This
manual is written during perhaps the worst recession Britain or the
world
has ever known. It contents may lead the
passive reader to believe
this
might be quickly dated text, one which might no longer prove valid
once
the recession of the early 1990s ends.
But it isn't! Recession might
of
course lend itself exceedingly well to the ideas and proposals formulated
in
the text, but the contents will almost certainly apply when periods of
boom
return to the national and personal economy.
There
will, you see, always be scope for businesses designed to improve the
lot
of opportunity seekers, job hunter, would be and established
entrepreneurs
alike. Out text is therefore dedicated
to helping those
millions
of people who intent to survive this and any other recession
Britain
might encounter.
So
exactly what services and product might the reader provide to countless
potential
customers in the business, careers and extra income opportunities
field? We begin with perhaps the greatest moneymaker
of all, namely the
marketing
of information products: newsletters, manuals, books, audio and
video
cassettes, business plans, and many other very lucrative end products.
MARKETING
INFORMATION PRODUCTS
A
great many home publishers, though working in the overall sector of self
improvement,
have proved quick to realise the enormous profits awaiting
those
who branch out into the marketing of information on a wide range of
business
plans and business opportunities, long with the perhaps more
universal
demand for manuals and news letters relating to specific careers
and
jobs opportunities.
Information
might be provided in a variety of ways, including traditional
forms:
manuals and written documents. Advances
in technology provide scope
for
even newly established publishers to produce their information packages
on
audio and video cassettes, thereby allowing a wider potential market to
be
tapped.
Just
a few of the many opportunities open to you in publishing include:
Producing
a range of booklets, audio and video cassettes aimed at specific
careers,
and perhaps concentrating on a particular section of society
For
school and college students you might
therefore
concentrate on specific careers in: the police force, nursing,
journalism,
and many other popular options. For other sections of the
labour
force you might provide information on setting up in business as
an
alternative to working form someone else; produce a range of
information
products relating to homework opportunities, mail order
openings,
and so on. You might alternatively do as
does one current
advertiser
in the national press, and concentrate on topics of interest
to
those recently made redundant, providing a wide range of information
on
alternative jobs and careers, opportunities for self employment,
investment
options, job application and interview techniques, and any
other
subjects which might prove of interest to the reader.
As
an adjunct to their normal publishing venture, many operators provide
an
information update service, usually by means of regular newsletter
distributed
to subscribers. Here we find a large and
growing number of
mail
order bulletins, business and moneymaking news letter, homework
publications,
and updates on job vacancies in other parts of the world.
Products
can be sold by direct mail where they have the relatively
universal
appeal that such as homework and moneymaking opportunities enjoy,
or
else by means of display and classified advertising where a large but
specialised
market exists, as might be the case for newsletters directed
at
those seeking employment abroad. There
are even newsletters and other
publications,
which tough specialising in just one country or region of
the
world, nevertheless find their subscribers' list growing to a degree
which
necessitates them employing extra staff to cope with demand.
Examples
here include specialist information relating to migration to
Canada,
Australia and New Zealand; jobs opportunities in South Africa;
Kibbutz
volunteers placement services, and several similar services.
Amongst
the many newsletters and manuals currently available from
publishers
today we find: Jobs Overseas; Overseas
Employment Directory;
Live
and Work Abroad (including a very wide selection of specific venues);
Jobs
at Sea; The Homework and Home Business Opportunities Directory;
Entrepreneurs'
Newsletter; Jobs on Oil Rigs; The Home Business Digest and
Jobs
on Cruise Yachts.
A
novel interpretation of an opportunities information service, currently
operating
to very profitable effect in the United States, is that which
finds
the operator collating cuttings and advertisements from a wide
variety
of sources, which are then matched against customers' personal
details,
ready for inclusion in the personalised opportunities package
sent
to each customer. Subscription costs are
relatively high, but
because
customers know they will receive only hand selected opportunities,
many
continue to subscribe year after year.
Produce
and market a range of newsletter or bulletins on job hunting and
interview
techniques, to which range a self assessment careers analysis
bulletins
might also be included. Anyone with managerial experience,
especially
in personnel selection and staff management, might well find
an
ideal opening here for their skills.
Those
operating in this field might also consider providing a curriculum
vitae
service, perhaps also including assistance in completing application
forms,
writing letters of application, and so on.
Research
and write up on openings in: music, the stage, show business,
modelling,
and so on. Other specialised information
products for those
contemplating
a more down to earth career might include market trading,
freelance
writing, mail order and home based business opportunities.
Newsletters,
update bulletins, correspondence and home study courses,
all
do remarkably well for publishers in this field of information
marketing.
A
SELECTION OF TOPICS FOR YOUR OWN INFORMATION PRODUCTS
How
and Where to Raise Capital
How
to Break into Television
How
to Break into Radio
Earn
your Living as a Freelance Writer
How
to Sell Used Books
How
to Become a Stockbroker
How
to Start an Advertising Agency
How
to Become a Bookkeeper
How
to Get the Job You Really Want
Open
your Own Shop
How
to Sell More
How
to Start Your Own Newsletter
Start
Your Own Mail Order Company
Write
and Sell Correspondence Courses
How
to Write Greetings Card Verses
Which
Franchise For You?
How
to Write Classified Advertisements
A
Fortune from Classified Ads
How
Mail Order Millions are Made
The
Secrets of Import Export Riches
Cash
in on Car Security
How
to Get Free Business Benefits
USEFUL
PLACEMENTS IN WHICH TO ADVERTISE YOUR MANUALS
AND
INFORMATION PRODUCTS
Exchange
and Mart, Link House, 25 West Street, Poole, Dorset,BH15 1LL
The
Opportunist, 24 Tranmere Crescent, Heysham, Morecambe,Lancs., LA3 2BD
It's
In The Post, 1 Middlefield Road, Rotherham, South Yorks,S60 3JH
Karael
International, Karael House, 76 Gover Street, StAustell, Cornwall,
PL25
5NG
Guide
to Business Opportunities (GTBO), P O Box 88,Broadstairs, Kent,
CT10
1UB
Business
Head Start, 6 May Court, Nottingham, NG5 2BG
Homeworkers
Post, P O Box 99, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 1YY
Stamped
and Addressed, 33 Kennistoun House, Leighton Road,London, NW5 2UT
The
Business Venture, 7 South King Street, Blackpool, Lancs.,
FY4
4LS
Daltons
Weekly, CI Tower, St. Georges Square, New Malden,Surrey, KT3 4JA
The
Trader, 13 Wine Office Court, Fleet Street, London, EC4A
Loot,
24-32 Kilburn High Road, London, NW6 5UJ
Trading
Place, Maze Media Ltd., 89 East Hill, Colchester,Essex, CO1 2QN
How
to Grow Rich, Merlin Publications Ltd., 95 Ditchling Road,Brighton,
EN1
4SE
The
Millionaire Magazine, 62 Hollyfield, Harlow, Essex, CM194NA
Money
Pages, 131 Hurst Street, Oxford, OX4 1HE
The
New Entrepreneur, Imprint Publishing, Sylvan House,Dundreggan,
Glenmoriston,
Inverness, IV3 6YJ
Out
In Front, 20 Baneberry Drive, Featherstone, Wolverhampton,WV10 7TR
Money
Matters, Avalian, High Hesleden, Hartlepool, Cleveland,TS27 4PZ
A
SELECTION OF USEFUL ADDRESSES OR THE PUBLISHER
The
Direct Selling Association, 44 Russell Square, London,WC1B 4JB.
This
organisation can provide information relating to suitable
opportunities
for direct selling specialists.
The
British List Brokers Association, Springfield House, Princes Street,
Bedminster,
Bristol, BS3 4EF
The
Direct Mail Producers Association, 34 Grand Avenue, London, N10 3PB
The
British Direct Marketing Association, 1 New Oxford Street, London,
WC1A
1NQ
Association
of Mail Order Publishers, 1 New Burlington Street, London,
W1X
1FD
BUSINESS
PLANS AND OPPORTUNITIES
One
of the largest markets of all operating primarily in the mail order
market
a very handsome living indeed can be earned by those marketing
popular
business plans and information products.
That lucrative income
to
the mail order operator though, compares as nothing to that which
might
be earned by the originator and writer of the plan or manual
concerned.
Okay,
so there are countless business manuals available today, surely
very
few of which can bring unlimited wealth to their authors and
publishers,
the reason usually being that they are nothing more than
rehashes
or updates, even copies, of something already available from
some
other publisher in this country, or in some other part of the world.
The
way to wealth in this section of the mail order market is not
therefore
one of carbon copying an already popular product, but rather
producing
something unique which is then marketed with gusto.
'Unique',
in this respect, has several interpretations. You might in fact
have
written a variation on a relatively well worn theme, but with a
carefully
selected title your offering might stand alone, even enjoy
unprecedented
success in the publishing field.
Successful
plans and opportunities can take shape as varied as the topics
they
cover, ranging from single volumes with exciting promise filled titles,
to
those highly popular instalment plans that attract a sizable monthly
income
for their author and promoter, and on to the equally prolific spate
of
correspondence and home study courses now proving popular with the
information
buying public.
Amongst
the many excellent titles enjoying well earned popularity in
today's
mail order market we find: The Key to
Success and Wealth;
Armchair
Tycoon; Wealth Creation; Successand Achievement, and several
other
notable contributions. Take a look at those included here, and
though
you might know nothing at all of their contents, chances are you
will
find these titles extremely inviting. I
venture to suggest there
is
ample scope for another product of similar content destined to enjoy
remarkable
success with a suitable and inimitable title to propel it to
the
top.
Amongst
today's more popular single volume business products
CAREER
ANALYSIS AND GUIDANCE
Sad,
but true, is the fact that millions of people will spend the whole
of
their working lives in jobs they hate, doing work they are not
especially
suited to, and missing out on other openings which would have
provided
the challenges and intrinsic rewards they perhaps will never know.
The
reason, usually, is that many people never take the time or opportunity
to
consider other professions, careers or businesses which might have
fulfilled
their expectations. Those who do take time out to consider an
alternative
lifestyle, rarely have access to adequate or sufficient
information
from which to make a reasoned analysis of their suitability
for
the position concerned.
This
is where the career analyst comes in, offering as he does to match
the
individual's personal attributes and qualifications against whatever
qualities
contribute to job satisfaction and success in alternative
methods
of earning one's living. Today's analyst
will almost certainly
use
a computer to aid his research on career opportunities and
requirements,
which are then cross matched for suitability to the
individual
client. A number of good books are
available, of interest to
the
newcomer to career analysis, who might also find his road greatly
eased
by means of custom designed computer software, whether personally
created
or produced by outside computer specialists.
The career
analyst's
services can be offered in person or by mail order.
On
perhaps a less technical note, the analyst might offer to provide a
personal
assessment service carried out on a one-to-one basis between
counsellor
and individual client, with nothing but questions and answers
to
aid the route to selection of suitable employment opportunities. The
counsellor
might elect to offer a general service to guide clients towards
one
or a range of careers; he or she might alternatively specialise in
executive
recruitment; placements for young people, or opportunities for
the
retired, redundant, home-bound, and so on.
An
interesting variation on the career analysts' role is one currently
operating
in Canada, but as yet almost unheard of in any other part of the
world. The frustrated job hunter simply dials the
telephone number
provided,
following which he or she can 'buy' time at a standard rate for
each
half hour's service, during which time he or she has the personal
and
undivided attention of the careers analyst on the other end of the
line.
Problems of later non-payment or cash flow crises are alleviated by
means
of prior debit of fees from one's creditcard, from details provided
at
the outset of the conversation.
Gaining
in popularity in all parts of the world are a number of
self-improvement
sessions held in venues as widely diversified as local
church
halls and up-market hotel conference suites, where for a once-off
payment
ranging from a few pounds to several hundred pounds, the participant
can
listen to a series of lectures on jobs and self-employment
opportunities,
following which he may take part in discussion
groups
and personal interviews with careers analysts and experienced
professionals
in the vocation or business of their choice.
Sometimes
the
'course' requires half a day's attendance; sometimes a full day;
at
other times, course members will be provided with food and
accommodation
for an assessment period lasting anywhere between a
weekend
and a fortnight in duration.
Perhaps
the most important thing to point out at this stage is that,
certainly
where this type of course or programme is concerned, the
organiser
need not himself possess formal qualifications of any type.
Instead
he arranges the course; seeks out suitably qualified analysts,
speakers
and group leaders; advertises for course participants;
collects
thefees; coordinates between member and 'staff';
then
takes avirtual back set as the proceedings get under way.
On
a less personal note, a careers advisory service can take place by mail,
with
aptitude tests and questionnaires used to bridge the gap between
counsellor
and client. You might also consider
answering problem letter
for
a set fee per letter or expected time to answer individual questions.
Career
analysis, along with most of those variations discussed in this
guide,
might be incorporated into one's other operations as publisher,
newsletter
writer, curriculum vitae specialist, or other related
professional
or business operation.
JOB
HUNTING SERVICES
OPERATING
A CV SERVICE
Known
by its longer title curriculum vitae' the term CV cantake on a
very
awe-inspiring role indeed, surprisingly so when one considers that
the
CV actually comprises nothing but a detailed document of biographical
data
of interest to potential employer and sometimes course organisers.
The
application form used extensively in past decades, presented a great
many
problems to employers and prospective employees alike. Primary
amongst
those problems was the fact that the form, being a standard
production
provided to all of sometimes several hundred applicants,
afforded
little or no scope for the inclusion of personal details the
applicant
might have considered highly appropriate to his or her
application
for employment. Those details might well
have proved
sufficient
to sway the job in the individual's favour; the more
experienced
job hunter would therefore add a covering letter or separate
page
outlining those vital missing details.
But for the less astute
applicant,
the chances are the form would be completed and returned
devoid
of those extra snippets which might well have found the hopeful
applicant
receiving an interview, if not obtaining the job itself.
As
unemployment grew and the jobs market became very competitive indeed,
job
hunters could no longer take chances on their applications for
employment. It could in fact be said that job hunting
today has become
an
art form in itself, one for which a band of professional recruitment
and
advisory services have come to offer a wide range of services,
included
amongst them that of producing the curriculum vitae.
The
CV is an open document; one which places no restrictions at all on
what
information is included.
Despite
its importance, the fact remains that almost anyone with a modicum
of
intelligence can produce an acceptable curriculum vitae, and a wealth
of
'How To' books are available on the topic of creating document
entirely
from scratch. What most people lack
however is inclination and
usually,
a typewriter or word processor to create the professional
appearance
required of those document destined to stand out from masses
of
accompanying applications.
To
the rescue comes the CV specialist, operating on a local ornational
basis,
who for set fee will produce the entire
document on the
applicant's
behalf. That fee incidentally,
To
make his service the one those reading his advertisements will respond
to,
one very successful CV specialist invite clients to his home to talk
through
the basics of the document itself, as well as to provide scope
for
interview training sessions and career consultancy services.
One
very enterprising - and superbly successful - operator, holds job
hunting
sessions in halls and up-market hotel complexes throughout Britain,
to
which recruitment specialist, career analysts, career consultants,
and
other speakers are invited to talk to course participants,
before
they then go to discuss the contents of their all-important
curriculum
vitae with the course organiser himself.
Advertisements
for the curriculum vitae service can be placed in a
surprisingly
wide variety of outlets, including: local and national
newspapers;
specialist journals and job hunters ‘magazines; job centres;
colleges;
job clubs; shop windows, post offices; via leaflet distribution,
and
through agents and representatives nationwide.
EMPLOYMENT
AGENCIES
This
surely has to be one of those businesses renowned for surviving the
very
worst of recessions and economic downturns, one which finds many,
many
clients clambering for the job placement service you provide.
A
great many basic forms of employment agency exist, some catering for
jobs
in the locality; some providing access to temporary and seasonal
vacancies;
others offering information and guidance on placements in
other
areas of the country, sometimes extending their services to job
vacancies
existing throughout the world.
An
employment agency can usually quite easily be set up in the
entrepreneur's
home just s easily as in specialised office premises.
Major
problems might however occur with regard to planning permission
where
one's home attracts a large amount of traffic or people, with
obviously
related problems of congestion, invasion of privacy, nuisance
and
noise.
Questions
you must ask before you set out on this course, include:
Is
there a market for the service in your locality? Will you specialise,
for
instance in au pair placements, executive recruitment, secretarial
and
office staff vacancies, temporary placements?
Will you offer a
postal
service alongside a service to clients visiting your premises?
Will
you operate exclusively by mail or by personal liaison with clients?
Will
you offer spin-off services, such as jobs update bulletins, career
analysis,
jobs application and interview guidance, curriculum vitae
services,
and so on? Where and how will you advertise.
Features
of this type of business include the fact that usually it is
the
employer who pays the bill, often as a predetermined percentage of
salary
for the member of staff actually appointed.
In the majority of
cases,
the higher ormore senior the position concerned, the higher will
be
the percentage of salary comprising the introduction fee.
Au
pair agencies have grown rapidly in number since Britain joined the
European
Community, when entrepreneurs realised the enormous potential
of providing
for the mutual needs of young people wishing to improve
their
knowledge of other languages in return for working and living with
a
family in another part of the world, and busy households only too
willing
to provide hands on language 'teaching' to that person willing
to
help with household duties in return for board and lodging and
sometimes
a small amount of pocket money thrown in for good measure.
But
how to bring together those two mutually acquiescent groups in
that
factor which presents great problems to both parties, and
thankfully
also provides great scope for a lucrative business opportunity
for
that person willing to act as coordinator.
Au
pair agencies operate under supervision from the Department of
Employment
in the same way as do other employment agencies involving
direct
contact with staff. Your premises and
services will therefore be
inspected
annually and a licence to operate issued where appropriate.
The
agency normally relies on agents and representatives abroad to contact
prospective
au pairs. Normally the agents will
advertise for interested
individuals
who will then be screened for suitability before being
recommended
to you. In many instances, in return for
mutual services,
au
pair agencies in other countries will carry out
similar service on
your
behalf, recommending likely candidates to you in return for you
providing
suitable British contact for their own au pair service.
Au
pairs, usually, but not always girls, should have good references,
a
clean bill o mental and physical health, and a basic understanding of
the
language and traditions of the country they wish to visit. One of
the
most essential pre-requisites is at least a liking for household
and
child-minding duties, given that in the majority of cases, this is
the
area in which their services will be most required.
Usually
the au pair arranges her (or his) own transport. You arrange
a
suitable placement family, usually providing information and
photographs
of the visitor for family approval. Your
profits come from
the
fee charged to the family for the placement you arrange, and
sometimes
- but not always - you might ask a small fee of the
prospective
au pair. A two-week trial period normally applies, with
replacement
guaranteed where the relationship fails.
Your services
to
families might be advertised in most national newspapers,
particularly
those with a relatively affluent readership. Other
suitable
advertising publications include 'The Lady' and most
up-market
glossy women's and home' lovers magazines.
Amongst
those essential points to consider when contemplating:
. If you need to issue contracts, make sure you
obtain comprehensive
legal
advice when drafting them.
. If you begin an agency which deals with
placing people to work for
others,
obtain a professional indemnity insurance policy as cover against
potential
accidents.
. If you operate under a business name
different to your own, you must
display
the business name on all stationery and al soon a notice visible
to
the public.
. If you invite clients to the premises, you
might find it necessary to
set
two rooms aside exclusively fr business purposes: one to act as a
waiting
room, the other as an interview room.
MISCELLANEOUS
SERVICES
GRAPHOLOGY
Graphology
- the Americans call it 'graphonomy' is the ancient art of
studying
handwriting. Though popular as a
management and staff recruitment
tool
for several decades in the United States, it is only in recent years
that
the 'science' has started gaining respectability in Britain.
The
way in which one forms letters, joins letters, and various other
features
of one's handwriting, will reveal to the trained eye all manner
of
personal characteristics: good, bad and indifferent. The writer's
character
can be revealed from a very small sample of handwriting, giving
access
to individual traits, talents and tendencies, strengths and
weaknesses. How this relates to the jobs market has only
recently become
apparent. A number of companies, including many whose
parent firms are
based
in the United States, now use the services of a good graphologist
to
predict the suitability of job applicants, as well as to indicate the
fitness
of current employees for promotion, further training, career
moves,
and so on.
Courses
and home study manuals are available to teach the art of
handwriting
analysis, most of them advertised in the national press and
various
business and opportunities magazines.
Your services can also be
advertised
in the national press; in the local press; in job hunters
magazines
and bulletins; to employment agencies and recruitment
specialists;
in professional journals, or approach can instead be made by
direct
contact with those responsible for recruitment and staff management.
Try
a mailshot to ll companies in your area, then extend your services to
include
prospective clients throughout the country.
RECOMMENDED
READING
Graphology
Explained by Barry Branston, published by Piatkus
Learn
Graphology by Gabrielle Beauchataud, translated by Alex Tulloch,
and
published by Scriptor Books
Your
Character from Your Handwriting published by Allen And Unwin
The
Hidden Language of your Handwriting by D., L. and J Green, and
published
by Souvenir Press
The
Graphology Workbook by Margaret Gullan-Whur and published by Aquaria
Press
Analysis
of Handwriting by H J Jacoby and published by Allen and Unwin
Graphology
published by Hodder and Stought on Graphology
The
Interpretation of Handwriting by Renna Nezos and published by Century
Hutchinson
Ltd.
Interpreting
Handwriting by Jane Paterson and published by Macmillan
The
Psychology of Handwriting by Robert Saudek and published by Allen
and
Unwin
PSYCHOLOGICAL
TESTING
Not
a world removed from the art of the graphologist, psychological
testing
also serves a very useful purpose in staff recruitment, career
analysis,
and most other decisions concerning career moves, suitability
for
further training, and so on. In many
instances, that person who
offers
his or her services in carrying out and subsequently interpreting
whatever
tests are considered appropriate for whatever reason they are
implemented,
will be a trained psychologist, registered is an approved user
of
such tests. But not always, and there
are many tests which that person
without
a degree in psychology can implement and analyse at the client's
bequest.
Usually you will have to undertake at least a short training
course
and undergo some form of personal assessment before you might be
able
to work at something so potentially 'dangerous’ as psychological
testing,
but even so, whatever hurdles are concerned are very far from
insurmountable.
Contact
local colleges and universities for details
short courses on the
topic.
USEFUL
ADDRESSES AND SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION
Business
in the Community, 227 City Road, London, EC1V 1LX. This
organisation
works in conjunction with Local Enterprise Agencies, and
provides
general advice and help for small businesses, including
franchises. LEAs offer free business advice, information,
counselling,
training
courses,information and advice on property requirements and
computerisation.
Small
Firms Service, Tel: Dial 100 and ask for 'Freefone Enterprise'.
This
is an information and counselling service, provided by the Department
of
Employment through a network of offices.
National
Federation of Self-Employed and Small Businesses, 32St Anne's
Road
West, Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire, FY8 1NY. This is the UK's
largest
organisation for small businesses, acting as a pressure group
with
government, and also offering legal expenses where appropriate,
insurance,
and around the clock legal advisory service.
Council
for Small Industries in Rural Areas (CoSIRA), 141 Castle Street,
Salisbury,
Wilts.
Department
of Industry Small Firms Information Service, Abell House,
John
Islip Street, London, SW1P 4LN
Mail
Order Secretariate, Newspaper Publishers' Association Ltd.,
6
Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AY
USEFUL
READING
Creating
Your Own Work, by Michelle Mason and published by Gresham Books.
Croner's
Reference Book for the Self-Employed and Smaller Businesses,
published
by Croner Publications.
Going
Solo, by Jones and Perry, and published by BBC Publications
Guardian
Guide to Running a Small Business, by Clive Woodcock and
published
by Kogan Page
Markets
Year Book published by World's Fair Ltd
Starting
in Business issued by the Department of Inland Revenue
Working
for Yourself by Godfrey Golzen and published by KoganPage
Working
for Yourself by Parsons and Neustatter and published by Pan
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