2nd Job ideas

[54fighting]

I do website designs and it works out great. Out of pocket costs are really just adobe CS3 and a laptop. I also have a server to host clients sites. You can do it while on the road while sitting in your hotel room. There are many resources out there to help you get into the business. I use lynda.com

I do not advertise, I get clients from word of mouth or they see my designs. I'm too lazy to advertise :erm:

 

[KigAir]

Before you even suggest it, contract flying on scheduled days off is not a possibility. CP had it written into Op's manual that no one may fly for hire outside the company.

Thanks!

Is that a common practice?

 

[LegacyDriver]

It's SOP (per GOM) where I work. Same at the airline.

 

[AZ Typed]

My Part-Time Story

I got a few private requests on what I was doing, so I though I'd post it here. Maybe it helps you, maybe it doesn't...but it's what worked for me in part-time work.

Part I


Well, here’s what I did. In 2003 I was flying for ACA, which later became Independence Air. I realized then that I had to have a plan B in case Independence didn’t work out (it subsequently failed a few years later). Now I realize almost everyone should have a plan B – in today’s world nobody can count on an employer for anything.

Anyways, I was lucky. My wife’s family owned two businesses. Long story short – in talking with her uncle who was a principal in their financial planning business, I was convinced that pursuing a plan B in the business of money (insurance, investments, lending, etc) was the best route for ME (it’s not for everyone).

So, I got a life insurance license (study a book, take a state test, pay a testing and state licensing fee, get a license). I had just moved to Arizona and needed a market. So, I bought some life insurance leads (I don’t recommend this unless you don’t know ANYONE). I worked the leads, and sold a few policies. From there I got a investment license (6 & 63) and went back to all of my insurance clients (by now I had about 40 clients) and sold or took over their investments.

That’s the short version. Now, here’s what I wish I would’ve known when I started thinking about other opportunities to make money besides flying. I love the financial business, but having almost 5 years under my belt now, I know MUCH more about what people looking into the business as a part-time gig or full time career NEED TO CONSIDER.

1.Have or develop a passion for something. If you fly, you know what I mean. If you don’t or can’t develop a passion for a line or work or a business, don’t waste your time. If you don’t already have a passion for something, I firmly believe that if you try it for a year, only then can you truly decide if you have a passion for it or if it’s not for you – that goes for ANYTHING in life.
2.Get in business with the right people. After passion, nothing…and I mean NOTHING, matters more. Product doesn’t matter, investments of money and time don’t matter – nothing is more important then being in bed with the right people when it comes to business. Just look at the failing airlines – idiots running the show! If you look at any business (as an investment or a place to work), the success or failure of that road is the result of who you are in business with, period. One of my favorite books, “Good to Great” by Jim Rohn sums it up like this: “get the right people on the bus, get them in the right seats, then decide where you are going to drive the bus.” This is a great analogy to business, be it as a plan B, an employee, or an investment.
3.Leadership. Poor leadership equals poor results. Great leadership equals great results. This goes almost hand in hand with being in business with the right people. The attitude at the top trickles down in an organization. However, finding great leaders is by far the most difficult task in business. This is why great leaders make so much money!!! Think of a time you flew with a lousy captain vs. a time you flew with a great captain - that’s what I mean (on a small scale) about solid leadership. One question you have to ask yourself about being in business is “Do I want to and can I be a great leader?” It’s o.k. if you don’t want to lead or can’t do it well (you can develop this skill quite quickly). But, if you don’t want to be a leader, don’t waste your time in any business venture or leadership position, it and you will fail.
4.Platform. The platform on which you operate is VITAL. This is one reason I LOVE the money business (insurance, investments, lending). This business is structured (like almost all businesses, but this one has a twist) such that you can really make a TON of money helping people.
5.Product. Do people need what you are selling? Is your product recession proof? Is your product THE most competitive on the market?
6.Success – it DOES NOT happen overnight in ANYTHING. The question you have to ask is not “Will it be hard?” It will be hard. The question you have to ask is “Will it be worth it?” Then you can put up with the inevitable B.S. that goes along with everything we do in life!!!

Let me give you an example of what I do using a simple term life insurance policy in my business.

You sell a 20 year term life insurance policy to a husband and a wife (I mostly sell AIG, the largest in the world and highest rated, and subsequently, typically the cheapest). These people you’re selling to typically have kid(s), a house (mortgage), and jobs. The life insurance is there to replace a lost income if somebody dies (if the client dies, they can’t work, if they can’t work, their income that the family depends on goes away, too).

Let’s assume this husband and wife couple purchase $1,000,000 of insurance each (very standard) 30 year term policies. Each month they pay $83 for both policies (my wife and I pay $75 for our $1,000,000 AIG term policies).

1.$83 premium per month x 12 months = $996 (call it $1000 to make the math easy) – this is called 1st year premium.
2.1st year premium of $1000 minus a $50 policy fee (the various life insurance companies do not pay you on the policy fee) = $950.
3.A new agent contract is 50% of the 1st year premium…or…$950 x 50% = $522.50 commission to you.
4.If paying monthly (most clients do), initially you are paid 75% of your commission up front, or $391.88.
5.The rest of your commission ($130.63) comes to you in months 10, 11, and 12. After the first year, you have been paid your full commission.
6.The process from start to finish to sell a policy typically takes about 2 or 3 hours in the beginning – you get better / more efficient as you get more experienced (think of your first flight plan when you started flying vs. how fast you can flight plan now). That’s about $175 an hour – not bad.



Continued...

 

[AZ Typed]

My Part-Time Story Part II

Term life insurance is so simple. Almost EVERYONE needs it. And if you can offer the best deal with the best rated companies, you can make a bunch of extra money on the side. I tell my part-timers to sell two policies (husband and wife) a week – using the above example, you’d make about $1,500 a month, NOT including your trails in months 10, 11, and 12.

The hard part, especially for new folks in the business, is figuring out that once you have great leadership and a great platform for you the agent, you HAVE to have a competitive product. I was fortunate to start in this industry with the best out there (AIG is typically what I sell most of the time, unless there is a major health issue for the client).


NOW HERE’S WHERE IT GETS REALLY COOL – the twist which makes this the best industry in the world:

The money business is recession proof. Everybody ALWAYS needs insurance and investments, ALWAYS. No matter what the economy, interest rates, oil, gold, the dollar, or anything else is doing – people need the products I have. That is SUPER important when considering a plan B – do people need what you’re selling? (by the way…EVERYTHING in life is sales)

But, more important is an override structure. In this industry, you can be at different commission contracts based on how much you produce (sell). Top contracts are usually 110% of 1st year premium. So, on the above example, you would make $1,100, not $522.50. This is because the 1st year premium is $1,000 and 110% of $1,000 is $1,100 as a commission. That sure beats a 50% commission rate, right? But, let’s use 100% commission rate to make the math easy.

Let’s say you have earned your way to a 100% commission contract with the insurance companies. (the requirements to move up are not that bad, even if you are part time, and there are commission rates between 50% and 110%). Let’s also say you have 1 new agent working for you and this new agent sells the above policy and makes $522.50. You are at a 100% contract and had you sold the policy, instead of your new agent, you would have made $950. Now, let me ask you this…what is the difference between $522.50 (what your new agent makes on the sale) and $950 (what you WOULD HAVE made on the sale if YOU had made it)? The ANSWER: $427.50. Where do you think this $427.50 goes in the example I’m giving here where you are at a 100% contract and your new agent is at a 50% contract? It goes to YOU! In other words, you made $427.50 without going to work. This is the awesome part of the money business!!!


See, the insurance company can pay both of you because they will collect premiums from the client for 10, 20, or 30 years. They will pay you on the 1st year’s premium only. So, they have $950 to pay to someone! They pay $522.50 to the new agent and $427.50 to you (since without you, that new agent would never have made a sale in the first place). AND THEY DO THIS WITHOUT MARKING UP THE PRODUCT WHAT-SO-EVER! Again, they don’t have to mark up any products because they will collect premiums for many years, yet pay you and I as agents on the 1st year’s premiums only!!!

Now, I am at a 70% contract rate. I have 4 agents that work for me, all part time (one is a pilot for Northwest). They are at 50% and 60% contracts and I earn money from all of their sales (override) them by 10% and 20% respectively. It’s great part-time income!!!

Now, you DON’T HAVE TO HIRE AGENTS to work for you. Depending on what your goal is, you may or may not decide just sell yourself. That’s O.K. I sold by myself for the first two or three years in the industry. But, once I understood that there are only 24 hours in a day which means I can only sell so much in a day, I started hiring agents. I DON’T HIRE EVERYONE. I only hire people who I like, trust, and admire (and I recommend you do the same in ANY business you pursue).

Sounds like multi-level marketing – right? Well here’s why it’s NOT!
1.None of the products I sell are internal consumption based. Nobody who works for me is required to own life insurance or to buy it from me or themselves (you can sell yourself a policy – and make the commission, too).
2.All of the products I can sell are NOT MARKED UP – they are the same price no matter what agent or company sells them (this is called street-level pricing, or retail pricing). Now, the different companies have differently priced products. But if you offer an AIG policy to a client, and they call another agent to get a quote, it will be the SAME quoted price – cool, eh?

Can you see why the money business is simply awesome? And I haven’t explained investments yet (another conversation for another day).

So that’s what I did. I developed a passion for the business (not overnight, I had to do my due diligence and understand it first), got into business with the right people selling the best products, got a life insurance license, and went to work. I continue to sell life insurance and investments today (I sell managed money, not mutual funds or stocks or anything that I personally have to manage, I sell third-party managed money…I could talk to you for hours on this subject). I also continue to introduce the industry to others who are looking at part-time work, like yourself. It’s how I got into the industry and I think it’s the best option/opportunity out there for people to make extra money, learn about financial stuff, and improve the quality of life. I own my book of business (the companies don’t own my book of client). I could sell this book of business today for about $25,000 (not much right now, but I continue to build it – nothing happens overnight in any line of work). The part I like best is that I’m really helping people with their money (people need help bad with understanding money stuff) and I get paid well to do it.

I could go on for hours. I hope this didn’t bore you, but it’s what I did and continue to do today. You can check my website out: www.tomwachowski.com. Also, you can check out the marketing company I use for access to all my products and back-office support (people who process paperwork for me) at www.hbwinc.com. If you have more questions, just give me a call. I’m not trying to recruit you by any means, but I believe it’s important for you make decisions on business / part-time ventures with ALL of the CORRECT information so you make the best decision for YOU! Does that make sense? Again – feel free to e-mail anytime: [email protected]

Hope this helps you.

 

[sleepy]

Buy a stump grinding machine. Grind stumps on you days off.

 

[TWA]

If you get a high end printing press and the right kinds of paper, the possibilities are endless. You can produce IDs, passports, birth certificates, death certificates, money, etc.

In all seriousness, if you could become a collections agent in a call center. The pay is normally $12+ an hour, and there is absolutely no prior experience required.

 

[DObyDEFAULT]

become...

become an actor like me

i make BANK!!! and got a hot wife too

 

[NCherches]

Subsitutes... I would home-school my kids (if i had any) if I knew that pilot's would be filling in for the real thing...

 

[GVFlyer]

Excellent post, AZ Typed!


GV