If you have never tried to panhandle, you cannot understand how difficult it is the first time you step on a median or sidewalk and hold up that sign.

That is why we have created our Panhandling 101 guide so you can feel just like a pro when you get out there with your sign. Follow these tips and you will be raking in cash in no time when you step out to fly a sign!

Getting Into the Right State of Mind

Before you write a sign or anything, it is important to get yourself into the right mindset before you panhandle. You may be hesitant for a number of reasons - you may have at one time loathed panhandlers or are scared to stand out there and be vulnerable to so many people about your situation. It can be embarrassing when you step out there and tell the world that you are homeless, struggling, and need their help to survive.

The stereotype of the panhandler isn’t really a great one, thanks to the lack of public education about homelessness and stories you see on your local news about the house of “fake bums” who all work together to con people out of their cash and make $100,000 a year. Yes, there are lots of con artists out there and you will run into them - and they really suck. There are also mean panhandlers who are territorial of their “corners” and will fight you if you try to encroach on what they think is theirs. But there are also many good people who have fallen on hard times and have no other choice but to hold a sign to get by.

We don’t have to be like the stereotypical panhandler if we set out with intention and we present ourselves better than our peers. But since our society has placed a negative connotation on people who hold signs as “bums” or “beggars”, it will not be easy to just waltz out to the street corner and feel good about what you are doing. There is a bit of mental gymnastics that needs to be done before you can present yourself in a way that people will want to give you money.

Setting Intentions & Goals

Intentions

Understanding why you panhandle serves two purposes. One purpose is that it legitimizes what you are doing in your mind and will allow you to be comfortable with standing out there and holding a sign. The second purpose is that it helps you respond to people who may be suspicious of you. There will be people who don’t believe you are homeless, others who will fear what you will spend the money on, and there will also be hecklers who will scream at you to get a job.

Be honest with yourself and take your why seriously, because everything else fails without understanding your intentions. Your intentions not only motivate you to stand out there and panhandle, but they can also get you into trouble if you are not aware of them. What do I mean by that? If you are trying to make money to feed your drug habit and it looks like you are doing just that, nobody will give you money.

Setting your intention is more than just figuring out what you need money for, it is about setting the stage for your mind to operate effectively. You need to be able to respond and present yourself in a positive light and that is easier when you know what behaviors to avoid and which mannerisms you want to adopt.

Goals

Goal setting differs from intention setting in that you are choosing a specific outcome that you want to achieve from panhandling instead of understanding why you need to panhandle. Setting goals helps motivate you to keep standing out there when you want to quit. It also can give you an idea of how long you need to fly for to earn what you need, which will come in time as you get more experience under your belt. Knowing how long you need is important for a lot reasons - you may share a corner with someone else, live in a climate of extreme heat/cold, or your city may have ordinances about panhandling.

Be reasonable in setting your goal, but don’t sell yourself short. If you need $100 a day to survive, you can definitely achieve that amount. But it does require planning out what it will take to get to $100 and that will depend on a lot of different things. You don’t have to be exact if you aren’t sure how much you need, but try to be somewhat specific in setting a dollar amount rather than saying, “I need money for food”.

Importance of Your Mental State

Do not skimp on getting into the right state of mind - I promise you that skipping this crucial step will result on you giving up after 10 minutes and not making any money. I personally find this step more important than anything else, because if you can’t stand out there and present yourself well because you are ashamed, nervous, or afraid, it won’t matter at all what your sign says or where you stand.

Now that we have a good mindset, we are ready to get into the part of this article that you really came here for - the actual process of choosing a spot and flying a sign.

Choosing a Good Panhandling Spot

Your attitude is good, you know how much you want to make, and you feel good about getting out there with your sign. The only question now is, where in the hell am I going to make money holding a sign? The general rule of thumb is that you want a spot where as many people as possible can see your sign, but there can be some exceptions.

Let’s go ahead and talk about how you go about finding your favorite panhandling spot where you will make lots of money.

Look For Other Panhandlers

Observing where you see other people flying a sign is by far the easiest way to find a spot where you can make good money. If you see a busy intersection by a shopping center with a panhandler on all four traffic medians, is it a good place for you to fly your sign? That answer can vary - yes, there is likely a lot of money coming through that intersection but there are other factors that can affect that money.

I will get to sharing turf with other panhandlers in a more detailed post, but it is important to notice where other panhandlers are because it is likely that they are protective of “their corners”. I always find this part of panhandling hilarious because nobody actually owns any of the property where they fly their sign - the local businesses or state own the property. But you will find that people will fight you for their spot if it comes down to it, so be aware of who is where and when they fly there.

The approach that we take when we are looking for a spot that has people panhandling at is to watch from a distance to see how the traffic is and if they are getting lots of hits. When traffic slows or the person is leaving, approach them and introduce yourself. Be sure to show respect for them and however long they have been flying at that spot - it sounds stupid, but it will go a long way in finding common ground on sharing the spot.

Figure out what time works for you to be there without infringing on the times they like to be there. There’s always enough money to go around for everyone, so this is the much more rational approach than the alternative. I suppose you can go up and fight somebody for a spot, but that is dangerous and can get you in trouble or hurt.

Shopping Centers, Off-Ramps, and Busy Intersections

If you don’t feel like dealing with other panhandlers, another good approach is to research shopping centers near you. Look for places with a Walmart, Lowes, or a lot of places to eat. It is likely that many shops and restaurants clustered together attracts people who have available cash to give away. Find a stop sign where cars exit the shopping center or a median on an intersection by the shopping center where you will face cars leaving from lunch or an afternoon of spending money.

Be sure that you are aware of your local laws and know what property is owned by the local businesses. Some cities and businesses prohibit soliciting and you don’t want to spend time in jail or get run off by a security guard for violating the rules. If you aren’t sure, it sometimes helps to go speak with the business to get permission to panhandle there - it also helps you make a spot “yours” if you can tell somebody that you got permission to be there and they don’t.

We don’t always recommend standing on a busy median because it can be dangerous, but those are often the best places to be seen by the most traffic. Another alternative to flying on medians are to find highway off-ramps where you can camp out with your sign and catch all the traffic that turns off during busy times like in the morning when everyone is going to work or rush hour.

Residential Areas and Churches

If you want to find a hidden gem of a panhandling spot, find somewhere near a rich neighborhood or by a couple churches. If you can find a corner by a rich neighborhood of doctors who generally care about helping others, you may find a goldmine of people who are willing to help you on a regular basis. People who go to church are often some of the most kind people and flying in a spot where people go to church on Wednesdays and Sundays may land you a pocket full of cash.

Be aware that just because you have a rich area or a church nearby, it does not necessarily constitute a good panhandling spot. There are plenty of mean-spirited rich people and certain church goers can be more prejudiced against you if they think you are trying to make money for drugs or if they think you’d be better off getting help from the local shelter. Read your audience by giving it a test run or watch for other panhandlers to see if it is a good spot.

Have More Than One Spot

The final thing I’ll share about finding a good panhandling spot is that you should have more than one spot. Many people make the mistake of obsessing over “their corner” and refuse to fly anywhere else but “their corner”. This can lead to someone “burning a spot”, or making it so nobody wants to give a person money because they see them at that spot all day, every day. It’s one thing to have regulars who help you out, but people will eventually wonder if they are actually helping you or enabling you to just be a bum if you are panhandling in the same spot all the time.

It is also helpful to have more than one spot in case your spot is taken when you step out to fly your sign. If you have found a good spot, I can guarantee that you will not be the only person who will want to panhandle there. Having a few spots allows you to be flexible if somebody is occupying “your corner”.

Making a Good Sign

Some people believe that your sign will make or break the money you earn. While there is some truth that it is important that you have a sign that will make people want to give you money, it is not the most important factor in panhandling. Honestly, it is about how you present yourself to people - sometimes people don’t even read your sign and will give you money.

Since your sign is an important part of panhandling, you should put serious effort and thought into your sign. The following tips should help you in making a good sign.

Know Your Audience

You should always be aware of the people who will read your sign. If you live in the Bible belt, you will have more god-oriented people. If you live on the west coast, you will have more liberal and open-minded people. If you live in a conservative area, you will need to appeal to a crowd who might not be as open to helping you if you have a sign that features dark humor.

For example, one sign that made me a lot of money featured a bible verse from Proverbs and asked for help. It tracked well here in rural North Carolina on Sundays, but it didn’t do so well in more urban areas on a weekday. If you understood the proverb verse was promoting helping the poor, you would understand I was asking for help. From the viewpoint of somebody who doesn’t necessarily study the bible, I would appear to be some type of confused street evangelist who preaches from their sign.

Always know your audience before writing your sign.

Earn Their Money

You’ll often hear that you need to make people laugh, think, or feel bad for you when they read their sign. This advice is true and I believe there are certain exceptions to each situation.

If you are like me, a younger white male who people aren’t likely to feel as bad for (because they think I should be able to just get a job on a whim), you will need to make people think or laugh. I often go for the “make them think” category since I kinda look nerdy and am fairly intellectual. The Tupac sign shown below is the one that I use for making people think - it also works because everybody loves Tupac! I generally don’t try to use a “make them laugh” sign (see example below) because I don’t think it tracks well in a conservative area where people are more serious.

You may be able to make people feel bad for you however, especially if you have a disability or are a woman. In this case, be honest about your situation or share a reason why you are in this situation. For example, if your house burned down in a fire, make a sign that says, “Lost everything when my house burned down in a fire.” You probably will get a lot of help if that happened to you, because you probably do need help.

It is not wrong to make people feel bad for you if you are asking for help - that is if you are telling the truth. There are many panhandlers out there who claim to be homeless but aren’t or claim that they have children and they don’t. I guess at the end of the day you are the one who has to be able to sleep with your own decisions, so do as you will, but I still recommend that you don’t lie to people to get them to help you.

Keep It Short and Simple - And Visible

The final tip for creating your sign comes down to the actual construction of it. You’ll see some panhandlers use cardboard that they pull out of the recycling bin - it works for some people, but I am of the opinion that it looks trashy and it will also fall apart if it begins to rain outside.

You can find a sign that somebody has stuck into the ground that has a blank side, like a political sign or one of those Obamacare signs. You can also purchase poster board from Walmart or the Dollar Tree for really cheap if you have a couple bucks. I recommend a sign you can pull out of the ground because they can endure any kind of weather, are big enough to fit what you need on it, and they tend to stand out better because of the permanent marker on a white background.

When you write your sign, try to use correct grammar and spelling - it does matter. Try to use the best handwriting that you can and make sure you print legibly and space everything out so it is easy to read. Also, keep your sign short and simple - four lines is the perfect length. Long-winded signs tend to get passed by as you only have a few seconds of a person’s attention to convince them to help you.

Remember that all of these recommendations are not going to guarantee that you make money if you follow them. You have to make a sign that works for you and that you feel comfortable flying.

Now that we have made our sign, we can finally get down to the actual flying of our sign and earning of our money!

How to Fly a Sign

I can’t really tell you exactly how to do everything in this section as it will take some experimenting on your own to figure out what works. There are some general actions to take and I have some pointers that will get you going.

Be Presentable

You don’t necessarily have to appear homeless to be homeless - what I mean by that is don’t try to make yourself look extra bummy for the sake of panhandling. I’d actually recommend to make yourself look decent. I’ve seen people panhandling in button downs and jeans or in clean clothes that would make you think they’re not homeless - and sometimes they’re not, but they still seem to do quite well.

Don’t look strung out or hungover. Try to be appear happy, no matter how miserable you are and especially don’t appear angry. Look as friendly and inviting as possible or people will not even think about giving you money. It sounds counterintuitive to appear friendly when you think about seeing a homeless person who is struggling, but you want people to be able to feel safe rolling down their window and giving you money. A nice and friendly demeanor goes a really long ways when flying a sign.

Be Aware of the Traffic Flow

When you get out to your spot, you generally will take a set of actions based on each “pass” of traffic. A pass depends on the traffic flow where you are flying - if you are at an intersection, a pass is each light. If you are at a stop sign, a pass is each passing of a vehicle as they approach the sign, stop, and proceed on their way down the road.

It is important to know the timing of each light or how far cars have to travel to reach the stop sign. This period of time is your opportunity to present you and your sign in a way that will get people to help you. If you know how backed up traffic will get, the temperament of the drivers, how long you can spend flying your sign to each car, and whether you should walk up and down the line of traffic, you will know how to be most effective at getting as many people as possible to read your sign and help you.

Approaching/Greeting Cars

How you approach cars will depend on where you are flying and your style of panhandling. Some people are more passive and will stand at the end of the median or sit outside of a business with their sign by them, possibly waving at cars or maybe even keeping their head down. It depends on the type of interaction you want to have with your potential cash donors.

If you let traffic come to you, it is best to wave when they are about 15-20 yards from you and try to wave in a way that directs attention to your sign. Smile and make eye contact and even talk out loud, saying hello or asking them how their day is going. They may not be able to hear you, but you want it to appear as if you are being friendly but not too invasive.

Avoid putting your sign in people’s windows or over-doing it with your wave and greeting. Nothing will get you yelled at quicker than being really aggressive to somebody who already doesn’t want you there holding a sign in the first place. Avoid staring at somebody in their car for too long as that is sure to make them feel uncomfortable. I also try not to hang out by somebody with their window open and try to pass by open car windows quickly if the person inside is not giving me money.

Subtle but friendly is the key here. You want people to feel like you are a person who is deserving of their money. If you fly on a median with a long line of traffic, it is appropriate to walk down the line of traffic and greet each car as you walk. Try to avoid walking directly towards any passenger’s window or lingering by any car for too long. You will have to feel it out for yourself before you get a hang of your timing.

Thanking People Who Give You Money

This goes without saying, but always try to be grateful whenever somebody rolls down their window and gives you something. Even if it is the 15th pack of granola bars that day, appreciate the fact that the person cares enough to take time out of their day to help you. There are plenty of other people who don’t care or would rather harass you.

Add your own flavor to the way you thank people. I generally say “Thanks, god bless you, have a nice day” in a quick burst of appreciation. Lisa is more friendly and will tell people that she loves them when they give her a large bill or try to learn more about them in that brief period of interaction. Whatever you feel comfortable with, go with that - just be sure to let them know you are grateful for their kindness or people will not want to continue to help you out in the future.

Dealing With Shitty People

It is inevitable that you will deal with some haters when panhandling - it comes with the territory. The most important thing to remember is that these people are usually miserable or dealing with their own shit and whatever they project on you is not fault. Don’t give people the time of day if they feel like rolling down your window and screaming at you to get a job or get the **** off the median.

I personally can struggle with this as I am a stubborn individual. Recently, I had a couple cars pull up on me and start yelling at me aggressively. One didn’t believe that I was homeless and the other started screaming at me to get a ****ing job. I wasted too much air and got myself all worked up when I decided to try and explain to them that I actually am trying to find work and it is hard to get work when you can’t shower and live in a tent - which is the truth. But this just led to a big shouting argument on the median and this didn’t look good to other cars while also angering me in the process and ruining my day.

This experience can be learned from - don’t engage hecklers, critics, or people who may try to solicit you for their own needs. Lisa has to deal with men trying to offer her money to get in their car and do things for them that she doesn’t want to do. If this happens to you, just remind them that what they are offering is illegal, that you don’t do that kind of thing, and walk away. Don’t let them degrade or belittle you - you are an awesome person who matters and people don’t get to treat you like shit just because you are homeless and panhandling.

90% of your interactions while panhandling are either pleasant or there is no interaction at all. But those 10% that suck are what really cause us all anxiety when we fly. Just try to present yourself as best as you can, be friendly, and you can reduce the percentage of shitty people that try to ruin your day.

Safety Precautions

One last thing I want to mention before concluding this guide is that you need to take any safety precautions that you possibly can. I recommend getting a bright colored safety vest, like construction workers wear or cops wear when directing traffic. You want to be as visible as possible to any oncoming traffic so you do not get hit by a car.

Panhandling can be very dangerous, depending on where you fly. We have heard about numerous people who have been killed while crossing the road or even while flying their sign. Always be aware of traffic and look both ways before crossing the road.

We also recommend flying in areas where you feel safe from people who may try to rob you. You should also keep pepper spray on you at all times in case somebody does try to steal your hard earned cash. Be aware of who is around you at all times and don’t flash your money in public.

Conclusion: Just Try to Have Fun!

I have gone over all of the most basic principles of panhandling in pretty good detail. You should be able to get out there and make some money for yourself now by following this guide, but there will still be a lot of experimenting and feeling things out when you get to your spot. The most important part about panhandling is just being out there with your sign - you can’t earn money if you aren’t out there for people to give you money.

We understand how easy it is to get into your own head when you are doing something like panhandling. Perhaps you aren’t making any money today or a particularly nasty heckler got under your skin. Try to take a break if you can or smoke a cigarette and reset yourself and try again. It shows on your face when you are upset and people will not want to give you money if they can see your frustration.

If there is one thing that you should take away from this article, it is to just have fun and be yourself! While panhandling is a very difficult way to make a living, the actual action of it is not that difficult and you get to be outside. I feel like the people who have the most fun with it always seem to make the most money.

Now that you know how to panhandle, it is time for you to put down what you are doing and get out there and make some money! We appreciate you reading our complete guide to panhandling and hope it helps put a little money in your pockets for whatever you need.

Thanks For Reading!

I plan on putting out some more articles that talk about panhandling topics in more detail - topics like sign ideas, learning traffic patterns, and how to handle panhandlers for those who don’t fly a sign. Feel free to contact us with any questions you have or suggestions for a topic you’d like for us to write about.

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