FOURTEEN WAYS TO MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR PHONE...

Here are fourteen fun ways to make money with your mobile phone from Money Magpie.

• Shore up your savings with mobile surveys
• Clear out your clutter
• Browse for big bucks
• Rake in rewards by listening to music and downloading videos
• Get addicted to apps
• Snap up cash
• Become a corporate spy
• Get rewarded for your routine
• Sweat up a profit
• Call other countries for free
• Save money with our comparison pages
• Wire money and receive money on your phone
• Keep track of your billMake money recycling your phone
• Make money recycling your phone 

HOW TO SUCCEED...

To succeed, you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you...

Tony Dorsett

HOW TO MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR CAR OR VAN...

You can get £66 - £200 a month to have an advert plastered down the side of your car, and apparently it will not do any damage to the paint work.

According to This is Money " motorists could earn up to £1,500 per year by renting out advertising space on their car, Company branding is professionally applied to the surfaces of the vehicle and can remain fitted for three to 12 months depending on the duration of the ad campaign". A great idea to help students pay for the running of their cars.

Look at Comm Motion or Use That Space for more details.

They have a strict driver requirement with the obvious things on it like, a current MOT and road tax for your vehicle and no convictions on your license.

#HOW TO MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR GARDEN...

Spring has just arrived and your garden is looking a bit tired but it could be used to bring you in some extra cash.

Is your garden to big for you to look after ? Well why not turn it into allotments. Growing your own vegetables has become so popular that there are waiting lists for allotments.

It's not going to make you a fortune as on average, allotments in Britain cost between £10 - £30 a year but if you have a large garden that you struggle to maintain yourself, then this could be a perfect way to get around it.

You could also grow your own vegetables and save money as well as make some money at the same time. Look at Plot Search  and the governments Apply for an Allotment   in case you need to apply for permission. Another good site is the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardens.

There is lots of help from Allotment Garden  and also Channel 4's Program River Cottage has a great article on How to Start An Allotment. 

If you love your garden and feel it's well worth opening to the public then open your garden to the public through NGS, and sell your plants to the general public that come to see your garden. You could grow edible flowers which have become fashionable with gourmet and health food stores. You could even start a Beekeeping business from your garden. 

This great site Profitable Plants  explains how for 8 hours a week you could earn money growing herbs for profit in your backyard garden. Another site Low Cost Living has lots of ideas on how to make money from your garden.

Finally,  do you think your garden could be used for a film set ? Film crews can be a tad intrusive but you can earn quite a lot from renting it out to them. Some great sites to take a look at are Film Locations UK, Lavish Locations , or Location Works.

#HOW TO SET UP ADSENSE ON YOUR BLOG...

As I am sure you will know you can make money through Adsense by placing ads on your blog, you can then earn a percentage of the revenue that Google makes for sponsoring the ads.

The companies that want to advertise pay Google, which then pays the hosting website. But first your have to set up an Adsense account. It's easy to do - first you need to have a blog or website and you must be over the age of 18, otherwise you will need to apply using your parent or guardian. If you don't have a Google account then you will have to create one to sign up for Adsense.

You will then be asked for your primary blog/website or url, even if you have more than one blog/website they just want a primary address. Then you pick the language that you are writing it in.

Google Adsense will then list its Terms and Conditions and Program Policies. It's all very straight forward basically letting you know what you are NOT allowed to do to increase your sales.

Next you just simply fill in your contact information and make sure you have your bank details in front of you when you fill this form in and check and double check for no mistakes. Next accept Adsense policies then sign up with an email account. The Adsense team will then review your application and let you know if you can join them. This can take a few weeks so don't lose heart if you don't here back straight away.

Now add Adsense to your blog - There are three place you can consider putting your ads on - on the sidebar, right at the top of your pages (under or above the header) and somewhere in the content (either at the end near the footer,before the comments, or right in the middle of the text). Your site has to be up and running for around six months before you will be eligible for adding Adsense (hence why I don't have it on this one yet).

Adding the Adsense isn't to complicated although I must admit that Affiliate links are much easier. So, here goes -
1. Log into your Google Adsense account
2. At the top, click on the option that says My Ads
3. Click the button that says New Ad Unit
4. You will then see a setup area where you can name your ad. This is just for your reference so you can name it where you are going to position it (header)
5. Choose the option that says Responsive from the drop down menu
6. All the other options leave as default
7. Click the Save & Get Code button where you will see another window pop up with html in it.
Select and copy the code
8. Now head to your blogs Layout
9. Click on add a gadget on your Cross-column
10.Now click on Adsense and enter your code. Click Save Arrangement and in goes your first advert

Adsense will only allow you to put three adverts on each blog/website so next you can repeat everything I have put above but choose the large sidebar type ad for your sidebar, and a small horizontal ad for your content.

Your add will not show up straight away so don't panic when you can see nothing showing on your blog/website. That's it, when you next check on your blog you should see your Adsense adverts. There is support from Google if you need it.

My next post will be on other ways to make money from your blog including self-publishing your own books on your blog subject.

#HOW TO MAKE MONEY FROM SETTING UP A MEMBERSHIP CLUB...

Following on from my previous post. I decided I would start a Ladies Friendship Club with the motto 'Friendship – being friends or a friend, goodwill, benevolence' I wanted it to be exclusive so I had some gold credit card style membership cards made. For £20 per annum (which is what I charged when I first set it up) they were given the card plus a quarterly hand-made newsletter (see picture above) which I made myself. It had a diary of our events which varied from coffee mornings, luncheons, outings, cookery classes, acceptance slips with return envelopes and also feedback from previous events. Our other motto down the side of the newsletter read“Forget the Feng Shui, Forget the personal trainer, and stop the housework. Ladies who Lunch is the new Therapy”

I got speakers for the luncheons and we went to different Hotels/ Restaurants/Stately Homes/and Tea Shops. I remember vividly at the first luncheon I had only 12 ladies coming for lunch. I was absolutely terrified at having to stand up in front of 12 ladies and talk on my ideas for the club. Over the following couple of years I soon became a pro at standing up in front of large numbers of ladies.

Below was feedback from some of our events, which I put in the Newsletter - the remarks are what club members wrote in our club diary.

3^rd March – Our 3^rd Anniversary Luncheon with a chocolate theme to it –“Fabulous food and company with not much chat over the “Tarte au chocolat”! Excellent speaker as well.

8^th March – Our first walk to celebrate International Women’s Day, through Bestwood Park and lunch at The Griffins Head at Papplewick – A very nice walk and lovely company.

16^th March – Virgin Vie coffee morning – I had the make-over this time and enjoyed every minute of it – Always enjoy the coffee mornings- thank you xxxxx.

17^th March – The launch of our in house Book Club – see later in the Newsletter for reviews.

30^th March – Day trip to Leeds superb shopping facilities – Harvey Nicks here we come – thanks for a fabulous day out to Leeds.

27^th April – Cookery Demonstration  – Excellent Day, food delicious, excellent demonstration – when are we going again?

30^th April – Coffee Morning at Portland College – Not many of us today, but as always good company.

6^th May – Walk in Newstead Abbey– what a gorgeous house, lovely walk and lunch as well.

12^th May – Trip to Japanese Garden and Thoresby Hall Courtyard Shops with afternoon tea in the Hall – Lovely gardens, good shopping and afternoon tea in the hall – it was all very enjoyable.

18^th May – The club’s surprise trip to Castle Howard with lunch and afternoon tea in The Great Hall – Another triumph xxxxx, an excellent day out and the weather was kind to us as well !!

25^th May – Cookery Demo  – Excellent, superb food and domo.

3^rd June – planned trip to Lyme Park ended in an unplanned trip to Bramhall Hall in Cheshire- Brilliant change of venue – quick thinking xxxx, even managed to do some shopping didn’t we !!!!!!

8th June – Garden Party – A glorious day in lovely surroundings with pleasant company and food. That’s what I call retirement !

15^th June – Nottingham Open Tennis and 17^th June Gardeners World Live – both excellent

Fast forward 24 months and I had over 100 members and had approached a number of businesses who offered my ladies discount on goods when they showed our gold card. The club was expanding so fast that I couldn't keep up with all the paperwork and decided to put a stop on the membership and have a waiting list for it instead.

But I knew it had the makings of something big so I went to my local County Council who ran Business events/training days to help start ups. They said if I put a good business plan together then there could be some funding come my way. I wrote a business plan and constitution where I put my aims and objective to develop the club district wide, to provide ladies with friendship, educational courses and social activities in a safe environment.

They loved it and I was sent to pitch in front of some funding companies that helped out small/new start up businesses.  I couldn't believe it when they said they would pay for a website for the business. It was set up exclusively for 'members', where they could catch up on the clubs news, events and pictures of where we had been. 

I suppose I like to think of the ladies club as a life changing community project. My ambitions for the future of the club included, educational courses in computers, reflexology and crafts, awareness of working in the voluntary sector as well as the usual dose of coffee mornings, day trips and luncheons. 

I felt that the events transported my ladies away from everyday routine to escape into a world of feminine fun. Little things meant so much more to me then. I didn't seek praise but if people thanked me for what I had done, it made my day very special and I treasure my written thank you’s that I have collected over the years. But I was beginning to realise that I could do with some more help with the ever expanding membership. So I put together an advert for consultants to help me expand the business.

I felt ready to expand and grow big and I was keeping on top of all my health problems with medication and some physiotherapy but I still needed further help with my neck pain. I was booked in for a spinal injection which was similar to one I'd previously had in my lumber spine which really helped and had no complications.

Unfortunately this time it was not the same. In fact it turned into a  life threatening episode and I was too ill to attend one of our biggest days out the following week. I had two full coach loads of ladies all going for a day trip to Althorpe House (Princess Diana's resting place), followed by an Afternoon Tea stop on the way home. This was my lowest point and honestly thought, why bother!! But, with the help of friends the club continued to plod along nicely. However, I was missed, everyone said it wasn't the same without me and I couldn't work up the enthusiasm to want to join them for anything.

I soon learnt to not be my worst enemy and take time out for myself and let go of trying to be 100% perfect all of the time. The family were not happy and sat me down and said I needed to work less and rest more. This particular episode frightened me so much that I needed hypnosis to help erase the memories that were keeping me awake at night.   

I was then also diagnosed with Fibromyalgia (an incurable, painful condition which includes fatigue, insomnia, stiffness, IBS and pain throughout the body) and I realised that the time was right for me to try and just sit back and relax. 

The last outing was our Christmas luncheon which was always very well attended and although I had told members that I was 'putting it on hold' for a while most knew this was the end of the Club. It was an emotional lunch but the feeling of relief and total exhaustion afterwards confirmed to me that I had made the right decision. 

I really didn't want to sell the business this time as I guess I felt that ' you just never know' and might regret it if I sold it. This was, after all, my fifth business but something a friend had said to me stuck with me, she said ' At the end of the day you should be really proud of yourself, none of your businesses have failed, some are still up and running. It's your health that has failed you and the way you have dealt with it should be an inspiration to anyone'.

So that was the end of my Ladies Club but I'm sure by now you will have realised that it would probably not be the end of my entrepreneurial spirit. 

#FIGHTING BACK AND START ANOTHER BUSINESS IS THE ONLY OPTION...

They say back pain affects 80pc of the population at some point in their lives. Mine, started in my late 20’s with extremely debilitating low back pain. Treatment in the first years consisted of physiotherapy and manipulation by an osteopath and chiropractor but eventually surgery was the only option. Sarah Key's Back Sufferers' Bible is an excellent book on the subject.

It was my fourth operation that soon made me realise that time is a gift after I developed an infection and was off work for nearly six months. Brides were phoning me in hospital to check everything was still going to plan for their special day. Of course I never let anyone down, but I had to find some more staff to help run the business which during that time was being run with the help of all my family.

Many a day I’d felt despair, rage and profound disappointment that I could not do certain jobs. I looked like a question mark, bent like someone 20 years older, I felt like an object of pity, an old women in black. Pain is introspective; it doesn’t give a dam about the rest of the world.

My life has changed so much over the years that I can hardly believe it. One minute I was planning on expanding my latest business and then the next I was planning on selling it.

But one thing for sure I was no 'quitter' and knew I would get around my problems one way or another. I sold the Balloon Business to my best friend's daughter who had been working for me for over a year. Selling it to someone who worked for me made it easier to let go. I could pop over and help a little if she needed it, and still felt involved when she rang for some advice and for well over 12 months I still had customers phoning me about events they wanted sorting, but slowly I let go.

Time was the key, how I used it and whom I spent it with became very important to me.

I loved writing things down and have kept many a diary. Some diary entries would sound very depressing but on the whole I knew my limits and found the tiredness the hardest to control with an overwhelming urge to sleep. The simple act of writing my thoughts down filled me with a sense of purpose, to pursue my goals. I would read inspiring stories of ladies working from home and knew it would not be long before I had an idea for myself.

I didn’t know where to settle, what to do, I felt frightened and lonely. Deciding my future, fearful of depression setting in was probably one of the hardest decisions I had had to make. It was strange to discover that I was the same person, had the same enthusiasm and woke up with equal excitement to face the day ahead even though I was in constant pain.

I took on a small writing job for my local newspaper covering community events but most days I just loved the comfort of my own chair,  I constantly scrutinized magazines for ideas and inspirations on what to do and came up with the idea of a club designed especially for ladies to develop friendship and shared interests in a safe environment. I set the club up in 2001 initially just as a hobby but the entrepreneurial side of me took over and it wasn't long before I had another good business up and running. I will cover this in my next post. 

I hope you will get one very important message from this post and that is to NEVER, EVER, GIVE UP'.

HOW TO SET UP A #DRESS AGENCY BUSINESS...

I had an idea to open a Dress Agency from my home and did a lot of research into what was available in my area.  Getting a business plan is something you should consider before starting up your agency. A concise and clear business plan is important to your success and easily available online. Insurance for your stock is another important factor before you open your door to the general public.

Before we moved to the East Midlands I had worked in a friends Boutique and had made quite a few contacts through it so I decided to get in touch with everyone I knew to see if they had any clothes they would like me to sell for them.

I decided right from the beginning that I only wanted to sell good quality affordable clean 'pre-loved' designer labels to high end High Street brands. Every stock item I had was handpicked by me, assuring all my clothes and accessories were pristine and high quality.

We then converted a beautifully designed room downstairs into my Dress Agency Boutique with heavy duty rails around the room and two large full length mirrors. I offered a personalized, professional and friendly customer service.

I put a small business card size advert in my local newsletter and had an opening night which was an invitation only event. The opening night as a great success and I soon realized that I needed more stock so I put another advert in the local newsletter for good quality 2nd hand clothes.

It wasn't long before the business took off and I gradually had a regular clientele who loved certain designers and the minute I had any in would come straight round to try them on. I am quite sure that some of my customers would never have walked into a Dress Agency to look for clothes but because I ran it on an appointment only basis they became regular customers.

I just kept adding to my stock and started to include hats, bags, and accessories. I bought clear clothes covers (like you get on dry cleaning) and lovely hangers to give it the professional touch.

I also held a number of fashion shows for local charities which were always a roaring success, and gave me free publicity. Commission rates seem to work on a 50/50 basis but I was happy with 60/40 as my overheads were so low. Good quality second hand clothing will always sell well and your seller will keep supplying you with the clothes if they get a good return on them. With so many charity shops also selling good quality clothes nowadays you should never run out of stock.

Only hold your stock for a certain amount of time and have it written down on your terms and conditions. This should include that the seller must pick up unsold items by the date specified . If you don't put this in your conditions, you could end up with a lot of dead stock that is just filling your rails.

Secrets Dress Agency based in Weybridge has the most amazing website to inspire anyone to buy second hand designer wear and accessories. Another one I found called The Dress Agency  also has a very appealing website. You can certainly come up with a great name and website design just by browsing the internet.

You could have an eBay site and a Facebook page which opens your doors to so many more potential customers. I also researched nice quality buttons to sell as these were something that could update/alter any cardigan/jacket or coat.

Designer dress agencies are currently enjoying renewed popularity, both with label fans and those looking to buy quality pieces that won't be found on the high street. Vintage designer wear is also very fashionable with the younger generation.

There is a Dress Agency Directory online for you to easily research if there are any in your area. Listing your Dress Agency in this directory is completely FREE.

Finally, like with any new business, you must let the tax man know you are setting up your own business and keep your book keeping up to date.

HOW TO SET UP A JEWELLERY #PARTY PLAN BUSINESS PART TWO...

When I set my business up in the 1980's there was no website to put your business onto but now you need to set up a website, preferably one that you can add a shopping basked to so that you can sell some of your products online. You can have a FREE website at WIX where you can create your own stunning website. It may look a tad daunting at the beginning but if I can make one so can you. Before building your website check our your competitions from the list below of jewellery party plan businesses in the UK and abroad. 

Next go onto the internet and download a business plan, you can get some for FREE or head to your local council and look under Business Start Ups. There is a ton of free help out there so don't be frightened of asking for it. 

Once you have your business plan up and ready and you roughly know how much you can make out of your jewellery and you have a business name, business cards and website all in place then if you have no funding of your own to proceed then you can look for some help from someone else. 

There are a number of businesses that just help start ups with funding or can tell you where to go for funding. Some useful sites are The Federation of Small Businesses and The Business Advice Website and finally UK Business Angels Association.

Once you know how much funding and help you can get then you can decide how much stock to start off with and then you need to plan who your customers are going to be. With the advantage of the internet you can soon print off your own party invitation fliers which you can send to friends and hand out to anyone you know.

I started with one friend and made sure she had a great gift and a percentage from the sale of the jewellery,  check out other party planning companies online to see what they offer their hostess and come up with a bigger and better offer. Some people will have a party just to get something free, so if you look after your Hostess she will look after you in return.

Some jewellery party plan businesses are Fingerpint Jewellery, Ice Jewellery, Miglio Jewellery,  Silpada, Stella & Dot, J. Bloom, and this website for overseas companies Jewellery & Acessories Party Plan.   

Your table is your shop, it will need to look spectacular to interest potential customers so check out sites like Pinterest to give you ideas on how to give it the WOW factor.

Your first party will be the most nerve racking but once you see people loving your stock (and they will) then you will soon have the confidence to get cracking with more. You MUST not forget to thank you hostess in front of all your potential customers and let them know what they could get if they have a party. Hopefully you will come home with at least another couple of parties booked.

Make sure you have the right stock ready for all the different celebrations we have during the year ie mothers day, valentines day etc as these can be your real money spinners especially at times like just before Christmas. Work as hard as you can over Christmas as it is well known in the retail trade how bad January and early February can be as everyone has spent up over Christmas. I used to spend January getting rid of my stock at wholesale prices and seeing what was coming into Fashion for the New Year. You could always sell job lots of unsold items at the end of the year on Ebay so that you at least get your money back for the stock you bought. 

Once you have been running for a while you will soon be needing to look else where for your stock. There are plenty of exhibitions going on throughout the year with the biggest at the NEC in the Spring. This one is well worth a visit even if you don't buy anything as you will see what everyone is selling and connect with other suppliers. Some of the biggest suppliers will probably have a big minimum order but you will find the smaller companies who will be quite happy to supply to an individual.

I hope by this stage you will be nearly up and running as my next posts will be how to expand and get BIG in the business. Good Luck and don't forget to keep every receipt for anything you buy from your tickets to the NEC to the petrol receipts for your business trips. I will write a separate article on how to keep your books. 

Finally, like with any new business, you must let the tax man know you are setting up your own business and keep your book keeping up to date. 

IF I CAN DO IT, SO CAN YOU...

I'm sure you are immediately thinking that this has to be another one of those get rich quick blogs that pop up on the internet on a daily basis. But if you could just spare me a couple of minutes to read through my story you might just decide to stop around for a bit longer.

As a young teenager I left school and went straight to secretarial college to learn to be a secretary. I then went onto work for large international commercial vehicle sales company as PA to the Managing Director.

When the children arrived we decided I would be an at home Mum to look after the children. I played around with a few little party plan businesses to bring in a few extra needed pounds, but I always had the desire to set up my own business.

It wasn't long before I decided to set up a party plan business selling costume jewellery, which during that decade (1970's) was big business. It wasn't long before I then expanded into also selling shoes and the business was great.

I'd been suffering from back problems for a number of years with a stunt in hospital on traction for a week and lots of physiotherapy and treatments from a chiropractor, but it was becoming a big problem for me.

We then moved from the North to the Midlands (a job move for my husband) and I was soon very quickly in a mess with my back which ended with major spinal surgery to remove a prolapsed disc and fuse some together. Back surgery back then was quite different from now and recovery was long and slow. 

While recovering from my surgery I was able to research what was going on in my local area to see if the jewellery would succeed and I just didn't feel the same vibe I had felt back home.

It wasn't long before I thought of a new business, this time a designer dress agency which I set up from home using a spare room downstairs. I started with designer clothes from my friends back home and complimented it with jewellery which I had previously sold on my party plan basis.

I ran the dress agency on an appointment only basis and it wasn't long before I had a long list of clients who would wait for my phone call to say I had something special I thought they would like.

Once more the business took off and I could not have been happier. When I cover this business later in my blog you will see how easy it was to make money with this particular business.

From then on, to cut a loooooong story short, I have been in and out of hospital with over four spinal operations over the last 30 years but also during that time I set up a number of successful businesses. Unfortunately, I had to sell up my business and take life a little slower due to my health problem.

Since then I took up freelance writing and blogging to keep my mind occupied. I now write a number of my own blogs and also blog for other companies. It was while reading another post about 'what you get out of blogging'  that prompted me to start this money blog as my passion is definitely in making some extra money one way or another. 

I have kept pages and pages of ideas over the years in case I was ever fit enough to try something else but putting all the ideas on this blog will mean I can help others instead. 

Sooooooo, pop the kettle on and sit down with your pad in hand while you browse through my money making ideas.