I heard this story a long time ago and it’s always stuck with me. You see, there was once this guy that owned a hot-dog stand that wasn’t doing much business. He was approached by a radio ad sales rep about doing some radio advertising. The hot-dog stand owner scoffed and said, “Radio is expense and it doesn’t work.” The sales rep said, I’ll tell you what…I’ll run the first week of radio ads at no charge to you but what you have to do in return is advertise that you’re giving away free hot-dogs.” The guy thought about it for a minute and then said, “No way would I ever do that.” The sales rep asked why and the guy said, “Because I’d be overrun with people wanting free hot-dogs.” The sales represponded, “I thought you said radio didn’t work?

What’s the lesson here? It’s about the message, not the medium. If you’ve got a compelling story people will listen. And respond.