I had this idea a few months ago, but since I have not implemented it I thought I would share it. We have a problem and we need to fix it.
The idea
When walking around London, I often saw the homeless asking for money but being ignored. Using my understanding of marketing, I realised people work on a value exchange basis. As in; I help you, you help me. Because. The homeless do not have much or anything to give, people are more reluctant to give them money
So I thought “what value could they give since they may not have much” to incentivise more giving. Then I realised they must have knowledge of the immediate area since that’s where they stay. This could be useful for tourists or pedestrians like me, who often get lost in busy London.
How I think it can work
- There’s a map in front of where sleeping/staying, so people get the impression of “He might be able to help us, to where we are going”.
- Homeless persons give directions (it’s more than likely they will be stationary)
- Right next to the map, there can be a pot if someone wants to give money in exchange for “the value” that’s been traded. (It’s not mandatory).
Hope
I think people will give if they are gaining something. I’m trying to reverse engineer human psychology.
It’s good to be useful, it’s good to be in a position to use your skills. We have all value something to give regardless of what it is or who you are. This could increase interactions. An interaction can lead to anything, build empathy and even possibly a long term job opportunity.
“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”
Update: Good example of something like this working
If you’re interested in pursuing this idea, that would be awesome;
Tweet me: @Samworldpeace, Email me: samuel.gordon.m@gmail.com
