Monster Media 1994 #2

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HOW TO GENERATE THE QUICK CASH YOU NEED BY INCREASING YOUR PRESENT BUSINESS INCOME, OR BY RUNNING A MINI-BUSINESS! By Pat Flanagan It happens to all of us. You've left your full-time job for the freedom of self-employment. Things are going well, but then that big bill comes due. Where will you get the extra cash? If you plan ahead, this won't be a problem. One of the best things a newly independent businessperson can do is to run a mini-business in addition to the regular business. The mini-business acts as a fast cash generator to help you along in those tight times. The ideal mini-business can be operated in a total of one or two days per week, with a minimum of upfront time and expense. This leaves enough time and resources for your major business. Depending on the type of full-time business you're running, your mini-business could be an offshoot of your main business, or something completely different. In most cases, service businesses will be the most adaptable to your needs. Before I go into some examples of mini-businesses, I'd like to cover an essential skill for every businessperson, especially if they'll be running a secondary business. This subject is TIME-MANAGEMENT. TIME MANAGEMENT I remember when I first started my business. I held a full-time job at the same time, then worked at least three to four hours every night, and most of Saturday and Sunday, in my own business, just to keep up. I thought there weren't enough hours in the day. I know I drove my family crazy! Anyway, it all added up to major stress. Do you feel this way? If you do, you need to do what I did: learn to manage you time. It wasn't until I took a time management course that I realized how much time I was wasting on unimportant or disorganized tasks. You need to learn to say NO to the time-wasters and to organize and prioritize the important things. Once I started managing my time, I found I had enough time to get everything for my newsletter done, PLUS enough time to write full-length books and market them successfully! You can, too. The first thing you should do is purchase a daily planning system. If you go to an office supply discounter, you should find a selection of sizes, styles, and prices. You don't need a big, expensive one, but find one that will be big enough for your own needs. I use a Franklin planner, but any of the others will work just as well. They all work with the same principles of organizing and prioritizing. If you don't want to purchase a daily planner, you can accomplish many of the same things with a modified "To-Do" list. Now, almost all of us make To-Do lists. They usually consist of a list of tasks that get crossed off when they're done. This is good, but not good enough. Here's what your To-Do list should look like. Create your own version, or load this article into your wordprocessor (filename "minibus.txt"), delete the rest of the surrounding article, and print it out. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / X / PRIORITY / TASK / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- / / / / --------------------------------------------------------------------------- When using this list, first fill-in the tasks you want to accomplish in the "TASKS" column. Write down EVERYTHING you want to do. When you have all your tasks written down, assign priorities. Give all the important "must do" tasks an "A" priority. Tasks that are somewhat important, that can be done if there's time, get a "B". Totally unimportant tasks get a "C". Once you've assigned letter priorities, organize your list further by assigning number priorities within each letter group. Look through your "A" list and pick the most important task that MUST be done first. Write a "1" next to the "A". Continue through your "A" list, then start over with the "B" and "C" lists. You now have a road map for your day. Do the "A1" task first. When it's done, DON'T cross the task out, like you might have done on your old- fashioned To-Do list. Instead, put a check mark in the box to the left of the task's priority. At the end of the day, you'll be able to see exactly what you were able to accomplish. Any "A" or "B" tasks still unaccomplished can be transferred to tomorrow's list. Cross out any "C" tasks that remain. You've just eliminated a group of time-wasters! While you're transferring "A" and "B" tasks to tomorrow's list, think about how you could have freed up time during the day to have done them. Were you distracted by the TV for a while? Did you stroll into the backyard to talk to your neighbor? Stick to the list religiously and you'll get more done. This might sound corny, but making a written, prioritized list will really help you be more productive. You'll see exactly what's important to do, and what you can say NO to (an important skill to have!). You can't argue with something that's written down. Just be sure to be realistic when assigning priorities, then single-mindedly finish your tasks according to their priorities. Give this time management system a try. It only takes five minutes a day, at most, and you'll be amazed at how much more you can accomplish (including a secondary business)! INCREASING YOUR INCOME FROM YOUR PRESENT BUSINESS The easiest way to bring in more income quickly is to offer a special price or package of your current products or services. Your only upfront expense will be getting the word out about your special. Depending on the type of business you run, this expense could be minimal. For example, one of the services I offer, in addition to my publishing efforts, is custom typesetting and layout work. I could offer a special price for a limited time, or a quantity discount off my normal per-page pricing. In this case, the most cost effective marketing method I could use would be to prepare a flyer for the special (no cost to myself but time spent creating the flyer and copying costs), and distribute it to my best customers and those prospects I would most like to have as long-term clients. Besides the quick business I'd get from the special, I may entice a few newcomers into my fold that will bring long-term business my way. Used correctly, this technique can provide the quick income you need, while building your permanent customer base. MINI-BUSINESSES There are countless businesses you could run as a quick cash producer. I'll go into a few that I think are the best ideas for most people. Some of these may sound minor league, but that's what they're meant to be: easy-to-run, low time and expense businesses you can use to up your income. CURB NUMBER PAINTING Here is a great opportunity that can work for anyone in any sort of community. What you will be doing is painting address numbers on curbs for a fee. Why would anyone want this service? Answer this question in your marketing and you'll find great success with this. If your house number is painted on the curb in front of your house, it is easier for emergency vehicles (police, ambulance) to find the house, as well as friends and family who aren't familiar with the area. I'm sure you've tried to find someone's house at night before, but had trouble seeing the numbers on the house. I've seen some house numbers that I couldn't see during the day, much less at night! Anyway, you should be able to start this business for less than $50. Here are the supplies you'll need for this service: reflective white highway spray paint (available from paint supply houses), black highway paint, 3" tall number stencils, wide masking tape, a few old rags, and flyers. The flyers should read something like this: (Your business name, address, and phone, centered at top of page) If the police or an ambulance had to find your house at night, would they be able to see your house numbers? If friends or family were trying to find your house for the first time, would they get lost? Not if you have curb numbers! Curb numbers are 3" tall address numbers painted with high-quality, long-lasting reflective white highway paint on a black background. They are highly visible both day and night. You can have professional quality curb numbers by (business name) for only (insert your price). If you would like this valuable and helpful safety measure, please fill out the coupon at the bottom of this flyer and leave it, along with a check for (price), made out to (business name), in your mailbox. We will be painting numbers tomorrow, starting at (insert time). Thank you! NOTE: Our service is 100% guaranteed! If you are not satisfied with the quality of our service, call us and we will repaint your numbers or refund your money, no questions asked! (Business name, address, phone) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Name: __________________________________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________________ Phone (Optional): ______________________________________________________ Please leave this coupon, along with a check for (price), in an envelope in your mailbox before (insert time) tomorrow. THANK YOU! Prepare a batch of these flyers on your computer, or produce an original and photocopy it. It is crucial that it look professional. Take your time, and don't handwrite it! If you can't produce a quality original yourself, paying someone else to do it right will pay off in increased business. Be realistic when setting your price. This is a very low cost service for you to offer, so there will be a good profit margin built in. I would say the price range for this service would be between $3 and $10, with $5 being the most likely for success. The best neighborhoods for this business are newer, middle- to upper-income developments, though almost any neighborhood will produce orders, if the price is right. Drive through the neighborhoods in your area and look for those with house numbers that are hard to see. When you find a neighborhood that looks good, go door-to-door with your flyers. It's not necessary to knock on doors and do a sales pitch. Rubber band the flyers to door handles, or put them in newspaper boxes. DO NOT put them in mailboxes, as this is illegal. It should only take two or three hours to blanket an average size neighborhood area. The best time to do your distribution is on a Saturday morning, so you can do your painting on Sunday afternoon. This leaves the week untouched for your main business. The day after you distribute the flyers, return to the neighborhoods you hit. Go to each mailbox and, when you find one with an order, use your masking tape to outline a rectangular area on the curb that is big enough to contain the house numbers. Then, paint the black background. Paint all the backgrounds for the neighborhood before painting any numbers. This will give the black paint time to dry. When painting the numbers, take your time, make sure your stencils are straight and securely taped in place with your masking tape, and spray your white paint evenly and generously. Wipe up any drips, and touch up as necessary to make your job look flawless. If you get any calls from dissatisfied customers, offer to repaint their numbers or refund their money. Don't argue and don't have hard feelings. You might get one or two people who take advantage of you, but that's a worthwhile chance to take. You see, the guarantee will help to sway any people who are undecided about your service. Offering a no-questions-asked guarantee can greatly increase your business, so why not offer it? If you've done a good job, and offered true value for your customer's money, you shouldn't get many calls. Get more orders easily by visiting the same neighborhood 2 to 3 weeks later. Leave flyers at the houses that didn't get numbers last time. You should get new orders from those who saw your previous work. A good idea for building order volume is to offer a neighborhood volume discount. For example, if you'll distribute 200 flyers in a neighborhood, offer 10% off on everyone's orders if 50 or more people participate. This can help entice people to do a little sales work on their neighbors for you! Note this offer boldly on your flyers. My final word of advice is to practice before you do any actual painting. Pick up an inexpensive patio block and practice on it. Only an hour or two of practice should be necessary. A side benefit of this business, besides the income it will generate, is that it will get you out of your office for a few hours each week. Enjoy the fresh air! Plus, the exercise can't hurt anyone. Good luck! NOTE: There is a kit for curb numbering that includes interlocking brass number stencils, 2 cans of black paint, 2 cans of white paint and instructions for $39.95 plus $4.95 for shipping. Order from Magic Systems, Inc., Order Dept., P.O. Box 23888, Tampa, FL 33623-3888, or call (800) 237-9106 with your credit card. DISCOUNT CARDS There is a good money business that can be started for next to nothing, with low risk, that involves giving away special cards. These cards are DISCOUNT CARDS, wallet-sized cards that allow the bearer to receive discounts at participating businesses. These businesses pay to have their advertisement on the card. They profit from the increased exposure and from gaining new customers who come in for the discount and become return customers. The card-holders benefit from the discounts they can receive. And YOU benefit from the profitable advertising you sell! This is a relatively simple business to explain. Here's an overview: 1) Design your card. 2) Figure your expenses and set your ad prices. 3) Contact businesses that frequently use discounts or coupons (potential advertisers for you) either in person or by mail, with an information package. 4) Gather the ads (and the money!) and print them together on wallet- sized cards. 5) Distribute the cards to the public. That's all there basically is to it. Of course, there are more details you need to know, and those will be covered in detail here. This business works especially well if there is a college in your town, or any large number of people who either vacation there or move to town, but it can be run successfully in any area. The best part (besides the money) is that you can run this business from your kitchen table! Here's exactly what you need to do to make great profits in the discount card business. First, think up a name for your card. A catchy name that has words like DISCOUNT, SAVER, MONEY, BUCKS, BIG, FREE or other dollar-saving words will stick in people's minds. If you (or a friend) have artistic ability, design a logo, either with your card's name, or a picture conveying the money-saving feature of the card. Next, design how your card will look. It should fit easily into a wallet, so stick to credit card size. On the front, your logo should appear, along with, at most, six ads, in three columns of two. The back should be divided into, at most, twenty ad spaces, again in three columns (7 on the sides, 6 in the middle). This might sound like a lot, but they will be readable. Don't forget to put your business name, address and phone on the front or back, at the bottom of the card. You should also put together a poster with your logo and information about the card. Leave space for a list of locations where the card can be obtained, and for a list of the advertising businesses. This poster will be inexpensive for your printer to produce, and can be produced on your computer, if you have one, reducing your expenses even further. Now figure your costs. The major cost to you will be printing, so check with a number of printers for price quotes. You will want a one or two color glossy card, with price quotes for quantities for 1,000 - 10,000 cards. Find out at what quantities significant price breaks occur. This can help determine exactly how many cards you want to produce and distribute. This number will be important when it comes to contacting your advertisers. Don't be put off by how much the cards will cost! You won't have to worry about laying out a lot of money for the production of the cards, because you should require that advertisers pay at least half of their advertising price at the time they decide to advertise, the remainder when cards are distributed. Some businesses will prefer to pay 100% upfront, which is just fine! You shouldn't deal with businesses that won't pay anything upfront, unless you have some desire to deal with collection headaches. You should be thinking about how to distribute these cards. If there is a college in your town, here's a few ideas. Contact the admissions department at the college, explain your discount card, and see if they would consider putting a card into the orientation materials each incoming student gets. Also, find out places where you may put a stack of cards for students to take. Prime locations are cafeterias and dining halls, snack bars, libraries and any other places where students group. For the general public, great distribution spots are similar to the college spots. Restaurants, grocery stores, theaters, apartment buildings, anywhere where there are large groups of people. Don't forget that you can give a good supply to each advertiser, to give free to their customers. All you need to do is a few good, persuasive phone calls, and your distribution will be taken care of easily. Stress to the person you're speaking with that making the cards available to their customers will be good business for them, even if they don't advertise on the card, because their customers will appreciate being given these discounts and will look upon the business as their friend for doing so. Now that you have your printing quotes, determine how much you can charge for advertising. Estimate what your phone, advertising, driving and postage expenses will be. Lump these all together and you have an idea of what your costs will be. Now, multiply that figure by five. Divide that figure by the total number of advertisers you will have on your card. The number you end up with is the average price you could charge per ad. Does this sound reasonable, considering the number of cards you'll be distributing? If so, it should make a good starting point. For example, if you are planning to distribute 8,000 cards with 26 advertisers, and your estimated expenses will be $1200, the formula is ($1,200 x 5)/26, or $230.77 average ad price ($28.85 per thousand), and your profit would be $4,800. Considering the benefits the advertiser will get from the cards (they will be kept and used for a long time, usually 3 to 6 months, and 5,000 people will be exposed to their ad repeatedly over that period of time), this will probably be reasonable. You need to consider the economy in your area, the size of your area, and any competition you might have, as this can effect what you may be able to charge. When you decide how much to charge for ads, here are a few things to keep in mind. Ads on the front of the card should be much higher priced than on the back, and, as a result, should be slightly larger. On the back, you can set two different ad rates by putting using "boxed ads." An ad with a black box around it will be noticed more than one without, so it can be slightly higher. A good example of ad prices corresponding to the above average ad price would be $200 for a plain ad on the back of the card, $230 for a boxed ad on the back, and $260 for an ad on the front of the card. (Side benefit from this business: give yourself an ad for free!) Now's the time to contact potential advertisers. Here's a short list of the types of businesses that will be most likely to take advantage of your service: + Restaurants, particularly fast-food and snack establishments + Theaters + Printers + Dry cleaners + Oil change and auto parts businesses + Travel agencies + Clothing stores + Hair salons + Formalwear stores This is not a complete list, but it should give you an idea of the types of businesses you need to contact. Put together a list of the businesses you want to contact, and send them a sales package with full details about the cards, the population you will be distributing them to, and ad rates. Include a postcard they can use to contact you if they're interested. Here is an example of what you can put on the card: Yes! I am interested in talking with you about (card name). A good time to contact me would be _________________. Please ___ call or ___ visit. Name ___________________________________________________________________ Business _______________________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________________________ City __________________________________ State _____ Zip ________________ Phone ______________________________ Fax _______________________________ If you are selling 26 ads, try to send information to at least 200 businesses. This will help you easily get enough interested businesses. When you contact businesses in person, be professional. Break all the costs down so you can show them exactly how inexpensive this advertising will be. For example, if your card will be "active" for six months, distributed to 8,000 college students and the ad the business is considering is $230, show them that it will only cost 4/10 of a cent per month per cardholder ($230 divided by 8,000 people, divided by 6 months)! Also, show them that you're distributing the cards to an audience that will need and use their services. College students will always buy pizza, so if a particular pizza restaurant can snare the incoming students with this discount card, they'll have the edge over the other pizza restaurants. This is how you will make successful sales. Stress the benefits that the business will get from advertising with you, as well as the fact that this advertising is targeted to a specific group, instead of everyone, which will make this advertising more effective than, say, a newspaper ad. Also, let them know that you will be preparing posters advertising the card and the businesses that are advertising on it, and that this will be extra FREE advertising for them. When the conversation moves to payment, insist (nicely!) that the business pay at least half upfront as a good faith gesture. You are trusting them to pay the remainder, as they are trusting you to deliver on your promises. Honest business owners should have no problem with this. Advertising copy must be direct and short, due to the limited space. Ads should be three lines at most, with the first line for the business name and phone, second line for a short description of the business, and third line for discount. For example, JOE'S PIZZA 555-1234 Best pizza in town! 10% off large pizza. When you have your advertisers and their ads, get together with the printer you've chosen. Your printer will help you with the card layout, if you're inexperienced. If you have a computer and a good typesetting program, you may be able to produce the masters for the printer, lowering your expenses. While the cards are at the printers, put up your posters. Put them in high traffic areas where the people you will be distributing the cards to will see them. Always get permission before you put the posters up. When the cards are done, distribute them to the locations you've picked out, and collect the remaining balances from your advertisers. This whole process can be done in your spare time, and should take no more than four to six weeks. The example above yielded a $4800 profit, which is pretty good for that short amount of time! Once you've done one card, do another one! Differentiate it from the first by using a different name, distribution to a different group of people, and different advertisers. Here are some target consumers groups to start with: + Senior citizens + Families with children + Singles + High school students + Women only/men only By distributing your cards to highly targeted markets like these, and contacting businesses that cater to these groups, you can successfully generate the extra income you need to give your main business a boost! CUSTOM RESTAURANT ADVERTISING PLACEMATS This is a somewhat unusual business that, run correctly, can net a good amount of money, while taking up a small amount of time. In a nutshell, you will be giving free paper placemats to restaurants in your area with either a prominent color ad or their menu in the middle, and two-inch by two-inch ads around the edge. These ads will make so much profit for you that if you run up against a stubborn restaurant owner, you can even pay him or her to take your placemats and come out way ahead. They'd be a fool to refuse! The first step in this business will be to figure out your costs and prices. Contact a good number of printers in your area and find out what kind of blank or ready-made thin paper placemats they can either print or have printed for you. There should be a variety of sizes and styles. Get a quote on at least 5,000, including at least two-color printing. Compare your quotes and find the printer that will do the best job for the best price. Make sure this is a printer that will work with you on the layout of the placemats, if this is new to you. Once you have your printing costs, which will be your primary costs, you can figure out how much profit can be made. Your profit will depend, in part, on how many ads you can put around the perimeter of the placemat. For example, if the placemat is 11 x 15, you can put a total of 20 ads around the sheet, leaving a one inch margin around the edge for the printer. Divide the printing cost, together with your other estimated costs (phone, postage, travel) by the number of ads, and you have your cost per ad. For example, suppose your estimated expenses will be $600. Divide that by 20 ads and you have $30. This is how much each ad contributes to covering the cost of the placemat. Now, figure a target profit margin. In my area, an ad that will be seen by 5,000 people over an extended period of time could go for $90. This would be a $1,200 profit! Now, make a list of restaurants that would be likely prospects for this service. The best prospects will be locally-owned family-oriented restaurants that are visited by residents of the area. Don't try truckstops, or restaurants by toll-road exits, as most of their customers are just passing through, and won't patronize any of the advertisers. Also, big-name chain restaurants and fast-food places may be a waste of time, as most of them, if they use placemats at all, have their own already. Smaller, particularly family-owned, restaurants will be your best bet. Here's the approach to take. Tell the restaurant owner that you can provide 5,000 free paper placemats with either a large color ad or a color menu printed in the middle of the placemat. Local advertisers will be featured in small ads around the outside. When you say the words "5,000 free paper placemats," you probably won't even have to go any further! If the owner's a hard case, offer to pay them to take your placemats! Offer $50 and 5,000 placemats. This breaks down more barriers than you can imagine! If the restaurant owner has a pre-made ad or menu available, this can be reduced or enlarged by your printer to fit the center area of the placemat. Be sure the restaurant's section dominates the placemat. Now, contact businesses that are in the immediate area surrounding the restaurant. Good prospects will be video stores, dry cleaners, grocery stores, book stores, any business that is frequented by families. Tell them that you have an advertising opportunity which will put their name and offer in front of 5,000 people for an extended period of time. Explain the placemat system, and which restaurant the placemat will be at. Break down the ad price to the person. For example, a $90 ad to 5,000 people will only by 1.8 cents per person. This is very inexpensive. Again, most businesses will have a two-inch by two-inch ad, or one that can be resized, ready for use. If they do, you're home free! If they don't, get information about what they'd like to have the ad say, then ask your printer for layout help. You'll probably only need to do this for your first placemat, as layout is easy to get the hang of. Encourage advertisers to make their ad into a discount coupon with dotted lines around it. This will increase the response to their ad. Contact as many possible advertisers as you can. The more you contact, the more ads you'll sell. If your prices are competitive and you deliver honest facts, you should have an easy time selling the placemat ads. Now, take the ads to your printer and layout the placemat. Put the restaurant's ad/menu in the center, and the other ads around the perimeter. Have the printer print the requested quantity, and deliver them to the restaurant. It's that simple! This whole process can be done easily in less than a month. But, even if it takes you a month, the example above cleared $1,200 profit (or $1,150, if you actually had to pay the $50). Once you've done your first one or two and know what you're doing, you will find that you can run more than one at a time. If you run four placemats per month, you could clear over $55,000 per year! This is just an example, and your profits could be higher or lower, depending on your area. But, it should be fairly obvious that this can be an easy-to-run, profitable business that you can start part-time and quickly move into a full-time business, if desired! INVENTORY VIDEO TAPING This is an excellent secondary business to run. You can easily control how much time you spend on this, and it has great profit potential! You only need one camera, decent video skills, little expenses and supplies, and, if done right, very low marketing expenses. Besides your videocamera, you'll need an instant camera and an engraving tool, which together should be able to be found for under $100. Here's the business in a nutshell: You videotape household and business inventory and valuables for insurance purposes. Then, if a robbery occurs, the owner has a video documentation of the missing valuables for law enforcement and insurance agents. Your primary prospects for this service will be upper-income families and businesses that specialize in high-ticket items or have a high investment in equipment. The first step you should take to run a property inventory taping service is to meet with your area law enforcement agencies to find out what regulations, if any, they have. Remember, you will be going into other people's houses and will have full knowledge of their valuables. If you have endorsement from the law, your customers can feel comfortable that you won't use this knowledge for the wrong purposes. The person you want to meet with would be the one in charge of neighborhood watches or community services. Normally, police agencies are enthusiastic supporters of services like this, as it makes their job easier. Others to meet with include insurance agents, private detectives, fire officials and attorneys. Not only will you gain valuable information from them, you will be building up a network for referrals. Be sure to keep a good record of who you meet with so you can send them business cards, brochures and periodic reminders of your services. While meeting with insurance agents, take care of your insurance requirements. You should carry liability insurance, and you should also get bonded. The extra expense is worth it, as it will both help to get business and will protect you and your customer. Your service will be ripe for publicity, so prepare a good press release. You should be able to find a good book or two on publicity releases at your library. Get these releases to every daily and weekly newspaper in your area, as well as local business magazines and television stations. When your service gets written up in the papers, keep a clipping of each article to use in your marketing materials. Send a copy to all the insurance agents, attorneys, private detectives and law enforcement agencies in your area. You WILL get referrals from this! Another idea for publicity is to set up a booth at local home and garden shows, preferably in the home protection areas (alarms, etc.). This will establish your name in the minds of consumers. If you don't mind public speaking, offer to give a short seminar on home inventory protection and how your service can help prevent theft. You can prepare one presentation that can be given numerous times at different community-related functions and locations, such as country clubs. Now for the meat of the service. When you set up an appointment with a customer, make sure they know you will be charging by the hour, so it will be to their advantage to have things such as jewelry, china or antiques laid out and ready to be taped. Take your videocamera with extra tape and batteries, an instant camera with plenty of film, your engraver, forms for listing valuables, and a three-ring binder for the forms. When taping valuables, be sure to get a clear picture of them, including any distinguishing characteristics. Be sure to fill out your forms completely, listing special features or characteristics, such as type and weight of gems, etc. Jewelry is probably best photographed with your instant camera, as is any small valuables. Large antiques and other primary household items are easily videoed. Be sure to get any brand names and model numbers clearly taped. After taping the individual items, walk through the house. Be sure to get any computer and video equipment, phones, Tvs, art and other items that would be tempting to thieves. Engrave the client's social security or driver's license number on the back or bottom of items that won't be damaged by doing so. Record all this on the forms, including the location of the engraving and all serial numbers. If the home is burglarized and police recover the stolen goods, this will help the client get his or her valuables back quickly and easily. Don't forget to tape the outside of the house, including patios, walkways and landscaping. This can help the client establish value in case of vandalism. In businesses, videotape the office equipment, as well as the offices themselves, inside and out. In specialized businesses, be sure to tape any special equipment. A good idea is to provide window stickers for your clients that tell potential thieves that items in the house have been marked and recorded. These stickers can be purchased or printed. Your local law enforcement agencies may even be able to provide these to you at a low cost. When through taping, give the tape a quick run-through to be sure everything's ok, then give it to your client, along with the binder. Encourage them to store these in a safe deposit box, in case of fire. How much should you charge? A typical mid-sized to large home should take two hours, at most, to tape, if the owner has prepared everything ahead of time. You can charge anywhere from $50 to $150 per hour, depending upon what your local market will bear, with $75 per hour a good figure to start with. You should be able to see how this business can add up! In your marketing materials, stress the fact this your charge is a small price to pay, considering it is a crime deterrent and will result in far less stress and time on the customer's part if a mishap does occur. You can feel good that you are providing a service which will help people in bad times. Remember to be professional while in the client's home, don't make any comments which could be construed in bad ways, and be assuring about the safety and reliability of yourself and your service. CONCLUSION Every business has hard times at the start. That's just a fact of life for the self-employed. It doesn't have to be so bad, though, if you plan ahead and take whatever steps are necessary. Package your products and services for quantity sale. Run a small secondary business. These are the ways to reinforce your main business and keep it afloat in rough water.