11 Ways to Make a Quick Buck and NOT Get Arrested!
(Updated: Nov 2008 — See end of post on how to make money online quickly!)

Times are tough. You want to make a very quick dollar. I’ve got some great ideas. It does involve a bit of travel -if that is the project you pick. And for my overseas readers –a US Visa in needed, unless you find a good target locally. There might be an insurmountable obstacle or two, but that is always a testament to your resourcefulness. Only those who overcome such obstacles are rewarded, anywhere. I’ll spare you the ideology and get right to business. There is a lot of irony, satire, ill advice and down right lack of wisdom in this post. Please don’t misinterpret that.

Ways to Make a Quick Buck and Not get Arrested Doing it:

#1 Almost Stalk Britney and Get a Picture: $10,000 to $100,000

The above image is from CNN.COM, showing poor Britney Spears on her way to the hospital for evaluation. It seems that she’s spawned her own cottage industry with everyone hawking everything Spears to the tabloids to the new media companies like x17.  It seems that anything with her current image, doing anything newsworthy (well, with her, what is NOT newsworthy?), anywhere. Talk about life in a glass house.  And I cannot remember her doing anything that I wanted to spend time on.  However, many other people do.

Many other people who seems to be rushed getting the basics of life done without “blowing a gasket” seem to have ample time to read about Spears escapades. Go figure.

But, all that is not my business. What is?  To tell you that a picture of her runs for $10,000 on up to start.  You’ll of course have trouble finding a bush near her house to hide because odds are that ten other guys are doing the same. But, that should not stop you from declaring open season for a buck or two, or $10,000 grand.  As hard as it is to believe, it seems the media companies even pay royalties and that $10k figure can go up to $100,000!

Cost$: Basic photography equipment and some serious survival food so that you can camp out 24/7 to get just that right shot.

Potential Reward$: $10,000 to $100,000, while the subject is hot.  If the subject self-destructs or implodes, I am sure the media will generate another poor sap to take her place.

#2 Vero Beach Gold, Florida, USA >>

This topic is a bit “hush hush” — It seems that there are a few claims from salvage companies and perhaps the State of Florida, but that should not stop anyone from a nice stroll along the beach or a small boat in the waters –with a metal detector. The objective is to find a few pieces of silver coins or gold treasure that washes up from time to time (especially after a storm) from one of 11 or so Spanish galleons that sunk off the coast.

I have no idea how anyone can lay claim to things that wash up on the beach. Bonus? You’ll get a nice, deep tan just like the Rich Sage, with some fresh air to boot… Good luck treasure hunting!

Cost$: 30 days off to make a real expedition. Airfare and Hotel. I have no idea what a good metal detector costs. As a kid I remember being unable to buy one with my paper route revenue, and those days they were $499.00. Make sure that yours is anti-corrosive.

Potential Earning$: $Thousands, as long as it’s not claimed by someone. You’ll need to be creative to make your claim. Just don’t mention I said anything.

Next, Diamond Hunting!

#3 Diamond Hunting at Crater of the Diamonds State Park >>

This is a great idea to get away from the computer, especially if you’ve killed too much time already trying to make a buck online! Bonus? You can put your kids to work, while having fun –forget those child labor laws for a week. Anyway, your kids will have NO IDEA that you’re breaking any laws or are putting them though torture. Added bonus –all the rough and physical work will help them lose a pound or two that added up playing all those video games.

Crater of Diamonds State Park is located in South East Arkansas, so, you’ll have to do some home work getting your tents and clothing ready to endure the elements. There is some expense in all that, but when you figure that STONES as large as 40 carrots are found, this is the place to be. Since these are not blood diamonds, you don’t have to fear losing your life over a small rock either. I would suggest that you learn a bit about identifying what an uncut diamond looks like. Otherwise, you’re kids may pitch the largest stone ever found with the pebbles they pan.
Cost$: Again, need some time off and taking those kids can drive up costs. However, locking them at home can result in jail time. That’s out. So, take them along on a nice camping vacation. Tents, equipment, etc. will set you back a few grand. So will the travel costs. Big deal. All that “slave labor” will pay for it at the end! Make sure you budget enough to feed them. Or perhaps, they are old enough to forage for good meal each day.

Potential Earning$: Figure on a 3, 4 or 8 or 10 carrot rock and you’ll make a few grand.

#4 Celebrity Pictures on Vacation, Baby Pictures –Really any picture with a Famous Baby.

The above image is from www.babyrazzi.com >> Just to give you an idea how popular baby images of celebrities are. This is not that difficult to do, but will take a more than normal zoom lens and a fast digital camera. The objective is to stalk your favorite sports, movie or political figure and get some nice pictures. It a bonus if they are up to “no good” –pictures of cheating, scandalous images, the better. Just make sure you don’t get shot in the process. And I don’t mean by a camera. These days most celebs have mafia-size body guards that are ex-military and they don’t mess around. OK, make sure that’s a telephoto lens and you’ll have an early start getting the picture and escaping.

As hard as it is to believe, there are online and regular media outlets that pay anywhere from $100 to $10,000 dollars for pictures. Take the Agency x17 >>, they are willing to buy scandalous pictures to distribute to their publishers.

Cost$: $Just the price of some travel and a great camera to take good images and keep your distance.

Potential Income: $Risk and Return I’d say, and leave somethings to your creativity and imagination getting the pictures while not risking your life.

#5 Viral Video or Viral Website

I can give you many examples of viral websites that get mentioned just like I am doing for www.willitblend.com >> Would you like to know if an iPOD will “blend” –this is the place to find out, as they send many ordinary pieces of day to day useful gadgets through their industrial (and seemingly indestructible) blender to prove that it can blend anything that’s put in.

Once you establish such a site do some work to publicize it and all the sappy press people who don’t seem to do much real investigative work these days or every little fact checking, will zoom in and write something about it.  Make sure to send out a press release announcing the entire effort. You’ll be surprised who will pick up on it.

Then you are off to the “cha-ching” land of Oz, where you just need to find a few site sponsor that pay at least monthly with a good check, and you’ll be on your way. Yes, monetize to the max using advertisers.  I always have a few you can use on the sidebar.

Cost$: Very little. Just hosting and a CMS like WordPress (free) running the site.

Potential Income: Very high, but finding sponsors will take some time. Sell the sizzle and potential and you’ll do fine.

#6 Product Endorsements & Placement

The folks at NASCAR pioneered this type of advertising… Well, actually, the modern day incarnation of it. The idea of product placement has been around for a long time. However, how can you take advantage of it? There are many companies that help with corporate product placement. If you look at the 10 largest advertisers worldwide, they spend over $12 Billion dollars getting their message to the masses. You just need to figure out how to work with an product endorsement company to place the brand in special places. These days even the parent’s of famous athletes are into the act, wearing the brand on their shirts and hats at major sporting events.

You don’t need to have a star-child to get the focus of the media –just use your creativity to get the attention of media and your product sponsors. If you want to look at this process locally, the easiest way to earn a buck is to dress in a clown outfit and stand on the busiest street corner in your city and hold the sign of the store that’s having a sale. I am sure there’s something in the Gorilla Marketing book about that, as I’ve seen a lot of shop owners try it.

On the other end of the spectrum, wear your brand ‘hat’ when someone is getting interviewed at an event. Any type of positive exposure that you get for your brand, including a viral video on YouTube is grounds for generating income.

Cost$: Just what you have, some creative ideas, and personality to expose them.

Potential Revenue$: Unlimited. Make sure you don’t end up disabled for six months (or worse).  Getting all the attention, and you’ll go a long way.

#7 Sell Other Peoples Junk on Ebay >>

This does not need too much discussion… You’ll basically need to approach a lot of people with full garages and basements and ask them for things that they want to sell on “consignment” on ebay.  You can then take a 20% to 40% cut on the selling price based on how much you do to help the seller.  Do very little and charge less. Make it full service and charge more.  Make sure that you retain the item that’s getting auctioned off.  If the seller is going to change their mind, that’s not a good thing –especially when your auction is legally binding.  It’s a good idea to have the item ready to ship upon the sale.

#8 Auction off a Display Ad on Your Body

The above image is from the Chinese website CRI English >> showing two models with some ads and the artist displaying an ad. The site asks “Will You Buy?” I think the question is how brave or attractive the model is and the more attention one will get. There were attempts to sell ad space on the buttocks, breasts, and I am sure other parts left to the imagination. So, do the ads sell? I am not sure. But they do get attention. You may not have the “body” to get the attention, but remember, for something like body painting, you just need to be able to paint someone with the right colors and a logo or two.  Just joint venture to find the right person.

So, go for it –get your paint, get your art together, find a model and be bold to get the attention for your advertisers!  It might be a good idea to paint your face, like the artist above, so that your friends and neighbors don’t recognize you!

Cost$: Paint to models –perhaps, revenue share with the model and you can be out the door for a for much less.

Income Potential: Based on your boldness and the advertisers capacity to stomach your marketing ideas.

#9 Search for a Odd Figure that Looks Divine

Golden Palace >> was famous for buying several types of “memorabilia” that caused a lot of “buzz” for the casino. Well, here I am a few years later talking about it. I would say that when 50,000 news outlets talk about the fact that they purchased a “slice of bread for $28,000″, that cost was paid for in a matter of days by the publicity!

To make money this way is not easy at all. You’ll have to have such an item fall into your lap. There are always people who try to hawk various types to odd items –everything from body parts to videos (sex videos) to things that they run into while traveling. The market seems to publicizes odd items once. The first time. However, making such a product work for you is a rare opportunity.

Cost$: Not much at all. Just need to be at the right place at the right time.

Income Potential: Just need to find the right sponsor.  Given the situation and the type of product, find the right niche to work with, and you’re on your way!

#10 Write an E-book, Even a Stupid One and Sell it

Every once in a while there is an e-book that causes a lot of buzz and gets around in such a way that it takes a life of it’s own. My goal is such with my own e-book. The above message is from BuyMyStupidEbook >>

Come up with a viral campaign to advertise your e-book and find enough endorsements to get all the visitors to your site from forums to mailing lists, and you’ll have an overnight winner. If you have problems generating your own traffic, find a good Joint Venture partner with a good mailing list and you can be on your way to instant sales.

#11 Make Money Wisdom

As the Rich Sage, I cannot end this post without a good dose of Wisdom to help you leave this read with a smile. The best way to make money online is to provide value to your readers and customers.  When you do that, you’ll find people coming out of the woodwork trying to work with you and linking to your web site.

I’ve presented many of the ideas just for fun, but within them are a few that are outright very powerful –ideas like a good e-book and  viral promotions are very powerful.  These ideas don’t just land on your lap.  You need to go out and explore how to “make it happen” and then only will you be able to have a great idea.

How to Make Money Online?

I have talked about it more and more in the past three months after experimenting with local clients.  I found out that there is a huge knowledge gap between local merchants trying to build success online.  Local businesses know very little about the process.  These small businesses don’t have the time and resources to build anything online.  That’s where you come in with your Internet marketing skills.

I found out that the best way to make money from this situation is to follow some of the ideas I’ve presented here.  Note that it is a two-part series.  You may not be able to follow such a plan, from step one, and make money overnight, BUT, you will be able to do so after a few weeks.  There is a modest amount of setup work, but after a few web sites, you’ll see the process as routine.

This process is so effective that I’ve made it the basis of my lessons as the Rich Sage.  The Rich Sage Underground is all about taking a domain name, resolving your local client’s needs and then selling or using the web site you’ve developed to generate leads.

You’ll find out that by following such a process you’ll be able to quickly earn several thousand dollars per month in direct and indirect income, in just a few weeks of studying and applying mainly what you learn to do with WordPress (the Content Management System — CMS) you’ll be able to generate significant income while working mostly online.  There is no better plan to make money online.

The sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll see results!

Carpe Diem,
Rich Sage