222 thoughts on “10 Ideas For Starting A Business If You Don’t Have A Lot Of Money”

1. Sell Kratom.

   1. That one never fails to deliver!

   2. Real Estate.
      Yes, it can be done. I purchased my first investment home for nothing down (well actually I screwed up and wrote a check for $50 at closing) back when interest rates were north of 12% and you needed 80% down. So, it’s actually easier in these days of easy credit.
      The trick is to make it cash flow!

      1. Build a log cabin yourself. Rent it out.
         Only need a small bit of land somewhere wooded (which, given its off the beaten track, doesn’t cost too much) and a bunch of dudes to do some carpentry and decoration.
         Works the creative muscles too.

         1. Have you run the numbers on that? It’s not my play, but if you can get it to cash flow then more power to you!

      2. “Easy” credit? Are you sure?

         1. My thoughts exactly. In America nowadays it’s more difficult to qualify for a mortgage than it used to be, even if you do have a job and decent credit score. Unless you’re buying total dumps in Detroit, that is.

         2. Absolutely. Just gotta know where to look.

         3. I held a job for two years and my credit was not so hot…and I got a home mortgage for 3.63% recently…the key is to go to a mortgage company, not a bank…banks suck!

         4. You guys are thinking old-school. You don’t need to qualify for anything. You’re stuck in the mindset that you have to buy and own things to make money from them. Buying things incurs transaction costs, which are super expensive in real estate, and ownership carries with it liability. Neither is necessary to make money investing in real estate. Consequently, you don’t need credit and you don’t need to qualify for mortgages.

            Own nothing, control everything

            Nelson Rockefeller
            We’ve all probably heard this in the past. But in my 30 years plus investing in RE, very few people understand how to do it. The first challenge I have in explaining anything about my success is teaching people to unlearn most everything they think they know about the business. Everyone that hears the phrase real estate investing immediately things buy/own and grow equity. Frankly, I don’t give a rats-ass about equity. I only care about CASH FLOW. I can spend the later at the bar for my scotch, but not the former. I do it by controlling assets that generate income, not owning them. Follow?

         5. Ok, those are your thoughts, but when was the last time you submitted a mortgage app and went through the process? But, the bigger question is why would you buy real estate when you can actually cash flow it much better with less risk by no owning it at all?

         6. I’m a banker. I never lend money to someone without them having some significant skin in the game. So what does that tell you about the kind of lender who would?

         7. No, I do not follow. I would be interested to know how, aside from cash purchases, you “invested” in real estate, directly (not through a financial product).
            Unless you have links documenting a viable strategy, this sounds like infomercial hype. Is your last name Kiyosaki?

         8. He did it with funny money. Debits and credits ala the fed scheme

         9. Of course it is. Buy my books, tapes and seminars…. please! Or maybe that’s why I don’t bother teaching anyone anything. They’ve already determined that it’s all BS. That’s cool. Enjoy the next 30-40 years of working for the man.

         10. So nothing to back up your self-proclaimed real estate empire? Not even a blog detailing how you went from rags to riches? I’m not kidding, I’d really like to know. I don’t expect to find out from you, but it would be nice not to think you’re just trolling the comments section.

         11. This idea that you have to control rather than own things I had read about from the controversial author Robert Kiyosaki in his Rich Dad Poor Dad series but I guess he usurped it from Rockefeller. In the case of real estate do you mean one should rent and sublet? How much margin can you reasonably make from this if you can’t be too much above market price from your mark up? Is long term rent, short term AirBnb the way to go?

         12. Let me ask you this. if you could do it with “funny money,” would you? Or would you just sit there behind your keyboard and find another reason not to invest in real estate to generate passive income with great tax treatment under the IRC?
             BTW, the investors with the biggest paydays during the mortgage market meltdown didn’t make it by owning a single piece of property or applying for a mortgage. They did it legally by understanding things about the system and markets that aren’t taught in books and seminars on real estate riches.
             The story of 2007-2009 is starting to repeat itself again. I vowed to myself to be in a position to profit as best I could the next time the real estate bubble or any other bubble bursts. I’d rather own rights and options to buy/sell assets rather than own them. That’s what some astute wall street guys, investors, hedge fund guys and bankers did. But not everyone can raise millions or billions of dollars to take advantage of those plays. In the meantime, would FU money be something as simple as controlling enough real estate that generates enough cashflow to replace your full-time income so you can do whatever you want with your time? Well, that money ain’t so funny. But it won’t have you fling around in private jets and dropping $10/k or more a night for table service at a South Beach club (if that’s all you want to accomplish).
             Give that some deep thought.

      3. You need good credit and proof of income for less than 50% down. I thought this article was about business ideas for people without money? You’re going to need well into 5 figures at a minimum to do anything real estate related.

         1. I suppose you will. Expand your thinking. I said I invest in real estate. You’re thinking buying and financing. I didnt’ say anything about that.
            Unless you love driving a Ford Pinto, why would you invest in real estate the same way people were doing it back in 1980? I know the bozo gurus are selling the same crap about investing they were hawking 30 years ago when I first started out. You did read my comment that I purchased my first investment house at 19, with no money down, right?
            Guess you’ll have to start a website/blog/afmkt styled biz for whatever bread you’ve got to work with. You’re limited by your lack of knowledge.
            But, just for shits and giggles, what would you or anyone else pay to learn what I know — what allowed me to retire in my mid 30’s, and still allows me to life the retired life nearly 15 years later?

      4. Yea sure Carlton Sheets wannabe
         Loser deadbeat tenants, down economy, destroyed homes, pet stains everywhere, leaky roof, bad water heater. It’s endless
         Never again and I turned a profit

         1. Yup. And you’ll get similar problems to be solved in almost any business endeavor — returns, friendly-fraud, outright theft, employee/contractor theft, grift and incompetence. etc. etc. etc. We all choose our level of pain we want to endure to get to our goals. Nothing is without problems. I’ve gotten pretty good and handling all the situations you mentioned above with minimal annoyance, and continued profitability.
            BTW, I wouldn’t recommend that old-school approach to anyone. Flipping is a bad business model for about half a dozen reasons that no one wants to talk abbout. But enjoy your safe and secure job, working for the man for the next 30-40 years. I just keep on keeping on.

         2. Carlton Sheets – wow, there’s a ghost from the graveyard of scammers! He and Robert G Allen led a lot of people down a miserable path, pre-housing crash. Best analysis I’ve seen on that guy, right here. Prepz, you should pay attention to this. http://johntreed.com/blogs/john-t-reed-s-real-estate-investment-blog/69082179-john-t-reeds-analysis-of-carleton-h-sheets-books-and-cds

   3. Kratom can’t be sold; when a man wants Kratom he takes it from the dead body of the other man, like the TV series Highlander that’s why Kratom users get more powerful every time

   4. Ok. Haha. Very funny. But seriously, enough of the Kratom jokes. How about something original if you’re going to test your stand-up material here.

2. Investing is investing: return is a function of the amount invested.
   I cannot invest $50k at a bank and expect to receive a living income from the interest, nor can I reasonably expect to invest $50k in a business and expect a living income.
   YES, it does and can happen, but the odds are against it and I need to realize that such an investment was speculation and luck paid out.
   Any obvious enterprise with minimal barriers to entry will be saturated with prospectors staking claims and looking for their pot of gold.
   The rule of thumb is: if you see others doing it, there’s no easy money left on the table.
   Like in everything else, the only thing that matters is ability/competence. These ideas are low hanging fruit and only luck and world class ability will allow a man to make any kind of income off them.

   1. I’m a casual blogger with a couple of self-published computer science books, and I make a couple hundred every year without any marketing.
      There are always ways to make money. The purpose of this would not be to give the world its 5000th Patreon-supported livestream gamer, but to help people realize that they might already have the right skills to make money with minimal startup capital.

      1. I am curious about those books. Would you send me an Amazon link over my contact form? (Assuming you want to stay anonymous here)

      2. The richest people of the gold rush sold shovels

         1. An excellent way to think about approaching business and income.
            For example, I’ve been kicking around the idea of a pitchfork and torch store just outside the D.C. beltway. If my timing is right, I could make millions.

         2. Paying attention to the surroundings is key.
            I’m sure someone is making money right now selling knock-off PokemonGO t-shirts and merch.

   2. “….nor can I reasonably expect to invest $50k in a business and expect a living income.”
      50K wow! I started my business with a maxed out Mastercard and small but useful customer list and my wits. I’ve done well and support my familly with my business.
      The business was viable from the get go..
      That being said, you’re correct that “luck and ability” play a roll but you don’t have to be the best, you need only be better and smarter than some of your local competitors to do well.

   3. I have a blue collar friend who is likeable enough, was forced to marry his HS girlfriend when he knocked her up, and now they have 3 kids together. He often rambles to me about playing the stock market, which to him is “investing” $400 in some penny stock, as if it will make any difference at all in his well-being. Hell, even if the thing were to double, he now has a whopping $400.
      Compare that to if he just invested say 5% of his $50,000 salary, or $2,500 a year. If he can get a 10% return, he’s looking at $250 coming in annually without him having to do any work, pick stocks, making trades, etc. Plus this amount will compound and grow. And then the principle itself at retirement will be a very nice lump sum he can enjoy. The idea of wasting any brainpower on decisionmaking for a $400 investment is ludicrous.

      1. Agreed. I used to work for a company that sold infomercial spots featuring Bob Eubanks (old school celebrity, “The Newlywed Game”, etc.) for a 900-phone service that people would lease to run their own dating services. They would kick out $5000 to get the program. The infomercial would run, and the audience would call the 900 number the client leased to line up dates. I sold three of those units to rich retired guys to whom investing $5000 was like tipping a valet – just pitched them cold, right over the phone. These guys made money because they took chances. We got their contact information by purchasing lists of such people. Why shoot for $400 over a long period of time, when you can dream up something and take down $10,000 or $15,000 in one shot. Doesn’t make sense to me either, but it all depends on how wide your field of vision is…

      2. Foolish
         Market has been down to zero the latest eight years excluding this year.
         Forget compounding with zero return

3. This article is bad advice. The following video is significantly more sound. https://youtu.be/CVEuPmVAb8o

   1. Interesting advice. Not sure I agree with it, but neither am I sure I disagree. I guess you just have to find your own way in the end.
      Also, a lot of what people call “passion” is not even focused on the thing itself. People want to be “famous singers”, but they do not even have a real dedication or love for singing. People want to create “great artworks” but could care less about actually sitting down and expressing themselves.
      So I’d say: Fuck dreams. But follow the flow. Do what you intuitively feel like doing right at the moment. If something sucks at the moment, you might not want to be doing it, no matter what the end outcome.
      There was a time two years ago when I earned a big amount of money with web development. Once I made 10.000 EUR in a week. And yet, the money did not make me happy. Because I hated the work I was doing.

4. How much do you get paid for writing an ROK article?

   1. Ha. Just in case you were serious:

      Submit An Article

      
      Some sites actually pay a little for guest articles, for example:
      https://relampagofurioso.com/get-paid-to-write-quality-mens-articles/

   2. Not much, but if you have your own blog or books then there is promotional value.

5. You can combine website design and writing by building a custom blog. Every tweak to how your site looks and works teaches you something about design, and every post you write helps you write.
   Unfortunately, the acting tips aren’t overwhelmingly helpful for those fixed to locations. If you do full-on acting, you will have to live near the studio and travel to its shooting locations (and, likely, deal with the toxic culture). Voice acting is a bit more free, but only to the extent that recording studios are scattered across America (Funimation, for example, has its main site in Dallas instead of LA).
   Often a combination of mediocre skills is necessary. Look to Asshole Consulting – Aaron Clarey combines videography, writing, website design, and mentoring/consulting.

   1. I live in Munich and I have been doing video stuff for a while. It may just be the place, but the market is just terrible. There are thousands of people who want to act and a handful of people who actually get jobs. And those who get jobs don’t even necessarily get paid very well. That is, they may get 1000 EUR for a day. But such an opportunity may not arise more than once a month and may take some preparation time.
      Usually the best that normal “aspiring actors” get are some pitiful mini roles in a soap opera, which they get paid some 100 EUR per day maybe.

      1. The best success story I’ve heard on that whole front was one of the guys at Team Four Star (DragonBall Z Abridged) who landed a contract with Funimation because of that hobby project.
         If you’re good, you need a way to get found by people willing to pay for it. If you’re bad, you’re probably already waiting tables in LA hoping to be “discovered.”

6. Pfft, forget that
   http://truthinmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/welfare.jpg

7. “You can buy website-building software to get started, no need to learn to write code initially. Writing code is something you might do down the road, although it can become completely unnecessary once you become proficient with the software-building program of your choice.”
   Website-building software? Wth is that? I am a web developer and unless you mean something like WordPress, I seriously have to doubt you know what you are talking about here.
   Even then, being able to set up a WordPress blog or similar will hardly get you the very well-paying jobs.

   1. What’s your opinion of the web design market? Saturated? Really, it seems every other guy is a web designer these days, much like every other girl is a model or an “actress”.

      1. Haha. Well. I used to get weekly calls / mails from recruiters. But I am not simply a web designer (whatever the fuck that is). I am a PHP developer. It is indeed quite well paid. I used to get 40 EUR an hour, but from what I heard, that is far from the maximum possible.
         Of course, it is thinkable that within the past year, the market has fundamentally changed, but I somehow doubt it. The thing is, I also was a teacher in PHP and other stuff. Programming simply takes a certain amount of fascination for the thing and also the mental capacity to understand the details. Many people who don’t have the intellect will default to simply copy pasting code snippets into each other without any thought and wondering why that doesn’t work. 🙂
         Also, from all those who graduated in my university, I’d say that only a fraction did actually exit the place with real marketable skills on a self-employed basis. The usual way after that was to become hired as a Junior by some agency and start learning your stuff.
         Anyhow, my general impression is that these kinds of things will always be well paid, simply because not everyone has the mental capacity to do them well. Like engineers (which is actually something I am now considering, but I figure I may be too dumb for it).

         1. “Anyhow, my general impression is that these kinds of things will always be well paid, simply because not everyone has the mental capacity to do them well. ”
            Same for some trades as many are also too lazy to do physical work that reqires thinking and careful execution of tasks..

   2. Dead on right here. I would never have made any money if all i did was simple blogs and wordpress websites.
      The money is in relationship management based web development, dumping data into oracle/sql databases, and generating reports.
      When they say “no need to learn code” you can tell this is all bs. How you going to make a custom, unique web site with no knowledge of css, xml, ado.net, ms sql server, ect.?

      1. Exactly my point.
         Although I fucking hate MSSQL. More the Linux fan here.
         And truly, there is next to nothing that is more satisfying than creating a complex code that does exactly what the fuck it is supposed to do, with thousands of lines of code. It is a form of art in and of itself, although nobody but other programmers will ever appreciate it.

         1. Programming is an art and ive always found beauty in building the perfect abstract data types and using data structures efficiently. Stacks, queues, hash tables, linked list, binary trees, bucket arrays, all that stuff really is an art when it all comes together.
            Im actually in a blue collar industry now as a project manager. Programming as a career just wasnt for me, but id definitely recommend every man with an IQ at least in the 110 range to try it out. Programming is what taught me to think of every possible outcome, and find a way to prevent errors/downtime in projects. “Idiot proofing” a set of instructions is a critical skill these days.

         2. Interestingly, I was never a big fan of object-oriented programming. I feel it is totally overused in cases where it is unnecessary. For instance, modern frameworks will create all kinds of Database Abstraction Layers and will even abstract SQL queries. (Funnily, I did that myself once for fun)
            Ends up clogging up the whole program, as everything is divided up into millions of abstract objects that in and of themselves do absolutely nothing. I fucking HATE it.
            When something is easier expressed with procedural programming, I will always go with it. It is faster in execution and often easier to grasp.

         3. Thats understandable. Just about everything you said is a reason why some prefer proceedural programming. I would never agrue with a logical personal preferance like that.
            Sometimes i prefer proceedural as well, just depends on the application. I did most of my work in c#,ado,asap,ms sql so i tended to be consumed with objects. You know you got it bad when you have dreams of “classes” and you dream of memory blocks that look like shoeboxes floating around and shit. Thats another reason i got out of programming…lol.

         4. I like using objects and combining them with procedural programming. If, and only if, it actually makes the code more intuitive or in some reasonable manner better or more efficient. If procedural does not cut it, I will try a function. If a function is not cool enough, I will use static objects. If that doesn’t cut it either, I will use objects.
            Yeah, well, the reason why I don’t wanna be doing it anymore is cause you end up sitting in front of a computer all day and that sucks. Although that is kinda how I am still living…

         5. OOP is all about creating new rules. The best question to ask a C++/Java programmer is “What does c=a+b mean”, and the only acceptable answer is “It depends on what c, a, b, +, and = mean.”
            I charge more to write and maintain OOP code, because it’s a major pain in the ass. At least C code always does exactly what it says, and it’s only got a handful of rules.

         6. I sent you a link to my books. You might find the book on patterns interesting – I write a bit about how to create “objects” in C.

         7. I think the Linux plus C book is more what I’d be looking for. I was always fascinated by C and even more Cpp. But I never really delved into it deeply. Stayed with the PHP stuff.
            What I’d love to be able to do some day would be to have all the skills and understanding to create a mechanical machine, wire it with electric components and chips, then program those electrical components to make it do what I want it to do.

         8. That’s why I got an engineering degree – exactly that line of reasoning.

         9. Is it worth getting a degree? I have this feeling I’d be better off just buying a couple books and try out stuff on my own.

         10. Buy the books and just try it. That will always get my vote.

         11. I had a scholarship. There’s nothing I learned you can’t get from a few comparatively cheap books.

   3. Hit the nail on the head. I am fluent in Ruby, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, T-SQL, and several other web usable languages. I’ve also tried the whole freelance bit with those skills. You know what you get 99.9% of the time? Clients who want to pay you with “free advertising” on their site because they don’t want to pay you money. “You get to add our site to your portfolio! Isn’t that worth more than money?” Then they abuse your time with an endless stream of revisions to your design proposal because nitpicking is all they know how to do. If by some strange alignment of the planets you’re getting paid, then good luck wrangling your money out of them once you deliver the final product.
      Of course this is all not taking into consideration the fact that you’d be joining an already over saturated “web dev” market segment with plenty of thirsty beta devs out there who will gladly take a loss undercutting your bids on projects. You could be the Shakespeare of code and have the best designs and ideas for your client that will truly work for them, but they’ll go with the wet-behind-the-ears “guy who works on web stuff” and his slapped together WordPress based site because he’s willing to do it for pennies per hour.

   4. Just a little overview here. Web development – I currently have four major clients who are real estate agents. I have made them incredibly successful via the search-engine-optimized websites I design and maintain for them. Each of my clients leases about 20 sites a year from me. I currently make slightly over 100K a year, just from that one little gig alone. Didn’t go to school to learn how to do it – I just bought some cheap website-building software 15 years ago, and I just went ahead and did it. I targeted them by writing compelling email marketing pieces, and I harvested their emails and bombed them out. Then I set appointments to meet them. Then I pitched them using a compelling online pitch that I wrote. I no longer take on new clients. I had an 80%-plus close rate and I literally had it down to where bottom-feeder agents would tell me things like, “Wait right there, I’m going to go get money on my car title, and I’ll be right back to pay you.” Never had a single person in the 10 years that I actively marketed my wares, who told me they weren’t interested after I pitched them. Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world. Big world. Infinite possibilities. But only if you have eyes to see…

      1. Heh. My ego got in the way of considering such a scenario, as I was focused on the craft of programming. Way to go.

         1. Yeah it’s the outside-the-box thing that a college education won’t give you. No classes in critical thinking are available (well, logic, but that isn’t quite what I mean here). I’m skeptical as hell. Which I think is a good thing. But infinity is a big place. I used to sell “How To” guides to people who wanted to start a proofreading service for court reporters. Litigation is big business. They use court reporters to record the deposition transcripts. First I started a business with a court reporting firm I worked for…then I started selling little $20 guides by mail order, teaching people how to do the same thing. One woman bought the $20 guide and landed a gig and did that job for 20 years until she passed away. She sent me a thank-you letter which I still have. Heck, you can make money selling what you already know, Tom. Think of all the things you know. Then dream up an e-book or a manual of some sort. People will pay to pluck your brain. It’s limitless.

         2. I didn’t really learn programming from college. But then, this isn’t really a programming question, it is a business and opportunity question. That is where I have weaknesses. Thanks for opening my eyes a little.

         3. Sure, I mean, whatever I can do to help a guy. And whatever they can do to help me. We’re all on our way to dying from the moment we’re born. So there’s no time. If I can throw anything out there that helps one person, it was worth it. Anybody who claims they know everything is proving they don’t. We’re all demented creatures when you break it down…personally I’m trying to quit, but it’s hard.

      2. That’s a great interesting story. Well done on your success. I love to see genuine innovation like you’ve developed.The unfortunate problem I often encounter are very bright and talented dudes (say someone like Tom from here) who’ve great ideas, but, lack any organizational and business skills to make money from their ideas. I can’t emphasis enough the importance of having the requisite business and social skills when you want to start up your own business. It will make the difference between success or failure, no matter how good your idea is.

         1. Thank you for your kind words, good sir. And yes, I know exactly what you mean about guys with talent, brains and skills galore, who aren’t sure what to do with them. I think the hard part is convincing yourself that you can do it, whatever it is. People tend to look for encouragement, and if it’s an outside-the-box idea, sadly, they will find little support from family and friends. You know what I mean here, like, “Gee, that sounds crazy”, or “Do you really think there’s a market for that?” So my first rule of thumb is, never, ever, ever tell anybody you are really close to, such as friends or family, about what you are planning on doing. They are as miserable as most people are, because life sucks overall, and we’re all going to die, and they would be very glad if you stayed right where they are, at curbside, along with them, miserable and safe.
            Consult with people who have practical advice they are willing to give, people whom you don’t really know (an online forum is perfect; no jealousy involved, no doomsday drivel from people with an emotional investment in keeping you right where you are). Define your target market. Then, just work up a very simple A-Z formula regarding how to market your skills TO that target market.
            In the Internet age, email marketing is a no-brainer. (“Bob, what about spam, you don’t want to spam anybody???”) No, and I don’t. I get their names and email addresses, I work in a related field, and I can make them all more money if they have the sense to listen to me. You can talk yourself out of trying something, a million different ways. Just jump in and do it. Just go out and take it. Define your target audience, assimilate your skills in a listed format. Write up a killer email pitch with an assumptive close, designed to get them to respond and ask you a question. Then set up an appointment and take them down. Go directly after you target audience. Cheaply. Emails are cheap to send out (nothing spent but time there). One deal – just one, little deal – can ignite the fuse…

         2. That’s sound advice about not disclosing your ideas to people who are close to you. Often, even if their intentions are good, they can end up being a real hindrance.
            I’d still maintain that the old fashioned face-to-face doorstep meeting at a company whom you know would be interested can be beneficial. The trick, especially if you’ve developed a product is not to disclose too much, too soon to them, otherwise they can develop the idea themselves and leave you high and dry. It’s easier in your case- when you’re providing a service- you can pitch it as something that they can spend money on and get a return much bigger than this sum, while you do the hard work, and if they did the same thing in house it would be still more expense. It’s difficult to use this approach when you’re looking from them to buy or license a product you made.

         3. True. It all depends on your angle. But if I were a young dude, hungry for more, I’d go bare-bones on the development, and go for the home run that will put $10,000 in my pocket. Once you start doing things like that, you always tend to aim high – instead of curb level. It all depends on what you want. As Merv Griffin once told me (name drop, it fits here), “Ten percent of something is better than 100% of nothing.”

         4. “I think the hard part is convincing yourself that you can do it, whatever it is. People tend to look for encouragement, and if it’s an outside-the-box idea, sadly, they will find little support from family and friends. ”
            For all budding entrepreneurs this should be embossed on a gold embossed plaque and read daily.
            Most people have little if any experience in business, are pussies, and have no fucking clue what they’re talking about.
            My own Blue Pill familly said “You can’t start a business in a recession!” “Rental propertiers are risky!” folowed by “you should find a “goog” job.”
            Well still going stong in business and the rentals so there you have it. “Nothing ventured nothing gained.”

         5. Good for you, man. I hope you keep having success with everything you do. You will find 10 times more encouragement at a forum like this one, than you will find with the family during Thanksgiving dinner (as you know). When people I know ask me how I am doing, I always say, “Meh, you know, same thing, different day.” And they are really pleased by that, as if things aren’t going that well for me. Heh.

      3. “Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of
         the world. Big world. Infinite possibilities. But only if you have eyes
         to see…”
         Just quoting that again.

         1. I borrowed it from Arthur Schopenhauer – that guy had some serious vision.

      4. Did you use Dreamweaver for website building or something similar ?

         1. CuteSite Builder…they don’t sell it anymore, I don’t think. I still use it.

      5. Hi Bob – I’m trying to break into a similar business to you, only a few thousand miles away from where you are! I’d like some advice.
         A friend and I are trying to get clients alongside our software engineering day jobs – we’ve got 20 years experience between us so we’re smarter when it comes to building useful front and back office software into websites than most ‘web designers’ are. With our first client we’ve developed a framework that we’d like to sell to other businesses, but if we’ve learned one thing it is that each client you take on is an additional headache and time sink – they seem to want to email you/call you whenever and often don’t want to pay for that time.
         So to make this worthwhile, we really need to get a small number of well-paying clients; which is why I was interested in your 100K a year from 4 clients. How are you making that much? Are you charging big $$ every month in licensing costs for your software?

         1. My clients lease websites from me. They average about 20 sites each. I charge them per site, to renew the leases from me every year (each site renewal fee is about $1000 per year). In addition, which is the beauty of what I do, they pay for add-ons. For example, I’ll come up with a new angle, and I’ll pitch them on it, and usually they will snap it up. Also, I renovate existing sites, adding more content (pages). And thirdly, they usually want more sites as time goes by, so I will build new ones (each site search-engine-optimized for a certain real estate niche – for example, single-story homes, or townhomes, or homes with guest houses, or whatever – it’s endless; and then each site is also formulated for a specific city).
            Can you sell your back-end product separately? Meaning, as an adjunct, a stand-alone piece of software, not built directly into an existing site. (???)

         2. That’s very interesting – so you’re basically building some virtual ‘prime real estate’ by creating a site that is high-ranking for a certain search term, and then selling charging a business $1000 a year for the privilege of being the business to get to use it?
            So that $1000 covers the right to ‘use’ the SEO site, but any additional development costs extra $$, right? It sounds like the websites are all individually coded, but the add-on’s can be re-used across sites.
            You’re right in that I think the way to go is by creating a stand alone bit of software that I can sell to many people – I’ve talked to other developers about this and the consensus is that bespoke development doesn’t scale well – you lose too much money due to scope creep and the customers wanting lots of little changes to their site but not being terribly keen on paying you.

         3. Yes. You get it. Prime real estate. Some of those sites are worth mega-bank. One of them is worth at least $2 million – all together, probably $15 to $20 million. I’m not cashing out until down the road apiece. In the meantime, I’m cool with leasing it out. I will have to sell them directly to a real estate company but that’s doable (will/intent/way). I maintain control over the sites. I manage them all. That’s how I give them upgrades. Or change them completely, if needed.
            You might consider a similar angle. Then, offer your clients an upgrade. Even if you just sell it, once you get a group of buyers, the best customers are always repeat customers. Case in point (not to brag, but so you can see what’s going on today) – I have a client in the Pacific Northwest. He and his girlfriend both. Been working with him for 15 years, and with her for four. So I just emailed both of them yesterday about an upgrade. He just wrote back and said “We’re in” and he is overnighting me two checks for 3K each, which I’ll pick up tomorrow. That’s my routine with him.
            If you can just get a few major players, you’re good to go. Maybe a company that agrees to buy/lease your software in bulk, for its workforce. Offer the head honcho a tithe if you have to do it. There are real estate brokers who lease things from guys like me, and get a kickback (it’s not called that, it’s legal, you just have to work out the terminology there). For example, many brokers insist their agents go with companies like realtor.com. The agents do whatever the broker says, the broker gets $100 apiece for 100 agents signing up. So that’s an angle for you, right there. Recruit a manager at a big company, with underlings. Make him an offer he can’t refuse.
            As far as what other developers told you, they might have a jaded or narrow scope of vision. If you have something you really believe in, think about selling it (or leasing it) as a one-shot, stand-alone deal. Then identify your target audience. Then consider doing a mass email marketing campaign. Go directly at the target audience.
            You’ll figure it out. Just don’t let anything, or anyone, stop you. I don’t know what field you are in, but think about using your brains and skills to target a hot market. Real estate agents are a dime a dozen, and they are always buying/leasing tech-related things. Websites and software. They love software. And there is massive turnover in the field. Guys come in, guys drop out. More turnover than a pastry shop (heh)…

         4. Bob,
            If you do get a great domain name, say like “NewYorkCityBrownstones” for example, do you have multiple realtors showcasing their properties there?
            I have seen things like “123MainStreet” that are websites for an individual property but the example I cited is different.
            CP
            BTW are you on the forum?

         5. Hey man. I build sites on behalf of one real estate agent, primarily. I showcase their listings on that site, and I have educational information on various pages, all with their smiling mug on them. Then I have an IDX property feed, and all the local MLS listings can be accessed thereby. Each listing has my client as the person to contact for more information, or to schedule a showing. So primarily one agent only, I advertise them only, I highlight their listings, and give visitors access to all the properties in that area. As for the forum you mentioned, no, I’m not it. Hope this helps…

   5. I want to learn web design. Where do I start? Are online courses like Codeacademy, Khan Academy or Coursera worth the effort? In a nutshell, what’s the best way to learn web design/development?

      1. Tell me what you want to be able to do and I will give you a couple options.

         1. Well, I want to build a website, an app, do data analysis, manage databases, build a CRM or maybe build something based on machine learning. What do you recommend?

         2. Well, I don’t know much about machine learning. I think that this is something that goes a bit deeper than typical website programming, in that it possibly requires high computational power. Typical programming languages for websites are not native languages, but rather interpreted languages, which is why they are slower and can not do efficiently what native stuff can do. A good example of this is 3D graphics, which becomes very slow with web-based technologies unless you use a native framework for it (which does exist already, though, as evidenced by 3d browser games).
            As for building websites and the other stuff, I recommend that which I have learned myself. PHP is a fine web programming language which is very flexible and allows you to do pretty much anything you want for websites. For data storage and analysis, I recommend you take a look into MySQL. For frontend design and UI design, you will have to learn HTML, CSS and very likely JavaScript. A keyword for interactive frontends without reloading is AJAX, a part of JavaScript.
            Now, HTML, CSS and JavaScript is something you will not be able to live without. That is basically the stuff that gets executed in the browser. Not much choice there right now.
            As for PHP and MySQL, those are my personal choices for the programming of the backend (that which gets executed on the server, rather than in the browser). PHP for programming the logic and MySQL for storing and retreiving data and do basic batch operations on that data.
            Instead of PHP, there is also Ruby, node.js, PERL, ASP and probably many others.
            Instead of MySQL, you can use other SQL implementations like MSSQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle SQL, etc. The thing they all have more or less in common is the SQL language to operate them. If you know MySQL, it is not difficult to switch to the others, although there are some varying functionalities etc., so you likely will choose based on what you need.
            MySQL and PHP are free, that’s a great advantage. They run on both Linux and Windows, although I recommend Linux. They are also very widely used.
            Now, another choice you will face is whether you will use frameworks. Frameworks are basically pre-written libraries (read: functions that others have coded for your convenience) that are supposed to allow you to do stuff quicker and easier than otherwise possible. They exist for PHP and JavaScript as well as for HTML and CSS. I recommend abstaining from these until you get the basics.
            Now, how to learn?
            I don’t know what the right approach for you is, but I always like to start with the very simple basics. In case of PHP and all the other stuff as well, that means to simply buy some boring book about it. Nothing that tries to simplify it too much. Learn the syntax of those languages. The syntax is basically like the grammar of English.
            So basically, however menial it sounds, start with coding the most ridiculously simple math operations, like 1 plus 1. And then printing the result. Try & Error. By doing that simple stuff, you find out the many ways to make mistakes and the ways to do it right. You learn the most with this simple stuff, because all the complicated stuff basically can be abstracted down to the simple stuff.
            This may take you a few days or at max weeks to really understand, if you actually are interested in it. The great thing is: Once you really understand the syntax, everything else follows from it. You just know the language. You will practically be able to do anything you can imagine, because you simply know how to tell the damn machine what to do. The only challenge will be to find the most elegant way to tell the machine to do what you want it to do.
            Once you understand the syntax and all the basics, you can move on to frameworks, although I personally hate most of them. The only one I consistently use is jQuery, a framework for JavaScript. I like this one because in many cases, it just offers you shortcuts to otherwise long commands. But again, I would not use it before I understood JavaScript very well. Else, you will just use the jQuery syntax without understanding what it really does.

         3. Btw, if you mean smartphone app (and not just a mobile compatible website), you will need to learn some more complicated languages specific to the platforms (iOS, Android etc). I don’t know much about that.

      2. lynda.com has a bunch of great courses. It’s $30 a month.

   6. http://www.businessinsider.com/iot-ecosystem-internet-of-things-forecasts-and-business-opportunities-2016-2?utm_content=bufferf37fd&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer-ti

      1. Just wait till the Internet of Things becomes the Internet of People. Shudder.

      2. wow they really do want to sell that $795 report don’t they.

8. Did you really do all of those things you mention? If so, hats off to you.

9. Hmm, writing good, compelling fiction that people will actually buy is quite difficult as it’s such a crowded arena. However, I’ve know people who’ve written material for the stage and have done extremely well. It’s much more interesting in my opinion as you’re writing in the manner of how people speak, and you’re taking into account the acoustics and physical layout of the stage. If you write one good play, you can retire on it for the rest of your life.
   Web design? Isn’t everyone doing this, Hell, even I’ve designed a website, but, I never made any money out of it.

   1. I don’t think everyone is really doing it. Victor Pride & Co. sure advocate it, but the money doesn’t really lie so much in creating blogs for yourself, I think. You have to have real unique and good content for that. Look at the Manosphere. Most blogs there probably don’t make a cent. Like mine doesn’t either.
      Money is in creating websites for people who are willing to pay for it. Contract jobs and the likes.

      1. “Money is in creating websites for people who are willing to pay for it” It’s not even websites, but, applications that you can use via a website that make the money.
         I developed a very simple application through a web based platform some years back and it’s now used by the freight industry when large documents need to be dispatched in a secure manner. However, my company benefited, but not I, no I don’t give get a pay rise, although I did get promoted partly for developing the application. It’s stuff like this that can make you money….eventually….although you need contacts and if you’re developing it on your own it’s next near impossible to get these.

         1. Good point. But then, the “border” between web application and an offline application accessed via a web interface are fluid.

         2. Very much so, but, the critical part to developing and selling any application are contacts. You need to know who’s who in your own sector as this takes time, experience and goodwill, but, it gives you a huge advantage over the independent developers outside.
            I suppose the trick is using your own organization for what you can get out of them (lets be honest, they use us for what they can) while maintaining good relationships within the company you work for.

         3. Maybe. Who knows.

10. Videography/photography is where its at. Social media has given birth to the narcissism attention whoring industry and as a “media consultant” you can help people gain “exposure”. If you have real photoshop skills you can take the average hooters girl and even “make her beautiful”.
    I know guys with big houses in the suburbs, boats, cars, fully funded ira and 401k accounts and they have a never ending supply of women, and all they do is take pictures of desperate breastaurant girls.

    1. Interesting. When I was still doing video, I was always under the impression that it is a sucky badly paid job. Next to nobody wants to actually pay you well for your work if you want to be doing something that’s fun (like music videos). You may be able to get somewhat decently paid when you get a job working on some commercial or something. In fact, I’d say that doing adverts or maybe Hollywood is the only place you can really make reasonable money with video stuff.
       Also, most people who do video just fucking suck at it. Look at Youtube. There are some talented people and everyone knows who they are. Everyone else just tries to copy them. But that aside, Youtube does not pay you that much. You really need a LOT of views to get anything out of it.
       Photographing girls may be something you can make good money with, IF you manage to establish your name as a form of brand.

       1. That is correct, most people that do video just suck at it. Photographing women is simple though. You just build a brand in your area as the guy to see and you get non stop referrals. Theres literally an endless supply of 22 year olds chasing the dream the tv tells them to chase. The guys i know never run out of work.

          1. I think I’d be bored dead of it after a while, though, doing nothing but satisfying female narcissistic desire. Barf.
             I prefer landscape stuff. The only thing I may be passionate about would be some really high class porn, the likes of which hardly exist yet. Something original. But that’s hardly something people would pay you for.

          2. This was the real high class porn back in the day. It left everything very tastefully to the imagination which agrees with me (unlike what’s produced nowadays).

          3. Hah. I would go in quite the opposite direction. I would absolutely want to show everything. There must be no doubt that it is real. But, this display of reality would not be the center of the whole thing, as it is in modern porn. It would merely be the little tip of the iceberg that makes the whole thing believable. I would want to display the act in a way that preserves the mystique and that shows a connection with nature and our darker sides. Combining landscape and porn. Maybe it is wrong to even call it porn, but rather: An exploration of human sexuality in the form of art.
             Concealing something to make it mysterious is a cheap trick in my eyes, based on pedestalization.
             Take this, for example:
             http://zaporacle.com/wp-content/uploads/Alex_Grey-Copulating.jpg
             Not the style I envision, but still: You see everything, and yet it is deeply spiritual and aesthetic.
             By the way, I was talking of photography, not video. Video would be too stressful, as it would not allow the same amount of retouching and matte painting and also would force me to deal with terrible acting skills.

          4. Lee is dead on point here. Due to my success at developing websites for primarily real estate agents, I have run into numerous girls, after they find out what I do, who want me to build websites for them – usually, escort websites. Depraved hotties can line your pockets fast. I don’t take them up on that offer, but only because I don’t have to. There are rivers of money out there, just waiting for you to wade out, roll up your pant legs, bend down and scoop some of it up.

          5. Gaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy
             Nah just joking… In my early twenties I stalked Alex Grey to the end of a rave party and forced him to sign my guitar.

       2. This is an idea, based on my personal sphere of experience. You know video, right Tom? Well a guy who knows video, can approach real estate agents about shooting property videos and take their money right out of their wallets. It’s a huge, huge, huge business. Most agents hire somebody to do this for them. And most videographers suck, as you already know. Having been an actor, and having also worked on the film-production side of things, the kiss of death is anything that is too long. Most real estate videographers shoot 2-minute-plus videos to advertise one property. And they use crappy voiceover stuff, and cheesy music. Anything 30 seconds or less is optimal. Get the online prospect’s attention, show them the basic shots of the property, and pique their interest so they will ask the agent for more details about the property. If you’re good at something, you just apply it to a hot market. Real estate is hot. If it were me, and I were a guy who wanted to jump in and do something like this (and I’m not saying you are, I mean in general here, for anybody who has an itch and they are reading this), I would put together a few clips of property videos that I have shot. Put them on a website. Harvest email agents’ email addresses. Write up a concise, assume-the-close pitch. Send it out en masse. Bingo. You’ll get responses. Then set appointments and go see them, after working out an online presentation, with a bang-up close – “Okay. I’ll do the first two property videos for you, Stan, for $500. I can have them to you in three days. The first two are half-price, as already mentioned. Which properties do you want me to shoot a video for…the two condos or one of your single-story houses and one condo…” Always be closing. Always assume the sale. Boom. Now you’re a videographer with a client. Now it snowballs, based on how much you push at it.

    2. But, surely anyone can take a picture nowadays with their smartphones etc. People want “authenticity” which these low grade phone shots produce rather than top end glamor candy with all the tassels blowing in the breeze.
       I don’t believe there are guys living “the dream” on the banks of the Mississippi encased within their stately mansions earned through the proceeds of polishing up desperate breastaurant girls. These girls are broke.

       1. Surely not many, but I think it is not implausible. Consider this: Some poor fucked up breastaurant girl wants to feel good about herself, so she puts some money aside for two or three months to be able to afford that $300 photo shoot where she gets back 2 retouched pictures of her own naked self in an artsy black/white act fashion.

          1. Meanwhile, actually doing the work, once the set up is ready, may take not much more than 2 or 3 hours.

          2. It’s a very limited market. You won’t make any substantial income from it. I’m just being honest. If something sounds too good to be true, well it generally means….

       2. They may be broke, but I’m always surprised how much money they’ll throw into frivolities.

    3. Breastaraunt girls are dated 90s concept, like girls gone wild. It had its time but the culture has moved on. But agree that new tools create new opportunities. At least you didn’t use the word “nowadays” and post mommy porn from the VCR era.

       1. The south hasnt caught on to that yet. We now have twin peaks, tight ends, bombshells, chulas, and hooters. They’re great places for gun fights and pay for play girls and i dont see that trend ever ending down here.

    4. I recently met a guy who is doing this. I think he charges them $150 or something for a photo shoot. I just find it hard to believe that there are that many women who have $100+, at least not the younger, attractive ones, that they will spend on something so fleeting, when the iphone in their pocket has pretty amazing software that can instantly make them look maybe 80% as good for no effort or cost.
       Yeah, the girls definitely like the idea that they hired a ‘pro’ as it is kind of a status symbol thing for them to tell their gfs about, but I don’t see the economics of making $100,000 a year from this.
       I think a bit of it revolves around selling them the lie that they can make it big in modeling or whatever. And I just don’t have the interest in blatantly lying to girls that way.
       I’m really curious about a guy who has funded boats and cars off this.

       1. “when the iphone in their pocket has pretty amazing software that can instantly make them look maybe 80% as good for no effort or cost”
          That’s just not true. And even if the camera were indeed that good, you would still need a good backdrop, setting, lighting etc.

          1. I do a lot of photography, and have thousands in gear, and to my eye, it is true.
             http://www.bgr.in/news/apple-has-a-team-of-800-engineers-working-on-the-iphone-camera/
             You can go buy a $2,000 Canon, and the software it uses to create its JPG images is inferior to what the iphone does in a millisecond. Canon or Nikon may have a dozen engineers working on software, but I doubt it’s that many. They simply can’t afford to.
             Sure, you can spend half an hour editing a raw file and eek out that extra 20%, but why do that? And who has the time to do that on more than a handful of shots?
             http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/12/5802800/iphone-photography-awards-2014

          2. Nujac knows the score here. Some of the newer phones are really something else. You can indeed use a cell phone camera to not only take quality portraits, but shoot quality films. A movie titled “Tangerine” was featured at the Sundance film festival in 2015, and it was shot entirely using an iPhone 5s.

          3. I don’t know, man. These look nice, but then, these are low resolution. Until I see how well they look on 100% zoom level, I reserve my opinion.
             800 engineers sounds impressive, but it is hardly “objective” proof of a better camera. What do you base your opinion on?
             What I hate about my iPhone 4 camera is that it does not allow any manual settings. If it did, that would be a great step in the right direction. Truth be told, you can do great photos with a hacked 30$ Canon camera that does DNG images.
             But the limits simply come from the size of the sensor and lens. Have as many engineers as you like, you can not circumvent physics. There will always be more grain and you will always have the problem of an almost infinite depth of field.
             And even if you forget about this – let’s not forget that many people just are not that great at taking pictures.

          4. Watched the trailer. Surprisingly good quality – for a phone. It is an interesting experiment, but the quality does not measure up to quality professional equipment. You can see that it is muddy, that it has compression artifacts and that the HD resolution is not really crisp and that the lights do blow out here and there.

          5. Agreed. The theme was really contemporary, too (trannies, I believe). But I think the point is, you can make bank using surprisingly inexpensive photography equipment. And one good idea.

          6. I guess I really am a snob. 🙂

          7. You’re just discerning…

          8. You are right, though. Ideas are the most important thing.
             I wanted to do video stuff commercially and bought really good equipment for 10k EUR. Then I realized that my head was entirely void of any good ideas. I simply have no stories to tell. I know all the technic stuff. I have an eye for good angles and editing. But I just am a terrible story writer.
             So I sold that shit again, with the intent to come back at it again as soon as I have something to tell.

          9. Thanks, that’s kind.

          10. It’s all semantics. Some people refer to others as being arrogant; I just think some of the people in question have clearer vision and confidence. One man’s hubris is another man’s certainty.

          11. The only reason a pro camera has the size sensor it does is because those are the exact dimensions that film was produced in, and the camera companies didn’t want to force photographers to buy new lenses when they switched to digital sensors from film. NOT because that’s the ideal size needed to produce good images.
              The main disadvantage in a small sensor size is low light performance and noise. Indeed, for years, digital cameras performed abysmally in low light. The low light performance of a modern iphone exceeds any thousand dollar digital camera from 5 years ago.
              A bigger sensor may be better, but it doesn’t matter–the quality of the small sensors is now at the level needed to produce good quality photos. Kind of like how even a Hyundai can go 120 MPH on the highway, if you ever needed it to. Sure, a Porsche will go even faster but… how many times do you need to go 121?
              I would submit you are far more discerning than the average person. I played in a few bands, and in one, we were so shitty I was actually embarrassed to play in public. My musician friends left the bar, because the singer’s voice was so horrible. But 95% of the people recognized the songs, heard loud guitars and saw flashing lights and danced their ass off and had a blast. “Good enough” is almost always just that.

          12. I always used to be quite convinced internally that I knew stuff better than others. But I was mostly quite insecure about it. Partly because people told me I was being arrogant / contrarian. These days, I don’t know what to think. Not sure I even care much anymore.

          13. Don’t. Don’t care what others think. They think other people’s thoughts and they don’t know it. Trust yourself. Surround yourself with people who give good input. Fuck the rest of ’em. Life is too short, and you are too…discerning. (Wink.) Go for it.

          14. You are definitely right about people not caring that much. I am coming to learn that.
              But from a purely academic standpoint, that’s just nonsense.
              Firstly, here, take a look at a picture taken with an iPhone 6s, the best there is:
              https://2.img-dpreview.com/files/p/TS4032x3024~sample_galleries/1025395973/1423942353.jpg
              You wanna tell me that this low-light performance exceeds my 8 year old Nikon D700? Never!
              Mind you, this is merely ASA 2000!
              The sensor size may have been based on that originally, but that is not true for the consumer cameras. Full-frame cameras are actually quite expensive and the normal cameras use APS-C sized sensors or, in case of Nikon, DX. Lot smaller than full-frame, but still infinitely bigger than an iPhone 6s sensor. And if you wanna argue that this difference is not like day and night, I must conclude you are being willfully blind.
              I heard something about graphene sensors being in the making and being hundred times more light sensitive than current CMOS stuff. But apparently, there are many issues with noise still. Maybe in a few years, those tiny sensors will be able to compete. But that is not where we are now.

          15. Spicy…what do you think of the Sony line of low-light cameras, like the Sony A7s…have you used those…do you have any input/recommendations/critiques regarding them.

          16. Looks real nice:
              http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/tag/low-light/
              I always like the reviews of Ken Rockwell. Many “pros” say he is a troll, but I find myself agreeing with a lot he writes. He also writes it in a way that is pretty intelligible for Average Joe:
              http://www.kenrockwell.com/sony/a7s-ii.htm

          17. I don’t own one but played around with them a bit and I really like them. I have fallen into the DSLR maker’s trap of having so much $$ invested in their lenses that it’s rather cost prohibitive to switch formats, but if I were starting from scratch today, I would go with a system like that. The weight and size are great. Be careful of battery life, which is a whole lot shorter on these mirrorless cameras.
              There are a lot of advantages–for one the viewfinder can show you the actual exposure and results *before* you press the shutter button. As far as drawbacks I really can’t think of many. I like the Sony A7s, the Fuji X100 line, and almost bought an Olympus m4/3. Another benefit is some of these have sensor-based image stabilization so you don’t have to keep re-paying for that feature on every lens you buy.
              Perhaps one of the biggest disadvantages if you are planning on making money is that some people will perceive a tiny camera as cheap equipment and think you are not a professional. But that’s only a problem in the beginning as you are getting started. And it’s a false judgment. Another would be if you’re really creative, and want to do some niche stuff like night photography or something, while it can be done on a MILC, it’s a bit easier to do on a DSLR with manual focus lens… on a Sony you would be using digital controls to approximate manual settings. But this is probably for a minority of your shots, and you can still get results, just slightly more difficult.

          18. Thanks for the input. I’m going to go with the Sony A7s ii, I’m pretty sure. I’m about to start producing short horror films, and I need the low-light capability. I’ve read pretty much rave reviews about that line of camera, but thought I’d check with someone I’d be much more apt to trust. I’ve included a night test video below, some of those shots are really incredible. I’m not sure if they did much of anything to this film in post, but I’m thinkin’ they didn’t. I’m hoping this will make it a lot easier than having to utilize day for night techniques…
              

       2. Scammer talent agents make their living doing this. “I’m an agent, and you, my dear – you have ‘the look’…I know I can get you a shot in a Hollywood film, but we need the right calling card. Now, it will only cost you $550 to get a really great set of professional photos taken, by Louis St. Blowjob, who is a master at his craft, and a true artist for the stars”, etc. It would be the same exact psychology, if a guy were to scam dumb sluts out of their $200 Visa gift card that some orbiter gave them. The difference is, the latter type of female is legion. Print some business cards. Put up a decent-looking website. Include photos of women you cadge off the Net that are copyright-free. Sell them on their narcissistic dreams. Easy…

          1. Depends on how comfortable you are doing that kind of shit.

          2. I knew a girl in my blue pill days who would always be bending over for these frauds. Dudes would be asking for nudes from gmail addresses and claim theyre with mtv and shit. “You can be casted for the next jersey shore”. Bitches eat this shit up.
             I told the girl one time the guy was a complete fraud. She literally yelled at me “he has a website, hes real!” She then flew out to cali on her suger daddies dime, got fucked, and sent home with nothing.
             There is a never ending supply of these women.

          3. Yeah, it’s a giant sea of money. Flip it around and take advantage of their brainwashed state. Same for blue-pillers in general. Show them what they want to see. If you can actually provide them with something of value, great, but caveat emptor…

       3. Your thinking like a responsible man, think like a woman.
          Its not about the photos, its the experience. The guy with the clicker checking the lighting, the shades, the tripods with cameras, the white backdrop, the locations, the edm music playing loud in the studio. Its about the girl posting a “sneek peak” pic of her in the studio, where shes the center of attention. “Heres a little preview, lol.”
          These women believe the perfect sunday is a sunday that gives a week of social media content.

    5. To me it seems like everyone and their sister is some aspiring photographer these days…

11. I’m going to buy a drone and start making voyeur/peeping tom videos.

    1. Spit tea everywhere when I read that. Funny bastard!

       1. Don’t go stealin my idea! Unless we all get drones and start up a website, something like “assed out passed out”.

    2. That’s cool, just don’t freak out when some fellow entrepreneur flies their drone over your place and turns you into a gay porn star.

       1. You say that like I’m not already a gay porn star.

12. A must, after Kratom selling, for this list should be small businesss construction/contracting like carpentry, flooring, landscaping etc…
    Some trades reqire only basic tools and you can pick up more and better ones as invoices comes in.
    You can get $5,000 loan on a commercial Home Depot card so no money needed just some skills.
    Many of you learned trades over summers, or from your dad, in between school breaks and thus already have the skills and experience.
    This could also get you a way in, with a customer / supplier base to build on.
    This is why we should always be “networking” as lot of contractors get their start, build the business and eventually rely mostly on refferrals..
    Equally important, this gets you away from women, for the most part, on job sites where men are still the overwhelming majority, not to mention be good overal for masculine development..

    1. This. There are so many practical skills that people are willing to pay for. I’ve made a few bucks changing my friends’ oil, unclogging their toilets, and detailing their cars.

       1. I’ve known medicine students willing to give shots for $10 a pop.

          1. I have a female friend who takes my “shots” for $20 a pop. Nice girl. Low self-esteem. Sucks the chrome off a trailer hitch, though…it’s limitless. Money, money everywhere.

          2. Some IV, aka intra vaginal shots I presume?

          3. But of course. In this economy, even hot girls will set up a friends-with-benefits arrangement for surprisingly little $$$…

          4. Of course. Family and Friends discount. Now if anyone is getting the Family discount, then….damn.

          5. You crack me up, dude. Why aren’t you writing comedy. Trust fund?

       2. In my area there are many customers who are elderly and need someone to do handyman type work around the house.
          It’s difficult to find anyone reliable as anyone good tends to morph into a full blown general contractor..
          Regular companies don’t like to show up for little jobs.
          Some employees do well with these jobs on the side but I find mostly their too lazy and stupid to capitalize..
          Lots of shit rats in mini vans out there but they tend to be alcholics or drug addicts..
          If someone has their shit togther and wants to keep it small time there’s cash jobs, tons of repairs to be done and seniors ready to pay..

    2. When I was 20 years old a buddy of mine and I decided to start a moving company. Had no experience, of course. We actually rented a U-Haul truck, placed an ad in the local Penny Saver (out in the L.A., California area), and boom, we were in business. Went from making crap money at traditional jobs, to banging down several hundred dollars per week, in the wink of an eye. True, it was a half-baked idea (U-Haul trucks? – people never said a word, because we moved them at a cheaper rate than the big guys). But you can’t swim until you jump in. Tons of ways to skin the cat. Tons.

       1. This is a common theme, I’ve noticed, for budding entrepreneurs. They often break a few rules when starting out. If you and your buddy ever got into an accident while using the U-Haul for your own business, you could be seriously screwed as that wasn’t an authorized use and you had no business insurance. But people take chances all the time like that.
          So how far did you guys get?

          1. Well let’s see. We had the business for about three years. We got an offer from a rich, silent partner type of guy, who wanted 40% of the business for putting up money to buy trucks, insurance, etc. We declined his offer which as it turned out, was probably pretty stupid. My buddy got married and bailed on the business. But we made great money for three years, probably in terms of today’s dollars, about $2000 a week apiece. Not bad for being 20-22.

13. 8 and 10 are spot-on, especially if combined; if an older guy just states he needs/lacks a service, and would be willing to pay for it – you found yourself a job niche. I don’t talk to them over drinks, but as their caddy; there’s nothing guys who are well off like more than getting recognition from younger men, especially if you take a genuine interest by asking questions and advice.
    I managed to set myself up as an anonymous, intermediate trader, who helps clients acquire collectible items they themselves might not be able to obtain without either damaging their reputation, or driving the price up because of their reputation. Bank managers who collect worn panties, that kind of stuff. I go to the seller, verify identity, and return with the prize.
    Travel costs get covered, I get a nice commission on sales, and because the buyer wants to remain anonymous, it pays cash. Had a mate of mine who works as a solicitor draft up a basic non-disclosure-agreement, carry it with me all the time while working shifts as a caddy. Some guy drops a line about wanting to do something but being afraid of getting found out? That’s my queue.

    1. Well done. There are always people willing to pay for things they themselves won’t do.

       1. Changed it like 4 times – not a native speaker here.
          But that’s exactly my point; I’m a young guy, a college student who doesn’t mind spending half a day traveling to remote areas by train. They value their time/reputation/etc. higher than I do mine, so it’s logical that things that can be done by anybody are just done by a somewhat competent person with the lowest value per hour. I’m happy to be that person.

    2. That’s what I’m talkin’ about…there just has to be a lot more guys in the ROK audience, who can contribute ideas like this one. I figure anything that trips somebody’s “I can do it” switch, is a winner for men all the way around. Sure, you gotta dodge some flying fruit (love the kratom jokes by the way – ha ha!), but it’s worth it if it helps just one person.

       1. I knew someone who fixed up antique shitty Craigslist furniture and resold it multiple times original cost.

          1. Yeah, I mean sheesh…there are so many ways to make money doing things that would never occur to you. My focus is on trying to pull people out of the debt slave mindset. The more things you try, the more confident you will become. Doesn’t matter what it is. Every shot you take, your confidence and knowledge base will grow. Just pick out the target, and take dead aim. I make a few grand every now and then, building a website for somebody (which I lease, I don’t sell them, I get renewals every year), who has an idea that I think is “out there”. But what do I know. Some of them work. I used to buy tickets for a ticket broker. He’d give me cash, I’d wait in line, and buy tickets, going back through it, again and again. The guy made a fortune. (Scalper, er, ticket broker.) I made a lot, too. Any guy can do anything at all. He just has to want to do it – after first getting the idea.

          2. Yeah, this works great. Even with buying and storing stuff you can make a nice profit. Mate of mine knows a guy who is currently living at a 1900s military fortress, just making sure vagrants stay out and the like. Still owned by the DoD, but it doesn’t interfere with their goal of keeping the fortress safe, so that’s fine.
             And he just figured out that a large, underground fortress would be the absolute perfect location to cellar and age beers, wines and spirits. So that’s what he did. Now he’s actually looking for a second fortress for lease since the first one is nearing capacity.

          3. That’s hilarious. Is your mate friends with Jared Leto? He just bought a 400,000 sq-ft former DoD military compound.

          4. Nah, Euro here.

          5. I pull furniture out of trash piles I pass by and repair/repaint. I have made a few extra dollars doing this selling the results on craigslist and it certainly has paid for my time and effort. I enjoy the tinkering as well.

          6. Estate autions can be a good source for stuff like that as well.

          7. Absolutely. I have picked up some cool stuff from those auctions.

          8. I swear it’s where the successful booths at our local flea market ge thteir product.
             Buy bulk and piece it off. Not that different from any other retail business really

    3. I thought you were going to say ww2 german paraphernalia.
       But worn panties? I did nazi that coming.
       Good job tho.

       1. Ba-dump-bump (crash). Nice one.
          So this guy promises his fiancee that he will buy her a brand-new set of fake tits right after their wedding day. She’s thrilled, being insecure about her breasts. Only a few days after the ceremony, the man makes good on his promise, and he buys his new wife a set of beautiful fake tits, and they are really, really nice – 38 D-cups.
          On a fishing trip with his new wife and another couple on a river outing in Colorado, shortly after his wife gets her new boobs, the husband flips his fishing rod back over his right shoulder to cast his line out into the river, and it hooks his wife’s right boob, most of which is jutting out from her bikini top.
          Not realizing what he’s done, he follows through with his cast, and the hook rips right through her flesh, pulling out the entire saline implant, still attached to the hook. The hook, the line and the fake boob, fly forward in front of him, and the boob falls off of the hook in midair, and drops straight down – plop! – right into the river’s fast-moving current.
          The guy’s best friend, who came along as part of the second couple on the fishing trip, is sitting in a boat with his own wife, downstream from the now-aghast newlyweds. The newlywed wife’s prosthetic tit floats past them, still visible, although it is covered by about two feet of rapidly moving water.
          “Oh my gosh, what’s that?” the man’s wife asks her husband in an astonished voice, pointing, as the breast implant floats by.
          “That’s the Sank Titty of Marriage,” her husband replies.

          1. Wah wah waaaaaah

       2. Yeah, that was just an example. Powerful guys want the weirdest things. I’ve actually had to go to Germany once because a client wanted to buy some hair from a girl, and I had to go there to be there when she cut the hair. But also regular shit, like pretending to be a pizza boy and also bring some green to his office, for example.

       3. Here
          http://tapnewswire.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/TruthWW2JewsMeme-1.jpg

14. This might sound really simple and the work might be a little dirty, this one is for the blue collar guys, just start a business and start flyering for it…..it’s really simple. Painter decorating, guttering, roofing, gardening, cleaning…whatever.
    My first summer job when i was a young lad(not that long ago) was cash in hand working for a guy who delivered leaflets to houses for his cleaning and other business. Walking 6-7 hours a day delivering leaflets. This might work better in the UK for instance where you could service say, large sections of the wealthy south east with nothing but a van….The point is this guy was getting more business than he could handle and the work he was doing was really simple stuff, cleaning gutters while his wife cleaned carpets etc
    Eventually his flyering business took off too by sheer coincidence of his own work, he now has contracts with some of the biggest companies in the UK delivering flyers for them. You might have to do the leafletting yourself for a while but things will take off. Once things take off, Pick up 5-10 fit healthy kids every morning, pay them £25-£35 a day or 150 a week and there you go. As long as the kids deliver the leaflets you’ll always get business.
    You’d probably need partners and split work between leafleting and the service, but this guy spends all week leafleting and only works weekend actually providing the service, been doing it 25 years and he is making bank, doing oddjobs for wealthy retirees, baby boomers etc.

    1. I know a Purdue engineer grad that is now a roofing co manager. Way more money in roofing

15. You might not know this, but there’s a huge worldwide market for women who love phone sex. I used to get paid to provide regular phone sex for a couple of women, one in the USA, and one in Australia. That was back when I first discovered chat rooms. One thing led to another after chatting them up. I started talking to them on the phone eventually. And they liked what I did for them on the phone. So I boldly told one of them one day, that I would no longer talk to her unless she paid me. She wired me $300 by Western Union the next day. It’s limitless. Seriously. And sometimes it’s the craziest-sounding thing…

    1. Crazy stuff!

       1. Yeah it really is. Crazy. I just thought I’d hard-sell her, to see what would happen. She coughed up the cash. So I pushed another one and she started paying me, too. I wouldn’t get myself off, just the women. Women are crazy-horny, speaking of crazy. A guy could make millions just feeding their fantasies (“I wanna be a reality TV star!”, or “I wanna pretend I’m walking down an alley and you force me to cum!”, etc., women are twisted and you can make lots and lots of money off of this fact alone). I wish I had a thousand lives, so I could give my best at a thousand different ideas. (And no, one of them would not be the phone sex thing, but you know what I mean here…)

          1. You obviously must give very good phone!

          2. Well, I believe you do have thousands of lives. 🙂
             This reminds me of two chicks from some Facebook group I chatted up and I ended up sexting with them for a while. One of them I told to finger herself on a bus etc.

          3. I believe the same thing. (Thousands of lives.) We have no time, and yet we have an eternity. Suddenly I am compelled to watch an old rerun of “Kung Fu”. Chicks will do anything if they think nobody will find out. There is solid-gold bank in that knowledge…

          4. I don’t know about that, but women have weird kinks and if somehow you fulfill those, it’s a trip to the bank for sure.

          5. They will do anything if they think nobody will find out – and then they will go and tell somebody about it anyway. ha.

          6. blog? link? Details posted somewhere? This is hilarious as it is unsurprising….

          7. Phone so good, must work for AT&T!

    2. LOL and the money probably comes courtesy of her beta cuck husband. Meanwhile he’s beating off to free online porn 😉

       1. Probably so. Sex, sex, sex…

       2. Hey at least he’s efficent!

       3. They have free porn on the Internet? No way…

    3. Well done.
       What you described ties into a project of mine in the pipeline. I would love to get a chance to interview you and learn from your experience.

       1. Fire away right here in the comments section…glad to do it.

    4. Is this viable in today’s times?

    5. @Bob Smith, I’d like to get some more advice from you, maybe via email. Or perhaps here…whatever works. [email protected]

16. It’s true that the ingredients for the sandwich might cost $1.5, but don’t forget your labour or overheads!

17. Really the only viable one is bar tender.

    1. Plan accordingly, and you can make the food thing work. Sometimes it’s more cost-effective to be using a cart, as opposed to a restaurant.

       1. Problem with food cart is that there are expenses and construction involved with actually building the cart or van. Got to take into account a built in stove, gasing, sink with running water etc.

    2. Sure, if you have two tits and a pussy – or if you happen to know a chum who owns a bar and would not mind hiring you. In the US at least, bartending jobs are difficult to get, especially in profitable establishments.

       1. I don’t disagree. But from the list given in this article, that’s really the only one I see as viable.

18. Bob, so to be clear you have done all of these listed in the article? I’m not clear.

    1. All but No. 9 (food service)…

19. I started a 3D comics website. Double my income in the past 6 months with yearly and monthly subscribers. It’s fun too.

    1. Porn right ?

       1. There’s’ a demand so I supply the content!

          1. I thought so. That’s one of the areas that pays these days.
             Reminds me of Breeding Season being the second best selling thing on Kickstarter.
             If I had any drawing skills I might have gotten into the business.
             What’s your blog if it’s not a secret ?

          2. Redrobot3D.com

20. This article is total shit. A 12 year old kid surfing the net and copying/pasting from Wikipedia could do a better job. He might as well have included male prostitution on the list.
    This critique is coming from someone who has started two businesses without any money. One has given me a modest living the other is in the process of making me rich

    1. So where’s your article then?

       1. Great question.
          I’ve been working on a series of articles on just this topic for the last few weeks. It will be tailored for guys who want to take the leap into self employment but lack the $ and/or confidence to. The need for a practical “how to guide” is there and its time the need is met.
          It will be practical – easy to apply – advice based upon decades of experience. Much of what I learned was through the school of hard knocks and without any mentors.
          The series will be posted to my blog

          1. I’ve been working on a series of articles on just this topic for the last few weeks. It will be tailored to (not “for”) guys who want to take the leap into self-employment (hyphenated) but lack the $ and/or confidence to do it (cleaned up sentence by adding “do it”). The need for a practical “how to guide” is there and it’s (contraction, “it is”, not “its”) time the need is met.
             (No charge for the editorial work…)

          2. Nice comeback . Your editorial skills are clearly better than mine. Now put the same energy into giving your readers content with more depth. The sort of depth you show in your comments.
             Life hack articles are endemic on the internet.

21. Look forward for the opportunities, not in the present. An edge is all you need.

22. I don’t want to burst the bubble, but number 4 left out a huge obstacle – acting unions. Without a SAG membership you’ll be getting “extra” work, at the most, roles which do shit-all for your career. And don’t bother lying on your credits – just do whatever comes your way, paid or not, to build something. By the time you (ever) get a gig worth lying about, there will be no need to lie about it – just audition and see what happens.

    1. There are two types of work in film and television – union and non-union. Ironically, unless you are a “star”, the best-paying gigs are non-union, flat-rate jobs. (Based on your talent, not your connections.) Our personal experience is based on our own personal field of vision. Like most men, it appears that you might believe your own field of vision defines the limits of the world. But unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), it doesn’t. Personal experience is just one piece in a giant jigsaw puzzle. Put all the pieces together, and you get the big picture…focus on just one piece to the exclusion of the rest, and you’ll live inside the self-imposed parameters of that box forever.

23. A little overview, in terms of my “just go for it” recommendations regarding acting –
    I am currently SAG-eligible. I bagged a national TV commercial for Southwest Airlines, and made about $12,000 on that one gig, while becoming SAG-eligible in the process (the casting call for that commercial, was for non-actors only – so I lied, since I was a non-union actor and didn’t have a SAG card, and I went on the audition anyway).
    I haven’t acted since that time (about 20 years ago), because I couldn’t stand working with directors, who were long on authoritarianism and short on talent. Over a period of three and a half years, I appeared in over 60 TV commercials, probably half that number of infomercials and industrial films, had a featured role in an independent feature film playing a federal agent (a really bad comedy but the role was significant), and I did probably 100 radio and/or TV voiceover commercials. All without having a single shred of experience, except for appearing on the game show, “Wheel of Fortune”, as a contestant. All without taking a single acting class.
    Having not worked in 20 years, I could be wrong about this, as things may have changed. But I believe union work is still a major Catch-22. Once you get your card, you can’t go back. Most actors long to appear in episodic television shows on the big TV networks, and do major Hollywood films. So they long to get that SAG card. And then, if they actually get it, they are frozen out of doing non-union work forever. And non-union work offers some of the best work you can possibly get, in terms of offering juicy roles and really good-paying jobs with no ceiling in terms of pay.
    So from that point on, most of the SAG-AFTRA (this is what it’s called now; it used to be SAG and AFTRA, two different union components, but now, with the consolidation of power that you see going on everywhere else, it’s become SAG-AFTRA) actors just sit there on their thumbs, because the game is rigged for the juicy parts, and they are not part of that rigged game, and they are doomed to pick up occasional, crappy, bit parts for table-scrap pay, all while paying those annual union dues.
    I never wanted a SAG card, as most Hollywood films and union TV productions suck major ass (as most of you know), and I never had any desire to participate in mainstream SJW films and TV shows. In addition, I fully realized the ceiling was limited in the union gigs; in non-union gigs, you get roles based on your talent, primarily, and the pay is much better if you have an agent who is worth a damn (it’s a supply and demand thing), but in the union, it’s blue-blood connections first (rigged roles for marginally talented “stars”), and everybody else gets the scraps. I’m not bitter about that, that’s just how it is. Which means you have to evolve if you want to showcase your abilities…
    Currently, I am in the final stages of producing my first independent film. I am producing short films, to begin with. Then I’ll produce my first full-length feature. All of my friends and family members tell me that I can’t do it. Why? Because it takes years of experience, they say – you have to go to school, etc. They told me the same thing about acting. And about web development. And about videography. And about everything else I’ve eventually done with no experience, solely through my own intent and will. Fuck your friends and family, they are not you, and they want to hold you back so they’ll feel better about their miserable lives. You can do it if you think you can do it. So just jump in and do it.
    When they see you on TV, or they see you successfully doing exactly what you set out to do in business, let them eat that shit…but don’t ever tell them what you are trying to do, if it is a really big dream and something that they have dreamed of doing themselves, because they will try to drag you down, and hold you back, and destroy your confidence…and ironically, once you accomplish it, they will display volcanic envy and talk about you behind your back and try to reduce what you have accomplished.
    (Very much like the posters at online comment boards, such as this one, who question your claims and bash you out of projected hostility regarding their own perceived shortcomings – wink. Human nature. It’s not what you think it is, that’s for sure. More animal than human…and it’s an animalistic response to the Univeral Law of the Jungle which proclaims that the alpha dogs will indeed fuckin’ eat, while the betas back away from the bowl, yapping, whimpering and backbiting all the way, in an impotent rage – while the big dogs have their fill of the very best of everything, most especially the best jobs, the highest pay, and every single scrap of the top-flite, five-star pussy.)
    This is just a fact of life however, and you should learn from my experience here, and take it to heart. Unfortunately, it’s one of those red-pill truths that you will automatically believe is wholly inaccurate (just like I did, when I first started actualizing my own dreams), so you will have to learn it for yourselves.
    Whatever you do, once you set your target, take dead aim and give it your absolute best, to the exclusion of every other thought and impulse, and you will not fail.
    Single-mindedness is the wellspring of total freedom of mind, body and spirit. And absolutely nothing can stand in its way – nothing. (Only you can do that, meaning stand in its way.)

    1. Great advice. I have a somewhat similar story.
       Recently I got offered a job as a model scout. I decided to look up some advice. And it’s funny because the internet lists things like find the right agency, learn about the industry, etc. The way I got the job is an acquaintance who worked there said I would be perfect for approaching random girls since I already got a reputation for being a player. And it really is the same to a degree , see a model type girl (it turned out they have very specific preferences), tell her a compliment, offer to be a model. It’s funny how doing approach anxiety drills and learning PUA opened new job opportunities.
       Just yesterday I met a cool dude who worked as a mime and said I could work too if I wanted. He said I don’t really need much experience since I’ll learn it on the go. He said he was an actor but this was a side gig for him.
       I also remember being offered by a girl who was into me to work in a club. She also worked there as a light technician, despite having no credentials.
       So without any kind of prerequisite skills or credentials I got a job as a model scout and was offered to become a mime and work in a club. And yet if I tell anyone they don’t believe me. They say you need acting school credentials to become a mime, LOL.
       Most people are still stuck in the “you need credentials” paradigm and don’t realize there are opportunities laying everywhere.
       I had a friend who did web design since he was 14 and earned around 100-150 dollars a week. He had a hot girlfriend and could afford his own vacations at 16. Needless to say he didn’t wait for stupid credentials.
       Ignore all the critics who talk crap about the article. There is a goldmine of opportunities laying around. With the right mindset you can get almost anywhere without any credentials. When there is a will there is a way.
       It’s so amazing to see guys talk shit about the article when that is exactly how some people I know make money : web design, photography, etc. The haters are delirious. They think the article is dogshit because it is basic. But reality is just as basic.

       1. Absolutely. And good for you. They talk shit because they don’t want you to be able to do the sorts of things that you are already doing. They want to eat at the five-star pussy bowl, too. But that isn’t going to happen, unless they get with the program. Because all of the women who pack five-star pussy, although they might indeed spread their legs for lesser guys, well, they won’t want them long-term. And they won’t want them long-term because they don’t have the confidence, and most importantly – the balls. They don’t take risks. The guy who takes risks and achieves succcess, over and over, is unbeatable in the eyes of the most-desirable women. They look at a guy like that as a five-star supply of top-shelf breeding material. The most-desirable women want the biggest risk-takers who achieve success at anything they target. Intent and the sheer force of one’s will, that’s what matters here, from the male perspective. Once you learn to channel that and laser-beam it on ANY desire you may have, and you successfully satisfy those desires, over and over, you will develop an inner feeling of power that will start growing. And anybody can achieve this state of being. That’s the funny thing. Most guys just don’t realize that they can do this…it’s their divine right, written in fine print on the contract of life, but written there all the same. Go for it.

24. Regarding Acting:
    Acting is reading lines exactly the way that you would say them if you were in the character’s shoes, and nothing more.
    Not quite. Not just reading them, but moving like them, behaving like them. Most people who haven’t looked at body language analysis have little awareness of how much mannerism sell the man.
    I suggest anybody and everybody try this one, no matter what their age and no matter what their look or body type. It all boils down to being yourself, despite what you might think. And there is high demand for actors in films (both commercial and industrial, especially the latter) of all ages, and all body types, and all looks.
    Agreed – again, while a lot of the big names are “hot”, a fair number get by on force of personality (Danny DeVito?) and there is a lot of room for sidekick / secondary character / character actor parts that fit a number of “looks”
    Breakdowns will be very specific in the look they want (height, build, skin color, attitude)
    Getting an agent is easy. You can either compile a resume of fake acting credits, which about half of all actors do, or play it straight and admit you have no experience (prepare for a long wait for that first job if you play it on the level—hint, hint); then go and get a headshot photo taken or take one by yourself, and have about a hundred 8″ x 10″ black-and-white prints made up.
    Get good headshots, in good lighting, with a good camera.
    THAT said, as later mentioned, avoid the scam artists.
    As to credits – be damned careful. Outside of LA and NY a lot of the successful “regional” talent agents try to take on only the more “reliable” actors with some form of history. Since IMDB / etc. make it so easy to spot check credits, many of them do. And they talk to each other. Unless you’re in a BIG town, don’t deep-six your rep as a liar with a niche agency.
    Also be aware that while some states don’t require SAG membership – and having a speaking role is often enough to become SAG-elegible (you can luck into one by doing “extras” work dirt cheap, and I’ve known personally cases where an extra got pulled to speak a line…) – you WILL want to make sure your agent / etc. are legit in checking potential work for having all their paperwork / accounting in order. (Ongoing shows will usually keep an ongoing acocunting/etc. team, but every movie starts from scratch)
    An agent is nothing more than a pimp who gets around 10% of your eventual action, for sending your resume and head shot out to casting directors. They could care less who you are, or what you are, and they will submit your credentials to every project in town that needs an actor fitting your description.
    Legitimate agents will not ask you for money. If you encounter an agent who charges an up-front fee, walk away—it’s a scam.
    Agents will take a cut, but good agents will negotiate travel and other arrangements, will make sure you get paid promptly, will make sure you get residuals where applciable, will also – out of self interest – put you in front of various casting directors, etc. so that you can make a good impression. Remember – you may be good – but just might not QUITE fit how a role is envisioned, but I know people who were asked for by name after having tried out for several other roles. If you get a “regular” role showing up in multiple episodes, or a major role in an episode requiring more than one day of work, and can do so consistently, it benefits the agent too – so the good ones will help guide your work.
    Meet them in person – get a feel for their integrity and self- discipline. There are a lot of slimeballs out there.
    Practice reading lines at home. And use that HD video camera I suggested you get in No. 3 above, to record yourself while you practice. Then, just go out on auditions whenever your agent lines one up for you, maintain your frame, and get the job.
    Practice, practice, practice. Set up the camera about head height (a cheap $50 tripod can do that). Analize your behavior and body language – see if it fits the nature of teh character you are reading.
    If you’re self – filming for submissions get some damn lights: like a few multi – light stands. Having a LOT of light, and not all from one or two sources (a few floor lights can replicate a basic three-source setup) improves the video quality immensely and cuts down on hard contrasts and shadows. Solid colors are better than patterns. Get a good reader – a guy who can read naturally – to handle other lines in the middle of a scene being filmed for submission.

    1. All excellent points. In a 1700-word article, you can’t put everything into it, that you’d like to put into it. So I’m glad to see this comment. Everything the man says here is true…
       Anybody can be an actor. It’s simply being yourself. People think it’s being someone else, but it isn’t.
       You’ll likely get the job if you are convincing and compelling – it’s solely based on what the role calls for…if the role calls for a timid, insecure, unsure person, well, if that’s what you are, you just might get some of those roles – if you play it convincingly and compellingly. Same for playing a strong-willed, unstoppable force. Or a cunning, lying asswit.
       There’s a part out there for everybody…even brainwashed, left-leaning, die-hard liberals (lots of those are available, oh yes – wink).
       Also, something I left out due to publishing constraints: print work (modeling).
       This sphere of work is not exclusively comprised of women who are 5′-9″ and who weigh 120 pounds. There are lots of print work jobs available, in every major city. You can play the grandpa, the fat father, the in-shape alpha dog – whatever the gig calls for…in which case, prepare to basically stand around, while you are positioned on a set, as they get the lighting right (“Hurry up and wait.”). Sure beats working at Wendy’s…
       So if you get an agent, and you’re hungry for all types of work, tell them you also want to be available for print work, too. It can pay really well, and basically, you stand around, waiting, and then do what you’re told – smile, laugh, hold a slice of pizza, whatever…you will need to get a model’s composite card together, in order to do this, in most cases. This is a collage-type photo of different shots of yourself, doing different sorts of things. See below, for a glimpse of what a model’s composite (or composite card) looks like.
       https://lukehahle.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/41-luke1.jpg

    2. Sounds like being an agent as a parttime sounds better

       1. No. Doing agent right is ridiculous hours calling all sorts of people, and getting calls at ridiculous hours. And a lot of paperwork and legal liability. And potentially years of residual payment handling.
          As an actor you can certainly get calls at strange hours to submit a read, and need to be ready to travel on short notice, but a lot less obligation and liability

25. I’m dubious that you will make any significant money doing most of these things. Maybe as a side thing to make some additional income.
    In my opinion, your best bet is to develop some solid skills in whatever you are interested in, work for a company for a few years, to learn the ropes and make some good contacts, and then, when you are ready, strike out on your own.

26. importation/exportation is also another good idea; I started buying stuff at Black Friday sales and then reselling at the normal price here in Mexico, i get about 25% to 35% of utility and the plus of giving better prices than other venues and a more specialized niche

    1. That’s really awesome…and good for you. Man, there are so many ways to go here. I thought of another wide-open line of work which nearly anybody can do, although many people are often afraid of getting their hands dirty – a janitorial service. An ex-girlfriend of mine has this type of business. Most people turn their noses up at it, but she bangs down like $40 an hour. No boss. Goes in at night after the places close down. I helped her do her gigs sometimes, when we lived together. I like that work because it clears your head, and it’s good, honest work. Pays well, too. She works like 30 hours a week, makes about 60K per year. She started it by doing mail-outs, in her hometown. She landed about six really solid accounts, eventually, including an Enterprise car rental office. One of her gigs, it paid like $120 per session, one session per week. The office was the size of a motel room. She’d finish it up in about 30 minutes. (Not a bad rate of return there…)

    2. Good idea

27. I can’t tell if this article was a troll or not. Get into acting? Stand up comedy? These things are notoriously hard to get into, with people slaving away for years trying to “make it” while holding down whatever crappy part time job they could find. Why not just throw in becoming a rock star or an astronaut on here too?

    1. Flip houses ffs…

28. Gigolo

    1. Old gay men your main customer

29. Great article.

30. This writer’s “tips” on “TV and Film Acting” are so fucking off-base that it’s hard for me to take anything else he writes seriously.
    As a side gig to pick up extra cash it’s fine to do background and extra work on a TV show or movie. You do NOT need an agent to do this work.
    If you live in a small market city, then maybe this advice is applicable. But if you’re in a major market city, such as New York or LA, then disregard every fucking thing this guy wrote.
    If you want to do commercials in a major market, you NEED an agent to submit you for them; in a smaller market, you need to know the people that are casting/holding auditions, get a decent headshot with a cover letter, and send it to them.
    If you want to do TV and Film work that pays decently, you NEED to have an agent or a manager to submit you for quality projects, unless you are friends with some major casting directors, and I doubt many readers of ROK are. Even for day-player and small co-star roles, you need reps to get you into the room.
    And once you get in the room you need to be able to deliver the goods. And then deliver them on set under pressure. Some people can skate by on quirk and charm, but they rarely last long in this business.
    It is NOT “EASY” to get a fucking agent or manager. I have both, and they are excellent, and despite my obvious talent, training, and commercial appeal, it took several years to land the team that I have now.
    It is NOT a myth that acting is a competitive industry, it is a stone cold FACT.
    You should NOT lie on your resume, the circle of working professionals is far too small and incestuous, and you WILL be found out.
    I could go on–there is some value in this article, but this section on “TV & Film Acting” is almost total bullshit, and makes it seem like you can just roll out of bed and say “I’m an actor”.

Comments are closed.