Now, my inner smartass urges me to lead with a cynical comment, something like:  You defended our Homeland…  Now you can clean it!

But the franchise marketer in me applauds the professional, well-conceived presentation and the all-out commitment to implementation (including dedicated program graphics, dedicated website, Twitter and FaceBook accounts, panel of judges, 4th of July timing, and PR rep Lisa Sperling’s contacting me via email & Twitter) that Maid Brigade demonstrates.  Kind of military in its roll-out.

And since I’ve used up my quota of military smart-ass comments with my recent Send Jared to Gitmo campaign (SUBWAY: Send Jared to Gitmo!, Military Considers Abducting Subway’s Jared), I’ll stick with applauding Maid Brigade for properly vetting a good vet promo.

Franchisor Marketing reports that Maid Brigade is launching a contest to promote its franchise opportunity to U.S. Armed Forces veterans as franchise owners.  According to the post (MAID BRIGADE Launches Franchise Giveaway Contest for Vets),  10% of Maid Brigades current owners are vets.

The essay contest, entitled “Maid Brigade Veterans Franchise Giveaway,” offers to waive the $14,500 franchise for up to 100 vets who want to sign on as franchisees, and will award one turn-key franchise package - all expenses paid - to the Grand Prize Winner (a $45,000 value).  Second and third place winners will receive similar packages valued at $27,500 and $17,500, respectively.

Maid Brigade Salutes Veterans with $1.5 Million Franchise Giveaway

Contest Will Offer New Careers to 100+ Military Veterans

(June 29, 2009) — They’ve earned their medals in the U.S. Armed Forces. Now veterans can prove their mettle in the business world with the Maid Brigade Veterans Franchise Giveaway, a program that will award more than $1.5 million in business ownership opportunities to 100+ veterans, creating more than 1,000 jobs nationwide.

The contest comes at a time when America’s economy is down, but patriotism is high. Maid Brigade, the award-winning residential cleaning service and longtime supporter of the military, is acting on both fronts by offering new careers to veterans, a group it considers worthy, qualified, and proven as franchise owners.

Currently, 10 percent of Maid Brigade owners are veterans; others in the network come from a range of careers.

The contest will launch on Independence Day, July 4, and conclude on Veterans Day, November 11, 2009.

To apply for the giveaway, veterans must visit www.maidbrigadegiveaway.com to complete the form and to submit a short essay by September 30 on how their military responsibilities would translate to successful Maid Brigade franchise ownership.

Maid Brigade will waive its $14,500 Select Market Franchise fee for as many as 100 qualified veteran applicants. Additionally, one grand prize winner will receive a new Maid Brigade franchise operation at zero cost —a total value of $45,000, which includes waived franchise fees, working capital, training, and equipment. Second and third place winners will receive similar packages valued at $27,500 and $17,500, respectively. A Maid Brigade Select Market Franchise is designed for smaller geographical regions. Owners manage all business aspects of an operation and oversee a staff of employees who clean homes following Maid Brigade’s certified Green Cleaning system.

READ ON AT:  MAID BRIGADE Launches Franchise Giveaway Contest for Vets

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

graphics:  Maid Brigade

Brag about your franchise opportunity!

Tell us about your franchise opportunity by leaving a comment below.

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-  100 words or less

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-  Smile!  It’s free!

-  Come back next Tuesday and do it again!

TELL US ABOUT YOUR FRANCHISE.  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW!

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Carl’s Jr. is kicking buns with this viral video promoting their Portobello Mushroom Burger… to the tune of 3.3 million views last week alone.

According to this post on Ad Age:

Carl’s Jr. tapped YouTube’s No. 2-most-subscribed channel, from a comedy group called Nigahiga, to push its new portobello-mushroom burger — and it has paid off, in 3.3 million views last week, according to Visible Measures data compiled for the weekly Viral Video Chart. And this is no subtle, where’s-the-brand sponsorship. The (burgerless?) burger is in just about every frame, and when it’s not, they’re talking about it.

The Carl’s Jr. performance was good enough to best two basketball-themed videos that have been on the chart during much of the NBA playoffs…

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Fast food icon and head of the burger franchise mogul Jack Box has been tragically struck by a bus in the company’s current darkly comic viral video series.

The breaking news and ongoing coverage of the traumatic event is being playfully deployed through online social media outlets including YouTube, flickr, Twitter, blogs and elsewhere.

Here are the first three faux-amateur videos in the series are featured on franchise marketing blog FranchisorMarketing.com:
Jack in the Box Icon Hit by Bus: Official Statement

Jack in the Box Icon Hit by Bus: Phil Speaks Out

Jack in the Box Icon Suffers Massive Head Trauma

Feel free to leave well wishes, comments and/or criticisms for Jack in the Box and Jack Box below.

Sean Kelly is a 20 year veteran of the franchise industry, and founder of the award-winning marketing firm IdeaFarm. In 2006, he founded the FranBest franchise network, which features the top new franchises, franchise public relations and franchisee relations issues. Contact him at info[at]ideafarm.net.

Photo credit: cheetahchristina License: Creative Commons

(Franchise Pick)  In order to increase share of mind (an oxymoron?) from the fickle but vast demographic of male morons* age 15 - 28, Pizza Hut engaged the services of the aptly named Mediocre Films to create a viral YouTube video.  The video, creatively named and exclamated Kicked Out of Pizza Place! is a huge hit on YouTube, having been viewed by 300,000+ morons (Watch below to make it 300,001+) and being awarded a prestigious 4.5 out of 5 moronic stars from the 4000 who could figure out how to vote.

Call me a purist, but I prefer my obnoxious, juvenile behavior delivered by obnoxious juveniles, not multinational corporations.

The premise is simple:  An aging Van Wilder imitator sits down in empty independent pizza places and orders a Pizza Hut pizza to be delivered to him at his table.  Hilarity ensues as the offended pizza shop owners - all of whom are of middle eastern descent - endure Van’s obnoxiousness and insults while escorting him out the door.  George Costanza’s retarded older brother Joey films it all on a flip camera, laughs moronically, and delivers such lines as “Yeah, ha-ha… he was about to get angry!”

The premise is amusing, but when framed in the context of a giant corporation sending 30-something pranksters to disrupt independent businesses and demean independent pizza operators, it seems meanspirited and lame.  Like a Dad hurling racial epithets to impress his son’s teenage friends.

Call me a purist, but I prefer my obnoxious, juvenile behavior delivered by obnoxious juveniles, not multinational corporations.  Then again, I’m not the target demographic.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

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Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.

* No morons were harmed in the creation of this post

There are abundant low-to-no-cost opportunities to get word out about your franchise business and your franchise opportunity.  All you’ve got to do is get relentless and get in touch!  Here are four opportunities franchisors and franchisees should immediately seize:

Wanted:  New Franchisors for PR Co-op Venture

Got a Top New Franchise?Top New Franchises is looking for promising new franchises opportunities to highlight in a major publicity initiative in 2009.  Get the word out about your new or emerging franchise program as part of an innovative campaign. To learn more about the 2009 PR promotional program designed specifically for new and emerging franchise programs.  Email your franchise name, website address and contact info to info[at]TopNewFranchises.com

Wanted:  Franchisee Success Stories
You tell us.  We’ll tell the world. FranchisePick.com is looking to highlight franchisees and managers who are dedicated to providing great service in their local markets.  We want to highlight the best of the best with short profiles and interviews.  For more info, email your name, title, location and franchise to info[at]franbest.com.

Promote your promotions at Franchisee Marketing
Share your Marketing Secrets Have you got a recent or upcoming promotion you’d like to share?  A charity event?  Store anniversary, award or milestone?  Photos of you and your staff?  Email your contact and promotion info[at]FranBest.com.  PR firms and ad agencies welcome.

CEO Interviews Sought for FranBest.com
Best practices, best franchises   FranBest.com is seeking franchise executives interested in sharing their expansion plans, franchisee profiles, and the training, support and other benefits their franchise program provides.  Submit contact and franchise info to info[at]franbest.com.

You can’t sell’m if you don’t tell’m so get relentless and start spreading the word about your franchise.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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FEATURED STORY:

TanWorld: Creating the Next-Generation Tanning Salon Franchise

OVERVIEW Interview with Tanworld V.P. Bob McQuillan

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Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.

(FranchisePick.Com) Today, Franchise Pick hits the tough, meaningful questions on everyone’s minds. Namely:
CAN FAKE BOOBS SELL REAL FRIES?
CAN FAKE HAIR SELL REAL FRIES?
CAN FAKE WOMEN SELL REAL FRIES?
Canadian fast food restaurant New York Fries will be able to tell us shortly. They’ve launched a series of print ads featuring fries juxtaposed with fake boobs, fake hair and fake people to communicate that their fries are preservative-free. The ads run throughout Canada into 2009.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

__________________________

Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

.

Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.

Source:  Vista Lodge Franchisee Converts & Redeems Failing Franchise Raj and Pina Kshirsagar are creating a true entrepreneurial franchise success story, first buy growing a successful convenience store to the point where they could finance the purchase of an ailing Travellodge location.  The couple have won the Sales & Marketing award from Vista Hospitality Solutions of Tennessee the past two years.  Read how hard work, relationship building, and more hard work enabled them to create an award-winning success story of their successful Vista Lodge franchise:

Read Vista Lodge Franchisee Converts & Redeems Failing Franchise

at Franchisee Marketing.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE VISTA LODGE FRANCHISE?  LEAVE A COMMENT.

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Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.

Unhappy Franchisee: Franchising rumors, rants, controversies, issues, complaints & insider information you’re not supposed to know.

Source: Franchise Marketing: Success Secrets of a Sir Speedy Franchisee
Tequesta, FL Sir Speedy franchise owner Richard Goldberg. Goldberg recently won the Sir Speedy Century Club award, for the fifth year in a row. The award recognizes the 100 highest-grossing franchises in the company’s worldwide network of 800 print shops. The elite Century Club award is based on 2007 revenues.

A post on Franchisee Marketing includes some great ideas that you can steal , borrow learn from. His approach? “Goldberg says he tries to do is serve as more than just a vendor slapping ink on paper. Goldberg often takes it upon himself to act as a business consultant and a marketing executive for his customers…”

Learn how consultative, value-added selling has made franchisee Richard Goldberg a top performer in a competitive industry.

READ:  Franchise Marketing: Success Secrets of a Sir Speedy Franchisee

WHAT DO YOU THINK? HOW DOES CONSULTATIVE SELLING BOOST YOUR BUSINESS?

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Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.

Unhappy Franchisee: Franchising rumors, rants, controversies, issues, complaints & insider information you’re not supposed to know.

In a recent post on BrandCurve, Susan Gunelius wrote:

How to you convince people from middle-America to visit their local McDonald’s for a latte? Build a giant cornfield maze in Nebraska!

This campaign is meant to create a buzz about McDonald’s new McCafe brand (the copy says, “Taste what the buzz is about”). According to AdFreak, each person who makes it through the 42.6 acre maze will receive a coupon for a free latte, mocha or cappuccino specialty coffee from McDonald’s.

The A-maizing McDonald’s ad is a year-long promotional sponsorship of The Maize at Benson Farms. A short drive from Lincoln, NE, the owners claim The 35-acre Maize at Benson Farms is the largest corn maize in the world. Secondary sponsor is Froggy 98, Lincoln’s Best Country.

For information about 2009 sponsorship Information, contact maze[at]bensonfarms.com

WHAT DO YOU THINK? LEAVE A COMMENT.

_________________________

Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.

Unhappy Franchisee: Franchising rumors, rants, controversies, issues, complaints & insider information you’re not supposed to know.

Photo credit:  Benson Farms