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Employment Ideas, Outside the Box

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posted on Jun, 25 2010 @ 11:19 PM
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Ok, here is my question for everyone;

How do you support yourself?

Please include what steps you take to get into what it is you do. Mybe minimal start up cost, things like this.

I just want to see what other peoples ideas are and what they are currently doing in todays economy to make money.

I fight for money, train people, and work on constructions sites. Start up costs to fight is 720 dollars in CA for medicals plus whatever equipment you need(cup,shorts). Training is expensive but if you are in the community you can work it out. Training people costs about 100 dollars for mits, and if you need mats for your garage it could cost much more. Construction job sites, you typically need at least a tool belt with your basic tools.

I just want to see what else i can do for myself and my family economically and i thought there might be something floating around ATS.



posted on Jun, 25 2010 @ 11:22 PM
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I'm unemployed and broke ,welfare is my only current option

soooo I got nothin' but I'm like you I'd love to hear it



posted on Jun, 25 2010 @ 11:25 PM
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reply to post by MrsBlonde
 


This is perfect for you then!

Lets help each other in the community here. This is 1 major way for us to support each other, ideas!

Ideas are better then gold.



posted on Jun, 25 2010 @ 11:33 PM
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Photography for martial arts schools, dance schools, ect.

Start up:
$400 for 10mp camera
Photoshop (can't remember what I paid for CS3)
$100 green screen
$100 for umbrella lights and soft box light

Average shoot:
~100 packages

Average time involved:
3 hours for setup and shoot
10-15 hours at home photoshopping

Average bring-home:
$1000 - $1200 cleared after ink and paper

Work 4 days a month and you'll make as much as a $500/week job

Hardest part is the sales pitch part to the schools, sometimes I offer them a % cut.
The people are easy since everyone wants pics of their kids.

Just don't come do this in my area please. I have the market cornered here and as much as I'd love to meet other ATS members who live around me, this would not be the way I'd wish to meet. =P



posted on Jun, 25 2010 @ 11:34 PM
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reply to post by PayMeh
 


What is the level of compitetion in your area for what you do? I understand what cornering the market is, but is that because of reputation, or lack of compitetion?



posted on Jun, 25 2010 @ 11:40 PM
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I have three products ready to go, but lack capital. Trust me, ideas alone are useless without the capital necessary to bring them to market.

The products are:

An adjustably adult party game; portable rodent-proof survival gardens; a solar powered water extractor.

Frustrating.



posted on Jun, 25 2010 @ 11:42 PM
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reply to post by apacheman
 


Portable garden... Sounds interesting.

When i have an idea i just tell everyone untill people start helping me. Eventually someone will catch on and help you.



posted on Jun, 25 2010 @ 11:43 PM
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...being a daily companion or caregiver for the elderly who live at home is a huge under-filled area... there are no start up costs... contact your local department of the aged and they can put you in contact with the contractors who hire companions...



posted on Jun, 25 2010 @ 11:44 PM
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reply to post by onequestion
 


absolutely no competition at all..

There are photographers around, but none go after these schools. On top of that none do custom fantasy backgrounds. Dragons, tigers, alien planets, ect. It really goes hand and hand with martial arts. It's why I focus on those mainly. That and there are about 15-20 decent sized schools within 30 miles of my house along with one or two that probably push 500-750 active members.



posted on Jun, 25 2010 @ 11:56 PM
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Well I saw a very nice lamp in a up market shop today, the shade was made out of whale foreskin. So if you are not Jewish then you would always cut it off your foreskin and sell it on Ebay as a very rare mini lampshade.

To everyone else, I suggest learning to survive on boiled shoes!



posted on Jun, 26 2010 @ 12:19 AM
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I'm working as a foot health practitioner, of sorts. I work with the elderly primarily and will start my own home-visit service in August. But I will not use a price list. Instead it will be for the person to determine what and how they pay. If someone can knit me a sweater instead of paying in cash, I'm happy with that because I get what I really want and the taxman gets nothing. That makes me even happier.

I will attempt to encourage people to look through their attics or cellars to find things they don't want as payment for their foot care. I will take old and unwanted stuff and either repurpose or restore the item either for use elsewhere in my life (such as when I start my foot care shop) or I can "sell" it on for something I want or need. Ultimately, I hope to only need enough cash to meet my most essential needs (rent, utilities) and most of my income will therefore be untouchable by the tax officials. They have no right to a share of my work anymore. They only waste the money and display no accountability to the people whatsoever. This meal ticket just ended. I hope others of you out there can do the same. There's no economic crisis if there's no need for money.



posted on Jun, 26 2010 @ 12:21 AM
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I actually recently started up a resume service for my area. Right now my county and many adjoining ones have over 10% unemployment. Business is booming which is good and bad at the same time.



posted on Jun, 26 2010 @ 12:23 AM
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I work as an industrial maintenance man in a poultry plant. You need a good toolbelt, assorted handtools(metric/standard wrenches,slip joint pliers, couple pairs of channel locks med/large sizes,assorted nut drivers metric/standard,wire strippers/cutters, allan/hex keys, razor knife, electrical tape, chisels, ball joint separator, hammer, 2lb sledge hammer) you can get the bare essentials for $100-150. But with tools you really do get what you pay for
oh and thank god for ratcheting wrenches!!!

Need a good basic understanding of electrical systems, some PLC programming/understanding, plumbing, basic mechanic skills(electric motors,gearboxes,hydraulic systems) basic welding skills.
I got lucky, worked in the parts room first figured out how all the stuff worked together. Worked with a great group of guys who taught me alotta stuff, including more than just being able to curse in spanish

The moneys Good for the area, benefits, tons of overtime, spend most of the day waiting for something to tear up
its a lot like the army, hurry up and wait!

[edit on 26-6-2010 by azrael36]



posted on Jun, 26 2010 @ 12:29 AM
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reply to post by onequestion
 


Thanks ! believe me I'm listening, I'm going to art school for web design have a 4.00 and I'm poison to employers for no reason I can determine !


I swear I have asked every authority figure who might know the answer to this conundrum and they tell me I'm doing everything right....which cannot be true or I would have a job ..right?

I am all about the self employment angle though

oh and thanks for the encouragement ,
it helps



posted on Jun, 26 2010 @ 12:54 AM
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reply to post by MrsBlonde
 


If you're a middle-aged woman, that's all you need to know. I've been unemployed for two years now. I've sent my CV out n times with the only result being silence. I've never been unemployed before. But now I'm middle-aged and no one wants to hire my kind. I'm not alone either. This country is full of hugely competent, versatile, highly-skilled women who have suffered the same fate.

Good for us, bad for them. Our skills are now out of their companies and out in the world creating new businesses. We don't need to be handed a paycheck. We don't need to be "managed" anymore. We have the skills.

Now they have some younger person with a bit of paper doing our jobs, basically - reworked, of course, so that it's not exactly the job we used to do so as not to break any laws.

Sit back and watch the old world fall. Don't look for jobs. Don't look toward the old models of employment or business. Make your own definitions. In your perfect world, how would things look? Think with your heart. What would you want for your children and grandchildren? Surely NOT things as they are now. Don't think about what you don't want. Think only - with your heart - about how you do want things to run. Create your world. Be the change you want to see.



posted on Jun, 26 2010 @ 12:57 AM
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reply to post by CosmicEgg
 


you rock ,just sayin



posted on Jun, 26 2010 @ 01:34 AM
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reply to post by onequestion
 


start a blog and get paid it seems everyone that i know of is doing it.

Just make sure you dont break the rules of it.

[edit on 26-6-2010 by Agent_USA_Supporter]



posted on Jun, 26 2010 @ 02:30 AM
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Originally posted by MrsBlonde
Thanks ! believe me I'm listening, I'm going to art school for web design have a 4.00 and I'm poison to employers for no reason I can determine !


I once did web design and it's not you that's poison.
It's the wage they would have to pay you in the
US. Other countries will do web design almost
for nothing and you cannot compete against
a cheap salary in a foreign country who don't adhere
to the same employment laws/guidelines as the US does.



posted on Jun, 26 2010 @ 02:47 AM
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reply to post by boondock-saint
 


Actually, you know what? I freelance as a writer and one of my clients is a website design company that just today had me write up a promotional letter they were sending out to their existing client base, promoting an upgrade in website software for $399. The company is three partners, and it is not as if they are fabulously wealthy or anything, but they seem to be doing okay. That said, work has been pretty slow for me, as most of my clients are operating "out of pocket" at the moment, and finding new clients has been tough.

You have a point about people willing to do the work for dirt cheap, and it isn't just people in foreign countries. I rely on several websites including Craigslist to find work, but CL is the most annoying to wade through because the postings are filled with clowns that either think that writers work for free, (God forbid my clients found out I post in this site), or think writers are willing to work for under a $1 an hour for the work. I am amazed at how many professional companies believe a writers work is only worth about 2 to 3 cents a word, if that, but unfortunately there are writers out there who accept that sort of work. Of course, I have have a few clients now who first went with a cheaper writer only to come back to me after discovering what it meant to have a cheaper writer. Sigh. Times are tough all over.



posted on Jun, 26 2010 @ 02:53 AM
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I am in sales management, but on the side to supplement my income I Jailbreak and unlock iphones, as well as do repair work on them.

Not much extra maybe 100 a week but its enough to keep me doing it, Ill buy used iphones on ebay or craigslist for parts and or repair them to sell.

I made 250 profit on one this week (best so far).

The repairs are pretty easy to do you just need to have some simple tools maybe like 20 dollars in tools and as for parts look on ebay for damaged or bricked Iphones, taking a risk but usually can be repaired.

Software repairs are cheapest cost me nothing to do those.




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