Earn Thousands from Your Talents

Don't miss any Bottom Line Secrets. Add our address, bottomlinesecrets@news.bottomlinepublishing.com, to your Address Book or Safe List. Learn how here. March 20, 2011 The Great Cholesterol Hoax How to Profit from Your Hobby Are You or Your Loved Ones Taking Any of These Highly Prescribed Medicines? Keep the Lights On Marge Couldn't Remember Her Phone Number... But Now Her Brain Is 20 Years Younger... Dear healthwellness82@gmail.com, If you’re at all crafty or artistic, you may be able to turn your skills into a money-making sideline. Top artists (including weaver James Dillehay, author of Sell Your Crafts on eBay... photographer Donna Poehner... and professional woodwork designer/craftsman Sal Maccarone) tell how to "craft" cash from your hobby. Scientists warn that we should expect more blackouts in the coming years -- Gary Shipman, licensed electrical contractor and plumber and owner of The Generator Store, tells why and explains what you need to know about buying a home generator so that you won’t be left "powerless." All the best, Jessica Kent Editor BottomLineSecrets.com The Great Cholesterol Hoax The #1 prescription drug in America is a cholesterol drug. It rakes in about $8 billion a year. And three of the top 15 drugs are in the same category. They’re called statin drugs, but some experts call them a hoax. Did you know that... Cholesterol-reducing statin drugs are just patented knockoffs of a simple food that Asians have eaten for centuries. You can buy it in pill form in any health food store -- yet drug companies charge $1,740 a year for it! And, for those who choose to stick with their statins, they’re all pretty much the same. If you must take a prescription statin, ask for the cheapest one. There’s no proof the statin that’s #1 is any better than the generics. Learn more... How to Profit from Your Hobby James Dillehay Donna Poehner Sal Maccarone Do you ever dream that your hobby could also be your job? Some hobbies can be turned into moneymaking enterprises -- or at least generate enough revenue to fund the activities themselves. Helpful: Keep careful track of your hobby expenses and income if you attempt to make money from them. You might have to report your profits or losses to the IRS. How to profit from three popular hobbies... CRAFTS Well-made craft items often can be sold. Handmade jewelry and stained glass are in particular demand, but there also are markets for everything from quilts to pottery. Where to sell crafts... The auction Web site eBay features a thriving crafts market (crafts.ebay.com). Monitor auctions of crafts similar to your own to determine what your work would bring before listing it for sale. The craftspeople who do best on eBay tend to be those whose projects focus on a specific theme, such as cats, dogs or dolls. This increases the odds that they will develop a loyal customer base. Example: A weaver might specialize in tapestries containing cat images. Annual crafts fairs provide opportunities to sell your items at a booth, but select your fairs carefully. Some specialize in knickknacks or “country crafts”... others in artisan-quality “fine crafts.” Your work will not sell if it varies substantially from that of the other exhibitors in terms of quality or price. The Web site FestivalNet.com can help you locate your area’s crafts fairs. Visit each of the crafts fairs in your region before selecting those that are most appropriate for your work. Expect to pay around $25 to $50 for a booth at a weekend church bazaar or local fair... up to several hundred for a booth at a large-scale, high-end crafts show. You typically have to bring your own booth for outdoor events, which can be as basic as a 10' x 10' canopy/tent starting at $100 from a discount store, such as Sam’s Club, to more expensive displays that can cost as much as $2,000. You can find a list of suppliers on my Web site at www.craftmarketer.com/craft-shows-booth-covers.htm. What to charge: Lower prices do not necessarily result in higher sales at crafts fairs. If you try to sell your crafts for bargain prices, potential customers might be suspicious of their quality. The correct price to charge is the amount charged for similar crafts by other exhibitors. At each fair you participate in, ask for and record names and e-mail addresses of anyone who expresses interest in your crafts, then send out Internet newsletters about your recent projects and your upcoming schedule of fairs. Area gift shops also might be willing to sell your crafts on consignment. James Dillehay is a weaver and fiber artist (creating wearable art) based in Torreon, New Mexico. He has written several books about profiting from crafts, including Sell Your Crafts on eBay (Warm Snow). www.craftmarketer.com. DIGITAL PHOTOS There are several ways to make money if you are skilled at photography. How to find buyers... On-line stock-photo sellers, also known as “microstock sites,” are a great resource for skilled amateur photographers to make a few dollars from their hobby. These sites are happy to work with amateurs, but they do expect high-quality photos, so you will need a good digital camera and some talent. Customers range from art directors with large budgets to nonprofit organizations and small firms looking for art for newsletters and other projects. You must either submit lots of pictures or have each of your pictures licensed many times to make a meaningful amount of money. Sites usually do not charge a fee to photographers to offer their photos, but they usually take half of what a photo sells for. Many images sell for just $1, so the photographer usually makes 50 cents per image. Photos of people in the workplace and “lifestyle” photos of people enjoying themselves are in the greatest demand. Nature photos and pet photos generally are of little interest because the market is already saturated with this type of imagery. Leading microstock sites include iStockphoto.com... Shutterstock.com... Bigstockphoto.com... Fotolia.com... and Crestock.com. Read the sites’ technical specifications and submission requirements before sending in pictures. Magazine photo editors generally are not interested in working with amateurs, but publications with small budgets might be willing to do so. Mail samples of your work or e-mail digital photos to the photo editors at smaller niche publications, such as magazines for cat lovers or ballooning enthusiasts. Include a short note explaining that you have photos to sell. You might also offer to shoot pictures on a freelance basis. You might be paid $50 to several hundred dollars if a magazine runs one of your photos. You can find titles of these magazines and contact information in Bacon’s Magazine Directory, available at some libraries. Family and wedding photography are two more ways to make money with your camera -- if you have considerable skill and you don’t mind working directly with sometimes very demanding clients. To locate customers interested in a family portrait, post flyers in stores that cater to young parents, such as children’s clothing stores. To give wedding photography a try, ask local wedding photographers if they need an assistant. Be sure that the wedding photographer you work with lets his/her assistant take pictures, not just set up shots and look after gear. If you intend to become a full-fledged wedding photographer later, don’t choose a photographer who will require you to sign a contract with a noncompete clause. Donna Poehner, based in Cincinatti, is a fine-arts photographer and editor of the 2008 Photographer’s Market (Writer’s Digest), a guidebook to selling photographs. WOODWORKING Experienced amateur woodworkers can sell their work at a profit. The most salable woodworking projects typically are items intended for the kitchen, such as cutting boards, bowls and plates. Examples: If you own a lathe, it is not hard to carve bowls out of blocks of wood that you have produced by gluing together wood scraps. I know a retiree who makes shaped wooden salad tongs with his band saw and sells them for $25 apiece. Alder, a light wood that is easy to stain, is very popular now, and walnut, cherry and mahogany never go out of style. Hand-carved wooden art items that have no practical use can be more difficult to sell. Larger woodworking projects, such as tables and sets of chairs, require a substantial up-front investment in wood -- not to mention significant skills and an investment in more types of tools -- making them financially risky to undertake unless they are made on order. Crafts fairs are the best place to sell woodworking. Also, consider taking examples of your woodworking to community gatherings, such as flea markets, church bazaars and mall shows. Display the pieces, and explain that you do woodworking semiprofessionally. If your work is good, you will be surprised by how often people ask to place orders. Local gift and housewares shops might be willing to sell your work on consignment, but between the high cost of wood and the stores’ profit margin, this is a difficult way to make money. Helpful: Professional woodworkers and carpenters who specialize in large, high-end projects sometimes have little use for their scrap wood. Visit pros based in your area, and ask if they would be willing to donate their scrap wood to a hobbyist. Sal Maccarone is a professional woodwork designer/craftsman based in Mariposa, California. He has 40 years of experience in the field. www.waypt.com/maccarone. Are You or Your Loved Ones Taking Any of These Highly Prescribed Medicines? Cholesterol Drugs... Heart Medications... Bronchodilators... Zantac®, Pepcid® or Tagamet® ... Antidepressants like Prozac®... Aspirin, Tylenol® or Advil®... Antihistamines... Decongestants... Corticosteroids... Antibiotics... Propecia®... Estrogen or HRT Drugs... Blood Thinners. Or any of the following best-selling natural remedies? Calcium... St. John's Wort... Glucosamine... Echinacea... Coenzyme Q10... Saponin... Vitamin B-6... Vitamins C or E... Melatonin... Vitamins A or D... Epigallocatechin Gallate... Chondroitin Sulfate... Diallyl Disulfide... Ginkgo Biloba. If so, please read on... Keep the Lights On Gary Shipman As the nation’s electric power grid grows increasingly antiquated, blackouts are likely to become more common, warn scientists and engineers. For a home owner, a standby generator could come in handy, especially on a frosty or torrid day or during a storm. Here are today’s best generators. All of these are installed outdoors and hook directly into your home’s electrical panel, so they will turn on automatically when the power goes out and turn off when the power is restored. All should be installed by a professional, who will charge about $1,000 to $2,000, depending on the model. SMALL Briggs & Stratton EmPower 40220. This unit is powered by natural gas from a gas utility or propane from a tank on your property and provides 7,000 watts. That’s enough to run your lights, refrigerator, a well if you have one and a gas or oil furnace -- but you will not be able to also run a combination of energy-draining appliances, such as central air-conditioning, a clothes dryer and an electric oven. The generator, which comes with a two-year warranty, includes a built-in diagnostic capability that can detect potential problems with the unit. If you hook it up to a natural gas line, it will run indefinitely. If it is propane fueled, a 100-gallon tank will last three days. Size: 30.5" x 22.5" x 32.5". Price: About $2,000. 800-270-1408, www.briggsandstratton.com. MIDSIZE Kohler Power Station 12RES or 15RES. These generators, with output of 12,000 or 15,000 watts, can power an entire home, including a 48,000-Btu central air conditioner. They are relatively quiet and restore power in as little as 10 seconds, unlike some models that take 25 seconds or more. They maintain a stable level of power, which is important for powering sensitive electronic devices. Fuel can be natural gas or propane (a 100-gallon propane tank will last two days). Size: 42.5" x 30.5" x 32.5" for 12RES. Price: About $5,000. 72.8" x 33.9" x 36.8" for 15RES. Price: About $9,000. 800-544-2444, www.kohlerpower.com. MOST POWERFUL If continuous power is critical due to medical needs or other requirements where even a temporary power cutoff could be catastrophic, diesel generators are best for long-term reliability. Reason: Diesel engines are built to run an average of 20,000 hours with routine maintenance, versus 1,000 hours or less for natural gas/propane-driven engines. Bonus: Diesel generators burn about 50% less fuel per hour than gas/propane-powered units of equal output. Kohler Diesel 20REOD/20EOZD or Baldor TS25. These units are built with extra-heavy-duty engines. The Kohler model comes with a 40- or 80-gallon fuel tank (two or four days of continuous use). The Baldor includes a 50-gallon tank (fuel for approximately three days). Propane and natural gas-fueled versions also are available. Size: Kohler starts at 41.3" x 26.5" x 25.2". Price: About $18,000. Kohler, 800-544-2444, www.kohlerpower.com. Baldor, 74" x 38" x 53". Price: About $21,000. Baldor Electric Company, 479-646-4711, www.baldor.com. MAINTENANCE To determine which size generator you need, it’s best to have a licensed electrician calculate the highest level of power you will require. You also will need to have your generator serviced yearly. This includes changing the oil, spark plugs, belt and antifreeze and testing the battery. Typical cost for professional maintenance is $150. Bottom Line/Personal interviewed Gary Shipman, licensed electrical contractor and plumber. He is owner of The Generator Store, Middlefield, Ohio. Marge Couldn't Remember Her Phone Number... But Now Her Brain Is 20 Years Younger... "I used to have a great memory," Marge told Dr. Ray Sahelian. "All my life I've worked with numbers," this former bookkeeper explained... "But now I can't remember simple phone numbers... it's so frustrating!" She'd lose things right after she put them down -- it was demoralizing. She was only 71, but she felt like a useless antique. Other doctors might have shrugged and said, "Sorry Marge, you're getting old... " But Dr. Ray Sahelian reversed her frightening decline almost immediately. Soon Marge's memory picked up dramatically, and she was focused all day. Marge now says she hasn't thought so clearly in 20 years... Learn more... Important: Help your friends get much more out of life -- forward this E-letter to them. Better: Send it to many friends and your whole family. This is a free weekly e-mail service of BottomLineSecrets.com and Boardroom Inc. Boardroom Inc. 281 Tresser Boulevard Stamford, CT 06901-3229 ATTN: Web Team You received this e-mail because you have requested it. You are on the mailing list as healthwellness82@gmail.com. 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