Money Making Ideas for Cousin in the Can

Tensegrity

Tensegrity

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Dec 14, 2007
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So my cousin is in federal prison in Bumblefuck, PA since 1 1/2 years ago. I won't go into the details of his case, but he was basically mixed up with some kids when he was younger who did some shit (drug related) and he was found guilty by association. He has another 1 1/2 years to go.

He's a brilliant guy and had turned his life around in the 6 YEARS that his case was in limbo. He started a web design business and was producing some of the best Flash websites on the planet (and no, i'm not saying this cuz we're related)...his shit is that good. People were waiting 4-6 months for his work.

Anyway, if you know anything about prison or have at least seen "Orange is the New Black", you'll know that prisoners have to buy pretty much anything they need; soap, shampoo, drinking cups...etc. We've had some donations come in from his previous clients, friends, family...etc.

A week ago he ran out of money to make calls to his mother, email..etc.

He and I spoke about ideas for him to make some money while in the can, but it's a bit difficult because we can only communicate through a closed-circuit prison email system. He has no internet. So I can either drive 3 1/2 hours to see him in person or talk to him through the prison email system. Yes, i realize this whole thing falls into a grey area, being that he's in the can.

He's a very educated guy, smart, savvy, creative..etc. Just made a dumb mistake when he was young.

Some ideas i've had for him to make a little cash to help pay for things:

  1. Article writing - problem is he doesn't have internet, so research references are slim. Though, I think they have a very limited library.
  2. Writing niche content for a client's site - he's really knowledgeable about gaming, web design, flash animation. Other topics as well...etc.
  3. Writing content for a site I create for him and make money from adsense (I don't have much time for this)
  4. Write a book about prison life and get famous?

Being that we're a bunch of smartass marketers on here, I thought i'd see if you guys have any ideas given the restrictions I've noted above.

I might take a trip out there this weekend, so would be nice to have some ideas lined up. He's a little down and out and I think it would be a nice motivator if I had some ideas for him.
 


the first rule of making money from any demographic is servicing their needs.

what needs can your cousin service of a bunch of burly, under-sexed inmates?
 
Vadym said:
the first rule of making money from any demographic is servicing their needs.

what needs can your cousin service of a bunch of burly, under-sexed inmates?
Click to expand...

Ba dum...oh, sorry all out of "ching".

Considering everyone in the can is also broke, your idea fails the test.

Anyone with mature ideas?
 
Why is that something to consider, while my idea fails? Her idea isn't even applicable, it AUTOMATICALLY fails.

Do you know how many cartons of smokes he could get pimping out prison inmates to others? You don't because your ego was hurt thinking I meant your cousin was going to take it up the butt for money.

I hope your cousin doesn't let his ego get in the way in prison, that could be harmful to him.

PS - I don't know what you know about 'the can', but many get deposited funds by families/friends for commissary. Maybe you should just give your cousin some money and stop trying to turn him into an Indian. Not like his skills of writing articles for $4-5 a pop will be applicable in the real world given how many content writers there are available and didn't get their writing experience in prison.
 
I think he should just take this time to hone his flash website skills, there's a big future in that.

Also, write a rap album.
 
a uk graf writer got jailed for some other shit in new york. He started a blog and generated quite a following:

63906054

he was using the jail mail also.
 
I don't think it's a fail idea... I think it could be scalable even.

It would have to be good content. Vadym's reference to Indians got me thinking, good hand spinners are hard to find. I mean someone who can take one article and rewrite it that many times where I'd still want to read it? Takes time, a brain and a perfect command of the English language which may right now be three of the guy's only assets while locked up.

Let's say he cuts a deal at $4 or $5 a spin, doable for good quality. He gets some of the guys on his cel block writing for him. Inmates that have been in a long time could be good writers, all the penpal experience could come in handy So now he's subcontracting big batches. These guys have nothing but time, he could be fair and pay $3 per article to his buddies. Let's say he personally can write 5 articles a day at a modest $5 that's $25 a day, $125/week working a 5 day work week. If he gets two friends that can do that volume, he earns $2 per article they write then he has a passive income on top of that of $100 a week for a nice $225 a week total which would keep him very comfortable in prison. Other guys hear he's paying $75 a week for writing and he gets more "employees" there are lots of guys in prison with no family, no money on their books.
 
BabyGotBacklink said:
I don't think it's a fail idea... I think it could be scalable even.

It would have to be good content. Vadym's reference to Indians got me thinking, good hand spinners are hard to find. I mean someone who can take one article and rewrite it that many times where I'd still want to read it? Takes time, a brain and a perfect command of the English language which may right now be three of the guy's only assets while locked up.

Let's say he cuts a deal at $4 or $5 a spin, doable for good quality. He gets some of the guys on his cel block writing for him. Inmates that have been in a long time could be good writers, all the penpal experience could come in handy So now he's subcontracting big batches. These guys have nothing but time, he could be fair and pay $3 per article to his buddies. Let's say he personally can write 5 articles a day at a modest $5 that's $25 a day, $125/week working a 5 day work week. If he gets two friends that can do that volume, he earns $2 per article they write then he has a passive income on top of that of $100 a week for a nice $225 a week total which would keep him very comfortable in prison. Other guys hear he's paying $75 a week for writing and he gets more "employees" there are lots of guys in prison with no family, no money on their books.
Click to expand...

I'd laugh so hard if someone came up as a top dog in prison by employing a bunch of them as content writers. Would be newsworthy.
 
BabyGotBacklink said:
I don't think it's a fail idea... I think it could be scalable even.

It would have to be good content. Vadym's reference to Indians got me thinking, good hand spinners are hard to find. I mean someone who can take one article and rewrite it that many times where I'd still want to read it? Takes time, a brain and a perfect command of the English language which may right now be three of the guy's only assets while locked up.

Let's say he cuts a deal at $4 or $5 a spin, doable for good quality. He gets some of the guys on his cel block writing for him. Inmates that have been in a long time could be good writers, all the penpal experience could come in handy So now he's subcontracting big batches. These guys have nothing but time, he could be fair and pay $3 per article to his buddies. Let's say he personally can write 5 articles a day at a modest $5 that's $25 a day, $125/week working a 5 day work week. If he gets two friends that can do that volume, he earns $2 per article they write then he has a passive income on top of that of $100 a week for a nice $225 a week total which would keep him very comfortable in prison. Other guys hear he's paying $75 a week for writing and he gets more "employees" there are lots of guys in prison with no family, no money on their books.
Click to expand...


It's going to be hard to find 6 guys who can read, let alone write.

Send him a typewriter and he won't ever be broke.
 
Vadym said:
Why is that something to consider, while my idea fails? Her idea isn't even applicable, it AUTOMATICALLY fails.

Do you know how many cartons of smokes he could get pimping out prison inmates to others? You don't because your ego was hurt thinking I meant your cousin was going to take it up the butt for money.

I hope your cousin doesn't let his ego get in the way in prison, that could be harmful to him.

PS - I don't know what you know about 'the can', but many get deposited funds by families/friends for commissary. Maybe you should just give your cousin some money and stop trying to turn him into an Indian. Not like his skills of writing articles for $4-5 a pop will be applicable in the real world given how many content writers there are available and didn't get their writing experience in prison.
Click to expand...

Your idea fails cuz it assumes my cousin is some violent brute who would actually consider something like that. It also ignores everything I mentioned above with the email system & writing being the prime focus. For the record i've already donated hundreds of dollars to him for commissary, so before you start making presumptions maybe do a little digging.

He's not gaining writing skills in prison either, he's already very educated and ran his own web design/marketing business for a few years that had plenty of clients. He just made a dumb mistake when he was a teenager that came back to bite him. The kid has a mind and he's looking to make money with that, not with your retarded prison scenarios.

Oh, and he came to me asking if I had ideas about writing, i'm not trying to 'turn him into an Indian'. Though, he would rather be that than what you're suggesting.
 
Vadym said:
I'd laugh so hard if someone came up as a top dog in prison by employing a bunch of them as content writers. Would be newsworthy.
Click to expand...

Pray they never catch me. ;)

OP also creative writing projects, there is a pretty healthy market for erotic fiction ghost writers. I'm sure guys in there have active imaginations.

Inb4 guys get shanked for inappropriate semi-colon usage
 
How about you stop being a peasant and give him the money? (or lend it to him till he gets out of jail and starts paying you back)

I mean come on, what does it take to buy cups, shampoo, soap, toothpaste and basic shit like this? $100? $200? Let's push it and say $300? I don't think he needs thousands. Millions of people live on welfare with $700 a month and still manage to pay rent.

In the meantime let him use his spare time to work out, read books and learn some new technical skills that can apply in real life when he gets out. He can perhaps even learn a 2nd language like French, Chinese or Spanish, which in my opinion is the biggest asset anybody can have.
 
He's already got guys asking him for advice on their businesses when they get released and seems to have garnered some real respect from most of the groups in there, including the Mexicans and most of the Brooklyn mob.

I guess turning them into writers would be a stretch, though it would make for good Shakespeare.
 
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