MAKE EXTRA MONEY and EVEN EARN A LIVING
Someone posted a question on a homestead group i'm in on a social media site, They asked,
“How can I make extra money on the homestead?”
The time we live in is perhaps the best time in our history to make money working for yourself.
I raised a family of 4 children. My wife never had to work outside the home. My children never had to go to a daycare or baby setter. When the children got old enough they worked in the family business.
I never paid them for doing chores. That was part of being a family member. But I did pay them well for working in the business. It became a family business.
When I started out back in early 1970s it was tough. I’d walk into a business and be told I was the WRONG COLOR!
Kroger grocery store stands out. I ask if they were hiring. They would not even give me an application. Just told me I was the wrong color. I’m a white man in case you didn’t know. That’s right white people were being discriminated against even back then.
I got tired of being turned down for jobs so I started working for myself. I found that if you will work as hard for yourself as you would for someone else, YOU WILL MAKE IT.
You have to find something you like and something that won’t cost you a lot of money.
I’ve always liked making rustic furniture.
I saw a article in the January/February 1977 issue of The Mother Earth News titled, ”I Make $200 a Week Recycling Willow”.
Now $200 was a lot of money back in 77. So I started making willow furniture.
At the time I had a retail Army/Navy store in Louisville Ky. I bought military surplus from Fort Knox auctions. From GIs setting up at the E-Town Flea Market, and Radcliff Ky pawn shops. And resold it in my surplus store in the highlands.
There was a garage in back of my store so I started making rustic twig furniture after store hours. My furniture business was called The Willow Tree. I figured if I liked willow furniture other people would too. The material was free for the cutting and I enjoyed making it. I started selling pieces. I’d make a piece and put it out in front of my Army Surplus store. Everything I made I sold.
Once a guy came in to buy some army boots. He told his wife what I made, she came in and bought everything I had.
I sold the surplus store and started making furniture full time. This was all BC, that is Before Computer, and BI Before Internet.
I had sales reps in several areas. One in the Boston area. I sold 4 chairs to actress Whoopi Goldberg. She bought them from a shop that carried my work in Boston. I shipped them to Whoopi Inc. Burbank Ca. I had a rep in in Dallas Tx, One in Chicago, and one in LA. I had to pay the reps a 15% commission. Since my customers were retail shops I had to sell to them for a 40% discount. I was shipping out a truck load of furniture almost every week.
Then the depression of 85 hit. Yes there was a downturn in 85, look it up. I felt like Job in the Bible. One bad news after another. I vowed to never give credit, never buy on credit, never hire anyone to work for me, and only take orders I could fill by myself.
I purchased a personal computer when they first came out. Spent hours learning programs. I learned D.O.S. at the J.B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville. When the Windows operating system came along I taught Windows to the guys that run the computer department. At first they thought it was a fad so they rejected learning. Then they ask me to teach them. This was BEFORE the World Wide Web, now know as the Internet. Since U of L was research school I could get online to other research schools and military sites. It was fun traveling around the world. Then the internet became available to the public. I purchased a domain name and built my own website and started marketing my work. Selling directly to retail customers. I MADE ALL THE MONEY. No more wholesale, no more rep commissions. Since I was a craftsman, I became a juried member of the Kentucky State Craft Marketing Program called, “Kentucky Crafted”. The state hired me to put on internet marketing seminars. I helped other crafters learn how to sell their crafts online. I started a Kentucky Crafts web site and built web sites for crafters.
It was a lot of work back them, BUT, today all the work has been done for us. There are many online sites where you can sell products, WITHOUT building your own site.
You name it, you can sell it. Many people have gotten rich selling online.
There was a guy that got tired of going to the convenience store at night to buy diapers. He started buying them by the boxful and selling them online, then by the truckload. He became a millionaire. Same with a guy selling pool tables, and a 14 year old that started selling Apple products online.
So you can sell too! Pick something you like and something that doesn’t cost a lot of upfront money. An item well bought is already half sold.
My family business was selling things other businesses discarded like pallets and wood. I made and sold pallet furniture before pallet furniture was cool. I bought and sold Kentucky Bourbon barrels, and wine barrels. I made barrel furniture. My Kentucky Barrels web site was the #1 site selling barrels at the time. I sold to motion picture production studios and theme parks.
I always told my children the money grew on trees for us.
I had the top website in my field on the internet at that time. I shipped furniture and accessories around the world.
Today there are many online sites where you can sell items. Sites like, Etsy, Amazon, Handmade at Amazon, Ebay, Facebook Marketplace, Bonanza, Gab Marketplace, and other sites that are springing up.
I’ve retired now. My youngest son has taken over the family business. I help him out as much as I can. I do the easy work to stay busy.
He sells on several online sites. He works from home and is how own boss. It's his only job.
Like I said this is the easiest time to sell in our history. Choose what you want to make or sell. Package it and sell it online.
You can order FREE shipping boxes from the US post office. They will deliver them for free. You can buy shipping directly from them online, and print out shipping labels from your computer. You can have the post office pickup your boxes at your home for free.
Here you see some orders going out today, waiting for the mailman to pick them up.
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| Waiting for USPS Pickup |
All the hard work is done for you. Even if dozens of others are selling the same thing, you can sell too.
Chose what you want to sell. Place your adds and start selling.
