Stone Engraving update

Well it's been a while since I posted anything as I have been quite busy. In Nov 2006 I started a stone engraving business and it is progressing quite nicely and bringing in some extra $$$$ which I really appreciate! I got some quotes for web pages and the lowest was $1,000 so I have been on a learning curve and have made my own site with templates, CSS the works, still needs work but the basic is there.

Engraving with sandblast process is a messy business and safety equipment is a must but it is very rewarding to see the end results and happy customers. No heading down south this winter in February, the ecomomy is so slow that we decided to hang on to our money until things turn around. That's about it, looking forward to nice wather & getting out on the bikes, til next time ....

Ahhh.... that's the life!

Well another winter is coming to a close but not fast enough, it is March 10th and warm enough that I was able to get a couple hours of riding today! Not enough but it will help til the real weather is upon us, roads were a bit gritty but dry and I had a great time.

Just got back from 2 weeks in Mexico and that was a nice break, the weather was great and I did did a lot of sightseeing again, got to see a lot more Mayan sites ( Labna, Loltun Caves to name a few) and enjoyed driving around in my rented Chevy "something or other", can't remember what the car was called but we do not have then in Canada for sure. Also noticeed that most of the motorcycles were no larger than 150 - 200 cc and most were made by companies I have never heard of.

Still looking for that elusive side business, I'm still selling on eBay and my web site but I'm not making enough to quit my day job, hopefully a new opportunity will present itself and I can get something a bit more lucritive going.

Guess that's it for now, keep the rubber side down and remember to live life everyday or it will pass you by!

Andy

Last riding day ....

Well it's Nov. 13 and the weather was perfect for a long bike ride today, it was 15 deg cel and my brother & I got geared up in our leathers & decided to make a day of it. We met at 9am (only 3 cel) and decided to have breakfast first, we decided we would ride to the town of Bala, approx 2.5 hours north of Toronto. It was a bit brisk on the way up but soon warmed up enough that we were warm whenever we stopped, made for a great ride. My brother Rick has been my best friend since childhood, we came from a large family and decided young that we would cover each others back. He rides a 2002 Honda Magna 750 V4 and I ride a 2000 Yamaha Vstar 1100, both of us love the bikes we ride and there have been occasions where we just like to open them up & cruise, not a good idea when it comes to speeding tickets but sometimes a guy just needs to go fast! We covered approx 320 km's roundtrip and that took us about 6 hours with stops for lunch & nature calls.
We have spent many hours on the bikes exploring old farm houses, barns etc.. and have come across some great finds, in the pictures above is an old 1969 -60 Studebaker Hawk we found behind the barn at an abandoned farm, the 2nd vehicle is a mid 50's Chrysler also found behind a small building about 1/4 of a mile from the road, the house had burned down years ago and that was the only building left standing.
When I get more time I will post more pictures, my web page is still alive and is still making money but to this point not what I would like to see.

Til next time.... keep the rubber side down !

Is there life after eBay?

Well another week has gone by & sales on my web site were better but not great, I used to sell on eBay but in May 2005 I decided to jumpstart my web site because I was tired of paying all my profits to eBay. You really have to increase your product sale amount to make up for all the eBay costs and believe me they really add up, last year I was paying $60 to $80 a week in eBay fees. If I had a bad week for sales that meant that 80% of my sales were going back to pay for eBay fees. Maybe I will try some other auction sites & let you know how that worked out, today I am going to list with Yahoo shopping & Froogle, it;s free so I may as well give it a try!
Til next time.....

To craft or not to craft for profit?

As always this is my opinion but I welcome any comments. I looked at a lot of craft related businesses in the past and found some of them (woodworking for example) very satisfying but not very lucritive. If you have ever been to a craft show you will see that it is extremely difficult to get the price you need to capture all those hours of building, sanding etc... As far as I can see craft business is good for retired people who have nothing better to do and do not rely solely on the small change made from craft sales. It is also hard to market craft products & they do not ship well in the mail system. I'll just keep throwing these thoughts out into the wind & maybe one will return ..... ?

Til next time...

Introduction to Andy Noddin

I created this blog in the hopes that others will be able to share their thoughts & ideas for small business opportunites where the average Joe can set up a small business without a large investment but will still provide some extra spending cash.
I am in my late 40's and have spent the better part of the last 20 years going from one idea to the next trying to make some extra cash, I've tried a lot of things from fixing cb radios to repairing & building computers, some worked out ok but over time I got bored with them & others just never panned out. I've done all these without investing much money including my current project which is personalized gift clocks. It is a very competitive market (check out Google or Yahoo & you'll see what I mean) but i did learn quite a bit on the way in regards to web sites. I learned HTML code to build my first site & have spent many hours learning SEO or search engine optimization. There are lot's of resources which I would gladly share or welcome your suggestions. I guess the most important reasons for me to choose an idea & try to make it work would be: a) it has to be something I enjoy doing b) it has to be something I know about, eg: no point fixing wash machines if you don't know anything about them.

I've got a few more ideas in my head & I will share them in future rambles. Please feel free to share your ideas and I look forward to posting more in the future. If you are interested in seeing my current project then go to www.rockyourworld.ca or my family homepage at www.noddin.0catch.com, please, this is not a sales pitch so if you don't like that I mentioned my site then maybe this is not the place for you.
Til next time....