10 Ways to Make Money without starting a business...

[GordonJ]

SIX, write something.


I consider myself to be a hack writer and without the great skills of very cheap proofreaders and editors, I'd probably wouldn't even write...that being said, I've made a decent income from my humble writing skills in a variety of ways.


Heck, my resume writing business was pulling in $1,000.00 a day, and that was two decades ago and I wasn't even the best resume writer in TOWN, let alone the country. But I did know how to market.


I've also been hired to Ghost Write articles, stories and have had the good fortune to have been hired by some big time marketing companies to write for their newsletters, house organs and advertising departments. Even a hack who keeps at it can make some moolah with his words.


I've published a lottery HOTSHEET for over 15 years continuously, it has never been sold as a digital product and there was a time when people had to send a USPS Money Order to get it...today, they use PayPal. But one piece of paper stuffed in an envelope and mailed monthly has been a steady stream of cash and FUN too.
Heck, anyone can write a HOTSHEET, but if you can write, there are people right here at this forum who are willing to hire you.


So if you want some cash...WRITE BABY WRITE. (Oh, the smart person finds a hungry market to write for with the ability to pay him). But there is a never ending, EVERGREEN demand for Writers.
So, what is holding you back from getting your fair share? Only YOU, sez I.


SEVEN, do something.


Bake a cake. Do someone's hair. Fix a bicycle. Lend a hand. Pick something up. Look around and see what you can DO. What skills, experiences, talents, abilities, education or training you have and then DO something with it. Visit craigslist and look over the gigs and spend time looking at classes, and in general get a feel for what people are DOING to make some cash.


EIGHT, supply something.


Be the source. Or control the source. Supply supplies to doers. Huh? I know a guy who buys cleaning products in 55 gal barrels. He then pumps this stuff into bottles. And supplies the bottles to cleaning companies. Why don't they do it themselves? Silly, they are in the cleaning business, not the supply business. What can you supply in your area? How about TALENT? Got local artists? Musicians? Magicians? Performers? Why not supply them to other towns and areas?


To make cash from being a supplier, you have to look for DEMAND. What is in demand in your area? The demand for knowledgeable Internet Marketers is what is fueling the “off line” marketing crowd you can read about. Nothing new really, there is always a demand for more customers by small businesses, figure out how to supply demand...and you'll never be hurting for cash.


NINE, connect people.


My friend Jim Straw calls it “Finders Fees” and I've been fortunate to use Jim's strategy on many occassions to make a deal between two people. This is a rolodex money machine, just match people up, those seeking something to those looking for something. It is this concept which has made eHarmony and toomanyfish and other “hook up” sites so popular. In business, a person might be looking for a back hoe, and another might be selling one...get in between of people and broker deals.


Start by making a list of everyone you know and then play “Kevin Bacon” with them, how many people do they know and so on. Chances are you are sitting on some easy cash just by knowing someone who knows someone. How can you “hook up” people with wants and those with the solutions/products/services which sastisfy these waants in your area?


TEN. SELL SOMETHING.


Well, duh. I've been buying and selling “stuff” for 41 years, ever since I bought a Minolta SRT 101 camera from a sailor shipping out in Honolulu for 50 bux and turned around the same day and sold it for 200, I've been hooked on buying and selling chattel (personal property). In fact, I've written the book on it through my various chatteling reports. Today, tune into American Pickers, Pawn Stars, Auction House or shows on collectibles and you will see that buying and selling personal property is a multi billion dollar activity (in some cases a business, but is selling your bicycle on the front lawn a business?) that only gets better for some of us in a recession.


Today, there is an opportunity to make hundreds and even thousands of dollars every single day, and that is just with craigslist and ebay, let alone the local publications and weekly circulars that are jam packed with classificd ads of people selling their stuff...again,


not rocket science...buy cheap over there, sell for higher over here. Pretty simple stuff really.


It takes effort, but the USA is a nation with more stuff than places to keep it...look at the huge “store you stuff here” businesses that have sprung up the last decade. Attics, basements, garages, storage sheds, storage units are full of stuff. Simply find out what people are buying (I use ebay for this) and buy it for less and then sell it. Again, not rocket surgery or brain science.


So there you go. Ten tested and proven ways to make money without starting a business. Pick and choose ones which suit you and get started TODAY with realistic and doable money making activity.


OH, and all of these have been and can be converted to ONLINE or Internet Marketing type money makers too. It is a good way to get cash to build up your IM “business” if you choose to do so.


Gordon Jay Alexander