I just read about a children’s playcentre which garnered a boat load of free publicity by auctioning off a vasectomy as a fundraising exercise. The irony is obvious ( vasectomies have to be counter productive to a business that relies on children for its profits) and that’s what generated the free publicity.

Surely this is an idea that a lot of businesses could copy, although obviously it will resonate more with some than others. Is there some counter intuitive product or service you could offer to your customers as an auction item or competition prize that would create a flood of free publicity?

Something to think about perhaps.

If you ever find yourself bemoaning the fact that you can’t find the expertise or help locally consider the case of the Icelandic meat trade.

So desperate are they for skilled staff that every September Icelandic meat processors pay the flights and accommodation of 12 butchers to make the 13,850 mile trip from rural New Zealand to a remote corner of Iceland so that they can cover for the peak lamb processing season.

Looking at it from the other side of the coin, if you ever find yourself complaining that there’s ‘no work’, consider the lengths to which these New Zealanders are going, so they can continue to put food on the table in a slack period for their trade at home.

It’s a mutually beneficial relationship, and inspiring to see both employer and employed going the extra mile (well over 13,000 of them!) to keep the wheels turning.

Have you even gone a fraction of this effort to give or find work? I know I haven’t.