HOW TO MAKE BIG MONEY WITH YOUR OWN
NEWSPAPER CLIPPING SERVICE
This is a very lucrative business, and it's growing in demand
and popularity. There are thousands of people in all parts of the
world who are making hundreds of dollars each week, just reading
and clipping news items in the privacy of their own homes! The press-clipping business is very much misunderstood by most
people, and therefore there are a lot of people who are very
skeptical about it as a way for ordinary people to make extra
money at home. If you explain to friends or neighbors that you
operate a press clipping business, most of them will think you
pore through the obituaries, funeral notices, and wedding
announcements. Clipping these out and sending them to the people
or relatives of the people being written about. In reality, this is but a very small part of the home-based
newspaper clipping service. The really successful press clipping
services have contracts with companies and organizations that want
to keep current on any number of matter reported in the papers. Some companies hire clipping services in order to keep track
of what their competitors are doing. Other companies, including
businesses of all kinds, use clipping services as a means of
locating sales leads and new customers. National magazines and
newspapers are always in need of different or interesting
material, and frequently employ home-based clipping services. To set yourself up in this kind of business, you'll need only
a pair of scissors and as many different newspapers and magazines
as you can subscribe to. A visit to your local library should be
most informative relative to newspapers and magazines available to
subscribers. You should also visit your local wholesale paper house, or
make a deal with your local stationery store to buy labels at a
discount price. You'll want to attach these labels to the top of
each clipping you send to your clients. On these labels, you'll
want to print the name of the publication the clipping came from,
and the date it appeared, as well as your own name and address. The next step is simply to start clipping articles that
mention or talk about specific companies or people. File your
clippings in envelopes or boxes according to industries or types
of businesses, by company name, and according to the names of the
people mentioned. Once you have ten or more clippings that talk about a
particular company or person, put them in an envelope and send
them to that company's owner or public relations director. You
should include a short note with the clippings, explaining your
service and your fee. You should try to get your clients to agree to pay you a
monthly "reader's fee," for which you agree to look for anything
in the newspaper about him or his company or industry. Every time
you spot such an article, you of course clip it and send it to
him. A minimum monthly "reader's fee" is usually about $25, but
it can vary according to the number of publications you read, and
the number of clipping found. Generally, a clipping service that scans statewide
publications will charge about $50 per client, or $100 per client
for those wanting clippings from national publications. These
fees, of course, are monthly fees, and you can easily see how you
could make some very good money with just 20 to 25 clients. To promote and build your business, you can scan your local
business services directory and send out a solicitation letter to
each of those listed. A couple of days after you've posted your
sales letter, you should follow up with a phone call. A short, to-the-point ad under "Business Personals" in your
daily newspaper will also bring in new clients for you. And as
soon as you can afford it, go with at least a small display ad in
the yellow pages of your telephone directory. You should definitely contact the public relations firms,
advertising agencies, and civic organizations in your area.
Explain your services and ask them if they have any special
clients or needs you can help them with. You'll find many of your
local political and "cause" groups very interested in receiving
clippings about their opponents. Clipping services in one form or another have been around
since the advent of the printing press, as stated earlier,
they're becoming more in demand. It's definitely the kind of
business anyone who knows how to read can set up and operate
with an absolute minimum investment