In your down time between cleaning the grill, if you could knock out a few title orders and grab a copy of a deed...

This is a great way to avoid outsourcing ot India:  outsource to burger slingers for even lower wages...

Sounds to me like it's a yummy solution to diversifying.  Think of all the free burgers and fries!  Plus, you could always take your clients out to lunch for free...

- Julia Scott-Douglas, COO

This is nothing new, Foley has owned the Carls Jr. chain for years and at he yearly meetings for the Title  side, they are always making references to the chain and how to do things like they do it.

Why SHOULDN'T Fidelity -- a mammoth company -- find other sources of income?  Certainly, at this point in our economy, we should all be looking for other avenues of support.   If you just can't make it as an abstractor right now (or you are just scraping by), it is time to find other things to do that will bring in income.  I went into oil/gas.  Many of you have become mobile closing agents.  Why not turn a hobby into money?  Specialize in something and sell it on E-Bay.  Here in the midwest, there are dozens of ways and places to pick up things like old glassware, enamel wear, even old farm equipment that Bed & Breakfasts on the two coasts will snap up at 10 times what you paid for it locally.  How many times have you driven down a country road, seen a "place of junk" and wondered what treasures might be there?  Why not stop and find out?  (Hey, watch "American Pickers" on the History channel if you don't believe me when I say there's a fortune rusting in old barns.) 

We are all successful entrepreneurs -- use what you've learned being out here in the real world to do what Fidelity has done: make money in new ways.

Alix is certainly correct.  I've been advocating this for year as it is a fundamental principle of good investing:  diversify your portfolio. 

All of us do so much in research, that keeping our options open is the best way to avoid being hit hard by the recession.

Things that are far outside our field may be difficutl to incorporate into our daily business, so I don't adovcate becoming a blacksmith while doing title chains.

However, related research work in oil/gas/minerals, genealogy, process service, filing agent services, skip tracing work, paperwork filings, court case abstracting and historical work are all reasonable side-jobs to consider offering. 

One of the gals who does searches for me in NY sells jewlrey on ebay.

She goes to Estate sales and sometimes scores big time.

She is averaging $200-$500 or more a week, which isn't bad for a very very very part time gig, and she enjoys and has fun doing it.