Blog Goal #2 Achieve - 3000 Hits total
Blog Goal #2 achieved. Who’s visitor #3000? He/she appears to be from the west coast.
Money Idea #9: Flea Market
Last Sunday, I went to NY’s Aqueduct Flea Market, the largest outdoor flea market on the East Coast. The flea market area is indeed huge. There are many stores and they sell items ranging from little 99 cent gadgets to sunglasses to clothing to food to luggage bags — almost anything. From what I’ve seen on that day, it looks like a doable business. It would be worth a shot if you can get a lot of items for really cheap. The rent is about $50 for a table.
I know someone there renting two big lots, about $175 each. He sells clothing and fake jewelry and is making over $2000 a day. I walked around the flea market and I see a store selling one-dollar and plus items. While I was there, one guy bought $20 of stuff. Those small items add up!
I’m thinking maybe I can rent the smallest area for about $50 a day and sell iced cold water bottles. I’d charge $2.00 for a half liter bottle. (It was really hot when I was there yesterday. Summer is usually hot, so good for selling water.) I’d need 25 customers to break even for the rent. Let’s play the number game, assuming I will sell 100 bottles a day. Here are the estimates:
Net Profit: $77
After the one time water cooler expense, it’ll be a recurring $117 net profit.
I think once I get the equipment and things set, I can pick up a nice profit. I can also sell soft drinks.
Blogs Coverage in BusinessWeek
This is a very interesting issue of BusinessWeek that talks about blogs — how it helps, affects, and improves business. I’m going to send a lucky reader this issue and pay for the shipping cost. We’re going to play a small game to determine the winner.
The participant will leave a comment on this post and pick a number from 1 to 20. On Friday, I will ask my co-worker, who sits next to me, to think of a number from 1 to 20. Should there be more than one person picking that number, the earlier post will win. If there is only one comment, that person will be the winner. If nobody guesses the number correctly, the closest guess will win. Leave your email address so I can contact you.
Blog Goal #2 Update
After I blew past my first blog goal, I aimed for a much higher target. My 2nd blog goal is to have a total of 3,000 visits. It is a bit of challenge, because I still haven’t reached it yet. I was a little worried earlier this week because I only have a few days left. The counter is currently at 2,930. I need 70 hits within these two days to reach my goal.
Real Estate Bubble?
I want to talk about the real estate market in NYC since I live here. The prices here for a house is ridiculous. My family has been looking for a house for the past several years and every time we wait for a better entry point the real estate market only gets more expensive. We looked at the houses in Brooklyn recently. A one-family house costs around 500K, a two-family house runs north of 700K, and a three-family house easily goes over 900K. We also looked at other boroughs. In Queens, the prices are even more ridiculous, 500K+ for a single-family home. Staten Island has the most affordable houses, but it is also the most inconvenient location for us to get to the center of the city.
Some say there is a real estate bubble and soon it is going to burst. Take a close look at Manhattan. A studio costs 400K, a one-bedroom costs 500K, and a two-bedroom goes for 700K or more. Of course, there are also luxury apartments in uptown that runs in the million’s range. New York City has the most expensive condominiums in the country. Do you think the bubble will burst?
Well, let’s take a look at the laws of supply and demand. If the demand remains to be strong and supply is short, then the price is likely to be pushed up. There are just too many people in NYC; the population has grown significantly over the recent years. And I believe more people are coming to the city — people from other states and immigrants from around the world. Many students graduating from college are looking for jobs in NYC. In my company alone, we hire new graduates every year from outside the city. With increase in population, there will increase demand for housing.
I know interest rates are going up, but it is still relatively low. And people in general have learned to save up for a house. As the interest rates go up, people will use more cash to buy.
Is there a real estate bubble? Well, there is real demand in this market. And from what I’ve seen and heard from real estate agents, people are buying a house to own and live. I would be concerned if everyone is buying a house to flip. That would be a sign when houses are becoming highly speculative. But most people are looking to move to a place they called home and when housing is still a necessity, even if there’s a bubble, the bubble is solid.
Here is a second opinion, There Is No Housing Bubble from Wall Street Free Thinker.
Money Idea #8: Send A Tune
I called my friend on Friday to wish her a happy birthday and I thought… I wish there’s a way I can play the Happy Birthday song over the phone. Maybe there should be a service where people can select a song and play it over someone’s voicemail. For instance, I could just call a company, select a song, and record my personal message. “Hey, I want to wish you a happy birthday. [Music beings and the song plays].”
This idea can expand to beyond just a birthday song — to any song. You can pick a song for a girlfriend, a wife, a best friend, or a niece for graduation.
How does it work?
You call a company that hosts the service, SEND-A-TUNE (for example). You pick a song from the selection. The selection should include a wide range of music, genre, and artists. You enter the destination voicemail number. You are allowed to record a personal message before and after the song. You make a payment. The payment can be done with a credit card or you can open a membership account that speeds up the process. The song and message gets delivered to the target.
Why send a song?
Sometimes a song can express your feelings and thoughts. Send a song to confess your love. Send an apology. Send a congratulation message. There are many reasons.
- Example #1: John had feelings for Rebecca but never had the courage to tell her. He sends the song, “Nobody Knows.”
- Example #2: Maggie appreciates the five years she’s been with her boyfriend. On her anniversary, she picks “Thank God I Found You” and sends that to him.
- Example #3: Jimmy just graduated high school. He picks “That’s What Friends Are For” and sends them to two of his best friends.
Who would pay for this service?
Mostly teens and young adults, but people of any age can be a customer. I imagine mostly lovebirds and people who like music. But parents can send songs to kids to express their love and care. That gives parents another way to tighten the gap with their kids.
How much would it cost for users?
The service has to be inexpensive for people to use it. One-time payment and memberships are available as well.
Great expansion idea for existing music stations.
I think this would be a great opportunity for existing music stations like Yahoo! Music to implement. They already have all the licensing and it would be a great thing to add to their services.
Added 10/8/2005:
Easy Payment
One easy way for customers to pay is to have it charged to their phone bill. The music company can talk to the phone company about this. If the customer doesn’t like adding to their phone bill, they can sign up for a charge-card where they enter their account # and a pin#.
Note: Don’t mind my lame selection of songs above. Substitute those songs with great ones you have in mind.
Nasdaq Down
The market is doing terribly today. Most of my portfolio is down for the day. Hopefully, next week would be better.
Blockbuster
Blockbuster is offering a huge incentive for switching to their service. If you cancel your Netflix/Walmart subscription and sign up for Blockbuster, you will receive 2 months free and a free DVD of your choice. I cancelled Netflix and signed up for Blockbuster.
Boiler Room
I saw the movie, Boiler Room last night and I thought the story was really good. It talks about a kid (Giovanni Ribisi) who dropped out of college looking to earn some big bucks and falls into a get-rich-quick-scheme. He was running a casino in his house but he decided to go for a real career. He was invited to a firm where they will train him to be a stockbroker. The kid was too smart for the job and finds out something he wasn’t supposed to. It turns out to be a scam. The irony is that the casino business he ran was more legitimate than the stockbroker job he worked at. He had four employees on the payroll, customers looking forward for his business, and great profits.
I thought it was a great movie, except the ending is a little weak. I think everyone on these financial blogs and readers should see the movie, especially the people who want to make a million dollars quickly.
6/23/05: Looks like Neville and Jim already saw this movie (not surprised). Read comments.
Expired Movie Tickets
I was cleaning up and I found 8 Loew’s movie tickets that are expired (from 2003). I also found one unused full-price ticket. I think my friend didn’t show up for the movie that day and we had paid for an extra ticket. Total loss: $50.
Moral of the story: Keep track of all your movie tickets and use them before expiration. The same goes for gift cards and things with expiration dates.