Making cash in time for the holidays

The holidays are coming, ready or not. If you celebrate any holiday in December with gift-giving, travel or entertainment, you need cash. And if you are unemployed or underemployed, cash is the one resource you might not have.
What to do? One solution is to pick up a holiday job. While many employers have already done their seasonal hiring, they still have to contend with turnover. Somebody, somewhere just quit his or her holiday job, creating an opening for you.
The trick is to find that opening, and fast. This is a job for your fingers and your feet. Start by calling 20 or 30 places and ask just this question: "Are you still hiring for the holidays?"
Places to try include retail stores, delivery services, grocery stores, restaurants, caterers, house cleaners and anyone else you can imagine has an increase in business for the month.
Next, put on your "I'm ready to work clothes," grab your r & eacute;sum & eacute; and head out the door. Your plan is to stop by each place that is hiring, drop off your r & eacute;sum & eacute;, meet the manager if possible and ask for the job.
Advice
A word about the clothes and the r & eacute;sum & eacute;: Both should be appropriate for the positions you seek. In nearly all cases, leave the suit or nylons at home. Nice slacks and a sweater will be fine.
The r & eacute;sum & eacute; should be one page and very simple. For the "objective," say: "A seasonal position serving customers or helping with merchandise." Add a "skills" or "highlights" section with these kind of bullet points: punctual, able to operate a cash register, effective with difficult customers, able to work multiple shifts -- anything that is true about you that will interest these employers. In the work sections, give only brief descriptions of your jobs, unless they relate to customer service.
Plan B
How long should this take? Two or three days. If you haven't received a good lead on a seasonal job by then, it's time to go to Plan B. Otherwise, any money you capture will come too late for holiday use.
And Plan B is? Drum roll, please: a holiday business. Ordinarily, it would be good to have more than a few days to create a business from scratch, but if you need money now, you'll have to improvise. Three elements exist in any quick business: a product or service, a method of marketing and a communication method to schedule the work.
Working backward, let's assume you already have a phone with an answering service. If so, you'll want to reprogram the message to reflect your business. To market your business, use your computer or borrow a friend's to make simple flyers. That will be enough.
Now, for the business idea: What can you possibly do for cash in only a few weeks, and for whom?
Here are a few holiday standbys: baby-sitting, gift shopping, gift wrapping, putting up holiday lights or trees, catering meals, cleaning houses, entertaining children.
I have some experience in this area, having served my share of holiday meals in the homes of wealthier people and having once spent December Saturdays jumping up and down in a red elf outfit, squeaking out holiday songs for marginally appreciative 6-year-olds. I have also cleaned lots of houses for cash, a skill I still consider a standby.
Making products
Besides these services, consider making a product to sell, although you risk getting stuck with inventory that cost you money to create. The safest bet is to take orders in advance. One very nice idea is to take advance orders and payment for holiday baked goods such as pies, cookies and nut breads. Turning out the products will be labor-intensive but rewarding, as there will surely be batter left over to make some of your own gifts.
To find customers, just start calling people. Your friends, neighbors and former co-workers are likely candidates.
How much can you expect to make? That's almost impossible to predict, as it depends on what you do and how many people take you up on it. For products, charge at least twice as much as the materials cost you, and for services, don't do anything for less than $10 an hour.
If all else fails, determine to give homemade gifts this year, and keep your limited funds in your pocket. This is not the time to go into debt.
XAmy Lindgren, the owner of a career-consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn., can be reached at alindgren@pioneerpress.com.. Next week, we return to Lindgren's columns about working for nonprofit organizations.