"Promoting" Products is by Joe Cossman..."How I made a Million in Mail Order".

I think I've read this book at every Christmastime since it was published. After reading AND "absorbing" some of the stuff Joe's done and how he looks at products and figures out HOW to properly promote them....some of his stuff gets :Embedded: in your brain.

One of the best stories, which is along what this thread is about is... he had just gotten the rights to the "Incredible Shrunken Head" (I used to have one hanging from my rear view....on a post on my house...a post in my front hall and family room...etc)

Well...he had a nice big swimming pool in his yard and...a mother duck decided to set up housekeeping alongside the pool and hatch her eggs. When the first newborn hatched...Joe took some photos and thought the local town newspaper would like to run an article about ..."Wild Duck chooses backyard pool for nursery!"....or something similar.

So...he was right. A reporter calls and asks if she and a photograher could come over and take some shots. Must've been a sloooow news day.

Well....Joe was not one to miss a chance to promote. In fact, when he first saw the duck setting up housekeeping....Joe's mind went into "Promo-Link". He had already planned out what he would do to get some FREE Publicity for his Shrunken Heads.

Before the reporter and photog arrived...Joe took some of his "Shrunken Head" shipping boxes with "The INCREDIBLE SHRUNKEN HEAD!" in BIG Letters on the side of each box...along with his name and phone....and put them next to the duck and her expanding brood.

Sure nuff...the next day...right there on the FRONT PAGE...were photos and a story about how this mama wild duck had chosen Joe's backyard pool to raise her kids.

HUGE...FREE publicity.

Anyway...thanks for letting me bring this off one of my Memory Hooks.

Don Alm
"50 Ways to Make $50,000"
http://www.midasreports.com