How to Make Money While Traveling in a Van, Part 4

Continuing Vanholio’s 6-part series, “How to Make Money While Traveling in a Van,” I’m coverin’ how to sell goods and services for income. These principles apply to nomads, rubbertramps, boaters, and travellers of all stripes. Hell, they even work for your sticks-n-bricks types.

?? #Vanlife question? Contact Vanholio! direct !!

But I Hate Selling! I Suck at It!

Too bad, Buttercup. If you’re thinkin’ you want a job, you’re gonna be selling yourself. Only you’ll be looking for one client to sell to, a boss. All the principles are the same as being in business. It’s only the damn details that vary.

5 Steps to Selling Anything, Including Yourself

In landing any business or job, you gotta go through the following steps. It’s like selling lemonade.

1. Find a Ready Buyer
   
   Maybe anyone could use what you’re selling, but it’s a waste of time trying to convince them. You want to focus your energy on folks who know they need what you got and are willing and able to spend money.
   
   Selling lemonade? Go where people are hot and thirsty (and have cash). Festival on a hot day? Perfect! Folks are thirsty, usually have cash, and may not be carrying around water with them.


2. Get the Buyer's Attention
   
   Folks got a lot on their minds. Even when a potential buyer wants what you got, you need them to notice you. That’s a trick. It’s why companies pay fuckloads for advertising.
   
   Make that lemonade sign big and yellow. Make it tall enough and bright enough that it sticks out to thirsty buyers as they wander around the festival. Hawk your wares, too! “Lemonade! Cold lemonade for sale! Fresh squeezed! Lots of ice!”


3. Convince the Buyer You Can Solve Their Problem
   
   OK, so you got the sucker’s attention. Now what? You gotta convince them you’ve got the solution, that you can deliver. You need to prove you're competent.
   
   Your lemonade stand better be clean with lots of cups. Make sure they can see the lemonade in it’s jugs/dispensers. Glass is perfect, especially if water beads condense on the outside.
   


4. Convince the Buyer You Will Solve Their Problem
   
   What Vanholio’s talking about here is trust. Lots of folks can provide a service, but many too are lazy and disappoint their buyers. You buyer wants to know you’ll deliver.
   
   Make sure you and your lemonade stand staff are helpful. Whether it’s a short or long line, move your customers along quickly. Have plenty of change. Be able to take credit cards. Have plenty of lemonade, ice, and cups on hand. In other words, give the buyer confidence that they’ll get their lemonade in hand and belly quickly with no fuss. Don't waste the buyer's fucking time.


5. Close the Deal
   
   If the buyer’s got question or concerns, address them. Then tell them to pay you, but ever so nicely.
   
   Mr. Lemonade Buyer is just looking, not quite in line. Ask if they want lemonade. Offer a sample. Hand over a cup of lemonade without being asked and say, “That’ll be $3.” The buyer might refuse, but most likely not. They wouldn't be hanging around if they didn't want that lemonade deep down.

Think about these steps. Inhale them. Make them yours. Figure out how to handle each step in any money-making venture you wanna try. Then make it happen. That’s how this shit works.

It’s doable. Trust me. Dumber assholes than you make the steps work for them every day. And for any trade, there’s tons of specific info out there on landing the deal.

But What Goods and Services Can I Sell From a Van?

Look, like I keep saying, I’m offering first principles in this series. I’m not gonna give you a huge list of possibilities. If you want those, check the articles linked in the “Van Life Income Ideas” at bottom.

5 General Ways to Earn While Traveling

1. Remote jobs – These are telecommuter jobs, piecework, phone selling, on-the-road specific jobs, and so forth.



2. Online businesses – Anything you can sell online, goods or services, goes great on the road with cellular internet.



3. Seasonal businesses – Why not run a business part of the year? Tourist locations are good for this. Also, Christmas businesses. Lots of possibilities.



4. Seasonal jobs – Lots of businesses hire people just for the busy times. Amazon.com hires lots of workkampers at Christmas, and it’s popular with vanners. That’s just one example.



5. Portable businesses – Artists and craftspersons move around from show to show, with plenty of breaks between. Some tradespeople have mastered finding clients when they arrive in town, then move on.

What you should get from the above list is that you can do damn near anything on the road. Most jobs and businesses can be portable if you use your noodle.

Van Life Income Ideas

5 Sweet Van Life Jobs and How to Get Them
Ideas for Making Money on the Road (Cheap RV Living Forum)
Remote Jobs Links (Cheap RV Living Forum)
Make a Living on the Road (Wandrly Magazine)
45 Great Jobs You Can Do While Traveling and How to Get Them (The Barefoot Nomad)

Read the 6-Part Series

Part 1: Overview — Part 2: Reduce Your Needs — Part 3: Do Things Yourself — Part 4: Sell Goods or Services — Part 5: Invest or Loan Capital — Part 6: Get Others to Support You

Also See …

The Six-Step Selling Cycle (Dummies)

Read More »

How to Make Money While Traveling in a Van – Part 3

Here’s a thought: If you “do it yourself,” you don’t need money to pay no one. Imagine that! The DIY value you create ain’t taxed neither. Plus it builds your confidence, pride, and joyfulness.

It’s so obvious and simple, it hardly seems worth mentioning in this 6-part series, “How to Make Money While Traveling in a Van.” But it is.

Used to be folks did a ton themselves, from hunting and gardening to rebuilding engines. Somehow we got away from that. There’s advantages to hiring out, but it costs us as people.

?? #Vanlife question? Contact Vanholio! direct !!

Why We Got Away From DIY

Since the old days, most of us became wage slaves. Economists will tell you it’s a good thing. The more people, companies, regions, even nations specialize and trade freely, the richer everyone becomes overall.

Yes, the economists are right that there’s efficiencies. If you make $20 an hour at your job, it’s efficient to pay a restaurant $8 for a lunch.

To DIY, that meal would’ve taken you $4 in materials and 2 hours to shop and make. That’s a net “opportunity cost” of $36. You’re better off earning at work and paying for lunch. Mathwise, at least. Even if the lunch ain’t quite to your taste.

The Cost of Overspecialization

There’s a human price to everyone specializing for the cash economy. First off, it ties you to makin’ money. Usually, that means a shitty job taking shit from some asshole.

Even under the best situation, you’re doing the same thing too much. Anything becomes old if you do it 40+ hours a week.

And you become bound to others doing for you. It’s real easy to lose confidence in your abilities.

Why just yesterday, a friend posted her thrill at learning to make cream gravy from scratch at near 50. All those years, she just assumed it was hard and bought package after expensive package of gravy mix. Ignorance marks you a sucker.

DIY = Thrifty Fun and Confidence

The more things you learn to fix and make yourself, the more other shit you can tackle. It’s a virtuous goddamn circle. More fun, too.

As you do more yourself, you don’t need to earn money. You get more variety in your day. That’s fun in and of itself.

You get extra cash value in that your efforts aren’t taxed. Pay some guy to change your oil, and the local and state government takes a cut in sales taxes. Then the feds take a cut of his profits and/or salary. Do it yourself, and Uncle Sam need not be the wiser. You’re saving 25% off the top.

Plus you aren’t paying income taxes you woulda paid on the cash earnings that would have paid the grease monkey. There’s another 15% and up.

Pick Your DIY Battles

Now, I hope your big goal in living the van life is to enjoy yourself. Our time is short.

Some jobs won’t be to your liking, even after you get good at them. Go ahead and hire them out.

Others, too, take too much special training or tools to make it worth your while. I mean, why buy $2,000 in tools you don’t even have room for and might only use once or twice.

But for all the stuff you don’t mind doing and you can do cheap, consider putting it on your list. Every penny saved is a penny you don’t need to kiss ass The Man’s for.

Many Hands Make Light Work

DIY don’t have to strictly be you yourself. If you got a big job or a job too intimidating to tackle alone, have a bee. That’s how our ancestors did it, from quilts to barn raising. That’s quality socializing.

Just last month, Jamie of Enigmatic Nomadics put together a “Van Build Party” in Lake Havasu, AZ. Vanners from all over and with mixed skills came together to help each other upgrade their vans. Hopefully they’ll repeat in 2017.

In Palo Alto, California, they do something similar with fixing electronics and appliances at the “Repair Cafe.”

Look around. Folks all over get together in bees, whatever they call them. Can’t find one? Organize it yourself. This country needs more folks doing for themselves, or doing for each other.

Read the 6-Part Series

Part 1: Overview — Part 2: Reduce Your Needs — Part 3: Do Things Yourself — Part 4: Sell Goods or Services — Part 5: Invest or Loan Capital — Part 6: Get Others to Support You

Also See ...

CheapGeek (YouTube Channel)
7 Top DIY Websites That Will Inspire Your Next Creation [LIST] (Goodnet)
65 Tips to Save Money Through Self-Reliance (Mother Earth News)

Read More »

Van Life Manifesto #vanlife

Hey, Beer Vanholio! He works hard on this blog.

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Why I Don't Salute the Flag or Say the Pledge

Well, Vanholio’s gonna start a shitstorm now.

The reason he don’t salute the flag, say the Pledge of Allegiance, or stand during the national anthem ain’t got nothing to do with politics.

He ain’t up for making a statement, unlike some overpaid football players I could name.

No, the reason is simple: The flag is a piece of cloth.

Talking, gesturing, and promising to a some old rag is stupid. It’s as dumb as praying to a cow, kissing the Pope’s ring, bowing before the Queen of England, or any other number of weird, foreign customs.

Now, I know some of ya’ll got strong feelings on this. Ya’ll think it’s disrespectful. Ya’ll think it means I don’t love this country.

Well, I love this country well enough. Ain’t moved, have I? Even if I did, I wouldn’t salute their flags neither, nor bow to their kings, nor pray to their cows.

I’ll say this, too: It disrespects Vanholio to insist he drink your Kool-Aid. And whether you understand that or not, he ain’t sippin’ nohow.

Look, the damn flag don’t care: It’s an inanimate object.

The USA don’t care: It’s an idea.

The Founding Fathers don't care: They're dead.

Most vets don’t even care: They don’t know Vanholio or concern themselves with his doings. They got bigger fish to fry.

So who cares? YOU care. When Vanholio don’t stand up and salute, it hurts your poor baby feelings. So in that respect, maybe I am a shithead.

But maybe you’re too sensitive, Buttercup. Maybe you're mad 'cause Vanholio ain’t fondlin’ your feelins’ just right.

News flash: Vanholio ain't politically correct.

Oh, and here’s a quarter. Call someone who cares.

Hey, Beer Vanholio! He works hard on this blog.

Also See ...

Patriotism, Like Love, Is a Goddamn Mess
Hole in the Rock Expedition Mor(m)onic
What’s Conservative about the Pledge of Allegiance (Cato Institute)

Read More »