This hot dog vendor training session covered the following issues:

• City Says No To Vendors – The Institute For Justice Can Help PDF
• Ron Shares Some Tips On Lighting Up Your Hot Dog Cart At Night
• Catering For A Small Crowd – Is it worth it?
• Do I need to copyright, patent, trademark my business intellectual property?
• Swooper Flags Doubling One Vendors Money
• Gloving Up – Don't You Dare Dig In The Trash

Lighting Up On A Budget

Hands On Street Food Vendor and Hot Dog Vendor Training
Vendor Training

Sit back and relax

Do to my error, the last newsletter went out a day late. Not such a big deal had it not been for the announcement of the Live Radio Broadcast we did. Almost 200 tuned in and some from across the seas. But unfortunately many others wanted to listen live and for that, I do apologize and hope that you can make the new one, this Tuesday night.

The response was wonderful, after the broadcast I received emails and phone calls from fellow vendors wanting more. Well guess what? We went ahead and splurged, bought a contract with BlogTalk and now we can do shows at better times and even longer shows. Thirty minutes was not quite long enough. Our guest host Rob joined us live, from his cart. Yup, he was actually slinging dogs while he shared some great information for us vendors but due to all the info he was sharing, time flew by and we ran out of time.

Some callers held on the line for the entire show and I was only able to take one call in. This Tuesday – I promise to do better. You can join us by clicking here or down at the bottom.

Now for some, this may rub you the wrong way, but after I received a few emails from others, I have thought about it and agree for the most part with those who called my attention to it. Hopefully you would agree. If not, please feel free to comment below. Different opinions are enlightening and bring about better conditions and understanding.

“Ben… over 45 different sites exist – just on facebook” What “John” is talking about is the amount of hot dog vendor sites. I was surprised to find that many, some I’ve known about for awhile; but there are blocked, private and open sites all over Facebook. I think it’s wonderful that so many people are gathering and sharing information with one another. What doesn’t make sense is that one group will attract vendors and for reasons unknown to me, someone will think; “I’m going to start a group”.

Now don’t get me wrong, a few groups may be required to keep the peace. I have seen 4 different groups implode due to egotistical psychopaths. There are always going to be differing opinions, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all share together in one place. Much of what is discussed could help us all. As the past year has shown though, quite a few have broken off and started their own little groups, often at the detriment of others. What’s even more disconcerting is that then they will begin some sort of backhanded attempt at gaining new members by sending private messages and even joining them automatically.
Let’s say for example; there’s a group of vendors on facebook. The group admins have paid to advertise to gain many of these members. Everything is going fine and one member decides to start his own group. He starts inviting others from the current group. At the very least, even if you don’t consider this act dishonest, it hurts the whole group. Comments once posted in one group now are posted between two. Some vendors like Lynn, states that it’s too much of a headache to keep up with multiple groups.

The results hurt all groups, but the dishonest tactics should not be ignored. There is a group in Florida that started, they were doing fine, they advertised, they even ran pay per click ads on Google. They invested their money to gain more and more members. Then a couple of the members decided, hey, look, here’s some free members. Let’s invite them to our new group. Mind you that these two people would have not even known these other vendors had it not been for those that spent their hard earned dollars obtaining them.

Keep in mind, these facebook groups don’t make money. They are there for the greater good of all. So why on earth would someone ruin or hurt one group? I don’t get it. I’m not completely blameless, I currently am listed on about 9 different groups. I’m not here to tell you what to do or what group to join, but for me, I will focus on one group to make it the best it can be.

Tuesday night, the 17th of January, we are hosting the 2nd of many shows to come. Thanks to the many that requested a longer show, this upcoming show is schedule for 1 and 1/2 hours. Wooooooo Hoooooo! We have a special co-host, we’re going to take live calls and answer vendor questions and there’s a new format. Don’t want to talk, chat with other vendors on the chat box.

Please join us. It’s easy, doesn’t cost a dime and you can call in to listen, listen online or a mobile device. It’s going to be fun and maybe, just maybe, we will all learn a thing or two. Click Here ———————————->

I know this has been a very long blog entry, but I thank you for reading, I thank you for supporting me and for encouraging me to continue. I love helping others and listening to all the success stories.

For those of you that don’t know yet: Just above are several links in the header. Check ’em out, we are hoping to increase the used cart listings and are already hearing great things about the 1 on 1 training.

Ron shared with me his tips for lighting.

Hi, Ben!

Every now and then, the subject of vending at night comes up; this is my answer to it.

I built an aluminum and corrugated tin roof for a funky Caribbean/tropical type look for starters and wrapped it with tiny white Christmas tree lights.  I wracked my brain for something to use as down-lights but the ideas just weren't coming.  Low voltage outdoor lights were way too expensive at $25-$35 each, halogen had it's own problems with being too hot, too fragile and, again, too expensive at around $5 for a replacement bulb which I could see lots of in my future.  Finally, it hit me:  I went to U-Haul and they ordered some dome lights for me that they use in the in the cargo area of the trucks.  What could be tougher than that?  The fixtures with bayonet type bulbs already in them were $5 each.  They initially wanted $9.98 each but quickly relented on the price, bless their hearts.

Now, I have about 9 1/2 feet of roof with eight down-lights coming off a deep cycle battery that lights both the customer side and service side with no shadows .  Total cost including materials for both the roof and lighting was about $250.  A smaller cart would, of course, have a smaller cost.

With winter looming, it would be a great time to start a project for next season.  If anyone would be interested in doing something like this, they can just drop a note and I'd be happy to help out in any way I can.

As always, love the show, tips & tricks, and especially the inspiration from so many doggers who are beating their brains out but don't understand the words ‘quit' or ‘can't' and are succeeding in spite of it all.  Without the show, I never would have dreamed that a dogger could have half the set-up floating down a river, for example, and keep plugging away.  Anything less than that and I figure I'm doing okay!

Have a great day!

The One Big Thing Event

In less than 30 days, I will be holding an Exclusive Online Event.  This event, sponsored by BensCarts.com is going to show you how to make up to $1400 daily with your hot dog cart.  It's not going to be for everyone, but mark my words, ANYONE can do it!

Hot Dog Mafia Members get in free but need to sign up by going clicking here, checking out for free and registering for the event.  Be sure to follow the on screen instructions.

Want to know more?  Click Here First and Learn All About It

Still Don't Have A Website?

It's time.  Stop procrastinating and get it done.  If you have a business and want to portray professionalism and you want to grow, then you need a website.  You can have a sexy website for less than $7 bucks a month.  Come on!

CLICK HERE TO SIGNUP FOR BLUEHOST.COM

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Recently I have changed them a bit.  I'm going to be sending out plain text emails and avoid all the pretty graphics and pictures.  This will mean they load faster and don't bog down your phone or computer memory.

Newsletter subscribers get more!  For example:  This year the winner of the Brand New Big Dog Hot Dog Cart is picked at random from the newsletter subscriber list.

So not only do you get free hot dog vendor training, you get a chance to win a brand new big dog hot dog cart.

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Street Food Vendor TV #013