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Abstract

is analysis, I discovered something.</p><p id="09db">Amongst the dozens of homeless people I came across, some were having a disproportionate amount more success than the majority. Those that were having the most success were absolute grafters.</p><p id="9f7c">They all seemed to have their own USP that attracted an audience through thinking outside the box and creating value in some way. Gone are the days where you can just shout “any spare change mate” sporadically to get enough to survive.</p><p id="03b5">Here are 4 examples of techniques the thriving homeless people utilized to stand out from the crowd and get that much-needed attention:</p><h2 id="ac16">1. Performing to attract an audience</h2><p id="6239">I was making my way to get some lunch when I heard some loud music echoing in the distance. I could see a crowd forming. I thought there must have been a celeb making an impromptu performance there were that many people gathering. What I came across was something surprising but also very inspiring.</p><p id="e8ab">There was a homeless guy with massive speakers who was busting some crazy breakdancing moves. He was by no means a schooled dancer and a lot of his moves seemed to be slightly offbeat and improvised, but it was thoroughly entertaining. The crowds came in their numbers and generously hand over their hard-earned. I genuinely think he made more money than I did at work that day. And to be honest, I think he deserved to. He was doing something a bit edgy, finding his niche and really giving it a go. Everyone does love a trier after all.</p><h2 id="146d">2. Enticing Animal lovers with a cute companion</h2><p id="80d4">Another guy was able to pull on the heartstrings of passers-by in order to get them to stop and take notice. One thing that we Brits are a sucker for is animals. He had the cutest dog that was enticing people from all walks of life. Girls were particularly loving it, asking what the dog’s name was and giving it a stroke. There is something infectious about animals. People were again giving generously. They seemed more concerned about the well-being of the animal than the homeless guy. This guy had found his position in the marketplace and executed it to great effect.</p><h2 id="0e04">3. Handing out free magazines with a smile and building repour with passersby</h2><p id="309d">So what if you are homeless, with no crazy dance moves and no pets to draw in the punters? Does this give you the license to sit around feeling sorry for yourself?</p><p id="cbca">Well, this was not the case for our third homeless person in question. He was using his gig of handing out free magazines to create a relationship with future clients. Handing out papers with a smile & building repour with passers-by and allowing people to get to know his story. I think he must have got most of his donations through repeat customers. He was on a first-name basis with a lot of them. He could have just handed out the magazine half-heartedly and gone about his day. Instead, he used thi

Options

s as an opportunity to do some prospecting and turned many into leads that created repeat business. This guy clearly had the gift of the gab and was a great people’s person so used his natural skills to full effect. We all have our natural skills, and it shows no matter what environment you are in, it is best to put your God-given talents to good use.</p><h2 id="7cb5">4. Using a contactless payment card reader for better customer experience</h2><p id="1008">A more introverted homeless man, who may not have the star quality as the breakdancer and the magazine distributor was able to think outside the box and offer a more convenient, viable option for our oh so busy city amblers.</p><p id="bf82">He spotted a gap in the market. As we have mostly transitioned to a cashless society, everything is mostly card payment. To negate this, this homeless person was able to acquire a card reader that had a contactless payment option. So now, the “sorry I haven’t got any change” excuse was no longer valid. He had gone above and beyond to make it convenient for everyone to make a donation. Great customer service and overall seamless user experience.</p><p id="bcde">I regret that I didn’t ask him where he got that machine from. I imagine he must have invested prior earnings into this and may have had a few tough nights as a result. But I can’t help thinking, whatever he paid was surely a great return on investment.</p><h2 id="ef2c">Final Thoughts</h2><p id="2a18">I have learned a lot from observing the homeless people of London. I think the streets are the epitome of all areas in our ever-distant society. More competition in all environments means it is more important than ever to do something a bit different to stand out. In our current society, attention is paramount. Whatever you do, no one gets a free ride.</p><p id="dd42">It was truly inspiring to see these homeless people using initiative and thinking differently to gain attention. These ideas may not have been completely protected and of course, you did get copycats. New dancers emerging on the streets, more chatty magazine distributors, and more homeless people with dogs & card readers.</p><p id="1429">It just goes to show, establishing a customer base is important, but over time you need to keep evolving & improving your craft to stay ahead.</p><p id="a7db">A final thought I had was about how much work and value these homeless people brought to the table and how they had more to offer than most people who I had worked with at large companies. What do most of us office workers do really? Sit in an office all day, doing things that aren’t even that important. Attending meetings that are a complete waste of time. How much value is each person actually providing?</p><h2 id="d79d">What you can do</h2><p id="cb96">As attention is so important today, I think it is important you take time to put your phone down, take out your headphones and give people your full attention. You never know what you might be missing.</p></article></body>

Sad Truths

Why Even Homeless People Need a USP in Our Desensitized Society?

Forget Bitcoin. Attention is our new currency

We are living in a time like never before. This is the distraction era, where opportunities are endless and attention spans are non-existent. Ghosting would have been considered extremely rude at any other time in society. Now it is widely accepted as just a part of life. Many people have become immune to feeling bad for others. There is so much going on, there is simply no time to care about other people anymore. Attention is a limited resource after all and can only stretch so far.

In today’s society where attention is our new currency, people need to do whatever they can to grab and keep other people’s interest. Just look at the shameless influencer. Many will say and do anything to shock and upset as they know it is good for views. They appreciate the value of attention. At all costs.

With the rise of the internet celebrity and social media, even our kids know the benefit of getting views, likes, and social shoutouts from successful strangers. This has gone so far that the influencer is even influencing what kids want to be when they grow up. Sadly, kids don’t even dream of being spacemen anymore. A survey conducted by Lego showed that kids aged 8–12 in the US and UK were three times as likely to want to be YouTubers or vloggers than astronauts. Launching into space used to be an unrealistic dream for the daydreaming child. Now it’s merely an old billionaires game. Elon and Jeff have their heads in the clouds but are clearly not down with the kids.

Homeless people need attention more than ever to survive and thrive

What is most upsetting is that this need for attention seems to be hitting all areas of society.

I was making my way into London the other day and as I got off the tube I noticed how many more homeless people there were in London than I had ever seen before. I could see how little attention most were getting, as they asked everyone walking by for a helping hand. As most busy people haven’t got the attention span or ‘time’ to reply to a text anymore, the likelihood of them giving away money was extremely minuscule.

I started to think about homelessness more on my daily commute to work. In the midst of this analysis, I discovered something.

Amongst the dozens of homeless people I came across, some were having a disproportionate amount more success than the majority. Those that were having the most success were absolute grafters.

They all seemed to have their own USP that attracted an audience through thinking outside the box and creating value in some way. Gone are the days where you can just shout “any spare change mate” sporadically to get enough to survive.

Here are 4 examples of techniques the thriving homeless people utilized to stand out from the crowd and get that much-needed attention:

1. Performing to attract an audience

I was making my way to get some lunch when I heard some loud music echoing in the distance. I could see a crowd forming. I thought there must have been a celeb making an impromptu performance there were that many people gathering. What I came across was something surprising but also very inspiring.

There was a homeless guy with massive speakers who was busting some crazy breakdancing moves. He was by no means a schooled dancer and a lot of his moves seemed to be slightly offbeat and improvised, but it was thoroughly entertaining. The crowds came in their numbers and generously hand over their hard-earned. I genuinely think he made more money than I did at work that day. And to be honest, I think he deserved to. He was doing something a bit edgy, finding his niche and really giving it a go. Everyone does love a trier after all.

2. Enticing Animal lovers with a cute companion

Another guy was able to pull on the heartstrings of passers-by in order to get them to stop and take notice. One thing that we Brits are a sucker for is animals. He had the cutest dog that was enticing people from all walks of life. Girls were particularly loving it, asking what the dog’s name was and giving it a stroke. There is something infectious about animals. People were again giving generously. They seemed more concerned about the well-being of the animal than the homeless guy. This guy had found his position in the marketplace and executed it to great effect.

3. Handing out free magazines with a smile and building repour with passersby

So what if you are homeless, with no crazy dance moves and no pets to draw in the punters? Does this give you the license to sit around feeling sorry for yourself?

Well, this was not the case for our third homeless person in question. He was using his gig of handing out free magazines to create a relationship with future clients. Handing out papers with a smile & building repour with passers-by and allowing people to get to know his story. I think he must have got most of his donations through repeat customers. He was on a first-name basis with a lot of them. He could have just handed out the magazine half-heartedly and gone about his day. Instead, he used this as an opportunity to do some prospecting and turned many into leads that created repeat business. This guy clearly had the gift of the gab and was a great people’s person so used his natural skills to full effect. We all have our natural skills, and it shows no matter what environment you are in, it is best to put your God-given talents to good use.

4. Using a contactless payment card reader for better customer experience

A more introverted homeless man, who may not have the star quality as the breakdancer and the magazine distributor was able to think outside the box and offer a more convenient, viable option for our oh so busy city amblers.

He spotted a gap in the market. As we have mostly transitioned to a cashless society, everything is mostly card payment. To negate this, this homeless person was able to acquire a card reader that had a contactless payment option. So now, the “sorry I haven’t got any change” excuse was no longer valid. He had gone above and beyond to make it convenient for everyone to make a donation. Great customer service and overall seamless user experience.

I regret that I didn’t ask him where he got that machine from. I imagine he must have invested prior earnings into this and may have had a few tough nights as a result. But I can’t help thinking, whatever he paid was surely a great return on investment.

Final Thoughts

I have learned a lot from observing the homeless people of London. I think the streets are the epitome of all areas in our ever-distant society. More competition in all environments means it is more important than ever to do something a bit different to stand out. In our current society, attention is paramount. Whatever you do, no one gets a free ride.

It was truly inspiring to see these homeless people using initiative and thinking differently to gain attention. These ideas may not have been completely protected and of course, you did get copycats. New dancers emerging on the streets, more chatty magazine distributors, and more homeless people with dogs & card readers.

It just goes to show, establishing a customer base is important, but over time you need to keep evolving & improving your craft to stay ahead.

A final thought I had was about how much work and value these homeless people brought to the table and how they had more to offer than most people who I had worked with at large companies. What do most of us office workers do really? Sit in an office all day, doing things that aren’t even that important. Attending meetings that are a complete waste of time. How much value is each person actually providing?

What you can do

As attention is so important today, I think it is important you take time to put your phone down, take out your headphones and give people your full attention. You never know what you might be missing.