Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Ok, just a bit of info:

I plan on going cross country (all 48 states) next summer in a 35` school bus. But instead of just driving and paying for all of that gas I figured, "I bet someone would greatly benefit from the exposure of advertising on the bus" So I have begun the arduous task of trying to find companies that are willing to advertise .... well willing to talk to me about advertising on the bus. I realize that the program would have some draw backs including the fact that it isn`t something long term, but at the same time I will be able to offer the company advertising where no other company can (ie state parks, monuments, large attractions....). So my questions are:

Who do I write in a company to get a response?
What should I include in my letter?
What is a reasonable price to ask?
Should I get 2 companies to joint advertise?
How would I go about getting 2 companies to joint advertise?
What is the meaning of life?

Answer 1 question and you will be happy for a day, answer 2 questions and you will find true love, answer 3 questions..... Just kidding anyone with input please help!

You send an email to TJ Graff,  tgraff@gotruckstop.com , I bet he would love to figure a way to advertise on your bus.

So is it better to offer the smaller spaces as options or just try to get one advertiser big enough to have the extra advertising monies to advertise on the whole thing?

I have too many ideas on who to write: Cell phone companies, 800 order companies, energy drinks/foods, movies.... endless list.

I am not into advertising and am unsure of what to include in a "packet" as well, I will look up what I can on that but what have you guys found most usefull?

     I`ve figured out all of the milage between the places we intend to go and it is aprox 10,500 miles (we figure 12,000 with deviations) and that would come to anywhere from $4500 plus or minus for gas costs.
     The only thing that I can find similar to what I am doing is people on ebay trying to sell advertising space on their car while they drive from LA to Orlando, or something of the like. On the other hand there are quite a few sites touting "Mobile Billboards" that are akward looking vehicles that travel within the city limits with advertisments along the sides of them. I found one helpfull site that listed the number of people they expected to reach any said day traveling 20-30 mins within the city, loosely based on the MSA of that city. Using that as a template of sorts, I figured we would be seen by very easily 2million+ people on the trip. Another idea I got from these people is to somehow incorporate GPS or allow the inclusion of a GPS device on the bus itself for advertisers to see where their money is and what exposure it would be getting.
     We already have our route laid out with the places we intend to stay at each location, so there is no problem on that note (we also made sure each one offered our hookups and size.)  
     We are 8 friends planing on taking this trip for the sole reason of experience, we all realize that there are 2 times in life when the average person can take a trip like this and the other time is during retirement. Just think of asking off for 7 weeks at whatever job you are at now. So the reasons we are going are I guess selfish but this shouldn`t make a difference to the advertiser other than not being able to say they are giving to charity.
     In the PR kit that I obviously need to send out, I was thinking of including a penny in the kit and state that "For one penny you can tell one person about your product" then play on the fact that the penny is the most circulated coin by saying something like "How many will this penny effect?" all of this would of course be referencing the 2million people reached and the $20,000 or so invested in the actual bus wrap and fee. Any thoughts?