Ways to Make Money...

[onthespot]

Any way to make some FUN at your place, that both the tourists AND the locals might come by and empty their pockets? How about a mechanical bucking bull that got a makeover to look like a moose? A weekly contest for who caught the biggest fish that week? How about chicken races? karaoke? Local art and craft show/sale? Massages (legit kind) People like to compete and brag. Tourists like to see "interesting stuff" and somehow you could make your local "duds" be a point of interest for the tourists. Heck, they don't know what the "record" is supposed to be in your area. Whatever the biggest, heaviest one there is, that's the record. Show it off. Have a spin wheel for coupons/free stuff/lose a turn, $1/spin.

 

[Wolfwoman]

savingdogs: My fur crafts are what I sell online right, not to mention skulls and skull cleaning that I do too.

Barred Babies: I have two candlemakers items in my store already. And a soapmaker! Those items sell ok.

onthespot: Sure, I can see the liability insurance skyrocketing now!! LMAO!! There are no fish in this river, unfortunately... coal mining killed it off back in the 20s. My store pretty much IS the local art/craft place. I have several vendors and I make a commission off them, so yes that works. Our locals live up in the woods, not out here on the highway and they are very touchy about people coming on their land or near it... trust me, we've been here 7 years, locals isn't the way to go. The spinning wheel is a cute idea, but it's gamboling, illegal here.

 

[Tigerjane]

What's bringing the tourists to your area? What is it they're there to do?

 

[Sjisty]

I work 8 hours a day at my first job. For extra, I make and sell bird toys. Hopefully before too much longer I will be able to quit first job and live off of second, which I love! Check us out - www.fancyfeathers.biz.

 

[Wolfwoman]

Quote:
We're on one of the prettiest highways in the state, they come here to get gas and snacks and drive on. Lots are just driving thru to other areas, some are driving past to see the Glacier 26 miles up the road.


Sjisty: Bird toys, how neat! I'll take a look at your site

 

[koop]

This also won't help you but I have a rental house, I want more, its over 30% return on investment............ the money is good and usually isn't too much work.

 

[Goose and Fig]

Do you have room at the store for entertainment one night a week? We are in the middle of nowhere too, with virtually no tourist business other than "the worlds biggest yard sale" once a year. A few of the restaurants that have managed to stay open (nothing but horrible food here!) have live bands or gospel singing (yes- we're in the south) once a week. They're always packed then. Maybe you'd get some more of the tourists from the resort/place next door?

 

[JacksFlock]

Online Poker! I spend 20 hours a week playing small stakes and I make enough to pay our bills.

www.bankrollboosters.com also brings in extra income for us!

 

[Wolfwoman]

The place next door works well in conjunction with us. They are a bar/lodge/restaurant and we are a convenience store. They have live entertainment on the weekends most times. We have a garbage sale once a year here too...lol

 

[mediazeal]

Quote:
All good ideas. I need to find additional things I can do while here at the store. I do my fur crafting in the winter, but I need a summer extra money-maker that goes along with being here.

Write up a 3-40 page pdf about fur craft, all the how toos and put it up on the internet
you can use paypal to get paid each time it downloads

write an article about how much you enjoy fur craft, how you learned it, or a few tips and post it to ezinearticles.com with a link in the author section back to your buy your pdf page. This will help you get traffic
then go to some craft blogs, post a hint and put your link to your fur craft pdf in your signature
do not spam all the craft sites with just your url
you have to contribute something or you will be seen as a spammer
yahoo groups are another place to contribute and put your link in your signature

It's great when you have a speciality like a craft skill
if you price it some price you would be willing to pay, say 7-9 dollars, you will sell more of them and get a good buzz going.
if you want others to market it for you, you can list it on someplace like clickbank, but you give half of the sale to the marketers that way
(often a good deal cause you wind up selling way more than you would have)

If you have another craft skill, write another one, etc. You could make a little craft skills empire!!
Good luck