I was once having a very good day in NYC and an art-student-looking guy outside Cooper Union tried to sell me one of his hand-drawn "life maps" - he was holding

I was once having a very good day in NYC and an art-student-looking guy outside Cooper Union tried to sell me one of his hand-drawn "life maps" - he was holding a basket of little paper scrolls tied with shiny ribbons, with colorful lines drawn inside the paper scrolls - for a couple dollars, and it actually worked on me (well, I'd stopped and asked about them because I thought they were free, but he still convinced me to pay for one). People like pretty handmade things with some sort of emotional resonance (note also that I'm a girl socialized to like pretty things). It was a good hustle. There are also people who go to farmer's markets and sell poems written on the spot on typewriters - http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=poem%20store http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=poem%20store - similarly whimsical, handmade, and suitable for impulse purchases for people out on dates or whatever. You could multivariate-test the sign. Also check out the licensing requirements for street vendors if you haven't yet: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dca/html/licenses/094.shtml http://www.nyc.gov/html/dca/html/licenses/094.shtml (to help make sure you know what you're getting into, and also because it has exceptions for artwork and written matter).