Making Money with a Newspaper Clipping Service

Making money with a newspaper clipping service may seem to be a strange way to make extra money, but it can and is being done, and starting your own clipping service to make that extra money is easier than you think.

All it takes is a few hours a day, a few supplies, a little patience and you're in business. To help you start this business, I'm going to give you a few tips on where to begin, and the list of supplies you will need. The hours and patients will have to come from you.

Newspaper clipping is nothing new. It's been around for years now, but as long as the newspapers and magazines continue to report news and information on businesses, organizations and individuals , there will be a need to provide this service.

Some people do this as a full-time job, but how far you take this will depend solely on you. Making extra money doing this part-time is easy, but making a full-time income from a clipping service will take a lot of time and effort.

I've listed step by step instructions on the supplies you will need, the type of news clippings to look for, and how to look for buyers.

What Type Of Articles To Look For

The news clippings you want to focus on are the ones that have any exciting or unusual news about businesses, organizations and individuals. The news could be about awards received or given, notable achievements, acts of heroism, contracts received, good deeds done in the community, advertising, promotion of product lines from competitors, birth announcements, wedding and engagement announcements and even deaths.

You can also check out articles about sports figures, locally and nationally. Any news clipping you can find on a popular sports figure would be of interest to him or her. They also have a desire to know what the newspapers and magazines are saying about them.

Well, they all have an interest in knowing what is being printed about them. The businesses and organizations are particularly interested in their "public image," and so do the sports figures, so any articles featuring the items mentioned above are candidates for clipping.

Don't forget articles about retail stores, whose competitors are interested in what they are promoting, selling or where they are building expansions. Individuals who are having babies, getting married or getting divorced are also good candidates, and unfortunately, the same goes for deaths.

Supplies You Will Need For Your Newspaper Clipping Service

• Scissors
• Clear Plastic Sheets (To hold your articles)
• Filing Box (Large enough to hold your articles)
• Envelopes
• Book of Stamps
• Printer Paper
• Laminating Machine (Optional)
• Laminating Pouches (Optional)
• Lots of Local and National Newspapers and Magazines

How To Contact Companies And Individuals About News Clippings

When you have compiled quite a few clippings and have them all organized in your filing box, now is the time to start making money with your newspaper clipping service.

For any local companies and organizations, you can find their addresses in the local directory or on line. Individual addresses for anyone getting married, divorced, having babies or deaths can be found on line, at your local court house, listed under public records. If you want to contact a company on a national level, you should be able to find them on line.

All you have to do is write them a letter (envelopes, stamps, printer paper), and explain that you have news clippings about their company, or wedding, or what ever the occasion might be, and ask them if they are interested in purchasing them. Let them know how many clippings you have, and what each clipping is about.

If you want to, you can even send them a copy of one of the clippings. This way they get to see what they will be receiving. This is also why I suggested a laminating machine. Instead of sending them a copy of the clipping inside one of the clear plastic page holders, you can laminate the copy and make it look more professional. The same would go for any wedding announcements and obituaries.

When you send your letter, also quote the price you are asking for each article. If you have different size articles, charge according to size... with the larger clippings costing more. I'll leave the pricing to you.

But I will tell you that when my mother died, I received a beautiful laminated obituary of her death, that had been copied onto a sheet of pink printer paper the size of your remote control, and decorated with a picture of a cross and lilies at the top. This person was asking $5 dollars for each, and I ordered five.

What Not To Do In Your Newspaper Clipping Service

Be very careful about the news clippings you clip from newspapers and magazines, especially magazines. You don't want to clip anything that is copyrighted, and a lot of the magazine articles are copyrighted. However, you can still find some that aren't, so don't despair.

The same goes for newspapers. Don't clip anything with UP/AP or other codes (United Press or Associated Press). Also be aware that all syndicated features and cartoons are copyrighted. Don't even bother clipping these, because no one will purchase clippings if you have stolen someone's copyright.