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Do you enjoy writing? If so you may want to consider making money online writing for others. You may choose to market your own articles via a content site, you may choose to search for individual clients via discussion forums, twitter and other websites.

Whichever approach you take, be sure your articles are well-written, and that you’ve researched your topic well enough to know what you’re writing about. Write in casual language so your writing doesn’t sound stiff and too formal.  Be sure your writing makes sense and offers valuable information for your clients.

Be dependable and always follow-through. If you promise an article by 5:00 Friday, have it to the client. If a real emergency comes up (no, hanging out with your friends at the mall doesn’t constitute an emergency, even if it feels that way), let your client know ASAP.  A quick email to your client with an explanation will keep you in good favor with your client.  If you just don’t deliver your article on time and then try to explain, you will lose credibility.

There will be times when you may not be able to meet a deadline, but they should be few and far between and you should communicate well with your client so they understand what’s happening at all times.  Building a reputation for dependability is one of the best things you can do to kick-start your online writing career.

The easiest way to get a few “clips” (samples of your writing) under your belt, is to write a few guest posts for a blog you read often. That way, you know what the readers like, and you know the blog topic well. That will make it easier to provide quality content for the blog owner. Comment frequently on the blog so the blog owner gets to know you.

Then, approach the blog owner and let her/him know you’re interested in writing a guest post (for free) and discuss the topic.  Be sure to agree on a specific topic, something you know about within the subject matter of the blog.  Agree on the length of the post, the exact topic, and how long your resource box should be (short bio at the end that includes information about you, the writer). Also be sure that your resource contains a live link to your email or to your own blog.

When you’re doing guest posts, don’t do too many of them. You don’t want to take up all your time writing for nothing. But do a few, maybe 8-10, so you can provide potential clients with some good links to check out your work.  What you are doing with guest blogging is providing website owners a glimpse at your writing.

Always search for “do follow” blogs – those that make the link to your post visible to the search engines. You can do this by Googling “do-follow blogs.” You’ll find several to choose from.

Start your own blog and post several times a week. That’s another great way to get your writing noticed and gain some followers. Include in your bio that you are a writer who is very much available for hire.

Promote yourself through Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites. But don’t be overly aggressive with your posting. One post a day letting others know you’re available for freelance writing  should suffice.

You can sign up with sites like Freelance or Elance, but the competition is stiff. You might get a few jobs, but the pay is typically very low and seldom worth the effort.

Realize that writing is a craft and it can be learned just like anything else. Read all you can about writing well and about blogging, and become an expert at both. Don’t let being young hinder you… you can be a young, professional writer and make real money writing articles and blog posts for pay!

Technorati Tags: articles, blog post, business ideas, creativity, ghost writer, teen entrepreneur, writer

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If you have performed in your school theater, choir, band, or talent shows, you may be a natural born entertainer.  You may enjoy singing, dancing, playing an instrument, or some other fun activity that people enjoy watching. If this is the case, then you’ll enjoy becoming an entertainer for parties and events.

Entertainers have a great value to any party and can earn some good money. If you’ve been active in local community or school talent shows and the theater, then you already have the ability and the platform to sell your talents. Prepare professional business cards to hand out at the talent shows you are active in. People will be thrilled to be able to book a real honest to goodness entertainer who they have seen perform at an event.  You already have an audience, so why not turn them into clients?

You’re in show business, so use your talent to create a business card that is clever and unique. You’ll want to include the obvious; what talent you perform along with your contact information.  You don’t want to put your prices on your business card as this practice is considered unprofessional. Even though you’re in “show business” your professional side should be what the client sees off the stage.

If you aren’t sure what to charge as an entertainer for parties and events, do some simple investigating.  Call people who are entertaining at parties and find out what they charge for various entertainment. Be open and honest and tell the person you called that you’re looking to get into the entertainment business in your local area and wondering what the basic fees are. Keep your fees competitive and reasonable, even offering a slight discount for first bookings. Most entertainers will be happy to welcome you to their world, mostly because they’re overbooked and can use the help!  They will be delighted to give you suggestions and ideas to get your new business up and running.

If possible, participate in every talent show you can in order to get your name out there. You definitely also want to volunteer  your talents at fundraising events, retirement homes, children’s hospitals, and the like. This type of exposure is invaluable as a means to get your name out in the public in a very positive way.  Plus, it just feels right to share your talent!

Make cute and creative flyer’s to showcase your talent, your business, and your contact information. If you’re posting single flyers on bulletin boards around town, be sure to use tear off strips at the bottom with your name, number and talent so that people can take that with them and leave the flyer up for others. Replenish your flyer’s as needed to keep a steady flow of clients ringing your bell.

Advertising in the local paper is another great way to spread the word of your new business. Be creative!  There are many ways to advertise.  Don’t get stuck thinking that a classified ad is the only way to go.  Don’t forget your own school paper and those other marketing areas such as menus and sports programs.

When you’re not performing at the parties, you’ll have a chance to mingle with the guests.  Not only is it fun, but you’ll have another opportunity to sell your talent for another party. What a great way to mix business with pleasure.

You may have a group of friends who are similarly talented.  Why not work together?  Re-work your prices accordingly and plan your act together. It may be more fun to work as a team.  Then, the team can do a little mingling and possibly gain even more bookings for events.

Remember, people go to parties and events to enjoy themselves and have a good time. You can make the parties and events more enjoyable with your talents so be sure to share them and have a great time.

Technorati Tags: business ideas, creativity, Entertainer, Entertainment, teen entrepreneur

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Many parents are working longer hours and have fewer hours at home these days. When it comes time to plan their children’s birthday parties or other events, they want help. This is where you come in. If you love to plan parties down to the last detail, this idea is perfect for you.

As a teenager you already know what your peers enjoy and like at parties, you remember your childhood and perhaps even have a younger sibling or niece or nephew that enjoys specific things. Armed with this information, you’re the perfect party planner.

The easiest way to start your new career as a party planner is to begin with your own family.  Plan a fantastic party for someone in your family who’s having a graduation, birthday, or other special event. Plan it down to the last detail and then present the plan to your parents or relatives before the birthday or event is to take place. Give them plenty of time to mull it over and set up a time to go over the details.

Start with planning the decorations, foods, and activities.  Depending on the occasion, you might even be able to plan the guest lists. Go to crafts stores, dollar stores, large department stores, and even grocery stores, and price the decorations for your suggested party. When you present your ideas to your parents or relatives you want to have a complete proposal down to the dollar amount.

After you’ve done this a few times you’re ready for the big time. Start spreading the word via your parents, relatives, friends and previous party goers. Everyone will remember the great time they had and your services will be in high demand.

You will want to work out a form or questionnaire for your party planning. Ask important questions such as, “What date is the party to take place? What is the occasion? What are the ages of the guests? Will there be both boys and girls? Do you have a desired theme for the party? Do you have a budget in mind? What type of food will be served?” and so on.

Once you have your questionnaire filled out it’s time to go to work. One of your most important jobs is helping your customers stay within their budget. While you want the party to be a success, you certainly don’t want to keep adding amenities until you’ve gone over budget.  Work closely with your client to make sure that each expenditure is well within the budgeted amounts.  If there are any changes in the budgeted amounts, be sure to jot down those agreements.

You should set up a portfolio of different party ideas to show potential customers. Pictures of parties you’ve already created along with the budget for food and decorations would give them great ideas and save you time when you are helping them decide what they want to do for their party.

Ideas for parties you’ll want to include in your portfolio could include skating parties, bowling parties, sledding parties, and swimming parties. These sorts of parties can work very well since they naturally are entertaining and keep everyone busy having fun.

A themed party can be another great way to have fun. A preteen or teen may want a party theme around a favorite singer. You would want to gather the music together of that particular singer and plan the party around the music. Children’s television and movie characters are another great inspiration for theme parties.

You may even want to try your hand at small weddings. Work closely with the bride to be sure that everything goes smoothly on her special day. Your skills will reduce her stress and help her to enjoy her wedding because you will be taking care of all the little details.  Of course, planning even a small wedding takes special talent and care, so be sure you’ve already gotten a good deal of experience behind you before you attempt planning a wedding.

Market yourself, your talent, and your expertise.  Have professional business cards printed and distribute them whenever and where ever possible.  Strike up a conversation with people you see in your day-to-day dealings. Ask them about their interests, then share what you do by handing them your business card.

Ask local businesses if you can leave your cards with them or post one on a bulletin board.  Be sure to go back to that party supply place you’ve been buying your supplies from.  They’ll be more than happy to hand out your business card if you are a good customer.  Print up pamphlets and flyers and get them posted where ever you can.

Party planning, like any business or job, will have its ups and downs.  Some parties will naturally be more fun and easier to plan than others, but with a little practice and patience you’ll learn quickly how to work with any situation.  There is still a high demand for people who can take the pressure off of parents by planning their family events.  Outline your business plan and start small.  You’ll be busier than you ever imagined in no time, and making the kind of money you had only dreamed about!

Technorati Tags: Birthday, business ideas, Children, creativity, Entertaining, Entrepreneur, Parent, party planner, Party service, Start Up, Start Your Own Business, teen business owner, teen entrepreneur, Wedding

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With the advent of spring and warmer weather, if you are a teenager who enjoys getting outside and creating beautiful things from nature and the earth, this is the perfect time to begin a landscaping business. This is as simple as beginning a lawn care service. Grass grows fast this time of year and people are too busy to get out and mow the lawn. That’s where you come in.

Print up some flyers and a business cards right from your home computer. Leave them around town in places such as the post office, grocery store, and garden supply store. Have your lawnmower and other lawn tools in perfect repair so when the calls start coming in, you’ll be ready to go. It also is helpful to personally visit some homes that have a yard in need of beautifying.

Add a website to your other arsenal of tools. Many times people will check the Internet when looking for someone to take care of their lawn for them. A website makes you look much more professional to a lot of people. Leave your contact information there along with the different lawn care services you will perform. You want prospective customers to call you for your prices. It’s usually good to negotiate on that if possible.

When you start to gain customers, you will most likely want to bring in some one to help you or you may find that you have too much work on your hands. Regular clients can be great because that is income you can count on as well as know what days you will need to perform their lawn maintenance. Be sure to always keep enough help so that you don’t have to turn down any work.

This is a business that can lead into a full fledged career in doing something that you love as well building a profitable income.

Technorati Tags: business ideas, Entrepreneur, Home and Garden, landscaping, Lawn, lawn care, Start Up, Start Your Own Business, teen business owner, teen entrepreneur

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If you have been told that you are quite talented when it comes to putting words on paper and making them come to life, you may want to consider a career in writing. Now, this is not the kind of writing you may be thinking, such as published best selling books, although, that can certainly come later if you wish. This kind of writing is something that can get you started while making money for you at the same time.

You have seen the content on web pages as you surf the Internet. This content has to be written by someone, and most of the time, the owners of these websites are not the writers. They typically hire someone to write the content that appears on their websites. This may, or may not, include the use of certain keywords that are to be used in these articles. It may also just be straight forward writing of the informational variety. However it is done, all you have to do is use your talent of writing to make that webpage come to life.

This is actually a very good way to set up your own business as well as break into writing for financial gain. There is a huge demand at the moment for this type of writing and not everyone can do it well, even though there will be many people who fancy themselves to be writers. If you are able to stand out among the top of the real writers, chances are you can become quite successful at doing this.

One of the ways to turn this into a profitable enterprise is by expanding and taking on writers to help you. Eventually, you will do the marketing to gain clients and your writers will do most of the writing while you take a small profit from that. You may also want to keep your own hand in when it comes to new clients or specialty writing, but for the most part, you can turn this into a business where you are the “boss.” It’s also perfect to fit in with school hours and activities as you will be writing on your own schedule.

Technorati Tags: business ideas, Creative writing, creativity, PLR, Small business, Start Your Own Business, teen business owner, teen entrepreneur, writing

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A very fun, creative, and profitable business that teens can organize and run all by themselves is the ever popular gift basket business. Teenagers tend to be much more artistic than adults and this is a talent that can be used to come up with many different ideas to be used in crafting gift baskets. This is also a business that, once begun as a teenager, can easily expand into quite a profitable operation the longer it’s tended.

Gift basket businesses are quite simple to start. You will, of course, need baskets of all types and sizes. That’s the first supplier you will need to locate. Something to check is if you may have a basket factory located near you. This is a great place to get quality baskets at bargain basement prices. If this isn’t an option, you can always hit your local dollar stores and stock up that way, at least in the beginning.

The next thing you will want to do is decide what sort of baskets you will offer. You can either do pre-made baskets for different occasions or take custom orders, for which you can charge a bit more.  Baskets have become so popular over the last several years that nearly everyone thinks of these for special occasions of all kinds when they are not sure what to get someone. There are even special pet gift baskets that you can offer.

This can be a truly fun business, and one that you can turn into something even more as you grow personally, as well as professionally.

Technorati Tags: baby baskets, business ideas, creativity, finding your passion, food baskets, fruit baskets, Gift, Gift basket, holiday baskets, teen business owner, teen entrepreneur

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Something that older people and busy people need is a service that will do their holiday decorating for them. This can include such things as putting up outside holiday lights, decorating a tree, and assembling a lawn setting. The truly unique aspect of this business is that a package can be organized that includes both decorating and the taking down of the decorations once the holiday has passed.

Depending on how much decorating is involved, different prices will need to be set according to how much time it will take to do it. Other things taken into account will be transportation as well as any tools you will need to have on hand. Unless you are asked to purchase any decorations, the customers will have what they need and want put up when you arrive. The over head of the business is practically nothing.

That’s one of the reasons it is the perfect business for a teen. Of course, there will need to be at least 2 of them involved in this type of business, but finding a good team should not be an issue. They may need an adult to sit down with them in the beginning to help figure out just how much they should charge. Beyond that, though, this is an easily run business that teens are very capable of operating themselves.

So many people need a service such as this. Seniors may have problems getting up on a ladder to hang lights and other decorations. Busy professionals just don’t have the time. Single moms also may have issues with putting up outside lights and assembling lawn decorations all by themselves. There are so many people who would be grateful for a service like this.

Each package should contain a price that includes both set up and dismantling and it can even be paid on a half up front basis. When the dismantling of the decorations is completed, the other half of the fee can be paid. This can be a really fun idea. It can even be expanded into decorating for things like birthday parties, etc. Teens have all sorts of energy and this is a great way to use it earning money.

Technorati Tags: business ideas, decorating, Start Up, Start Your Own Business, teen business owner, teen entrepreneur

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A home business for teens that fits in beautifully with their already loaded schedules is creative custom letter writing. Granted, the teen who takes this one on does need to have an interest in creating these letters or it won’t work. But for the teens who enjoy something like this, it’s a perfect way to get their feet wet in running their own home business.

Creative letter writing has become quite popular during the last few years. This is basically writing customized letters to children for their birthdays, from Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, or for any other event that children like to celebrate. These letters can make the entire event that much more special to them. These letters are written on stationary that is event appropriately decorated and mailed to the child.

Parents, grandparents, or other relatives and close friends order these letters for the special children in their lives. The prices charged for doing this depends on how many letters are ordered and what is included with those letters. Many people who run this type of business have little “kits” that they put together of special things for the child to enjoy along with the letter. Of course, a bit more is charged for these..

The supplies needed for creative writing are simple enough and can be produced right on your computer. You can even purchase plain paper that you like and print your own design for customized stationary. Then use the font style and color from your computer to write the letter.

It doesn’t have to be limited to letters. For example, you can also offer things for the birth of a child, such as a printed name meaning and what was going on in the world on that day. These can be framed and presented to the new parents who will give them to their children one day in the future. It’s a wonderful keepsake and very easy to create.

Obviously, anyone who wants to make money doing this will need to be creative and know how to market their business. However, for the right teens, this could be the perfect business to learn from.

Technorati Tags: business ideas, Creative writing, creativity, Entrepreneur, Start Your Own Business, teen business owner, teen entrepreneur

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Teens who are craft oriented can usually find all sorts of ways to start their own home businesses. It just depends on what their interests are and how they mesh with the current demand for their products. However, there are usually several outlets for items created by crafting them.

For example, candle making has really taken off in the last few years. With the sudden interest in things like aromatherapy and meditation, candles are especially sought after. Scented candles are of particular interest and sell quite well. These can be made at home by using essential oils in the mix. People use these for many different reasons and they are almost always in demand.

On the subject of aromatherapy and essential oils, if a teen is interested and talented in mixing these, many items can be created for sale. These include bath oils, bath salts, lotions, perfumes, and just about anything else that scent can be added to. Many shops will take these and sell them on consignment or they can be sold directly from a website.

Crocheting is always going to be in demand. Things such as afghans, bedspreads, blankets and a multitude of other crocheted items can be custom made and sold. A teen who has mastered this age old art can find many ways to form a business around it. It is also another business that can have its own schedule, which is always a great thing when it comes to teens.

Sewing cannot be left out either. For the teen who is adept with a sewing machine, there is always money to be made. This is particularly true if the teen likes to make things like costumes for Halloween or the Renaissance Faire. Those are very much in demand when the occasions roll around. Designing them as well can also draw more customers.

There are so many ways to turn crafts into a business if the teen is so inclined. It just takes a bit of desire, motivation, and effort to turn it into a truly fun and profitable venture.

Technorati Tags: business ideas, candle making, creativity, crocheting, sewing, Start Up, teen business owner, teen entrepreneur

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A situation that may arise at your home when you have a teen entrepreneur is that once said teen is invested in his or her own home business, there will not be time to do the routine and mundane chores that keep a house in working order. Little things like cleaning their room, taking out the trash, loading the dishwasher, and cleaning their bathroom may all just go by the wayside. Your teen may have entered the working world with a bang but now your house looks and smells like it’s been invaded by the Swamp Monster.

It’s totally understandable that your teen may be fully caught up in this new business venture, particularly if it’s the first time he or she has tried anything quite like this. You can be patient for short period of time to allow for adjustment. However, if it starts to seem as if you have suddenly become not only the chief cook and bottle washer but the ONLY one, it’s time to sit down and have a chat.

It’s entirely possible that your teen has just become so caught up with the excitement of starting a new business that he has just not remembered that he has chores to do. That happens easily enough. If that’s the case, you should be able to get by with a gentle reminder and that should take care of it.

On the other hand, if your teen has turned into a little business tycoon who feels that the business is now his life and you should understand that, there will need to be some ground rules laid down. These rules will need to be enforced by you, as the parent. If you get pouting, you may need to suggest that he may not be responsible and mature enough to operate a business, after all. The point to get across is that business owners and operators ALSO have those pesky, boring domestic duties that have to be done.

It may be a bit of a struggle at first, or you may get really lucky and not have any issues at all. However, it goes, don’t get discouraged. It will all work out in the end once everyone’s on board with the changes.

Technorati Tags: Business, Small business, Start Up, Start Your Own Business, teen entrepreneur