Here's What You Can Do With $5

By Victor Antonio, Sales Influence 

(I read a great article in Psychology Today (Nov/Dec 2009) which I thought was worth sharing.  The article references studies done by Tina Seelig, author of “”What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20” and “Creativity Rulz”.)

A group of students were challenged to earn money in one weekend with a measly $5.  On the following Monday the students were required to do a three minute presentation on their results. 

Group 1:  One group of students took advantage of what they knew about their environment (i.e., college town).  They knew certain restaurants were highly patronized so it was hard to get a reservation.  So they decided to make reservations for time slots that were high in demand at key hot spots.  Once the reservations were made, the students would then go to the restaurants at the corresponding times and sell their reservations to patrons who were wa iting in line to get in.  

This is isn’t illegal although one could question the moral component of fair play for those who couldn’t afford to buy a reservation and pay for a meal at the expensive restaurant.  Nonetheless, moral dilemma aside, the students raise $200.  Not bad!

Group 2:  Another group was even more clever in their approach to earning money.  Knowing that companies like to get their name and brand in front of their target market (i.e., young college adults), they figured they’d solicit companies who catered to the college demographic.   They then offered these companies an opportunity to bid on having the students do a three minutes presentation about their company in front of the class.   The students would prepare and present the company’s message.  The winning bid?  $650.

As I read this, two often cited quotes came immediately to mind that encapsulates the hidden lessons embedded in these two experiments:

1)   “The opportunity to make money are all around you, all you have to do is see them.”

2)   “It’s not what you do with what you don’t have, it’s what you do with what you DO have that matters.” 

No truer words were ever spoken in the realm of creativity, innovation and opportunity.  

Copyright © 2010 by Victor Antonio.   All rights reserved.  Author, speaker and sales trainer Victor Antonio has a BSEE, MBA and over 20 years of executive sales experience.  This post MAY be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long as the author’s name, website and email address are included as part of the article’s body.  All inquiries, including information on electronic licensing, should be directed to Victor Antonio at info@victorantonio.com.