This marks the conclusion of my second day selling subscriptions for the Denver Newspaper Agency. Though I sold less subscriptions today (7) than yesterday (9), I made more money this time. This due to the fact that 3 of the orders I sold today were for 7-day subscriptions instead of all weekend only orders today. Since I'm under 25, no bonuses for me this week though. :(

According to my calculations, assuming no nasty chargebacks, that puts my pre-tax take for the past 2 days at $246. By newspaper standards, it was a lousy weekend, due to multiple factors (chiefly: my newbieness, and slow business in stores due to very good weather outside). In terms of average hourly earning, it still beats deli pay by a small margin.

I got a surprise visit from our sales manager early in the afternoon. When he asked how I was doing, I said crappy. I had only sold 3 orders for the day so far, all of which were only weekend subscriptions. There had been a couple of people this morning that really should have been sales. They were very interested, but hesitant to sign up on the spot. ("I'll think about it while I wander through the store, and meet you on my way out." 90% of the time, you never see them again.) Had I handled those better, I'm almost certain they would have signed up.

He gave me several tips on improving my presentation, as well as my display arrangement. He did some demonstrations of the ideal performance. I did my best to learn this. After he left, during the course of the afternoon, I sold three 7-day subscriptions. I get $30 for each of those. Much better.

I've decided I like our regional sales manager. Not put off at all by my glum report for the morning, he came back with a strong dose of encouragement, good humor, and lots of helpful advise. "You've definitely got the enthusiasm and drive for it, so that's not a problem in your case. Just keep practicing the greeting, presentation, and the assumptive close. And don't get discouraged if you try it a few times and people don't go for it. Even for those who are experienced, it only works on 2 or 3 out of 10. Just keep going for it."

I'll get to take another crack on Friday. Strangely, despite the fact that I'm beat and worn out from the past 2 days, I find myself looking forward to the challenge. (Next weekend, I'll have 2.5 days in which to aim for a total of 25 orders, which would get me the first level bonus. More time, and hopefully busier stores.)

Meanwhile, tomorrow promises to be fun filled and action packed. I'll be going to the office to turn in my orders in the morning. (Normally, I'd have done it tonight on my way home, but they want new people to be there when they are count them the first time to make sure we got everything right.)

Then, tomorrow afternoon, I head to the deli for a shift there. Work, work, work. Ditto for Tuesday. (I'll also be able to tell my coworkers how I did at the newspaper gig, some of whom are rumored to be rooting for me to hate the new job, so I'll keep working with them. Hearing that on Friday gave me the warm fuzzies. It's always nice to feel wanted.)

(OTOH, in the back of my mind I'm slightly concerned that if I do too well, there's a chance I might draw some followers. Though I would be happy for my copatriots to share in any good fortune to be had, I suspect that if that were to happen, I might earn the eternal hatred of the deli manager for stealing her crew. Since she's been very nice to me throughout, I'd rather not be in that position. Tricky and potentially awkward. But we can worry about that if and when the time comes.)

Maybe it's good that I'm doing only marginally well at this so far.

On Wednesday, I'll be taking Tobias into the shop for the oil change and wheel alignment. I wanted to get it done last week, but Stan's was all booked last week, so I had to settle for next Wednesday. My car will thank me.

Thursday, I have a sales meeting in the evening. Starting this week, they're moving the weekly meeting to every Thursday night. I find this slightly annoying, since it precludes me from ever attending BLUG again in the foreseeable future. OTOH, it means I won't have to get up Friday morning unless I work a store. It also means that any weekday orders can be turned in at the same time as the meeting, instead of requiring those people to make 2 trips. So it is not without reason. Oh well.

Busy, busy, busy.

Should this newspaper gig prove conclusively worthwhile that I decide to sever my employment at the deli completely, I contemplate what I will do during the off-time each week. (Although people can work more days if they like, it's typically a Friday-Sunday workweek.) Aside from bumming around, watching movies, and zoning out, there might just be some uses for those Monday-Thursday double length pseudo-weekends.

My dad usually uses that time to pursue his other "business ventures." (Don't go there.)

But me? The thought occurs that it might be cool if I could actually implement a long-held idea that I might setup some sort of "freelance consulting" business, where I could put my core skills to use. (Occassional work on everyone's favorite hosting company is a start, but there's hardly enough work there (er.. maybe the correct word is budget) to fuel my lofty ambitions.)

The thought also occurs that I might eventually do more of this "school" thing. The schedule at this new job could potentially be highly compatible with taking a few weekly classes. Provided I get good at it (please, please), I might also be able to pay for such endeavors without sinking into the swamp of debt. Not full-time student though. 12-hour/day weekends + too many classes + homework galore sounds like a formula for burnout. Gotta moderate.

Then again, I could just do what I do best: Veg out in front of the computer / dvd player for hours on end every day.

Blah. I'm probably getting a bit ahead of myself. I don't want to be too optimistic about this whole thing. So far, it's just making me about the same wages I currently earn in food service. When I start making the kind of weekly pay I was getting back in my software engineering days while working only 3 days a week at this, then it will be time to start the real celebrations. (Pray for those bonuses.)

Etc etc etc long-term-life-goals etc etc etc blah blah blah.

Final tabulation of orders and sleep will be required.

(But, as another should-be-noted item: Though I'm kind of excited about the challenge as well as the potential for better money in this newspaper job, I don't consider it a long term career solution any more than I did the deli work. Like the deli, it's a way to get by for a while during the sucky economy, and while I sort out where I want the rest of my future to go.)

From the hilarious department... Everyone has probably seen this on slashdot already. But just in case, Gollum's Acceptance Speech takes the cake. Rolling on the floor funny.

That's all I've got for tonight. Best wishes to all.