Books:

Discovered! 505
Odd Enterprises

Hidden Dollars

How to Make
Money at Home

Small Business
of Your Own

You Can Own
a Business

Authors' Research Bureau

The Plan
"My friend, a successful writer, was in a mental knot. 'How,' he implored, 'how does a Zulu native say "yes"?' He was also bewildered about several other facts to fill in for local color in an African jungle story he was writing. At that time I had just completed my senior year at college, and was equipped with enthusiasm, time, a portable typewriter—and no money. My friend's odd questions supplied the prop that hoisted me into my own business of 'Authors' Research Bureau.'

How It Works
"Of course, I didn't know an iota about Zulus or African jungles, but did know where and how to find facts in my local libraries. I dug up the information needed, for which he cheerfully paid me and then gave me further assignments. Soon I was doing research for another local writer . . . and then another . . . and now represent 15 different writers. My assignments include sea lore for stories about sailors, criminology for detective stories, and a wide range of other subjects. And my typewriter is as great a help to me in this enterprise as it was in college. It helps me think out facts, correlate my material, and finally, to submit the finished report in neat, professional form. As I rummaged through many reference volumes, another source of revenue also unfolded—sorting unusual facts to be sold to authors and writers as 'plot idea' material. For example, the fact that baseball players are superstitious about using the same bat as the previous batter supplies the germ for a good story for some sports story magazine. Writers are eager to get such 'thought nudgers.'

Possible Profits
"My rates vary, depending on the subject and the time required to find it. For short-story material, it will be as low as $3.00, but for novel-size manuscripts, it will come as high as $50. Plot ideas sell for an average of $5.00 each."

Stamp Collectors' Pamphlet

The Plan
His hobby of stamp and coin collecting led to a profitable avocation for a versatile young bookkeeper in Iowa. He issues a booklet listing current valuations for stamps and coins of all varieties.

How It Works
It is important for almost every stamp and coin collector to be "up-to-date" on current stamp values, so that he may be sure to get best stamps for his collection at lowest prices. The Iowan secured data on such valuations by contacting his local philatelic clubs and, in addition, through library research. There are many informative books on this subject in most libraries. He made up this material in pamphlet form, first typing the information, then having it mimeographed and bound. He sold the booklets through philatelic clubs, allowing the club a 15 per cent discount on each pamphlet sold to members. A small advertisement in his local newspaper and, later, in several national magazines, augmented his list of customers.

Possible Profits
His chief expenses consist of mimeographing and advertising, averaging about 8 cents for each pamphlet. Since he sells the pamphlets for 25 cents each, his profits are still substantial. He issues a completely revised pamphlet each year.

Profitable Hobbies

The Plan
Almost everyone has a hobby, and almost everyone is eager to make money. Inspired by these two truisms, an enterprising young Chicago woman is augmenting her income in her spare time by publishing a pamphlet listing profitable part-time hobbies, and explaining how they may be converted into cash.

How It Works
She analyzed the kinds of hobbies that are most likely to find a commercial market, such as woodworking, photography, writing, needlecraft, metalcraft, marionettes, etc. She then included brief "how to do" facts about each of these hobbies, and suggested where and how the products of this handicraft could be sold. The material for this booklet was, in the main, derived through research on the various subjects in her local library. Contacts of local dealers and manufacturers yielded much information as to prospective salability of the products. She first typed the booklet, then had it mimeographed, and eventually it was placed on sale through local newsstands.

Possible Profits
It cost her about 8 cents each to produce the booklets, which sold for 50 cents each. Deducting expenses of advertising, she was able to net $350 during the first six months of sale of this booklet, and it is still attracting a large number of customers.

Genealogical Research

The Plan
"Delving into the 'family trees' of townspeople—and supplying them with information concerning their remote ancestry—has given me a splendid part-time occupation to increase my income.

How It Works
"We all want to know about ourselves and our ancestral origins. Whether your name is 'Tyrell,' 'Brown,' 'Henderson,' or any one of thousands of names, a complete sketch of your family history is available in the Genealogical department of your local library (if you reside in a metropolitan area). If you live in a rural community, with limited library facilities, you may secure this information through the Congressional Library in Washington. After gathering the information, I prepared my paper for presentation to my customers. Another source of revenue also presented itself. My local newspaper, recognizing the 'reader interest' in this data, purchased my material for a series of articles regarding the derivation of townspeople.

Possible Profits
"People are glad to pay $2.00 for each report in this service, and I have been earning $13 weekly, in my spare time through the enterprise."

Name Lists

The Plan
"Gathering names has brought me big spare-time dividends," states an enterprising Nebraska teacher. She is one of a number of women engaged in this profitable, fascinating work.

How It Works
"I classify the names according to 'buying habit' and type them up neatly. They are then ready for sale to merchants, industrial concerns, and professional people who use them for mailing lists. The names should consist of people or firms who are prospective buyers of the customer's products or services. The name lists are compiled through references in newspapers, in city hall, courthouse, and Federal records, income tax reports, trade directories, and related sources. For example, names of newlyweds will sell to furniture concerns, insurance houses, clothing stores, and other businesses appealing to those about to establish a new household. Birth lists are salable to those who market juvenile merchandise.

Possible Profits
"Name lists sell from one to five cents for each name depending on the value of the names and the difficulty in obtaining them. The same list may be sold to many concerns."

Odd Facts

The Plan
Gathering odd facts enables one Indiana housewife to earn substantial spare-time income.

How It Works
She studies carefully newspapers, magazines, books, encyclopedias, etc., and copies all items that contain unusual information, whether they pertain to people, plants, animals, trades, science, sports, or a variety of other subjects. Using her typewriter, she transcribes this data into neat short-paragraph form and then sells it to popular-type magazines for use as space "fillers" and, in addition, to appropriate trade magazines. For example, an item about a plant family that eats beefsteak will sell to a nature-study or a scientific magazine; an item about some unusual method for detecting criminals will sell to a detective-story magazine, and so on. There is an extensive and consistent market for such oddities. Another approach is also possible. After you have compiled a list of these oddities, classify them according to subject matter, and sell these lists to writers for use as story plot ideas.

Possible Profits
Payment for these oddities is usually a minimum of $1.00 each, but as high as $5.00 each when they are exceptionally interesting.

Advertising Research Work

The Plan
By day he was a store clerk in a small Pennsylvania town. In the evening, however, his methodical mind and his typewriter became the tools which enabled him to make a good spare-time income as advertising research man. If you like meeting people, asking questions, and finding out the "why" of things, here is a lucrative occupation which may be pursued almost everywhere.

How It Works
The large advertising agencies and industrial research organizations are constantly investigating some phase of merchandising. This alert young man secured a list of their names from the library, and sent a typewritten letter to each of them inquiring for any work in his neighborhood. He explained that his business experience made him competent to ask the questions they sent out, and ask them intelligently. He offered to visit farmers, business men, housewives or professional workers. Once he was accepted by an advertising agency or other concern as research worker, his services were solicited on a score of subjects. He was asked to ascertain the kind of breakfast food his neighbors used, on what day they generally shopped, whether they liked conservative or brightly-designed packages. This information enabled the advertising agency to form conclusions regarding the most suitable advertising campaign for that community. After he completed this survey, he typed up the results neatly for presentation. Eventually, after he had gathered various data on different aspects of the buying habits of his community, he typed up a comprehensive analysis which he then sold as an independent survey to advertising agencies and to manufacturers of products dealt with in his survey.

Possible Profits
Prices vary according to the number of questions and the difficulty in securing answers to them. Fifteen cents a questionnaire is usually a minimum price, however.

Book-Review Pamphlet

The Plan
A Cincinnati woman, fond of reading the latest books, and skilled in writing reviews, hit upon a novel idea for earning part-time money. She compiled a book-review pamphlet, in co-operation with local book dealers.

How It Works
She read the latest books, which she rented from local rental libraries, wrote reviews of them in an interesting, succinct style, and added biographies and personality sketches of their authors. After compiling these reviews she contacted local book dealers, persuading them to sponsor a current book-review pamphlet, to be distributed to their customers each week, carrying their advertisements. This advertising message proved effective, and stimulated book sales wherever it was used. The book dealers were responsive to the plan, and a number of them contracted for her service.

Possible Profits
She secured $25 for each page advertisement inserted by a book dealer, and grossed $180 in all. Deducting printing expenses of the pamphlet, she averaged $90 monthly through this work.

Question-And-Answer Bureau

The Plan
"The spirit of inquiry hits all of us . . . Questions are always popping up in our minds and we'd like them answered. Many of these questions are statistical, requiring research. This inspired me with the idea of conducting a question-and-answer bureau which has since brought me splendid financial returns.

How It Works
"I began by inserting an advertisement in my local newspaper, offering to answer all research questions for a fee of 25 cents each. As I got into the swing of this work, I became more and more adept. I visited my local newspaper editor and offered to conduct a bureau, answering all the various questions sent in by his readers. The charge would be 10 cents for each answer, which would pay me for my research. The editor agreed to the plan, since it featured a column composed of the most interesting items, at no cost to him.

Possible Profits
"Inquiries sent to us are accompanied by self-addressed envelopes and average about 200 per day. I have been earning $60 a week, and enjoy my work very much."

Contest Paper

The Plan
Producing a pamphlet describing current contests throughout the country has been the means of a nice part-time livelihood for an active woman in North Dakota.

How It Works
Thousands of people are interested in answering contests, and she realized that such a directory should find widespread sale. She obtained data concerning current contests by checking the latest magazines and consulting the writers' trade magazines. After being neatly typed, copies were available for sale. Customers for the pamphlet, distributed monthly, were obtained through advertisements in the classified columns of her local newspaper and several writers' magazines.

Possible Profits
The listing sold for 50 cents. Her actual expenses being only for typing and ads, she netted $45 a month for just a few hours work.

Selling Sales Information

The Plan
A business-minded housewife in Kansas has made substantial and consistent part-time money through the fascinating work of selling sales information.

How It Works
"I typed out a group of questionnaires with questions on equipment possessed, such as vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, automobiles, heating equipment, stoves, radios, pianos, furniture, washers, etc. I then canvassed the townspeople, giving each householder a questionnaire to fill out, thus learning just which products these people did not have, and were in the market to purchase, which would make their names extremely valuable to merchants handling such products. Later contacting these merchants, I was able to secure a good price for the list. To explain your call at the various homes, and to make the person more responsive, you might caption your questionnaire with some imposing title such as "Burlington Home Equipment Survey," or explain that you are gathering the material for a local newspaper (the newspaper will gladly print a news summary of your findings). People will thus be more responsive to you than to commercial canvassers. You will find that every call will offer you a lead for at least one dealer, while some calls will give you a lead for five or six dealers.

Possible Profits
"Because of the value of these leads, since each prospect is in the market for expensive merchandise, each lead sold for 35 cents. Thus by making thirty calls a day, and averaging two leads for each call, you can net $15."

Tax Digest

The Plan
Who's "in the money" in your community? This information is contained in state and county tax digests which present incomes of people within each locality, as a means of computing and assessing taxes. One alert young woman is "cashing in" by listing names of the wealthy people in her community, and selling them to merchants interested in securing their patronage.

How It Works
She took her portable typewriter to the county seat and copied tax assessments. She included the name, address, district, and amount of money indicated. When completed, the list covered some 80 pages; she then rented a mimeograph machine, ran off sheets from the stencils, bought colorful cardboard folders at 20 cents each, had her books bound by a local printer, at a price of 75 for $5.00. Her next step was to contact merchants in the town most likely to want these names; this was done through personal visits and through correspondence.

Possible Profits
The books sold for $5.00 each and, on the basis of 75 books sold, she earned a net profit of $255.

Photograph Markets

The Plan
Thousands of magazines, newspapers, photo syndicates, and certain industrial concerns, are always in the market for photographs on every subject. A young woman in Arkansas is netting herself $25 weekly through the compilation of a pamphlet giving all the photo-purchase markets.

How It Works
"It struck me that there are thousands of camera 'bugs' in this country snapping pictures everywhere, who would naturally be glad of the chance to cash in on their hobby. I also recognized that professional photographers would be interested in regular sales outlets. As a result I determined to compile a photograph market handbook, which has netted me swell dividends. Data for the pamphlet was secured through study of the various writers' magazines and writers' market guides. After typing up the information, I rented a mimeograph machine, running off the material in the form of pamphlets. The information gave the name of the prospective purchaser, kinds and sizes of photos that he wants, and usual payment.

Possible Profits
"Finally I inserted ads in writers' and photographers' trade magazines explaining the contents of the booklet and offering its sale. The pamphlets sold for 50 cents each, and I sold some 1,000 of them within 5 months."

Advertisers' Production Handbook

The Plan
A printer's assistant in New York compiled an "engraving and printing handbook" for advertisers and advertising managers, which is netting him a gratifying income.

How It Works
"While working as printer, I noticed that so many advertising people knew very little about production work, such as printing, engraving, etc. There are various aids and short cuts in this game which, if one is familiar with them, will insure a better job and help save money. This prompted me to publish a handbook on the subject. The booklet gave elementary facts about printing and engraving, listing them in a practical, brief manner. For example, it told how to save money when ordering engravings, how to compute paper costs in printing, how to submit drawings for engraving, and many other facts. The greater part of this information may be mastered by anyone familiar with printing, through discussions with some local engravers and printers, or by research in books devoted to the subject. My next step was to contact paper houses, printing companies, engraving companies, etc., interested in selling their products and services to advertising people. I pointed out to them the great value of placing their advertisements in this booklet. They readily agreed, since it reached a concentrated buyers' class, and the booklet had permanent reader's interest. I then typed letters to advertising agencies announcing the sale of the book, and the response was good. Every advertising man appreciated the value of the booklet. On the basis of promised ads, a printer consented to finance printing.

Possible Profits
"I netted some $725 in two months on this one book. Here's how. The booklets cost me 10 cents apiece to publish. Some 1,000 copies were sold at 25 cents each to advertising agencies. In addition I received the equivalent of 15 pages of advertising at $50 each page."

Handwriting Analysis

The Plan
By learning to analyze handwriting and thus give personality and vocational counsel, an enterprising Detroit clerk has cultivated a profitable part-time business.

How It Works
He studied several books on the subject of handwriting analysis, until he became familiar with the subject. When he felt thoroughly competent, he inserted a small advertisement in his local newspaper, and in several magazines of general appeal, offering to analyze character and vocational possibilities based on handwriting. The applicant would submit a specimen of his handwriting along with information concerning himself, such as age, place of birth, and present occupation. A 500-word typewritten report would then be prepared, giving him full analysis of his handwriting with suggestions on basic aptitudes and self-improvement. Since most people are interested in improving themselves, the response was widespread. Later, a local daily asked the man to conduct a column analyzing the handwriting of local notables.

Possible Profits
Each handwriting analysis secures a price of $2.00. The main expense is advertising for customers and it is possible to earn in excess of $30 weekly doing this part-time work. Newspapers paid regular column rates.

Employee Letters

The Plan
As secretary to the head of a large industrial concern, a young Chicagoan aided his employer in the writing of weekly "pep" letters to the several hundred factory employees within the concern. These letters were inspirational and instructive, intended to increase the employee's efficiency and enjoyment of his work. An Idea! Why not represent other concerns, and write "Employee Letters" for them?

How It Works
These bulletin letters covered a variety of subjects of interest to the employee, such as factory safety, production efficiency, personal improvement, news notes, and similar subjects. He compiled a series of these letters and visited a number of large concerns, explaining the advantages of supplying these bulletins regularly to their employees. Information to be placed within the letters was secured through individual study of the organizations subscribing to the service, and also through library research in books on sales management, factory production, marketing, etc. The letters were written up in chatty, intimate, readable style, just as if the employer were talking to the employee personally.

Possible Profits
The service is sold on a subscription basis, $75 a year for one letter each week, or 52 letters in all. With 10 different organizations as his clients, he nets a substantial amount for part-time work.

Research Agency

The Plan
Operating a general research bureau to supply facts on many different subjects has brought a good part-time income to a librarian in Michigan.

How It Works
"As librarian, people asked me thousands of different questions on all kinds of topics—and that's what started me in this work. I realized that many people, including writers, scientists, students, etc., would be in frequent need of such information. I announced my services through an advertisement in my local paper, and the inquiries came in at the rate of ten a day. Library research provided me with data covering all these inquiries. It's surprising how much information one can obtain through proper use of library facilities.

Possible Profits
"Rates for my services depend on the length and difficulty of the topic. Minimum is 50 cents, while intricate questions bring a price as high as $3.00 each. Since most of my customers would submit their questions to me regularly, I built a splendid year-round business."

Library Cataloguing

The Plan
Many people have a moderate number of books which they have accumulated over a period of years. Frequently they want to refer to a particular volume for some specific passage, but become discouraged after going through several books. This fact formed the nucleus of a profitable part-time business of library cataloguing for one Minnesota librarian.

How It Works
First starting out with her friends, and doing all their cataloguing, she then secured additional customers through an advertisement in her local newspaper. She cross-indexed the books on neat 3 x 6 index cards, according to author, title, and topic.

This compares with the system employed by most libraries.