Making Your Mailing Address Pay

How to turn your mailing address into a pot of

gold? As you know, the services offered by a

mailing address basically consist of receiving

mail on your behalf and then either forwarding it

to you (in a new envelope) somewhere else or

keeping it for your personal pick-up. However,

many mailing address companies offer more than

this basic service. Many of which may be used to

increase your earning power by saving you time

and trouble.

Most also offer to receive faxes and phone

messages for you, either on their own phone

numbers or on a line installed specially for your

use. In the case of the latter you will have to

pay the phone installation and service charges

but it may be worth it depending on your

situation. Many services also accept that their

address is used when incorporating a company,

with the mail drop acting as "registered office".

In some jurisdictions this may require various

forms to be filled out with proof of the identity

of corporate directors and officers.

You should understand that people operating your

mail drop are in it only for the money, which is

the way it should be. It is to the best interests

of the operator of the mail drop that clients are

kept happy and their demands and wishes are

catered for. Many mail drops actively encourage

their clients to use them not only for mail, fax

and phone message reception but also for

secretarial services such as typing, translation,

incorporating companies and even errands. You

should, of course, be prepared to pay the

standard hourly fee for any services you require

that are above and beyond the basic services for

which you have contracted. It may be a bargain.

You should never be afraid to ask the mail drop

to get you information about services you may

need, to buy products for you, or do small

errands as long as you are prepared to pay for

their time. If you make it very clear and plain

that you are willing to pay for it and that you

are not just trying to obtain a "freebie service"

or a "friendly favour" then you may easily talk

your mail drop operator into doing research work

for you or to ship out your products or

information brochures. If you are looking for a

product you cannot obtain in your own country,

ask your foreign mail drop to get it for you.

Needless to say, you should make sure that there

are sufficient funds in your account to cover the

costs of such services. Simply stick a banknote

of the proper denomination in a letter and send

it to your mail drop, thanking them in advance

for their services.

Do not expect to get credit from your mail drop.

It is customary that all fees are paid in

advance. It works to prevent apprehension about

you skipping out on a large bill - something that

will certainly make the forwarding of your mail

grind to a sudden halt.

Remailing: a service that is in great demand by

people not wishing to give away in which country

they actually live is remailing. Remailing means

that you address letters, then stuff them in a

large envelope and send it to the operator of

your mail drop with instructions that the letters

be stamped locally and mailed from the area where

the mail drop is located, rather than from the

area in which you live. In this fashion, the

letters are stamped and postmarked in the city,

country, continent, in which you wish the letters

to "originate". Say that you have decided to move

to southern Spain but do not wish to be bothered

by annoying relatives or creditors. You establish

a mail drop in London from whence your mail is

discreetly forwarded to Spain. But since you may

still need to write to people, it would be a

give-away if all letters from you arrive bearing

Spanish stamps and postmarks. In this case, you

would simply send all your outgoing

correspondence to London with the instructions

that the letters be stamped and stuffed into any

London post box. Now, those on the receiving end

will take one look at the envelope and think that

he or she really is in London.

We know of one service in Singapore which will do

remailing for anyone, even non-clients. This

service does not ask any questions or keep any

files. Need a letter mailed from Singapore? He

will send your 10 gram or less letter airmail to

anywhere in the world. Just put your letter in a

sealed, addressed envelope, put the letter into

another envelope with US 3 dollars cash or

equivalent in any currency or by money order to:

E.W. Special Services, P.O. Box 1341, Raffles

City, Singapore 9117.

Other privacy considerations: do not shoot

yourself in the foot. If you fear that the taxman

is about to get up close any day now, do not

reach for the phone in your home or office to

contact your mail drop. If you are facing a

personal bankruptcy and want to make use of the

services of a mail drop for mail that you do not

wish to pass through the hands of the receiver,

remember that your phone records may be

subpoenaed later. This may give away the fact

that you have acted to receive certain mail in a

"clandestine way".

Finally, large international hotels will

generally receive and hold mail marked "please

hold for arriving guest" if you notify the hotel

ahead of time. This method is only viable for a

very limited amount at each hotel. The safest

form of security is no mail, no messages, no

communication. If someone is seriously out to

kill you or jail you the only 100% secure way is:

break all ties with your past, especially

relatives and friends; discontinue all activities

you were identified with; use only public phones.