Okay, this one I loved. I will certainly do it again!
I decided to take my typewriter down to the local pond and hand out water as I wrote. As you can see from the sign, the water was free. I kept it cold with a cardboard cooler and ice. Here’s the kicker, I made my own labels with my name and website and replaced the label on the water bottles with mine.
It was a hot day, near ninety degrees and people were extremely grateful for the water. One guy tried to give me a cash donation, but I declined and said, “No thank you, it’s free, stay hydrated.” The look on his face was worth the cost of this set-up alone.
I forgot how much I love people. Over the past few years I’ve become quite isolated (which made quarantine a piece of cake), but I long for human connection. This little project gave me a taste of what I’ve been missing.
Some people stopped and asked what I was doing. Many people were surprised to see a typewriter. Some asked about my poetry, and I even recited one aloud. Some older folks told me about their old typewriters they had, and some people just read my sign and gave me a thumbs up in approval as they trotted by.
I don’t know why, but I’ve had this negative emotion in my head, a pessimistic view of people, which led me to isolation. I’m sure it’s tied into emotional trauma from my past, but I can’t express how happy I am to have gotten out there and met some folks. It made my day to add a little joy to theirs.
I don’t know if any of them looked at the bottle and went to my website. I did have an uptick in site visits, but there’s no way of telling if there’s a connection to my bottles. My favorite part of guerrilla marketing is that it’s fun. I hope for results, but my happiness isn’t tied up in it. I’m having a blast doing this.
So far, I’ve done the poem in a box and placed them around town, now the water bottle labels. I wonder what I should try next?
