How to earn money for winter activities: holiday lighting

Triple_Strum

Triple_Strum

Active member
Hey NS, I know a lot of you on here have to earn your own money to buy expensive passes, gear, and of course transportation and food. Skiing is an expensive life-style or hobby. I have always tried to find ways to earn a few extra bucks for Christmas and to go skiing, and hanging Christmas lights is a great way to do it.

I only did a handful of houses last year, but plan to do (hopefully) a dozen to two dozen homes this year in nicer areas. I don't want to go into a bunch of detail if no one cares. But, if you are willing to spend $100 on a ladder and have a flexible time schedule then putting up lights can be well worth it. Just to give you an idea, I charged about $150 to do a second story roofline and both putting them up and taking them down amounted to about 3 to 3.5 hours. So, if you can do a few houses, you could pay for your season pass! If you want to do it honestly, let me know and I can post more ideas about how to market it.
 
good idea - that's pretty inventive of you....

i Like to see some of you kids thinking outside the box and coming up with some simple little business ideas. Tapping in to peoples laziness or busy schedules is a bonefide winner.

 
cliche. but whatever works works. but throwin your back out isn't fun for skiing either. I learned that the hard way last year when I had to shovel the slush/snow/ice at the end of my driveway from the snowplow.
 
not if you live out west. Its like shoveling cotton candy off your driveway. Out east its like shoveling oatmeal.
 
seems like something you would need to be licensed and insured for. Im not sure why anyone would risk everything they have by hiring someone who isnt insured do any work on or around their house.

dont slip and break your neck :)
 
well I am insured because I still carry my contractors insurance, but you don't have to be. Lots of people I know are not. Also, shoveling driveways gets you a few bucks. But a few of these at $150 or $200 goes a long way. Oh well, thought I would throw it out there :)
 
Sounds like a good idea but I would definitely end up pulling a Clark Griswold and eating shit off the roof.
 
a few people have asked more specifics so here is my response to them. Hopefully it will give you a better idea of how you can write an ad on Craigslist and get your name out. Last year all I did was put up an ad two weeks before Christmas and I still did a handful. But NOTE: people put up lights early. Try to put one up in the next week to get the folks around Thanksgiving!

1) Put up a great craigslist ad. Personalize but also make it professional. Here is mine in my cityhttp://kansascity.craigslist.org/hss/2680697683.html

2) You need a 24 ft aluminum extension ladder. Some homes may require a bit more, but for starters you might want to stick to lower homes

3) I don't buy the lights myself unless they request it. Feel free to copy my wording in your own add. People should have their own lights and clips, but if they want it done right and don't have them, you can buy them for them. A lot of hobby or craft stores, even home improvement stores have clips and lights so you can be prepared.

4) Refer yourself to everyone you can think of. Whenever you have a conversation with someone, mention your lighting business and ask if they have anyone they think would like some lights.

5) make a great offer people want! Again, see my ad.

I hope that helps. Let me know if you have other questions

Russell
 
Who shovels snow nowadays?

A while back they invented these crazy machines called snow blowers. Ya'll should give them a try.
 
we had a weird winter last year, it snow a ton and then it got warm again. so people had like a couple feet of snow on there roofs, and then when it got hot the snow got really heavy and people were afraid there roofs would cave in, and a ton of kids and adults made bank shoveling roof tops. I cant remember what they usually charged but it was like a couple hundred dollars a roof and people were more then willing to pay it in order to keep there roofs from calapsing
 
pretty creative idea...I might try that out. I already have a big ass ladder in my garage that no one uses.

another easy thing - I "winterized" a few pools just recently and made out pretty decent. you just got to find the people too cheap to hire pool cleaners but lazy enough to pay someone to clean out, drain, and cover their pool. takes a few hours and requires literally no overhead.
 
good idea. I know in PC there are companies that do this and charge over 1000 dollars per house, even for some pretty basic lighting.
 
This is actually a really great idea. There are a lot of people in my neighborhood that would go for it. I will definitely look into doing this. Thank you for sharing.
 
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