How to Turn Your Backyard Photos Into Cash
Issue #2681
- WEALTHY: The upside of investing in AIG (Steve McDonald)
- HEALTHY: How your body predicts heart failure (Jonny Bowden)
- WISE: Shelly Perry on making money while traveling
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- Which photo do you like best? (Lori Allen)
- Why love is all you need (Howie Jacobson)
- Add “depredation” to your vocabulary
== Highly Recommended ==
This Is the Kind of Technical Know-How You Need to Succeed
Can you log on to your Internet connection?
Do you know how to use a web browser and send e-mail?
If so, you have more than enough technical knowledge to build your own working website and create the foundation for a business that throws off a solid, safe, and steady long-term income stream.
And you can do it in just 5 days. Find out how right here.
How Much Risk Are You Willing to Take?
Making money by investing requires backbone. We call it risk taking. If you are willing to take on an acceptable level of risk, you can usually make money.
Today, I want to tell you about a company – International Investing – that will require a little risk taking but can give you a return well above the long-term stock market average of 10 percent a year – 34 percent a year, in fact. And you can do it in a bond not a stock. That means you will know exactly what you will make, to the penny, before you invest.
The company was formed when a group of very savvy bankers got together and found a way to make money on airliners: Boeing 777s, Airbuses, etc. They buy the planes from the manufacturers, and then lease them to airlines all over the world.
The bankers make their money on the spread between what it costs them to buy the planes and what the airlines pay to lease them. These are very long leases and have been very profitable for the bankers.
Here comes the risk part: International Investing is owned by AIG.
Before you decide this isn’t for you…
This is the only profitable division of AIG, and lots of people want to buy it. (There was recently a five billion dollar buyout offer.) And I’ve got an interesting strategy that you might want to consider.
International Investing is issuing a very short maturity bond (cusip 45974va73) that will give a great current yield for a few years (8.51 percent) and a very nice capital gain (54.8 percent).
The short maturity (less than four years) limits our market risk. The bond also carries an investment grade rating of BBB+, which gives us a lot of credit quality to bank on.
Yeah, but… what if AIG goes under? As I said, there are lots of people who want this company. If anything, I believe AIG will milk it for a big sale price or continue to run it for the revenues. It’s a cash flow cow.
[Ed. Note: Steve McDonald is a bond specialist and investment analyst with Investor's Daily Edge, ETR's sister publication.
The IDE team - along with some of the other top names in the industry - will be in Miami next week, outlining their killer recession-proof investment strategies. Will you be there?]
“When you travel, you can have fun, take lots of pictures, and make some extra money to boot.”
Shelly Perry
How to Turn Your Backyard Photos Into Cash
By Lori Allen
Question: What do you think would be more saleable – a picture of the Eiffel Tower or a photo of a kid in a sweatshirt?
Answer: For professional stock photographer Shelly Perry, the answer is the picture of the kid in the sweatshirt.
Right now, that is her number one selling photo, with more than 1,000 sales. Meanwhile, a photo of the Eiffel Tower, taken on her last trip to Paris, has only 147 sales:
So what does that tell you?
If you can learn a few simple secrets about taking the kinds of photos editors and photo buyers are looking for, you don’t have to travel very far to make money with your camera. Pictures taken in your own backyard, from your kitchen table, even photos of people you know can sell for super-fast cash.
Here are a few things you can photograph around your home to sell through online agencies like istockphoto.com:
Friends and Family
Shelly’s best-selling shots are photos of people. But she almost never pays for a model. The majority of her photos are of her friends and family.
In the stock photo world, people sell – people doing ordinary things like laughing, hugging, and shaking hands. And they don’t have to be great looking people, either. All shapes, colors, and ages can make a good stock photo.
Note: You’ll need to provide a signed model release for every identifiable person in your photos. Even if that person is a close family member.
Everyday Objects
A box of crayons, a light bulb, a pair of reading glasses sitting on a laptop, a pile of coins, a theater curtain… all of these are images that Shelly sells.
Take a look at the things around you and think: Could a graphic designer use a photo of this? Could a copywriter use this to illustrate a point? If so, you may have the makings of a good stock photo. Just make sure you don’t take photos of anything with a brand name or logo on it, though. That will disqualify the photo for stock.
Holiday Decorations
Stock photo sites are in need of holiday-themed photos. So get out your camera when you’re decorating the Christmas tree, flying a flag at a 4th of July picnic, or carving the Thanksgiving turkey. Think candies and long-stemmed roses on Valentine’s Day… Champagne on New Year’s Eve… colorful eggs, green grass, and bunnies on Easter… even colorful party hats, a birthday cake, and party favors.
Food and Beverages
If you happen to be handy in the kitchen (or you know someone who is), and you can take sharp photos of well-lit food, you’ll have no trouble selling those images. The food photos that sell best are those taken with selective focus. What that means is that the most important part of the photo is in sharp focus (say, that juicy prawn on a fork) and the rest is blurred out artistically. (It’s an easy technique to master. It just takes some practice.)
Taking photos of these and other subjects is a great opportunity to make some extra money. Magazines, newspapers, and stock agencies are always looking for photos to illustrate their articles and/or fill their portfolios.
So grab your camera and start snapping pictures today!
[Ed Note: The rules for taking good, high-selling stock photos are pretty simple. And they're easy to learn. You can find out more here. ETRbizopp Sign up for AWAI Travel's free e-letter, The Right Way to Travel, to get more photo - and travel - tips.
Don't forget to take your camera with you to Denver this July. The striking scenery will give you plenty of photo ops. Plus, you can capture images of yourself building a fully functioning Internet business from scratch. Get the details here.]
The Anti-“Fix and Flip” Foreclosure Profits System
Thousands of entrepreneurs are buying and trying to “flip” foreclosures these days.
But one man has made $3.2 million in foreclosures by refusing to jump on the “fix and flip” bandwagon. He has learned to approach the market in a whole new way.
Go against the “crowd” with him, and learn how you could make thousands a week on “autopilot” with virtually zero risk… a few hundred in start up capital… all while working from home for just an hour day on your home computer.
Are You in Love with Your Market?
If you really want to run a successful online business, you have two choices. You can be truly, madly, deeply in love with your market, or you can fake it.
I’m not here to lecture you about business ethics, so all I’ll say here is this: It’s a heck of a lot harder to fake it.
If you’re in love with your market, you’ll pay close attention to what your prospects want. What they say. How they act on your site. You’ll track them as they encounter your various ads, sign up or not for your free reports or e-courses, and convert or not to paying clients and customers.
“Market research” changes from tedious chore to pleasurable obsession. Split-testing goes from technical gymnastics to fascinating questions and answers. “Customer service” goes from necessary evil to delightful opportunity.
The secret of staying on top of all this data is to combine the passion of a young lover with the analytical bent of an accountant. And there’s no better medium to start combining those two mindsets than AdWords, with its:
• virtually instant data, simple testing, and clear reporting
• short, haiku-like advertisements
[Ed. Note: Learn even more marketing and Google AdWords secrets from pay-per-click pro Howie Jacobson at his site, www.askhowie.com.
Pay-per-click is just one element of a successful Internet business. Learn them all with the Internet Money Club: Independent Learner Edition.]
Why Swimsuit Season Isn’t the Only Reason to Reduce Your Waist Size
By Jonny Bowden
The main reason people over 65 wind up in the hospital is heart failure. And the very best predictor of whether or not you’re likely to get heart failure might surprise you.
It’s waist size.
A new study published in the journal Circulation tracked data from two Swedish population-based studies. Together, the studies included 80,000 men and women, aged 45-83. All participants filled in questionnaires about their height, weight, waist size, and other vital statistics. Researchers then followed the subjects for seven years.
The researchers found – not surprisingly – that overweight was linked to a risk for heart failure. But they also found that even within the normal weight range (with a body mass index, or BMI, of 25 or less), those who had an extra 10 cm (about 4 inches) on their waist had about a 15 percent higher risk. This went up to 18 percent for those who were heavier (with a BMI of 30 or more).
Nutritionists and smart doctors have long known that a 35-inch waist for women and a 40-inch waist for men represent danger points for insulin resistance. And insulin resistance is the cornerstone of Metabolic Syndrome, also known as pre-diabetes, which significantly increases the risk for heart disease.
If your waist is over 35 inches (for women) or 40 inches (for men), it’s time to start doing something about it. I’ve found that a low-carb diet is one of the most effective ways to combat belly fat and reduce the size of your waist.
[Ed. Note: In addition to eating a low-carb diet, you'll want to engage in regular exercise to help burn fat. For dozens of easy-to-follow exercises you can do at home, plus the latest breakthroughs in the health industry, sign up for ETR's free natural health newsletter right here.
For more advice about staying fit and healthy, check out health expert Jonny Bowden's site, JonnyBowden.com.]
It’s Good to Know: Birth Control for Men
A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism details a new birth control method for men: a monthly shot of testosterone… in the rear end. The dose lowers sperm count enough to prevent pregnancy, with a failure rate of about 1.1 percent (similar to condoms).
There are still some bugs to be worked out. For 5 percent of the 1,000 test subjects, the shots didn’t work at all. A few of the men developed severe rashes and acne. And the sperm counts of two men never recovered to pre-test levels.
(Source: Popular Science)
== Highly Recommended ==
How You Could Make a ZERO-DOWNSIDE $3,120 a Month
What if I told you that your escape to early retirement lies inside a plain white envelope?
Open the envelope, and you’ll discover one simple sentence that could help you make a fast and easy few grand a month.
Listen, American workers are having to put their retirement dreams on hold. HR and compensation consultancy Towers Perrin found that a whopping 59% of workers polled are planning to postpone their retirement.
With the economy on shaky ground, that could be you.
So why not say “YES!” to an extra $3,120 a month?
I know it sounds unbelievable. But you owe it to yourself and your financial future to find out more right here.
Word to the Wise: Depredation
“Depredation” (dep-rih-DAY-shun) – from the Latin for “to pillage” – is the act of preying upon, plundering, or despoiling.
Example (as used by Andrew Powell in Harper’s Bazaar): “For the moment, Kioni remains a precious fragment of the old Mediterranean, the one that existed before the depredations of pollution and crass, exploitative development.”
[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... increase your attractiveness to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR's new Words to the Wise CD Library.]
Copyright ETR, LLC, 2009
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