Balls Should Be Chased

 I drive.  All day long.  Up and down the highway.  Hundreds of miles a day.  I pass lots and lots of billboards, and to be honest, most of the time I don't really pay attention to them.  Today, one happen to catch my eye.  It was a picture of the cutest, fluffiest black kitten swatting a ball of red yarn.  In big letter, it read, "balls are meant to be chased...have your pet neutered".  I couldn't believe it!  I actually laughed out load.  Who thinks of these things?  A Florida Ad Agency?

The funny thing is, it got my attention, and isn't that the whole point?  If you want to get your brand or product out there, you should hire someone who can come up with stuff like that.  Because honestly, if it was just a sign that said "neuter your pet", I probably wouldn't have noticed it.

It also got me thinking if I could be creative like that, and honestly, I can't.  I couldn't come up with a slogan to advertise South Florida Culture or anything else for that matter, even if my life depended on it.  I mean, I can be funny sometimes, but put me on the spot, and I got nothing. I remember an episode of Friends, where Chandler starts working for an advertising agency, and he comes up with the stupidest, most obvious campaign slogans.  That would be me. 

One of the best campaigns, I think, that sticks in my head from when I was a kid was one for Coke, where they sing that "I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke" song.  Do you remember that?  I could probably still sing that entire commercial.  Or McDonald's.  Ba Da Bot Ba Ba I'm Loving It.  Dang, now that is going to be in my head the rest of the night.  Talk about good advertising!

I think tomorrow, I might pay a little more attention to the signs I pass.  I bet I can find a few more that are pretty funny.

Promoting My Blog

I have been thinking a lot lately about how to promote my blog.  I do the entrecard thing everyday, which is great for getting traffic here, but I want to attract more advertisers.  I know many bloggers have business cards that they hand out.  I have even heard stories of some bloggers leaving their cards in common places like libraries and coffee shops, hoping that people will pick them up and become loyal readers.  I have thought about doing the business card thing, but have never followed through with it.

I did have an idea around Christmas time when I was looking for stocking stuffers for the kids.  I stumbled upon a site that does promotional pens, and I got to thinking how cool it would be to have my blog name (and url) put on some.   I think more people would be more likely to pick up a pen than a business card. 

What do you think about these?

They all write in black ink, but I like the bright colors of the pens themselves.  I think if I was to see a pen like this just laying around somewhere, I would pick it up.

I also found some cute promotional pencils.  I prefer the mechanical ones like these:

I would let the kids use these at school.  If they happened to leave one in their classroom and their teachers found it, that would be awesome.  I wouldn't want any of their friends reading this, so maybe that's not such a good idea.  Maybe I'll become one of those bloggers who leaves them in random places around town.

You can find all kinds of cool personalized things at GOPromos.com.  I found these cute little reusable shopping/tote bags, and I think they are a great way to advertise.  Check them out:

I would love to get one of these in purple, but I'm not sure they offer that.  Either way, I think carrying a bag like this would be good way to advertise my blog.  What do you think?

I'm New To All Of This, But...

I got this email the other day.  It said, and I quote,

I was wondering if you would be interested in placing links from reputable
retailers on your site. Please get back to me if you are interested.

So I email this chick back, and say,

It depends on what the links are, and what type of compensation I would get for
doing so.

A few hours later, I got this reply,

Thanks so much for getting back to me! I was wondering if you would be interested in posting a few links on your website directing to (I refuse to say the link)?  In return we will provide you with a discount code that you can share with your readers.

I replied that I would need to be paid for doing a post, and quoted my rates.

I haven't heard back from her.  Am I wrong to think that coupon codes for my readers is not compensation for me?  Did I word my original response wrong?  Was I wrong to request payment?  I am new to all of this, and don't want to put off companies who want to work with me, but I am not going to do it for free, either.

What would you have done?