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How to Make Money With Newspaper Deliveries
Making extra money on a newspaper delivery route takes only a few hours a day, but it requires discipline, dependability and punctuality. This 365-day-a-year job is best for an early riser. Most newspapers in the United States now publish in the morning and rely on adults with vehicles to get the news to subscribers in time for that first cup of coffee.
Check the classified ads of your local newspaper for open delivery routes, or call and inquire about delivery route availability.
Accept a newspaper delivery route that you can complete every day in the time frame that the newspaper requires. Most newspapers require early morning delivery, seven days a week. Figure commuting time into your calculations.
Examine the customer list that the newspaper company prints out. Compare their addresses to detailed maps of the area and plan the most efficient route.
Check with the newspaper how you will get your bundles of papers each day. You may need to pick them up at a distribution center, or a driver may deliver them to you.
Practice preparing your customers’ papers for delivery. Some companies expect carriers to fold, roll or rubber-band each paper. Others ask carriers to slip each paper into a plastic sleeve.
Set your alarm clock and perform the job reliably. The newspaper will hear about it if your customers don’t get their papers on time each day.
Consider adding another route or hiring subcontractors for you to supervise on additional routes to increase your earnings and tips.
Tip
Tips increase the earning potential of a newspaper delivery job tremendously. Be dependable and always have a smile and people will show their appreciation, particularly around the Christmas holidays. Most newspaper companies today handle subscriptions and payment collection. A few still have their carriers collect payment from customers. Take great care with your bookkeeping if this is part of your job.
Warning
Make sure you understand every aspect of your contract with the newspaper company. As an independent contractor, you will need to pay taxes on the money you earn. Fuel costs can eat into your profits, so be sure to accept a route that you can perform efficiently.
References
- “The Start Your Own Business Bible”; Richard J. Wallace; 2011
Tips
- If there aren't any open newspaper delivery routes, don't give up. Keep looking in the classified ads and calling your local newspaper for openings.
- Tips are HUGE when you have a newspaper delivery job. Be on time, dependable and always have a smile and people will show their appreciation. Christmas time is especially a good time for tips.
- Some paper companies send payment reminders out themselves. Others have you do it. There are pros and cons to both sides, it is really a matter of preference, control, and amount of time you have to do the bookkeeping.
Warnings
- Make sure you understand every aspect of the contract between you and the paper company.
- You will be a sub contractor, so you will need to pay taxes on the money you earn.
- Remember that for most newspapers this is a 365 day a year job.
Writer
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