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One Minute Odd Job Tip

So many times the greatest opportunity can be inspired by the strangest thing.

Part of what can help us to take advantage of an opportunity is just opening our eyes and seeing things in a new way. After all, anybody can do things in the same old way.

I think in a recent newsletter I mentioned my friend who has over 30 patents. He happens to be a whiskey drinker, and being the very precise person that he is, he was annoyed and frustrated at the inaccuracy and inconsistency of the whiskey pourers that are supposed to measure the pour.

To him, that was opportunity! He designed a whiskey pourer that was very accurate. The restaurants serving alcohol in the Mall of America began to use these exclusively, saving thousands of dollars by eliminating overpours.

It seems like a simple thing, and he wasn’t only one who knew about the problem, but he was the one who took the challenge of solving it. It paid off very well for him.

>>> NEXT WEEK: We are going to explore passive income next week

Strictly Business:

In order to see opportunity, someone must have an inquisitive mind, ask questions and explore possibilities. To explore possibilities requires a creative mind, to actually grasp that something can be different than it is.

We lived in a post-communist country for about 8 years, and it always fascinated me how the culture was not curious or inquisitive. I would be walking down the street with a friend from that country, and I would see something that I didn’t understand, maybe a feature on a building or any number of other things you may see as walking down the street. The response was usually, “I don’t know,” with no interest or curiosity on their part.

It seemed to me that the whole culture was molded by decades of communism to not be curious about anything — after all, in a communist culture, to question was to draw attention to yourself, and you could be viewed as a trouble-maker.

At the time I lived there, as I watched this and thought about it, I realized that there was very little innovation that came out of that country, especially during the communist years. No inventions. Of the people from that country who did develop something new, they did so after they left the communist world.

It was a study in contrast and made me realize how important it is to ask “why” or “why not” when we see something. By doing this, we spur our creativity and get our mental juices flowing to develop something new.

Of course, there is a problem with forcing creativity. We’ve all heard of “Writers Block”, where somebody sits down to write something and can’t get started. This is because of the way the mind works, that creativity needs to come from the subconscious mind and to try to force yourself to “create” just doesn’t work.

I mentioned the copywriter, Dan Kennedy, last week. He’s a prolific author, with dozens of books to his record. He mentioned once that he gives the subject of what he needs to write to his mind before sleeping, and then lets his subconscious mind do the work. When he wakes up, he simply sits down at the keyboard and downloads the article, or chapter of a book, or whatever onto the screen.

Sounds strange, but he’s not the only one who uses similar methods.

Thomas Edison is reported to have done an interesting thing when he was confronted with a problem. He would sit in a chair holding two steel balls in his hands by his side. Under the steel balls, he would have 2 steel pans. He would then relax while thinking about the problem. When he relaxed so much that the steel balls would fall out of his hands, hit the steel pans and wake him up, he would know how to solve the problem. It worked for him, who knows, it may work for you too!

There are many very creative people I’ve heard of who keep a notebook by their bed, and when awakened by an idea, will write it down so that in the morning they still have the idea.

There’s nothing more frustrating than knowing you had a great idea, but can’t remember it!

Some Odd Jobs You May Never Have Considered:

Number 1 - Renting or Leasing something of value — (S Quadrant¹) 

It could be space in your home. It could be equipment, it could be a car, etc. Websites like Turo.com work this way, where you can rent your car to make some money. There are also websites like Airbnb.com or VRBO.com, where you can rent out an actual physical place for people to stay. You can obviously also rent out space in your own home.

If you have a spare bedroom or a basement, these types of more alternative living situations are becoming more and more popular, especially with rent prices for apartments and single family homes going up and up.

So, why not get paid for renting a room or space in your house or basement?

Maybe you have some equipment that you can rent out, like tools, power equipment, baby equipment, the sky’s the limit!

I was going to change the engine in my truck, and I couldn’t find a cherry picker, that piece of equipment that pulls engines from cars. And it takes those engines and puts them back in place, to put back into cars. I was keeping my eye out as I was driving around in residential areas, and if I saw one, I was going to offer to rent it from whoever I found that had one.

If you have something that other people want or value, consider renting it out! You may have something like an RV, a camper, a drone, photo booths, a boat, costumes, strollers, high chairs, tables, folding tables and tablecloths for events, lawnmowers, arcade games for parties, wedding gowns, I mean, you name it.

If other people want it and desire it, you can rent it out and make money at it.

Number 2 - Direct Mail — This is a “We’ve done this” Job (S, B Quadrants¹)

Since we’re talking a little about creating solutions to a problems, I’ll tell you about a problem I had — and solved.

When I was a youngster, I was a floor-covering contractor in Truckee, CA. Most of the homes at the time were being built for vacationers from the Bay Area, about a four-hour drive away. I was beating the street and visiting homes under construction and getting to know the contractors, but the ultimate decision of the floors came down to the owners (who were four hours away).

I would spend my weekends trying to touch base with those homeowners when they came up to see their new home that was still under construction. Many times, though, when I finally would catch up with the owners, they would say, “Oh, well, we already bought our carpet from Countryside Flooring (my competition).” Aaarrrrghh!

Well, Countryside Carpet was right off the freeway at the first exit. There just was no way for me to get in front of them before that exit —— or was there?

I did some research. The building permits are public record, so I went to the building department, and, by hand, wrote down the names of the owners of homes being built, along with their address in the Bay Area.

Now what?

I can write them letters, I thought. But how? I went to the library and I found the book, The Ultimate Sales Letter, by Dan Kennedy. This book showed me how to write a letter to introduce myself to these people. I hand-typed them on a borrowed typewriter and sent them off.

And the phone rang!

This was the mid-eighties and computers as we know them today didn’t exist. Brother made a computerized daisy-wheel typewriter that you could store a letter with “stops” in it. This typewriter would automatically type a letter until a “stop” would come up (and the machine stopped), and then you would type in personal information, like their name, or the address of the house they were building, or whatever.

I used this until I bought what was, at the time, a very modern computer. “Mail Merge” was not a well-known thing, but I knew what I wanted, so I talked to people and found a program that, if I wrote some Basic code into a letter, the program would “Mail Merge” letters and envelopes.

I developed a successful carpet and flooring business, without a conventional store. And I made money!

It was out-of-the-box thinking, but it worked.

Number 3 - Window Cleaning — This is a “We’ve done this” Job (S, B Quadrants¹)

This is an enterprise that can be started on a shoestring. A couple good-quality commercial squeegees (Unger is a very respected brand), a sponge, a bucket and some vinegar can get you started. Can money be made, oh yeah!

My experience is that a commercial window cleaning route is the best business model. It can be a simple matter of showing up at a strip mall and going to each business and offering your service. The advantage to a strip mall is that you can do several jobs in a close proximity to each other and cut down travel time. Also a strip mall will usually not require a ladder or any other expensive equipment.

You can get some simple business cards printed up, maybe a brochure, and start hustling!

Number 4 - Foreclosure Cleaning and Securing — This is a “We’ve done this” Job (S, B Quadrants¹)

When a house is foreclosed on and the bank takes possession, they need to make sure that the house is locked up so that no damage takes place. They also want any items, usually trash, that’s left behind to be removed. Another concern in cold climates is that the water’s turned off so the house doesn’t flood because of frozen and/or broken pipes.

Mortgage companies usually don’t have staff to do this so they hire somebody. There are companies that have contracts with mortgage companies to do this. What you will want to do is find these companies and make yourself available.

This is physical work and will oftentimes involve minor construction, such as boarding up windows and doors. Depending on where you live, you may or may not be able to get enough of these foreclosed properties to be your full income, but if you’re handy, this could be a good side gig. And, looking at the economy, I would say that this is probably a growth business in coming years.

We have no suggestion of companies to contact. You may try contacting mortgage companies and see if they can provide you with some contacts’ names.

This Week’s Quotes:

One can dream so much better in a room where there are pretty things.

— L. M. Montgomery

Life ought to be a struggle of desire toward adventures whose nobility will fertilize the soul.

— Rebecca West

The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live.

— Joan Borysenko

It is our duty as men and women to proceed as though the limits to our abilities do not exist.

— Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

There is no chance, no destiny, no fate that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.

— Ella Wheeler Wilcox

A Book for Success — Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Malts. This is a foundational book on the way the mind works. It was originally published in 1960. “Psycho-cybernetics” is described as the way the mind can automatically adjust to circumstances and solve problems. It describes how a torpedo, when heading towards a target does not head straight to the target, but zigs and zags its way to the target, constantly making small adjustments until the goal is met. This is what the mind will do if we let it.

I said this is a foundational work because many other popular books on success are based on the concepts in this book. When I was younger, (much younger), I bought a book called Inner Skiing. That book was copying what Psycho-Cybernetics talks about.

Many athletes, business people, and others who are accomplishing great things use this book regularly.

It’s not a book you read and put away, it’s a book you read and read and read.

Snarfy Jokes —

How do crazy people go through the forest?

  They take the psycho path.

How does NASA organize a party?

  They planet.

What did the fish say when it hit a concrete wall?

 "Dam!"

What do Eskimos get from sitting on the ice too long?

 Polaroids.

What do prisoners use to call each other?

  Cell phones.

Some final Random thoughts — You may say that you aren’t creative, but don’t sell yourself short. Start looking around at things that you think should be — or could be — different or better. A simple statement like, “I wish……,” could be the beginning of a great idea and business.

I was talking to a local business person in Minnesota once. Minnesota gets cold. He was the type of guy who changed his own oil in his cars. One day when he was laying in the snow changing the oil, he said to himself, “I wish there was a place that a guy could just stop in quick and in 15 minutes you could get your oil changed.”

He never thought about that again until the first quick oil-change business opened up in his area. He kicked himself, since that was HIS idea.

Next time you have an idea, nurture it a little.

Maybe it’ll be the next million dollar idea.

¹ CashFlow Quadrant references the book, Cashflow Quadrants by Robert Kiosaki. In a nutshell there are four sources of income — “E” Employee, “S” Self- Employed, “B” Business and “I” Investor. We reference these quadrants at the beginning of each of the jobs we talk about in Odd Job Tips Newsletter. To see more about this concept, refer to this issue of this newsletter.

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