Bushkill Group sold to Cerberus

A New York private investment firm bought the Bushkill Group, a vacation property ownership company and The Villas at Tree Tops & Fairway, a timeshare business in Middle Smithfield Township.The former owners of the Bushkill Group retain the closed Fernwood Resort and some other properties.The investment group, Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. chose Cerberus Operations and Advisory Senior Operating Executive Rick Budd to head the Bushkill Group.“Cerberus is [...]

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Pa. gas production up; new drilling down

Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry produced a record 5.1 trillion cubic feet of gas in 2016, up 11 percent over the previous year, though the number of new wells drilled has declined to levels not seen since 2008, before the Marcellus Shale gas boom took off.“Unconventional” natural gas production — shale-gas — was 65 times greater last year than in 2009, when 78.4 billion cubic feet were produced, according to the state’s annual oil and gas [...]

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Stroudsburg Borough officials take action on squatters

Borough officials disclosed they would be looking into a way to combat possible squatting they think may be occurring in Stroudsburg.According to officials, a concerned resident brought up the issue and the borough is formulating an action plan to seek out and eliminate potential squatters in abandoned homes.“We found this out and we jumped right on it. It’s not something that is prevalent that is ongoing,” Mayor Tarah Probst said.A resident came [...]

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Prospect of NAFTA rewrite gives US farmers a case of jitters

WASHINGTON (AP) — A sizable majority of rural Americans backed Donald Trump's presidential bid, drawn to his calls to slash environmental rules, strengthen law enforcement and replace the federal health care law.But many farmers are nervous about another plank in Trump's agenda: His vow to overhaul U.S. trade policy, including his intent announced Thursday to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.Trump's message that NAFTA was a job- [...]

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Under the Sea: These Women Actually Make a Living as Mermaids in Florida

Getting Out of Jail Often Isn’t Free — Here are 7 Ways to Raise Bail Money

Far too many of us live paycheck to paycheck.

That means it would be a real struggle to come up with $100 for an emergency — to say nothing of $400 or $500 — without going deeper into debt.

Emergencies come in all shapes and sizes: unexpected medical expenses, car trouble, getting laid off — or even jail.

People don’t usually expect to wind up in jail, and it can be expensive to bail out yourself or someone else.

The average bail amount can range from a few hundred dollars for a misdemeanor charge to $55,500 for a felony.

In fact, the expense can be so prohibitive that some people end up staying in jail longer than they have to.

Gothamist reports that half the people sitting in New York City jails are there because they don’t have the bail money they need to get out.

“In addition to exposing people who are presumed innocent to the many hazards of [local jail complex] Rikers Island, pretrial detention disrupts people’s ability to work, pay rent, and take care of their families, and drastically increases the chances that one will be found guilty of a crime,” writes Gothamist’s Nathan Tempey.

If you got a call from a friend or family member who needed to quickly raise bail money, would you know where to turn? Here are some easy ways to get cash.

• Have a garage sale.

• Sell items on Decluttr, BookScouter or Letgo.

• Take a bunch of clothes to your local consignment shop.

• If you have an emergency fund, this may be the time to dip in to it.

• Offer to do odd jobs on TaskRabbit.

• Cash in recyclables at a collection center.

• Nonprofit bail funding programs are available in some cities. Check to see if your area has something similar.

If you’ve exhausted all your options and are still short on the money you need to bail out a jailed  friend or family member, consider going to a bail agent.

You’ll pay a bail bond premium, which is just a percentage (often 10%) of the total bail amount.

“The premium is a fee for the bail agent’s services to manage the defendant and make sure he or she shows up to all required court appearances,” explains Nolo.

Just be aware that while cash bail money you pay directly to the court is refundable, but any money or assets you put toward a bail bond premium is not.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. By checking out this featured content, you help us bring you more ways to save!

Lisa McGreevy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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4 Automakers Settle Takata Airbag Suit. That Could Mean Up to $500 for You

It’s been a long time coming.

More than eight years have passed since the first vehicles were recalled due to exploding Takata airbags. But soon, nearly 16 million vehicle owners could finally get compensation.

The Takata Airbag Settlement is Worth Millions

On May 18, plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit filed a $553 million settlement agreement with four of the automakers that used the defective airbags.

The airbags were reportedly rupturing, sending dangerous material into vehicle cabins, harming passengers.

To date, at least 16 deaths, 11 of which were in the U.S., have been linked to the defect. Automakers have recalled and repaired more than 14 million vehicles, but plaintiffs argue the the companies have worked at a slow place, endangering those who are still driving the affected vehicles.

In January, Takata agreed to pay $1 billion for concealing its faulty airbags and submitting false tests to automakers. Three of its executives were also criminally charged with wire fraud and conspiracy stemming from the alleged cover-up and fake tests.

According to NPR, here’s how many vehicles are covered in the settlement and how much the automakers will pay if a judge approves the settlement:

• 9.2 million Toyota vehicles: $278.5 million
• 2.3 million BMW vehicles: $131 million
• 2.6 million Subaru vehicles: $68,262,257
• 1.7 million Mazda vehicles: $75,805,050

Ford, Honda and Nissan are also named in the suit, but they have not yet settled.

The settlement compensates those who own or lease the affected vehicles. Those whose vehicles are included in the suit could receive financial assistance to fix their vehicles, free rental cars while they wait for repairs and up to a $500 payment.

USA Today reports that those who have been injured by the exploding airbags are eligible for compensation under a separate fund.

The settlement will also create an outreach program for those who still drive affected vehicles. The program will work to get them repaired as quickly as possible.

More than 42 million vehicles worldwide have the potentially defective airbags. For a full list of vehicles involved in the recall, head to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website.

The website also lays out the steps you need to take to get your vehicle fixed.

Kelly Smith is a junior writer and engagement specialist at The Penny Hoarder. Catch her on Twitter at @keywordkelly.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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8 Money Moves to Make After Changing Your Relationship Status to Single

Are you recently single… or, ‘hem, planning to be?

If you’ve been in a relationship for a while, a breakup might mean more than cutting emotional ties. You could be facing the task of untangling a complicated mess of finances from the life you thought you’d live together.

And you might be doing it through tears, champagne, ice cream, a dark and empty apartment, or lots (and lots) of kisses from your pooch — we get it.

To simplify the process so you can get back to discovering the fabulous new single you, here’s a step-by-step guide for how to survive a breakup financially.

1. Open a New Bank Account

You’ve probably already guessed the most basic post-breakup money move: Separate your finances.

The easiest first step is to separate your bank accounts.

Hopefully you agreed on a fair way to split the balance before the relationship went south — if not, negotiate as fairly as possible now. Then remove each other from any joint accounts, and go your separate ways.

If this puts you in the market for a new bank account, consider going online for the greatest flexibility — so you can explore the possibilities of your new life without restrictions.

Aspiration’s free Summit checking account reimburses ATM fees from anywhere in the world, so take that vacation you’ve been putting off!

It also pays up to 100 times more interest than an average checking account, so you can start making your money work harder for you.

2. Cut Other Financial Ties

Splitting your money may seem obvious, but it’s not always simple.

In addition to separating bank accounts, you may also share a lease or mortgage, a car loan or credit card debt.

Regardless of how amicable the breakup is — and kudos if it was! — a clean break is probably your best bet. You may trust each other to stay on top of financial obligations, but who knows how their goals or financial situation might change in the future?

The most common way to remove someone from a loan you share (or remove yourself) is to refinance. This effectively pays off your loan or credit card debt and replaces it with a single loan from a new lender — which could have a lower interest rate!

To refinance smaller loans or shared credit card debt, apply for a personal loan through Credible. It’s basically an online marketplace that offers consumers personalized loan offers. Think of it like Zillow — but for personal loans.

This will effectively shift the debt into one of your names — so you may consider each refinancing a portion of your shared debt, so you leave with a fair split.

If you own a home together, follow these tips to refinance your mortgage.

3. Get a Copy of Your Credit Report

Aside from the emotional boulder you’re constantly lugging around, one of the toughest parts about rebuilding after a breakup is having no idea where to begin without the other person.

Your finances are no exception.

Especially if your ex took the lead on managing the money, you may not know what financial state you’re in.

To create a rebuilding plan, you have to first know what you’re dealing with.

Do you have credit card debt? Is your name attached to any unpaid loans? Are you behind on medical or utility bills you didn’t know about?

Your credit report will give you this information.

You can get a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus.

If you want to keep a closer eye on your credit, get your credit score and “credit report card” for free from Credit Sesame. This website breaks down exactly what’s on your credit report in layman’s terms, how it affects your score and how you might address it.

Once you know what’s in your credit history, Credit Sesame shares personalized resources and recommendations so you can figure out how to fix it.

4. Find Resolution on Lingering Debts

Your credit report will show you if you’re tied to any unknown debts.

It’ll also show you specifically which creditors you’re dealing with. If refinancing isn’t a good option for you, contact your creditors to determine exactly what needs to be done — and what, in the end, is your responsibility.

Once you clear your credit history, the last thing you want is for it to be ruined again by someone — like a vindictive ex — building new debt in your name.

A free service like TrueIdentity helps you avoid this situation by keeping a watchful eye your finances. It sends alerts by email, phone or text if someone tries to apply for credit in your name.

If you suspect you’re at risk for identity theft, you can place a fraud alert with one of the major credit bureaus. It will contact the others, so you don’t have to set up an alert with all three.

5. Create a New Budget

Once all your financial ties are cut, you have to figure out what your financial situation is going to look like without your partner.

You want to do more than just pay off debts and get by. You want to figure out how to thrive in your new life — right?

If you’ve never managed a budget on your own before, read our tips to get started:

• Follow this easy 14-day plan to get control of your money.

• Watch out for these five common budgeting mistakes.

• Use this free spreadsheet template to create a new budget for your family.

• If all else fails, here’s how to make a budget when you hate budgeting.

6. Rebuild Your Credit

Even if you have damaged credit, you’re not doomed.

In addition to paying off debts and clearing your payment history, a secured credit card can help you rebuild a strong credit rating by establishing credit usage.

A secured card is similar to a debit card — you put down a cash deposit and can use that amount in credit.

Unlike a debit card, secured cards report your payment, balance and other relevant behavior to credit bureaus. So it’s a way to establish a credit history if yours is shot or nonexistent.

7. If You Need to, Find a New Job and Housing

If you’re able to live with friends or family to cut expenses and save for a while, go for it. There’s no shame in it — just don’t make these common mistakes.

If you’re ready to find your own place (or not ready, but need to, anyway), here are some tips for getting the best deal out of your next rental.

Replacing the household items you don’t “win” in the breakup doesn’t have to cost you a king’s ransom, either. Stock up at Goodwill, garage sales and through online classifieds.

Have some of your ex’s stuff you want to get rid of? Dump ‘em on an app like Letgo. You can sell pretty much anything on it and it only takes about 30 seconds to make a listing.

Want to turn your new lease on life into a career change, as well? Try some of these creative job-hunting tactics to find your next dream job.

8. Prepare for Financial Success

Now it’s time to think about the future.

What does a thriving, successful life look like for you? Is there a business you want to double down on, a career you’ve been waiting to start or education you need to finish?

If you’re relying on financial support from loved ones, these 13 steps could help you cut the cord.

Focus on your financial independence to start being proactive about your own success. And before you dive into the next relationship, remember you don’t have to mix finances to say I love you.

When you’re ready for the “define the money” talk in your next relationship, think about keeping separate bank accounts. It’ll afford you financial independence and keep you from staying in a relationship a little too long because you can’t afford to live alone.

But, really, we’re sure the next one will work out for you.

Disclosure: You wouldn’t believe how much coffee The Penny Hoarder team goes through. This post contains affiliate links so we can keep the grinds stocked.

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more, attempting humor wherever it’s allowed (and sometimes where it’s not).

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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This Simple Step Sets Borrowers up for Success After Student Loan Default

Struggling to pay your student loan debt?

Like, really struggling?

If you’re working your way out of default status, you should be aware of this major hangup borrowers like you face.

When you get out of default status, you keep paying your loans. Pretty simple.

But if you’re not set up with an affordable income-driven repayment plan, you’re getting set up to fail all over again. A new report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau revealed that half of previously defaulted student loan borrowers default again if they’re not set up with an affordable income-driven repayment plan.

What You Need to Do After Student Loan Default

If you’re one of the more than 1 million borrowers who defaulted on federal student loans last year, you were probably placed in a rehabilitation program run by a debt collector. Under this program, you can exit default status if you make on-time online payments for at least 9 out of 10 months.

Typically, a debt collector oversees you as you make your required payments, then transfers you back to your servicer or the government for assignment to a student loan servicer. Then, that servicer can help you enroll in an income-driven repayment plan.

It seems pretty simple.

The catch: The CFPB found that 9 out of 10 high-risk borrowers who completed a rehabilitation program were not set up with an affordable repayment plan nearly a year after exiting default status.

“Fewer than two percent of borrowers accessed this protection immediately after paying a debt collector to get out of default,” the CFPB reported.

It’s as if DJ Khaled was onto something when he declared, “They don’t want you to win.”

A Better Way to Repay Student Loans if You’re Struggling

Meanwhile, there’s another way you can get out of default on your federal student loans. You can refinance your debt into a new Federal Direct Consolidation Loan, which will automatically set you up with a post-default affordable repayment plan.

The CFPB found that 95% of highest-risk borrowers don’t default again within the first year if they consolidate their loans into an affordable repayment plan.  

The CFPB wants to overhaul student loan repayment programs to simplify repayment options, create industrywide servicing standards and provide a more steady footing for “economically vulnerable” borrowers (isn’t that all of us?!).

But just about every aspect of federal financial aid and student loan repayment is on the chopping block with President Trump’s new budget proposal, so stay tuned. This could all change in an instant.

For now, troubled graduate, here’s what you can do:

1. If you’re in default and headed toward collections, ask for loan consolidation over a rehabilitation program.
   
2. If you’re exiting default or expect to do so soon (good job!), ask for an income-based repayment plan to make it easier for you to continue making on-time payments.

Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder. She will be paying off her graduate school loans until the rapture, and probably after.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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Mount Airy table game revenues soar

Mount Airy led all but one Pennsylvania casino in April table games revenue growth with a 41 percent gain.The casino brought in $4.9 million in gross revenues, compared with $3.5 million in April 2016, according to figures released Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.Slots at the state’s 12 casinos were up more than 10 percent for the month, generating $79.5 million compared with $72.2 million a year ago.April had five weekends this year, accounting [...]

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San Francisco Is the Latest City to Create Affordable Housing for Teachers

Teacher Appreciation Week may have passed, but it’s hard not to have a ton of 24/7/365 respect and love for all the teachers out there molding the minds of the next generation.

Sadly, though, teacher paychecks don’t always reflect this. The national average starting salary of a teacher is about $30,377, according to the National Education Association.

By comparison, the NEA reports computer programmers start off making $43,635, entry-level public accounting professionals make $44,668 and new registered nurses make $45,570.

The average teacher’s salary also doesn’t reflect all the unpaid overtime one might put in grading papers or coming up with lesson plans. Nor does it take into account how much teachers pay out of pocket to buy school supplies or treats for their students. An article by Money last year said most teachers spend more than $500 per year on supplies using their own money.

With Rent Jungle reporting the average rent for an apartment in San Francisco to be about $3,703, some teachers in that city are struggling to afford the basic necessity of providing a roof over their own heads.

The San Francisco Chronicle recently profiled one such teacher, Etoria Cheeks, who was homeless despite having a master’s degree and a salary of about $65,000.

“I am disturbed as anyone to have a teacher who’s homeless,” San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said. “We have an immediate problem right now.”

The idea of creating affordable teacher housing has been bouncing around the city for nearly 20 years, but last week Lee brought the concept one step closer to actualization by earmarking $44 million and selecting a site to construct 130 to 150 rental units for teachers, the Chronicle reported.

Though the plan still has to be approved by the city school board, the complex could be ready by 2022. Details have yet to be worked out regarding which teachers would be able to qualify for the rentals, and rental rates were not mentioned.

Though San Francisco’s plan is making the news right now, it isn’t the first city to have this idea.

Similar Efforts Across the Country

Yahoo News reports other cities have created housing for teachers — including Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Newark, New Jersey; Asheville, North Carolina and Los Angeles, California.

In 2014, city officials in Milwaukee approved a plan for a 75-unit housing complex for teachers, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

In the beginning of this year, over half the 204 units at a new mixed-used development called Teachers Village in Newark, New Jersey, were completed and occupied by 70% teachers and educators, NJ.com reported.

In Asheville, North Carolina, Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools partnered up with the county and others to develop a 24-unit affordable housing complex for teachers that was set to be completed this month, the Citizen-Times reported.

The Los Angeles Times reported two of the three affordable housing projects the Los Angeles Unified School District developed in hopes of reducing teachers turnover were fully occupied last October, but no teachers resided there.

Ironically, the salary levels for teachers were deemed too high, but other lower-income school district employees, such as cafeteria workers, bus drivers and special education assistants, were able to rent the majority of the 156 units. The third housing project was still under construction.

A Trending Topic

Apparently, the issue of affordable housing for teachers is pretty widespread.

In March, the News-Press reported school district members in Lee County, Florida, were discussing a future development of one-, two- and three-bedroom units to be rented to teachers at 15 to 20% below market rate.

“This isn’t instead of increasing wages,” Angela Pruitt, the school district’s chief human resources officer, said. “It is something we are looking at doing in addition, to help keep teachers here.”

An article published in January by The Atlantic reported that Denver Public Schools officials were also exploring the idea of affordable teacher housing in Colorado’s capital city.

Perhaps affordable housing for teachers will be a trend to be implemented in other locales soon. Or maybe school districts will get on board with paying teachers salaries that will allow them to live in the cities they teach — without necessarily having to seek out subsidized housing or to supplement their wages with a side gig.

After all, these professionals are building up our future leaders and workforce. Our appreciation of their roles should reflect that.

Nicole Dow is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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OPENING BELL: US stock indexes move higher in early trading; oil rises

U.S. stocks moved higher in early trading Friday, extending the market's modest gains from the day before. Industrials and bank stocks were among the biggest gainers. Energy companies also rose as the price of crude oil headed higher. Utilities and real estate stocks lagged.

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These 2 Ridiculously Simple Tactics Will Boost Your Conversion Rates by Next Tuesday, Guaranteed

If there’s one thing I hear all the time, it’s this:

“Neil, I just want to get more conversions from my website.”

That’s it. That’s the big one.

I get it. Conversion rates are notoriously low.

By vertical. Low.

By channel. Low.

By device. Low.

It doesn’t matter whether I’m talking with a group of startup entrepreneurs in San Francisco, a meetup of marketers in Sao Paulo, or a team of e-commerce geeks in Seattle, everyone wants more conversions.

Heck, I want more conversions too!

Are there some simple ways to turn up the conversion juice and make more money from your blog, e-commerce site, startup, or landing page?

Yep, there are.

And I’m about to show them to you.

First off, though, why did I write this article? For whom?

After all, I write a ton about CRO (conversion rate optimization). Why another article?

Because tactics. Simple, practical, easy tactics.

Most people I talk with are just looking for a few plug-and-play tactics—things they can do on an average Tuesday afternoon to get more conversions and make more money.

These are two that I recommend.

“What?! Only two?”

Yes. The reason I’ve given you only two is because I don’t want you to be distracted by stuff that doesn’t work!

These two CTA-boosting techniques will work. And if you implement them this Tuesday, I guarantee you’ll have more conversions the following Tuesday.

Use popups

It’s time to open the proverbial can of worms.

Yes. It’s time to talk about popups.

When you visit Teachable.com, you’ll see this:

And after five seconds, you’ll see this:

What just happened?

A timed popup.

Popups are synonymous with pull-your-hair-out levels of frustration. It’s accepted as absolute truth that popups are bad.

But are popups bad?

According to some people, yes.

Jakob Nielsen surveyed users on their responses to popups: 95% of them rated the experience of “pop-ups in front of your window” as negative.

That survey of 605 respondents was conducted in 2004.

In Internet epochs, 2004 is the equivalent of the paleolithic era.

And back in 2004, popups were pretty bad.

I mean, look at this. Really?

But today, popups have matured into an art form: they are helpful, compelling, useful, and valuable.

The real truth? Popups are not bad. And if you want to increase conversions on your long-form content, I strongly suggest you use popups.

Derek Halpern says it like this,

If you don’t use popups, you’re an idiot.

I try not to call people idiots, but I do agree with Derek’s point: you should use popups.

Popups are a useful, powerful, in-your-face technique that can skyrocket your conversions on long-form content.

On his blog, Derek himself uses this popup on the article discussing popups:

Think about it like this. Users who don’t like popups may not be your ideal customer anyway.

Never thought about it like that, did you?

If you lose a reader for disliking your popup, you have not lost a customer. You’ve just lost a visitor. And that’s okay. In fact, it might be a good thing.

I will always counsel you to make website improvements that enhance the user experience. Some may argue that a popup is detrimental to the user experience.

We need some balance between the perceived tension of UX and marketing goals.

To help achieve this balance, take a look at a handful of representative statistics:

1. Using the List Builder popup, Sumo Me collected 23,645,948 email addresses in 24 months.
2. One marketer instantly doubled his conversion rates by using an exit overlay popup.
3. Derek Gehl reports a conversion boost of 162% after adding a popup to his website.
4. A recipe blog experienced a 10x boost in conversions after adding a popup.

Most online marketers I know would love to see a bar graph like this for list growth:

Growth like that came as a result of using popups.

Considering the issue from a data-driven and results-oriented perspective, you’ll see popups work.

But before you rush to install a popup creator, listen to this:

• The average popup converts at 3.09%
• The best popups convert at 9.28%

That’s a huge difference!

My guess is, you want the conversion rate of the best converting popup, right?

Sean Bestor’s guide on the subject shares all the juicy details.

To sum it up, here are the eight elements of ultra-converting popups, as explained by Sean:

1. Popups with more context have higher conversion rates.
2. The highest-converting popups don’t appear immediately.
3. Being unclear with your headline and offer will sink your conversion rates.
4. Personality creates interest.
5. The best popups offer something of value.
6. Popups shouldn’t appear immediately after a visitor closes out.
7. Calls to action need to match the offer.
8. Exit popups need an overwhelmingly valuable offer.

Let me show you four examples of effective popups.

This popup is from Authority Hacker:

Here’s one from GetRooster:

This popup is from AmbitionAlly:

Here is one from Convince&Convert:

All the best-performing options have a clear ask and an obvious next action, and they provide obvious value to the user.

Keep in mind there are different types of popups. Here are a few of the popular ones:

• Timed popups. The popup appears after the user has been on the page for a certain amount of time.
• Scroll popups. The popup appears when the user scrolls to a certain point on the page.
• Slide-in popup. Instead of offering an intrusive popup experience, this popup slides into the user’s view, only partially obstructing the content.
• Entry popups. The popup appears as soon as the user lands on the page.
• Exit popup. The popup appears when the user is about to leave the page. The technology is a bit complex, involving cursor directionality, velocity and timing to determine whether the visitor is about to bounce.

Today’s popup technologies are advanced enough to keep you from having to do any programming or complicated jiggering.

Most popups allow you to customize them to your heart’s content. The framework and structure, however, are completely primed for popup success.

Instead of distracting yourself with issues of UX or conversion rate increases, ask yourself a simple question: How can I give the greatest value to my readers in the most obvious way?

If popups aren’t the answer, don’t use them.

But if popups can deliver value on that level, use them without regret.

Place CTAs everywhere

One major reason why most blogs aren’t as effective as they could be with their conversions comes down to one simple thing:

They don’t have enough CTAs.

Wait, what? CTAs?

CTA stands for call to action. It’s marketing jargon for asking the user to do something or to respond in a certain way.

It’s easy to think of the CTA in a simplistic way.

Buttons, right? A CTA is a button. Like this…

Whether or not you use the dreaded “submit” button copy is entirely up to you.

A CTA can be a button, but a CTA is a whole universe of things.

My point is this. Your CTAs should be more than just buttons. In fact, your CTAs should be everywhere on your page.

Let me be entirely transparent with you. I love blogging. I love the written word. I love content.

And when I feel as if my content is being crowded out by a bunch of rude CTAs, I get a little nervous. I might even get a little defensive.

If you’re feeling that right now, I understand.

But I still want you to consider the following statement: for your long-form blog to be effective, you should always be presenting the user with your call to action.

Let’s take a look at a few examples, and you’ll see what I mean by this.

Here’s a blog article from Hubspot.

At the very top of the page, before we read beyond the title of the article, we see no less than three CTAs.

(You could make a reasonable argument that the social sharing icons are also CTAs, but I’m not counting them.)

As you scroll down the page, watch what happens. It’s subtle, but you’ll notice how the top navigation bar fades into a persistent header.

Watch the gray bar at the top of the page:

Now, no matter where you’re reading on the page, Hubspot is presenting you with a CTA:

When you reach the end of the article, you are presented with three CTAs:

These CTAs are not intrusive or over the top. They are simple invitations to the user to take things to the next level.

As a long-form content creator, I am not bothered by it in the least.

Instead of distracting the user from the valuable content, it is inviting the user to go deeper.

Let me show you another example, this time using a mixture of two content types—video and text.

Squarespace’s blog features this account of John Malkovich:

Perhaps the most outstanding feature of this content is its visual appeal. CTAs are visually understated, but they are still there.

One invites the user to read more articles. The other points to newer and older articles. And the most important CTA of all prompts the user to play the video.

Now that the user’s attention is focused on the video, a CTA is placed in their line of sight:

For users who are on the full video page, the CTAs are still there. Although obvious, they do not detract from the immersive visual experience of the video:

A business like Squarespace is focused on visual excellence. They have to be. User experience is paramount.

Their CTAs do not impair the visual appeal of the website at all!

One of my favorite examples of CTA is Buffer.

Why? Because Buffer, a social media SaaS, is recognized for extraordinary content.

When you land on any of its blog articles, you’ll see this CTA:

The CTA is always in your line of sight.

In the gif below, you’ll see me scroll through the entirety of the the main blog page and then navigate to one of their long-form articles.

Don’t worry about catching the content I’m scrolling through. Instead, keep your eyes on the blue CTA at the top of the page:

Let’s take a closer look at one of their long-form articles.

The layout, formatting, and presentation is a paragon of design simplicity. Even so, there are two powerful CTAs:

The CTA “Share with Buffer” is particularly powerful. Its intent is to share the article socially, but the actual event prompts the user to sign up for the service.

The article itself is 2,500+ words. That quantity speaks to the value of the content and suggests its high quality.

When you get to the end of the article, you’re again presented with several CTAs, not counting the social sharing icons:

If you continue scrolling past the comments, you’ll reach the end of the page.

Even at the bottom, you’ll see more CTAs:

I think you’ll agree that Buffer has outstanding and valuable content. Its CTAs do not in the least detract from its quality content.

Want another example? This time, take a look at this massive 11,715-word magnum opus from AudienceBloom.

My red circles destroyed the visual appeal of the page, but I wanted to point out the four CTAs at the top of the page:

There are seven CTAs at the bottom of the page:

The reason I showed you each of those examples is to demonstrate that conversions depend on CTAs.

Instead of hiding your CTAs or consigning them to a button or two, put them out there—everywhere!

According to the principle of least effort, users are not going to work hard to respond to your CTA.

The principle of least effort has its most profound applications in information-seeking contexts and behavior.

An information-seeking client will tend to use the most convenient search method, in the least exacting mode available. Information seeking behavior stops as soon as minimally acceptable results are found.

What does this psychological factoid have to do with your CTAs?

This: Make your CTAs easy and available for the reader to access.

By virtue of their activity, your blog reader is an information-seeking client. Your CTA is designed to secure some level of commitment from your readers before they leave.

If you have clear CTAs distributed throughout the blog, you stand a greater likelihood of engaging their attention and securing their conversion.

Conclusion

You have a simple goal: get more conversions.

I wish I could say, “Yes, getting more conversions from your blog is easy!”

It is.

And it isn’t.

• Creating long-form content is not easy. At least not in my experience.
• Launching a comprehensive content marketing campaign is not simple.
• Hiring growth hackers, developers, marketers, and writers isn’t a breeze.
• Designing a compelling landing page and blowing it up with value isn’t a cinch.
• Conducting months of split and multivariate testing is complicated and time-consuming.

But boosting your conversion rates?

It doesn’t have to be that hard!

I’m not trying to end on a false happy note either. The fact is, with the right tools, you can get a lot more conversions from your blog.

Sprinkle in some popups, hand out CTAs like beers at happy hour, and you’ll get instant improvement.

I guarantee it.

Implement these tactics, and report back here next Tuesday. I want to see what you’ve done.

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The ‘Repeat Players’

Once a week, I go to a community board game night for several hours. There’s usually about 20 people in attendance with a healthy mix of ages, backgrounds, genders, and game tastes, and there are usually about 10 regulars that consistently show up every week.

One of the big challenges of this group has been that when people get new games, they tend to want to get them to the table. If someone receives an interesting new game for their birthday or for a holiday, for example, they want to bring it to the game night and play it with the other people in the group who are similarly enthusiastic about such games.

This creates an interesting problem of sorts. Often, people will bring new games to the group and see them played perhaps once or twice before someone else brings something new that edges out the previous game. It doesn’t even really matter if the previous game is really interesting and engaging or not.

The reason for that switch is that everyone wants to be polite and allow people to get to play their new games that they’re excited about, but there’s also a layer of simply being interested in trying a new game.

The bad part of this is twofold. One, it means that some really good games only get played a few times before it’s hard to get anyone to play them any more. Two, it means that there’s often a sense that the only time you’re going to get a game of your choosing to the table is if it’s new, which encourages buying and acquisition, which is pretty much in direct opposition to responsible personal finance practices.

While generally the board game nights really do encourage a frugal evening – you can go there and play games all night long for free and there are often snacks shared by people and sometimes even free food – it can also bring forth a trend where people feel like their games aren’t getting played or that they have to buy a new game all the time to “keep up.”

A while back, one of my closest friends from that group sat down with me and we tried to come up with a solution to the problem. Our solution was simple: We started a “repeat players club.”

Four of us simply entered into an agreement that each game night, we would take part in a series of five plays of the same game, once each week for five weeks. The game that would be played repeatedly would be chosen by each of us on a rotating basis, so we could each have a chance to really dig into a game that we really liked that didn’t seem to get to the table very much.

What this essentially does is that it creates more value for some of the better games we already have while also reducing our desire to buy new games. Older games that might have sat in the closet and eventually been traded or taken to Goodwill are now seeing lots of plays, at no additional cost to any of us. Often, that means we start to see interesting nuances in the game that we wouldn’t have picked up with a single play, and we’re all clearly getting better at them, too. At the same time, it cuts into that desire for acquiring new games. Since we’ve started this series, we’ve cut down on our time spent playing new games and that’s actually reduced our desire to bring new games all the time and that has thus reduced our desire to acquire new games all of the time.

We’ve sarcastically started referring to our little sub-group as the “Repeat Players” because it often seems like the same people are repeating the same game.

Here’s the thing, though: This same exact “Repeat Player” phenomenon works with an absolute ton of hobbies, and it offers similar benefits for those hobbies.

Enjoy reading books? Take out one of your favorite novels or favorite nonfiction books or favorite series and reread it again, from the beginning. See what you notice differently this time around. This costs you nothing because you likely already have the series on your shelf or on your Kindle and you know it’s going to be a good experience. You can even turn this into a “book club” where you get together with a few friends and each of you choose a book that’s one of your all-time favorites for a reread, with the others in the club checking out copies from the library.

Enjoy watching movies? Grab one of your all-time favorite films and watch it again. See how the story grabs you, the great performances, the humor, the emotions. Ride that wave again. Even better, have a movie night where you share this film with some of your friends. You might even have a series of movie nights with a circle of your friends where you re-watch favorite films chosen by each of you.

Enjoy watching great drama or comedy series, like Breaking Bad or House of Cards? Fire up one of those series from the beginning and get to binge-watching. See what foreshadowing you can notice or what other little details you overlooked the first time while you ride that tidal wave of excellent drama and storytelling.

Enjoy playing video games? Pull out some of your old classics and play through them from the start. You’ll find that the gameplay holds up in the truly classic games and that those great games offer a ton of nuance in their play that comes out the second time around (or third… or fourth…).

It works well with any hobby. Just invest some time in re-enjoying some of your peak moments from that hobby. Make some of your favorite meals again. Make your favorite home-brew recipe again. Go on your favorite bike trail again.

Not only will you appreciate the greatness of that thing again, you’ll also notice nuances that you didn’t see before. You’ll figure out a character’s motivation. You’ll see a beautiful view off to the right of a trail when you’ve always been looking to the left. You’ll discover a new clever and subtle strategy.

Not only that, the cost of doing this will be nonexistent (or at least very low). Most of the time, this just means pulling something off your shelf that you haven’t picked up in a while, or stopping by the library. You might need a few simple ingredients, but you’re still keeping the costs very low.

Not only that, this practice will somewhat quell your desire to spend more money on new items for that hobby. Your focus will be absorbed by doing things rather than buying things, which means that your money stays in your pocket.

Not only that, this gives you an opportunity to share the cream of your hobby with your friends, particularly those also in the hobby, and it opens their window to sharing their favorite items with you. You can watch your favorite movies together or play your favorite games together or form a book club around your favorite books.

Here’s how you get started.

If you’re going solo, just take a look at the items you already own for your primary hobby – or ones that you have easy access to – and find one of the all-time greats that you’re interested in enjoying again.

For example, as a reader of fantasy novels, I’m considering rereading Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen series again this summer (and probably well into the fall). This will be an entirely solo read. However, I happen to own all of the books already, so there’s no cost involved, and when I’m that deep into a series, I have a reduced interest in acquiring new stuff.

If you’re interested in making this social, pitch the idea to a few close friends. Maybe you’ll just agree to have a weekly “game night” for a while where you play some of your old classics, maybe playing them a few times each. Maybe you’ll do the same with a movie night. Suggest starting up a book club where you each take turns choosing one of your favorite books and everyone reads it together (you’re rereading it, so you can lead conversations).

Remember, the goal in approaches like this is to have fun. If you’re not having fun doing this, then don’t do it. For me, the idea of revisiting a great book is a really enticing thought, as is the entire series of games I’m digging into with the “Repeat Players.”

However, I would suggest that if you’re not having fun with some of the “greatest hits” of your hobby, then perhaps your interest in that particular hobby is waning and you may want to consider whether you need to continue to own all of this hobby stuff. This type of repeat exposure can be a good way to see whether or not your passion for a hobby is on the downhill slide.

This strategy doesn’t mean that your hobby needs to become a string of repeats, however. It just means that the truly worthy experiences of your hobby deserve to be repeated a time or two, and in doing so, you’ll find that the cost of your hobby declines along with some of the initiative to spend money on it.

Good luck!

Related Articles:

• How to Save Money on a Board Gaming Hobby
• The Personal Canon: Core Books and Films We Keep Coming Back to for Inspiration
• Managing Expensive Hobbies So They Don’t Destroy You Financially

The post The ‘Repeat Players’ appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Healthy, Affordable Dinners for Busy Nights: 12 Meals to Save in Your Freezer

4 Easy, Affordable Ways to Transform Your Eating Habits at the Office

Do you have a hard time resisting the pull of a free dessert or snack left out for enjoyment in the office kitchen?

Maybe you have a co-worker who buys Mega Stuf Oreos, eats six of them and leaves the package out for everyone — which inevitably means you, and you go on to eat six more.

(Please tell me I’m not the only one who’s fallen victim to the Mega Stuf Oreos.)

If you feel like you’re carrying a little extra weight around as a result of your snacking desires, read on — it looks like we’re all blaming our jobs for it.

A CareerBuilder survey found that 56% of American workers think they’re overweight, and 45% of them blame it on their job.

The survey, which CareerBuilder conducted this spring and released today, consulted 3,400 full-time employees who work in various industries and company sizes across the country.

Here’s what we’re saying about why we gain weight on the job.

Our lack of time for exercise is a major reason we gain weight. But our sedentary work environments also get a lot of the blame — and even more so, the way we eat in those seated positions.

Employees who reported weight gain said stress eating, skipping meals, workplace celebrations and the evil office candy jar were notable culprits.

CareerBuilder also found that 73% of workers snack at work, with 77% of women doing it, compared to 69% of men. The 35-44 age group snacks the most (79%).

What to Do if Your Office Eating Habits Need a Makeover

It might be time to rethink your office eating.

Tired of the same old selection at the vending machine? Nearby deli cashier knows you by name?

We’ve been there.

Stop the daily deluge of money from your pockets to the cafe’s tip jar. Here’s how to eat better and be healthier on the job.

Make Your Own Snacks

Try making your own snacks to keep at work. Homemade kale chips are considerably cheaper than the store-bought kind, and you can customize the flavor of this healthy snack.

Making your own hummus, granola or Lunchable-style snack packs can satisfy your midday cravings while saving you a few bucks a week. Alternatively, the kids at heart among us can prep any of these easy-to-make and cost-effective school-lunch alternatives.

If you don’t want to spend time prepping snacks, opt for healthy fruits and veggies. Buying what’s in season near you can help shrink your produce bill.

Make Meal Prep a Habit

Meal planning can be time-consuming, but the benefits last all week — or longer, if you really plan ahead.

Preparing more filling breakfast and lunch options can help you curb the urge to snack nonstop. Try making a batch of healthy muffins you can freeze and grab each morning.

Go Easy on the Fast Food

No time to cook? We get it. But man cannot subsist on curly fries alone. If you’re heading toward the fast-food counter, check out your healthiest options under $5. By choosing sides wisely and going light on sauces and dressings, you can enjoy a fast fix without too much guilt.

Move Around More

Now, even if you bring your own snacks to work, you should probably still move around a bit more. Even a quick walk after lunch can reduce stress and boost your metabolism, and we love exercise methods that don’t cost an arm and a leg. (Pun intended. Come on, lighten up a little!)

Lisa Rowan is a writer and producer at The Penny Hoarder.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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This Sneaky Saving Strategy Will Help You Pay for Your Dream Vacation

If you’ve ever been to Disney World, the Grand Canyon, the National Mall or any other big tourist destination, you’ve probably seen the vacation meltdown. Three or four days into the trip, someone in the family has had enough: there’s pouting, screaming and the dreaded threat of “I refuse to take another step until I get a nap.”

In my observation, this is usually either a preschool-aged kid, or a dad.

Let’s face it, vacations can be stressful. Between bad weather, cranky kids, days of driving and lots of crowds, there’s a lot that can get under your skin.

For many families, paying for the vacation can be the most stressful part. Do you want to go on vacation without having to worry about how you’re going to pay for it? Do you want to sleep easy knowing that the vacation is already paid for? Are you still paying off the credit card from last year’s vacation? Then consider vacation savings plans.

What are Vacation Savings Plans?

When my wife and I took a trip to Alaska for a friend’s wedding, we only had one savings account for all our needs. After getting home and adding up the receipts, I was surprised at how much the trip had cost — we were enjoying ourselves so much, I didn’t realize how far we had gone over our budget. It wasn’t a nice surprise to come home to!

To prevent this situation on our next trip, I came up with the idea of the vacation savings account. Here’s how it works:

As part of your monthly budget, decide how much you want to save for vacations. Either pick an amount to deduct from each paycheck and save that, or decide how much you’d like to spend annually and divide by your pay interval (monthly, weekly or bi-weekly) to get your target amount.

Create a separate savings account for your vacation fund. There are a bunch of great online banks, but one of my favorites is Chase because they’re offering Penny Hoarder readers a $250 bonus when you open a new checking account.

After putting money away for retirement (you are saving for retirement, aren’t you?) and your other monthly savings, put the dedicated amount in the account and watch your money grow.

Pay yourself first by setting up an automatic transfer from the account your paycheck goes into — this way, you won’t be tempted to spend this money on something else.

Use Your Vacation Savings Plans to Budget Your Trip

When it’s time for you to plan your next vacation, you’ll know exactly how much you can spend — the amount that’s in your vacation account.

Budget your vacation just like you do your household budget (you do have a household budget, don’t you?). Use trip planning sites for your destination to help you plan what to budget for hotels, food, airfare and other needs.

Once you have a rough idea of what you can afford, fine tune it. After you book airfare and hotels, replace your estimates with the actual costs (don’t forget tax and baggage fees) and use the estimates from the trip planning sites to set aside money for food.

If you are driving, estimate gas costs for your trip. After you’ve done all this, decide whether you want to set some of the money aside for souvenirs.

My wife and I put $100 each per paycheck into our account, and after 10 months we had $2,000 put away. When we decided to take our son to Disney World for the first time, we already had a budget to work with. After crunching all the numbers, we discovered that we had enough left over to upgrade to a nicer hotel room!

Make the Most of Your Vacation Savings Plans: A Case Study

To make the most out of your vacation savings account, do your research. You should always be looking for the best travel deals and insider tips on how to save money and time on vacation.

The couple of hours I spent online preparing for our recent trip to Disney World paid off bigtime.

We were able to save hours waiting in lines because I learned touring strategies from some local bloggers. Yourfirstvisit.net has some great infographics comparing weather, crowds, seasonal rates and even hurricane activity to help you choose the right time of year to visit.

Josh at easywdw.com breaks down crowd levels at each of the four Walt Disney World theme parks to help you choose which park to go to on each day of your visit. He posts his recommendations about eight months in advance, usually within a few days of Disney officially releasing the park hours.

These time savings helped us see more of the park and enjoy our time there rather than standing in line all day.

Additionally, we saved a lot of money shopping between available deals. Mousesavers.com posts constant updates as the company releases a variety of new promotions: seasonal offers, free dining offers (here’s a great article to help you decide whether a room discount or free dining will save you more money), AAA discounts, AARP discounts, military discounts and more. Booking through a travel agent can also get you a great deal.

I compared the Florida resident discount with the military rate and determined that the military deal would save me more money.

Bringing a Dream Vacation Within Reach

Once I saw how well the vacation savings account strategy worked for our Disney trip, I was ready to take it to the next level. My wife has always wanted to go to New Zealand, which seemed like an unreachable goal until I changed my attitude.

Rather than convincing myself we couldn’t afford it, I sat down and tried to figure out how I could afford it. If we saved $167 a month, at the end of five years we would have $10,000 saved. That’s the vacation of a lifetime and I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to afford it.

Your Turn: Have you used a vacation savings account to help plan a trip?

Kevin Mack is a freelance writer/blogger from Jacksonville, FL. You can check out his blog at http://ift.tt/2qAVI7i

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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Not Just for Kids Anymore: 9 Childhood Jobs That Make Great Side Gigs for Adults

Remember when you were a kid and did odd jobs for extra money? Turns out you can still do many of these jobs as an adult. In fact, several of the classic “childhood jobs,” such as babysitter and newspaper delivery, have almost completely transitioned from kid jobs to adult jobs.

Why the shift? Well, Lifehacker recently ran a chart showing the legal age at which children could be left home alone. Turns out many states have laws preventing children younger than 11, 12, or in the state of Illinois, 14, from being home alone by themselves. That wipes out a lot of babysitting jobs for preteens and helps explain why you don’t see as many kids out by themselves delivering papers or raking leaves.

Want to earn a little extra cash? Try one of these classic childhood jobs.

1. Babysitting

We’ve come a long way since The Baby-Sitters Club, when a group of 13- and 11-year-old girls formed their own business to babysit for local families. These days, most parents want their 11-year-olds to have babysitters, not to be the sitters themselves! They also often want their babysitters to be fully fledged adults.

Turn your babysitting skills into a lucrative career. When you were a kid, you probably got paid $8 or $10 for a full night of babysitting. As an adult babysitter, you can easily charge $15 an hour or more. Care.com gives you the going rates of babysitters in your area, so use that as a guide to set your own prices.

How do you get babysitting jobs? You could always talk to friends who have recently become parents; chances are they’ll know someone in their parenting group or baby swim class who needs a babysitter. You could also put up signs in coffee shops and family-friendly businesses advertising your skills. Or, you could join a babysitting or nannying agency, which is essentially the same thing as joining a baby-sitters club as an adult. For more advice, check out this post on working as a babysitter.

Consider developing an area of focus to help stand out from the other sitters: Maybe you work with special-needs kids, maybe you combine babysitting and tutoring, or maybe you offer tired parents your services as a night nanny.

2. Pet Sitting

If you like animals more than little kids, consider becoming a pet sitter instead of a babysitter. As with babysitting, more and more people are interested in trusting their furry children to responsible adults instead of the neighbor kid down the street.

As we’ve noted before, you could earn up to $100 a night taking care of people’s pets. Pet sitting is a popular job right now because many busy professionals need someone to watch their pets while they are on vacation or business travel. Other people simply need someone to take their dogs for a walk when they’re stuck in the office.

As with babysitting, you can stand out from the other clients by developing an area of focus or a special skill, such as dog adventure coordinator.

3. Raking Leaves and Shoveling Snow

Did you see my recent article about starting a leaf-raking business? Leaf-raking is another one of those jobs that used to be entrusted to kids but is quickly turning into an opportunity for adults. After all, how good of a leaf raker were you when you were 12? Chances are you’re better at it now, and much more willing to work hard and get the job done.

Leaf raking and snow shoveling are two seasonal childhood jobs that can also help adults bring in some extra income. Before you get started, find out the rules and regulations in your area: Some cities require you to put leaves in biodegradable bags, for example. Then get ready to put up signs and market your services. Keep in mind that it’s okay to ask people you know if you can rake or shovel for them, but it isn’t okay to go door-to-door. Yes, kids do it all the time, but a lot of cities have regulations against this practice.

Don’t underprice yourself. Ideally, you’ll want to make around $15 an hour or more for your work, especially because you’ll have to pay for your own supplies and taxes out of your income.

4. Delivering Newspapers

The iconic image of a young paperboy slinging newspapers from his bicycle is a bit outdated. These days paper routes often require cars, which turns newspaper delivery from a job for kids to one reserved for adults.

If you’re looking for a newspaper delivery job, your first step is to check out local and city papers’ websites. They are likely to have a section for job openings. You can also call the paper directly and ask how they hire their delivery workers. Job sites like Indeed and Monster also list open newspaper delivery jobs.

Be aware that this job often involves working very early hours, and you’ll usually be responsible for bundling and preparing the newspapers for the delivery before delivering them. The pay range for newspaper delivery jobs is often between $10 to $15 an hour.

5. Tutoring

A lot of young people earn a little extra money in high school or college by tutoring other students. Once you become an adult, there’s no reason why you have to stop your tutoring work. Plenty of parents are willing to pay good money for a great tutor. If you are patient, know how to keep kids motivated, and can explain educational concepts in a way that is easy for kids to understand, you might be exactly what parents — and their kids — are looking for.

The Penny Hoarder has resources on how to become an online tutor, as well as how to start your own tutoring business and find paying clients.

If you’re looking to go the online tutoring route, apply with a service like Tutor.com, Chegg Tutors or any of the numerous paid tutoring services online. (Some online tutoring sites don’t share pay ranges until after you’ve completed successful applications, but Chegg Tutors advertises on its front page that it pays tutors at least $20 per hour.)

If you’re looking to start your own tutoring business, think of it as a business first and a tutoring service second. Figure out how you stand out from other tutors. Do you have previous teaching experience? Did you get a perfect SAT score? Do you have experience working with kids who have learning disabilities? Develop a marketing plan that highlights your strengths.

Check out what other tutors in your area are charging, and price accordingly. Like many of the jobs on this list, you’re going to want to earn a minimum of $15 to $20 an hour, but in some cities and neighborhoods you can easily charge $30 to $50 an hour or more.

Then, make a website that features your expertise — maybe a short video of you explaining how to diagram a sentence, for example — and start advertising your services online, on social media and in person. Need more tips? Read The Penny Hoarder’s tutoring how-to guide.

6. Lifeguarding

Lifeguarding is still a popular summer job for teenagers, but many pools hire adult lifeguards as well. Money Crashers has a great guide to becoming an adult lifeguard, including this quote: “As someone who managed lifeguards for almost six years, I loved hiring adult guards because they were better at remaining focused, weren’t afraid to uphold the rules, and garnered more respect from a growing population of adult patrons.”

Sound like something you can do? Then it’s time to get certified, get up to date on your emergency first aid skills and get ready to blow that whistle!

Each city and pool will have its own certification requirements, but the American Red Cross lifeguard certification site is a good place to learn what types of certifications you might need, as well as where you can go to register for classes. Confirm any required certifications with your local pool before you spend money on coursework.

How much do lifeguards earn? Rates tend to float between $10 and $20 an hour.

7. Selling Lemonade

Ah, the lemonade stand. This job sounds so childish that many adults don’t even consider it. However, as we’ve written about before, it is possible to earn money selling lemonade as an adult.

What’s the secret? First, you have to make really great lemonade — none of that powdery stuff you sold as a kid. Second, you have to know how to market yourself: as Sarah Greesonbach recommended, “Arrange to sell your refreshing beverage anywhere people might be hot and looking to try something new: in the parking lot at local baseball tournaments, at indoor and outdoor church functions, at summer festivals and local farmers markets.”

How much can you earn selling lemonade at farmers’ markets? Well, this USA Today story describes one entrepreneur who, in one day, sold 840 cups of maple lemonade at $4 per cup. That’s $3,360, minus expenses. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal!

8. Washing Cars

Car washing isn’t just for teenagers raising money for their sports teams. Companies like Eco Car Cafe and Washly hire car wash professionals to perform excellent work and get cars fully clean.

Check and see what car wash services are in your area, and whether you’d be interested in taking on this classic childhood job as an adult. You might have the most luck if you’re in a startup-heavy city like San Francisco. Washly, for example, operates out of the Toronto and San Francisco areas, and Eco Car Cafe serves the Seattle area. These startups are looking for people who can provide both an excellent clean and excellent customer service.

Be aware that you might have a lot of competition; Forbes noted that car wash startup Cherry (now defunct) only hired 1% of all applicants.

How much can you expect to get paid? According to Forbes, Cherry paid minimum wage to start. Not great, but better than nothing for a part-time job.

9. Weeding Gardens

Remember when your parents sent you to the backyard to pull weeds out of the garden? Chances are, they only paid you a few bucks for your hard labor — if they paid you at all.

Well, now that you’re an adult, you have the opportunity to earn a bit more for your skills. Sites like TaskRabbit and Zaarly help connect garden-weeders to satisfied clients, so sign up with a few of those sites and see if you can find some gardens that need weeding!

Prefer to be your own boss? You can always advertise your own weeding and garden services as part of your very own freelance business. Bet that’s something you wish you could have done as a child!

Nicole Dieker is a freelance copywriter and essayist. She writes regularly for The Billfold on the intersection of freelance writing and personal finance, and her work has also appeared in The Toast, Yearbook Office, and Boing Boing.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, one of the largest personal finance websites. We help millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. In 2016, Inc. 500 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the No. 1 fastest-growing private media company in the U.S.

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