Put More Cash in Your Pocket: Turn What You Know into Dough – Proven Methods for Fast Income Using Everyday Skills and Hobbies

by Loral Langemeier

Sinking. Slowly. That′s what it feels like. No matter how tight you cinch that belt it never seems like enough. Squeeze another few dollars out of the budget and they′re eaten up by rising prices at the pump or at the checkout. It doesn′t make sense, everyone′s hurting and yet prices keep going up. There is a way out; a way to stop sinking; a way to not just tread water, but to actually start to get ahead. There is a way to get some fast cash that will make a real difference in your life. It′s not a magic investment formula or some money saving gimmick. You just have to keep doing what you′re already doing...but in a smarter way. And the only thing you have to give up is your self-defeating attitude toward money. What′s the answer? Stop worrying about saving money-- and start concentrating on making money. In this incredibly timely book for a moment when everyone is looking to make a little extra dough, highly sought-after money management expert and speaker Loral Langemeir empowers readers to stop saving, stop sacrificing, and start making money by charging for what they already do -- by turning the skills, hobbies, and chores that are part of their everyday lives into a "21st Century Lemonade Stand"-a money-making business that requires no business plan, no capital, no investment-just your creativity and the willingness to ask for the cash. Loral′s approach is simple, straightforward, and proven and teaches anyone how to easily make $1000 more a month.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Money

227 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2009

Reviews

[E.C.]

A really insightful book that takes readers through each step of starting a business using the skills they already have. I appreciated all the real-life examples and Langemeier's entertaining writing voice.

[Fabrizio Poli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a breath of fresh air. Most financial books talk about budgets and cutting down on things. While this is important and we must be aware of any money we may be wasting Loral's approach is very positive. The book focuses on getting people to look at what they are good at and turning it into a business. The book is packed with money-making ideas.
A great book for teenagers, starting out in life and for older folks looking to make a few extra bucks per month or maybe starting to plant the seeds of something great!

[Sean Wiseman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a great outline for someone planning to start their own home-based business. It lists all of the necessary steps that are required to make a small side project business successful. What it won't do is tell you want that business should be. The first part of the book is dedicated to showing how someone should work to come up with an idea that works for that person. However, going into this without any ideas could prove to be a waste of time.

[Sierra Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed how simple this book was to follow along with. It’s a great ‘How to’ guide that actually teaches you how to do it yourself! It took the intimidation out of starting a business and made it seem actually possible and surprisingly simple! Great quick read. I’m ready and equipped to go start jump start my Lemonade stand!

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a long time to read...but that's on me. I kept getting distracted. This book is easy to read, very encouraging, & a step-by-step guide to create your own "lemonade stand". I really enjoyed reading this and I hope it helps me further my financial literacy.

[Sue Bridehead (A Pseudonym) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could be a fibber and say that I read this book as a ghostwriter seeking to increase the breadth of her knowledge on how to write how-to business books. However, that would be a lie and a secondary effect. The real reason I checked this book out of the library was so I could learn how to, as she says, put more cash in my pocket.

What I liked about this book: Langemeier gives readers who need more money a nice little kick in the pants. Instead of tightening your belt and forgoing life's pleasures, if you need more cash, you need to think strategically about how to work outside your job to get it. Her "lemonade stand" metaphor is nicely apt in this regard. As kids, if we wanted cash, we became enterprising and sold cold drinks to our neighbors. As teens, we mowed and raked lawns and babysat. Kids love being creative and making money. Why do we lose this zeal for enterprise when we become adults?

What Langemeier doesn't explore in depth here (because this is a how-to book, not a self-help book) is why we get so wrapped up in this notion that the "day job" is the terminus of our lives' financial explorations. What a trap, right? If your day job doesn't pay enough, take on another job. Not at the mall (have you calculated what your take home would be?) but a job of your own design, on your own terms, charging a reasonable premium for the excellence you can offer.

I consider myself a fairly enterprising person, having been essentially 100% freelance and self-employed since 2002 (10 years!). When I need to learn something new, I check a new book out of the library. So I do have a little experience reading books like these. As a result, I'm already doing a lot of what she recommends. However, the nice thing about these guru how-to books is that you have free or cheap access to a coach who can spur some new ideas and a fresh perspective. For every larger-than-life promise that makes the cynic in me say, "Yeah, right," there are five or six helpful suggestions and ideas I completely overlooked on my own.

The boyfriend and I perused a couple of L.L.'s books yesterday, and within hours we came up with an easy side-business that allows us to monetize a work task we already do for ourselves by offering it to others. We're still in the beginning stages of mapping it out, but I think if we get it going, we can get the money together to put the down payment on our first rental property. Not too shabby.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I liked most about this book was its heartfelt mission of encouraging people to take charge of their destiny through entrepreneurship. (As a self-employed freelance writer, I am already a convert to this philosophy.) Langemeier is out to change people’s mindset about the amount of power they have over their financial situation. She preaches that almost everyone has a skill or service they can offer that someone will pay for. But first they have to recognize they are not, as many have been conditioned to believe, at the sole mercy of the decisions and whims of a boss or a company when it comes to the level of income they can have at their disposal.

The other thing I liked is her guiding the reader in brainstorming freely about any and all activities that might yield a money-making opportunity, skills acquired through work, hobbies, household chores, volunteer work, everything. Out-of-the-box thinking is encouraged.

This is not a book about career planning or finding your true calling, but about how to put together an enterprise that will make a specific sum for you quickly and regularly. She discourages too much analysis or over-planning, 100-page business plans and the like. This is a down and dirty guide to “putting more cash in your pocket” -- now.

The place the book falls down in this intention is her underplaying the difficulties of the sales and marketing part, especially for that section of the population to whom these areas do not come naturally. This alone can take plenty of time and work (uncompensated) and returns on the effort are lower in a bad economy. Miraculously, all of her four case studies seem to know enough potential customers to get started without much trouble or find people pretty easily who need the service, don’t already have a supplier to whom they are loyal, and have the cash to pay for it.

But all in all, there are many good ideas, lots of encouragement and detailed suggestions about modeling parts of your business on other successful businesses, setting prices, narrowing down your target market, and getting organized to formalize a business.

Recommended.

[Brenda Humphreys · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in making money fast, this is a great book to read. Loral urges you to get rid of "I can't afford it" mentality. All you need to do is make enough money to cover the expenses of what you want. Loral teaches you how to create you own business to bring in the cash that you need. All you need to do is sell. It could be a product, a service, or your knowledge. This book goes step by step on how to create cash fast. It works!

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skimmed -- some good tips/ideas.

[Christina Hanchett]

I wish that she would have been a bit more descriptive. The scenarios are great and informative only if you fall into that category. I wish that there was some sort of outline for other skills.

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast. And keep it simple. An excellent system if you have some extra time and a willingness to go outside your comfort zone.

[Sam Usher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I have also done her 3 Days to Cash workshop & she keeps things just as practical in her books, as she does in her workshops.