7-year-old starts Internet business
By maura dowgin
Staff Writer

HOLMDEL — Even in a lagging economy, one township second-grader found a way to make money this summer.

Jessica Ling, 7, who is entering second grade at Village School, created a successful Internet business with the help of her mother, Barbara.

"I decided that I wanted to earn money," Jessica said.

Her first idea was to sell pictures on her street corner that she drew, she said. Her mother then came up with an alternative business that would work better.

Jessica and her mother thought about starting a CD-ROM directory of all the businesses in Holmdel, Barbara said.

Barbara wanted her daughter to start this type of business because "Jessica was a bit shy. This way she had to go and talk to people," she said.

Barbara and Jessica then created an informational sign-up sheet for area businesses. The mother-and-daughter team then went to several area businesses to ask if they were interested in being part of the CD-ROM, Jessica said.

"We discovered that there was not a lot of interest," Barbara said.

The lack of interest in the CD-ROM business did not discourage the entrepreneurial pair.

Barbara and Jessica decided to contact Realtors to see if any wanted to advertise on the Internet. This is how Jessica’s Real Estate Directors, or JRED, was created.

"I wanted to do this because my mom has her own Web sites," Jessica said. Following in her mother’s footsteps, Jessica also wanted her own Web site.

The site can be found on the Internet’s Google search engine under Holmdel Realtors and Realtors in Monmouth County. The site also will be listed as one of the first 10 sites found under a Google search for Middletown, Hazlet and Keyport, Jessica said.

Once Jessica’s JRED home page is reached, real estate professionals from area towns may be found, Jessica said.

Each real estate agent provided Jessica with his or her name, telephone number, address, cellular phone number, Web site, mission statement and a personal photo, Jessica said.

The Realtors pay $50 a year to be showcased on the Web site, Barbara said.

Each town’s page has a link to the school systems, Web pages and, in some cases, a link to the local government’s Web page.

The site includes information about the school districts and links to the Web sites because "some people want to find good schools" when deciding where to live, Jessica said.

Creating the hyperlinks was Jessica’s favorite part of making the Web sites, she said.

There are currently two Realtors listed on JRED.

Jessica was very excited to have earned $100 over her summer vacation. She said she would spend most of the money on books and her collection of Beanie Babies.

Her other activities over the summer included coloring, reading, and playing computer games, she said.

She says she will still be working on the Web site and trying to make it better next summer. However, for now, she is concentrating on being a second-grade student.

Jessica’s favorite subject is reading. When she grows up, she either wants to be an artist or write children’s books, she said.