What kind of certificates? Just a printed piece of paper that says Congratulations or Most Valuable Player can help you earn extra money at home.
When my oldest son began playing soccer, I thought of making my son a certificate. Certificate borders are available online for free or special certificate software can also be purchased. I went out to the local computer supply store and purchased a package of certificates. They weren’t too fancy, just a blue border and sold for less than $7 for a box of 50 sheets. The sheets can also be found with a nice border and are also available with preprinting such as: “Congratulations”, “First Place”, “Great Job!”, and “Most Improved” among others. These were more expensive but can save you time, especially if you aren’t sure how to add curved font to your certificates. Of course, a fancy “Congratulations” will also look nice, but if you start out the way I did, it won’t be necessary.
I designed the certificate with drawing software that was provided free on my computer. Design a basic certificate that would work for the whole soccer team. Add some graphics such as a soccer ball or a trophy. Leave a space to type in the players’ name. You might want to add the Team name and year or division. Once you have your design all set up, using a thick font that will stand out, type in a player’s name. Make sure you have left enough room around the borders so that the certificate design does not get printed on. Do a trial print on a plain sheet of white paper. Now hold up the printed sheet over a certificate to see how they line up. If any wording is over the certificates border, now is the time to move or resize your design.
After you find the perfect layout, print only one on a sheet of certificate paper. You’ll be amazed at how well they look. Go through your list of players and make sure that everyone on the team will have their name on a certificate. Include the Coach and Team Mom. If you’re like me and don’t want to learn the ropes of becoming a salesperson, just add your telephone number in the corner of the certificate. Make it a simple, small font. You may want to add, “To place an order: phone number”.
I handed out these certificates to my son’s soccer team and was met with lots of praise. Though these first certificates did not have any of my contact information on them, the parents knew me and soon got in touch with me. They asked if I could make certificates for their other children’s soccer teams. A little shocked at first, I charged a little fee, but soon orders were pouring in and I was asking $1 – $4 a certificate, depending on which type of certificate paper they wanted. For the blue bordered paper I was paying less than 14 cents a sheet and charging $1.50 each. If they ordered over 50 I’d give them a discount. Many families have more than one child playing sports, and so big orders were placed often.
I thought once soccer season ended, it would be the end of my certificate making at home career but I was wrong. The same parents and coaches now ordered T-Ball, baseball, football and basketball certificates from me. I even had some unusual orders for karate classes, dance class and certificates that Teacher’s wanted to hand out to students. You can have fun with graphics and get creative. Don’t forget, instead of every certificate looking the same, you can always design some to say “Most Valuable Player”, “No. 1 Coach”, “Best Team Mom”, “Most Improved Player”, “Most Hits” (baseball) and the list goes on. Ask your child’s coach for suggestions. Everyone loves to be recognized for doing a good job.
So if you’re looking for a way to make money without having to advertise, get your certificates out there! If you don’t have a child on a sports team or in some group activity, volunteer to make the first 10 for free, for a neighbors’ child or your favorite niece or nephew. This is sure to give you a start in your own home business.