A Wacky Way to Create a New Career

This is a guest post by my friend and a blogger Kyle Taylor. Kyle blogs at www.ThePennyHoarder.com, a daily blogs with 100’s of weird and wacky ways to make extra money. Make sure to stop by his blog and say “hi.”

Every day millions of Americans sit down to watch game shows and reality shows.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) the American public is more likely to know and recognize game show and reality show celebrities than even political figures.

Who is Richard Hatch?  The first champ of Survivor who liked to walk around naked.

Who are Trista and Ryan?  The couple from the Bachelorette who actually got married (and stayed married).

Who is Nancy Pelosi?  Unfortunately, ask a number of people, and you may hear crickets.

Still, that game and reality show contestants are household names can help you launch a new career–if you win big.

Ken Jennings Success on Jeopardy Helped Him Launch a New Career

If you are a Jeopardy fan, you likely remember Ken Jennings impressive 2004 run.  He won 74 straight games in a row.  After a while, people tuned in to Jeopardy just to see how Jennings would do.  He was great for the show, and Jeopardy was great for his career.

Jennings, who won over $2 million on the show, quit his full-time job as a software engineer and created his own blog.  He also became a freelance writer and has written several books on a variety of subjects.  In addition, he creates games that appear weekly in popular papers.

Based on a 6 month gig on Jeopardy, he switched careers and created a lucrative career path.  Jeopardy was his springboard.

Of course, part of Jennings fame is due to the fact that he broke records for both the longest consecutive appearances on a game show and the prize he won.  But another important part of his success is his quirky personality and his sense of humor.

How to Improve Your Chances of Being on a Game Show

If you want to make it on to a game show, you’ll first need to study the game and reality shows and decide which one you want to be on.  Each one has different rules and requirements.

Know upfront that you may have to fork over some money to fly to interview locations.

In addition, as Ken Jennings does, make sure you have loads of personality.  You have to be likeable enough and humorous enough to keep the fickle American public entertained, which seems to be harder and harder to do each year that goes by.  Being a little quirky and able to laugh at yourself doesn’t hurt either.

Ideally, you will make it onto a game show you are very familiar with.  Jennings watched Jeopardy every day for years, and he was also captain of his quiz bowl team in college.  The more deeply you know the game, the better you are able to do.  You’ll also need to study before your appearance.  Jennings prepared by studying popular subjects with flashcards.

Just appearing on a game show is exciting in itself, and depending on how you do, you have the chance to win thousands of dollars worth of prizes.  However, if you can go to the next level and make an impression or stay on the show for more than one episode, you have the chance to create a new career for yourself based on your popularity from appearing on the game show.