Easiest Way To Make Money (& not spend it) on Halloween

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It’s that time of year again—pumpkin spice is in the air, skeletons are crawling out of closets, and everyone’s in full-blown Halloween mode. But while the neighbors are frantically Googling “easy Halloween yard decorations,” you could be raking in cash faster than a ghost haunting a hedge maze.

Yup, this Halloween, you can start a spooky yard decoration service and turn a small $100 investment into a $1,000 profit with a bit of creativity and a lot of fake cobwebs.

So slap on your most terrifying mask (just kidding, you’re already a knockout) and prepare to spook your way into some Halloween cash!

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The MVP (Getting your first customer)

All treats, no tricks… To kick things off, here’s how to start your spooky yard decoration empire with just $100:

1. Props: Hit up your local dollar stores, Walmart, or even Facebook Marketplace for discounted Halloween decorations. Stock up on the essentials: fake cobwebs, plastic skeletons, tombstones, and maybe a giant inflatable ghost or two (earlier the better)

2. Tools: You’ll need some basic stuff to get started, like zip ties, tape, stakes, and extension cords. These will help keep your decorations from blowing away faster than your motivation to go to the gym.

3. Marketing: Print some cheap flyers, post on local Facebook groups, and tell your friends and neighbors about your spooky new business. You’re offering a valuable service—people want their homes to look haunted without lifting a finger.

Startup cost: $100

How you’ll make money: Charge $100-$300 per yard, depending on the size of the property and complexity of the setup. Your first job should cover your initial investment, and every gig after that is pure profit. Spooky, right?

Getting Your Next 100 Customers

Scary dollars… Once you’ve got your first couple of haunted yards under your belt, it’s time to scale up. Here’s how to spook your way into even more homes:

1. Social Media Frenzy: Post before-and-after photos of the yards you decorate on Instagram and Facebook, tag your customers (with their permission), and use hashtags like #HalloweenDecor and #SpookyYardGoals. People love seeing this stuff—it’s practically a free commercial.

2. Word-of-Mouth: Give your clients a small discount if they refer their friends or neighbors. Nothing spreads faster than a spooky yard (well, except maybe rumors about who stole Janet’s pumpkin spice latte from the office fridge).

3. Upsell Add-Ons: Once you’ve mastered the basics, offer additional services like light displays, fog machines, or animatronic skeletons that scream at trick-or-treaters. You can also offer a “Spooky Lite” package for parents who want decorations but don’t want to scar their 5-year-olds for life.

To really spook the competition, you’ll need to keep your customers coming back every Halloween. Here’s how:

• Create Loyalty Programs: Offer a small discount to repeat clients or those who book early for next year. Or give them a loyalty card—decorate 5 yards, get the 6th one 50% off.

• Community Involvement: Run contests like “Best Decorated Yard” for your customers. The winner gets a free yard decoration next year. It’s a small investment that creates big excitement and engagement with your brand.

• Maximize Your Props: Buy props at the end of the season when everything goes on clearance. This way, your investment is even smaller next year, but you can charge just as much—or more—because your inventory is bigger and better.

Scaling to $1,000 per Week

The haunted hustle… Now that you’ve got a steady stream of haunted yards to decorate, it’s time to step up your game and make that cash rain (like a spooky Halloween thunderstorm):

1. Offer Different Packages: Create different pricing tiers—“Basic Boo” for simple setups, “Full Haunt” for more elaborate designs, and “Nightmare on Your Street” for all-out horror-movie-level setups. Charge accordingly and watch your earnings multiply.

2. Seasonal Partnerships: Partner with local stores, pumpkin patches, or fall festivals to offer your services as part of their Halloween experience. They get more visitors, and you get more customers. Win-win.

3. Automate the Spooky: Get help. Hire a couple of friends or high school students who can assist with setup and teardown. The more haunted houses you can decorate in a day, the faster you’ll reach that $1,000 per week goal.

4. Storage Services: Offer to store your clients’ decorations for an extra fee, so they don’t have to worry about packing everything up after Halloween. Charge a flat storage rate and reuse your materials year after year, which means more profit with less hassle.

Viability:

1 [building spaceships] 🚀 to 5 [easy peasy] 😊 

This spooky side hustle is easily a 5/5. You only need a small upfront investment, and with the right marketing and word-of-mouth, you can quickly scale this business to $1,000 a week. Plus, who doesn’t want to spend October making yards look like haunted houses? It’s almost too fun to be considered “work.”

So go forth and haunt, my ghoulish friend! Halloween is your time to shine—and by shine, I mean in the glow of eerie yard decorations and those glorious payments hitting your Venmo.

(As usual each business will have it’s own setbacks, and it’s all about the execution and consistency rather than just having the idea)

It’s a great day to be great!

Love, Mike 👋