Making money from freely available government data

Use Government Forms and Documents as a Foundation for Your Own Ebook

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The United States Government spends billions of dollars on research and statistical surveys each year, therefor saving you a lot of time and money that it would take to aquire this information on your own. Point blank, all of this information is a gold mine just waiting to be found. People love reading statistics and many business are able to learn techniques that have worked and not worked for other businesses. Statistics and surveys offer a unique insight of what others think, feel and have even experienced about a specific topic or product, making them very valuable to those who know how to make proper use of them. Here are some ideas you can use to make these valuable to you and your business.

Do your research and put together a statistical fact sheet or ebook that would be valuable to consumers. Include shopping do's and dont's, and the best time and even place to get a bargain. You can then market new product either from your own website or eBay to make a profit, you can even use both venues if you like. The only limit to the amount of money you make is you limiting yourself to specific options, so I would advise you take the time to use every avenue or means available and make them count.
Pick a business niche like "starting your own restaurant" and put together an ebook filled with facts and information for people interested in starting their own restaurant business. Give them information from government surveys on what people look for in a dining establishment, the most popular style or menu items, the most profitable days of the week, etc. Show them the average income of a small scale restaurant as opposed to large, and what to expect when they first open their doors to the public.
Put together an ebook on buying a car in the United States, or even narrow your focus to buying a car in one specific state which would allow your ebook to be more targeted to consumer "x". Include surveys of various vehicles, the automotive market in whole, information on how to strike a deal with a less than concerned salesman. Then do a little outside research and include some links to local car dealers, even car insurance companies and let them know what the safest car of that year is, what options it comes with and how it suits todays typical family of four. Package it up as "The Washington State Car Buyers Guide to Finding the Best Deal" packed with information and resources, it could potentially fly off the virtual shelves, and best of all it cost you nothing to create, except for time.
Maybe you can put together a collection of official tax documents and step by step information, so that others can have easy access to them come tax time. Dealing with the IRS is usually a headache and time consuming to say the least. But if you offer all of the necessary forms for this years tax season in one easy to understand package, you are offering a very valuable service to the end user by simply saving them lots of time and effort that they would otherwise spend tracking these down for themselves.
Imagine that you are preparing to buy a home, you found a new house with a great price tag but its in a neighborhood you are unfamiliar with, this is a common problem for home buyers everywhere. What many of them don't understand is that crime reports, statistics and even school locations are all information that is freely available to the public, so capitalize on that. Make a report by state that shows crime hot spots, the best school districts and local shopping destinations, it would be a home buyers dream to have all of that information at their fingertips. Your just giving people what they want and making a little money at the same time.