Door to door salesman idea I had (comments requested)

Narz

Anyone ever thought of "creating their own job" in this ancient profession?

I did tonight as I took a midnight stroll around my apartment complex (and saw a half dozen or so porch lights ablaze).

I thought, "hmm, maybe I could sell LED bulbs door to door".

Obviously there are tons of logistical details that would need to be ironed out but it would be something I would feel morally ok about & I figure I could do reasonably well.

Are LED bulbs still too expensive for marketing to the average person to work? If not, where's should I get them cheap? How do you perceive demand would be? Profit margins?

I really do want to make money so I would take this seriously, not just do it as a fun experiment/hobby (though obviously I would try to have fun with it, lest I get demoralized).

Anyway, what do you folks think of my idea?

Thanks in advance for the feedback! Smile

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EnergyUnlimited · Fusion Joined: May 15, 2006 Posts: 3392

alokin · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 24, 2007 Posts: 883

I can't tell you anything about LED's but door to door sales are neither new nor antique. They still exist, maybe not in your area. Here in Australia, there is only the ice cream man, but back in Europe there was a guy selling vegetables (and he carried the winter potatoes to the cellar) he was very successful. when we lived in Greece there were door to door sellers as well. And when I was a child there a man sharpening knives an scissors door to door.

You do not ring doorbells. You have a truck or whatever (as far as I remember the knive man had only a chart) and you have a bell or a megaphone, and you're crying vegetableeees or shoe rapairs or whatever.
It might be a good idea to make a letterbox drop some days before when you're starting out.

Narz

Thanks, good advice (about the letterbox drop).

Not all LED bulbs are equal, I know there are some decent ones out there, I just don't think they're cheap enough to have much appeal.
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MadScientist · Heavy Crude Joined: May 19, 2004 Posts: 418

Consider a newsletter. You can make money thru advertising (like the local pizza shops for the mentioned apt complex). Since you're putting it together yourself you can give preferential advertising space to your personal products. and hey you can even include some useful PO community strengthening info ( not that id suggest being alarmist).
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Narz

Hmm, that's a fun idea but I don't know if I'd be up to the task. Also I don't have a very good printer here.

Still, a muse-worthy idea. I have a tax-ID code, I could even sell mini-pamphlets about peak oil &/or sustainability and sell them on the streets of New York. I was a vendor for a short time & I didn't make much but my expenses were very low also.
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PrairieMule

Door to Door selling aka "Outside selling" is a rough game. I did this for 2 years selling Ricoh copiers. It does not matter what you are selling, to the majority of people you meet will treat you like selling Herpes. With in a few weeks you should be painfully aware of this little notice.

Before I went into that racket I thought I was hot stuff. Every year I made the top 10% of my company in sales. This meant nothing on the street. The street is a jungle. Have money tucked away and secure ego ready for rejection.
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roccman

Narz

Thanks for the bump, I'm thinking selling to indivuals is a losing game. Selling to businesses would be a much better bet.

I noticed this at a "Freegan" meetup at "Revolution Books" in NYC. They had dozens of compact fluorescents (I thought the place was too bright). They could probably save a couple hundred a month with LEDs. There are tens of thousands of businesses in NY alone under a similar predicament.

That's for the advice Roc but if the grid goes down likely I do to (where I am now, who I'm with, what I'm doing) so I might as well do what I can now within the system so I have other options in the future (like moving to Canada, or my folks place in the boonies, they would never let me move in with them without "making something of myself" in the "conventional world" first). Without money my options are limited, I don't think this is something likely to change anytime soon.
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PrairieMule

Narz

Thanks for the advice! I will watch your recommendation. Smile

I have done some sales before (I was a book vendor for a few weeks, would have kept up but my van broke down & my friend I had helping me out proved irresponsible) but never door to door. I'm sure it's quite a lot of pleasure & pain but it beats working at Costco.
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“Seek simplicity but distrust it”