Never a Lack of Ideas

Greens Fees Require a Lot of Green Golf is expensive. And so are golf outings – especially when they serve as fundraisers. I’ve never heard of a golf outing fundraiser costing less than $75 per person. That’s a lot of green. But mini-golf is not expensive. And it appeals to a much wider audience than golf. So we’re holding a mini-golf outing for a church fundraiser. The mini-golf course is charging us $4 per person for 18 holes as long as we get 50 players. If we charge at least $10 a person and get the required 50 golfers, we’ll raise $300. We’re going to have people attending the outing bring prizes for things like lowest score and making a hole-in-one on specific holes, so we won’t have to buy any prizes. And we’ll have some people bring some tubs of ice cream so we can complete the outing with a nice treat at the end. Add This to Your To-Do List Mini-golf appeals to the young and old, and to men and women. It takes much less time to play than a traditional round of golf, and no pre

A Wizard Invasion Until September, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is home to Harry Potter: The Exhibition. It features thousands of props, costumes, and sets from the first six Harry Potter movies. Die-hard fans will appreciate the gift shop at the end of the exhibit that offers many Harry Potter collectibles that I’ve never seen before. Some of the notable items available at the gift shop are: A custom-made wizard chessboard for $400. Replica Quiddich brooms starting at $300. A replica Marauder’s Map for $50. As you can see, there are some high-priced items available in the gift shop, but it lacks creative, personalized items. All that was Missing was Me (and You) The gift shop is missing a great opportunity to make a lot more money and to offer exhibition visitors the opportunity to go home with a truly unique souvenir. The gift shop should offer families the chance to dress up as characters from the Harry Potter movies and pose for a photograph. But not just any pho

A Not-Too-Distant Memory Remember when airlines used to offer their coach passengers a free meal on a flight that lasted longer than a couple of hours? Well, I have a simple idea that will bring back free meals on airplanes, and it won’t cost passengers or the airlines a single penny. Don’t believe me? Keep reading. There Is Such a Thing as a Free Lunch Airlines should invite pre-packaged frozen food brands such as Healthy Choice to serve their passengers free meals. Healthy Choice could use the opportunity in three ways: Free samples. Healthy Choice could provide airline passengers with products that are currently being sold at grocery stores across the country. The goal for Healthy Choice would be to introduce customers to one of its current products with the hope that customers would later purchase the product. It’d be like free sample day at the grocery store, but everybody would get a full meal, and they’d be flying on a plane while eating it. New product launches. Healthy Choice

An Independent’s Day According to its website, www.BillShrink.com is “an independent service providing unbiased and personalized recommendations to save you money.” From what I can tell, BillShrink is like Consumer Reports, but focuses exclusively on cell phone plans, credit cards, and gas prices. Recently, T-Mobile started running prime-time television ads that encourage viewers to visit BillShrink.com for a “mobile makeover” (see the ad above). The underlying message of the ad is simple: T-Mobile provides the best value for your cell phone dollars, and an independent website proves it. It’s Not Us, It’s Them This type of advertising is not new. The auto industry is filled with ads touting cars as winning awards from Motor Trend and JD Power & Associates. Restaurants tout their Zagat ratings, and movies advertise critics’ reviews. The reason we see this type of “don’t just take our word for it” advertising is because it has proven to be effective. And the reason that it’s effecti