Never a Lack of Ideas

No Receipt, No Problem Stores should no longer offer $5 for failing to issue a receipt. Instead, they should offer $5 if customers have to stand in line for more than five minutes. When a store offers to pay me if I don't get a receipt, I secretly hope that they don't give me one. I don't mind asking for a receipt if I don't receive one, and I'd like to have the $5. However, I would never hope to wait in a line for more than five minutes. Even if the store offered to compensate me for waiting, I would rather move through the line quickly than have the $5. Add This to Your To-Do List If you're going to compensate customers when your business fails to do something, make sure you're compensating them for something they don't want to happen. There's never a lack of ideas.

Nowhere to Flaunt It Your new couch was just delivered and it looks great in your living room -- much better than it did online and in the showroom. You would love to take a picture of it and share it with potential buyers so they can see how great it is, but you head back to the furniture store's website and... nothing. You can't upload your photo. If you're lucky, you can write a review, but a picture is worth a thousand words. Bragging Encouraged Many businesses are missing out on the chance to engage with customers after their purchases because they don't provide the opportunity to share photos and stories on their website. Social media and third party review sites are dominating this arena and it's time for businesses to catch up. Imagine how much better your dresser-buying experience would be on Ikea's website if you could view hundreds of customer-submitted photos of each piece instead of just the six posted by Ikea. How much easier would it be to envisio...

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot Looking for a good excuse to surprise your clients with a gift basket? Send them one to celebrate the New Year. But don't limit yourself to just the New Year that begins on January 1st. There are plenty of other fun New Year celebrations that would make great days to delight your customers with a gift: The client's new fiscal year Chinese New Year A new school year The first day of an annual project Add This to Your To-Do List New Year's celebrations aren't just for December 31st. Use any type of new year as an excuse to surprise and delight your customers. They'll be thankful and keep you at the top of their mind. There's never a lack of ideas. Thanks to Megan Danielson for inspiring this post.

Flying High The air traffic control tower in Cancun, Mexico is blanketed with an enormous Corona logo. That's such a great place for Corona to advertise — the brand has aligned itself with images of the beach for years. And Cancun is one of the most popular beach party cities in the world — especially for US college students on spring break. Corona's sponsorship got me thinking: what other brands should sponsor air traffic control towers around the world? In other words, what brands have aligned themselves with cities or destinations around the world? I came up with five ideas. Can you add more to this list? Rice a Roni — San Francisco, California Foster's Beer — Sydney, Australia Uno Pizzeria — Chicago, Illinois Coors Light — Denver, Colorado Pat's King of Steaks — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Add This to Your To-Do List Creating a brand with a powerful association with a specific city is difficult to do on a national and worldwide scale. However, when it's don...

106 Flavors Coca Cola has a new fountain that dispenses 106 different beverages out of just one spigot. After hearing about the machine, I was so excited that I dropped by Wendy's to check it out. While there, I whipped up a new drink — the Nick Scarpino. Check out the video to see how to make it. Add This to Your To-Do List If Coca Cola can innovate in a cool way after selling drinks for more than 100 years, then so can your business. How will you innovate your product or the way it is distributed? And what flavors would you combine in the Coca Cola drink named after you? There's never a lack of ideas. Thanks to Pastor Rob Douglas for inspiring this post.

Holey Postcards In the summer of 2003, I created a direct mail campaign that earned a whopping 15% response rate — and it was probably the least expensive direct mail campaign ever run. I was trying to pick up freelance graphic design work with local non-profits. So, I identified 20 prospective clients nearby and then designed the postcard on the right. The headline read, “are there holes in your advertising and design plans?” I actually punched two holes in the postcard, represented on the right by the circles filled with black. I did my research and knew the post office would still deliver the cards with holes in those strategic spots. A few days after mailing the cards, I received calls from three different non-profits. After a week, I was working for two of them. The Little Things Matter There are three reasons this campaign succeeded: I targeted an untapped market. Not many people want to work with small non-profit organizations because there’s not a lot of money to be made. But...

Another Year Older Today marks the second-year birthday of my blog. I made my first official post two years ago, today. 73 posts later and here we are. Thank you to all of my readers for making it fun to post all of my marketing ideas. To celebrate my blog's birthday this month, I'll be digging into my past and posting about the most successful direct mail campaign I've ever been a part of — and it involved a creative use of a hole punch. Look for it later this month. Until then, sit back and enjoy my top ten favorite posts over the past year: Bobbleheads! (Part 1) | Part 2 Nick's Knacks — How I Sold Myself for an Internship What Lady Gaga Should Wear to the Grammys Using a Facebook Advertisement to Land a Job The Woolly Mammoth Bus — The hardest I've worked for a post! The Exclusivity of Butterbeer Helicopter-Dropped Easter Egg Hunt IMDB Meets Google Maps When Realtors Become Commodities $#*! My Dad Says Add This to Your To-Do List Enjoy my top ten posts! There...