Are you a little artistic? Great at coming up with short quips that make people laugh? Designing your own t-shirts might be a fun home business for you.

There are a few sites that allow you to create your own designs and then sell them printed on t-shirts through their sites. The cost varies depending on the site, as do the products you can offer.

Skills Required

Creativity, artistic skills, something to make your designs catch people’s attention. You will probably want to be comfortable with Photoshop or similar software to create your designs.

Common Expenses

You will need a computer and internet access, of course. There may be a cost to have a premium versus basic store.

Possible Income Streams

CafePress, Zazzle and Spreadshirt all allow you to create designs and sell them on various products. All offer free stores, although CafePress does have a monthly charge if you want a premium store.

You can coordinate your stores with any other of your home business efforts that will allow you to do so.

How you earn varies a bit with each site. You may get to set your own prices or be paid a percentage of sales of the shirts you made. You can also use associate programs to earn from referring people to other people’s products.

You will want to market your shop through a separate website, Squidoo lens, etc. in order to make sales.

It generally takes a LOT of designs to make much money at this. It’s not a quick business.

Do you Squidoo?

If you haven’t heard of Squidoo, it’s a site that lets you set up individual pages, called lenses, on a particular topic. You can add your own affiliate links and also earn money from the ads they place on the site.

This is not something I’ve earned a lot from, but I only have a few lenses. I’ve been experimenting with increasing them lately, just to see if I can earn more. Some people report doing very well. My challenge may be that many of my lenses are not much focused on selling.

Squidoo lenses can also be good for backlinks to your own sites.

They do of course have restrictions on spam, and you can’t write on certain topics, but otherwise you have a pretty free hand.

Skills Required

Writing skills, of course! Also the ability to point out interesting and relevant products can really help your earnings.

It helps to know a bit of HTML so that you can make the most of what you’re allowed to do. There are a lot of limitations on the HTML you can use, but if you know how to style it you can make things look pretty interesting. Using the various modules well also helps.

Common Expenses

Expenses? Squidoo is free to use!

Possible Income Streams

Squidoo has various income-sharing modules you can add to your lenses, such as Amazon and Cafe Press. You can choose individual products or allow them to be selected automatically.

You can also add your own affiliate links. Squidoo doesn’t mind.

Recommended Reading

The Secret Cash Machine on Squidoo – Also has a free subscription with a free lens idea daily.
Squidoo Queen

Working as a mobile notary may sound pretty easy, but it has its challenges. One of my cousins did it for a time and gave the business up. Even though the pay per notarization can be quite good, it’s a lot of driving at the last minute, and sometimes it’s hard to collect the money you’re due.

Most states will limit what you can charge to notarize something, and it will probably be a very, very small amount. States may or may not limit what you charge for travel.

However, if you add in the duties of a signing agent, you can earn a better living.

Skills Required

A notary must be commissioned by their state. You can learn how to do this in your state by going to the National Notary Association website or by checking your state’s website. Instructions may be in the Secretary of State section, Attorney General section or elsewhere on your state’s site.

The requirements may vary from state to state, but the basics will probably be along the lines of:

• You are at least 18 years old.
• You are a legal resident of that state.
• You have never been convicted of a felony or certain misdemeanors.
• You complete the training for your state, which may be online.

Common Expenses

You will need some basic supplies: notary seal, notary journal, fingerprint ink, notary bond, errors and omissions insurance, business cards and marketing expenses.

You will need a reliable vehicle and have travel expenses as you go to customer sites.

Possible Income Streams

Your income as a mobile notary is often determined by limits set by the state. Plain notary services are often very limited as to what may be charged. If you work as a loan signing agent you can generally earn significantly more money.

Related Scams

According to my cousin, the biggest problem was simply getting paid once she started working. You may have to be very strict with your clients about when you expect payment and keep excellent records so that you know what you have coming to you.

You should also be aware of the possibility of training scams. Check with your state so that you know what is required. In many states it’s a pretty simple process to get started.

Also make sure your insurance is from a reputable company. You will want errors and omissions insurance to protect yourself in case you make a mistake.

Recommended Reading

Tid-Bits For New Signing Agents

How does your resume look? Do family and friends as you to help them get their resume in order when they’re job hunting? Why not make a business out of resume writing?

Skills Required

The ability to write a great resume is the most obvious skill required. This includes being able to slant a particular resume so that it emphasizes the skills for a particular job, not just writing a generic resume.

You should also be able to write a good cover letter and maybe even help people learn how to hunt for a job. The more range you can offer job seekers, the more you can earn.

You will need to be able to draw out from people what their skills really are. Not everyone will be thorough enough in listing their skills in whatever baseline resume they give you. A good resume writer can ask questions to learn about more skills and maybe even experiences that should be listed.

Common Expenses

You’ll need your computer and internet connection, of course, plus Microsoft Word or other word processing software. These days a domain name and hosting are pretty much a given, as these will allow you to get clients from all over, rather than just locally.

You should also get business cards and flyers that describe your services so that you can target locals. The internet is a wonderful thing for home businesses, but that does not mean you should neglect the potential that local business brings.

Possible Income Streams

Your primary income will of course be your resume writing services. You can add in fees as relevant to writing cover letters and job hunt assistance.

You should also be aware that some job boards offer small commissions for people to post their resumes on them. While these affiliate programs won’t generate much, it’s a little something.

Recommended Reading

Resume Magic: Trade Secrets of a Professional Resume Writer
Cover Letter Magic: Trade Secrets of Professional Resume Writers
Start Your Resume Writing Business

Do you love jewelry? Spend too much at the craft store making up designs of your own? This is something you could turn into a business.

Skills Required

If you already make jewelry as a hobby, you have the basic skills required to create jewelry for a business. You may have to learn how to do your work more quickly.

You will also need to learn how to run your business. You’ll need to figure out details such as pricing, marketing and where to sell your finished jewelry.

Common Expenses

Any business where you have a physical inventory is going to have expenses related to that inventory. That’s supplies, tools and packaging.

You may choose to sell at craft fairs, and have the expenses associated with renting a table and displaying your merchandise. You may choose to set up your own site to sell your jewelry, which means hosting, domain name and credit card processing fees, and possibly shopping cart software. You may choose to sell on Etsy or eBay" alt="" /> and pay the associated fees for those sites.

Possible Income Streams

The main way you will earn money is from creating and selling your jewelry. However, you could also earn by teaching other people how to make jewelry, either as in-person classes or by writing an ebook.

Recommended Reading

Ultimate Guide to Your Profitable Jewelry Booth
Jewelry Selling Secrets
Sell Your Jewelry: How to Start a Jewelry Business and Make Money Selling Jewelry at Boutiques, Fairs, Trunk Shows, and Etsy.