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It’s here! Biz Kid$ Season 6

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Yes, you read that correctly: Season SIX of Biz Kid$ has begun airing around the country. The Biz Kid$ series is now 71 episodes strong, with topics ranging from credit to entrepreneurship and taxes. We’ve profiled hundreds of real-life young entrepreneurs, filmed dozens of hours of sketches, and even our share of music videos.

Season 6 keeps up the fun—and the education—with six brand new episodes on the hottest topics in money and business:

601 – How to Turn $100 Into $1 Million

602 – College Bound?

603 – Give Yourself Some Credit!

604 – Money Grows On Trees

605 – Can Money Buy Happiness

606 – The Road to Financial Freedom

 

To find out when Biz Kid$ airs in your town, use our airtime search tool.

Can’t wait until air? Here’s a sneak peek behind the scenes from our taping.

 

Bill nye & biz kids anything.

Ask the Biz Kid$ & Bill Nye Creators Anything!

Did you know that the creators of Biz Kid$ were also the co-creators of Bill Nye the Science Guy? It’s true! Executive Producers Jim McKenna and Erren Gottlieb took part in both Emmy Award-winning series.

Ever wanted to know more about either show? Now’s your chance. Beginning at 9am PST on June 13th, Jim and Erren will be answering your questions on an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit!

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A business plan on a table next to a cell phone.

4 Tips for a Million Dollar Summer

For Biz Kids around the country, the final school bell is about to ring. With it, the ultimate reward for scholastic success: summer. You earned it, and you should enjoy it. But what if it could reward you, too? Spending your summer wisely could earn you a steep profit. Here are a few ways.

1. Put that amazing idea on paper.

The first step in making any idea into a million-dollar enterprise is having a plan. The school year can be a busy time for any student, so use the summer to get your ideas down! Our business plan template is the perfect place to start. Plus, it’s free!

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2. Take some entrepreneurial action.

In Seth Godin’s marketing book, Linchpin, he gives readers a mandate: “Ship something everyday.” His point is to complete one small step in your project, startup, or dream each day. Just think: at the end of a summer, you could be dozens of steps down the road!

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3. Learn from the best.

Whether you prefer books, podcasts, or videos, there’s no shortage of amazing stories from the world of entrepreneurship to inspire you into action. Read Nike founder Phil Knight’s new book, “Shoe Dog,” listen to podcasts like What it Takes, and dive into our inspiring collection of young entrepreneurial profiles on YouTube!

4. Make money with your money.

The world’s wealthiest people know something the rest of us don’t: how to make money from money. They’ve learned the power of compound interest, and know how to save early and make time work on their side. If these tips sound foreign to you, summer is the perfect time to learn! Our new book, How to Turn $100 into $1,000,000, is the perfect summertime reading. It’ll show you how to grow your money, all in a fun and engaging package.

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Nike air jordan xiii white/black/gold.

The Kid Who Crafted a Million Dollar Sock

Sometimes, the simplest ideas can have the biggest rewards. Take the sock, for example. A simple search of the US patent database results in 46,000 results.

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So what can you possibly do with a sock that hasn’t been done? A lot, apparently. A teen in Oregon custom-designed socks with designs ranging from the purely abstract to the downright wild (as in, goats.)

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His name is Brennan Agranoff, and his business is booming. His brand, HoopSwagg, is getting 100 orders per day. With designs like these:

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His little idea has taken off, big time. What was once an after school hobby has become a million-dollar enterprise. In the words of Brennan’s dad, “Never underestimate the power and ability your kids have to do something cool.”

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Way to go, Dad! The advice that earned a $41 million payday.

snapcode greenSnapchat’s IPO—that is, Snapchat’s initial offering of stock—turned into quite the payday for one private school in California.

In 2012, a dad convinced the school to invest $15,000 of their precious endowment in the company during its seed round (a private stage of investment before any public stock offering).

According to Bittrader, this year, when Snapchat went public, that $15,000 in stock had a new value. Ready for it? $41,000,000. They immediately sold $24 million of that stock, and are holding onto the rest.

There’s really only one thing left to say. You guessed it: oh, snap!

P.S. You don’t have to have Snapchat stock to get rich. You can also use it to learn! Our new Snapchat account is your destination for a “day in the life” of a young entrepreneur. Snap us to learn from the best!

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A tv sitting on top of a pile of money.

$100K Cash. Hidden in a TV. And thrown away.

How many times have your parents said, “watching TV isn’t going to make you rich.” Well, hopefully our show is doing something to change that. But that’s beside the point of today’s story.

This is the story of someone discovering that there actually can be money in TV. But not in watching it. Or staring in it. This is the story of someone literally finding money in a TV. As in, a recycled TV set.

More than 3 decades ago, a 68-year-old man gave his friend his old TV. This year, the friend finally upgraded his set and sent the old television to a recycling plant. What neither man knew or remembered was that hidden in that big box was another box: a cash box.

Upon opening the cash box, recyclers discovered stacks of $50 bills. The cash total? More than $100,000. The honest recycling staff called authorities, who were able to successfully find the original owner and reunite him with his savings.

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What’s the lesson here? Don’t hide money in a TV and forget about it and give it to a friend and throw it away? Sure. But good luck finding application for that lesson. So here’s another: open a savings account, for crying out loud! A bank or credit union is an excellent place to store your savings. They’re even insured by a government agency called the FDIC.

For more about choosing a financial institution, check out our episode, “Take it to the Bank!”

 

A guide to writing a business plan.

Biz Kid$ 101

Happy Financial Literacy Month! In case you’re just discovering Biz Kid$, welcome! For all of you with fresh inspiration this month to seek out new and engaging financial literacy content, we thought we’d provide a roundup of our all of our content in one convenient place. Away we go!

Emmy Award-Winning Video Content

No matter what age you teach, you likely know that video rules. Fun and engaging video, even better. And Emmy Award-winning video? Now that’s what we’re talking about. We’re a public television series that’s been on the air for five seasons, with another season about to air later this Spring. You can find our video content for FREE in the following places:

YouTube-logo-full_colorSearch for individual clips or view our collection of curated playlists on topics like “How Teens Can Get a Job” and “Biz Kid$ Basics.”

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If you’re a member of Amazon Prime, you can stream Seasons 1-3 of our show for FREE!

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Our site has clips organized by episode, topic, and even state and national standards.

On-Air

To find out when we air in your local market, click here.

Free Lesson Plans Mapped to State and National Standards

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Yes, you read that right. We’ve written dozens of lesson plans that expand upon our video content with engaging, thought-provoking questions and activities. And that’s not all. We’ve also mapped our lesson plans to state and national standards. Just download, teach, and inspire.

Online Games

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Sometimes, kids just need to play. Our free games make playtime (secretly) educational. Our Dollar-A-Glass lemonade stand game gives students a dose of summertime entrepreneurship anytime of year. Bring Home the Bacon takes financial literacy to outer space. And Break the Bank teaches the ins and outs of banking.

Young Entrepreneur Resources

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We don’t stop at financial literacy. We also have tons of resources specifically geared toward young entrepreneurs, like our Business Plan Guide, Marketing Guide, and Profit Calculation Worksheet. Once again, they’re all free.

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This 11-Year-Old is the UK’s Newest Conductor.

At Biz Kid$, we’re always hearing about impressive young people who are making waves in their communities. In other words, we’re hard to surprise; we know that kids are awesome. But this story got our attention.

An 11-year-old boy in the UK is about to break a world record for his involvement with the local orchestra at the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall. Did he win tickets? No. Is he playing with them? Close, but no. Get this: he’s becoming the conductor. 

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That’s right. On April 2, Matthew Smith, age 11, will be put in charge of the 75-piece orchestra. The previous record holder was a 14-year-old in Venezuela.

But don’t worry. He’s had lots of practice, conducting imaginary orchestras with headphones on in his bedroom.

Bravo, Matthew.

A room full of people at a party.

Season 6 will air soon. Making it was quite the party.

It was a Biz Kid$ bash for the ages. Actually, make that six Biz Kid$ bashes. Six more episodes of our Emmy-winning television series are coming to TV this summer, which means we’ve been working (and playing) hard, taping young entrepreneur profiles all around the country and throwing epic live tapings in Seattle.

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Three of our beloved Biz Kid$ hosts–Kaelon, Lauren, and Miriam–reunited for the new episodes. Old friends, new episodes. What could be better?

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Without spilling any top-secret details, one of our new episodes features an out-of-the-box format. Here’s a clue: it rhymes with yuman yoard yame.

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The props department has been busy at work printing money. Scratch that. Renting fake money. Yep, we rent money.

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Our costume & makeup departments are the best. Can you say flexibility? For one clip, they outfitted a clown and a police officer. What brought those two together? You’ll have to watch to find out.

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unspecified-3If you joined our studio audience, thank you! Here are a few photos for your personal BK scrapbook.

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Finally, if you weren’t able to join us, check your local listings today to catch the new season when it airs this summer.

 

A group of people posing for a selfie in front of a green screen.

Season 6 Taping Extravaganza Highlights (& Invite!)

And we’re off to the races! We just filmed the first two episodes of Biz Kid$ in Seattle’s beautiful Fremont neighborhood, joined by a fabulous audience of kids, teens, and families. A few sneak peeks are below, but you don’t have to live vicariously through this post! You can join us next week when we tape the remaining four episodes. For FREE tickets, send a request to audience@bizkids.com today. There will be FREE food and even prizes! Now, here’s a taste of what’s in store:

A little practice before letting the audience in.

Screen Shot 2017-03-10 at 3.35.29 PMYes, we even have a DJ on hand for your listening pleasure.

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It’s not everyday you see a million (prop) dollars being loaded into a room!

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Now that is a front row seat to Emmy-winning television.

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Oh, and did you know our hosts can get down?

And before was all over, one epic audience selfie was taken.

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We’ll be posting more behind-the-scenes footage from the show in the coming days, but in the mean time, make plans to join us in person! Share this poster with your friends:

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A group of people posing on steps in front of a house.

The Real Cost of Moving Out

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So you want to move out, do you? Perhaps you want to split expenses with buddy, or saw a sign for a month of free rent? Well, moving out can cost a lot more than it appears. Today, a quick rundown on the real costs associated with making the leap to grown up living.

First, the move itself can cost an arm and a leg. Many apartments require that renters pay their first and last months’ rent before they ever step foot inside their new home. That can be pricey! And rent isn’t the only thing to consider. When you move out, you’ll also need:

  • Furniture

  • Bed

  • Mattress

  • Kitchen Supplies (you gotta eat, you know!)

 

Then, every month, you’ll have to pay rent plus a lot of other bills, too. Those include:

  • Electricity

  • Water & Sewage (yes, you pay for that trash removal!)

  • Internet

  • Cable TV

  • Renter’s Insurance (your apartment might require it.)

 

Want to get specific? Here’s a budget calculator from our friends at the Mint. Want to soften the blow of moving out? Consider living with friends. Sharing expenses can make it much more affordable. These girls shared a house with 7 friends, making their monthly expenses achievable in the expensive city of Seattle.

Want more real-life examples of moving out? Check out our episode on the topic, Movin’ on Out.

A light bulb next to a dollar bill.

3 Smart Sources for Money-Making Ideas

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One of the most frequent questions we hear is this: How can I make money? 

For many wannabe Biz Kids, the problem isn’t drive or desire. It’s ideas. Where should you start? What kind of business can I start? Today, we’re presenting three simple sources for young entrepreneurs looking for money-making ideas.

1. Solve a problem.

Long ago, a wise person said, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Boy, were they right. Your first stop in finding a way to make money is to search for a problem to solve. Perhaps your neighbors are frustrated by the piles of leaves in their driveways, or the lack of fresh produce in your neighborhood. Solve their headaches, and you just might stumble upon a lucrative business model.

2. Do what you love.

Scattered amidst the commencement speeches made to most graduates is this advice: follow your passion. It may be cliché, but it’s also smart. By doing what you love, you’ll be doing something you’re likely good at. And by doing something you’re good at, you could earn an income! Love cars? Start a detailing business. Love baking? Sell cookies!

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3. Respond to a recent change.

This one may be less obvious, but it’s the secret of some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs. When something changes in society, like internet coming to a rural town for the first time, or an office building opening up where there wasn’t one before, opportunities follow. That town now has a need for technology, and the office neighborhood needs lunch spots! What’s changed in your neighborhood recently? How can you respond?

Those are just a few categories to consider if you want to start a business but don’t know where to start. For more ideas, watch our episode Escape the Box. 

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