For the enterprising individual, the Direct Sales approach offers a potent and proven successful business model.  If you've already read our information on the Coin Tornado Gravity Well, you probably have a good idea on how it works.  If so, then there's really only one word that needs to be discussed:  Advertising. This is how we started out and within about 6 months had a profitable business. The ideas and methods discussed here are not theory or something we think might work, it is something we proved through direct practice and was developed over the course of 2 years in the Dallas, Texas market.  It works extremely well for those who are disciplined and have some people skills.  Included here is a basic overview, a complete detail for all aspects of this business with all the contracts and forms you will need is included free with your order of a table. 

Start out by purchasing at least 2 Coin Tornados.  Begin reading through our Business Basics 1.0 it includes:  Advertising Contracts, Host contracts, Ready to print brochures, Ad copy forms, Proof worksheets & letters, Charity agreement, and a Main Management spreadsheet in Excel.  It comes in Microsoft Word & Excel and is setup for you to enter your business information and print out.  

It's best to find a local charity to give a portion of, or all the coins to.  We recommend giving 100% of the coins to a local charity.  With a good charity, it's much easier to find Host locations and sell the advertising.  You could also give the charity a free ad spot in addition to their information being listed on the top of the well.  

Find 2 host locations with decent traffic flow, a good reputation, and a waiting area if possible. Waiting areas are excellent because you have a captive audience that will look at the table repeatedly while they are there.  Let the Host know about the charity you have teamed up with and that all the coins collected benefits them. Offer them a free ad spot on the other table in exchange for allowing you to place a table in their waiting area, etc. (that's why you need 2 hosts, make sure they're not in competition with each other!).  For example, if Heritage Carwash is one host and McDonalds is another, you would offer Heritage a free ad on the McDonalds table and vice versa.  In this way you can generally obtain your choice of locations.  Make sure they understand that no business will be promoted on the table that is in competition with them. Sign them up on a 14 month agreement (this gives you 60 days to sell 1 year ad contracts on that table).

Look for a Host location that others would want to advertise in.  We focused on oil change places, busy restaurants, full service carwashs, and hotspots/hangouts in certain areas. A locally owned business is good since the owner is usually available to make the decision. With a good charity and a soft approach, finding a host location is very easy!

Once the Host is set, find your advertisers through a multitude of ways. You can use the charity you have partnered with (for info on this check out the Partnership with Charity page).  Always post an ad on all 4 sides of the well stating "Ad Space Available" if you like you can include the price per month. We DO NOT recommend cold calling. This is a very difficult way to sell advertising and you will probably get discouraged. We use the approach taught by Frank Rambauskas and it works incredibly well. If your serious about building this business you are advised to learn his techniques in - Cold Calling is A Waste of Time. It is available at nevercoldcall.com. The first 10 chapters just lead up to the step by step approach you can implement to drive customers to you. 

Here are some of the numbers from our 2005 Dallas test market.  These are the results we received and are not intended to be a guarantee of what will happen for you. There are too many variables to predict how a market will respond and much of it is determined by the effort you put into it.  With that being said, we placed 22 wells in the north Dallas area during 2005.  In that year we sold 155 ads to 132 advertisers.  Our operation consisted of two people, 1 full time salesperson & 1 part-time manager handling the maintenance, placement of ads, and management of accounts.  We sub contracted the artwork to an individual for a flat rate of $25 per ad. 

Our average ad price was $696 for an 8" x 10" full color, for 1 year.  Almost without exception small business's prefer paying by check for the full year.  We had about 20% that paid their balance over 3-4 months.  The range for 8" x 10" ad spots was $29 per month (348/yr) to $99 per month (1188/yr) determined by the host locations foot traffic and overall appeal in the minds of the advertisers.  We had 4 wells gross over $10,000 each in advertising.  We also had a few duds that we placed that no one wanted to advertise on. Host Location is key, but even the advertising duds made a profit.  Remember, if you only sell 2 ads at the lowest price it still pays for the well! 

If you are looking for something fun with freedom of time, this is an excellent business opportunity.  It has a very low start-up cost compared to the returns it can produce.  We strongly recommend reading Frank Rambauskus book while your waiting for your tables to arrive.  As stated in the beginning, we include more details of the business and all the forms needed in our Business Basics 1.0 with your purchase of a table. 

It has taken years to develop this Win-Win model.  The host wins with a free ad, a Coin Tornado to entertain their guests, and supporting a charity.  The advertiser wins by being able to affordably promote their goods & services in a busy establishment and be associated with a sound charity.  The charity wins by receiving all the coins produced in the well and the exposure.  You win the most in reaping the profits, supporting a charity you believe in, and generating business inside your local economy.  Order a well today and start growing your future!     

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