What it Takes to Make Money

Posted by: Phineas Upham

We’ve all been caught in a money-making scheme at one time or another. That “friend,” who invited you to coffee to talk about an important business opportunity was really there to get you to join his pyramid scheme. Of course, the idea, product, or business doesn’t come across as a scheme at first, which is why it is so attractive to the consumer. In his article “Money-Making Schemes,” Ben Greenman shows just how easy it is to get caught up in the details of a business plan even though the idea might be an obvious attempt to make money.

He uses the unconventional format of the magazine article to propose two business ideas or money-making schemes. The first one seems interesting and useful at first; in fact, it almost doesn’t seem like a scheme at all: an online database that collects ideas for conceptual art shows. Artists can peruse the ideas and purchase or license the ones they want to use. While it might seem practical at first, reading the details of the plan reveals just how silly his idea is.

His second business plan is even more absurd than the first. He creates a religion that requires the converter to promise to change their name before they die. Of course there is a fee to join this religion, which covers the cost of the name change and making all the arrangements.

Read entire article: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/project-one-life-begins-at-conceptual-art