You’ve seen them, spinning those huge signs on the corner of a busy street.

Some are really very entertaining, dancing and performing while others, well…just spin the sign.

If you’re anything like me, I bet you have even felt sorry for them, especially when they are out in the hot sun or cold weather.

Coming home from grocery shopping this week I saw a spinner for Little Caesars’. He was spinning a sign that was shaped as a guitar of all things which may have been because we are in the Music City area (Nashville, TN), but whatever the idea was it was a creative display. As I passed the guy listening to his iPod and acting like he was playing that guitar sign, I began to ponder the ‘sign spinners’ and add up a few things I have come to realize about these hearty souls that quite frankly, made me take a second look at them and made me size them up a bit differently.

One thing I realized was this is not a job for the faint at heart. It takes a pretty special person to stand out there in the open as cars race by stuffed with people whom you may know and plenty of those you don’t.

You gotta be able to handle the fact some of those faces blurring by are giving you looks filled with judgments, some flat out laughing at you and making fun of you and others clearly giving you looks of pity or ignoring you all together.

You also have to be a person who is not led by their pride or overly concerned about what others think. Add to that, you have to be a hard worker. Try standing out there for hours on end holding, moving and spinning an over-sized piece of cardboard or whatever it’s made of!

And here’s the kicker…I’ve noticed most all of them are young people…out there hustling and working for a living. Most of these jobs pay a measly $7.50 to high end $10 bucks an hour but despite the low pay these ambitious young people are out there gracing our corners with signs that their employers are sure will bring herds of customers rushing in to spend their money (I’ll address this in a minute).

I came across an actual ad on Craigslist today for a sign spinner. Check it out…

ABC Computer Minus is looking for multiple sign holders/movers (as in moving around, standing up and rotating/flipping a sign) for the following dates and times: Friday-Sun, Aug 7-9, hours and shifts will vary from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. on Friday, 8 a.m.- 8 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sunday @ $7.50 an hr. Come by the store to fill out an application between now and Friday, July 31 between the hours of 10 a.m.-8 p.m. This is a temporary position for the dates listed above. Energy, crazy wigs and bright clothing are a must! No phone calls. Only in-person applications will be considered. Easy money!
Compensation: $7.50 hr.

See what I mean.  Wigs? Bright clothing? Oh yeah…that’ll bring us in to buy!

Anyway, back to my point. As I said at the beginning of my conversation on this topic, I think the sign spinner type of person is actually the kind of employee many businesses should be looking for.

They are young, ambitious; roll-up their sleeves kind of people who are not afraid of hard work and doing what it takes for the job. Notice I didn’t say make a living because truthfully anyone having to accept these kinds of wage is NOT making a living.

In my opinion, I think it’s time businesses take a second look at their old model hiring standards and systems which have long been widely used.

Why? Because many times those systems are broken when it comes to helping a business get the best type of candidate for the job. Those systems are built to lock a company into same-minded type people and skill sets and it basically discourages hiring ‘mold breakers’ whom every business needs a few at least on their team to compete in this new business era.

Just as the landscape of 21^st century business has changed drastically, so has today’s workforce needs. Businesses willing to hire outside of their industry types and requirements will have the added advantage of bringing in fresh new thinking and ‘creatives’ which every business needs today.

I’ll give you an example of what I mean. I have personally seen many companies post jobs in the digital marketing field of which I have been working in for over 13 years now and they almost always insist on an individual who has a degree in marketing. I’m not knocking a person who has a degree but the digital media and marketing world has not been around long and it’s ever changing. In addition, marketing online is very different and always evolving compared to offline methods.

The person who has hands-on, real time business experience in this sector is most likely a person who has been involved in it from the beginning and you will not find many of those folk’s with degrees in digital marketing or media. But they are worth their weight in gold because they have knowledge that is only found at the grassroots level. And just for the record, I’m not saying these folks are uneducated. I’m saying they are the early adapters who jumped in and have been apart of pioneering what we now call the online world. They have grown up with the digital business scene and this is an advantage that cannot be learned from books.

In summary, Spinners are Winners!

Oh, as for those businesses that are using the sign spinner approach as a way to market their products and services…I would have to say the majority of you are not only out of touch with your customer…you are also exhibiting tactics of the desperate. Waving shiny bright things to lure the dumb customer in, really?

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