Saturday, June 16, 2012

101 Weird Ways to Make Money by Steve Gillman

101 Weird Ways to Make Money by Steve Gillman.  Hoboken NJ: Wiley, 2011.  261 pps. inc. index.  paperback.


101 Weird Ways to Make Money was fun and entertaining and thought-provoking all in one breath.  Lately, I have been questioning the validity of some of my beliefs.  In the statements "I cannot/don't want to do the work involved in keeping my car clean" and "My brain injury has increased my disorganization and distractibility to the point of not being able to keep an orderly house" and "I've 'never' been able to parlay my talents and experience into a highly paying career and so forget about it now"-- I am now striving to replace the "I can't" and "I've never" with the words "Why not?"  At the core of my non-achievements is a central laziness.  At the center of my laziness is the erroneous belief that I've missed my chances in life.  Taking the thought that I've missed so many opportunities to its' nauseating end I find a lack of confidence and self-worth.


The fun and entertaining part of the equation lay in how the chapters of 101 Weird Ways to Make Money were named.  Chapter 73 is titled, "I See Dead People Profits: Estate Goods."  Chapter 92 yields "Playing with Plastic People: Mannequin Business."  Every chapter title is followed by a humorous subtitle which explains the information to be found in that chapter.  Each chapter is divided into four easy-to-read sections.  The first section gives a brief overview of the job itself.  The second section talks about salary.  The third sections gives hints on how one can get into the job.  The final section lists several resources available should the reader opt to do more research.


The chapters are groups into twelve parts.  Thus, if a reader is a seller, she may head directly to Part Ten, "Buying and Selling Things."  If he as the attention to detail necessary to cleaning up, he may opt for a look through Part Eleven, "Cleaning Jobs and Businesses."


Steve Gillman recounts in his intro his qualifications for writing this book.  He shares a long list of unusual jobs he himself has held, along with the success of his many websites which he uses to generate streams of income from a variety of audiences and sources.


sapphoq reviews says: I liked this book.  It was written in an appealing style.  By the end of the book, I had picked out several unusual job possibilities.  And I also started the arduous process of cleaning out my car. Two months later, my car is still clean!


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