Out of the Box, Outside the Lines, Over the Top? Today I Tried Something Nuts...
"Write when drunk. Edit when sober. Marketing is the hangover."
- Ashwin Sanghi
I'm in a cash-flow crisis.
Desperation can drive people to desperate measures. Today, after dropping my granddaughter off at school, I ran a short "guerrilla marketing" experiment.
My Marketing Sign - Original Photo by @creatr
The crazy thing I did today.
I stood on the median of a parkway that goes through our town, waving a sign for passersby to read. For about an hour, I walked back and forth, up and down, waving the sign in the photo above.
Visible reactions varied.
Most people continued looking straight ahead, appearing to ignore me. Of course, it's difficult to see through most windshields and side windows, and so I can't really tell how many reacted this way.
Some folks responded to my smiling face and waving hands with smiles, and in a few cases waved back at me as well. As an alternative to waving, I would occasionally tip my hat at a passerby. Several police cars drove past me as well without stopping. For a while, I thought that all was well.
Then a police cruiser stopped.
Photo courtesy of Matt Popovich and http://unsplash.com
Then a police cruiser stopped.
The officer pulled up beside me in the left turn lane. I was all prepared to launch into a spiel about my right to free speech.
Rolling down his window, the cop said "There's a municipal code that prohibits you from doing this on the highway median. If you move to the sidewalk, you'll be fine."
He was quite pleasant about the whole thing. I appreciated his civility in warning, rather than ticketing, me. Thanking him, I moved to a sidewalk at one corner of the intersection. My "experimental hour" was almost up anyway.
When I stopped at Starbucks (before) and at Harbor Freight Tools (after) for a few minutes, I put the sign on the car windshield, holding it in place with the wiper blades. Hoping that a few more passers by might see and remember it.
Guerrilla marketing on a busy street...
Photo courtesy of Zach Inglis and http://unsplash.com
The sign is simple.
It says only "sidefire.com" and, for a color accent, has a blue icon in the corner intended to suggest the earth as seen from outer space. I am curious to find out whether some small percentage of the populace still has enough curiosity to remember and manually enter that short URL, "sidefire.com."
How did my experiment work?
It's too early to tell. I tried to get some feedback, believing that things were already set up in advance to give me the feedback I needed.
Going where the people are...
Photo courtesy of Steven Wei and http://unsplash.com
Then I made a frustrating discovery.
When I got home, I logged in to the control panel at my web hosting ISP... Internet Service Provider 1&1.com.
I tried following their instructions to bring up web statistics, only to discover to my shock and horror that they are not part of my web hosting service package!
Caveat Emptor!
When I heard that I would have to pay more to get statistics, I (calmly) informed the help desk person that I would immediately begin seeking an alternate service provider.
Fortunately, I work with a few different providers for different purposes, and so I changed up my "feedback mechanism" and I should have some idea tomorrow whether or not my stunt generated any web traffic.
Sad to say, I've been a customer at 1&1 for many years, beginning there because of modest costs. After learning today that they are among the vanishingly small 1% of ISPs that do not provide statistical information as a bare minimum service, it is clearly time to move on. Buyer beware!
There's one kind of feedback I need the most.
What I really want to see is a sale or two to reward my efforts. You know, like the stand-up comedian once said, "Thank you very much! No applause needed, just throw money." I know that the product I've created has already been a game-changer for a growing number of people. If you are interested, I can arrange to accept $SBD$ as well - please just ask.
~FIN~
You are why I'm here on Steemit!
I have very eclectic interests and hope, over time, to write about them all.
⬇️To Check Out @creatr's World⬇️CLICK Each Image Below⬇️
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I always wonder how successful the standing by the road with a sign tactic is. I'd be interested to see if it helps you make a sale. I think you're brave for trying it. It could be dangerous in the median if a car gets too close. I often feel bad for the people out there if it's freezing out or really hot. I did once buy a pizza because a guy was advertising with a sign on a street corner. It was a good deal.
Thanks for your encouraging comment. We'll see.
It was something that I felt as if I had to at least try! :) Experiments, you know?
I will probably try it, and other similar things again... ;)
While I didn't feel as if I was in any danger (the median is pretty wide, and on at least one side bordered by the very slow left turn lane) my wife had a similar concern when I told her (after the fact, of course!)
You could order custom car magnets that are large you could stick to the sides of your car. Like the doors or the hood-trunk. That way as you drive around town, park at the grocery story, etc. you are constantly advertising. Kind of like this. Safer and less work for you.
Great thoughts, Thanks! :) :D
If I got as many emails from my friends as I do Harbor Freight, I'd feel like a popular man.
LOL! Yeah, I wish I had a nickel for every junk email I get... I could retire from Steemit! :) :D
The Harbor Freight ones seem a little superfluous... They send the same stuff in their mailers!
Yep. Plus I get the glossy sheets along with newspaper ads... :O
okay, my friend, this was as crazy as hitchhiking with the Fast and the Furious If you need money power down some of the $7000. in your wallet or if you are using that as your nest egg simply appeal for cash as hundreds before you have done on here. Mind you, I don't give to on-line requests, but sometimes people get $40, 000. and more that way LOL!!
See, John, I haven't lost my touch! (of insanity...) ;) But, thanks for your concern. :)
I have initiated a partial power down, as much as I absolutely hate to do so. I'm trying to amp up my writing to compensate...
And thanks, but I prefer to earn my own keep - which, BTW, I can do honorably with the excellent product that I've designed and that we fabricate. :D
The biggest (perceived) problem is the current "attention economy," namely figuring out exactly how to gain the attention of the particular individuals that would benefit the most from the product. I truly believe that it belongs in every family medicine cabinet... However, as the most significant stories tell, there are some people that obviously can benefit and have been blessed more extensively than others... I would really like to figure out how to target that narrow (but, sadly, growing) segment of the population...
I guess one thing I hope is that as more and more of the "common man" discover they have friends or loved ones affected by MRSA, they will pass along the information when they read about it.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor - don't even play one on TV - and so nothing I say here or anywhere can be taken as medical advice. I'm purely exercising freedom of speech to express my personal opinions.
interesting article. I tried standing outside in an Easter bunny costume and a Santa costume (Not at the same time) and got lots of attention. I think it depends on visibility. You want and need to draw attention to yourself when you do this. Less is more. Large letters help. Single colors rather than a mass of colors. Also what street or street corner matters. Maybe a large body sign with the internet site address may work. It can be practice and error. Contrast the colors white against black is better than black and blue. What do others think????
Thanks much, @enjoywithtroy, for the very constructive comments and suggestions!
I have actually been contemplating the "Santa Suit" thing because I could be type-cast as Santa... I might even be able to get away with just the hat, leaving the balance to the viewer's imagination... :D
Your suggestions and observations are very much appreciated, Thank You again! :)
you are welcome;. I have been a Santa Claus for 5 years and an Easter Bunny for 4 years along with singing telegrams and music. You learn by trial and error what works and does not. I once read a story of a guy riding a bicycle while playing a keyboard. Yes you do think out side of the box if you want to beat the system and get ahead in life. Blessings.
:) :) :) :) God bless you as well, friend @enjoywithtroy!
I felt it was far too long since I've crossed paths with you, so I jumped on your page to say hello...and after reading I am now concerned. I went to your web page and read through it, and I am definitely a believer in the healing powers of silver in its different forms. I have a jar of silvadene on hand for topical issues, and in fact it has served as a miracle ointment for me when my face was ripped open-
I was standing on a log, leaning on a branch and bending down to grab a piece of wood for a campfire when my hand slipped and the branch came back and hit me, knocking me out for several seconds. We were literally in the wilderness on a survival trip, far far away from medical attention.
After cleaning it gently with peroxide my husband packed my torn face with silvadene and butterfly bandaged it. Over the next few days he repeated this process over and over and by the fourth day it had healed to faint scabbed over lines. He and the kids had avoided telling me how bad it was and I didn't look at it myself, but once it had fully healed they all said it had looked like I had gills ripped into my face like something out of star trek. I don't even have so much as a scar to prove it ever happened.
I've bookmarked your page and certainly if anyone I know ends up with mrsa (my brother and his wife are both RN's, who have many friends in the medical field so the possibility is there) I will definitely pass the info along.
I'm sorry to hear you're struggling, I've certainly been there a time or two (or ten lol)
I'm going to make an effort to remember to come to your page and vote, and feel free to drop links in my comments to remind me.
I hope things turn around soon :)
Hello, @dreemit!
What a lovely surprise to find your very kind message this morning! :) :) :D
Thanks for adding your voice to the testimony of the power of silver to promote healing! I've been using it for about a quarter of a century now! I started using it because of severe sinus infections, and have used it since then for everything from punctured sinus bones to an abscessed tooth.
The face gills thing sounds pretty cool! ;)
Thanks again, so much, for expressing your concern for me! We do have a spectacularly good product that we continually improve, and we really care about customers. I've been so thankful for the people whose lives have been directly impacted by what I've designed, with the most exciting stories told here:
http://SILVERengines.com/steemit/ <- With a great, low price offer at the end of the stories...
And of course, full information about the machines we build at http://SILVERengines.com
Thanks again for your very sweet encouragement! :) :D
Very cool, I will definitely check those out!
I'm glad to be an encouragement, as I know you are to many on here ;)