What’s the matter, spending $3,000,000 for a commercial to air during Super Bowl XLIII sound a little too steep for you?
How’s a measly $100 sound?
Yesterday, a new website, HundredDollarSuperBowlAd.com launched and plans on dropping $300,000.00 from the sky during Super Bowl XLIII.
Where’s the $300,000 going to come from? It’ll come from the money generated from selling a TON of $100 ad spots on their website.
To advertise your business, all you need to do is select your state, city, click on an open ad spot, pay your $100 bucks and send them in image you’d like displayed along with your URL.
It sure is a WhackedOut Marketing idea that puts a spin on the whole Million Dollar Home Page craze awhile back… But will it work? Let’s dig into this One Hundred Dollar Super Bowl Ad idea a little more… Continue Reading »
It’s something that happened to me when I was attempting to market myself to someone who I had and have the upmost respect for.
As my 4 or 5 avid blog readers know, a few of my previous blog posts have contained WhackedOut marketing ideas for a tree service company and even a beef jerky company. And today I wanted to dive into another direction… marketing yourself.
Especially in these days and times, doing whatever we can do to market ourselves is something we have to be doing constantly as entrepreneurs. We need to do whatever we can to attract attention Continue Reading »
Sometimes it takes a dip (or drop) in the economy to awaken the hidden WhackedOut Marketers of the world.
Take a look at what an unemployed Banker named Joshua Persky did in New York City that was WhackedOut enough to land him his dream job: New York Post article.
Over the past few days I’ve posted a couple blogs outlining some WhackedOut ideas that could get some local, possibly even national attention for a tree service company and a beef jerky company. But what if you don’t have a company?
What if you found yourself unemployed like Joshua? Would you be willing to get a little WhackedOut Continue Reading »
You just never know when these WhackedOut Marketing ideas are going to appear. Oddly enough most of my ideas come while I’m in the shower and I often find myself in some interesting situations. (Remind me to share one of the stories with you sometime…)
Even while I wrote the above, an idea for a waterproof notebook that you could hang in the shower appeared to me. Think about it… Just imagine being able to capture all of your ideas that come to you while in the shower! I may be onto something here…
I quickly did a search online to see if any such thing exists. Darn… thought I had some new WhackedOut idea here. They already make waterproof notebooks. See here and here. I may have to get a few of these…
Anyway, I had another WhackedOut Marketing idea come to me and I thought I’d share it with you. Normally all sorts of wild and WhackedOut ideas pop into Continue Reading »
UPDATE: Want to know how I’ve made seven-figures marketing online in a unique way and why I’ve decided to pack up and leave the ‘traditional’ internet marketing business? Go to: http://www.robert-hawthorne.com Note… yes, that is ME… the guy behind WhackedOut Marketing.
Before I dive into everything you need to know when it comes to learning how to change your Twitter background, here’s the inside scoop as to how this Twitter backgrounds post came to be…
The past few days have been an all-out WhackedOut work-a-thon. In other words, I’ve been crazy busy. However, yesterday I did take a few mental breaks and decided to see how difficult it was to change my Twitter background.
Edit: I just finished writing the post below. This very well could be the most WhackedOut blog post I’ve made yet - and could very well change a family’s life during the Holidays. That is of course if someone is willing to get out of their comfort zone and take action!
I accidently glanced at some headlines this morning and saw some crazy numbers as far as retail sales numbers, November jobless stats, etc.
Photo Of A Pine Cone Relaxing.
Now I’m not here to talk about the economy and doom and gloom all over you. The media does enough of that to you.
What I do want to do is wake you up a little.
Here, step into my lab and take a seat.
Now r..e…l….a…x….. deep breath. Again. Relax.
There, nice and relaxed. All the worries and stress melting away. Are you feeling relaxed and comfortable? Well, if you are then…
Wake The &#!* Up!
You want to make it out there? You got to get up and start hustling. If you want to thrive Continue Reading »
If you found another blog or website that stole an image (or several of them) from you and they’re using the images (which are being hosted on YOUR server) on their blog or site right now, here’s how to perform a Digital Whack Job on them.
First, a little background… This idea was inspired by a recent post I wrote called, “Attention Fellow Bloggers: People May Be Stealing From You!“, and the comment posted by Erum. Basically, someone just copied an image from my site and posted it on their blog. The image is still linked to my site, so I’m basically hosting the image for them and it’s eating some of my bandwidth.
Yesterday Erum made a comment on the above post and said:
“Pssst don’t just change the image name. Replace it with one that says ‘This image is stolen’.”
What a great idea Erum! I jumped on it this morning. Below are the images that I created, Continue Reading »
Today is a sad day in the blogosphere. It seems that fellow bloggers are stealing from us. No, not money… not content… it’s bandwidth. They are stealing our images that we host on our own servers.
I noticed that one of my blog posts has a massive amount of views to it, so I decided to do a little research. The research lead me to a blog hosted on Blogger where someone simply copied some images that I have on a few blogs posts and added that image to their post.
Now I will give the individual the benefit of the doubt, and calmly think he just didn’t know any better. However, when researching who he is, I found out that he is Continue Reading »
If you’d like to know the whole story, check out the video I just recorded (seen below). Now as I mention in the video, there are some important marketing lessons learned from a Christmas tree that falls not just once, and messes up all of the lights, but later falls again and shatters 30-40 glass bulbs, breaks limbs, and nearly gives my dog a heart attack.
So without further ado, here’s what I learned starting from when we first purchased this Christmas Disaster tree…
Fallen Christmas Tree Lessons
Lesson 1: When someone is trying to sell you something, bigger is not always better.
When talking to the Christmas tree dude at Home Depot, we discussed the size of the tree we needed. The conversation lead to how high our ceiling is and how great it would look to have this massive tree in our living room. Before we knew it, we left with one of the tallest trees they had.
When it comes to purchasing “how-to” marketing products online, sometimes buying the biggest course you can find on the subject matter you’re interested in isn’t the best move. Some of the best information comes in easy-to-swallow bits of information via ebooks, videos, blogs, etc. And of course, when it comes to Christmas trees, sometimes bigger isn’t always better.
Lesson 2: If a product launch fails once, find the problem fix it, then try again.
When the Christmas tree fell the first time, (just after I had spent a couple of hours stringing 14 or so strings of lights almost perfectly and hiding all the wires) I realized the tree must have not been as secure in the base as I had thought it was. I had to pick up the tree and really work hard to secure the tree in the base so it’ll stay in there for good.
If your product or business launch fails (or falls) on the first try, pick it up, and do whatever is needed to build a more solid foundation (think Christmas tree stand), such as recruiting more affiliates and JV Partners, ensuring the copy on your website is top-notch, etc.
Lesson 3: If your entire business crashes and things break, you may have set up the wrong foundation.
Once we spent another couple of hours hanging countless boxes of red and gold glass bulbs on the tree, we finally got a chance to take a step back and awe our work. We had our Christmas tree. Finally after multiple trips to Garden Ridge, Home Depot, Lowes, and other stores, the frustration, dealing with Christmas tree lights that contained lead, and many other factors, it was all worth it.
An hour later, I was up in my office and heard a loud CRASH, SMASH, BANG, and pops from the glass bulbs shattering on our tile floor. I knew the tree had fallen… I just didn’t know how bad it was. Glass was everywhere. About a gallon of water was everywhere on the floor. It was a mess.
I was amazed to see that the Christmas tree was still connected to the stand and that the whole tree, stand and all had tipped over.
This makes me think about the many product launches we’ve seen where servers crash on launch day. The proper foundations were not set up to handle the traffic to their site and the servers and site crashed and burned. As you learned in # 2, having a secure foundation on the marketing side is important. But here, you also want to have the proper foundation (servers), not to mention the right size (bandwidth) foundation in place before you launch a new website/business.
Lesson 4: If all else fails, toss it aside in your backyard and move on.
After 5-rolls of waterlogged paper towels, 3 shopping bags full of glass, and a garbage back full of hundreds of pine needles and branches, it was time to throw in the towel. We removed the few bulbs that remained on the tree, ripped the lights off, and then I carried the tree corpse to it’s current resting place… our backyard.
How did all this happen? I did not do my proper research when looking at tree stands. Although the box said that it could support up to a 10-foot tree, they must have only tested it with a small, skinny 10-foot tree. I should have went with a stand that could support up to a 15-foot tree, just to be on the safe side.
Do your research before setting up a Christmas tree and of course, before you launch your business/website. Too many people dive right into a niche without doing their homework. Research the niche, then set up your foundations both on the marketing and technical side to ensure your business (tree) stands tall.
Sometimes we get excited about an opportunity, dive right in, only to crash and burn a few days, weeks, or months later. I’ve been there and done that many, many times back in the day. If for whatever reason that opportunity or business crashes, get out the broom, pick up the mess, then seek out a new opportunity or market that you’ll do our due diligence on.
Lesson 5: Opportunities often arise after a crash.
One example here is the economy. We’re in a recession which is one of, if not THE best times to launch a new business.
Now take my Christmas tree incident here. I was able to find an opportunity to build my business a little because of the crash. I posted some comments on Facebook, Twitter, and of course, here on my blog about our mishap. I tried to make what would normally be a frustrating time a little amusing for others at my own expense.
And because of that, over the last couple of days I have exposed myself and my blog to many new people, and the number of new viewers is growing every minute. Even as I write this I see an email has just come in letting me know someone new is following me on Twitter. How cool is that!?
Lesson 6: It’s the Holiday Season and it’s time for me to launch…
“The Limited Edition WhackedOut Holiday Sales Letter And Consulting Super Saver Special!”
Need a sales letter for a new product you’re working on or recently completed?
Well you’re in for a treat! For the month of December, I’ve decided to take on three or so new clients at a totally WhackedOut discounted price for a sales letter.
I’ve written many salesletters over the years and had some big homeruns recently that allowed one of my clients to bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in pure profit thanks to the sales letter I wrote for him. The conversion rates have been crazy. You wouldn’t believe me even if I posted them here.
Over the years I’ve written sales letters for myself and my clients that have brought in over a million dollars, over $700,000 in the first week, over $300,000 the first week, and many others that generated numbers into the six-figures, along with many smaller small niche salesletters that generate thousands of dollars fo my clients.
Anyway, contact me and I’ll show you samples of my copywriting. Let me know what you need, when you need it, and I’ll offer you my WhackedOut Holiday Super Saver Special discounted price.
Need some consulting for your product or business launch?
I’m known as the “Idea Guy” in a few marketing circles I frequent. My consulting services are also included in the WhackedOut Holiday Super Saver Special discount I’m running this month. Contact me and we can discuss your needs.
No matter what I do… I cannot get the name of this restaurant out of my head.
Johnny Rockets
It’s been nearly a week since the wife and I casually stopped in for a bite to eat after running some errands. The last time (and first time) I ate at Johnny Rockets Restaurant was on a Carnival cruise ship. But this time was much different. Very different.
It all started like a normal dinner. My wife and I were jamming out to some 60’s music with the other patrons while the waiters and waitresses danced around the room doing some rehearsed jig. Like I said, it was a normal dinner you’d have anywhere else.
Anyway, everything was cool until the bill came. I opened the sticky bill holder and my eyes immediately glanced over to the right at a brightly colored piece of paper.
It was a little game they had going on… but the catch was the game didn’t start until sometime in January I believe.
Now on the back of the little game piece was a place for a manager to sign and date. I took a closer look and read that you CANNOT open the game piece to reveal your prize until AFTER the date on the card and you had to open it in the restaurant - with the game piece being signed by the manager.
Oh my…
When the waitress came back to take my check, I held up the game piece and told her that it was brilliant marketing, like she knew what the heck I was talking about…
As my wife and I walked out the door, I said, “You know, this little game piece is going to drive me crazy.” And it did.
All the way home I wondered what I could win. A free hamburger? A free shake? Or maybe even free Johnny Rockets food for life!
Now do I honestly care about either of those things? Not really. However, it was the fact that I didn’t know if I was a winner or not - and the fact that I wouldn’t know for at least another month.
When we got home, I did what most others would do. I put the Johnny Rockets game piece on our refrigerator under a magnet, hoping I wouldn’t see it. An hour later I went to the fridge to get a drink and all I could see was that Johnny Rockets game piece.
Instantly I began to sweat. What is in that game piece? What could I have won? How am I going to wait more than a month to find out? I began to pace the floor doing all I could to hold myself back from opening the game piece.
The next day I couldn’t take it any longer. When I woke up, I ran to the fridge, took the game piece and shoved it deep into my “junk drawer” next to the batteries and duct tape.
As I worked on my computer a few hours later, all I could think about was Johnny Rockets and that game piece. What if I’m a big winner? What could it say under there?
I couldn’t take it any longer…
I ran over to the drawer, found the game piece and was holding it when my wife walked into the kitchen. ”Don’t you dare!” She laughed. Laughed I tell you! Now as you can imagine, this was by far not a laughing matter. This little Johnny Rockets game piece had somehow taken over me.
I just had to know… so I opened the game piece. It revealed that I had (or would have) won a free appetizer. If I had only waited… I could have won. I could have won…
So someone at Johnny Rockets came up with this very WhackedOut Marketing idea - which I’m sure is driving many other people crazy around here. I mean who can hold out for a month or more to find out if they are a winner?
And if that person is the type of person who has the nerves of pure platinum, they’d be the first at the door when the day arrives to bring your unopened game piece in. Those types of people must enjoy pain, I tell you.
Anyway… now here we are, several days later and I feel an urge to go back to Johnny Rockets just to get another game piece. I just know I can be stronger this time…
So this whole deal made me think (which you will learn over time can be very dangerous to the marketing world)… What on earth could I (or you) do in the Internet Marketing world to create a little frenzy like this? What if you could create this WhackedOut psychological mind-warping Jedi Masterish fuel for your Internet business like Johnny Rockets created for their restaurant?
Is there a way to do it? If so, how would you do it?
I’ve got more to say, but I think they close at midnight and I just might make it in time to get a game piece…
Where’s the $300,000 going to come from? It’ll come from the money generated from selling a TON of $100 ad spots on their website.
Take a look at what an unemployed Banker named Joshua Persky did in New York City that was WhackedOut enough to land him his dream job: 
It’s been nearly a week since the wife and I casually stopped in for a bite to eat after running some errands. The last time (and first time) I ate at Johnny Rockets Restaurant was on a Carnival cruise ship. But this time was much different. Very different.
