Going broke, how to sell!?

[lasti]

So finally I'm going broke.

I don't have a job and I'm going to avoid it as long as I can (so please no "what-about-getting-a-job-it's-not-that-bad"-talk ).

I don't need a lot of money at the moment. 300€ per month would already be enough.

It's not that I haven't done anything to create value and deliver it. I have a blog with more than 100 articles but I'm just not successful yet.
So now I have to look for other - and especially for fast - ways to create and deliver value.

As I need the money very urgently I don't have the option to wait anymore. I need to sell something I already created or things I create quickly.

So I want to try to sell poems. I write them relatively quickly, it doesn't cost much to produce them, I already have some and I love it. (and I could still do it if I had nothing left then a pen and a paper)
Maybe that sounds dumb but at least I want to try it.

So: How to sell them?

I think the fastest way would be to sell them face-to-face. So should I go on the street and ask random people? Or even ring on their door bell? And what would I say to them? How can I sell my poems without being a bad sale guy?
I've just never had any experience with this!

Maybe you also have other quick incoming generating ideas?
(I'm also able to write articles and songs and I'm quite web-savvy)

BTW: I'm in favor of the lightworker mindset. So don't come with darkworker strategies. I'm way too cool for this.

[runningbird]

Don't forget practical stuff like mowing lawns and trimming hedges. Can you think of any skills you could possibly independently contract?

[lasti]

Originally Posted by runningbird

Don't forget practical stuff like mowing lawns and trimming hedges. Can you think of any skills you could possibly independently contract?

Thanks for your fast reply!
Actually I haven't much experience with practical stuff either. Mowing lawns seems to be a good idea, though. (but as I'm living in the city there are not so much lawns to mow here)

Before somebody suggests it I want to add that I also hate doing chores. In fact I hate it so much that my home looks like a waste bin.

[sirkinm]

Originally Posted by lasti

I think the fastest way would be to sell them face-to-face. So should I go on the street and ask random people? Or even ring on their door bell? And what would I say to them? How can I sell my poems without being a bad sale guy?
I've just never had any experience with this!

I gotta give you credit for the courage, but I think door-to-door poem saleman would be a hard gig. If you're successful though, someone might want to make a documentary about you.

[lasti]

Originally Posted by sirkinm

I gotta give you credit for the courage, but I think door-to-door poem saleman would be a hard gig. If you're successful though, someone might want to make a documentary about you.

Lol, I'm not really courageous. I just don't see too much other options right now.
But: My goal is not to become very succesful with this but to make like 10€ a day.
Do you maybe have any idea for me?

[Blueskied]

In my opinion selling poems like you are planning to do is not a way of providing value. It's a form of begging. Like the people on the street who give you a flower and then ask for $10. On the other hand 10€/day sounds like an achievable goal, although i don't have experience with begging.

[GHI]

Originally Posted by lasti

Lol, I'm not really courageous. I just don't see too much other options right now.

There are plenty of other options. Surely you can provide value in more then one way?

Even if you limit yourself to the one idea of selling poem, there are far better ways to do it then begging people on the street. You could set up a website, or sell the poems on e-bay. That's exactly what we have the internet for.

[lasti]

Originally Posted by Blueskied

In my opinion selling poems like you are planning to do is not a way of providing value. It's a form of begging. Like the people on the street who give you a flower and then ask for $10. On the other hand 10€/day sounds like an achievable goal, although i don't have experience with begging.

I don't think that the way how you sell decides whether you provide value or not - except you force people to buy (because then you might sell to people who won't appeciate the value).

[lasti]

Originally Posted by GHI

There are plenty of other options. Surely you can provide value in more then one way?

Even if you limit yourself to the one idea of selling poem, there are far better ways to do it then begging people on the street. You could set up a website, or sell the poems on e-bay. That's exactly what we have the internet for.

No, I won't limit myself to this idea. But as I said I need a fast way.
I've already set up a website where I will sell them. But I've not enough visitors to get even close to 10€ a day.
I've also tried selling poems on ebay but nobody looks for things like that on ebay.
The internet is not really the fast solution so I thought it would be better to sell things face-to-face.

[ssandra]

You can sell your poems to weddings...

How: Go to bridal stores, get a few examples with you and tell your future customers that you will put speeches on poem form for them, personalized.

You can do this for brides, grooms, best men who have to give speeches etc.

I have no idea how much money you could make, but it might be an option.

As well.. around valentines day, set up a table and chair somewhere and target desperate men trying to find the perfect gift for their wifes/girlfriend. Ask 1 or 2 personal things to include in the poem.

You can do that every day actually... find a different city/mall every day to keep new customers coming. Target mainly to men, as a cheap and perfect way to give a nice gift to girlfriends /wifes.

Of course this only works if you are any good... better than; I love you, without you I am blue, stay with me forever, and I will leave you never...

[lasti]

Originally Posted by ssandra

You can sell your poems to weddings...

How: Go to bridal stores, get a few examples with you and tell your future customers that you will put speeches on poem form for them, personalized.

You can do this for brides, grooms, best men who have to give speeches etc.

I have no idea how much money you could make, but it might be an option.

As well.. around valentines day, set up a table and chair somewhere and target desperate men trying to find the perfect gift for their wifes/girlfriend. Ask 1 or 2 personal things to include in the poem.

You can do that every day actually... find a different city/mall every day to keep new customers coming. Target mainly to men, as a cheap and perfect way to give a nice gift to girlfriends /wifes.

Of course this only works if you are any good... better than; I love you, without you I am blue, stay with me forever, and I will leave you never...

Wow, that's something I haven't thought of at all! Thank you for this great idea! I will instantly check out my possibilities.

Any other advice?

[GHI]

Originally Posted by lasti

No, I won't limit myself to this idea. But as I said I need a fast way.
I've already set up a website where I will sell them. But I've not enough visitors to get even close to 10€ a day.
I've also tried selling poems on ebay but nobody looks for things like that on ebay.
The internet is not really the fast solution so I thought it would be better to sell things face-to-face.

The internet can be a fast solution, if you work it right.

You think that going door-to-door is faster? I doubt that. Besides, given that you're a lightworker, don't you have a problem with nagging people in the privacy of their own home? Most people won't appreciate it.

So, where's your website? Give us a link, and we'll see what we can do to help you get the traffic going.

[lasti]

Originally Posted by GHI

The internet can be a fast solution, if you work it right.

You think that going door-to-door is faster? I doubt that. Besides, given that you're a lightworker, don't you have a problem with nagging people in the privacy of their own home? Most people won't appreciate it.

Well, it was just an idea in case I'm starving which is going to be pretty soon.

So, where's your website? Give us a link, and we'll see what we can do to help you get the traffic going.

I'm sorry I can't share it on this forum.
It's german by the way so I don't know whether this would help me anyway.

[GHI]

Some more questions:

1. You said you have a blog with tons of articles, which is "unsuccessful". Do you have any idea why? Give us a link to the blog, and we might be able to help you monetize it.

2. What are your strengths, besides writing poems?

3. What are your weaknesses, besides hating to do house chores

If you want to money fast, you need to tap into as much resources as you can. And I'm sure you have plenty of personal resources and talents that you haven't told us anything about... yet.

[GHI]

Originally Posted by lasti

I'm sorry I can't share it on this forum.

Well... then you have a problem.

If you aren't ready to share it on this forum, you'll be too afraid to share it with the rest of the world - too.

No sharing = No delivered value = No money

You'll need to overcome this internal block before you have any hope of making money from your poems. Either that, or find something else to sell - something you won't be afraid to share.

[Brutha]

There also the dreaded J-word.
You could try to get a "real" job.
Maybe as waitress?

[lasti]

Thanks for your help!

Originally Posted by GHI

Some more questions:

1. You said you have a blog with tons of articles, which is "unsuccessful". Do you have any idea why? Give us a link to the blog, and we might be able to help you monetize it.

Yes. My blog is still young (7 months now). In the German speaking world blogs are not as common as in the English speaking world and they need more time to attract a big readership. In the last month I also had less reader because Google didn't like me so much (seems like I collected too fast too many links ). If you or somebody else think you could help me with this I can send you my website adress per PM.

Originally Posted by GHI

2. What are your strengths, besides writing poems?

I'm good at writing articles, song texts and composing music (I'm releasing an album next month but I'm not sure how much income I can generate with that). I'm good at acting. I'm also good at web-stuff. I know how to build web pages, know a lot about html, social media, and so on.

3. What are your weaknesses, besides hating to do house chores

Well, I think there's a lot. I don't know anything about technical stuff and a lot of practical stuff. Uh - that's not very accurate, is it?

If you want to money fast, you need to tap into as much resources as you can. And I'm sure you have plenty of personal resources and talents that you haven't told us anything about... yet.

Thanks for your kind words! I completely agree with the tap-into-as-much-resoruces-as-you-can-stuff.
And maybe I'm just blind at the moment.

Open my eyes, my friends.

[lasti]

Originally Posted by GHI

Well... then you have a problem.

If you aren't ready to share it on this forum, you'll be too afraid to share it with the rest of the world - too.

No sharing = No delivered value = No money

You'll need to overcome this internal block before you have any hope of making money from your poems. Either that, or find something else to sell - something you won't be afraid to share.

I share it with the world. This forum is the only place in the net where I'm undercover.

[lasti]

Originally Posted by Brutha

There also the dreaded J-word.
You could try to get a "real" job.
Maybe as waitress?

I think I'm gonna kill you now.
Well, I've applied for a temporary J at a theater (they're only temporary). That will be fun and if I get it I will have at least SOME money. But it still won't be enough.

[Deltanancy]

You can rent a booth at an Arts and Crafts fair and write personalized poems for $5. I've seen it done. Looked effective. Good luck.

[lasti]

Originally Posted by Deltanancy

You can rent a booth at an Arts and Crafts fair and write personalized poems for $5. I've seen it done. Looked effective. Good luck.

Thanks for this idea! It's at least worth a try. I'm going to look for something like this.

[Rebecca800]

Blue Mountain Arts is a greetings card company looking for inspired, heartfelt poetry for their cards. I believe they pay $300 per poem, although it takes time to make it through the publishing process.

Blue Mountain Arts :: About Us :: Writer's Guidelines

I strongly advise against door-to-door sales - like someone pointed out, people don't appreciate being sold at in their own homes. What's more, you need to approach the publishers not individual consumers.

[vMike]

The quickest way to make some $$ online is by providing some services. E.g. you can offer to write articles on freelance sites. Register on getafreelancer.com and you can give it a try.

[ssandra]

How are things working out? Made some money already?

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by lasti

So I want to try to sell poems.

A good rule of business is don't try to convince people to buy what you want to sell them. Instead, sell them what they already are looking to buy.


I would never pay $$$ for a poem, but maybe somebody would. Look for people who are already looking to buy poems, then sell it to them.