A Business You Can Start in 10 Minutes for $0

Here is another idea from Biz Idea Journal subscriber Skip Rosell.  Skip is a real doer who is working on several business to business advertising sales projects. 
 
Here in Skip's words is exactly how to do this...
 
Use the classified section of your local paper online and find “Moving Sales” These ads will have a phone number in the ad. Copy the number and paste into Google. This will give you the name, address, city Etc. Copy these back to a database of your choice. Do all the moving ads in the paper. You will find them under merchandise for sale, yard sales, etc. The best way is to insert the word “moving” into the search box of your local online paper’s classified section.

Now that you have the names of the people moving sort them by telephone exchange. The telephone exchange number is the three numbers after the area code: Example: (845) XXX- 1234 Where the X’s represent the exchange numbers. You know your area and if all the numbers are within say 20 miles then you can use them all. Otherwise just pick the numbers that are.

Now in the same newspaper search for “Cleaning”. This will bring up all the ads that have cleaning in them. Most of these will be one-person businesses advertising cleaning services.
Copy these and bring back to a new database. Almost all people that move clean the place up and a lot of them would prefer to hire someone else to do it.

Now you are ready to make some money. How much money you make is up to you. It will be decided by how much “work” you do. This is not hard work but you must start and work at it. You can do the same thing for all the painters, man with a truck, carpet cleaning, and many, many other businesses.

The best way to tell you how you make money with this business is to describe how it came about:

I sold a cleaner an ad in my mini directory (editor's note: the mini directory is one of Skip's Advertising businesses) and then he asked if I knew of any other low cost ways of getting business. Since I was in the classified section of my local newspaper I told him he could send a post card to all the people that are moving. I explained how to do this and he asked how much I would charge to do it for him. I told him fifty cent each to address and mail a lead generating post card. I then asked how many he would like mailed each week. Since he thought that these movers were about the best prospects he could get for his cleaning business, he said all I could get. I had to slow him down. I told him I can get about 15 per week in his zip code and I could work out from there and get as many as he wanted. The more he took the more travel he would have to reach each sale he made. We decided on 50 per week for a month’s trial. Total $100.00 for a month.

I then printed up 15 sheets of 32lb stock with four post cards on each. Using an excel database I mail merged the addresses with a filter on the database for his zip code. Then did the same for the zip codes next to his until I reached 50. Total time to print and address the cards was 15 minutes. It took me a little time to get the names into the database and doing only one business would not be very profitable. So I called a painter. Tried to sell him my mini directory, failed, but told him about the post cards. Sold him on 50 post cards a week also.

Now why am I telling you about this business? I have too much on my plate right now to start & test another unknown business. But it looks promising and I would like someone to try it out to see if it can be profitable. The price has to be tested, the wording on the post cards need testing, etc.

(end of Skip's post)

Skip has given you the basic concept so now I want to expand a little bit and show you how to make this more profitable.

First off, instead of sending a postcard for each business what will work better is to come up with a Moving Out Directory. This would be simply a directory of businesses that people who are moving may need the services of. Contact each of these businesses as Skip explained above and sell them on the idea of being included in your directory. Here is a list of possible businesses that offer services to people who are moving:

Pressure Washing
Gutter Cleaning
Heating and Air Conditioning Servicing
Off Site Storage Facility (or PODs)
Painting
Moving Service
Tree Removal
Lawn Service/Landscaping
Handyman
Driveway Pavement Repair
Deck Cleaning
Window Repair
Hauling
Roofing Repair
Property Management Service
Exterminator
Carpet Cleaning/Replacement
Real Estate Agent
Mortgage Broker
Appraisal Service
Home Inspection Service

If you can get one business from each of these categories to pay you 50 cents per directory and you mail 100 directories a month that would earn you an easy $1000.00 a month. These businesses should jump at the chance to be in your directory because:

1) You offer them exclusivity (only one business per category allowed)
2) They could do this themselves BUT it would cost them more then 50 cents per address.
3) All the businesses above advertise in my local newspaper. They are spending much more then $100.00 a month and they are not getting anywhere near the targeted exposure you could offer them.

That is the idea in a nutshell. GO FOR IT!

James