A Guide to Using Your Camera for Extra Money

One of the easiest ways of making extra money is with a camera. More people own cameras than radios, and photography is the fastest growing hobby in the world. Yet using a camera as an extra income tool is largely overlooked!

With a little imagination, a flair for showmanship, and just a hint of salesmanship, the average man or woman, or even teenager, can easily make an extra $300 a week with his camera.

You don't have to have one of the popular, more expensive cameras either, or a loot of high priced attachments and equipment. In many instances, a Polaroid or other "off-the-wall" camera will suit the purposes perfectly. The only special piece of extra equipment you may want to invest in would be a tripod for mounting the camera in certain situations.

One of the easiest ideas is to visit a children's clothing store in one of your busy shopping centers, or the children's department in one of your large department stores. Sell the manager or store owner on the idea of your setting up in a corner of the store or department, and taking pictures of the shoppers' children. He can promote the fact that you'll be in the store taking pictures for special prices during certain hours - perhaps on Friday evenings and all day Saturdays - in his advertising, thus drawing patrons into his store because of you.

You'll need a sheet or a plain piece of material, or some sort of imaginative set for a background. But this you can easily make or build yourself. You should also have an eye-catching poster that calls attention to what you're doing and the prices you're charging. Unless you're a commercial artist, spend the money to have this sign made for you by a professional. The next and last thing you'll need will be a 2-part receipt or coupon.

This can be a simple piece of paper about 2" wide by 5" long, on the left side draw lines for your customers to fill in their name, telephone number and address. You might also want to include space for additional information such as the child's name and age and the number of children in the family, for future efforts, but keep it brief and simple.

On the right hand side of this coupon, have your business name, address and telephone number, plus a quick outline of the different kinds of photography work you handle, and perhaps a business slogan such as "Satisfaction Guaranteed or You Don't Pay."

To add a little bit of class to this coupon, take the basic outline of this idea over to an instant print shop. Tell them what you want; show them your outline; and have them typeset everything. Then put a fancy border around the whole coup on and have it printed on coloured paper. The best colour of paper is a "dollar bill" shade of green. If you want to give it even more class, you could have it printed on green, lightweight card stock. You'll want to divide the "information" side of this coupon from the "business card" side with a dotted line and perforations.

If you layout this coupon properly. You should be able to get six of them on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper or card stock. This means the printer can print and cut 6,000 of them for about the same cost as printing 1,000 circulars or flyers.

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