Tag: holidays

10 Ways To Make $100 By Black Friday

With Thanksgiving approaching, retailers are buckling down for the ultimate day of shopping: Black Friday. A day when shoppers can get their hands on the latest and greatest “must have” gifts for the loved ones on their list and you can score some sweet deals on the things you’ve had your eye on all year.

However, if the only thing coming out of your wallet is moths this year, it can put a damper on your holiday spending. That’s why we compiled a list of how to make some quick cash before the big day so that you’re not left out in the cold.

1. Sell Your Unused Toner

Toner Connect has a great buyback program when it comes to your unused toner and it’s a perfect way to get some cash quick. As long as your toner meets our requirements, we want to buy it! Simply fill out our form, upload your list, or snap a photo of your toner, and we’ll get back to you with our price!

2. Donate Plasma

Donating plasma can be a great way to make money and also help save lives. Plasma is used to help make life-saving medicine for patients with chronic, rare and inherited diseases such as hemophilia. You are compensated for your donation and can donate up to twice a week.
The amount of compensation depends on the location but pay usually ranges from $20-$50 each time. Visit Donatingplasma.org to learn more.

3. Become a Seller on eBay

Got any items lying around you’re ready to part with? Selling on eBay is a great way to earn some extra cash and to purge your closet at the same time. You know what they say, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.
Just be sure to sign up to become a registered seller first. You can also sell your wares on sites such as Letgo and Offerup.

4. Got an Opinion?

Good! Did you know people will pay to hear it? Companies such as Ipsos, Inboxdollars, and Swagbucks will pay you to fill out their online surveys.
Not only that, you have more options with Swagbucks to try out games, search shop sites and explore online content for compensation.

5. Show Me That Receipt

There is an online company called Ibotta that rewards you for taking pictures of your receipts. According to Penny Hoarder, they offer cash back rewards every time you shop.
They give the example of purchasing from Best Buy, uploading their receipt and getting 2% cash back. Similarly, a Target receipt got them $0.25 back for any amount. You just need an email to sign up and can request payment through Paypal or Venmo.

6. Test Drive for Cash

As of right now, Hyundai is offering a $50 prepaid Visa gift card if you come in a test drive their vehicles. You just need a valid DL. Check their website for local participating dealerships.

7. Craigslist Gigs

Another source of quick income is by browsing Craigslist gigs. While there may be some rather interesting requests out there, it’s a good place to find some quick work for fast payment. Oftentimes people will request workers for odd jobs such as painting their house, mowing their lawn, artist commissions etc…
Just be sure to communicate with the ad poster first and be smart with deciding whether or not a gig’s for you. If it sounds shady or too good to be true, it usually is. Craigslist is also a place you can try selling old items.

8. Money is Honey

Another survey/video site you can earn on is called EarnHoney. Basically, the site pays you in what they call “Nectar” and for every nine nectar you get you earn 1 honey dollar. You can watch videos, play games or complete surveys. So far they payout in Amazon gift cards and Paypal.

9. Declutter with Decluttr

Decluttr is an online store that will purchase your old electronics. From DVDs, Blu-rays, video games, cell phones, consoles etc…They offer free shipping and even have a mobile app that allows you to scan your barcode and immediately get an offer from Decluttr. If you’ve been wanting to get rid of your physical media, now’s the time.
Another way to get rid of old games and consoles is by selling to games stores like GameStop. Simply bring in your items and you’ll get a quote right then and there. And while sometimes difficult to find, FYE is another brick and mortar that will buy old DVDs, Blu-rays and VHS’s. Use their location finder to see if there’s one near you.

10. Earn with Ebates

Ebates is a company that basically pays for what you want to do. Shop. Simply sign up to create an account and then when you’re ready to shop online, visit ebates and select one of the stores you’re purchasing from. They offer a wide variety of online retailers including Walmart, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Amazon and more.
For each purchase you make, you earn money back which you receive either via check in the mail or Paypal. For the full list of companies listed on Ebates, click here.

We know you have your Christmas list ready when it comes to Black Friday. Don’t start off the holidays empty-handed. Use these tips that Toner Connect has provided to make sure that wish list is fulfilled.

Three Issues Every Boss Must Face During The Holidays

As the holiday season approaches, every employer must establish a plan and schedule for the next few months. It’s stressful enough that you must fight the crowds at the mall and wait in endless lines in order to enjoy holiday activities, but running a business or managing a team of people during the holidays can be especially trying for business owners.

Manage Vacation Time

If they haven’t already, people will likely start giving their requests for time off during the holidays.  The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is such a popular vacation time that you may have a hard time getting anything done.

Some businesses will close for a few days during the holidays to save on operation costs, but that may not be an option for you.  If you already have a great scheduling system to manage your payroll and track time-off requests, then you’ll be ahead of the curve.

For everyone else, a good old-fashioned calendar will do.

Sit down with your team and get their time-off requests logged on the calendar so you can see where your weak spots will occur over the holidays.  Scheduling vacation time together as a staff will help your employees understand the complexities of staffing through the holiday period and will cut down on the grumbling over who gets which days.

Plan Holiday Parties

The office holiday party is either something people love attending or something people dread, and it doesn’t seem like there is any middle ground.  It’s really tough to plan something that is entertaining, not too cheesy, and not too edgy for HR, but it can be done.

Depending on the size of your office or team, you’ll want to involve a wide variety of people in the planning process.

Try grabbing folks from several departments, so you’ll get a wide lens on personal tastes and what people want. Chances are, among your employees, you’ll find people who enjoy party-planning and are looking for an opportunity to contribute.

The other issues that arise around holiday parties are all the horror stories like “Steve from Accounting got so drunk he wouldn’t hand over the mic after karaoke.”  That’s terrible for the people listening and extremely poor judgment by Steve, but it also means that there probably weren’t enough things going on at the party to keep folks engaged and entertained.

Try planning an agenda that keeps the activities flowing (rather than the booze), but also feels fun and relaxed.  Give plenty of wiggle room between events like speeches, dinner, awards and so on.  Many times, these events are used as team building or to honor employee performance.  That’s great, and should be a part of the celebration, but make sure you’ve set up the agenda to include some fun as well so it’s not all business.

Close Up Shop

Unless you’re in a service business like a restaurant, you will probably have days during the holiday season that the office will need to be closed.  Days like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day are a given, but there are other times where it might be beneficial to close the business.  Quite a few people ask for Black Friday or Christmas Eve off, so you should take a look at how many sales you expect to conduct on those days.

Is it even worth opening the doors?

Certainly, a retail business will be open on Black Friday, but what about professional services firms like CPAs or Law Offices?  It may cost more to be open these days than can be made in revenues.

Once the decision to be closed has been made, it’s important that you’re communicating the closure days to both your employees as well as your customers or clients.  Nothing will look worse for your business or feel as bad for your clients as it will when they show up at your door, only to find a “Sorry We’re Closed!” sign hanging there.

If you have a mailing list or email list, make sure that you’re noting the closing days there.  Facebook, LinkedIn, or other social media posts will go a long way to getting the word out as well.

Change your phone answering messages well in advance of the dates so that anyone calling hears the dates and times that you’ll be closed and put up a sign somewhere in your offices so that visiting customers will know when you won’t be open to serve them.

The holidays can be a time to enjoy the giving spirit and celebrate the year’s accomplishments, or they can be a stressful couple of months that you have to weather every year.  Where you fall on that spectrum will depend on how well you’ve planned your operations for the season.  Taking care to set your customers’ expectations and organize your employees’ celebrations and time-off will go a long way toward making your life easier when the holiday season comes around.