November 2008


letter-to-santaIf every kid loves sending letters to Santa, imagine how delighted they’d be to actually RECEIVE a letter from Santa. Of course, Santa is a very busy guy, so he needs helpers to get his letters out and thus, the growing opportunity for starting a Santa Letter Business from home.

The Just Add Sweat Guide to Start a Santa Letter Business offers a very good overview with handy tools to break into the business.

The package includes:

- An instantly downloadable and printable e-guide.
- 10 sample letters that you can for your business.
- Spreadsheets to help you track sales, costs and profits.
- Free printable sheets that you can add to the letters you sell.

Format:

Instant download with PDF (Adobe Acrobat Reader), .doc (Microsoft Word), .xls (Microsoft Excel). If you don’t have Microsoft Office, you can easily use Google Docs to open the files and it’s free.

Content:

The guide includes a bunch of topics including -

- How a Santa Letter Business works and what’s involved.
- Who business is suitable for and skills that will come in handy.
- Required and optional equipment and supplies.
- How to get special North Pole postmarks for your letter for added authenticity.
- Understanding and setting yourself apart from the competition
- Pricing your product.
- Putting together letters that parents and kids will be glad to receive.
- Theme letter ideas (ex. baby’s first birthday, new home, etc.) – plus templates are included with your purchase.
- Business startup checklist.

Extra Stuff:

The guide and all the goodies actually come with lifetime updates, so anytime they update anything, you automatically get the updates without any extra charge.

Thoughts:

The guide itself already covers a decent amount of detail in getting started with the business, but the extra tools like the sample letters and spreadsheets should make it easy for anyone to get started.

Where to Buy:

Click here to visit the Just Add Sweat website and learn more

santa-and-letterStart a Santa Letter Business for the Holidays

With the uncertainty surrounding the economy these days, many women are trying to think of ideas to make money from home. You don’t want to fall for a scam but you do want something that is easy to do and still have time for your families. Starting a Santa letter business may be the answer you’re looking for.

What Exactly is a Santa Letter Business?

Each year thousands of children write letters to Santa Claus and never get a response, but your Santa letter business can change all that. By owning your own Santa letter business, you can give children something to cherish for years to come. A parent pays for a “letter from Santa” for their child and you write a personalized letter in response.

What Type of Equipment and Supplies are Needed?

There aren’t a lot of equipment needs for this business. In fact, you can get started with nothing more than a computer, Christmas stationery, a printer, and a way for parents to contact you. You may want to consider getting a post office box for your business so you won’t have people sending letters to your personal address.

What Skills and Attributes Will You Need?

A good command of the English language and the ability to type are all the skills you’ll really need. If you love children and can relate to them, you’ll do well in this business.

How Do You Decide What to Charge?

Parents want their children to be happy and to encourage the magic of Christmas as long as they can. It’s not unusual for Santa letter businesses to charge as much as $10 per letter. Of course, you may be able to find them cheaper online, but the quality of the letter leaves much to be desired. Deliver great quality and command a better price.

Think about what you would be willing to spend to have a personalized letter sent to your child from “Santa” and that will give you a good starting point for the price. Factor in your costs – stationary, postage, and printer ink – then add a little to the price of the letter to help pay for those items.

Use Creative Marketing Ideas.

Don’t wait too long to start advertising your new business. In fact, if you haven’t started by the first week of November, you may have waited too late. Sell letters from Santa on auction sites. You can also create order forms that can be given to schools and preschools to send home to parents. Consider creating a website and advertise there, send out postcards to people in your hometown, or put up fliers in local businesses. Set up your computer in a booth at a Christmas craft show and have letters made on the spot for parents and grandparents to take with them.

To Learn More:

Setting up a Santa letter business is a fun and lucrative business to start with a minimum of money and equipment. Get step-by-step help, download letter templates and more, by grabbing your “Just Add Sweat Guide to Start a Santa Letter Business”

That is a tough question during these tough economic times.  Will prices be slashed closer to Christmas or will stores pull out all the stops now to bring in customers.  Maxine of course has all the answers:

maxine-day-after-thanksgiving

maxine-thanksgivingThis is my idea of a stress free Thanksgiving, I wonder if the stuffing recipe is on the internet?

For many people, homeschooling may call to mind the picture of two or three children sitting at a table and writing feverishly in their workbooks, while mom or dad stands nearby. This is the not entirely true. There are different methods of homeschooling, and the method you choose will decide the curriculum and your style of teaching. Given below are some of the most influential and popular homeschooling methods.

The Charlotte Mason method:

Charlotte Mason is known as the founder of the homeschooling movement. A homeschooler herself, she was passionate in her zeal to lay out the foundations for an effective a complete homeschooling program that is fun and educational at the same time. This method focuses on all the core subjects with emphasis placed on classical literature, poetry, fine arts, classical music and craft. Mason used a variety of books from classical literature, which she called ‘Living Books’. Since this method encourages a passionate awareness of literature, the child is read to daily from the ‘Living Books’.

After this, the child is asked to narrate what she has heard. This process begins at the age of six, and by ten the child is expected to write her narrations in her book. Mason also advocated the use of ‘Nature Diaries’. After each short and interesting lesson, the child is asked to go to Nature and draw observations from Nature. Thus the child also gains a sense of respect for her environment. Mason believed that
development of good character and behavior was essential to the complete development of the child’s personality.

The Eclectic Homeschooling:

This is a mixture of various homeschooling techniques. Here, the innovative parents trust their own judgment and pick out the topics that make the best curriculum for their child. Such parents continuously look out for the best products that will meet the needs of their homeschoolers. Most Eclectic homeschooling curriculums are improvised. This means that the basic curriculum is ready-made. The parents then make changes in the curriculum to accommodate the individual needs and interests of their children. The child’s gifts, temperament, learning style and interests dictate the curriculum. Eclectic programs include visits to the museum, libraries and factories.

Unschooling:


A Boston public educator name John Holt laid the beginnings of the unschooling method. He believed that children learned best when they are free to learn at their own pace and when they are guided
by their own interests. His message was to ‘unschool’ the child. This method is a hands-on approach to learning, where the parent takes definite cues from the children. There is no definite curriculum, schedules or materials. This method is the most unstructured of the various homeschooling techniques.
The Montessori Method:


This method began in Italy, when it was observed that children have acute sensitive periods, during which they undergo periods of intense concentration. During such phases, a child will repeat an
activity till he gains a measure of self-satisfaction. The Montessori method depends on a prepared environment to facilitate learning. All the materials used in this method are designed to satisfy the inner desire for spiritual development of the child. The materials used progress from simple to complex, and are rather expensive.

These are just a few of the methods of homeschooling. Whatever the method, the underlying factor is flexibility and a keen interest in the desires of the child. The secret is to use the child’s desire for knowledge to further his education.

For more information for work at home mom’s please visit my website www.workathomemom247.com

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