Picture My World

(With all due apologies to Darren Rowse, but his post inspired me.)

Yesterday was hot. Really hot. Ice cream hot. Being the guy that I am, I decided to do a little research into the buying of ice cream and quickly spun around looking for possible vendors. However, there was nothing in view from the little residential park my daughter and I were in.

After a few minutes, though, I heard some obnoxiously loud music coming down the street. There it was — a truck painted in bright, gaudy colors slowly rolling this way. I watched, fascinated, as the truck stopped and was mobbed by children and their parents. The parents started digging around for loose change from pockets, wallets, and purses. The ice cream truck driver could hardly keep up.

I was amazed at how many ice cream treats this salesman sold in the ten minutes he was stopped. As he rolled off again and the music started, I saw more children chasing him down the street literally screaming for ice scream. The ice cream truck was clearly a magnet, yet I never saw it on rainy or cold days.

This ice cream truck owner had clearly thought about his selling strategy and knew most people bought ice cream when it was hot. He’d learned the art of positioning and honed it to the point where he could reposition himself within minutes to capture the entire local market. Finally, he also had advertising down to a science.

Lessons from an Ice Cream Truck

As I watched the ice cream truck, I asked myself what I could learn as a blogger from this mobile business. Here are a few ‘lessons’ that occurred to me:

1. Toot your own horn: Just one look at this truck told me that the owner was proud of his truck and profession. Dress up your site to express the real you!

Don’t be afraid to pick colors that may not match each other. After all, it’s not like they don’t match anything. Place images of your favorite foods all over the side of your blog. And don’t forget the price list.

2. Get peoples’ attention: Everyone can recognize when the ice cream truck is coming. Even a couple of notes will trigger fits in toddlers. How can we bloggers emulate this? I think we’ll need some technical help, but it should be possible to have web sites related to yours play a little jingle. As your future readers get closer to your site, the jingle will get louder. Soon they’ll hope the next click lands on your blog.

Remember that the ice cream truck is always on the move. You must do the same and comment on as many blogs as you can so your future readers are only one click away. (Once the jingle technology is implemented, it will be deafening across the web!)

3. Attract the kids and parents will follow: Let’s be blunt. Kids are suckers. They’re also nags. Finally, parents have money. If you can get the kids interested in your blog then their parents will follow. Your best bet is to incorporate a cute cartoon character along with some parental advice on how to handle naggy kids, and your tip jar will soon overflow.

The ice cream truck guy must have sold hundreds of ice creams yesterday simply by being everywhere at once. How will you improve your blog by copying his strategies?

This entry was posted on Monday, May 15th, 2006 at 10:49 pm and is filed under Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.