Daydreaming….

I mentioned yesterday that, if I had a great idea, I’d quickly jump into self employment.  So, some days I like to daydream about what I’d do if I owned a company. 

Or, other days I’ll just pick a company and imagine that I work for them… and then I’ll devise a whole new marketing campaign to help them thrive in this economy.

Many times I wind up right back to the same idea whether I’m thinking about Barnes & Noble, Blockbuster, Lowes, Home Depot, Michaels Crafts, M&M, Hershey and many, many more. 

I wonder why retailers/suppliers who might actually benefit from targeting unemployed folks don’t offer some sort of “unemployment discount”.  Now, as far fetched as this may sound please follow along.

BACKGROUND DATA:

• Unemployment is close to 10%
• Approximately 15 million people are without jobs
• These people have endless amounts of free time (after job hunting each day of course!)
• These people need ways to fill this time
• These people want to save money
• Some of these people like to snack on chocolate (ok, maybe just me….)

A FEW WAYS TO FILL FREE TIME:

Reading: (who doesn’t love a good book?  And people who used to be “new book buyers”, who are now unemployed, are visiting the library rather then buying new books)

Watching movies: (great time waster)

Tackling home projects: (because you finally have the time AND you certainly don’t want to pay someone else to do stuff)

Knitting or Sewing: (passes time & saves money and gives you new Fall/Winter clothes!)

Craft projects: (you could spend hours and hours doing these)

Eating M&Ms (you may notice, somehow I always seem to come back to M&Ms) 

Now, we all know that coupons are great BUT, wouldn’t I be encouraged more if I was offered a full time, every day, discount at specific stores, for specific products?  I’d be more inclined to go a store that was offering me a great deal than any other store… and, it might even motivate me to leave my house!   Plus, I think this type of outreach to the millions of unemployed people would be great PR for any company willing to do it. They could show the entire nation that in a time of need, they are willing to reach out to those of us who are struggling. 

What if I got my official “unemployment card” from my state and along with it, I received a note from the unemployment office showing participating retailers who offer a significant discount to me while I’m unemployed (which I can prove since I have my card).  It would work just like an AARP card (which brings similar discounts to retired folks).

So, if I had a job……

I’d work for a company that would launch a “Reach Out America” campaign to help people who are unemployed and struggling.  It’s a win/win all around. 

Jobless folks would SAVE money and 15 million more people would help me drive revenue at my new employer.  And, even if they all only spent one dollar… my new company would make $15M more this year alone!

If you think this is a great idea  (and why wouldn’t you???)… There are many more where that one came from! 

And, I AM available for consulting….. please send all job offers to:  activeleisure [@] hotmail [dot] com