How to make your fortune at cards

Step 5 Take the rest of the photos

If you thought that the rest of the instructable was hard, it was easy compared with the next step. How do you convince a zoo owner to let you in to their zoo before it opens and then let you in to the animal cages before the keepers clear up the previous nights manure production, so that you can take pictures of the animals' poos.

Problems to overcome:

• You sound, at best weird, and worst vaguely perverted
• The animals are dangerous and possibly expensive
• What's in it for them?
• How can you talk to the right person that can make the decision?

Although these issues are related to making a card game about poo, which I have already done, the points highlight typical problems that face all budding entrepreneurs who want to do something strange and don't have a lot of cash to throw at the problem. Remember, every penny you spend comes off the bottom line and offering to pay to get access to things you need isn't any guarantee that you'll get what you want. What you really want is people who like you, like what you are trying to do and are willing to help. So in the same order you overcome the problems by:

• Explain what you are doing and without saying too much, why you are doing it. If there is a legitimate reason then there is no way they can think they are dealing with a crank.
• In the case of animal poo, all you want to do is take a few photographs of something that is going to be thrown away and so you don't really need to interact with the animals, likely as not they will be in a separate part of the enclosure while the keepers do their business clearing up the animals' business, so that's your opportunity, and you are going to be very quick and unobtrusive.
• Nothing guaranteed is in it for them, but you can say that you will make sure that when you promote your product, their kind assistance will be recognised in any publicity material... everyone likes a bit of cheap or free promotion.
• The secret to cold calling to get to the right person is to do your homework. Find out who the person is that you need to speak to. Look on the web or go to the place beforehand and research it. Be polite and courteous at all times, never leave a voice mail unless you have rung at least 10 times, learn when NO means no, and work out a script before you call so that you actually sound like you know what you are talking about. The best thing is to be able to get your initial point and request across in as few as two or three sentences.

Once we had got in to the zoo and taken a few shots, the keepers got really interested in the idea and offered all kinds of help. Here's a picture of my middle son and me with the zoo's new baby lion. About ten minutes before this shot was taken, the baby lion bit my son on the bottom... now there's something you don't have happen to you everyday... it's amazing when one little idea can lead.

The places I looked for poo were:

• The street
• The garden
• Animal rescue centre
• Pet shop
• Friends houses
• Zoo