The art of begging
I remember reading an article done by a team of psychologists a few years ago. They set up two control groups for the study. One group dressed like regular bums, all stanky and ghetto. The other group dressed in nice business suits. Both groups had to beg for money near a bus stop. Guess who ended up getting more people to give them money? The business suits….obviously. Even before i read the results, i knew which group would get more money. I just imagined who i would rather hand my dollar bills to.
If you’re approached by a stanky homeless person for some money, you’ll probably say you don’t have change and walk away. Generally speaking, most people look the other way. That’s because we can’t relate to the homeless person. We think they’ll buy drugs or waste that money on alcohol. They smell and it’s kind of threathening. It seems like they are always begging for money. Very routine. I’ve bought extra hamburgers at Mcdonalds and given it to homeless people standing outside, but i rarely give them money. I guess i think it’ll go to drugs or something. I shouldn’t think that way, but for some reason i do.
On the other hand, if a well groomed person in a business suit asks for some bus fair, i’ll probably hand him some change. Probably because i can relate. I’ve been in situations where i don’t have any cash on me. They look like they have jobs and usually don’t go around begging for money. They are non threatening. etc.
The point i’m trying to make is this. Bloggers asking for money should consider the case study i mentioned above. Are you always begging for donations on your blog? Does your blog appear ghetto? Is your blog stanky? Are you begging for ad sales? If it is, you probably already noticed that visitors don’t donate or buy any ads from you. But if you’re blog seems clean cut, and you show them your traffic and stats, visitors might be inclined to purchase ads from you. Non threatening, logical, no pressure. It’s a selling game. Make sure you approach your advertisers with a non stanky vibe or you’re just wasting your time. Ask yourself if you would advertise on your blog.
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BloggerNoob is all about
January 17th, 2008 at 12:58 am
Hallo! Good! From now on if I really do beg for money in real life I will dress in my Sunday best! About blogger begging for money & ads I still don’t know how to do it! Perhaps u can post up on this??? It will be my honour to learn from a master blogger like u. Tq in advance for all ur advice & suggestion! Have a nice day!
January 17th, 2008 at 1:07 am
Another great post, ‘noob’
Together with begging, the fact of being polite and nice to people makes a huge difference when offering ads/blog posts/whatever. I’ve noticed that, not only online, sometimes people are not just buying the product, but the good talk too, so being nice is a very important thing I guess
January 17th, 2008 at 3:42 am
I will try to make my site as non “stanky” as possible to get some link sales on me blog, Noob. I sure hope I’m not stanky.
Justin Dupre
January 17th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Since I have a B.S. in psychology…let me translate. The secret to begging (and making) money is to look like you don’t really need it.
January 17th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
“Make sure you approach your advertisers with a non stanky vibe..”
I just wanted to say you cracked me up today Noob
I needed a good laugh.
January 19th, 2008 at 1:30 am
hornyangmoh- master? no way. i’ll try posting some begging tactics in the future.
killian- yeah it’s all about being nonthreatening and being less aggressive. be nice and polite. let them choose.
January 19th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
justin dupre- ur stanky…but your blog is isn’t. lol
sunny- exactly. like when u go to vegas. if you roll like a balla, they give u free stuff. but if you look poor, you have to pay for everything.
julie- i’ll be here all month julie. two drinks min
January 20th, 2008 at 9:30 am
[...] Art Of Begging [...]
January 21st, 2008 at 5:12 am
That is interesting. I really thought more people would give to the homeless - I certainly would. But then again, I’d give to someone in a suit who didn’t have their busfare too. I guess I’m just a soft touch.
But, I’ll keep your points in mind when I’m redesigning my blog.
January 21st, 2008 at 7:41 am
catherine- you have a kind heart. best way to sell something is by, not selling it. huh?
September 13th, 2008 at 11:05 am
I am begging right now for money!! look at my website and see how it is done. http://www.moneyhelpsout.com
November 2nd, 2008 at 3:03 am
Thank you for your site
I made on photoshop backgrounds for myspace,youtube and more
my backgrounds:http://tinyurl.com/6r7cav
take care and thank you again!