thing as an easy buck

Everyone wants to be rich! Well mostly everyone. The problem is how?

The good old days of working your socks off to make a living is not enough for the modern day generation, who want everything now. If you are one of those people stop reading and go and google for get rich quick schemes. This is about real ways to earn an extra dollar/buck/yen or pound.

Am I rich? Nope, so don't think it will be easy. But I hope to give you a few hints that might point you in the right direction. These are methods that are available to everyone, need no skill or training and can earn you some extra cash. Remember the golden rule "whilst your earning your not spending!"

So without further ado, here's my top tips for making extra cash.

1) Get a job: OK that was a bit obvious wasn't it, but at the end of the day this is the fundamental way to earn money, I will suggest some specific jobs as we go.
1) Ok so technically this is tip 1:Car boot sales: Everyone has something they don't need or want lying around there house. Turn some of that into cash.
2) Ebay: Like car boots sales but on a grander scale. Turn your unwanted items into cash, or even set up a trading centre to buy and sell things.
3) Art, Paintings and Photography: Sell your art work on line.
4) Become an extra on a film/tv series. Not as hard as it sounds, but probably only available if you live near a major city (or have friends in the film industry.)
5) Dog walking: Another healthy option, put up a card in your local shops or do a drop.
6) Baby sitting: Better for the younger generation perhaps, but still a way to supplement your cash. Better if you have experience of caring for younger children.
7) Bar work: Only for the over 18's. Check around your local pubs and clubs. Start by covering sickness or short term absence. If you can help them out of a spot they will be beholden to you.
8) Waiting at table: Experience is not always necessary, but is handy. Try and get know at your local restaurants and offer your services, as with bar work, at short notice.
9) Busking: No really! If you have a musical ability use it! Even the worst singer will get sympathy. One slight issue is the legality but hey you can make some money doing what you enjoy.
10) Car washing: Once a domain for the boy scouts, now everyone can have a go, modern day cleaning products make it possible to wash even the dirtiest car with just a small bucket of water.
11)Set up your own business: it doesn't have to be huge, look at Richard Branson, he started from a market stall selling records.
12) Arts and Crafts: Good with your hands, make things to sell, Christmas, birthdays, visits to friends, give something you have made and it is so much more personal (and cheaper). Sell the excess!
13) Internet cash back sites: This one is a bit more tedious but join one of the Internet cash back sites and you can earn quite signifcant cash back.
14) Get a credit card: Alright on the face of it not such a good idea but there are a number of ways to make money while you spend it ;-)
15) Loyalty cards: Get them all fill your boots, they are giving you stuff for spending money with them, it's almost your right.
16) Paper round: OK traditionally a thing for youngsters, but still available to us all. Not only good for your wallet but for your health as well.

So over the course of the life of this blog, I will improve and update this list, from both personal experience and recommendation. Hey I might even aim for a top 20 ;-)

Lets start with the easy ones, these are things I have personally done and can share my limited knowledge.