kids-in-biz.com

True story. A an eleven year old girls asks her grandpa to help her buy a waterslide. He asks her how much money she has saved, to which she replies, “Only $311″. Grandpa laughs and tell her to go ask her parents if she’s allowed to use some of her money to get the slide. She then told him that she didn’t have enough money.

“How much is this water slide, anyway?” he asked. Cyclone Twist Pool

“$600,” she replies.

“I didn’t even know they made Water Slides that cost that much so I said
lets go take a look at this thing”. They hopped into the truck and drove to
the store to take a look.

On the way there she started telling him more about the slide.
He asked her why she wanted such a Big Water Slide and she said, “Well, I
was thinking that I could have friends over to play in it and when we’re
not playing with it we could rent it out to other people for Birthday parties
and we could make some money!

He thought that was a darn good ideal so they bought it!

They’ve now had it since last Friday and her and a few friends played in it
over the weekend.

Soon they received a call from one of granddaughter’s friend’s parents wanting to know if they could rent it for two days while they have a family get together.

He called her and asked her if that would be OK and she said “Yes, that’s why we got it”. She also asked which days they wanted it for? I told her this Thursday and Friday.

So for $100 a day for two days! Talk about going green!

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If you have questions about what kind of job you can have as a teenager, or the hours you are legally permitted to work, check out Youth Rules!

Other online resources to help you find a summer job:

Riley Guide

SnagAJob

Teens4Hire

Last July, my daughter (then 13) told me she wanted a Wii.

“What’s a we?” I asked.

“A Wii, Mom. W..I..I,” she spelled out. “It’s like an X-Box or Playstation.”

“I don’t want you sitting in front of the TV all day. That’s why we don’t have those things,” I said. “How much is it?”

“I need about $300,” she said. “But I really want one. And it’s not like regular video games. You get exercise by bowling and playing baseball.”

“You have your own business,” I told her. “You can earn as much as you want.”

“I don’t want to wait that long,” she begged.

“Well, then find other work. Babysit or something.”

“You mean if I get the money, I can buy a Wii?” she asked.

“Sure. If you earn the money, you can buy it.”

Ten days later, after two pet-sitting jobs and a week of babysitting, she came to me with a wad of cash. “I have the money. Can I get a Wii?” she asked, tenatively.

“Of course you can. Would you like me to drive you to the store now?”

“You will? Really? REALLY? You really will?”

“You earned it. Great job! Congratulations.”

Well, of course that’s not true. But a Kindergartener can surely be involved in internet marketing. I just got off the phone Christina Lemmey from MultimediaVA. She told me that her six-year old daughter wanted her own website just like Mom! At first, Christina didn’t pay that much attention to her daugher’s request, but after repeated begging, she decided to give in.

“I decided to build a Squidoo lens with her. It’s easy. It’s free. And it’s fun for kids, too,” Christina explained. It wasn’t hard to come up with a topic for this Hannah Montana fan! Gifts For Girls was an easy topic for this mother-daughter team! “All you have to do is look in her room!” she laughed.

Since Kindergarten typing, writing, and computer skills are limited, Christina set up the lens. She let her daughter pick and choose the products to feature from Amazon and eBay. She focused on her two favorite things – Hannah Montana and American Girl. Earning money wasn’t the main concern for this lens, her mom explained. She wanted to respect her daughter’s desire to have her own site and toss in a taste of learning about business at the same time.

“How will people know about my site, Mom?” she asked.

Out of the mouths of babes…

(Check out her lens at Gifts for Girls and feel free to leave an encouraging comment so that she knows that she’s had visitors! Who knows, maybe you might even need a gift idea!)

In business, you will hear the term “niche” over and over again. Finding a niche, or your own little corner of the business world can be really difficult…but for some savvy people, opportunities that are too good to pass up present themselves. Make sure you keep your eyes and ears open while you search for your perfect business.

Many successful business owners will tell you that their business is a labor of love. They had a passion for something and turned their experiences, their knowledge into a money-making adventure. Providing a service or product that people truly want and need is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have.

Seventeen-year old Kimberly Rose did just that when she started Safesittings.com – a website devoted to connecting families of diabetic children with babysitters who have first-hand experience. She got the brainstorm when she overheard a couple complain that they could never go out because they didn’t have a babysitter they could trust to monitor and test their daughter’s blood sugar, and inject insulin if needed. A diabetic herself, Kimberly realized that she could help! She founded her business in order to help form a network of families and babysitters in the same situation. Congrats to Kimberly for her brilliant idea – and forming a service that is so desperately needed.

Do you have a niche? Is there something you know more about than most people your age do?

Twelve-year old David Wilkinson has been interested in computers all his life…but today, what kid hasn’t? The difference is that he loves the technology and wants to share it with the world. While most kids his age spend hours playing computer games, this blogger puts in his hours writing his blog Techzi.

Wonder how he makes money with his blog? Notice that he has “premium sponsors”. These are advertisers that pay to advertise on his blog. If you click on “Advertise” you will notice that he gives his statistics – how many visitors he gets and how he ranks among other sites. He also spells out his ad rates. Advertising is a good way to earn money with a blog but remember, businesses want to advertise on quality sites that gets lots of visitors. If you are thinking about starting a blog, it’s important that you have information that your viewers are interested in reading! Check out his top posts and read “Entrepreneurs – Making a Living Online.”

One of the best ways to learn how to make money is to visit other sites and take notes. Learning about business can be as easy as web-surfing with a mission. What sites do you visit often and why? What captures your attention? What makes you stay? What would make you want to tell a friend? Starting a blog is easy. What are you going to share with your visitors that will keep them coming back for more?