Of all the ways to take advantage of a down economy, this has to be one of the more creative. Jacksonville-based entrepreneur Jason Sadler has successfully been “renting” his body out as a human billboard. In return for a sliding fee (2009 rates were $1 for January 1st – $365 for December 31st) he will wear your company’s T-shirt and blog about it on his website and through his social media network. Seems like a novel idea to me, so against Bill (our web guy)’s protests—“That’s exactly what he wants you to do!”—I looked into it.
He says he devised the idea because he was simply sick of thinking, “Why didn’t I think of that?” about internet sensations like “The Million Dollar Homepage” (1,000,000 pixels successfully sold for $1 a piece).
While not quite as lucrative—he is set to make $66,795 this year in shirt-wearing fees—he claims the idea is sustainable. For 2010, he has signed up a West Coast friend to “expand his market” and doubled his fees (bidding began at $2 for January 1). Interested? As of this morning, he is sold out up to May 28, 2010, which can be purchased for $296.
As Lara previously mentioned, the social media floodgates have broken open whether you like it or not. I guess the question now is how to use it for good (like Queensland Australia did when they created “The Best Job in the World” promotion that garnered worldwide media attention by allowing contestants to submit and vote for audition videos) and not bad (like the Oprah/KFC coupon debacle that resulted in thousands of enraged and disappointed customers).
It seems as though we are beginning to get it. But, with innovative ideas popping up every day, you’d better think fast if you’re looking to trade-in your red paperclip for something a little bigger or better.
