If you live in any city or town that is reasonably safe to walk around and that has been in existence for more than a decade or two, then this suggestion is for you.
It takes some research and the ability to engage in public speaking, but being a ghost tour operator can be a rewarding experience.
If you have even been on a ghost tour of a town or city, you know that there is nothing complex about it. Often times the tour guide is some uninspiring old lady or a college student who may or may not give a damn. Tourists and a few locals, will still happily hand over $20 or more for a tour because they don’t know any better.
To do this job you only need to do a few things to get started. First, find out if there is another tour in your city. Go on it. See for yourself how easy it is. Resolve to do a better job. That usually won’t be hard.
Do some research on the various old buildings and sites. Go to the internet and find some interesting old ghost stories. Look up old books online and at your local library. Talk to local bar, restaurant, and hotel owners about any experiences that they have had. They are usually quick to tell you good stories in the hopes that it will bring in business. “Steal” some stories from the other ghost tour, if there is one. They don’t own those stories. They either got them from publicly available sources or just made them up. If they made the stories up and then passed them around as if they were real, they have no right to complain about you using them. This brings us to the final source of the stories, just make them up. Base your stories in true historical facts and then add in a few made up ghost stories based on them. None of the stories are likely “real” anyway.
Add some flavor to your tours. If you have a friend, have him or her, dress up in a scary costume or wear a mask and jump out on the crowd during a dark part of the tour. Don’t be afraid to tell the stories with passion, raising and lowering your voice as appropriate.
To set the tour up, all you really need is a website to take tickets or sell reservations. Ask a local bar or restaurant owner to put up a sign or maybe even sell tickets if your group starts and/or finishes there. Perhaps pick a bar that usually isn’t very busy and see if the owner will offer your guests a discount, maybe happy hour prices. He should be happy with the opportunity to bring in more customers. If not, then find another place.
Regarding legal matters, check your local and states laws to see if you need a permit to run a tour or if tickets are subjected to a sales tax. You might want to also consider making the tour very cheap or even free and ask guests to consider making a suggested cash donation at the end if they think it was worth it. If you have included a few visits to bars along your tour the guests might be in a more giving mood. Drunk people love giving away their money.
