The September 2004 Issue of the Gots To Have It, Newsletter contains:

Blaire Allison of Metroplanners and Marry Blaire.com

2. What motivated you to start your business?
Hmm...there was never really a moment that I said, "Let me start my own business" or an exact time I can track down to when it happened. I guess you can say my Metro Event Planners company just evolved from a part-time business, into a full time corporate event-planning firm, into the niche market of Bachelorette Parties. One thing I learned is you definitely need to roll with the punches as to where your businesses take you!  Also, I guess I've always seen myself as an Entrepreneur, and knew I'd be happiest actively making my dreams into a reality on a daily basis. Running your own business, in my eyes, is the only way to make this happen.

3. Well, you know we had to ask, since this issue is about being OFF THA WALL...what gave you the idea to develop www.marryblaire.com?
I'm a successful woman. I'm looking for a successful man. I've always been that girl who wanted to get married. I was never really into the whole 'Let me go date and have a good time' thing, although I did do that. For me, it was never about the many men, it was always about 'The One.'I'm tired of being afraid of saying to a guy, 'I want to get married.'   Women are told not to talk about commitment, because it will scare men away. I have a mission now, and it's to tell women to break the rules. No, screw the rules! Be yourself. The universe really helps you. I think that my story will have a fairy-tale ending."

4. Tell us about the media frenzy around your unique idea of marryblaire.com.
The media interest in my story has just been amazing. I do radio interviews almost everyday, as well as print and TV interviews. Everyone likes putting his or her own little twist on it, which makes me laugh. I put the site up because it was a fun, creative idea that I had--that was it! Everyone likes to read into it. Why the rush to get married? Is this a joke?   Are you desperate? I did it because it made me laugh and I thought it was fun. I thought a few of my friends and family would look at it and think of some men for me that maybe they hadn't before.  The universe definitely had different plans for the site. The amazing part to me is that I did nothing to promote the site, nor do I have a publicist. It just got passed from one to the next, and even other countries! I've been written up in papers and on the web in Italy, Israel, China, Korea and Canada.   The Internet is really an amazing tool!

5. With all the popularity you have now...how do you relax?
I love reading spiritual books, writing, meditating, going to the gym, taking walks, or hanging out with my dog. It's very important to remain balanced and take plenty of time for yourself; otherwise you'll lose your edge and excitement real quick!

6. What tips do you have for getting ahead and staying ahead?
Be dedicated to your vision. Be passionate. And of course work hard. Always have a vision.

Off Tha Wall Marketing...

By Simone Kelly-Brown

Sticking to the tried and true marketing strategies of yesteryear are great, and yes, many of the proven strategies do work. However, let’s find out what happens when you get your feet wet and enter the land of the outrageous, wacky, daring and straight up OFF THA WALL!

Come along with me for the ride as I show you some interesting and creative ways companies have marketed themselves, so that they stand out and create a buzz.

COMMERCIALS

Hats off to Citibank for their campaign on Identity Theft!

My favorite commercials have to be the Citibank Identity Theft commercials. These spots have been out for over a year and because of the outrageous campaign, people have been talking about them so much that they even have fan sites popping up about the campaign.

In these commercials, we see the innocent victims consumed in some daily activity as a strange voice comes from their mouth -- the voice of their thief talking about the shopping tirade he or she went on with this person's credit card. Eye-opening to say the least!

The humor is exhibited through the facial expressions and environments of the customers while they take on the voice of the perpetrator.

If you have been locked in a closet for the last year or maybe you just don't watch TV, you should check out what you have been missing by looking out for it.

SASQUATCH...BUSTED, BABY!

Cingular's commercial for their picture phone is definitely a winner in the Off Tha Wall department in my book. The scene was of a camper in the woods who finally came in close quarters with the massive and mysterious Sasquatch.

Sasquatch wasn't the wild animal we made him out to be; he was a cocky guy with a New York accent and joked around with the camper, saying something along the lines of, " Oh what...are you gonna call someone and tell them? They aren't gonna believe you!"

Then the wise camper snapped a shot with his camera phone and gave Big Foot a little smirk of satisfaction...BUSTED!

So clever, so funny!

WILD STUNTS

If you have been to Times Square in NY, there is a good chance you have encountered the popular NAKED Cowboy. This ex-Playgirl poster boy had the drive and bravery to get his name out there someway and somehow. Ever since he took his guitar and tighty-whities to the streets, his name has been in lights. Okay, that might be pushing it, but you gotta say the man has a lot of guts. His stunt has taken him on tour all across the globe.Take a look at his interview here: htt

p://www.deansplanet.com/interviews_naked_cowboy.html

Naked Cowboy: " I was following my dreams since I can at first remember. Doing what I loved most at all times. I was working out on Venice Beach in California, there while shooting for Playgirl Magazine (May '98). I decided to take my guitar, cowboy get up and play on the Boardwalk. I was ignored all day. The photographer suggested playing in my underwear to "try something different." Next day, I was on the news, made over a hundred dollars and had chicks taking their pictures with me all day. The rest is history and will continue to be for all time."

Janet Jackson Super Bowl Stunt?

Oh, you guys know...but alright Jackson fans, I am not even gonna touch that one. We really don't have the proof! Or do we? LOL!

EVENTS

Where's YOUR passport?:

Last year, I attended Don Pooh's (Music Industry Producer) birthday party. Everyone from P. Diddy to Mary J. Blige were in attendance. The theme was FIRST CLASS and an all-exclusive invite only party. The invite was cleverly designed to resemble a passport.   That was nothing. What did it for me is when I arrived at the party with my friends and noticed that on both corners of each block there were AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS. Not your typical Joe Schmoes that would flag a plane down, but sexy young women with the glow sticks and all! Talk about a great concept. All he needed was flight attendants to top it off when you entered the event to perhaps show the wallflowers to the dance floor!

What's In The Bag?:

At our very first GIVE 'N TAKE Membership Drive event last year, we advertised that the first 30 women to come to the event will receive a special gift bag full of "tantalizing surprises." Well, surprise was an understatement, because "Tickling Your Fancy", sensual products company was one of our sponsors. These ladies were very happy with their little stress-relieving treat. Let's just say it was a silver massager. ~I'm cracking up. I hope my mom isn't reading this~

~Not really my mom, but that would be her expression ~

Well, I know that word spread about those Give 'N Take gift bags, because at the next event there were women lined up a half-hour earlier before we even opened the doors! Talk about word of mouth marketing! I thought it was definitely an Off Tha Wall gift, but hey, I didn't hear any complaints ~a-hem~.

GET OFF THA WALL! IT'S YOUR TURN...

Now that you've seen a few Off Tha Wall ideas, let's create a few of our own...

How can you develop a wild idea and get attention?

First think about the following:

What do you want people to say about you?

Make sure the idea attracts your target audience first!

How will you include your marketing message along with your crazy idea/stunt? It's great to have a fun idea, but don't let your branding get lost.

What's your budget? Think of how you can make the most bang for your buck or better yet, do it for FREE!

Do you want to create publicity as well? What papers/magazine would be interested in this idea?

Have a brainstorm session with your team on all of the wild and creative things you can do. Don't hold back! You can narrow the ideas down to your top three then go through your checklist and see which idea is a winner. Good luck. I look forward to reading about you in the news!

Dig a little deeper and understand what drives you by adding Jack of All Trades, Master of None? to your personal library. Also SIGN UP for the special one-on-one 8 week course based on the book. Get affordable personalized coaching from Simone Kelly-Brown to help you streamline your business and get focused! Go here for more: www.gotstohaveit.com/8weekcourse.html BECOME A GTHI AFFILIATE AND EARN CASH! Get paid by spreading the word about Simone Kelly-Brown's New Book, Jack of All Trades, Master of None? Become an Affiliate: http://www.gotstohaveit.com/affiliate.html

Busted! Totally Off-the-Wall, Real-Life Technology Screw-Ups      Written by Lena L. West Sometimes even people who are normally sane have occasional lapses in judgment. Ok... bad, horrible, embarrassing lapses. Rather than tell you, I'll show you. These stories represent actual situations that some of my clients have shared prior to working with me. Names have been changed to protect the 'innocent'.

Terry Nieves is a motivational speaker. She's made a name for herself on the local circuit and has been invited to speak at the annual conference of a regional business association. Terry stepped out and started her speaking business with virtually no start-up capital. She's been meaning to get her website 'up and running' because she knows that it's a large part of her marketing vehicle, but really just can't seem to get focused on it. Months go by and Terry is speaking and getting paid -- business is good. Then one day, a producer from ABC's "The View" calls and says they're interested in having her on the show to talk about how women can heal from divorce and bad breakups. The producer wants to know if Terry has a website where they can get more information. Terry is busted and totally off-the-wall.

Charlie Remsen owns an import business. He sells his products to major chain stores like Pier 1 and Pottery Barn. Each order can be as large as $100,000 worth of product; but, sometimes the buyers for these companies get angry with Charlie. They order his products for next season's catalog only to be called two days later and told that three of the items are not in stock. This is not the first or even the third time this has happened. When customers complain, Charlie tells them that he's working on linking his inventory database to his sales system to prevent this from happening. Six months go by and Charlie still hasn't started taking steps to correct the problem. Pier 1 takes their business elsewhere and there's a phone message from the buyer at Pottery Barn on his desk. Charlie is busted and totally off-the-wall.

Gail Jordan is President of an advertising firm. Her company employs three full-time advertising professionals and last year's revenues were $750,000. By all accounts, the company was doing well, but Gail stares at her balance sheet and wonders how they could have possibly lost $65,000 in profits. She's looking in the wrong place. What she doesn't take into account is that her office is not networked. Her employees have to save files to floppy disks and pass them around the office. If someone wants to print, they have to go to Ron's desk and wait for an opportunity to "jump in really quickly". Or, they pass him a floppy disk with the work they need to have printed. All the sales information is on Karen's computer, but she's always on the phone and on her computer drumming up business so no one can get to the advertising data to tell the client on hold if the $7,000 ad space in The New York Times is still available. Gail is busted and totally off-the-wall.

Sometimes the handwriting is on the wall. Get your technology together and you can win --it's really that simple. In each of these situations, having the appropriate technology could have saved these business owners time, effort, money and sanity. What's your technology doing - or NOT doing - for your business?

Lena L. West is the Founder & CEO of xynoMedia Technology, a technology consulting firm that specializes in helping business owners who feel like hostages to technology. Download your free copy of The Technology Planning & Strategy Workbook at http://www.xynomedia.com © 2004 Lena L. West. All rights reserved.

Give ‘N Take Network for WOMEN

Go here for DETAILS and to RSVP online: www.giventakenetwork.org/events.html

ABOUT US:

Simone Kelly-Brown is the President and CEO of Gots To Have It Marketing, Inc.. For over 10 years, she has been working with small business owners who are just starting out and want to get their businesses off the ground with innovative marketing.

GTHI is a firm that specializes in marketing and empowering entrepreneurs with a series of workshops and networking events.

For further information view:www.gotstohaveit.com

For Women's Networking view: www.giventakenetwork.org

Until Next Month!

Own your power and have continued success,
Simone Kelly-Brown
CEO/PRESIDENT, Gots To Have It Marketing, Inc.www.gotstohaveit.com
If you want it, you Gots To Have It!


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