The Public Domain and How It Helps You Make Money From Specific Dates

Look in any magazine, vintage or modern,  and you’ll find a common theme running throughout: anniversaries and seasonal material.  In fact, the need for such contributions is so great that many writers earn their entire income writing about things that happened 100 years ago, people (living and dead) who are celebrating an important milestone (birthdays, deaths, marriages, etc.) and other pieces relating to regular events, like Christmas, Bonfire Night, Easter, and so on.  

In fact, Christmas, Halloween, Mother’s Day and Easter are just a few of the many festivals and celebrations that can be relied on to provide a constant source of inspiration for writers of all interests and abilities.    For items in the public domain you don’t even have to change the wording, you can recreate text ‘as is’ without changing a word except perhaps to update archaic language.  These ideas will help you get started:

#  Produce a range of birthday cards including information of interest to anyone born on that date or during a certain month or year or sharing a particular star sign.  The more specific, the higher the price and the more carefully targeted your marketing must be. 

#  Locate, package and sell newspapers printed on the recipients’ date of birth.  These can be originals or reproductions, where appropriate, and your customers must know whether yours are genuine or copies.  For this business you’ll need good storage facilities, even if you offer reproductions. 

#  Produce a scroll, wallchart or certificate for people born on a particular day, date, month, year or under the same star sign.  The product can contain all kinds of information, including lucky dates, lucky numbers, main events at the time, people sharing the same birthday or star sign, and so on.  One or two firms have already started in this sector, some by franchising the opportunity all over the world.  All you need to franchise your business is a standard package from which all franchisees can work, including blank forms or certificates, computer disk, computer and printer.  A marketing manual is essential for franchisees and it is always best to test the business yourself before franchising it out to others.