I left work early yesterday.  On the train, there were only about six people in my car. During the trip, a man walked into the car and placed a business card with a pen clipped to it on the seat adjacent to each passenger. Without saying a word, the man then left the car and went back to where he came from.

This gave everyone, including me, an opportunity to read the message on the business card. The message said that the man was deaf and was asking for money. As a token of his appreciation he was offering this free pen.

Minutes later, he came back and picked up his items from the individuals who didn’t donate. The man then collected from those who did give him money. Out of the six people in the car two passengers gave him some money. One person decided to keep his pen.  This was a pretty good conversion for the man.

I’m not condoning for anyone to fake a handicap such as being deaf but just wanted to share this example as a reminder to think ‘outside the box’.

Launching an offline advertising campaign with flyers and/or business cards can be one of the best money making ideas for earning active US referrals.  You can promote by posting flyers on public bulletin boards, on cars in parking lots, or handing out business cards at colleges.  There’s not a whole lot of competition out there because it’s not online!