A special message for those who love odd-ball business ideas....

Here are some more unusual businesses....

First, a couple of the ones mentioned here in the past (in case you missed them)....

I hope Gordon doesn't mind, but I've just gotta mention his Off-Key Singing Telegram Service! You can read the story here....

And a while ago Julie Jordan Scott wrote about the story of what can happen when pigs fly.... :)

Now here are a couple more stories.... You won't believe this....

When you go on holiday, what do you like to sleep in? A nice, warm, snuggly bed?

Or would you prefer a block of ice?

Well, some people choose the block of ice! Those are people who go to the Ice Hotel in Sweden!

It's the world's biggest igloo, and they rebuild it every year.... A complete hotel built of ice!

Even the beds are blocks of ice -- covered in reindeer pelts....

So if you like to build snowmen with your kids.... This year, think big! ;)

Here's another idea that's more reproducible.... How have you announced the arrival of a new baby? Cards?

Some people use a stork.... a giant 7 foot plastic stork in their front yard...!

It may be a quirky business idea, but it works!

Some key advice in the following article is....

"Make sure there's a market for it,.... It doesn't make any difference that it's quirky. Maybe that's what they want."

Click here to read the article....

There's some more inspiration for those who love odd-ball ideas! :)

Do you know of any other unusual or odd-ball businesses you've heard of or seen....?

Dien Rice

[b]>> Some key advice in the following article is.... "Make sure there's a market for it,.... It doesn't make any difference that it's quirky. Maybe that's what they want."

Hi Marty,

Hmm... with that business, cleaning up the "work space" afterwards might not be the greatest too....

But you're right, it's quite unusual! :) Thanks....

Here's another story.... It's about giving an old unsuccessful product a new "twist" so it becomes successful....

Someone brought an unusual product to Joe Cossman which they couldn't sell. It was a pair of earrings with little bells on them! No matter what they did, they weren't selling....

Why wouldn't their product work?

Was there any way to sell it?

Could it still succeed?

They were pulling their hair out with frustration!

Joe Cossman took the product, and gave it a little "twist". He called the earrings "mother-in-law earrings" (this way, you could hear your mother-in-law coming) -- and turned a failed product into a successful one!

You can find this story (and many others) in either the book "Making It!" by E. Joseph Cossman and William A. Cohen, or in "How I Made $1,000,000 in Mail Order (and you can too)" by E. Joseph Cossman (I've forgotten which one)....

This won't work for everything -- everyone has had their failures, Joe Cossman too.... (The key with that is to limit your down-side, according to the successful British entrepreneur Richard Branson....)

But the story is good food for thought!

Here's a saying also from "How I Made $1,000,000..."

Secret of success: Think big, work hard, have a dream.

Too true!

Dien Rice