Make Money In The Strangest Ways

Written by Steve Gillman


The first time I heard about an old couple that went diamond hunting in parking lots, I knew there were more ways to make money than my scheming mind could imagine. By twelve years old I was taking Playboy magazines out of newspaper recycling bins to sell for a dollar each in school. I also sold ammunition to both sides in my brother's paper-wad war, so I had a taste forrepparttar more unusual ways to make money. I still do. Here are some ofrepparttar 136422 stranger money making stories I've collected.

Treasure Hunting

The old couple mentioned above can recognizerepparttar 136423 sparkle of a diamond amidst pieces of glass, from a hundred feet away! Parking lots are where most diamonds pop out of there settings, due torepparttar 136424 temperature changes when people get out of their cars. Wandering mall parking lots has become their second retirement income. Treasure hunting obviously goes beyondrepparttar 136425 common conception.

A man in California tookrepparttar 136426 shag carpet from a large theater being remodeled, savingrepparttar 136427 ownersrepparttar 136428 cost of disposal. Duringrepparttar 136429 thirtiesrepparttar 136430 theater was a place where repparttar 136431 wealthy went, andrepparttar 136432 wealthy, like all of us, lose things, but more valuable things perhaps. Whenrepparttar 136433 man cut up and carefully shook outrepparttar 136434 old carpet, it was found to contain over $2,000 worth of precious stones, rings, and rare coins.

Selling Things

At a campfire near a desert hot spring one winter, my wife and I met a man who sells stuffed animals onrepparttar 136435 side ofrepparttar 136436 highway. When we saw him again, in his van full of stuffed animals, I pressed him for details. He buys used stuffed animals at thrift stores in bulk and then sells them alongsiderepparttar 136437 highway. Early on, he even gotrepparttar 136438 stores to give himrepparttar 136439 animals, withrepparttar 136440 agreement that he would return withrepparttar 136441 money orrepparttar 136442 animalsrepparttar 136443 next week.

In some small towns he can get a vendor's permit cheaply ($18/year, for example). Otherwise he just sells until they chase him out ofrepparttar 136444 county. He says he hasn't been fined yet, and he claims he sold $4,000 worth his first month. I think he was exagerating, but because of him we include used stuffed animals in our flea market stands with some success.

Beating The Casino

I worked at a casino for years and I saw a lot of people foolishly writing downrepparttar 136445 numbers that came up onrepparttar 136446 roulette wheel. Foolishly, I say, because their their theories were nonsense. Casinos will always welcome these players and even hand themrepparttar 136447 pen and paper.

The Power of "Masterminds"

Written by Heidi Richards, MS


Mastermind - Drawing fromrepparttar experience and knowledge of others to grow your business. A mastermind group is a group of people who meet on a regular basis to exchange ideas, seekrepparttar 136313 advice ofrepparttar 136314 group and solicit feedback from. It is a resource center of new ideas.

I have been involved in several masterminds. Most recently an online exchange between women speakers aroundrepparttar 136315 world, which I started, andrepparttar 136316 other one is an in-person meeting, which I was invited to participate in. Each of these have taken my business to a new level and I have made some wonderful friends.

Highly successful mastermind groups work best when you follow these guidelines:

1. Choose people who have specialized knowledge you lack. Enlisting people with very different outlooks strengthens a mastermind group.

2. Make a time commitment and stick to it. Once a month generally works best. When you makerepparttar 136317 commitment, don't allow anything except serious emergencies to interfere with your date.

3. Create an agenda to follow. This creates a sense of order during your meetings. Sample agendas might include open discussion atrepparttar 136318 beginning ofrepparttar 136319 meeting and then focusing on individual challenges for, let's say 20 minutes each. My in-person group (of 6) focuses on one member's challenge each meeting withrepparttar 136320 others offering their feedback or advice. Each member gets his or her turn to share. This is very powerful because each of us learns something fromrepparttar 136321 other's challenge. My online group meets in a "chat room" and we each ask a question (there are 5 of us). Thenrepparttar 136322 other 4 offer their responses. We meet for approximately one hour. We have open discussion atrepparttar 136323 end ofrepparttar 136324 meeting if there is time.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use