A job is a good staple, but it's hardly the end of the pursuit regarding making money, in my opinion. At least for me, my goal is to eventually move beyond the need for a job, but I'm sort of in a catch-22 unless I somehow learn how to stomach eating garbage and sleeping under bridges.
So I was thinking of using my free time to figure out more ways to make money besides as an employee. I was thinking of it like Craps. In Craps, you throw down investments and hope they hit enough times to make some cash before the table craps out. This thread is meant as a brainstorm for various ways to supplement one's income which may or may not prove lucrative but serve as an investment because you never know which will hit.
So for me, I want to compile a poetry zine and CD and sell it for a couple bucks. I also want to compile a stand-up comedy routine and sell that CD at various stand-up clubs and open mics I can find. This lead me to the idea that I should start producing more music and work toward completing an album. One man, 3 types of CDs. At first none would make me any money, I'd probably give most of them away and if I sell them I'd sell them for barely anything above the price to produce them but it also allows me to do something I enjoy with 3 separate investments all simultaneously waiting the possibility of blossoming.
I was also thinking, they have a Psychic Fair in my town once a month, and practically every reader there does Tarot Cards. I want to study the I-Ching and start giving I-Ching readings. I don't actually believe there's anything paranormal taking place, but I believe in the psychological effect of giving people very vague, archetypal descriptions then simply reading them to fill in the rest. I've actually been fairly good at giving psychic readings to my friends for my ability to read them. The best part is you can blame your answers on your psychic abilities rather than your judgmental attitude.
And they also do a farmer's market on Saturdays. I was thinking that if I figured out what plants were being sold enough there I could start growing whatever was missing and reserve myself a little niche there.
I like these sorts of ideas because they allow me to think about making more money right now. Writing a novel, developing a video-game and the like are extremely ambitious projects that could take years before I see a dime, if I'm lucky enough. While I'd like to continue these projects, I'd like to do so while also focused on the near-future because I believe if my entrepreneurial skills get rewarded more often, I'll retain the creative drive needed to work on bigger projects.
So anyone got any other suggestions? Online? Offline? Share your ideas!
