| A company's push to get a leg up on its competition is | | | | once-failing restaurant! |
| akin to running a rather grueling race. With most firms | | | | Everyone loves a "freebie" and this is what Jonie |
| struggling to keep pace with their peers and simply | | | | Hicks, grandmother of "American Idol" winner Taylor |
| remain in the contest, others lag far behind. Still others | | | | Hicks, banked on one Christmas season. As a |
| focus and go the distance. What drives one business | | | | seasoned marketer whose efforts had, for years, |
| to dash triumphantly through the finish line as its | | | | increased exposure and revenues for the shopping |
| competition chalks up losses? And what does a | | | | malls in Birmingham, Alabama, Jonie found herself |
| corporation's tactics have to do with those of job | | | | hard-pressed to create an innovative means of |
| seekers circling the slippery track of the current | | | | drumming up business. However, this never-say-never |
| employment market? More than you may think. | | | | Southern belle was determined to create a buzz for |
| Desperate times may call for desperate measures, but | | | | her clients. Tackling the problem from an angle that at |
| when pushed to the wall, judicious business leaders do | | | | first glance appeared simple, Jonie coaxed every |
| not act out of desperation: they plan and perform | | | | retailer in one mall to provide each customer with a |
| outside of the box in order to stay afloat and turn a | | | | small, free gift in return for shopping in those stores. |
| profit. Their success stories (which interestingly, often | | | | She then engineered a strategy through which |
| begin with failures) stand as testimony as well as | | | | customers could receive golf balls, each of which was |
| inspiration to the coupes job hunters can achieve | | | | painted with a number corresponding to one the |
| when they apply the same general strategies of | | | | various emporiums. In a flash of brilliance, Jonie hired a |
| creativity and concentration. | | | | plane to fly over an empty field in Birmingham and |
| Renowned chef Gordon Ramsey, for example, is the | | | | airdrop 10,000 golf balls into the eager hands of |
| star attraction of a lesser-known reality television | | | | customers. The stunt had been widely promoted, and |
| series, "Kitchen Nightmares" that appears to be more | | | | the turnout on the field that day exceeded |
| his "baby" than the popular "Hell's Kitchen." In these | | | | expectations. |
| nightmares, Gordon responds to pleas for help from | | | | Nature, however, had other plans. As they left the |
| restaurateurs whose eateries are about to go under. | | | | mother ship, unusually gusty winds swept the spheres |
| Confronting escalating bills, inexperienced owners, | | | | onto the highway, prompting the horde to risk life and |
| worthless cooks, and menus that have coaxed | | | | limb in order to stash as many balls as possible into |
| heartfelt "Signs of the Cross" from our culinary hero, | | | | pockets and purses. Despite a number of "freebies" |
| Gordon Ramsey identifies problem areas and conjures | | | | that got away, the citizenry of Birmingham were |
| up remedies that often appear radical. For one | | | | treated to an unexpected rousing good time along with |
| restaurant flirting heavily with disaster, Gordon | | | | no-cost goodies from the retailers. The shops, in turn, |
| convinced its owner to provide local businesses with | | | | enjoyed an improved turnout and an elevated profit |
| free lunches whipped up using his mouth-watering | | | | margin. Jonie, however, still hears about this escapade, |
| recipes instead of the prior, lackluster fare. This took | | | | the like of which Birmingham has never seen before or |
| some negotiating, as not only were there no immediate | | | | since! |
| profits to be made, the eatery had never thought to | | | | What lesson can job seekers learn from these |
| offer a take-out menu! | | | | business tactics? The value of innovation, and appeal |
| Instead of delivering the lunches in disposable | | | | of "free samples." Whether by creativity in presenting |
| containers, the world-famous chef directed the kitchen | | | | oneself via one's resume and cover letter or the |
| staff to utilize stacking metal lunch pails. Because the | | | | enticement of working "without pay" as an intern or as |
| containers then had to be collected, the cooks and | | | | a demonstration of one's capabilities, a job candidate |
| wait staff were thus afforded the opportunity to | | | | can create a market for himself by virtue of |
| inquire as to how the food had been received. The | | | | unorthodoxy. As in the instances detailed above, the |
| responses were not only resoundingly positive, they | | | | rewards for such unconventionality may far surpass |
| generated orders so substantial the "freebies" created | | | | expectations. |
| a new and viable source of business for the | | | | |