I stand by my fierce belief that young entrepreneurs can change the world. We have so much to offer and the world has the resources for our taking. Merging innovation and creativity with the advanced technology of the 21st century can only lead to something amazing. I found this article that I would like to share with you – the ideas are fresh and awe-inspiring, and sometimes, very simple, too, you can’t help but say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” These young entrepreneurs have the tenacity to bring something new to our world, to be observants of everyday life and find something unique in the very common and banal. Read more about their cool inventions and products of imagination:

How would you like to crack open a lobster claw harvested from your own personal trap? With John and Brendan Ready’s Catch a Piece of Maine, customers can order the ingredients of a night’s lobster feast for $250, or rent their own traps for an entire season. A season’s rental includes a private lobsterman who fishes your trap and keeps you updated on its catches. For every lobster caught, customers earn a credit in their online lobster accounts, which are redeemable for the real thing. Included in the nearly $3,000 price tag is the opportunity to come abroad the ship for a day and watch your lobsterman in action.

Behold the fleet at the Gotham Dream Cars garage — including Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Maseratis. Rides like the Mercedes Benz SL65 AMG and the Porsche 911 GT3 can be yours for less than $900 a day, while the Saleen S7, a street-legal race car, will cost about $4,000.

The Hundreds has become one of the most sought-after skateboard and lifestyle brands around — available online, at its Los Angeles and San Francisco storefronts, and in 450 other stores around the world. The company also carries a complete line of denim, sweaters, and caps. But despite the growing popularity, some of the products are highly limited, so once they’re gone, they’re gone for good.

In less than a year, Meraki’s WiFi routers have spread free Internet access from Cambridge, Mass. — where co-founders John Bicket and Sanjit Biswas developed the technology as a graduate project at MIT — to neighborhoods in San Francisco and entire villages in India. In all, the company has helped create networks in more than 100 countries around the world. Bicket and Biswas describe Meraki as a company “whose mission is to bring affordable Internet access to the next billion people worldwide.”

Calling herself a lingerie connoisseur and her inventory a collection, Claire Chambers has “decorated” Journelle with high-end brands by designers from all over the world, featuring simple cottons tops and exquisite lace bottoms from Araks, Elle MacPherson, Huit, Julianne, Simone Perele, and Mimi Holliday.

Whether you need to move a busted refrigerator or empty an entire attic, these guys are up for the job. Just some of the rare finds they’ve come across in four years of cleaning out garages and basements include baseballs autographed by Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, a Civil War-era rifle, and a collection of vintage Playboy magazines.

Not sure if you’ve sobered up enough to get behind the wheel? This breathalyzer manufactured by KHN Solutions and designed to fit into your pocket, will reveal your blood alcohol content instantly without having to blow into a mouthpiece. The product sells to hospitals, businesses, and law enforcement units, but founder and CEO Keith Nothacker says the breathalyzer is most popular with consumers and should be as commonplace as carrying around a cell phone. The units are sold online and have appeared on episodes of CSI: Miami and the Discovery Channel’s MythBusters.

The brainchild of Aaron Patzer, Mint.com is a free, Web-based financial management tool designed to give users a clear analysis of their spending habits without having to waste hours on tedious data entry. Users simply enter any bank, credit card, and investment accounts and Mint.com automatically pulls transactional information from more than 7,000 financial institutions to reveal an individual’s personal financial status. Users can view categorical breakdowns of where their money is spent and set specific budgets. Patzer, who got the idea after many wasted hours using traditional financial management software, wanted the product to be as user-friendly as possible. Thanks to its auto-update function, users never have to re-enter any data.

Phreesia’s wireless touchscreen tablet has taken the place of clipboards in thousands of doctors’ office waiting rooms across the country. The PhreesiaPad allows patients to electronically fill out their information and sign privacy forms, providing staff with fully legible information and saving them the time of manual data entry. Doctors can customize the questions that their patients answer on the PhreesiaPad and choose the kind of targeted health content that is seen. Since the pad helps doctors electronically organize patient files, the information can also be easily accessed from outside the office.

Featuring six bottles of wine — one from each continent — this diverse gift pack is one of Bottlenotes’ most popular. Appropriate for the wine novices and enthusiasts alike, this selection is a perfect way to sample bottles from some of the best wine-producing regions in the world. Billed as the Match.com of the wine industry, Bottlenotes makes specific wine recommendations to members based on preferences submitted in their personal taste profile. Members then have the option to sign up for any of the Bottlenotes’ various wine clubs where shipments are also customized based on personal taste. The site allows members to keep track of wines they’ve tried and exchange reviews with other members of the Bottlenotes wine community.

[To read more ideas, check out the source here.]

I hope this has inspired you to come up with something new yourself, or just go out there and know that you have the power to be just as successful, if you put your mind to it.

Studying is one of the hardest jobs around, with the worst pay. You are constantly being asked to tax your mental abilities, but you still have to pay for all of life’s necessities and little luxuries and the money has to come from somewhere. The Internet is a fantastic resource for college students looking to earn themselves some extra cash, if you know where to start.

Looking for and online legit way for college students to make money? Follow the money.

Health products and dietary supplements were a $22.5 billion dollar industry in 2006, and that number grows every year as people become increasingly protective of their physical well-being. The general public eats more processed and manufactured foods now than ever, often buying foods with less nutritional content because they are cheap and involve little or no preparation.

College students in particular want fast, inexpensive foods – like noodles or takeaway – and as a result their health often suffers. This nutritional shortfall is bad for their bodies and for their minds, it may even affect their academic performance!

As an online legit way for college students to make money, selling health products is a smart idea because you have around you a ready-made client base in other students who can benefit vastly from your products.

So where do you go from here?

If you’re interested in making cash in the health products industry, but not at the expense of your grades – or your social life!, then what you need is an online, legit way for college students to make money that allows you to work when you want but gives you the freedom to take time out for yourself. You need business that doesn’t demand too much from you in the way of start up, that understands you don’t own a warehouse for stock, and that has an interest in supporting you to make the most that you can. What you need is a home-based business where someone else takes care of the administrative side and lets you get on with making the money. A great example of this type of business structure is found at Health Biz.

They run one of the top online affiliate programs selling high quality health and beauty products. Under their system you get a huge 50% commission on your sales of most items. All the stock and contact with the customers is handled for you by the company. They also help you get started marketing advice, flyers, business cards and web banners. You can even get your own dedicated domain with a call center that takes orders from your site by phone!

Ready to get going?

You’ve picked a field, picked a company, and you’re all set to go! That’s great! Start with people you know. Be enthusiastic and tell them what you’re doing, they might be able to help you out or be interested in your products. Everyone can benefit from improved health. Then go local. Stick up flyers on noticeboards around your campus, especially near dorms. Attach several of your business cards so people know who to call. As mentioned above, Health Biz helps you get started by providing templates for these.

Don’t forget places like the library and the gym as places to market your new business. They often have noticeboards or an area for flyers. For more activities you can do online, try joining and participating in health forums and link to your business in your signature.

The more you spread the word, the faster your profits will add up and the faster your online legit way for college students to make money will increase!

An excellent way for college students to make money over the summer is to perform basic lawn care.  Most college students have mowed a lawn or two in their lifetime.

By starting a lawn care service you can rake in an income for summer spending or back to school needs this fall. A lawn care business is an ideal way for a college student to make money. For one thing, it can easily be done in the summer when most people are practically desperate to get someone to cut their lawns for them.

Also, with a lawn care business,you get paid everyday! How’s that for putting money in your pockets? Not only that, it’s easy to start and easy to expand. No need for a lot of equipment. You can begin your business with 1 mower and work alone, or when business picks up, you can hire a crew of some of your college friends or some kids from your neighborhood.

Also, by starting this lucrative summer time service, which by the way pays anywhere between $35-$80 and hour, you never have to look for a help wanted sign again! You will be your own boss and have the freedom to work when you want.

Click here for your ultimate source for everything you need to know to start and run a successful lawn care business. This guide will teach you how to bid, give you marketing ideas, and let you in on many other professional techniques that WORK! Plus, it includes professional and easy to use forms and letters you can customize to your business. Just some of the forms you get below:

1. Bill of Sale – Comes in handy.
2. Daily Expense Log – Track purchases by date, purpose, purchased from, payment type , and cost.
3. Daily Income Log – You won’t lose track of your money with one of these.
4. Servicing Equipment – This form will keep track of what needs to be serviced when.
5. Lawn Care Receipts – Always keep track of everything. This form makes it easier than you expect.
6. Lawn Maintenance Agreements – Need a yearly contract with your customer? This agreement will do the job.
7. Employment Applications – Employment applications you can customize.
8. Customer Referral Letters – Encourage your customers to refer your professional services to others.
9. Prospect Letters – Pick up new Residential and Commercial customers using these proven mailings.
10.  Past Due Letters – There is a right and wrong way to ask for your money!
11. Sample Classified Ads – Use these in your local newspapers to pull in new business.
12. Credit Request Letters – Request credit from suppliers fast and easy with these already written letters.
13. Estimate Worksheets – Use these to stay within your budget for your many jobs.
14. Flyers – You can customize these and hand them out everywhere to get business!

Click here for more forms for your lawn care business.

With the exception of the city, most places around the country have an abundance of grass so finding a summer gig doing lawn care won’t be a problem.  It doesn’t have to be all about mowing grass, here is a list of additional services, which if you are familiar with how to do them, you can go ahead and include them in your business.

Lawn mowing

Seeding or Laying Sod

Prune and Trim Trees

Clearing Lots

General Landscaping

Raking

Aerating And Fertilizing

Plant Trees

Leaf Blowing

Planting Flowers/Shrubs

Tree Removal

Compost Piles

First and foremost, you can make money but it will depend on where you live, the number and size of the lots/yards you acquire, how many clients you want to take on. The number of services you are able to provide will increase the earning potential.

You can charge an hourly rate.  However, a better way to go, for a number of reasons, is to offer a free estimate and decide on a price once you see the job.  I will show you why.  Let’s say you’re at the house for an estimate to mow and whack weeds; maybe you spot another odd job they hadn’t planned to hire you for.  So you say something like, “TO MOW AND WHACK WOULD BE $35  HOWEVER IF YOU WANT ME TO TACKLE (FILL IN THE BLANK) I COULD DO IT ALL FOR $50.”

Perhaps point out what an eye sore (fill in the blank) is.  If you are more comfortable charging an hourly rate here are a few examples by locale: San Francisco $25 – $40 per hour; Chicago $15 – $20 per hour; Cincinnati $25 – $35; Louisville $15 – $20; Orlando $15 – $25 per hour; Washington DC $25 – $35.

Once you decided in favor of a lawn care business, all you need is a marketing plan, which, because you’re a college student, you’ll want to do quite cheaply.

Lawn Care Marketing on Steroids: “Give Me Just 30 Days And I’ll Show You How To Quickly And Easily Double The Profits From Your Lawn Care Business!” It’s so simple. Just follow this proven plan (the same plan I used for my own amazing results), and then just sit back and wait for the new clients (and profits) to come rolling in. Click here for more!

One thing that you can do is make up fliers to distribute throughout your neighborhood (or the targeted area), go door to door to meet – greet – solicit, put an ad in the local newspaper, a free online ad, at www.craigslist.org a few other free sites you may not be familiar with are www.backpage.com, www.oodle.com, http://yodle.com, and www.classifieds.myspace.com (check to see if they advertise in your area).

Moreover have professional business cards printed; what about one of those 8”x11”car door magnets, or window decals to help get the word out?  A fun way to catch people’s attention is to use novelty promotional items with your name and number; you know like pens, pencils, notepads, etc.

Here is a good place to find some cool products at closeout prices http://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/sale.htm otherwise do a Google search.

As a college student offering this kind of service during your summer vacation is a great money making idea – the business is there for the taking. You can make money from this. Just be as creative as you can – people may hire you on that alone.

It may be tough just thinking about how to collect money for everyday things when you are a struggling college student. But it’s even more challenging thinking about the idea of scrounging up enough cash to invest for the future. However, investing money while in college is a great way to get a head start in building your financial future. Most college students find that a little money tucked away can go a long way when you start investing early in lie. Many investment firms now offer low or no minimum investment amounts, meaning you can probably scrape together your first investment simply be skipping that morning cup of Starbucks for a few weeks. But once you have the money to spend, where should you invest it?

Going For Gold
As a lot of people are discovering now, there is a lot to be said for having at least a little of the shiny stuff in your possession. There is no doubt about it, the price of gold is increasing daily and has doubled over the last decade. A couple years ago I bought a few gold coins and those very same coins are have now doubled for me in value.  I could kick myself for not buying more at the low price I bought them for when I had the chance. But that doesn’t really matter because after studying the trends and looking at what some of the top people in the world on the subject have to say on the matter, I’m convinced the the price of gold is set to double – even triple in the years to come. So while I still have the chance, I buy at least a small piece of gold each and every month. If you are still not convinced to “go for the gold” while investing money in college, I have a few more reasons to consider.

The Safe, Consistent Choice
Gold has been a safe investment hedge against inflation, economic instability and a declining dollar. Gold is valued and accumulated, while other metals are purchased for consumption. Gold also never changes through corrosion, either. The gold that you buy today will be the same gold when your golden years begin to look you in the eye. It’s the investment that keeps on giving for a lifetime, and in a time of uncertainty with many investments, gold is an excellent choice for college students to invest in while in college.

Double Or Nothing

In these worsening economic times, gold is one of the few investments that is increasing in value and in many cases doubling in value. As I mentioned earlier, the gold coins that I bought just a few years ago has doubled in time. As a college student, it’s one of the few processions that I own that’s going up in value. While the value of my dollars are dwindling, the value of the gold coins I own are increasing.  What many people don’t tell you is that gold is in fact one of the best investments available to everyday people. Haven’t you seen the commercials on tv and on ads all over the place where companies are offering to buy your old gold? Well why do you think they’re doing that? It’s because they know something that you don’t. And that is that gold is set to double and even triple in the years to come. What better investment could you want than that?

Supply and Demand
It is a fact that the demand for gold consistently outweighs the supply of this precious metal. And this is not only the case in the United States. Other countries, like India and China are also on the hunt for gold, and are in the process of revamping laws to make the purchase of gold easier in both countries. When this process is complete, the demand for gold will continue to go up; in countries that have plenty of money to spend on such items. This is good news for your gold investment, if you begin investing money while in college.

What to Buy and Where

If you want to invest money while in college, you should definitely go for the gold. But if you’re wondering what kind of gold you should buy, then the answer is that any kind of gold you buy is a good idea. But for those really serious about investing while their in college, then gold coins is an excellent investment. They are small and easy to store. Not only that, they are not that difficult to purchase and you don’t have to be rich to buy them. You can even buy them on ebay if you like. But if you’re looking a reputable company that sells gold coins that you can trust, then you can check out GovernmentMint which sells all kinds of gold coins at a reasonable price.

Investing money while in college is a great way to begin your investment portfolio and take the first step on the road to financial freedom. Despite the current downturn of the market in many areas, there are still investments that will bring a good return on the dollar. One of the best places to put your money, even during tough economic times, is in gold bars and coins. If you would like to check out this investment vehicle more closely, click here for more information about the real value of gold.

You want a better job? Go to college. Of course, college isn’t cheap and many students are not prepared to foot the monumental bill. It’s a quandary alright, but not one without a solution. The good news is that there are many paths to financing get free college money that might be right under your nose.

If you are pondering how to pay for higher education, take a look at a few of the options we’ve dug up for you.

Grants

Most folks head for Pell grants when they look to the government for funding, but these are only the tip of the iceberg. States also offer their own grant programs, often in fields of study that are currently hurting in the labor force.

For example, teachers that agree to work in a particular area of the state may find the state willing to pay off some of their educational loans, while others may provide opportunities for nursing students. State grants may not receive as many requests as the federal programs, but it is still a good idea to apply early since many go on a first come, first serve basis. Some colleges will also offer grant programs to students they are trying to entice. If you want to increase your chances of this type of grant, look for colleges that might be looking for students with your strengths, rather than those who have more than enough applicants to choose from.

Scholarships

It is impossible to track how to get free college money through the many scholarships that are available today. Many of these packages are relatively small, but every little bit helps in financing higher education and students can apply for more than one in most cases. Your high school counselor is the best source on how to get free college money, with binders full of scholarship possibilities.

You can also use Internet sources like Scholarship  Experts that will help you find scholarships based on your personal profile. Scholarship Experts have been helping students and parents find scholarships and free college money since 2001. They frequently update their extensive database of college scholarships and graduate school scholarships to provide students with accurate scholarship information.

Registration with Scholarship Experts is free and they have been voted as the best scholarship search engine on the Internet by Forbes Magazine.

Another site where you can find free college money is Free Scholarship Guide. At Free Scholarship Guide, students can sign up for their $10,000 Annual Scholarship Contest.  The best part about this program is that you can use the $10,000 scholarship for any college, university, or GED program, to pay off your college loans, or even give the scholarship to a family member! They even allow you to use it for distance learning programs or even home-based study or continuing education or career program.

To sign up for this scholarship program, you must be at least 13 years of age and a US resident to enter. After registering, you can also download their guide to over 4000, other scholarships FREE.

One word of caution; don’t ever pay for information about scholarships, no matter what the company might promise you. There are plenty of sources for little known scholarship opportunities that are absolutely free.

Work Study and Service Programs

Work study is a federal program that offers part-time work to students with a financial need. The wages are in line with the current minimum wage rate, and the jobs can be located both on and off campus. These positions are awarded according to financial need and on a first come, first serve basis, so start early with your application process. Those interested in military duty might be interested in combining service time with a college education, since the military branches are willing to pay for some schooling in return for military service. You can serve first and attend school when your duty is finished, or you can participate in ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) during school in exchange for military service once you receive your degree. There are also some community service organizations like AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps that will help pay for college after a certain length of service.

It doesn’t take a degree in accounting to know that college is a tough four years to finance, but it’s far from impossible. With these ideas and some persistent digging, you might be surprised how easy it is to get free college money to help foot the bill.