Make Money Fast

Last night on another roller-coaster episode of Shark Tank, we met Michele Kapustka and Melisa Moroko, sisters behind SendABall, a Web-based company that sends inflated balls through the mail -- address it, stamp it, and send it, no box required -- instead of greeting cards. Between them, they have seven kids, and the families collaborate out of a garage.

In their taped introduction, they confessed they were doing so well, they couldn't keep up anymore. "We are slammed with orders. We need the Sharks and we need them now," said one of them. (Which one? We needed more time to distinguish them.) A problem like that -- too much guaranteed income -- is the sweet smell of chum to such finely tuned noses as our Sharks'.



They wanted $86,000 for 20% of their biz, and right away, they explained what they would do with the cash: They wanted to buy their own manufacture equipment so they wouldn't have to pay to outsource anymore. One of the sisters (the one whose name starts with M) said they would put their new equipment in "our little place in Chicago."

The ongoing saga of Chicago teenager Lauren McClusky and her fight to keep the name McFest attached to her charity concert event -- even as McDonald's attorneys seek to block her from doing so -- now involves an ocean liner, thousands of comments from AOL users, and public relations people who refuse to speak about the matter other than through prepared McStatements.

McClusky became a mini-celebrity in her home town and beyond Tuesday, as the WalletPop exclusive about McDonald's seeking to block the trademark application for her charity concert series name made the front page of the Chicago Sun-Times. National news outlets from Inside Edition to Fox News have flooded the office of her father Jeff McClusky, an independent record promoter, with phone calls seeking interviews.

Lauren's story has also been picked up by the Huffington Post and generated more than 70,000 views an hour on AOL -- and more than 1 million page views total.

Traveling with small children is a sherpa-like experience that tests not only strength, endurance and patience, but also creativity and negotiation skills. Nowadays, it has now also become expensive, thanks to the new baggage fees airlines are charging.

In the past, frazzled families checked luggage under the plane leaving "hands free" (haha) to tote diaper bags, backpacks of books and toys, 20-lb car seats, jackets, a purse, snacks -- and, oops, the kids! Amazing Race contestants have nothing on parents traveling with toddlers. But Thanks to ever increasing baggage fees, frugal families now have to carry on their luggage as well. It just adds to the hell of traveling with small children. What can you do?

Louise Stoll, a former Assistant Secretary within the Department of Transportation, and grandmother of nine, did something about it.

She remembers her "Aha moment" like this: "My daughter, Miriam, came to visit us and stepped off the plane carrying a 2-year-old toddler, a 20 pound car seat, a diaper bag, and she was 7-months pregnant! I thought there had to be a better way and I went home and started to draw pictures of what I though a child safety device designed for airplanes -- not cars -- ought to look like. My husband, an attorney, looked at the sketches and sent me to a patent attorney."

With unemployment still climbing and wages stagnant at best, many Americans are looking for ways to increase their incomes -- often by looking to their hobbies for a source of cash.

Elizabeth Freedman, the author of Work 101: Learning the Ropes of the Workplace without Hanging Yourself and an aerobics instructor who teachers programs including Zumba and Body Pump, said in an email that "Brands attract gym-goers. Gyms are always looking for ways to draw in new members, and offering a full schedule of branded, well-recognized classes helps in their effort. As a result, instructors who are able to teach these programs are more likely to find opportunities to teach, and those who aren't certified in one of these areas may find they have significantly fewer places to work."

Many things are for sale on the Internet -- books, movies, car batteries and food, among millions of other things.

GenApple wants to sell ideas.

Are they worth it? It depends on your interests and how much you're willing to spend to learn to cook Chinese food ($1.08) or how to monetize Facebook fan pages ($21.60).

As the aftershocks continue, an international company specializing in composite wall panels has pledged to donate 1,000 small homes to the Haiti relief effort.

InnoVida CEO Claudio Osorio told WalletPop he has secured both the support of President Bill Clinton and free barge transport to carry the panels to Haiti from his Miami factory -- and hopes to have the first of the 300-square-foot structures ready for occupancy by April.

Do you have a beautiful baby and harbor sweet dreams of mini-model stardom? If your cutie is destined to go from cradle to coverbabe, but you're not sure what to do and Terry Shields isn't returning calls, you are not alone. Although breaking into the modeling biz might seem daunting, the good news is that legitimate agencies offer a simple, straightforward and inexpensive process. The bad news; there are more adorable little faces than there are gigs.

Not all modeling agencies offer children's (ages 0-12) divisions, and those that do are based primarily in major metropolitan cities. Unfortunately for itty-bitty beauties, location does matter, and driving distance can be just as important as dimples.

Ford Models, LA Models and Wilhelmina Models are veteran agencies that have been in business for decades and have earned reputations for professionalism over the years. Eileen Ford, co-founder of Ford Models is reported to have said that pretty baby, Brooke Shields, is the reason she opened her kids' division and launched a lucrative career that has lasted a lifetime.

For babies looking to follow her lead and turn pro before they can walk, let alone "work" a runway, the first step is to find agencies with children's divisions closest to home. Check out the websites of Ford, LA Models, and Wilhemina's "Willy Kids" divisions online for a complete listing of offices and affiliates.

The next step is preparing for the agency's "open call," which is how agents go about the business of finding new faces. Each office has their own process. There is no charge for an open call. Some agencies will ask parents to simply mail 3-5 snapshots for consideration (they will not be returned), while others allow brief, in-person interviews that enable agents to meet baby and see photos at the same time. Open Calls are usually scheduled once or twice a week during specified hours and anyone interested in representation is invited to attend.

In the best spirit of, "If all you have is lemons, make lemonade", a Los Angeles group has launched tours of the local gang turf.

Tourists for whom "Cops" is just not real enough can visit the killing ground of the city's notorious drug and crime-infested area.

The bus tours of the city's notorious South Central section are led by guides from the area who know first-hand its history of crime and the gritty details of inner city life.

This morning the alternative pub SFGate featured companies that broker ad deals between Twitter users and advertisers that pay Twitter users to promote their products.

The return ranges from a few pennies to several thousand dollars per tweet, depending on the twitterer's number of followers or how famous the tweeters are off the Internet

The story reminded me of that old Dire Straits song, Money for Nothing ... The first line of the lyrics is particularly apropos: "Look at them yo-yos, that's the way to do it. ... "

The few, the proud, the dealhunters.

Though our ranks have grown during the past year as frugal became not only fashionable but practical, dealhunters like myself have long enjoyed the thrill of finding an item so deeply discounted you almost felt bad buying it.

We loved finding deals so much that we constantly shared our skill with friends and family, tracking down the best prices on HDTVs and back-to-school supplies for nothing more than the reward of helping a friend and finding a good deal.

I've got issues. Email issues. You know how it is -- you obsessively check your inbox, hoping there's some life-changing opportunity not sent by a Nigerian, then get overwhelmed by the time-sucking correspondence of friends who seem to have WAY too much free time. And suddenly you're 200 emails behind. You meaning me.

So I recently channeled my obsessiveness into research and present it here for you, free of charge. That is, if you don't count the cost of your internet access.

THE BEST WAYS TO DEAL WITH EMAIL OVERLOAD:

Last night on Shark Tank, Nate Berkopec, a 19-year-old New York University student originally from Minnesota, dared to take his six-month-old environmentally conscious clothing line, The Factionist, into the Tank.

"It's really easy to do your market research if you are the market," he proclaimed of his clothing's message and ethical manufacturing methods, and duly confident, he requested $30,000 for a 20% stake of his business. "It's not just an apparel brand," he enthused. "It's a movement."

But right after that, he ran his ship into the shoals that have scuppered many a vessel before his.

Check out my interview with Berkopec, and also make sure to check in with the big winners from last night's show, Erin Whalen and Tim Stansbury of Grease Monkey Wipes, who also granted us a behind-the-scenes follow-up video interview as part of our AfterShark series.

Miss last night's Shark Tank? Then you missed witnessing some everyday people make money fast by daring to take their dreams in front of a panel of multi-millionaires.

Decked out in banana yellow bike shirts, close friends Erin Whalen and Tim Stansbury appealed for $40,000 for 40% of their Grease Monkey Wipes. It sounded like a product you thought existed before: a disposable cleaning sheet that can tackle grease and other stains that baby wipes can't handle. During a very effective and simple demonstration, the aroma of the key ingredient, orange citrus oil, filled the Shark Tank, but that couldn't keep the whiff of greed away for long.

Here's our follow-up interview with the branding whizzes, who snagged $40,000 for what was essentially a new kind of Wet-Nap: