How to Make Money By John V. Dunlap

How to Make Money, published in 1922 by John V. Dunlap, serves as both a motivational treatise and a practical guidebook aimed primarily at girls and women trapped in monotonous, low-wage occupations. The central premise is that fortunes are made through salesmanship, which is a skill anyone can learn. The book outlines numerous small business opportunities requiring minimal capital, from starting a neighborhood grocery to operating a custom shirt factory. Ultimately, it funnels the reader toward participating in sales campaigns for the “Woman’s Library,” offering a free, comprehensive course in salesmanship and management, urging readers to overcome timidity and start their path to prosperity immediately.

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Pre-Summary Sections

Who May Benefit from the Book

• Individuals seeking financial independence or escape from monotonous routine work.
• Aspiring entrepreneurs with little or no startup capital.
• Stenographers, factory workers, or store clerks seeking advancement.
• Ambitious women desiring a successful career, especially in sales.
• Wives of discouraged husbands looking to provide financial stimulus and leadership.

Top 3 Key Insights

1. Success demands action; leaving the routine daily grind is necessary to secure happiness, luxury, and a brilliant future.
2. Salesmanship is the measure of success, as nearly all fortunes are made by selling something, and this ability determines one’s career advance.
3. Low-capital ventures are viable; businesses like dyeing or small grocers can start with virtually no money and scale rapidly through cash transactions.

4 More Lessons and Takeaways

1. Overcome personal fears and timidity to achieve success; the decision to start is the most difficult step toward mastering your future.
2. Leverage specialty markets such as custom-fit shirts or unique, high-quality products like “old-fashioned doughnuts” to quickly establish profitability and ownership.
3. Effective advertising should resemble news or offer irresistible bargains to drive demand, as seen in the newspaper column and bargain sale methods.
4. Learning is earning; readers are encouraged to gain practical selling experience concurrently with studying the free salesmanship course.

The Book in 1 Sentence This guide outlines practical, low-capital ventures and emphasizes salesmanship training to help women escape routine jobs and achieve prosperity.

The Book Summary in 1 Minute How to Make Money targets women stuck in monotonous, low-paying jobs like clerical work, factory positions, or sales roles, presenting a pathway out of financial frustration toward luxury and independence. The book provides numerous low-capital business concepts, ranging from neighborhood pantries, custom shirt factories, and dyeing services to operating rooming houses. Crucially, the text stresses that fortunes are made through salesmanship, which is a skill anyone can learn. The primary vehicle for success and free sales training offered is selling the “Woman’s Library” through various schemes: direct mail order, newspaper circulation campaigns, or partnering with local businesses for bargain promotions. The underlying philosophy urges readers to overcome self-doubt and start their path to prosperity immediately.

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Chapter-wise Book Summary

The Neighborhood Pantry

“Do a strictly cash business, and you will find your original $25 investment will grow into many hundreds of dollars in the course of a year.”

This chapter details a method to enter the grocery business starting with a capital of $25. The initial setup involves installing shelves in a closet or pantry. The entrepreneur purchases bulk staples like tea, soap, starch, and pepper wholesale. Success hinges on distributing handbills the day before opening, announcing an introductory offer where the first 100 customers receive $0.75 worth of necessities free with the purchase of a pound of high-quality tea for $0.90. It is essential to use fast-selling brands and never list the “regular price” higher than competitors. The store must strictly sell for cash, provide prompt service, and maintain fair, courteous treatment. Spending a few dollars weekly on printed handbills announcing specials is crucial to keep customers coming and talking about the store.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Start the business with only $25.
  • Use generous introductory offers to build customers.
  • Maintain a strictly cash business to ensure growth.

How to Make Money, Making Candy

“One woman started on this small scale and owns a large candy factory to-day.”

A person can make money by learning to make delicious candies such as bonbons, fudge, and peanut brittle using a recipe book. The required capital is about $10 for ingredients. Once perfected, the candy is taken with samples to local stores, which are asked to display it in their candy case and pay upon sale (consignment). A neat printed card stating that the candy is “MADE IN MRS. BROWN’S KITCHEN” and is “FRESH AND DELICIOUS” is recommended. If the candy is good, stores will consistently purchase all the maker can produce, leading one woman to expand from this small start to owning a large factory.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Perfect candy recipes using $10 capital.
  • Sell samples to local stores on consignment.
  • Demand for quality homemade product is high.

Would You Like to Own a Shirt Factory?

“To-day dozens of girls work for this little genius.”

This section tells the story of a girl who profited by solving the common problem of men struggling to buy well-fitting shirts. She secured material samples and a 15% discount arrangement from a local dry-goods store. She solicited custom-made shirt orders one day a week, taking measurements and showing a sample of her workmanship. She spent the remaining five days sewing. As her business grew, she hired six girls and began buying material directly from the factory at bottom prices, eventually owning a custom-made shirt factory.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Address a common customer complaint (poor fit).
  • Start by securing custom orders and bulk discounts.
  • Scale operations by hiring specialized staff.

Can You Make Neckties?

“You can make 50 cents per tie profit.”

The author encourages the reader to investigate the “tremendous profit” in making neckties, noting they are simple to construct. Readers should determine how many dollar neckties can be made from a yard of silk. Purchase enough silk for about twelve sample patterns to display to business men, who will buy them quickly. Since the profit is approximately 50 cents per tie, the business should grow rapidly, necessitating the hiring of girls to make ties and “pretty, neat girls” to take orders.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Necktie construction is very simple.
  • Profit margins are high ($0.50 per tie).
  • Employ others to handle production and order-taking.

How You Can Edit an Interesting Column in Your Local Newspaper

“The value of this advertising is much greater than the average advertisement, since it appears to be a news item.”

This plan suggests buying one column of space daily in the local newspaper. The column should be headed with a title like “BARGAINS BETTY ROSS FOUND YESTERDAY” or “FOR WOMEN ONLY”. The editor then conducts a shopping tour, and when finding an unusual bargain or attractive new item, offers to include it in the column. The storekeeper pays the editor a fee, typically double the amount the editor pays the newspaper for the space. Because the listing appears to be a news item, it holds greater value than standard advertising. Selling 25 inches of space daily at $1 per inch can yield a profit of $12.50 per day.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Purchase newspaper space for a daily column.
  • Charge clients double the cost of the space.
  • Editorial format increases advertising effectiveness.

Tea Room and Gift Shop / Rooms

“The tea room idea has become a permanent fixture in the average town.”

Tea rooms, especially those of the Colonial type, are a permanent fixture and regularly patronized by women. A separate, highly successful plan involves operating rooming houses. A girl rented and furnished a home after collecting two weeks’ advance rent from ten other girls. This advance rent covered the first month’s house rent and the first payment on installment furniture. She provided each girl with a furnished bedroom, access to a well-equipped kitchen (with personal cabinets and a large refrigerator), a laundry, a parlor, and a reading room. She quickly expanded to six houses and later added meal service.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Tea rooms appeal to regular female patronage.
  • Start a rooming house using advance rent money.
  • Provide high-quality, shared home amenities.

How Would You Like to Sell Real Estate?

“My advice is to go into the real estate business. Go out and find houses for sale, then make the owner a proposition to sell them.”

A woman’s success story details how she earned $1,000 profit for an expense of $4.90 by selling a neighbor’s house. After initial failures using a sign and small want ads, she succeeded by taking a picture of the house and distributing 2,000 handbills detailing the property. This resulted in dozens of interested buyers within a week. Her advice is to actively find houses for sale and approach owners with a selling proposition. Her clear profits reached over $5,000 in a year.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Focus on finding houses and proposing sales deals.
  • High-volume marketing (handbills) yields results.
  • Real estate offers high profit potential for low expense.

Money in Dyeing / Kindergartens

“Every one has clothes, curtains, carpets or something which can be made to look good as new if they were only dyed.”

Dyeing is a profitable business that requires virtually no capital. The initial step is to buy a few packages of dye and perfect the process by experimenting with old clothes. Because the cost of dyes is “negligible,” the work is practically all profit. Work can be solicited through want ads or personal calls. A separate idea suggests starting a “Kindergarten of Culture,” which, in addition to the standard kindergarten course, dedicates a half-hour daily to teaching children correct etiquette for eating and acting on all occasions, an idea expected to be successful.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Dyeing is highly profitable with negligible material cost.
  • Market dyeing services for household goods and clothes.
  • A ‘Kindergarten of Culture’ offers specialized value.

For the Student / If You Live in a City

“The charge for this work ranges between $3 and $4 per thousand.”

This section offers a plan for students who need quiet time for study. In many cities, families cannot afford a maid but would pay $2 per evening once a week for a reliable person to stay with their children. By using want ads, a person could secure six families (one for each weekday), and since the children would be asleep by 8 p.m., the remainder of the evening is available for studying. For city dwellers, starting a mailing house requires no capital beyond converting a room into an office. This involves contracting with firms to address, fold, insert, seal, stamp, and mail advertising matter or statements. Work is charged per motion or per thousand envelopes, allowing the operator to hire additional girls as the business grows.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Evening childcare provides income and study hours.
  • Mailing houses require absolutely no starting capital.
  • Charge mailing services per thousand or per motion.

Lamp Shades / Doughnuts

“The actual material cost of making a silk lamp shade that retails for $15 is about $5.”

Making silk lamp shades is simple for anyone who can sew. Materials and frames are readily available, and the material cost for a $15 retail shade is only about $5. Sales are secured by arranging with a department store to sell the shades on commission, such as giving the store $5 profit on a $15 shade. There is also a continuous demand for hand-tinted cardboard shades that imitate genuine parchment. Another success story involves a woman who specialized in making delicious old-fashioned doughnuts. She rented a small, busy corner spot, painted everything white, dressed in white, and fried doughnuts to order in the window. The immediate success led to long customer lines and eventual ownership of a large, fully equipped bakery.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Lamp shades provide high retail profit margins.
  • Sell shades through department stores on commission.
  • Frying specialty food to order ensures tremendous success.

To Which of These Classes Do You Belong? / What Are You Looking Forward To?

“The other is to learn the things you should know in order to become successful, and get your full share of the sweet things in this world while you are still a young girl, and can enjoy them.”

This extended section addresses five distinct classes of women suffering from dissatisfaction. These include the stenographer/clerk (Class 1) weary of monotonous, routine work for meager earnings; the factory/domestic worker (Class 2) desiring higher social rank and luxury; the store clerk (Class 3) tired of irritating customers and physical exhaustion; the “too proud to work” girl (Class 4) who maintains a false aristocratic appearance at the cost of happiness; and the young wife (Class 5) whose husband has lost ambition, leading the family toward poverty. The core message is that two paths are open: continuing the daily grind or learning the skills necessary to become successful. The latter leads to happiness, romance, and the “niceties of life”. The author emphasizes that the day of inheriting respect is over; one must prove their worth through constructive, aggressive effort.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Monotonous work leads to weariness and poverty.
  • Readers must choose success over the ‘daily grind’.
  • Wives must lead the way to revive a husband’s ambition.

What Every Girl Would Like to Do

“You can sit right in your home and earn two or three times what your present position pays you without one-half the effort.”

The ideal situation involves rising when desired, setting one’s own hours, working from home, and earning enough for luxuries without physical labor. The recommended plan is a mail-order business promoting the Book of Good Manners and the six-volume Woman’s Library. The entrepreneur addresses envelopes using names from the telephone directory, inserts advertising folders and a return order blank, and mails them. The profit is $1.50 on each $3 set of books sold. If 1,000 folders are mailed daily, even a conservative success rate (five sales per hundred) yields $75 per day, which can be increased to $300 per day with higher conversion rates.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Achieve an ideal work life of flexible, home-based employment.
  • Start a mail-order campaign for the Woman’s Library.
  • Potential profit is $1.50 per set, yielding high daily income.

How Fortunes Are Made / How to Secure a Free Course in Salesmanship

“Your advance in life is measured by your sales ability, and this is the reason that you should understand the art of salesmanship if you would climb up the ladder of success.”

Fortunes are typically built by selling something, and salesmanship is the critical skill necessary for advancement in any profession. The average salesman earns three times the average wage because sales ability regulates income. Salesmen are made, not born, and the demand for them far exceeds the supply. Women, in particular, often become highly successful, increasing their earnings five-fold after learning salesmanship. The Social Mentor Publications offers a complete course on scientific salesmanship and sales-management absolutely free, which is valued at $50 if purchased from a correspondence school. This course teaches practical methods like developing personality, analyzing buyers, building sales talks, and closing deals.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Salesmanship is critical for all career advancement.
  • Salesmen are trained, not naturally talented.
  • A comprehensive, practical sales course is offered free of charge.

Who Are You? / PLAN NO. 1

“You earn while you learn!”

The provided plans are structured so that participants can take the free salesmanship course while gaining actual selling experience, ensuring they “earn while you learn”. Plan No. 1 suggests becoming a Circulation Manager for a local daily newspaper. Since newspaper advertising revenue increases with subscriber count, publishers are keen on circulation growth. The plan involves offering a huge bargain: the seven-volume Woman’s Library plus a ten-week paper subscription (total value $16) for only $3. The manager convinces the paper to run full-page ads for this deal. The manager pays the newspaper $0.65 per subscription and keeps $0.85 profit. By employing a crew of ten solicitors, the manager can earn $35 per day on top of personal sales.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Manager profit is secured by securing mass newspaper circulation.
  • Sell the Woman’s Library as part of a $3 bargain bundle.
  • Training a sales crew multiplies daily earnings significantly.

Would You Enjoy Traveling All Over America?

“The most difficult thing about being successful is making up your mind that you are going to succeed.”

This chapter appeals to the glamorous life of a traveler—riding Pullmans, staying in the best hotels, and meeting high-class people. Achieving this life only requires the will to succeed and the ability to overcome timidity and fear. The associated plan involves selling the Woman’s Library to furniture store owners to help them dispose of dead stock. The sales pitch focuses on the customer psychology of wanting a “bargain”. The store is convinced to sell an unsalable item (e.g., a chair costing $5) slightly below its regular price (e.g., $8.98) and give the Woman’s Library free. The store clears its cost and makes a $1 profit, while the saleswoman, who charges the store $3 for the set, earns $1.50 profit on each sale. This method allows a successful saleswoman to make $150 to $300 in just two or three days in a single city.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • Success means overcoming self-doubt and personal fears.
  • Sales pitch focuses on using the books as a ‘bargain’ incentive.
  • Profit is made by helping furniture stores liquidate dead inventory.

Try This Test on Yourself

“The oftener you do it, the easier it becomes.”

This section provides a four-step test to determine the reader’s readiness to manage a sales crew. Step 1: Place an advertisement in the want ad column to recruit girls and women for traveling sales positions. Step 2: Conduct an interview, professionally inquiring about the applicant’s employment, residence, and willingness to canvass homes. Step 3: Explain the appeal and value of the Woman’s Library to the prospective agent. Step 4: Enroll the agent by requiring them to buy a sample set of books for $2, ensuring they keep $1 profit on every subsequent $3 set they sell, and outlining the weekly order delivery process. Success in this plan (where the manager earns $0.50 profit per set) means that a crew of twenty girls, each selling ten sets daily, could earn the manager $100 per day. To get started, the aspiring manager must send $30 for the first twenty sets of the Woman’s Library.

• Chapter Key Points:
  • A four-step test gauges managerial and recruitment potential.
  • Managers earn $0.50 profit for every set sold by an agent.
  • Starting requires an advance purchase of twenty sample sets for $30.

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Notable Quotes from the Book

1. “The difference between success and failure is expressed in these few simple words: ‘I will start to-day—NOW—to learn the things which will make me successful.'”
2. “Your advance in life is measured by your sales ability, and this is the reason that you should understand the art of salesmanship if you would climb up the ladder of success.”
3. “The day of inheriting a position that commands respect is past. You will have to prove your worth or you will be eliminated by one of the ‘common herd’ who really ‘delivers the goods.'”
4. “Do you know that salesmen are made, not born?”
5. “How pleasant it is to be prosperous and successful!”
6. “It is not human for anyone to go on and on doing the same monotonous work day after day without becoming weary and discouraged.”
7. “Just put yourself in the other fellow’s shoes and say the thing that would sound reasonable and interesting to you—common sense, that is the keynote.”
8. “You must lead the way if you expect to revive his energy and ambition.”
9. “What a difference it makes when you are successful and can afford to dress the way you have dreamed of…”
10. “If you are a 100 per cent American girl, if you possess a drop of imagination or desire to be something more than an ordinary girl, you surely have pictured yourself managing some of the plans which we have told you about in this book.”

About the Author

John V. Dunlap is the author of How to Make Money, which was copyrighted and manufactured in the U.S. in 1922. Dunlap is presented as a practical business expert, emphasizing that he spent his entire career either selling or directing salesmen. His experience is utilized to structure the free, comprehensive course on scientific salesmanship and sales-management offered to readers who join his organization. This course is described as based on successful, practical methods used by his large business organization, rather than mere academic theory. The plans outlined in this book primarily revolve around the sale of the seven-volume Woman’s Library, which includes The Book of Culture, Physical Beauty, and Plain Talks on Avoided Subjects. The sources do not provide additional personal biographical details about Dunlap or list other specific books he may have written.

How to Get the Most from the Books

Read every plan and think deeply about your future. Overcome fear and timidity. Make a firm decision to start now to learn the skills necessary for success.

Conclusion

How to Make Money serves as an energetic appeal to the ambitious, dissatisfied working girl or wife of the early 20th century, insisting that escaping poverty and monotony is entirely achievable through dedicated, self-directed effort. The key to financial liberation is framed as the mastery of salesmanship, a skill the author promises to teach for free, provided the reader is willing to act aggressively and promote the Woman’s Library products. By combining practical, low-overhead business models—like neighborhood stores and specialized services—with the high-profit margin sales of the books, Dunlap presents a clear, albeit demanding, path toward earning significant income, achieving personal respect, and living a life of desired luxury.