I Finally Got Something For FREE

Okay everyone, lets talk about free stuff.

Once upon a time, I was attending Chapel Hill High School in North Carolina.  While attending high school (before I got kicked out), there was this awesome game system that came out called the Playstation 2!  Everyone wanted one of these bad boys.


So I was browsing the internet one day while chatting on AOL Instant Messanger (yes it was still popular), and I came across a website that said if I got my friends to sign up to the website, I could win a PS2 of my very own!!   So of course I started spamming my friends and I got one of my buddies to sign up to the site.  The day after he signed up, he won the PS2 and I didn't get crap!!  So basically that ended our friendship, and I never trusted websites again because I never had enough luck to get the free goods.  That all changed when I heard about bzzagent.com!

So pretty much every dude who signed up after hearing about it in class, got one of these:

Too bad for the suckers in class that didn't sign up, because this thing is as slick as a baby seal.  Plus, it costs $70 bucks on amazon.  The last person who gave me $70 bucks was my friend who I just bailed out of jail... and the bondsman charged me $200.  So i'm pretty happy about this to say the least.

Let me tell you about my old shaver.

As you can see, i'm BrAun loyal.  Actually, I swiped this bad boy from under the seat of my dads car about 5 years ago, and it's still running strong. I'm not sure how the precision trimmer broke off.

Major differences between my old BrAun and my new OldSpice/BrAun

-Old Spice version can be used under water.  For all those times I decide to shave while swimming.  But seriously, I don't shave in the shower so this is basically pointless except for cleaning purposes.

-Old Spice version has a more versatile head.

     Old Spice/ Braun                                              Old Braun

As you can see, they are very similar, but the new one is definitely an improvement.  So what else did I get?

  

As you can see (above), this shaver comes with a clear protective cover for traveling, a charging stand, and a little cleaning brush.  Basically everything that the shaver below comes with, except the Old Spice version is $130 dollars cheaper and doesn't lean to the side while charging.

I will conclude by saying, i love free stuff, and I hope this new OldSpice/Braun shaver lasts long enough for my very own son to steal it out from under the seat of my car.

-Kraig

Hello everyone,

What's going on in the marketing world?

Today I saw a billboard that said "Experience Great Customer Service".  I will make sure to do that some day.  Unfortunately, I can't remember the company on the billboard.  Actually, all I remember is a big picture of a guys face.  He didn't even look very friendly.  So whatever they spent on that billboard was a big waste.
This made me think back to an idea I've had for a long time.  If you want to throw away money, why not create a money dispenser that shoots money out of the back of your company car?  Here's how it would work:
You buy an attractive car like this 2014 Corvette.

Then you fill the trunk with speakers kind of like this:

Finally, you go to a very crowded place, like Mall of America (horribly crowded and overrated place to go) and you start blasting your company's catchy jingle while making the area around you look like this:

I think this would be awesome to do if you were JG Wentworth.  Everyone all ready knows the song, everyone at Mall of America probably has structured settlements, and after leaving Mall of America, they will definitely need cash now!  

So then everyone will see the cash flying through the air, start running around like lunatics, trampling the elderly and trying to grab all the cash, all while the beautiful jingle is blasting. Also, a professional camera crew would obviously be filming everything to put online (they would probably edit out the people getting trampled). 

After everything is over, there will probably have been around 50 fights, (future structured settlements) and the video footage will quickly go viral.  Then they can make it into a commercial and air it during the super bowl!

Those are my marketing thoughts for the day, hope you enjoyed.

-Kraig

Just in case you feel like listening to the song now:

I sell stuff

Hey everyone, i'm back!

  It's time to start talking about stuff that relates to marketing.  Don't worry, I will try to make it interesting.

I have a sweat shop

That's my garage at night. (above)  It's also where I produce products that I sell.  No, it's not a grow operation.

I use a variety of tools and compounds to create secret book safes out of regular hardcover books.

Looks like a regular book

On the inside it looks like this

Another example:

And here is the link to my online store: TheSafeChoice

My most recent sale was to someone in Colorado... I wonder what they're storing in it!

My inventory is getting low, but production will resume as soon as it warms up a little.

Why did I start making these?  

Over the summer I was sitting around thinking of ways to make money without working for other people and I thought it would be cool to make a hollow book.  So I looked on Youtube and some guy basically made an hour long video that details how he builds them and sells them on Etsy.   I then went to harbor freight tools with my hopes, dreams, and a credit card, and I purchased everything I needed to start manufacturing.

Long story short, that guy on YouTube spent his valuable time showing me how to build book safes and now i'm stealing a portion of his market share on Etsy.  I expanded on his ideas and made my safes better and cheaper than his!!!  Not a smart move on his part.  

There is a reason Coca-Cola keeps their recipe in this safe: 

They don't want every crazy person like me trying to copy their drink.

So anyway, that's one thing I've been doing as a hobby.  I started selling them over the summer.  At first, sales were pretty slow, but as I made my page look more professional and as I started getting 5 star reviews, my sales and viewership started to increase.

Things I do to get good reviews:

-I ship items very quickly

-I put surprise sweeteners in each order (2 dollar bills, dollar coins, and random things I find on the floor)

People respond well when you surprise them with extra stuff and money, and that has been one of my strategies to try and get people to leave good reviews.

My goal for 2014: 

 I would like to crank out 500 safes before next Christmas.  That seems to be when people are really interested in finding unique items.  To meet that goal I need to build 10 a week starting now.  I have built 10 in one day before, so it's definitely doable.  The great thing is, they don't go bad if I don't sell them, so any that I create in excess of demand is basically just cash waiting to happen.  

Well that's all for tonight!

Kraig

Introduction Post #1

Hello everyone!  I'm blogging!

My name is Kraig, and I am a senior majoring in business marketing.  I have lived in Oregon, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Minnesota, North Dakota, and this past summer my wife and I purchased a sweet little house on the western edge of Logan also known as Youngward.  We chose this spot because we hate living in town, we don't like subdivisions, and we want to be as reclusive as possible!  (and I don't have enough money for an underground bunker...yet.)

We're living the dream, and we even have the white picket fence I always hear people talking about. (below)  LOOK AT THAT VIEW!!!

Wow, I never realized how green my grass was!  That might be because we have our own artesian well.  If you don't know what that is, it's basically our own private spring that shoots fresh water out of the ground into our house.  It comes out of the ground at around 12 psi so I don't even need to have a water pump.

Now it's winter, and look how awesome my back yard is! (below) The field is my neighbors but they moved away so it's basically MINE!  I might just start extending our fence back and slowly take over the land.

I heat the house with a wood stove. So we stay pretty warm in here.

I get my wood from the land fill for 5 dollar a cord and I cut it up with my chainsaw. Below is my Husqvarna Chainsaw, Fiskers axe, and my good ol' Chicago Electric chain sharpener from Harbor Freight Tools.  My chainsaw table is a mess!

So that's basically what's going on in my life right now.  I have a lot of other random things to write about but I'll save those for my next posts!

-Kraig