TEN GREAT WAYS TO MAKE A LOT OF MONEY continued...

COME AND JOIN US

Rapidly growing towns and cities, and the need for many young people to leave home in search of jobs, undoubtedly contribute to the feelings of isolation and loneliness many people experience in their daily lives. 'Lonely in a crowd' they say, a term that very accurately describes the inability of some individuals to find friends, or for small special-interest groups to evolve from amongst millions of people in the swirling streets of the bigger towns and cities. Some mechanism is needed to facilitate the coming together of the thousands of currently isolated individuals who share a common need or interest. This is where the astute business person comes into play, capitalising upon a much needed introductory service which can offer extremely high rewards, for often little outlay, and relatively short working hours.

This middleman co-ordinates, collates and acts as the link between members and subscription holders of whatever club, society or group is involved. Interested parties initially do nothing more than contact the 'leader', who then pulls together the details of all clients; often the names are listed and distributed to all other members, or else a sub-group, within the overall membership. The co-ordinator normally undertakes all business by mail, sometimes never meeting any of his clients.

The list he circulates is updated at regular intervals and necessary amendments made, with a summary or a completely fresh list being forwarded to all clients. Fees charged for the service are normally made on an annual basis.

Many Pen Pal services operate in this way, as does the Collectors' group, The Ephemera Society with its constantly updated register of members, who are then free to contact any whose collecting or business interests coincide or complement one another.

Sometimes a monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly newsletter is forwarded to all clients, as is the case in many Collectors' Societies, and such as the many clubs which cater for the needs of those of us with an interest in consumer competitions, allowing us to correspond with fellow competitors for the sharing of news, views, advice and the all-important entry form.

The newsletter itself might be another lucrative proposition and can even achieve independent status. Some clients have no need to contact others of a similar disposition, and find their needs adequately fulfilled via a good and informative newsletter. Whether articles are introduced into the publication is entirely for you or the needs of the group to decide. What a good newsletter and a profitable one needs, amongst other things, are such as a Diary of Events, update of the club scene in general, and advertisements from clients or other suitable sources. Loneliness as mentioned earlier might be the motivating factor in the formation of many groups. Sometimes the gathering consists of business people or those seeking opportunities to earn or learn, and so on, but without any positive intention to meet or correspond with their counterparts. Some magazines therefore co-ordinate activities or publications which serve to identify many of the business opportunities currently available or perhaps firms needing homeworkers.

A good example of one set up to list activities rather than individuals is a new business venture I recently came by. Thousands of people up and down the country make their living at the car boot sales, never knowing what opportunities for buying and selling exist in other parts of the country. A newsletter now carries details of other venues, thereby eliminating the need to carry out extensive investigations to discover new opportunities for oneself. It also carries very informative articles on the 'finds' one can make in the course of buying and selling everyday items. Perhaps its biggest advantage though, is that it takes advertisements from nation-wide dealers and lists their special requirements. Obviously by selling directly to them, the everyday car boot trader can make a handsome profit without waiting for the next venue to materialise, and without the need to guess as to the likely value of those items about which he really has very little knowledge. The newsletter itself consists of about 24 pages and sells at 50p, a very small price to pay for the wealth of information it contains. Advertising revenue will increase the profits for the producer of this publication. When you think of the number of traders who will benefit from subscribing to this service I'm sure you'll agree the potential profits are enormous. How about trying a similar thing amongst the antiques and collectors' fair in your area.