How To Persuade Your Friends To Help You Move

By Tamiera Vandegrift on May 29, 2016

There’s only one thing that sucks more than having to move out of your dorm or apartment, and that’s having to move out of your dorm or apartment all by yourself.

It pays to have a band of trustworthy, reliable friends that are willing to be available to help you at any time. However, even the most reliable friends deserve a little extra incentive when it comes to helping you move.

Read on to find out some of the best incentives to encourage people to help you move.

Image via: http://www.ponyexpressmoving.com

Keep the atmosphere light.

As we all know, moving sucks. It’s a laborious task that typically takes an entire day and will leave all of you exhausted by the end.

Your best bet is to create an atmosphere for your friends that won’t be so foreboding. Offer to buy pizzas and maybe even a few “adult beverages” (if you’re of legal age!). Don’t present your moving day as simply a “moving day.” Offer to make it fun and enjoyable to lighten the load. No pun intended.

If your friends know that helping you move is going to mean free food and an unusually enjoyable moving day, they’ll be more likely to want to sacrifice their hard-earned free time to help you out. After all, the more enjoyable the move is expected to be, the more people who will want to be part of it.

So kick up your Spotify party playlist, order a couple of large pizzas, mix up some cocktails, and prepare yourself for an epic moving day shindig!

(Psst … Spotify offers a plethora of fun playlists that are suitable for any mood or event. Use this to your advantage to keep the moving party going.)

Food, food, food.

Image via: www.pexels.com

There is no better commodity in a collegiate atmosphere than the promise of free food. Everyone has those friends who are willing to literally forsake their convictions for a free slice of pizza or a Publix sub. Don’t believe me? Go to one of your RA’s floor meetings or a public information session for an organization on campus. If one of those meetings involves the promise of free food, you can expect the amount of attendees to be tripled.

If you feed these students in exchange for their services, more often than not they’ll be more than willing to do whatever labor is required of them with a smile on their face.

Some ideas for culinary incentive include pizza, baked goodies, easy-to-prepare pastas, fruit and vegetable platters, and more! For some fun (and healthy!) recipe ideas to appeal to your inner Wolfgang Puck, check this out.

Make it simple … and specific!

Image via: http://onthegomoving.com

Personally, I’m less likely to want to help a friend move if their moving strategy is disorganized and stressful and chances are, I’m not the only one who feels this way. The bottom line is don’t be that friend. Make sure your friends know that when moving day arrives, you will be packed and ready to go in order to make the moving experience a lot less overwhelming on everyone in the picture.

The easier and more hassle-free the move, the more likely that your friends will be willing to sacrifice a few hours to help you and the more likely they’ll be willing to help you again in the future.

As the great Albus Dumbledore once said, “Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic.” So use some of that magic to get your stuff moved!

What sounds more appealing to you, helping a friend move or helping a friend move furniture and boxes for roughly four hours on Saturday?

Setting a goal, a timespan, and a specific date is a good measure to  keep any moving situation condensable and manageable for your friends.

According to apartments.com, “It’s a well-known marketing tactic that sales strategies that are specific fare better than open-ended requests.”

Return the favor.

Image via newswire.net

Want to know the best way to be the ultimate stand-up guy or gal? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Translation: do for others what you want them to do for you.

If you know someone’s lease is coming to an end or if your buddy’s dorm is getting ready to close for vacation, offer your assistance for an afternoon and get some good karma by helping them move out of their place. Your friends will appreciate your help and be willing to offer their helping hands again in the future.

We all know that moving sucks. It’s a fact that should be written down in the basic law of the universe. With that being said, moving can definitely suck less when you have persuaded a good group of folks to help you in your moving endeavors. With these tips, you’ll be sure to have a ready-and-able gang of movers at your side.

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