[ahimel]

Originally Posted by Scorpibear

Start discovering your purpose in the life and acting according to it. Money will come by itself.

Definitly true. Good call, Scorpibear. I always forget that step, because I haven't found my purpose yet.

Originally Posted by Dilman

Babysitting! I've wanted to start doing this for a while... What do you think would be the best way to get started? Like maybe take a heimlec(Lol, I have no idea how to spell that) class or something? Also, would putting up a bulletin at say the local library be good? Also, I think the local library actually let's 13 year olds work there for $10 an hour...

Taking a first-aid/CPR class is a good start. Then start marketing. I see two major reasons parents might not ask you to watch their kids: 1) They don't know you're available and 2) They don't know how reliable/trustworthy you are.

To deal with (1), flyers are a good start. Post them places parents are likely to go with kids. The rule I've heard for small businesses is to aim for 5 marketing methods going at a time. That might be flyers, business cards (once you have enough capital to buy them - they're not that expensive), having your parents tell all their friends that you babysit, see if your school will let you put an ad in the school newsletter (or better yet, your younger sibling's school newsletter).

To deal with (2), the easiest way is repeat business, and to always be trying to improve yourself. CPR is a good example -- putting it on your flyer encourages parents to call you. Read books and/or take classes on being a good babysitter. Remember at the end of the night when you get paid to ask the parents to tell their friends about you.

Also, I know a lot about videogames... Maybe a blog about videogames? And I'd seriously be fine with a blog that gives me a few bucks per month. I've already got over $500 in total chore money saved up in my bank account, making a whopping 15 cents per month.

The only thing with a blog is that there's millions of 'em out there, so you have to somehow be different/interesting enough for people to read yours. Knowing a lot about videogames isn't very unique, although a 13-year-old serious blogger might be. So I'd say go for it, and always be looking out for ways you can make your blog unique and helpful.

I'd look at other ways videogames can help, too. You have a pretty good perspective on how teens and pre-teens feel about/respond to video games, being, well, 13. But you're also quite mature, as evidenced by your presence on this forum and your desire to start improving yourself. So think about ways you can be a liason between teens and parents on the video game front.

• Help parents pick out video games for their kids
• Give a seminar on the effects (good and bad) of video games for kids. (Your parents and/or English teacher would be thrilled to help you put this presentation together. See if you can negotiate extra credit for English class.)
• Tying to the babysitting thing, our local gym has an open babysitting gig on Friday nights. They rope off one gym for kids only, and parents can bring their kids and drop them off for $5/night or something. You could see if your gym has one, and if not start one. Or ask your parents if you can use the basement, and do a video game night.

Obviously, not all of those ideas would apply/appeal to you. This is just to get you started -- feel free to modify or discard any or all of my suggestions.

Wow, I was thinking you would all say 13 is a tad early... Guess not.

It's too early to be trying to make a living or worrying exclusively about money. Don't let income generation take over your life -- it's important to get out and do things you enjoy also. But all of us wish that we'd started making money at 13, and we envy that you have the opportunity to do so. And I, personally, envy you the opportunity to make money by doing the things you enjoy.

One major thing I'm working on is procrastination. I fail a getting stuff done early.

*LOL* You have no idea how funny that sounds coming from a 13-year-old starting a business to someone who didn't even get a job until she was 19.

But I understand what you mean. Think of it like weight-training. Doing everything as soon as you get the assignment is like curling 20 pounds -- you can't do it right away. Just keep practicing, and keep track of how you're doing. Maybe keep a sheet each week with two columns, and put a mark in one column for every project you left until the last minute, and a mark in the other column for every project that was nearly done by the time the deadline got close. If you work on building your willpower muscle a little bit at a time, you'll be amazed at how quickly you'll accumulate marks in the "I started early" column.

Good luck with everything, and let us know how it goes!