Hello guys
Today I want to talk to you about different ways to make money without having sufficient change…
I thought about it last night, when I paid 7 $ instead of 10 $ for a 2 hour parking spot. The people in LA figured out how to earn as much money as possible from tourists as well as from locals. If I were in their situation, I would definitely do the same. Buy a small piece of land in a well visited zone and get the amount of money you want to charge them.
Back to my example last night..I went to Downtown LA for a basketball game in the Staples Center. Of course it is overrun with people who want to have fun at the game or look at some nice places and festivals around that area..You must see it once- it is a huge complex full of different colored lights and full of attractions. The basketball games especially are a lot of fun and the shows in between made by hip hop dancers or athletes amaze me a lot!
It is packed and for that reason you can find in total more than unbelievable 16.000 !!! parking spots around the Staples..If you wanna park right in front its 30 $, a bit further 20, and then 10..if you do it smart and try to connect with the parking advisor you have the chance to even pay less since he wants you to come back and recommend him 😀
The same happens in Malibu, Venice and all well visited zones.. Another smart way is to pay the right to give parking fees to people parked in the wrong way.. those organizations are allowed to make the people pay up to 80$.. same system for cameras at the traffic lights which can make you pay 500$ And of course 1000$ for littering (unbelievable right..but definitely good waste management)
Alright, I guess this was enough of the nasty Fees..
Now I will go on with the good way of getting money. Last weekend I went to Venice Beach which is loaded with artists, creative people, musicians, painters, tourists, locals and homeless – basically any kind of crowd If you walk down you can buy paintings, jewelry, skateboards, food, road signs saying LA, old skateboards painted with beautiful colors, bags , backpacks, clothes…….. Lots of that stuff is local produce by the artists themselves.
I had some good talk to some African people and Mohamed explained me the system:
They moved here 10 years ago and were one of the first selling their hand-made stuff to the crowd. Pretty impressive; they sold hand-made backpacks and old Skateboards painted with beach and Los Angeles features. Very soon other people found out how that business works and kept on inventing new things. There are also some dancing or taking money for their dressed up animals or even for themselves dressed up…
it is just CRAZY and perfect for everybody who is inventive and does not have home and sufficient change. It impressed me a lot, how creative those people are and how they built up their own small businesses with nothing in their hands.. and I can tell you; they are really successful by now.. you can find beautiful, alternative and all kinds of things at Venice Beach; believe me- you will spend that money also because you get something particular what not everybody has. I am so happy for those people and also happy for Venice Beach; the locals get their daily feed and the tourists a nice individual souvenir of LA.