He Can’t Even Give Money Away
A reader, Paul Rusnak, wrote in with the following account of his failed attempt at marketing:
I am a subscriber of you weblog and I enjoy reading all the stories, many of which give me new ideas to market my business.
Here is something that happened to one of my creative marketing ideas… that didn’t work or maybe it did work and I don’t know it yet.
I own and manage a local pack and ship store called Goin’Postal in Washington NJ and I am always looking for new marketing ideas. Since I am only open 6 months, my main goal was to make people aware of my location and the services I offer.
The annual car show seemed like a great opportunity to get my word out. They were asking local business owners to pay $300.00 to help sponsor the event. Alternatively, I can put a giveaway in one of the “goodie bags” that would be given out to each car registered.
I thought about the typical pen with my name on it or the travel mug with my logo on it that most people may or may not use but I wanted to do something unique. I notice giving away money really worked for the time-share industry so I decided to try that on a smaller scale.
I printed 150 coupons that offered a FREE $ 2.00 bill. No purchase necessary – no strings attached. Just bring the coupon to my store and I will give you a brand new $2.00 bill. Remember my goal was to get people aware of where I was located. I was two blocks from the car show. A 5 minute walk at most for $2.00. I was open early with my 150 $2 bills wondering how fast they would disappear. 1 hour, maybe 2 hours at the most. Well to my surprise, giving away money, even in this economy only brought in three people.
Did it work? NO. But it only cost me $6.00 to find out. I could have spent $300 to be one of the sponsors but now I have $294. back for an idea that didn’t work.
Can the economy be that bad if people will not even come in for free money? Maybe they thought it was a joke because of my store’s name. Who knows?
Angela Shupe on June 16th, 2009 5:43 am
I cannot believe we live in a world where giving away free money will only bring in 3 people. How is that possible?!
Jaclyn on June 16th, 2009 6:09 pm
I do admit that the idea of giving away free money should have rightly brought in way more than 3 people…that is very strange that it didn’t. But who know’s…maybe it was the name of his store that turned people off thinking it was a joke and that there were strings attached in the fine print once they got there to pick up their money. It’s hard to say with people these day’s.
RedHotFranchises on June 17th, 2009 3:08 am
That is strange, i don’t think there’s anything wrong with the postal name. The entire 150 coupons should have been given away within 2 hours or less. This is definitely something to think about…
Carol on June 28th, 2009 7:28 pm
Hello Kind & Generous one,
If you are still giving away the $294. that you have, I will be more than glad to take it! I’m not joking, things are really bad and I have a sick cat that needs to go to a specialist and I just don’t have the money.
He is my best friend and he is now 13 years old. If you know what it means to really love someone, that’s how I feel about my cat. Please help us, we will be eternally grateful. God will reward you for your kindness and generosity.
God Bless you, we hope to hear from you…
Oldbuddy on September 30th, 2009 6:38 am
This is no surprise at all, I have been trying to give away free money online for over a year and it blows my mind how many people won’t take it. They think there is some kind of catch or that they will have to expose themselves somehow. The only catch is you need to live in the USA, but with 304 million here it can’t be that hard, right? Go figure???
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