Here is another great marketing idea from Ryan Holiday.

I like his other one of suggesting to maybe just burn your marketing money.

The point is just to get people talking – to make them stop and take notice.

And the way to do that is usually by being different.

Man, I would love to do something similar to this one day.

If I were spending my own money on a billboard—let’s say for my marketing company—I probably wouldn’t mortgage my house to afford whatever ghastly amount it costs to advertise in Times Square. What I might do instead is buy a small billboard in the town where I grew up that said “Dear Teachers of Granite Bay High School, Thanks for Not Believing in Me. Look at Me Now.” It’s the kind of thing that would get picked up in the local press and then online and people would talk about it forever.

-Ryan Holiday, Perennial Seller

What is the best way to use your marketing money for a particular project?

The answer is obvious:

In the way that attracts the most attention.

But how in the world does one go about that?

Maybe do something outlandish?

Maybe you should just burn it.

But maybe you do have some money to burn. In which case, here’s a crazy idea: Actually put it in a giant pile and burn it, then post the video online. Title it “Here’s What We Did with Our Advertising Budget.” Or give the money to an orphanage and track the impact of your donation on these children on your website for the next decade. Watch how much attention that gets. When you do something unexpected or surprising, it almost always does better than going dollar for dollar against advertisers, who spend millions of dollars a year like it’s nothing (because to them it is nothing—they’re not spending their own money the way you are).

-Ryan Holiday, Perennial Seller