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Great ideas to make money doing what you love

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Who says you can’t make money doing what you love? These creative ideas will help you start that part-time business you’ve always dreamed of.

If you lie awake at night racking your brain for a fall-back plan or second-income generator, find a movement, trend or something that works in a big way, and then drum up a way to tweak it for a specialized audience. The key to turning a unique idea, skill or talent into a steady side gig is to pay attention in life–ideas are all around you.

For example, more women are looking for ways to get out of the house. Hosting book club, wine-tasting, jewellery or lingerie parties are just a few fun activities with moneymaking potential.

Here are some more ideas for where to look as you try to find the niche that suits you best:

Alternative health services. As our health-care system becomes more prevention-oriented, Americans are increasingly more accepting of alternative, holistic health, and wellness practices. Healing arts such as reflexology, massage therapy and yoga are in demand by private and corporate clientele.

Grooming services. Thanks to the popularity of TV shoes such as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, men are becoming more upfront about wanting to look and feel good about themselves. For these so-called metrosexuals, a new wave of relaxation havens specially designated for men are cropping up. Today’s hottest services include facial bronzing, stone massage, organic facials, reflexology and seaweed wraps.

Spiritual work. Spiritually minded people make humanity their life’s work. Today, there are plenty of creative job paths you can pursue if you feel inspiring others is your life mission. For example, religious craftspeople and artists (think of all the Judaic and Catholic supply shops, candleholders, jewellery charms, trinket boxes, decorative nativity art and collectibles there are); church camp/counsellor/director; religious writers and authors (even for religious greeting cards); and spiritual retreat leaders. These last folks lead trips to destinations with biblical/historical significance.

Personal services. Can you save someone else time? Running errands for seniors, preparing someone’s tax returns or walking your neighbours’ dogs are examples of valuable services to offer.

Gardening and landscaping. Consider the growing garden trade. Homeowners who lack the time or desire to plant and prune still recognize the importance of curb appeal today. Landscape design, maintenance and retail gardening businesses are hot now. If you enjoy working in nice weather around nature, the field of horticulture covers a wide range of professional specialties. You can be an arborist, look after commercial greenhouses, and care for golf courses or large private estates. With a formal education, you’ll learn about jet stream patterns and their effect on which plants grow best in certain regions.

Pet services. Could your business be going to the dogs? Upscale pet-related services and merchandise are bringing home the bacon–to the tune of $30 billion a year in the United States today, according to a recent research study from Unity Marketing. Pet foods, doggie daycare, shampoos and even “pet pampering” spas and hotels are just a few of the products and services that make up the industry. If you have a knack for dog handling, dog obedience is another hot extra-income generator.

Workplace design. You could be a creator of the workplace of the future. As industries evolve, tomorrow’s offices will entice us through hip, ergonomically correct furnishings, the use of colour, and innovative lighting. The need for experts who can implement ergonomically correct conditions is rising. Areas of specialization include industrial workplaces, occupational safety, furniture design, computer hardware, human-computer interaction, product liability, consumer products and virtual environments.

Senior-focused services. Don’t forget the lucrative aging baby boomers. The fifty-plus population is an intelligent, active group. They need products, services and information providers to meet their entertainment, education and lifestyle needs. Today, there are senior-focused book authors; website developers; travel, insurance and real-estate companies; and computer-training firms reaping profits from the older Americans they serve.

Business writing and services. If your skill is putting it in writing, hire yourself out as a business plan writer. Too many businesses lose out on new contracts, funding or clients because they don’t know how to communicate their message on paper. Businesses today have a need for marketing, strategy, lobbying and proposal writing services. Also, the demand for freelance writers with specialties in grant writing, bio met, IT, economic development and general business is high. Project work includes requests for proposals, corporate training guides, computer documentation, white papers, government licensing applications, legislative memos and executive bios. Fees typically start at $100 per hour, or between $30,000 and $60,000 a year.

Home design and services. These days, home is where the art is. Thanks to baby boomers with discretionary income and a nationwide “cocooning” trend, interior decorating and design services are in demand. From guesthouses to second homes, vacation retreats to master bathrooms, those cashing in on the thriving home-fixings craze include architects, interior designers, landscape architects and pool builders. Other jobs include project management professionals for furniture companies or corporate facilities, and designers of hotels, healthcare institutions, retirement communities and nursing homes.

Culinary services. By the same token, staying in is the new going out and people are entertaining in their homes more than ever. Dinner parties have made a big comeback. If you have culinary skills, you’re in demand. Aside from catering, you may decide to give one-on-one cooking lessons, help prepare menus or conduct demonstrations in your own home. For the many people trying to eat well, both for health and epicurean reasons, you can hire yourself out as a personal chef or nutritionist.

Merging science and Reflexology

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By Lauren Slade Author, Researcher and Educator

From the very first course I ever took in reflexology over 25 years ago, I’ve had a passion to discover a scientific explanation of exactly how reflexology works.

It amazes me how many people, including Reflexologists still believe that there are little “crystals” in the feet, which when pressed disperse and so cause a healing reaction in the body! How plausible do you think this sounds to a medical doctor practicing in the 21st century? How can it be with all the incredible scientific discoveries over the last half century that this concept still persists?

I have spent a large part of my life studying holistic therapies and how they work. As a Certified Master Reflexologist I have studies Japanese, Swiss, Korean, German, Chinese, Australian, South African, British, American, Canadian and European methods of reflexology. I am also a Master Herbalist, Homeopath, Aromatherapist, Reiki Master/Teacher and Massage Therapist with training in many other holistic therapies. I know that science and holistic healing work hand in hand.

Many years ago I started collecting Reflexology Charts and Maps from around the world and dating back as far as 1917. I now have over 150 different charts in my collection. One thing that really stands out are the startling differences of the reflex point locations on some of the charts. According to my training and my very learned teachers – these charts were just plain wrong! And yet… the Reflexologists who followed them got amazing results. How could that be?

Over the years I have treated thousands of clients. I have worked on a client with four kidneys, another had two uteruses, quite a few have had six or seven toes on each foot, and yet another client informed me that x-rays had shown that all their internal organs were reversed.

The perfectly ordered and neat looking anatomical diagrams we see in medical books, are not always the same as the actual client who comes to me for a treatment. What happens when someone has an organ removed? Do all the internal organs re-organize themselves to fill that space? How and why should the standard classical Reflexology Map still apply?

After almost 30 years of working as a Reflexologist and instructor I know that Reflexology works! I have witnessed and experienced amazing results, both in myself as well as my clients over the years. Reflexology has triumphed where conventional medicine has often failed.

Over the length of my practicing Complementary Alternative Medicine, I have worked on many clients who experienced “phantom limb pain” – a condition suffered by amputees who continue to feel pain after losing a limb. I will always remember one particular client. He had lost his leg below the knee in a motor cycle accident some five years previously. His ‘phantom limb pain’ was so severe, that he was on the highest dose of morphine available to him, just to get him through each day. When I worked the corresponding reflexes in the hand on the side of the missing limb, as taught in my original Reflexology training, there was no benefit felt by the client.

So rather than give up, I decided to do something radical. I planned to work on both feet, the real one and the ‘phantom’ one. I performed reflexology on the real foot, and then moved over to the area where the foot used to be – all the while feeling slightly stupid – but hey nothing ventured, nothing gained!

There was a long silence at the end of the session, as I wondered if I had now lost all credibility as a therapist, and what I should do next. Imagine my amazement when my client reported an immediate lessening of the intense pain in his ‘phantom limb’ from a nine on a scale of 1 – 10 to a five. This was the first improvement he had noted after five years of various therapists using every treatment they could think of on him! I was thrilled. What exactly was the explanation – I do not know. What I do know is that my client reported a complete absence of pain within five treatments, and when I last saw him six years after my initial treatment, he reported that he was still pain free.

This client has been my inspiration for many years to discover the science behind Reflexology. Recent scientific research is indicating a huge upheaval in traditional thinking. Has the tide turned? Is it time for Reflexology and science to come together? I believe the answer is Yes. Much to my delight, I am discovering that at the frontiers of science, new ideas are emerging that challenge everything we believe about how our world works.

These new concepts contain possible explanations for all kinds of wholistic healing – not just Reflexology! Science is providing evidence that the human mind and body are not distinct and separate from their environment, as traditional medicine would have you believe, but a packet of pulsating energy constantly interacting with a vast sea of energy.

Quantum mechanics and new physics are making great strides. Their discoveries indicate that all matter in the universe is interconnected by waves, which are spread out through time and space, and can carry on to infinity, tying one part of the universe to every other part. This idea of a sea of energy might just offer a scientific explanation for many metaphysical notions, such as the Chinese belief in the life force, or ch’i, described in ancient texts as something akin to an energy field. It means that we and all the matter of the universe are literally connected to the furthest reaches of the cosmos.

In this view, the sea of energy connects everything in the universe to everything else, like some vast invisible web. It is as though a memory of the universe for all time is contained in empty space that each of us is always in touch with. Einstein himself understood that the only fundamental reality was the underlying entity – the ‘sea of energy’ itself. The ‘sea of energy’ might be the closest we have to what in Star Wars was called ‘The Force’.

How does this information impact the study of Reflexology? Is a Reflexologist tapping into this ‘sea of energy’? Swiss physicist Dr Hans Jenny, discovered that every cell in our body is controlled by an EM field with its own frequency. That we are beings of light gives sense to energetic or vibrational healing systems such as homeopathy and acupuncture, which can tune the body back to health. Can Reflexology also be classed as a vibrational healing system? As Dr Richard Gerber, author of Vibrational Healing (Santa Fe: Bear, 1988), once said: “If we are beings of energy, then it follows that we can be affected by energy.”

This idea offers a possible explanation for something that has puzzled me for many years – was this the explanation for my client with the ‘phantom limb’ pain? Did his missing physical limb still exist in the energetic sea? Could it be that we, at our most fundamental level, are packets of quantum energy constantly exchanging information with this heaving energy sea? What a stunning thought!

If so, it means that all of us connect with each other and the world at the level of the very undercoat of our being. It also means that we have the power to access much more information about the world than we realize.

The common assumption has been that psychics, healers, shamans and other ‘sensitives’ have a special gift that somehow endows them with rare and special powers. However, a great deal of scientific evidence now suggests that this type of consciousness is naturally present in everyone if we can learn (as sensitives intuitively understand) – how to access it. With some practice, it can be refined or enhanced.

The world of healing as we know it is undergoing major changes. Science is now catching up with what intuitive and natural healers have always known. Now is the time to let go of our limiting beliefs and let Reflexology soar to its natural height!.

Copyright Lauren Slade 2012

Article by Lauren Slade CMR MH
Principle & Founder of Universal College of Reflexology – since 1991

Published in Mosaic Magazine

The Actress, the Migraine & the Reflexologist

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Maureen Lipman, distinguished and much admired British actress, had a weekly column in British newspaper, The Guardian, and she wrote about how reflexology once again saved her life.  She describes her experience of the migraine from hell.

Maureen said “This migraine struck on a two-show Saturday. I had merrily declined the celebratory chocolate cake and champagne which marked our 100th performance. However over dinner with some friends in a posh restaurant later that night, I told my host that I was virtually cured of migraine. I told him this while I was busy tucking in to festive roast goose – my first – and drinking a glass or two of white wine. At 3.30 in the morning, I awoke with a screwdriver in my brain. Three days later – still no relief!

It’s a combination of stress and food that hits the jackpot. …… All I know is that, migraine wise, I know nothing and neither do most of the experts I have ever consulted.

Tony Porter, the reflexologist who is used to saving my life, came over and saved it again. It is miraculous; to observe someone pressing a place on your foot which makes your stomach gurgle and start to work again after a three-day lay-off. Without him, every understudy I have ever had would, by now, be a major star.”

Reflexology in the workplace

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Research Studies of the Benefits of Employing Reflexology in the Workplace

Here is a selection of Reflexology Research projects all related to the workplace.

 

  1. STAFF STUDY SEEN WITHIN WORCESTER HOSPITALS.
    By Anne Jordan, First European Conference.
    Twenty-eight subjects (22 females & 6 males, aged 22 to 66 years) were reported on in this study. Subjects received one 40-minute reflexology session per week for six weeks. Response to reflexology was measured after each session on several parameters including: pain, mobility, lassitude and psychological stress.All subjects reported some improvement after six sessions, with significant improvement being reported by: 74% of the 23 subjects experiencing pain, 53% of subjects concerned about mobility, 62.5% of subjects concerned with lassitude, and, 55% of subjects concerned with psychological stress. It is concluded that reflexology is a cost effective treatment for companies and institutions concerned about absenteeism and sick leave.
  2. MUNICIPAL REFLEXOLOGY
    By Leila Ericksen, The FDZ Research Council
    This paper reports that employment of a reflexologist by Ishoj Health Department to serve 57 home helpers resulted in 2,499 less sick hour leaves in a six month period – compared to the same period the prior year. This was calculated to correspond to a savings of DKK 214,914 (approximately U.S.,000). The number of reflexology treatments during this six-month period was 863. The reflexologist was subsequently permanently employed.
  3. A CLOSE UP VIEW ON COMPANY REFLEXOLOGY! – AN ANONYMOUS USER SURVEY
    By Leila Ericksen, The FDZ Research Council
    Telecom Taastrup hired a reflexologist 3 days a week for it’s 7-800 employees. In this survey 156 employees, who had received a total of 1025 reflexology treatments during a one-year period, were sent a questionnaire. The return rate was 75% or 116: 87 from women, 19 from men, 10 blank. Treatments had been for back pain, muscle tension, headache/migraine, and stomach/intestinal problems (60%) a further 20% for common problems related to movement. 56% responses indicated that the reflexology treatments helped. 29% indicated that the reflexology provided partial help. The remainder of respondents indicated that the reflexology treatments did not help (7.5%) ,or, that they did not know (7.5%). In addition, 40% indicated that the reflexology treatments received had reduced their number of sick days. It was concluded that there was a direct economical benefit as well as increased well being and productivity of the employees.
  4. COMPANY REFLEXOLOGY
    By Jonna Nielsen, Danish Reflexologists Association.
    This paper summarized the reports from Ishoj Heath Department and Telecom Taastrup.
  5. POSTAL REFLEXOLOGY – EXCERPT OF THE ODENSE REPORT NOVEMBER 1993
    By Synnove Madsen and Jette Andersen
    This report presents the effects during a 3 year period of employment of a reflexologist by the postal district of Odense which has 1450 employees. A total of 235 employees, 142 women and 93 men, received reflexology treatments. 72% (170) employees reported a good effect, 26% (60) employees reported some effect, and 2% (5) reported no effect.. During the 3-year period the average number of sick days per employee per year is shown to decrease from 11.4 days to 8.5 days. It is estimated that this decrease in sick days saved expenses of DKK 1 million (Approximately 110,000 pounds sterling).

$3 million Research Grant Awarded for Reflexology

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LANSING — A Michigan State University researcher wants to know if a natural healing therapy will help women cope with treatment for late-stage breast cancer.

A $3 million National Institutes of Cancer grant will pay for a five-year study of Michigan breast cancer patients treated with reflexology, a massage-like technique that puts pressure on specific points on the soles of the feet or on the hands. The hope is that it will ease stress, depression, anxiety and side effects of treatment.

Gwen Wyatt, a professor of nursing and the principal investigator for the study, said a pilot five years ago of 100 cancer patients at the Western Michigan Cancer Center in Kalamazoo found that reflexology was the most promising among complementary therapies given in addition to conventional treatments.

The pilot also looked at guided imagery, which uses healing images, and reminiscence therapy, where patients recall times they’ve overcome challenges in their lives.

Wyatt stressed that the therapies aren’t being promoted as alternatives to conventional treatment.

“We’re not curing the cancer,” Wyatt said. “We’re really on the human side of it, trying to help them deal with the emotions and hopefully fewer symptoms or decreased severity of symptoms.”

Wyatt said cancer treatment centers are starting to add amenities, such as massage, to give patients something to look forward to rather than just dreading the next round of chemotherapy.

Gary McMullen, vice president of the American Cancer Society, Great Lakes Division, said his group only recommends medical treatments that are scientifically proven. Reflexology is not proven for medical treatment, he said, adding that more research on its ability to enhance quality of life needs to be conducted. “I think it’s worthwhile that these complementary things be looked at and figured out,” he said.

“…There’s a lot of needs, emotional, spiritual, financial, that are left in the wake of a battle with any serious illness,” he said. “How do we get people back on track?”

The pilot study found that women who received reflexology reported they still had symptoms of anxiety, depression and physical side effects from chemotherapy, but they were lessened, Wyatt said.

The theory behind reflexology is that certain areas of the feet correspond to different areas of the body and by stimulating nerves, symptoms are decreased.

Barbara Brower, an Okemos reflexologist with 25 years’ experience, is helping Wyatt with the research and identifying trained reflexologists.

She said reflexology can reduce stress, improve circulation and release toxins that are built up during chemotherapy. The practice is not regulated in Michigan. It cost $50 to $65 for an hour-long session.

She said her profession, once routinely scoffed at by medical practitioners, has become more mainstream in the last decade. “I have physicians that come to me,” she said.

For the first time this fall, an interdisciplinary class offered by the two MSU medical schools and the nursing school gives an overview of the complementary therapies, Wyatt said.

While insurance doesn’t cover reflexology treatment, pretax dollars can be set aside in medical savings accounts, Wyatt said.  For patients in the study, however, the research grant will pay for four sessions each.

Wyatt is recruiting patients from cancer centers around the state including the West Michigan Cancer Center in Kalamazoo, the Great Lakes Cancer Institute’s clinics at the Bay Regional Medical Center in Bay City and the McLaren Regional Medical Center in Flint, and the Lacks Cancer Center at St. Mary’s in Grand Rapids. Other clinics are in Lansing, Traverse City and Detroit. The first treatments should start in January 2006.

Airport Reflexology

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Updated 9/27/2006 7:42 AM ET
By Robert DiGiacomo, Special for USA TODAY

Between terrorist warnings, crowded flights and tight connections, traveling by plane can stress the body and mind.

But thanks to a new generation of airport-based spas, it’s possible to relax — even find a bit of serenity — before you dash off to the gate.

“The best thing you can do is condition yourself for the trip and prepare your body for the journey,” says Moreton Binn, CEO of XpresSpa, which operates spa facilities in several airports, including John F. Kennedy International, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

Unlike their city- or resort-based counterparts, airport spas generally don’t require an appointment and offer streamlined services geared to the flier in a time crunch.

Here’s a guide to facilities at some airports around the country:

•Boston Logan. Jetsetter Mini Spa (www.jetsetterspa.com) offers facials, manicures, pedicures and massage. The Journeyman ($85), for men, combines a manicure or pedicure, a facial, brow waxing and 10-minute chair massage. The Red Eye ($40) is a 25-minute hydrating treatment designed to reduce puffiness and make skin appear younger. The Hilton Health Club and Spa (www.bostonlogan.hilton.com/healthclubandspa) features cardio equipment and weights, whirlpool and a day spa; treatments include a 30-minute full-body massage ($45) and the 30-minute Happy Feet ($50).

•Chicago O’Hare. Like its Boston airport counterpart, the Hilton Athletic Club (www.hilton.com) is a full-service gym with workout equipment, lap pool, steam room and sauna. Swedish or deep-tissue massage costs $50 or $100 for 30 or 60 minutes. The Backrub Hub at Terminal Three can soothe the savage back with 10- to 30-minute chair massages ($15-$35) by licensed therapists.

•Denver. A Massage Inc. on concourses A (303-342-6821) and B (303-342-6821) offers chair massages (10 to 30 minutes, $13-$36), as well as full-body table Swedish or deep-tissue table massages (one hour for $72).

•Detroit. In a serenely minimalist white and chrome environment, OraOxygen Wellness Spa (www.oraoxygen.net) features a menu of traditional massage and facial options, but what’s unique are oxygen stations purporting to stop jet lag, soothe the nervous system and help you sleep better; a 15-minute session costs $18. Showers ($15 or $10 with treatment) also are available.

•Indianapolis. With a location in Terminal C and four other kiosks, Passport Travel Spa (www.passporttravelspa.com) specializes in fast-track treatments. Massages (chair only) start at $18 for 15 minutes. Foot massage: $1.50 a minute.

•New York John F. Kennedy. XpresSpa (www.xpresspa.com), which operates its flagship facility here and is at five other airports, offers services on the go in a traditional spa atmosphere with wood floors, indirect lighting and live bamboo trees. Clients can receive several treatments simultaneously while relaxing in custom-automated massage chairs. Services include a 30-minute seaweed facial ($60) and a traditional Swedish massage ($60 for 30 minutes, $110 for one hour). Sites: JFK (Terminal 1, 718-751-2235); LaGuardia (scheduled to open this year); Philadelphia International (Concourse C, 215-365-2515); Pittsburgh (Terminal A, 412-472-5136); Raleigh-Durham (Terminals A and C; scheduled to open this year); and San Francisco (International Terminal Boarding Area A, 650-821-1042).

•Newark Liberty. D-partures Spa (www.departurespa.com) at Terminals B and C is a full-service facility offering everything from haircuts and blowouts to manicure-pedicures and massage. The Weary Traveler ($85) is a 45-to-60-minute treatment combining a pedicure with a heated massage, 10-minute foot rub and paraffin treatment, plus extra time for a power nap, depending on your flight schedule. A 10-minute chair massage goes for $10.

•Seattle-Tacoma. Massage Bar (www.massagebar.com, 206-985-7177) is a chain with locations here (C concourse and North-Satellite), as well as Columbus International in Ohio (concourse B), Nashville (B and C concourses), Newark Liberty (A Terminal and A-3 Connector) and Washington Dulles International (B concourse).

Available are chair massages as single (15 minutes for $20) and double shots (30 minutes for $35), as well as 10-minute foot reflexology sessions ($12); prices are slightly higher at Newark and Dulles. Each site also features a happy hour with $1 discounts on services; check the website for details.

•Vancouver, British Columbia. At two locations within the airport and a third at the Fairmont Airport Hotel, Absolute Spa (www.absolutespa.com) caters to travelers seeking a bit of luxury, with a full menu of services from a haircut and facial to hydrotherapy and massage.

The Flight Delay Package ($75 Canadian) pairs a 15-minute oxygen treatment with a 15-minute chair massage and 30-minute manicure. Those in a hurry can opt for a 20-minute Circulator Anti-Swelling Leg Massage ($30 Canadian). Locations: Level 3, Domestic Departures; Level 3, U.S. Departures Gates; Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotel, Level 3 (604-248-2772).