BRANSON MO JOBS Branson Mo jobs are easy to come by, tri lakes jobs, winter is a little harder some times. If you are unemployed, your job is to look for
employment 9-5 daily until you get a job.
If you need a baby sitter to look for work, call your local
church and see if they can help you.
Or call social services and see what programs are available. If you need transportation, talk to your family and friends
and see if they can help you out until you get on your feet.
Once you get a job, it’s very possible you can get a ride
from another employee. Call
OACAC and ask them for help. There
is a way you can do this….you just need to make the effort and make
the calls. Department of Economic Development/Division of Workforce Development Branson Office, 1756 Bee Creek Road, Suite B, Branson, MO
65616-7828; 417-334-4156 Shirley Glick; www.greathires.org;
branson@ded.mo.gov
Also check with OACAC and your local
Family Services offices. Many
times they have a list of available jobs. There are employment agencies which
charge to find you a job, but many let you pay it weekly or whenever
you get your checks. It’s
far better to pay a fee than to go without work. Please
look below for a few of the employment agencies in the Branson area. Express Personnel Services
162 Industrial Park Dr. Ste C
Hollister, MO (417)
339-2464 Labor Ready 1825 E Cherry St Springfield, MO (417) 889-1996 Penmac Personnel Service Inc
180 Mall Rd South Towne Center Suite O Hollister,
MO (417) 339-4193 Penmac Personnel Service Inc
500 N 3rd St
Ozark, MO (417) 581-0111 Note: There is a shortage of personnel in hospitals and nursing homes. There are
also many people looking for someone to come and help out in the homes
of the aged and disabled. These
are good jobs for mothers who have children in school.
Put signs at all of the bulletin boards you can find at the
grocery stores and laundramats. If
you know someone who works at a hospice or hospital, ask them to put a
sign up that you are looking for work. Call
your local church and ask if they know of anyone hiring.
Everyone you talk to and everywhere you go there is a
possibility of speaking to someone who knows of someone hiring. Don’t put it off, go directly and apply for that job.
Many times it is the person who walks through the door at the
right time that gets hired. They may have just fired someone or someone quit. If you don’t have a computer, go to the local library and use their computer to search for jobs in the area. Ask a friend or neighbor if they would help you search if you aren’t up on your computer skills. The libraries will also help you. All you have to do is ask. Something to think about…….if you are laid up due to an illness, take that time to get some extra education so you will be better able to find a job. Work on your resume. Get on the phone and talk to everyone you can think of as to who is hiring and if any new business’ are being built. Use this time to get ready. There are many classes you can take at the local high schools (adult education) and the fee is very low. While waiting for class to start, make an effort to meet people and ask them if they know of anyone hiring. There are also many self-help groups where you can meet people who just may know of a job opening. Put your thinking cap on. Schools hire bus drivers and maintenance employees as well as people to work in the cafeterias. Many of the jobs mean you would work the same hours and days that your children are in school.
U.S. Government's official site for jobs and employment information
provided by the United ... This is a United States Office of
Personnel Management website. ...
www.usajobs.opm.gov
Send in your resume.
www.usajobs.gov Full time seasonal data transcribers, clerks, tax examiners, $10.09-15.21 hour apply online The IRS is hiring for clerks, data transcribers, and tax examiners. www.jobs.irs.gov/KC.html (816) 291-9380 AT&T is hiring for cable installers and more. You can put your application in online. They also hire for other town/cities but you train in Kansas City. They give you money for food and housing. Go to www.at&t.com SuddenLink is hiring here in the Branson area. IHOP is hiring in Branson. Wright Business School (913) 385-7700 10975 El Monte St Overland Park, KS Financial aid for students who qualify. Aviation Institute (877) 538-5627 Day or evening classes. Financial Aid if qualified. Train for a job with the airlines. GED Online (816) 413-5480 3100 NE 83rd St North Kansas City, MO 64119 www.gedonlineclass.com GREAT HIRES! is the official Workforce Resources website for the State of Missouri. At this time they have 25, 963 openings currently available. There are 89,545 jobs with high school or a GED. 43,778 jobs for those with an Associates Degree or College credit. 13,049 are for those with a Bachelors Degree. 3,403 are for those with a Masters Degree. 1,499 with a Specialist Degree. 413 with a PhD. Access to thousands of Missouri jobs, with job matches based on skills as well as job titles. 1-888-728-JOBS MO STATE EMPLOYMENT opportunities through Jefferson City, MO office. Check out their website. IF you are a spouse of a National Guard member of reservist and having financial difficulty please call your local Missouri Career Center and learn about "Guard at Home". The Full Employment Council/Missouri Career Centers www.feckc.org/adult.html Are you unemployed or underemployed? Are you a displaced homemaker, person with disabilities or a non-custodial parent delinquent in child support who needs work? FEC offices and One-Stop centers offer a wide range of employment and training services. We can assess your skill levels and interests, provide you with various kinds of training and provide job leads specifically for you POST YOUR RESUME ONLINE 24/7 www.JobNewsKC.com HINTS: CONTACTS EVERYWHERE EVERYWHERE YOU GO AND EVERYONE YOU TALK TO is a possible opportunity for finding a job. Don't be a pest but bring it up at a party, ask if you can contact them the following week. Whether paying a bill or purchasing something ask if they know of any job openings. Any clubs or organizations you frequent can be an opportunity to talk to others about a job. Have a party yourself and invite people that are in the type of business that may be able to help you get a job. HINTS FOR QUICK MONEY: In every city there are places you can go to find everything from furniture to anything you can imagine that is just waiting to be recycled. Many times in the back of business' you can find metals that they would love you to offer to clean up. Clean it up and take the metals to be recycled and get paid cash. If you have a garage or storage place, collect anything put out at the curb for the trash man that you think you can resell or take to the recyclers. In Kansas City different areas of town have a certain day to put larger items out for the trash man. I have seen leather couches, beds, all types of household items, and every type of lawn care tools you can think of including lawn mowers. If you know how to repair small electrical items, do it and resell the items. Have yard sales with the items you have collected. Its quick money to pay bills and give you gas money to go look for a job. If you do crafts or collect misc. consider renting a booth somewhere or set up a table at the farmers markets around town. If you happen to be going on a trip, bring back items that are unfamiliar to this area and sell them. Bring back a truckload of watermelon from Arkansas or shrimp from Louisiana on ice. Set yourself up on a corner and sell...sell...sell. Bring back pottery from an Indian Reservation. If you are going to Florida or California, bring back a truck load of fresh fruit. Everything comes down to how lazy are you? What you put into working to get ahead is exactly what you will get back. If you are really desperate for money, put all you have into getting out there and making some money. Are you too proud to do yard work? landscape maybe? shovel snow? Go door to door at homes and business' and wash windows. If you're artistic, paint holiday designs on business windows for a fee. On holidays contact motels and flower shops to see if they need extra help. They are always overworked at that time. After a storm offer to haul limbs away. Do some odd jobs for those who can't? And remember everywhere you go, ask people if they know of anyone hiring. You never know where the answers to your problems will come from. Most of all...hold your head up high and be grateful you have the ability to get out there and work. BE CAREFUL ABOUT WORK AT HOME SCHEMES There are home-based agents hired by many companies such as J. Crew, Virgin Atlantic, Walgreens and 1-800-Flowers. Also many Dr's offices and hospitals hire people to transcribe records. If you don't have the education, there are many non-profit orgs that will help train you. Call them. You can find them on this website on the Organizations page. ARE YOU OUT OF WORK? ARE YOU A VETERAN IN NEED OF SERVICE? ARE YOU AWARE OF THE SERVICES AVAILABLE TO LOW-INCOME INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES? CALL THE BRANSON CAREER CENTER. Branson Career Center 1756 Bee Creek Rd Suite B Branson, MO 65616 (417) 334-4156 They have a computer bank of job openings, training opportunities, and job search assistance. THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SELF-SUFFICIENCY PROGRAMS PROVIDE EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING SERVICES TO FOOD STAMP RECIPIENTS, TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF) CASH WELFARE RECIPIENTS, AND NON-CUSTODIAL PARENTS, WITH THE GOAL OF GAINING THE ABILITY TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES WITHOUT PUBLIC ASSISTANCE. OTHER LOW INCOME ADULTS MAY QUALIFY FOR EXTRA HELP FROM THE ADULTS PROGRAM. CALL TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!! Big Cedar 417-339-5245 www.bigcedar.com 612 Devil Pools Rd. Ridgedale, MO 65739Apply in person applications are accepted Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 pm, evenings and weekends by request. Great plans, administrative jobs, sales, reservations, banquet, deli,mechanic, photographer, lanudry, activities, cooks, host(ess) Big Cedar (info above) Wilderness Club Shuttle driver, front desk, landscaping, lifeguards Dish Network (entire Branson area) installers Home Depot 1000 Branson Hills Parkway Kohl’s 1001 Branson Hill Parkway Mazzio’s 1167 W. Hwy 76 Murphy USA 18419 State Hwy 13 Long Creek Resort Hwy 86 to Long Creek Rd. 417-243-8900 Hiring activities, night auditor, landscaping, landscaping supervisor. Immediate openings. Great pay. Great benefits. Ozark Mountain Resort expanding their Sales Team. Contact Matt Brandt at 417-779-2340 Wyndham at the Meadows Sales Center 110 Fairfield Drive, Branson 417-496-2450 Full benefits after 30 days Salary plus commission.
Go to the following links for more jobs: www.snagajob.com/jobs/Missouri/branson_jobs.html MAKE MONEY HOW TO START AN OPEN-AIR SWAP MEET AND/OR FARMERS MARKET A SWAP MEET AND/OR FARMERS MARKET STARTS WITH AN IDEA AND A PLACE TO HAVE IT. This can take place in the town square, right outside of town on property close to a major highway, in a parking lot or an empty lot. Many towns today have started markets to help revitalize their towns, give an outlet for the farmers who want to sell their fruits and vegetables, and to help the community as a whole make money. Often there are vacated military bases and buildings that you may be able to use. Or maybe there is a vacant house with a huge yard and away from other houses that may work. That way you could also have an indoor flea market and rent out stalls as you have your outdoor market where you charge for each space. A market is an amazing way to bring people together. In today’s world there are many lonely people, people that need extra income to make life a little easier or just to plain meet the normal bills. Sometimes it can mean the difference between paying the rent and having a roof over their heads. It can mean the difference in having heat in the winter or food on the table. For the farmers it means a way to sell produce that would otherwise go to waste. For the town it means revenue that can be used to revitalize old buildings, sidewalks, treatment plants etc. It is a win/win situation for everyone who wants to take advantage of the opportunity put before them. Business owners can also set up tables and if the market is in or near town the traffic from the advertising of the market means free advertising for them. It will also bring sellers and customers past their front doors on the way to the market. Entrepaneurs have a way to advertise whatever they are selling. Crafters and artists have a way to add to their income. Churches and non-profit organizations can set up tables and sell as fundraisers. It is a good idea to visit your local chamber of commerce, city hall meetings, conservation offices, groups and clubs in the area. Tell them of your idea and see if they would be interested in being a part of your plan. Explain how it can help the whole town. Explain to them a board has to be elected and committees set up. Ask them to get in on the program that will make a difference not only to the town but all the people…and even surrounding towns. Once you have the land or space to hold your market and you have a board set up, it’s time to create the rules and regulations for running of the board and the market. You also have to decide if you want to be a non-profit organization or if the city would put you under the auspices of the city, which would also make you a non-profit under them. This is important for taxes and for anything you have to purchase to run the market. It also helps with advertising to be a non-profit. You will find it easier to get people to commit as volunteers and for business’ to commit to helping your cause. Find out from farmers what date would be best for them to start selling their fruits and vegetables. That will give you a date to start your market. If you live in an area where spring rains are heavy you will want to wait. If you live where the weather is drier and warmer, you may even want to have your market more months out of the year. At your board meeting discuss a date and settle on a date that will give you the time to get everything organized and thoroughly planned. Now it is time to set up your committees and heads for each. Your committee heads will answer to the board at special committee head meetings. You will need the following committees: 1) Advertising 2) Planning 3) Market Managing 4) Clerical 5) Setup and Tear Down 6) Traffic and Signs. Another decision to make is where to set up an office. You can set up an office in your home or talk to some of the business owners in town. Ask if they have an empty office they will donate to the market in lieu of a donation receipt. If you are under the auspices of the City Hall, maybe they have a room where you can set up your office. This could save your market from paying insurance, possibly a phone bill, electricity, copying etc. Overhead alone is quite expensive. If your office is small, you may have to talk to a restaurant owner or VFW for space to hold your meetings. Most meetings would probably take place in the evening, as many of your volunteers may have jobs during the day. It’s a good idea to get in touch with your local highway department and ask them how much traffic there is past the spot you have picked out for your market. The highway departments have to keep track of the traffic flow and keep good records. Ask for a copy of those records to have on hand for your board and for your committees. Its important that you keep track of how much traffic there was before the market opened and periodically during the months the market is open. If at any time you decide grant writing is needed, you would have records to fill out the grant forms to proof the market has made a difference. There are many matching grants the board could apply for. This is another reason it helps to be a non-profit organization. Grants are given to non-profits at a higher percentage and larger amounts. It will be necessary for you to get in touch with offices such as planning and zoning. Ask them if there is any problem with having a market in the area you have chosen. Ask what rules and regulations you need to abide by. Go to city hall as well as the county court house and ask the same questions. You don’t want to go into something and have any surprises up ahead. Take care of them at the beginning. Contact Internal Revenue, both state and federal, and ask the same questions. In most states, if not all of them, you will have to keep certain records and have a monthly as well as yearly financial statement kept. You may ask lawyers and accountants in your area to be on the board or at least be at your disposal if needed. It’s better to back yourself and everything you do than to be caught up in something you have forgotten or didn’t know. By law, lack of knowledge is not a good defense. A market is a business and must be treated as one in every way. Take advantage of your local colleges and universities and high schools.. They have departments for almost anything you need information on. They also have libraries that usually have better libraries than a city does. It is even possible you could get some students help with committee work or they may be able to get class credit for working at the market. Try the economics department, business department, and even the art department. High schools and colleges often have botany classes with greenhouses. Offer them a place to sell plants as a fundraiser. Don’t forget to contact your local agricultural offices as well as your state office. Often they have brochures about farmers markets and lists of farmers in the area for you to contact. There are meetings farmers attend and newsletters sent to them.. Ask if you can put an ad in their newsletter. It’s a good idea to contact any farmer’s co-ops and seed stores. They can help pass the word about the market to farmers. Once you have decided on a date to open your market, it will give you a timeline for everything that needs to be done. Advertising needs to start in January if you want the farmers and growers to have extra fruits and vegetables. They have to plan their crops and buy the seed etc. Most of the farmers buy their seed very early and get it planted as soon as the weather breaks. Again, any agricultural office can tell you what newspapers would be the best to advertise in and also tell you of any websites the farmers in the area use the most. Their offices may even have their own website with a place to advertise for a small fee. In fact, while you are at the computer spend time searching for any websites that may be helpful. Planning and zoning and the highway department will tell you anything you need to know about putting signs up. Some cities have limits on how many or how close you can put signs to the town or other signs. They can tell you what size is allowed too. Make your signs bright with big bold lettering. Don’t forget to put arrows on them. Some towns will not let you put up permanent signs if your market is only open certain days. It’s easy enough to make some A-frame shaped signs with hinges at the top for easy hauling and set up. Of course, this means you have to have volunteers to put the signs up and take them down as well as a storage place when not in use. Swap meets and farmers markets come in all sizes. There can be as few as five vendors in one town and 400 vendors in another. How large do you want your market to be and how many vendors do you think would be interested in selling? It’s like any other function. Three times as many wedding invitations are sent out than they think will actually show up. At the last minute something comes up and there are no-shows. And believe it not, laziness is a big problem. People like the idea of the market and making money but the more they think about how much work it takes to load and unload whatever it is they want to sell, they back out. They decide just to have a yard sale instead. It’s easier and there are no fees to be paid. So don’t count on anyone until they show up. Your clerical staff begins with a secretary who will keep a continuous record of every meeting. This means who was present, who was not at the meeting but should have been, and any votes that were taken. It’s very important to keep a ledger of expenses and to keep notes on all meetings. The volunteers can be put to work designing forms, receipts, designing an icon and ordering the printing of letterhead stationery, and possibly a website. They can work on designing letters inviting vendors to the market, affixing stamps, and taking the letters to the post office. Insurance is a huge expense. If you are having a farmers market, check with the agricultural department of your state and see if they have a special inexpensive insurance plan for farmers markets. This is a call you must make time for. It can save you a thousand dollars or more leaving you with a bill of only $300. or less. The Small Farmers Association has such a plan in Missouri. If you under the auspices of the city, you should be covered under their insurance policy. There are many things you can check and double-check every day your market is open to insure there are no accidents. Make sure the vendors keep the aisles between the tables totally clear of any objects, including anything they have under the table sticking out too far. You can add in your rules for vendors certain items that cannot be sold in order to protect everyone. You also need to consider making one of those rules: no sexually explicit material can be sold by vendors. Obviously guns, ammo, knives and any product that is not legal should be added to insure a vendor tried to say they didn’t know. It can save arguments between the market and the vendors. You might consider putting signs around the area such as “no smoking”,” the market is not responsible for accidents”, and “children must be attended by an adult”. Your volunteers must remain alert and that is hard to do throughout a long day in the sun. But in today’s world we need to keep an eye out for children even more so. For any problems that should be handled by an official, make sure numbers are posted and given to all volunteers, especially the police department. Managing every responsibility of the manager is a full time job and then some. If possible, hire someone to be a market manager. This person is responsible for training all volunteers. This includes all the rules and regulations and making sure they understand the market manager has the last word on everything. That doesn’t mean the volunteers should not be heard. I’m talking about a confrontation with vendors and volunteers or anyone asking questions they don’t know the answer too. They should have the market manager take over. It is not the volunteers’ job and as they don’t have the final say so. It is better at the sign of any trouble to turn it over to the only person whose responsibility it is and has the last word. Stealing is also a problem at markets just as it is in any store. If vendors have been selling for very long, they understand they have to keep an eye out for thieves. Believe me, it is not only children who steal. Even elderly people steal. It’s a good idea to have your local police walk or drive through the area a couple of times a day. Set-up and tear down, if pre-planned doesn’t take very long at all. Decide where you are going to set up a registration table or an on-site office. A small camper would even work. You will need all the forms ready before the first vendor arrives as well as a map showing where each numbered vendor spot will be. Some offices are open three days a week and vendors can pre-pay for their spot and pick out the spot they would prefer. Then write their name in the spot they choose. That way when they arrive the day of the market, they can set up without having to take care of any forms or payment. For the vendors who show up on market day, have their forms ready so they don’t have to waste time. They have a lot of set-up to do themselves and want to get started. Fees vary all across the country. It depends on the size of the spaces you are renting to vendors, whether they have to bring their own tables or if you provide them. Some markets have tables with canopies over them to keep the hot sun off the vendors and the items they are selling. You can also have a set fee for vendors to pay for the entire season before or within a few weeks of opening day. Consider giving them a percentage off if they pay for the season. That way you know how many steady vendors you will have plus you will have working capital for advertising etc. You will need to decide on whether you will allow food vendors also. If you do and they need to be connected to water and electricity, you will charge more than for food vendors who do not need the extras. It will also mean they have to be given particular spots. You don’t want two vendors selling the same items right next to one another. Be careful if there are restaurants nearby as they may make a huge fuss over any vendor being allowed. Restaurants have high overhead and vendors pay very little in comparison. Therefore restaurants need to take in a lot more money and wouldn’t want other vendors making money they think should be theirs. I personally have never been to a swap meet where there wasn’t food vendors. It’s fun for customers to stop and buy something and wander around table to table. The vendors of course are there all day and also appreciate being able to get something to eat and drink. Corn dogs are probably the number one seller as they are cheap. But the vendor sells so many of them that he/she makes a pile of cash by the end of the day. Some of the other items sold are pizza, hamburgers, chow mein, frozen icees, cotton candy, ice cream, hot soft pretzels, and beverages of all kinds. It’s wonderful walking down the aisles looking over all the fresh produce. Everything looks so fresh as most of the farmers pick the very morning they are coming to sell their produce. The sun gets very hot in the afternoons and is hard on produce. If you don’t have stands with canopies available you need to tell the vendors so they can purchase something. The health department usually has rules about selling eggs at a market and most vendors know that. In fact, many of the farmers have been licensed by the health department and have their own liability insurance. On your registration forms make sure you have a place to enter their license numbers. All vendors selling food should have their names, addresses, and phone numbers for anyone to see. Anything that is home canned has to have a label on each item. Check the health department for any other regulations. Some vendors need to use generators for refrigeration and if you don’t have electricity available, some of your food vendors may need to use generators. The noise is a problem but can’t be helped. On the registration cards are the names, addresses and phone numbers of the vendors. A list should be kept on your computer, as well as what each vendor sold and how often they attended. That way, emails or letters can be sent to the previous years vendors to remind them of opening day and any increases in fees as well as any other changes. If the vendor set-up every time the previous year, you can count on them returning. But notify the occasional seller too. Remember word of mouth is your best advertising tool. If both your vendors and your customers were happy, they will tell others. Whether you have a small market or a very large one, you need volunteers to help park both vendors and customers. Some of the larger markets charge $1.00 to park. Obviously, that amount adds up quickly. It can help cover repairs to parking lots, fences, tables etc. Other markets feel it is important to let people park and enter for free. If you have to pay several people to park cars, this money can help pay their wages. You need volunteers to help keep the market clean. They should be shown where to get cleaning supplies, trash bags, brooms etc. During the day there isn’t much chance of getting major chores done due to all the people, but as soon as the last vendors are pulling out, it’s time to go to work. If you don’t have the use of a golf cart, then a small pickup would come in handy. Take everything you need at one time to save time and not have to run back and forth to get them. Vendors will leave items behind if they aren’t told about the rule when they register. It should include a rule that they are responsible for removing every item. If they don’t abide by this, they will not be allowed to rent a space the rest of the season. If you don’t do this you could end up with several dumpsters full of junk each day you are open. If you don’t have bathrooms available, you will have to rent porta-potties. Make sure they are kept clean and plenty of toilet paper. It will probably be necessary to add more throughout the day. If there is no place for washing hands, purchase five gallon jugs. Add water and one capful each of Clorox and dish or hand soap. Place it on a stand next to the porta-potties along with paper towel for drying hands. Make sure you label the jug so no one drinks it or gets it in their eyes. You’re going to need a storage area for everything it takes to run the market except for the office items. You will need tables and chairs if you are setting up a registration area outside, all the forms etc. needed for people to register, and copies of the rules and regulations to hand one to each vendor. If your tables will be outside, you will need protection from the sun too. The dollar stores have canopies you can buy inexpensively. Have you ever noticed how many stores have music playing? It is a known fact that it makes people feel happier and increases buying power. Invest in an amplifier and microphone. Advertise for live bands to play at the market too. Atmosphere will ensure people wanting to stick around. You can ask musicians, jugglers, clowns, puppeteers and comedians to come and entertain. You could have contests of all kinds to bring people to the market like cook-offs, amateur contests, etc. Anything you can think of to advertise for entertainment will bring people. It’s imperative that you keep momentum building. If you drop the ball, your market will suffer. As soon as people see there aren’t very many vendors, word of mouth will quickly damage all you have built. Newspapers that gladly print stories of the success of the market but will stop immediately when they see it taking a downslide. For your printing materials, go door to door of all the printers in the area until you can get one or more to volunteer their services free or at a very low price. If you want to build your own tables, go to lumber yards and tell them how it will help the entire community and you need their help too. It’s possible all of the lumber companies will give a portion of what is needed. Go to the carpenters union and ask for volunteers to build the tables. If that doesn’t work go to builders. If that doesn’t work go to the local VFW or American Legion and ask for volunteers. Don’t give up. Every time you hear the word “no”, think of another avenue you can follow. If you need a trailer or golf cart, start making visits to any company that can help you. Every state has a state fair. Call the board that sets the fair up and ask them for a list of their vendors. They will be reluctant because they have worked hard to get vendors themselves and will need them every year. But the state fairs only last a week and you can help the vendors months out of every year. Share vendors with them and maybe they will do the same. Watch the news and read the newspapers in your area. Any story that mentions names of people who may be able to help your market can be a real asset to you. Call them or better yet, go to see them. It’s easier for people to say “no” over a telephone. Running a market with volunteers as your only help is difficult. After all you are asking these people to give up several days a week month after month. Sooner or later, there are illness’, vacations they want to take, family problems they need to take care of as well as many other reasons for quitting. Ask churches, organizations, clubs, groups, fraternity or sororities to help out. It is a fool who has but one plan for anything. Always back yourself up with two or three plans. If you see one is not working, start the other as soon as possible. Your volunteers are interested in seeing the market become a success or they wouldn’t be putting in so much time and effort. The very least you can do is to keep them informed. Have print outs you can hand them at meetings showing exactly where donations have come in, where the money is being spent, and what the bottom line is. Ask their opinion on how they think the market is going and if they have any ideas of anything that needs to be changed. They are your eyes and ears. Take advantage of what they overhear as they walk through the market and come in contact with customers and vendors. It also helps them to realize just how important their volunteering is to the operation of the market. Be sure to be courteous and show gratitude to all of your volunteers and anyone who you come in contact with. You are all representatives of the market as a whole. You should have t-shirts, name tags, or something that only people connected with the running of the market have. Whatever you have make sure very bright colors are used so anyone at the market can find you if they need help of any kind. On printed letterhead give each volunteer a letter that represents the market explaining your vision and the help you need. Have them take these letters (copies of them) to anyone they are meeting with to ask for donations or more volunteers. Make sure you add the name, address, phone and email address as contact information. Also add the name of the founder or board members. Attach a business card to each. This should give you a good idea of what needs to be done. It can be a whole lot more fun than it is work once the market opens. If you planned well, everything should run smoothly. On opening day you will hear laughter and see smiles everywhere you look. This is your personal reward. Good luck. Keep working out the little things and keep the momentum going. QUICK MONEY Are you broke? How desperate are you? Are you willing to work for it? If you can dream, you can come up with an idea to make yourself a pile of money and quickly. No, this is not a get rich quick scheme, this is a quick way to get out of the bind you are in. The best thing of all is that you get to do it your way, on your time schedule, and using any assets at your disposal. Here are a few ideas to get you started. Go to yard sales a few hours before they close and ask if they would like to have you haul away what is left. Most times they don’t want to put it away or store it any longer. Go to several and turn around and have a sale yourself on a street corner or in your own yard. If there isn’t any law in your city about getting into dumpsters, go to every thrift store in town and take everything you think you can sell. Set up a huge instant yard sale. People are doing it every day and making hundreds of dollars a month. Maybe you have a truck or can borrow one for the day. Or you could rent a u-haul for the day. In every town there is a gold mine in metal objects that people would either pay to have you haul away or give it to you if you will just haul it off. There is a lot of money to be made by selling metals through recycling. You could easily make a couple hundred dollars in a day. If you know how to clean and separate the metals you make even more. Ask a recycler how to do it. Many manufacturers or business’ have miscellaneous junk and aren’t interested in taking the time or manpower to haul it off. Grocery stores often have metal shelving they don’t want. Auto shops have parts they just pile up at the side of the building year after year. Or put a free ad in a free newspaper for hauling. Put up flyers at the local grocers. There is an abundance of families who need someone to come in and sit with an elderly person. You can make extra money by shopping and cooking for them too. Or do the laundry while you clean their house. Many times you can find ads for just such work at local supermarkets or laundries. And of course, there are ads in the newspapers all the time. Ask at the local churches if they know of anyone needing help. Advertise to house sit or pet sit while people are on vacation. Often you are invited to stay at their home, water the plants, feed and walk the family dog and the money is usually very good. I’ve even had pet owners ask me what I like to eat and they filled the refrigerator with enough groceries for a week. If you live in a resort area, advertise to open the homes or cottages, buy the groceries on the list they send you, make sure the boat has gas and oil, and maybe even ice down beverages for them. When people go on vacation they don’t want to spend their time at the store. All they have on their mind is rest and having fun. Once you get a few customers, word of mouth will insure you have a lot more and real soon. A rising business is buying the contents of storage buildings where the person who rented the storage locker has not paid their storage bill. The owners of these storage lockers just want to retrieve part of the fee that wasn’t paid. Weekly all over the city, there are private bids with the winner getting every item within the locker. I know many people who do this for a living. They bid around $50. and sell the contents at yard sales or flea markets and more than triple their investment. If you get two or three of these lockers a month, you can expect to make hundreds of dollars over and above the amount you paid for those items. Also here is a tip for insuring your bid is the highest: Never bid an even $50. or $55. Instead make it $53. or $58. Most people will make it an even amount and some may go one dollar over the even number. So you make sure you go a little higher. Once you have the items and are going through them, separate what you would like to keep, what you could probably sell quickly, and items that would probably make more money if you placed the items in a flea market or antique store. Everyone has a unique gift that can pull themselves out of hard times and into a brighter future. What are you passionate about? Is it art, writing, creating something with your hands? Are you a whiz at decorating or building? Do you like the solitude of sitting at a computer or do you like being around a lot of people? Maybe you like boats and would like to repair them. Why not buy a boat in need of repair, fix it, and sell it for a whole lot more than you paid for it. If you are seriously considering doing this for a long time, you need to be passionate about it to make it fun and interesting. Otherwise you become bored with it and you don’t give it your all. Your customers will see how passionate you are about it and get caught up with buying from you. There is a lot of money that can be made from crafts, building playground equipment, building lawn furniture, creating metal yard ornaments, or building small garden ponds for people. But what is needed here is to dream of something unique. Everyone that owns a home has a yard. Most people want something to adorn their yard, but they want something none of their neighbors have. Think back when you were a kid and what you saw in peoples yards then. Get yourself a piece of paper and design something. Go to your garage and create it. Do you remember how beautiful the carpentry was on trellises and benches sitting around gardens in people’s back yards? It’s hard to find anything like that anymore. Today so many things are made of plastic and don’t have real style and elegance about them. You could build one in a day and put it in the yard with a price tag on it. You can bet it would be gone by sunset. Today many small towns are working towards revitalization and would like benches and planters adorning the streets. Design some and load them up in a truck, take them to town and show your work off to business owners and the city hall. You just may leave there with an empty truck. If not there, go to the next town. Depending on where you live and the time of the year, there are various needs of home owners. Think of how many single or divorced men or women there are today. This means there are many things they would appreciate someone doing things for them that they don’t know how to do for themselves. Their home may need a new roof or just repaired. Maybe the yard is full of leaves and the age or health of the owner keeps them from getting their yard tidied. Maybe they have a job that leaves little time for such chores and would love to have someone help them out, giving them time for other responsibilities. Drive down a street and when you see a fence that needs repaired or painted, pull over and knock on the door. You just may have found work for the day or longer. If you have done work for others, have pictures of your work that you can prove what you are capable of. Dress nicely and be polite and personable. I know many people who have jobs where they sit at a desk and can do many things, but when it comes to any handy work they would have no idea where to start or how to repair anything. In a town nearby, a man goes to the place of employment of his customers and changes the oil, checks all fluids, cleans the inside of the car and washes all the windows. I know it sounds funny, but people are not only too busy these days but they don’t want to do chores such as this. They would rather pay someone and be done with it. There is an artist that goes door to door in several towns and paints holiday decorations on the windows of many of the business’. After the holiday, she comes back and cleans the windows. She is paid handsomely by each business and can do several in a day. People walking up and down the streets stop to admire the artwork and often go into the business which before they had never really noticed. It helps the store owners make money which they appreciate too. The artist that does this is a single mother with children in school. She can work any hours she wants and still be home when the school bus drops the children off. Anytime she sees a fundraiser going on in the community she calls to see if she could set up a card table and make drawings of people. The small fee she charges adds up quickly throughout the day. Parents love to have hang pictures of their children in their homes or send them to grandparents. Remember all these jobs started with an idea. But instead of letting it just be a fleeting idea, they went to work to make it happen. They didn’t let anything stand in their way of being able to make money. It’s easy to come up with an idea. The difficult part is to take the initiative. For that you have to believe in yourself and take the first step. After that everything starts to fall in place and soon you realize you did it. You really pulled it off. Its not only a good feeling, you have reaped what you went after and now have money in your pocket proving you can do anything you can dream of. It becomes a game to see just how many things you can come up with. Soon you find its actually fun. And along the way you meet new people. Maybe you have a green thumb. Do you realize how many restaurants would love to be able to get fresh herbs or fresh homegrown vegetables. There is definitely a lot to be said for the freshness of vegetables picked the very day they are eaten. If you have room to grow enough, try setting up a table or a stand and sell to your neighbors or anyone who drives down the street. Today people are beginning to think more about all the preservatives and sprays used on the vegetables bought at the store. They are thinking healthy and want healthier foods to serve to their families. There are more people thinking about ways to save money and either can or freeze freshly bought vegetables for the winter months. Have you noticed ads across the country asking for seeds or bulbs from old-fashioned flowers? There is something about getting older that makes you appreciate things you saw and enjoyed as a child. My grandmother had so many flowers you rarely see anymore. Yet people are still talking about them and wondering where you could buy such plants. If you live in a rocky area or where the soil isn’t very good, build raised beds. Make sure you put water lines under the soil so you can easily water and not have to work so hard. Call your local high school botany teacher, near-by college, or conservation office for ideas and to help answer any questions you may have. Children can come up with ideas easily. If you have children or grandchildren, take a walk with them. Tell them what you would like to do and ask their opinion and for ideas. You will be amazed at how quickly they can come up with a dozen ideas. And as we grow older, if we stop long enough to think of all we have experienced up to that point, we will realize just how much we know about so many things. Draw from this and make money off this knowledge. When I was a child, my grandmother made doll clothes for me out of small bits and pieces left over from other things she sewed. Today if you want a change of clothes for a doll, you have to buy another doll the same size. I’ve had people ask me if I sewed. I don’t, but I would ask them what they needed in case I came across someone who did. It’s amazing how many people asked about doll clothes. They would like to give them as a gift at Christmas along with a new doll. Barbie dolls have been bought over the years and a few clothes can be found for them at local stores. What about all the other dolls? Do you remember the doll clothes trunks where you could hang all your doll clothes on hangars and close it up when you were done. I haven’t seen trunks like that in years. Have your husband or friend build the trunks and you sew the clothes. Sell them as a package deal. What a nice gift. There are a lot of mothers who would appreciate not having to pick up all the doll clothes strung around the room and have a place for their child to put everything neatly. Wouldn’t it be nice to have your child have enough doll clothes to keep them busy for hours instead of watching television all day. And it’s a great past time for when children are sick and need something quiet to do. What better than to have your favorite doll near you? Children are great artists and have wonderful imaginations. Have them tell you a story and then draw pictures to go with the stories. Find a publisher and publish them. No matter what age they are, you can be sure other children at that age would identify with anything your child would write about. Or if you are an artist, you could do the drawings. This is a good way to make money for your child’s college education or to help pay for classes they want to take while growing up. It also teaches them pride in their own abilities as well as helping them take baby steps towards being a first class adult writer. Whatever you own, there is someone who wants to buy it. In today’s world, prices are high and people are always looking for second hand items. Whether it is tools, furniture, clothes or household items, you can be sure someone would buy it. For any of you who are interested in coin collecting, antiques, auto manuals to an old tin can full of buttons something of worth. Or maybe you have old records or cd’s that you no longer want. If you need quick money you can always get on the computer and sell it on any of the auctions. But if you really want to make money over a long term, why not set up your own business where you can sell things over the computer for others who don’t know how or don’t have the time. Or start your own mall on the computer. There are millions of items being sold by millions of buyers who don’t want to leave the comfort of their home. Holidays are a great time for shoppers looking for something special and unique. People aren’t worried about giving pre-owned items as gifts and many love buying pre-owned clothes. Anyone who rents houses or apartments always has people who move out and leave items behind. Sometimes the owners have to remove truckloads of items and would be more than happy to have someone who would come and pick it all up or remove it all on their own. There can be items that would be very profitable, especially if an elderly person lived there. Also real estate companies often have homes that have been vacated and have a whole attic or basement full of things that need to be hauled off. Contact these people or put an ad in the paper for hauling and clean up. You just may be surprised at the trinkets and miscellaneous you can find amongst another’s belongings. The sportsman is always looking for unique items with the name of their favorite sport or team on it. Think about where they may want to wear it or display such an item and what type of item you could create. Just because you don’t live near the stadium, that doesn’t mean there aren’t fans all over the state. Or see if you drove to the stadium on game day if you would be allowed to sell out of the back of your truck or van. It’s very possible you could be sold out way before the game starts. Think of how much the fans pay for a concert or a game and they still want to go home with souvenirs. If you can do latch hook rugs, design something special for the fans. If you knit or crochet, design something to keep them warm. Or maybe you do woodwork crafts and can design something they just have to have. I have given you enough ideas. Now it’s time for you to think of what would work for you. Are you into physical work or is there a reason you need to do something a little easier? Do you need extra money this month or long term? How dedicated are you willing to be? How much money do you need or want? Do you need enough to live on or just support your other income? These are all questions you need to think about before you decide which of your ideas you can actually put into action. I always say if you are going to dream, then dream big, but dream within reason. A great way to make any decision is to get a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. Now label each side positive and negative. List everything positive you have thought about. On the other side list all the negatives that would stop you from doing what you had planned. There you go. Everything is in black and white and easy to see which direction to go. Don’t stop and think about each thing you write down. Instead write as fast as you think. This gives you a truer idea of the pros and cons. If you have any money you can invest in your idea, take another piece of paper and write down what possibilities are available to you. By now you should have a pretty fair plan and it is time to start putting it into action. And remember everything in life is like the flow of the ocean. Sometimes there is barely a ripple in the water and other times the waves are huge. One thing is for sure, if you wait, the waves will calm down and then repeat itself. Any business is the same. You will have both good and bad days, days you make a lot of money and days you won’t. Don’t give up. The course will change. Record keeping is a must. You need to keep track of customers as well as your income. What percentage of money did you have to invest to make the amount you made? Were the profits good or do you need to rethink the way you have been doing things so far. Ask yourself what you could do differently? Do you need to advertise more? Remember word of mouth is the best advertising you can get and it is free. There are many websites that offer posting free ads. There are some that are only in your locale and some that are advertised all over the U.S. There are also many who charge a very small fee for advertising your items. Just make sure you receive the money before you ship the item and charge for shipping and insurance in your price of the item. No matter where you live there are probably yard sales, flea markets and maybe even an open-air swap meet. Think about it. Billions of dollars every year are made by recycling used items. It’s a huge business. It’s a favorite past time for people. The really dedicated shoppers make a list from newspapers of where the yard sales will be. They even map out an itinerary of which ones to go to and the fastest way to go to all of them so they don’t have to backtrack. Some do it for entertainment and others do it to resell the items. Almost all manufacturers have what they call seconds. There is something just a little bit imperfect about the item but is still good enough to use or wear. You can walk in and for a small amount of money walk out with seconds to resell. Silk printed t-shirts, hats, etc. are often bought and sold at open-air markets or yard sales. Everything from tools to luggage can be bought inexpensively and marked up. Auctions are listed in your local newspapers. Any item it takes to run a household can be found at an auction including anything found in attics, basements, garages, and yards. It is like a smaller version of your local discount store. Only these items are discounted by 50 to 75 per cent. Depending on where you plan to resell the items you buy will determine what type of auctions you want to attend. If you plan on selling items in a low class or poverty level area, it would be difficult to sell high priced items. If you live on a main street, your chances of selling are better than if you live out in the country. All these things have to be considered while you are in the planning stage. Life means taking chances. There isn’t anything in life you do that you aren’t taking a chance in one way or another. But the more you take time to think and plan your strategy the easier it is and the better your chances are to reap the most of out it. Human beings are great collectors. Most people keep things they haven’t used in 15 years but keep it just in case they may need it some day. Most people have closets that are stuffed with items they don’t even remember is in there. If you don’t believe me, wait until you move someday. The day you moved in you only needed one u-haul truck and if you stay in the same house for ten years, you will probably need 7 or more truck loads of stuff. Before you move, gather all this stuff you don’t use or need and have a huge yard sale. Downsize all you can. Why pay a truck to move things you don’t need. Make money off it and buy things you would use. Whether you set up one table or many tables make sure they look appealing to your customers. Why do you think storeowners spend so much time and money decorating their windows and stores. You have to get your customers to your tables if you want them to spend their money. Put colorful, festive looking table cloths on your tables. Make sure you price each item. Also on your price tag, have a way to tell how long you have had the item for sale. You can use numbers or use colored tags, which denote the month you acquired the item. Don’t keep the merchandise in the same place for more than one month. Some people are bashful and won’t ask for the price, they will just walk away. Wear an apron with divided pockets. You can sew one or buy one from a restaurant supply. Here you can keep a small tablet and pen, a place for bills and a place for change. This makes it easier for people to pay and be on their way. It’s not a bad idea to have pop and ice water or tea on ice for selling to your customers. Maybe they will stay around looking a little longer and the possibility of more sales for you. Time is money. Take the time to clean up any item you sell. But do not try to cover up any scratches or bad spots with a price sticker. You customers may buy from you once but not again and repeat business is the name of the game. A little soap and water can bring you twice the amount you would have gotten without cleaning it. Add a little furniture polish or brass cleaner. If you have an upholstered chair, use stain remover if necessary and vacuum and clean the rest. It sounds like a lot of trouble but you can clean everything you have to sell in a matter of a few hours. Its worth it! Now you need to put up some signs. Get the brightest yellow contact paper or poster board you can get. If you happen to have some plywood to use for your signs, make them at least 4’ wide and 2’ high. Paint arrows if needed to help with directions. Print the largest black lettering you can fit on your sign. Blow up a few balloons and tie them to the top corner of your sign or put a small flag or something that will blow in the wind. People will see anything that moves and notice your sign even better. No business can last if you don’t put some of the money back into the business. So after your sale is over, take at least 30 per cent and put back into your business. After all, your overhead has been very low and you’ve made a nice profit. To be able to keep making money, you have to keep investing into your business. It’s nice to have someone to work with. Friends may want to invest also. You can take turns driving around town and going to yard sales and auctions or each of you take a different direction. This would give you double the opportunity to find special items. At the end of the day you can see what you have accomplished and you have money in hand, money you wouldn’t have had if you hadn’t taken a chance. This proves to you there are more possibilities ahead. THINK BEFORE YOU ACT! When you are down and out, you need money NOW rather in a few weeks or a month when you would get your first paycheck. It takes money to get to work, for your lunch, and possibly for day care for your children. Maybe you could sell some items on websites where they offer free advertising such as www.hwy-13.com, have a yard sale (you can replace items once you are working), or go to the organizations page to see which orgs will help you out. Also go to your church and ask for help (most churches have a small amount of money to help those in need). And before you go to work make yourself 2 budgets (one with paying child care and one without). Does it pay you enough to go to work and pay child care? Maybe your best bet is to start a day care for children. And today there are many baby boomers who need a place to go for adult day care. Put ads on the internet, laundramats and any place that has a bulletin board (including the local libraries, convenient stores, and orgs that help the seniors). It's definitely a much needed service you could provide while you take care of your own children
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