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By Bill, August 27, 2009 7:08 pm

I receive and read posts from kids from 10-15 years of age wondering how they can make some money. Some have and most haven’t mowed lawns, baby sitting and so forth. In this upcoming series of articles, I am spelling out interesting money-making ideas for kids. If you know a young person who needs/wants to make money – share these with him or her.

Idea # 1-3 These ideas should give you an idea. What could you design like these?

Kidpreneurs: What They’re Creating

Thinking about creating your own business, but you’re unsure if you will be successful? Let the words of these three children help inspire you to take that leap into the unknown world of business!
There are a vast amount of kids getting into inventing, creating their own business, and even becoming entrepreneurs. Many of them become very successful, working with their parent’s help and even getting featured on television shows and more!

Don’t Fret – Nicholas Ravagni (age 17)

http://dontfret.com/index.php

Nicholas was just 5 or 6 years old when he came up with his idea! “After taking a guitar lesson, I saw an older student who was literally in tears trying to figure out where to put his fingers on the fret board”, Nicholas remembers.

Nicholas then went home and wrapped saran wrap around his guitar neck and drew finger position dots so anyone could see where to place their fingers.

His father helped him patent the product, and he was 9 when he started getting the Don’t Fret Note Map for Guitar into music stores throughout the country.

Nicholas and his Dad maintain the websites, and his Mom and Dad both help with filling orders and record-keeping.

The products are an easy on, easy off guitar fret board marker made of static cling vinyl. Nicholas even offers a Note Map for Guitar, left handed, bass guitar, and Chord Map for guitars. His other company (yes there’s another!), Fretless Finger Guides, offers ? size violin maps, and he is working on getting maps for all stringed, necked instruments.

Nicholas sells his products through a distributor that sends his products to music stores worldwide, on his websites, as well as licensing the guitar products to a music education print distributor.

Nicholas’s advice for others is to “Be absolutely passionate in the pursuit of your dreams!”

Crafty Cooking Kits – Sienna and Amanda Zeilinger (ages 12 and 8, respectively)

http://www.craftycookingkits.com/

Sisters Sienna and Amanda created the Crayola Crafty Cooking Kits, and have been named Chief Kid Officers of Brand Castle for their help inventing this fun and exceptional product.

Their parents, Jimmy and Andrea created the company for them, and both kids have been very hands-on with everything.

Crafty Cooking Kits help kids to explore their creativity by mixing together colored gels, using brownies to paint on for gifts, and more. Many of the kits include everything you need, and come with puzzles and fun facts.

Sienna says that she and her sister have always had fun in the kitchen , as well as doing creative arts and crafts. They couldn’t find the materials they needed for their creative wants with crafty foods, because they wanted to come up with their own designs. “So we did!”, says Sienna.

When Sienna and Amanda are in school, their parents do most of the work, but when school’s out, the two sisters help come up with new ideas for future products. The girls love the taste-testing, and help in the office assembling kits for mail orders.

They have even come up with holiday-themed kits, and just licensed Kellogg’s. Those kits will be out in March.

Crafty Cooking Kits are sold in various grocery stores nationwide and select SuperTargets and Walmarts, as well as on their website.

Sienna’s advice for others, “Think of an idea that people could use and have fun with, and never ever give up. Don’t second-guess yourself. Sometimes we come up with ideas that won’t work, but they usually lead to other, better ideas, and those ones do work. Don’t forget to have fun!”

Qwesty – Lauren

http://qwesty.com

This amazing girl invented Questy, a question mark-shaped plush toy that teaches children how to ask questions without interrupting. She recently won the Student Ideas for a Better America Award, the National Parenting Center’s Seal of Approval, and the iParenting Media Award. She is also among the youngest patent holders in the country.

When Lauren was 6 years old, she interrupted her Dad on the phone, and that sparked the idea! Her Dad runs the business with Lauren’s ideas. It is sold online and in stores.

Lauren’s advice to others is, “You can do anything if you just believe”.

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By Bill, December 4, 2008 7:38 pm

Higher education comes at a cost and if you are working and have bills to pay, it may be beyond your financial ability to pay the cost for that degree you covet. Don’t lose hope! It may be that your employer will be willing to pay for the cost of your further education. Many companies have educational policies in place that will allow you to pursue that degree or course while you continue to work for them. They actually want to pay for this so that you will become a better-qualified employee and hence be more valuable to them.

 

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No doubt there will be certain restrictions and conditions to be met and you should look into these closely. They may require you to agree to work for them for a specific length of time after graduation, so if you had your eye on applying for a job at another company soon after graduation, forget it. This will vary from company to company of course, many being willing to pay for 100% of course fees while others, like Johnson and Johnson, will also supply the cost of books, registration and lab fees. Boeing will pay for all of the above as well as your books.

Some companies will expect you to get certain grades in all your subjects, so be sure you can keep up to the standard. Johnson and Johnson require a C grade in all undergraduate work and a B in all graduate coursework. Of course, this is only fair since they are paying for it, but the requirements do vary from company to company, so be sure you check.

If your company doesn’t have these sorts of policies in place, you may still be able to persuade them to pay for your education. You will need to speak with your boss and show him what you can now do, compared with what you would be able to do once you had that extra training or degree. Be specific about how much the company would benefit from it. if possible cite examples of other people you know who’ve done such trainings and show what they are able to produce for their company.

It won’t hurt to add a few statistics about how many other companies pay for their employees training. Before your interview, do some online research to find out what tax cuts or government benefits that the company may be eligible for if they pay for your education. This will be sure to swing the decision in your favor.

FInd many more tips and ideas for finding the Right Job Right Now at http://rightjob.howto-you.com

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By Bill, June 7, 2008 8:44 am

Who are Your Current Supporters?

The supporters for any fundraising event are usually those who are passionate or interested enough in your cause and help in whatever way they can. Whether this is by making a donation or asking others to make one, or whether it is by offering their skills, talents or time is up to them.

 

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When you are organizing your event, the first line of supporters will be the committee members. They are voluntary board members who offer their time and expertise to help make the plan a success. There will be the president, treasurer and secretary, plus advertising executive, PR person and the marketing manager. Even if you are only arranging a chook raffle, you will need to have volunteers to sell the tickets.

Your supporters can be anyone who agrees with your cause and would like to see it prosper, but your current supporters will generally be those who actually work to support the fundraiser in some way at the present time. It may be that they simply wear a badge or some other icon to promote and advertise it, they may simply give advice and suggestions on the running of it, or they may get in and work very hard in a number of other ways to support you.

Past supporters may be persuaded to come on board once again in another category if they prefer. Being offered the opportunity to serve in a different capacity could stir their interest anew and your organization will benefit greatly from their past experience.

A supporter – or sponsor – is often the one who donates money to your cause. Since the reason for having a fundraiser is to gain funds for a specific cause, a lack of these supporters will mean your fundraiser is doomed to failure. It is important then to get these supporters on side and give them the opportunity to support your cause. While it is great to be able to use modern technology such as email to alert supporters to the chance of making a donation, nothing can really take the place of the personal touch.

If you are able to make appointments to meet with the heads of business who have shown an interest in supporting your cause, then you will be much more likely to gain a donation of considerable use. Most people are not that free with their checking book that they will hand over a large donation to an operation that is largely faceless. Support at every level is the keyword.

“I hope you enjoyed today’s featured article, and thanks for reading!
Before you go, would you be interested in learning how to raise
money for your organization having all the information you need to
succeed before you start?! (And no, you do NOT have to be a politician
or salesperson to participate!) If so, go to this site right now:

Fundraising.howto-you.com

Thanks again for reading and have a great day!”