Bet you didn’t think there would be an actual yo-yo! Two, in fact. But I’m using these to make a point.

First: I am not a yo-yo.

Second: A while back when I had my own gig I had these made up to hand out at a trade show. People were storming my crummy little booth to get one, and all throughout the giant hall in Philly there were folks walking around with their swag bags in one hand and my yo-yos going up and down…up and down… from the other hand. But did I get any new business from my little promotional stunt? Knot one!

The moral of the story? I learned my lesson that day that even the cleverest ideas go to waste when they’re poorly positioned. The last thing those sales guys and gals were interested in was my advertising services. They loved my yo-yo. But as for the “good kick in the ads” that I promised? That was for some other yo-yo to worry about.