Читать книгу One Thousand Ways to Make a Living; or, An Encyclopædia of Plans to Make Money онлайн

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Supplying reliable lists of names to magazine advertisers and others would not at first be regarded as a very profitable business, but here is the experience of an Illinois man who made it pay well:

Studying the advertisements in the magazines, he thought of how much these advertisers could save if they were only brought into direct contact with the class of people each one was trying to reach at so great an outlay as magazine space involves.

He thought of a way in which it could be done. He had learned that he could buy the 400-page edition of Webster’s dictionary for 11 cents each with postage of 4 cents each, or a total of 15 cents, in quantities. Then he inserted, through an agency, an ad. in all the country papers for quite a distance around, offering to send a handsome dictionary free in return for a little information which anyone could easily give.

The answers came so fast that he was obliged to send mimeographed letters to those who replied, in which he asked for the names and addresses of all those in the community who were suffering from rheumatism, deafness, or any chronic ailment; also the names of property owners, horse and cattle owners, people with lawns, fruit trees, porches; the names of mothers, prospective mothers, newly married couples, etc., and stated if the information so given proved authentic, he would later arrange to pay them on a cash basis for other names, though the dictionary would be sent for the first lists.