Hobbies

Creative Ways To Make Money

I collect examples of creative ways to make money for my websites, and I recently found a fun one in a great little story I read. It was written by a man who had certain survival talents and decided to demonstrate them by being dumped in the middle of a large city with no money. By that evening he had a nice hotel room and some money in his pocket. Some of the things he did deserve the warning, “Don't try this at home,” but they are good examples of the possible anyhow.

As I recall (I may get a few details wrong), he first went to the drive-through windows of a few fast food restaurants to collect the change that inevitably drops on the ground as it is passed from cars to cashiers. Once he had a dollar put together he went to a store and exchanged it for four quarters. These he used to buy a newspaper from a coin-operated paper box, but he actually took all sixteen papers from it. He claims to have repaid the newspaper company in full after this experiment.

He sold the sixteen papers at full retail on the street, for a total of sixteen dollars. With that he went to a bar he already had in mind and ordered the cheapest beer. After talking to the bartender for a while he made what is commonly called a “bar bet” with him for the next beer. I don't recall the trick, but there are many you can learn from books that cover these things. I can make a nickel go through a hole in a piece of paper the size of a dime, for example, without tearing the paper. Then there are the usual card tricks that can be learned with a bit of practice.

In any case, he won his next beer and then got a few of the other people in the bar interested in his tricks. He made a ten dollar bet or two, which he naturally won. As the evening progressed he found other “targets” who were willing to bet more. By that night he had enough to pay for a nice hotel and still had $5 or so in his pocket.

More Creative Ways To Make Money

You may have heard about the man who turned a paper clip into a house a few years ago. It was a large colorful paper clip, and he traded it for an antique door knob, and that for something else, and so on, doing a little better on each trade. Within about a year or so he had traded up to a house. That was his goal, and he meant it as his home, but he certainly could sell it, making this a very creative way to make money. Here are a few more.

A friend of mine cut cows out of plywood, painted them and sold them in his front yard.

I was having trouble selling an ebook so I gave it away by email a chapter at a time, making money off the ads on the website pages where the chapters were hosted, quadrupling the income from the book.

Today I read about a pet detective that uses trained tracking hounds to locate lost pets.

We met a man in Boulder Colorado who juggled burning bowling pins and other things while riding a unicycle. He then took up a collection from the audience, which looked to be about $50 after his twenty-minute show.

I recently read about people who are getting old clothing from thrift stores for a dollar or so per item and selling them on Ebay for ten to forty times that. The key is that they use dyes, sequins and more to “dress them up” into something interesting to wear.

A brother of a friend discovered that he can sell old books by adding his own commentary or other content and converting them into Kindle downloads. He chooses books that no longer have a copyright, and sells them cheap (he gets a share of each sale). Kindle is an ebook reader created by Amazon, and anyone can become an author or publisher for free.

There are dozens more creative ways to make money that I could list off the top of my head. Then there are all the ones I haven't heard of yet. Why not pick one out or invent your own and start having fun making money?

Copyright Steve Gillman. Learn more Creative Ways To Make Money, and get the free Unusual Ways (To Make And Save Money) Newsletter, plus e-courses and ebooks, at: http://www.UnusualWaysToMakeMoney.com

Travelling abroad to take photographs? Prepare well with these travel tips.

Planning a photography trip overseas? travelling abroad to take photographs can lead to problems and mistakes. Here are some travel tips to help with the preparation.

Do plenty of research. Masses can be found on the internet and then there are good maps and books in the shops. travel magazines can also be useful.
Read about the country, the area and cities you are visiting.
Find a decent guide book which suits your style and approach and take it with you.
If you are in a major city, visit the country's tourist board and see what travel tips they have to offer.

Decide how you want to approach the area. Going to a completely new place, there can be so much of interest it's easy to snap away at everything. On my first visit to India, I decided to concentrate on transport and people at work " that gave me plenty for one trip.

Follow subjects you are interested in. Photographing subjects that matter to you can lead to more interesting images. Hobbies such as architecture, trains, embroidery, flowers, birds can all be found in foreign places.
Going for subjects you like rather than the obvious tourist stuff can be more successful and they might still sell well.

Check out the health risk of a country and region. Foreign Office web sites will have details about security levels in a country and what injections and pills are required or recommended.

Successful travel photography is really a solo business. It's virtually impossible if the partner or family is with you. They won't want to hang around while you wait for 4 hours to the light to change or go back to the same location several times until that surroundings are right.
The trip needs to be either for a holiday or for work.

Good planning of places to go means you can start as soon as you get there and you are less likely to be overwhelmed by the new surroundings. Make a checklist of places which are a definite must.

Learn some foreign phrases. The locals will love you for it and be more co-operative. It's also less lonely.
To be a serious travel photographer in certain areas, you must know at least some of the language. If you want to get involved with the distant tribes living an isolated existence in the mountains of Siberia and you don't speak Russian, then forget it " stick to the more usual places.

travelling around in a car or camper van might have its conveniences but you will be cut off from the people and their way of life. Using public transport and staying in guest houses will bring you in touch with local people and other travellers. Meeting people this way is more interesting, will provide good tips and information and will generate better images.

Trim your camera equipment to essentials. Carrying several cameras and a mass of lenses is too much hard work and attracts a lot of attention. In theory, one camera and 2 or 3 lenses should be enough, but to avoid too much risk a second camera body will usually be the choice for most people. For anyone still using film, cameras can be loaded with different film speeds.

Try to have all your equipment as hand luggage; it's less likely to get stolen or damaged in transit.

Electronic cameras can still be unreliable in very extreme conditions and for anyone spending 2 months in the Canadian ice-lands, digital cameras which need recharging every few days, can be a problem. An old-fashioned mechanical film camera can be a life-saver.

Other essentials can be a mini tripod or monopod, spare batteries, polarizing filters, plenty of memory cards and a compass. With computers, it's no longer worth taking any filters other than a polarizer.
Some travellers like to take a mini hard drive to back up all their images.

For those who still prefer film for harsh difficult conditions, take much more than you are likely to need. That's an individual choice and can depend on how one is travelling and how much weight can be coped with; for example, those on animal safari will require long lenses.

Check all equipment thoroughly and clean digital sensors before you go. This might be impossible once you are on location.

Take small plastic bags which can be sealed to put gear into to protect from dust and water. Have small bags of silica gel in the plastics bags to absorb moisture.

Have a list of all the equipment with descriptions and serial numbers with your name and address and take it with you. If the equipment was recently purchased, taking copies of receipts should convince customs that import duty is not due.

Non-photographic needs can include medical plasters, multi-tool pocket knife, universal sink stopper, sewing kit, string for a clothesline, LED headlight torch (flashlight).

Some locations might require special permission for access " a good guide book should point this out. Permissions can often be obtained in advance from embassies or consulates.

In some countries it can be illegal to photograph places like bridges, airports, large satellite dishes, certain buildings and flags. It can be worth checking this with the embassy or tourist office beforehand.

Make a list of everything you need for a trip, clothes as well as gear, and keep it for future trips, adding new items as they are needed. This will save time on later occasions.

Duncan Wherrett is an experienced professional photographer and Photoshop instructor.
Great information and masses of tips on Photography and Photoshop via: —->
Photoshop In A Day

How to Find Vintage Travel Posters Online – 100% Authentic and Original

Youve seen them on television, on some popular TV show perhaps. Youve seen them on movies too. You may have noticed a few hanging from the walls of a swanky office or a sleek restaurant. Or probably, youve found yourself admiring one of them in your neighbors home, adorning his living room wall. If youre wondering what Ive been talking about so far, well, its Vintage travel Posters.

But hey, dont let the fact that they are vintage fool you into believing that they may not be suitable for a modern home or office. Just look around. Vintage posters are all the rage these days. If you are serious about adding a real blast-from-the-past to your dcor, vintage travel posters are an excellent choice.

Vintage posters need not be limited to travel themes only. At least 50 years old and having originated mostly in Europe, these posters can relate to a host of other themes and areas such as foods, liquors, entertainment, war and military, sports and more. What makes them both an advertising curiosity and a bona fide work of art in their own right is the fact that most of these vintage posters were commissioned by various advertisers from yesteryears, using the best commercial artists of the day. It is interesting to note that some of the best known names in fine arts started out as poster artists. Of them, the most notable mention would be Henri de Toulouse – Lautrec.

Vintage travel Posters are a great addition to any room. If you have a corner of a room or a piece of wall that wish to enliven, consider adding a bright vintage travel poster. British, French or German posters advertising rail, air and sea travel networks can be so much fun. The unmistakable and the inimitable vintage quality of these posters will add a distinctive style and edge to any existing dcor.

The popularity of vintage posters has grown enormously in the past 10 years. Fortunately, there are quite a few very good places to buy them from, mostly on the Internet. Just make sure that you are buying the authentic stuff from a reputable dealer.

Poster Group has everything you need to know about Vintage Poster and every poster to buy that you can think of. You can also directly check out all other Poster Online by clicking www.postergroup.com.

Sports on PC – Never Miss, Leave Home Without, Or Pay To Watch Any Sporting Event Again!

If you are a sports enthusiast like me, the Internet should be part of your sport channel/video arsenal. The up coming NFL season is near and missing a popular game could be something you will regret later. Therefore, to ensure that nothing ever goes wrong, you should have the capability to watch sports on your PC also. It makes a great safety-net that ensures never missing any sporting event Worldwide.

Granted the Internet delivers unlimited streaming TV channels, radio stations and videos to a computer. But there are 1000s of Worldwide sport channels and videos that can be accessed with a stroke of a key. If you ever get caught somewhere without access to a television, your sports on PC center will ultimately save the day.

Best Place To Go To For Travel – Things To Do

Finding fun things to do in your local area has always been difficult. Best2Go2 takes the pain away from doing that and takes everything a website should be and incorporates it into an easy to use and fun way to find what to do in your local area. Normally, websites strive to be as complicated and convoluted possible in order to trick the user into thinking it's worthwhile. Other sites are very barebones and not very fun to look at. Best2Go2 finds the right balance between beauty and functionality to get the job done without being an eye sore to look at.