How Jay Leno Helped Me Make Money

Let me share a story with you…

Back in the 1990’s when I first started buying houses in Phoenix, my family also had some used bookstores for about 10 years.

My dad had a whiteboard in the window that he would write funny, self-deprecating things on to get people’s attention.

One thing he wrote back then was, “Be Smart Like Us – Reed a Book!” He misspelled “Read” on purpose.

That gave me an idea. Back then Jay Leno used to have a segment on The Tonight Show on Monday’s called, “Headlines”.

With that in mind I placed a 1/3 page ad in our local Penny Saver type newspaper for around $200 that said, “Be Smart Like Us – Reed a Book!” with our store’s name, address, phone number, and a map to the store.

Once it came out I sent it to Jay Leno’s staff with a letter as if it was coming from a 3rd party saying, “You know how smart bookstores think they are…and this one can’t even spell ‘Read’.

Within 9 days of sending that ad to The Tonight Show staff it appeared on Jay Leno’s desk on Monday’s episode.

I was floored, but felt even though it was mentioned on The Tonight Show with millions of viewers, most of the people in my area, and my customers, would probably not be as aware of it as I’d have liked.

I had an opportunity. In other words I had something of interest to MARKET!

I wrote a press release to our state’s largest newspaper telling the story of what I’d done…the ad, the misspelling, writing to Jay’s people, etc.

They loved it and did a full story. I then included a copy of the newspaper article along with a press release and sent it to ALL of our local TV stations telling them about the story.

They loved it too and did LIVE broadcasts from the store talking about the story.

I knew the dates and times the TV stations were coming out and marketed that inside our bookstore letting all our customers know they could come to our “TV Party” where there would be food and
drinks… and to tell their friends to watch for them on TV at our store.

We had 3 TV stations come out and I milked that story to get a lot more press for our business going forward (and I guess I still am.)

Here’s the big take away – whenever you have bought, sold, or rented a house in an area – you’ve HELPED a family.

That’s something to MARKET. Let the ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD KNOW that you’ve helped another family and are ready to help them too.

That one simple act can potentially help 1 deal bring in more deals.

Do that each time you’ve bought, sold, or rented a house in an area and see what happens over time.

The Moral – When you’ve done any kind of deal, you’ve got something to MARKET. HOW you market the fact that you did that deal AND HELPED PEOPLE in the process can potentially help you generate more business. Plant the seed that YOU are that area’s go-to person and keep doing it in areas that you’re doing business in so you can prove it… You’ve Got This!