Financial Hack

When people tell me that they don’t have any skills to make money, I always think about a conversation I had with a man at a party I attended a couple of years ago. We were talking about jobs and when I asked him what he did, he explained that he was a “commute helper” and that his job entailed sitting in cars so that people could get to work more quickly.

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you know that the work commutes in certain sections are absolutely horrendous. The guy explained to me that while he was on his way to work one morning sitting in a traffic jam watching all the people in the carpool lane drive by while he was stuck barely moving, he decided that he needed to get someone else in his car so he could get to work on time and without spending hours in traffic. Initially he assumed that his only option was to start a carpool, but the more he thought about it, he wondered if there might be another option.

He began to realize that a body was actually a valuable commodity and it might be something that others would be willing to pay for. The more he thought about it, the more he became convinced he could sell himself and that is exactly what he decided to do. He made a sign, walked to the freeway entrance and held it up. It read:

“Traffic is bad. Spend 2 hours or pay me $10 and get there in 20 minutes”

He explained that on the first day someone stopped to pick him up within 15 minutes. When he was dropped off, he simply walked across the overpass to the other side, held up his sign again and got paid to go back the other way as well. He said that on a typical day he was able to make 2 to 3 round trips during the morning commute hour and 3 - 5 round trips during the evening rush hour. On days when there was an accident or the weather was bad and traffic was really slow, his doubled his price.

This man had figured out a way to make $100 - $300 a day for a few hours of work doing nothing more than sitting in a car on his butt so others could get to work and home faster. I actually laughed out loud as he told me the story at the simple brilliance. Here are some of the entrepreneurial lessons you can learn from him:

Don’t Overlook Skills: When we look at the things we do, I think we often overlook many of the skills that we have because we assume that others are looking for particular skill sets. Virtually everyone has the skill of being able to sit on their butt in a car, but not many would consider listing this as a skill when trying to find a job. While it helps to have technical skills, anything you can do can be turned into a profitable job if you’re creative enough to position it in the correct way.

Take Advantage of Your Skills: If you told most people that they had the skill to sit on their butt, I would wager that most, if not all, would say that yes they could, but that it was a worthless skill and would do so before they even considered whether this might be a valuable asset to someone else. If you have something that you can do, spend some time critically thinking about who might be interested in the skill before writing it off as something that has no value.

Virtually Any Skill Can Earn Money: As the man figured out, even sitting on your butt in a car can have value in certain circumstances. I had a friend in college that loved to sleep and he used to make extra money by letting sleep experts do studies while monitoring his sleeping habits. There are plenty of bloggers that make money writing about their favorite TV shows. While most people would write off sitting in a car, sleeping and watching TV as possible ways to make money, there are people out there that are doing it. If you like to do something, there is a way to make money from it if you use some creativity.

Keep Your Eyes Open For Problems: Sometimes the simplest niches to fill are the ones right before your eyes. If there is something that is bothering you, learn to see this as a possible opportunity rather than something that is annoying that you can’t do anything about. Take the time to think of how the problem might be solved. By looking at those things that bother you as opportunities rather than problems, you may not only solve it for yourself, but create a money making opportunity at the same time.

Fill a Need: The key to being successful in making money is taking the skill you have, whatever it may be, and finding out how it can fill a need. If sitting in a car, sleeping and watching TV can all feel some type of need that can earn people money, whatever skills you may have can likely fill a need for someone somewhere. Find that need and you will be well on your way to making money.

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Image courtesy of o205billege