How to Make $9,000 NET PROFIT in the Next Month from High School Football

by 92 replies
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Hi Fellow Warriors,

It is almost back to school time and which means Football season is almost here. Here is a mini-business that I did in college that is a fun and very effective way to make some quick and easy money while helping promote businesses in your local community.

What you will be making and selling is customized vinyl seat cushions for people to sit on during high school football games. Instead of just selling the cushion to high school football fans though, you will also be selling advertising to local businesses to be featured on the cushion.

Here is how you do it. Go over to CustomSeatCushions.com (or any other custom seat cushion printer) and find a vinyl cushion that can be customized and gives you 12 inches by 12 inches of printing space on each side. On one side of the cushion you will put a graphic of the high school’s name and logo in your community. On the other side you will print the ads that you sell to local businesses.

Since the cushion is 12” x 12”, break down the ad space in to 3” x 3” ads, which will give you 16 ad spots to sell. Approach a variety of local businesses and sell each ad spot for $500. The best types of businesses to approach are ones that are actively involved in your local community. Here is a sample list of types of businesses that work well:

  • Local Pizza Parlors
  • Insurance Agents
  • Plumbers
  • Landscapers
  • Realtors
  • Breakfast Cafés
  • Sit Down Restaurants
  • Quick Serve Restaurants (Subway owners are especially receptive!)
  • Local Grocery Store
  • Flower Shops
  • Mechanics
  • Car Wash
  • Martial Arts Studio
  • Coffee Shop

If there are any other businesses in your area who you notice are always supporting local events or the school, approach them as well. You’ll find that selling something like this is quite easy if you approach locally owned businesses, because they all have a desire to support local events and be seen as being involved in the community.

Once you have sold all 16 ad spots at $500 each, you have made $8000. Now you need to put the design together by combining the ads that the local businesses gave you. I recommend using Photoshop for this, but if you don’t have it, GIMP is a free alternative that will allow you to do pretty much everything Photoshop does. Create images for both sides of the cushion—One side is just the high school name and logo and the other side is the advertising.

Go back to CustomSeatCushions (or whomever you decide to use) and upload your images. I recommend ordering 1,000 seat cushions. This will cost you close to $4,000 to get your customized cushions with printing on both sides, but that is why you have collected the money up front from the advertisers—so you can pay for the printing!

It will take a week or two to get your custom cushions back to you. Once you have them, go to the local high school football games on Friday nights and sell the cushions. I would sell them right by the front door for $5 each and people just ate them up. Even better, you can put an ad on Craigslist asking for a student from the high school you will be selling to and give them a job selling the cushions. People love to buy from high school students, especially if you let him or her say that this is a new businesses they are working on—people will always support a young entrepreneur. (And nobody needs to know you are the man/woman behind the curtain!)

Here is how the math plays out: Sell $8,000 worth of advertising plus $5,000 in cushions ($5 x 1,000 sold) for a total of $13,000 in sales. Take out the $4,000 price of the cushions and you have netted yourself $9,000 for about 6 weeks of part time work. If you pay somebody to sell the cushions for you, maybe take out another $1,000 to get them really motivated and you’ve still netted $8,000 for some part time work.

This method truly works, but you really need to take action on it quickly because the new school year (and Friday night football games) are about to start. You really want to be selling your cushions during the first few weeks of the season so that people will use them all season long. This is also a great selling point to the advertisers—this is something that people will be looking at on a weekly basis for at least two and a half months. So even though you will only be selling 1,000 cushions, the ads will get viewed many more times than that.

If this helps motivate even one Warrior to go and take action, this post will have been worth it. I hope it inspires and gets your creative juices flowing. There are money making opportunities everywhere, you just have to see and act on them. Seize this opportunity and don’t look back!

-Ben

P.S. If you find this post helpful, please hit "THANKS" below. Also feel free to rate the thread as 5-star Excellent on the Rate Thread tab at the top of this post! Thanks everyone!!
#offline marketing #business #football #high #local #make #marketing #money #month #net #offline #profit #school
  • Cool idea. Thanks for sharing! Wish I'd thought of this when my kids were in High School because we didn't miss a single sporting event back then.

    My daughter was very active in DECA and they are always looking for fund raisers. I bet I could have them sell the cushions for 50% of the sale amount.

    We'd sell the advertising and pocket the $4000 net profit, and then selling the 1000 cushions we'd only make 50% ($2500) and they'd make the other 50% so we all win.

    However, I'm not sure they'd sell 1000 during just the football season so I could see carry over into basketball.

    Taking this a step further, we have 5 high schools in this area. So, if I did this with all 5 high schools that would make me $20,000 in advertising dollars and $12,500 from cushion sales.

    Huhmm. Interesting idea, especially as I start thinking this out further.

    Then, just 30 miles away is another decent city where I could make another $6,500.

    Plus, each of those advertisers become prospects for other products and services I offer creating an even bigger backend cash flow.

    Not a bad business for someone for a few weeks of work. And if the DECA department does the selling as a fund raiser (people are always supportive of fund raisers), all I have to do is sell the advertising and get the cushions made.

    The school wins, I win, businesses win and consumers get a nice cushion in support of the school their kids go that they'll treasure.

    Nice. Thanks for bringing up this idea, Ben!

    Bradley
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • To add to my post (for clarification purposes), I'd sell the advertising to the businesses within each of the high schools boundaries. That makes more sense to the business since their primary market place is consumers in their area.

      Plus, they would be more receptive to supporting the high school in their area since this is where most of their business would come from.

      The more I think about this the more this idea is growing on me.

      Bradley
  • So, now we go "girlie-girlie", lol. As in PINK cushions for girls and xxxx for boys. And then lets expand... QR anyone? Just my thoughts today. Or, QR with an opt-in for tracking and SMS? Gosh, I hope I did not compliocate this too much , Eva

    BTW, GREAT idea, gets me thinking of other events where you need to put your as**, sorry for the vocabulary, just wanted your mind to go hunting!
  • Bradley,

    Yeah, doing this as a fundraiser by having a student group sell the seat cushions and splitting the revenue from that is an excellent idea. Not only will it help you sell the cushions at games, but it will also make it very easy to sign up advertisers if you let them know it is for a school fundraiser. Also, you are absolutely correct about only getting businesses within the school boundary. One other business that I forgot to mention is dentists-- they love to be involved with their local community and always seem to have an advertising budget if the right opportunity is presented to them.

    Vikuna, great add-ons! I didn't think about doing different colors for girls & boys, I just made them using the school colors... so if the school colors are green and yellow I would get green cushions and then have the printing on them be yellow. And yes, there are plenty of other opportunities out there where you need to put your a$$ in a seat!!

    -Ben
  • Awesome idea!

    Do this with just 4 or 5 high schools in the area and you're off the rest of the year! Thing is, you can be the go-to source each and every year.

    Thanks for the share!
  • Do you have a pic of one that I can show as an example to the business owners?
    • [1] reply
    • It was almost 10 years ago that I first did this, and I don't have any pictures of what I specifically did, but in general, Vinyl Seat Cushions look like this:



      The image above would be what you would use for the High School name & Logo and on the other side you would place the 16 advertisements. Just break it up into 3" x 3" sections and put an ad in each section.

      -Ben
  • Check out last year's yearbook to see which local businesses have ads in there. Makes a good starting point for advertisers to approach.
    • [ 5 ] Thanks
  • Warrior Ben,

    Great Ideas!

    This idea is one that I have in my archives of money making ideas that i was going to post sometime on my money making blog, nichebizideas.com

    I remember when i was in high school helping to sell seat cushions at the front gate as people walked into the football field.

    Another item we sold alot of was the big #1 foam hand with the finger pointing up and i'm sure those can be printed with ads on them, so just another possible item to sell at football games that can make a nice profit.

    Here is another way i remember how we sold one seat cushion and made a huge profit. What we did was get a gift certificate from the food stand for a free hot dog and soda and tied it in with the seat cushion and we did a raffle at $1 for one ticket and $5 for eight tickets and we anounced the winner at half time. Just another possible way to make some extra money with this idea.

    Thanks for sharing and reminding me of this great advertising idea.

    All the best,

    Martin
  • how do you go about Selling that right by the front Door? Like for Example you will need permission to sell that on school Property, Right?

    I don't think that they will just let any sell products on Campus like that at a high school.
    • [3] replies
    • I was thinking the same thing. I just got out of highschool, so I am thinking about going up there tomorrow to talk to the principal and tell them that I will split the profits of the sales with them, I don't see why they'd refuse that.
    • Lem,
      That's a good point. Here in this area you'd need to be a member of the "boosters" but would still need permission.

      Makes outsourcing the selling to the DECA department as a fund raiser and splitting the sales 50/50 with them that much more attractive.

      Also keep in mind, the DECA department would have other ways of selling the items in addition to selling them at the games. Our DECA department here, for example, has a store in the school where they teach commerce to the students.

      Bradley
    • What about copyright laws on the school logo
      • [1] reply
  • This is a really great idea. Get the principal or athletic director on board and offer the school a $1000 donation for allowing you on the property. Go to a Youth For Christ or maybe a booster group for the cheerleaders to sell them for you. At some of these bigger high schools it would not be hard to move 1000 at $5 a pop. Then rinse and repeat at big high schools in other local cities.
  • Banned
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  • This is a GREAT idea! I have two high schools within a few miles of each other, so I can hit up the same businesses for each seat cushion - i.e. charge them $1000 if they want to be on both cushions. I think I'd have to partner up with one of the school organizations and get permission to make this a fundraiser (50/50). The cost for me would be $4200 to produce, so even with a 50/50 split I could pocket $6300 for each school promotion. With the 2 schools in the same area, I could basically sell the ads once and profit twice, making $12,600 and each school group could raise $2500. Not bad.

    I could also take a $500 "hit" and put my own ad selling my mobile services on the cushions. That might be expensive for what I'd get out of it, but you never know. It wouldn't cost me anything out of pocket, just less profit.
    • [1] reply
    • There's so much profit in here, that leaves a lot of room to make adjustments. I was even looking at just 500 instead of 1000 for the smaller schools in this area and you can still make a pretty penny at this.

      There's a lot of potential with this.

      Bradley
  • I'm really glad that so many people have been inspired by this post! I would love to hear updates from people who go out this week and are starting to make this happen. It is really not difficult at all.

    For full disclosure, it was almost 10 years ago when I did this and my mother worked at the High School I did this for and it was the same school I went to in High School-- so I did have an in that allowed me to sell them and nobody cared. In fact, my old teachers were very impressed with my creative thinking and entrepreneurial abilities! In terms of copyright violation or anything like that-- My guess is that school budgets are so tight these days that they aren't going to pay a lawyer to go after you.

    With that said, I think Bradley nailed it on the head-- if you make this a fundraiser and split the sales of the cushions with a student group or the Boosters Club, you will have no problem selling them or getting permission to do so. If you offer a way for a school to bring in $2,500 they are going to jump all over it because of how tight money is. As a bonus, it will make it a lot easier to get advertisers to sign up because they want to be seen as helping out in a fundraiser.

    If anybody goes and takes action this week-- please share your story! Go get 'em!!

    -Ben
  • How is the $500 for the ad received by businesses? Theoretically, I could go as low as $300 which would bring in $4800, minus my $4200 printing costs, leaves $600 for me, plus on a 50/50 split another $2500 if all 1000 sold (total $3100). Not bad.
    • [2] replies
    • When I did this almost 10 years ago (when the economy was just beginning to rebound from the dotCom bust) I had no problem with getting local businesses to pay $500. The reason is that even though I printed 1,000 cushions, they are something that is used again and again... potentially for years on end. So the actual eyeballs on the ad is much more than just people seeing it 1,000 times. When you compare how much it costs to place an ad in a weekly community newspaper or direct mail or any other ways that businesses advertise, the $500 is actually quite inexpensive in their eyes.

      Another strategy to take is to start out selling for $300 until you get comfortable and then up the price as you go along. I've found that the hardest part is actually asking for the sale, but when you do you'll be surprised how often you'll hear that $500 is a very reasonable price.

      -Ben
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • This sounds like a quick turn over...

      Thanks for the idea.

      James
  • Damn, this a good marketing idea! So good in fact, that I am going to put other projects on the back burner and do this.

    A good friends wife is the dean at the local high school here. Which is the high school I graduated from. So I have an "in" to make this even easier.

    I'm also the assistant coach of the school ice hockey team and know most of the parents. So I have an "in" here as well. I'm also creating and launching the new website for the hockey club very shortly. I can sell them on there. These would be great for ice hockey games as the benches are usually metal. Metal in an ice rink = FREEZING! So the cushion will help with that.

    Another good friend is the assistant football coach at another local high school.

    I'll most likely give half the proceeds to the schools. Which I highly suggest you do as well. Or at least 25%. You of course don't have to, but if you go to a school and tell them you will give them XX%, they will probably do all they can to help you sell them out.

    Heck, I bet if you asked, they would print up a flyer for each student to bring home to their parents with info on the cushions and where/how to buy.

    Which brings me to an additional idea...spend $10 for a domain name, set up a website, put a PayPal button on there, collect money.

    And of course you can always use one of the spots on the cushion for advertising your own services.

    Don't forget, if you do donate half the proceeds, get a picture of you holding the check standing next to someone from the school (principle). Now you can use this on your own site and show how you are supporting the local school.

    Also, now you'll have your foot in the door with 16 potential clients. I'm considering offering ad spots for $1,000 which then gets them a free marketing consultation with me. Or they can just pay the $500 and get the ad. Could be a quick way to add a few grand to your pocket. All you would have to do is give some of your time on the consultation and show them how to increase their profits. Although I have to give this idea more thought, just thought of it.

    Big thanks for the idea!
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [3] replies
    • Excellent addition ... have a picture of you handing the check to someone at the school for their part. GREAT creditability for your business and local/school support.

      Bradley
    • I really like this idea as well! Any publicity to help your own offline business would be an added bonus beyond just making some quick money!

      Vagabond 007-- glad to hear you are taking action on this! It takes some (minimal) effort to get the local businesses to advertise on the cushions, but is WAY easier to sell them on this than SEO services or anything like that because they feel like they are contributing to their local community. Best of luck and keep us posted on your progress!

      -Ben
    • Oh excellent ideas with ice hockey. This opens up a very large expanse of opportunities. Basketball season is coming too and those bleachers...well.

      Another great source of advertisers are politicians (they have campaign accounts), the local sheriff (if elected), local banks, churches, gyms, health clubs.
  • Thanks for this idea. I actually have two cushions from the late 60's that my parents bought to go to football games and they are exactly like what you are talking about here.
    Vic
    • [1] reply
    • This just gave me an additional idea...

      You could promote this as limited production and that in the future they will be worth a lot more than you will sell them for.

      Have to be sure to put the year on the cushion.
  • Great stuff! im in the process of teaching my little sister other ways to make money, she is in high school and i think this will work perfect! Thanks alot
  • Thanks for this very smart ideas. I will try and see if it I can apply this for my country's next National Day Parade.
    • [1] reply
    • This is a great idea. Most are probably near more than one school. There are also teams in junior highs, too. Private schools as well have teams, but probably need less cushions.

      This is also a great project your children could do to pay for their college tuition.
  • Do I need a business license?

    How do I look credible to these businesses that I am going to be asking for advertising dollars?

    Do I need invoices? How do you go into the businesses, what do I need to have to bring in to make myself look like I'm not just some guy off the street?

    I really want to go out and do this, but I just want to know what I have to have set up so that I can legally act. I've never started a business or anything and don't have the money to register a business right now, is this going to be an issue?

    Can you give me more information on this, I am ready to get started, but I just don't want to look like an idiot.

    How do you sell it to them?

    Sorry if the questions are stupid, I just really have no idea how to go about this.

    Thank you for this information, it's really inspiring.
    • [3] replies
    • Can anyone answer this for me please?
      • [1] reply
    • Hey Ryan, I recommend that you do register your business before doing this. With that said, it probably won't be the end of the world if you don't, but it makes it much easier for tax purposes and all that. If you don't register your business, and people ask you about it, just say you are a sole proprietor and nobody will ask anything more.


      Dress nicely and act in a professional manner. If you project confidence that you know what you are doing, people will assume you do. It may be a little nerve-wracking to visit the first business to ask for advertising, but it gets way easier as you go.


      I would recommend that you print out some blank invoices to take with you. Microsoft Word has some templates built in, or you can do a Google search and find plenty. As for approaching businesses, there are a couple ways to do it-- first, you can call and set an appointment to meet with the owner. This way they will be expecting you and more ready to buy when you meet with him or her. Alternatively, since you will be targeting businesses in a small area (near the high school), you could spend a day just walking into them and asking for the owner and explain what you are doing. In order to look prepared, I would recommend putting together a simple sales binder. Put your invoices in this binder, as well as a simple service agreement (basically saying they pay you $X and you will be printing their ad on the back of X number of seat cushions). Also print out a sample seat cushion (you can find plenty of pictures online) so that you have a picture to show the business owners. I think you will be surprised at how many are going to bite on your offer.


      Call or walk into the businesses and just explain what you are doing. Make sure to specifically ask for the sale. Don't wait for them to volunteer to purchase from you. Again, you will be surprised at how many people are interested in doing business with you.


      For the ads I sold, I just did a small logo (if it will look good in 1 color) but a lot of the businesses just had their name, phone number, website, and address. The ads need to be simple because of the small space, but you can actually fit quite a bit into a 3" x 3" space. I never had a problem with businesses not wanting to commit.


      When I did this business it was almost 10 years ago. I did not get any official OK to do it, but I did have an "in" because my mom worked for the high school and it was the high school that I graduated from. People were actually very supportive and thought it was a great idea that I did. No business asked me if I had permission-- I think they just assumed I did because I was selling it. Again, I had an in, so I might have been able to get away with some things that others might not be able to. If you don't have an in with the school, I would recommend making it a fundraiser and then you'll have your in.


      Steve, it's really good to hear people taking action on this! I wish you the best of luck and keep us posted on your progress!!

      -Ben
      • [ 1 ] Thanks


    • It is always a safe idea to get some kind of merchant/business license.

      Here is something to think about:

      It is not as hard to do, as it may look...

      Something for you to think about:

      As an accountant, I have set up many businesses in the last 27 years in several different states as well as some in Canada.

      First, there is the Federal (IRS).

      I would get an TIN (tax identification number) for the business name you have decided on - It is also known as an EIN (employers identification number - used for when you have employees... same as TIN - if you don't have employees, you just mark it as such, on your first report (form 941) you send to the IRS by checking the box 'no more employees').

      One reason would be that banks like it, when you open up a business bank account (you can use your own social security number, if are a sole proprietor... but, I would still get the TIN anyway and not use your social security number).

      Second, there is the State.

      In Washington state, the simple explanation...

      A). Department of Licensing:

      Bob Smith Grocery - Sounds good, but not keyword thing... (Sole Proprietor - easy to do, but not as many tax benefits or liability safe) -

      Maybe... Green Organtic Foods (now everyone knows what you are selling)

      For $5 extra dollars you can add Green Organtic Foods to your license as a DBA (doing business as).

      You can add it to your bank account, store sign, website name, etc (all legal now)... Still Sole Proprietor, though.

      B). Department of Revenue:

      In Washington State, they want sales tax and business and occupation tax (B&O).

      In Oregon, they want State Income Tax.

      C). Labor and Industries (If you have employees).

      D). Employment Security (State paid unemployment, if you layoff employees)

      Third, there is the Local (city and/or county)... they want some money, too.


      It's the same for other entities (LLC, Limited Partnerships, Regular Corporations) except there is an additional...

      Forth: State Corporate Division, to file some paperwork witht.


      There are pages and pages of fine printed material covering all this, but this is kind of the basics.

      It is always good to have an accountant and attorney in on your decision making.

      LLC is kind of the combination of a Corporation, Partnership, and perhaps a little of Sole Proprietor.

      Corporate tax benefits.

      Partnership liability and assest protection (if done right).
      Sole Proprietor ease of paperwork.

      Again, this is just the basic idea (There are pages and pages of fine printed material covering all this).


      If my clients are concerned about liability and assest protection, I usually set up both a Family Limited Partnership and a LLC... as well as a Regular Corporation.


      The client is a Limited Partner and the LLC is the General Partner. They both need to be setup correctly from the onset, to be more or less bullet proof, though.

      Family Partnerships have two hunderd years of case law that, to date at least, prove that it is safer than an LLC for the liability. The LLC, in this case, doesn't have anything, so nothing to loose.

      The business is run as a regular 'C' corporation and never has any money, since it pays it all to the Partnership in one way or another. Nothing in the Corporation, nothing to loose.

      Partnership pays to Limited Partner, Bob Smith, and Bob reports that income on his Federal, State/Province, and maybe, Local tax return.

      The Limited Partner and the Assests of the partnership (house, office, car, etc.) are the protected (if it is set up correctly).

      I may have said more than you were asking, but there may be other Warriors that it may help or get them to think more about their own business situation.


      If you, or any other Warriors, have any particular questions, that may help or benefit other Warriors, feel free to ask.

      I'll will be monitoring this thread a little closely, for awhile, since it relates to my other profession of the past 28 years.

      If you, or any other Warriors for that matter, have questions that you don't really want others to see or if for some other reason you want to contact me... you can PM me...

      Hope this helped some (get ya thinking more, maybe :rolleyes.
  • Great ideas and input!

    Thanks!

    Rob
  • Great idea Ben! There's nothing better than giving back to the community while making money as well!

    Since the ad spaces are so small and can only be in 1 color, what do you usually put in each ad space? Just the business name and phone number? I'm assuming it can't be anything too complicated/complex since you're only working with a 3"x3" spot and 1 color. Ever had any problems with businesses not wanting to commit since they couldn't put their full logo and/or colors in the ad space?

    Also, did you ever get some sort of written agreement from the school that "ok'd" you using their logo, and that they were going to partner with you on this, whether it be for a fundraiser or whatever? I'm just thinking if the businesses wanted to see some sort of proof that you were really working together with the school on this, then you could show that to them upon presenting your proposal.

    Thanks for your help and a wonderful idea!
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • I just got back from talking to the VP of the local sports association. We were a the Saturday nite football game. When I told him what I wanted and showed him the picture from this forum of the seat cushion he took me over to the president of the sports association. When the president asked "How much is this going to cost?" and I said "Nothing" you should have seen his eyes light up.

    I said that the suggested price was $5 with a 50/50 split. That they could keep the whole $5. That I wanted them to be receptive when I give them some more marketing ideas. If I sell the ads for $300 I still make about $2,400.

    It's a small school and I told him I needed to tell the advertisers that there were going to be at least 500 cushions. He said get 500. If they didn't sell them this year they would next year.

    I said that this was conditioned on getting the advertisers. He said talk to Wall-Mart, they were a big supporter of the school.

    The only condition that he put was no alcohol, tobacco or tattoos in the ads.

    You should have seen some of the things they were selling for $5. The cushions for $5 will be no problem.

    The VP pf the sports association is also on the school board. Can you say "Ca-Ching, Home run!!!"

    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • I got a text from the VP. He said to lorder 1000. Since they get them for free it cuts into my profit, but I'll make it up later. I got several blank pages with their letterhead. Any suggestions on what to say so I can show the biz owners so they know its for the school even tho the checks are made out to me? The VP said to type it up and they would sign it.

      I'm going to get a DBA tomorrow so I can open a biz account at the bank. The VP's wife works at the bank so I'll have all the help I need there. One of the perks of living in a small town.


      • [2] replies
  • I guess I am wrong in thinking the high school would not allow this?

    Just a suggestion get the school involved so they make some money from it without the risk.
    • [1] reply
    • I would approach this as a joint venture. You need the school's AD or principal to buy in. Maybe even approach the coach to be your advocate if you steer the funds toward their program.

      The important thing will be to establish trust. If you can get a high quality reference who will vouch for your trustworthiness, that goes a long way. Once the AD or principal is on board, approaching the businesses will be easier. Yes, this guy is selling advertisement on our behalf. We know and trust him.

      Collect $500 per ad, 16 ads for $16,000. Buy 1000 of the cushions and have them delivered to the school. The school then sells them and keeps every dime. They can go for $5 or maybe even more. If they sell them, that's one less thing for you to do and follow up on.
  • Do you usually ask the business if they would like to submit their own 3" x 3" ad, or do you just create one for them?

    If these seat cushions become a big hit and the school wants to order more than the initial 1000 that you agreed upon with them and the advertisers, do you think we could approach the businesses asking for an additional ad fee per ongoing 1000 orders? Say a school sells 3000 in a year, and you told the businesses their ad would show on 1000 cushions, then they'd be getting their ad on an additional 2000 cushions free of charge. Maybe add a clause in the agreement stating they will donate an additional $xxx for every 1000 seat cushion order. Afterall, that's just more exposure for them for all these extra cushions being sold. This would be a good way to get a yearly residual income and help to offset the cost of the additional cushions you would need to order, which in turn would result in more fundraising profits for the school. Thoughts on this?
    • [1] reply
    • I would ask the business if they have anything pre-made that would fit into that space. If they do, I will use or make slight modifications so that it will print well.

      If they don't have anything pre-made then I will make it for them and send them an e-mail with a sample to get their approval. This is almost always how I did it because most folks don't have a pre-made ad.

      -Ben
  • It is my thought that the initial ad cost would be $500 for 1000 cushions, and then if there is a new order placed, the advertisers would have the option to buy in for 75% of the original price.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • I've started running with this, especially since it does work with my base business of being a "local Search Marketing" agency.

    In my contact with the school, I outlined that I would contact the advertisers, collect the payments for the ads, have the cushions printed, and then give them to the school. The school would be able to keep 100% of the sales proceeds.

    Have to admit that the principle was shocked. He asked me again "What would the school have to put up?"

    I told him again, no cost out of pocket. Just that i would need the school logo and slogan for the cushion, and hopefully a list of prior advertisers (those that had placed ads in the yearbook, etc).

    Having some problems with getting the advertisers lined up, but I'm busy making the calls. After all, I only need 15 of them (yes, giving myself a free spot).
    • [1] reply
    • I've started running with this as well.

      I am having trouble contacting the person from the highschool that I need to speak to. Left a few messages already and nobody has been able to get back to me. Tomorrow I will be going in to the school to try and make things happen.

      The advertisers is going to be the hard part I think, but that's okay. I will find 15 with my own ad spot as well.
  • This is a great idea! Some questions though. Everybody trying this are you just cold calling or maybe sending a letter ahead of time with a follow up call? Also i was thinking that there could be a possibility of someone taking the idea after you tell them what you would be doing. I mean the school would make more money if they just approached the businesses themselves to sell ad space along with selling the actual cushions at the games. Thoughts about that being an issue?
    Cheers
  • I ran this idea by my friend. He just called from a H.S. football game. They school is getting $40 per seat and they don't even have ads.

    So, $5, with ads is way too cheap. $10 should be the minimum.
    • [1] reply
    • If you can sell these things for $40 you are an incredible salesman!

      Have you seen these vinyl cushions? They're not the best quality. $10 is a lot for them. $5 is the right price, imo.
      • [1] reply
  • Ryan, keep us posted on things went! Dropping by the school is a good idea. School administrators are not bombarded with sales calls like normal businesses, so they are potentially easier to get a hold of if you just walk in.


    For something like this, walking into businesses near the school is best. No reason to waste time sending letters or even calling to set an appointment. This type of thing is an easy one call close and by giving the business owners a print deadline, it forces them to act.

    With a good idea there is always the risk that somebody else will come in and do it as well. This is why it is extremely important to act quick and take action. Never underestimated the power of first mover advantage. The school could do it themselves, but my experience has been that if somebody is already doing it, and you give the school a cut, they will just let you do it and won't steal it from under you.


    Wow, I didn't realize these things were selling for $40!! When I did this (almost 10 years ago), I sold them for $5 each and they sold out after 3 games. I thought at the time that I could raise the price, but I was more concerned with just getting them in people's hands so I didn't have to be selling them at the games anymore!
    • [2] replies
    • Hello all,
      I went into the highschool today and the staff was having a meeting upstairs. The receptionist told me that it was a very busy week, and I said okay this will only take 5 minutes to explain. I said I would wait for the meeting to be done and see if I could just talk to the principal for 5 minutes. I waited for 30 minutes and then a bunch of people that worked at the school started coming down. The receptionist then asked if she could help me as if she didn't even remember me. I was sitting in the office the whole time, so this made me pretty heated. But anyways she said sir we don't really do fundraisers for the school and this is a really bad week. If you want to do fundraisers than you should go to talk to the athletic department. They set up there own fundraisers. You can contact them by email. So now I am wondering if I should just try another high school or keep going at this one.

      This lady left me with a very bad taste in my mouth.

      Anyways, haven't even had an appointment. Very frustrated. I walked like 5 miles in the heat, and they wouldn't even give me 5 minutes.

      Trying to stay positive. I am not going to stop trying with this school and I am going to add a few more highschools to my list now too.
      • [2] replies
    • Ben
      When i asked that question i meant as far as contacting the schools not the businesses. Do you just call the local schools first or send a letter first to introduce the idea?
  • Sweet!

    Thanks Ben
  • What about just skipping the part of getting the businesses?

    I would think that is the VERY hard part. Just offer the school you will take the risk(btw best bet would be to see if they have a boosters club instead of walking into the office) and they can sell for whatever they want and you just want $6.

    BTW did we ever find out where you can get these printed for inexpensively? I have googled and have not been able to find them that cheap.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [2] replies

    • Try this place:

      Printed Seat Cushions - Customize your own stadium seat cushion

      1,000 at 3.73 - One color, two sided...

      James
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • PatrickP,

      CustomSeatCushions.com has them for the price Ben talks about. Actually he says that's where to get them from.

      I'm not sure if that's what you meant by "find them that cheap", but they're only 3.87/peice for 1000 at that site.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • This is a good idea, only i hope there are no many W at the same neighborhood reading and implementing this.
  • You could include Qr codes on those ads which link to a specials web page that has a different offer every week during the football season. I.E. A restaurant near the stadium could offer cushion customers some sort of freebie that changes week to week or if the team wins etc.
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • Check out this seat cushion I found yesterday at a thrift store. Based on the advertisements, I estimate this ad has been around for 45 - 50 years.

    IMG SRC=
    Front by Huskerninja, on FlickrIMG>

    IMG SRC=
    Penneys by Huskerninja, on FlickrIMG>

    IMG SRC=
    Old truck by Huskerninja, on FlickrIMG>

    IMG SRC=
    Full Back by Huskerninja, on FlickrIMG>
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • Huskerdarren,

    What a great find! Look at the Pepsi logo-- this is definitely OLD!!

    I'm curious if any Warriors have gone out and tried this yet...?

    -Ben
    • [2] replies
    • wf hiccupped. Or maybe it was me... :-)
    • Ben, I'm giving this a go! I phoned an athletic director yesterday and met with him today. He was delighted and said yes to 500. Now I need to find the advertisers. Any tips on what to say when I phone/stop in?

      Thanks in advance.
      • [2] replies
  • went into the highschool today and the staff was having a meeting upstairs. The receptionist told me that it was a very busy week, and I said okay this will only take 5 minutes to explain. I said I would wait for the meeting to be done and see if I could just talk to the principal for 5 minutes. I waited for 30 minutes and then a bunch of people that worked at the school started coming down. The receptionist then asked if she could help me as if she didn't even remember me. I was sitting in the office the whole time, so this made me pretty heated. But anyways she said sir we don't really do fundraisers for the school and this is a really bad week. If you want to do fundraisers than you should go to talk to the athletic department. They set up there own fundraisers. You can contact them by email. So now I am wondering if I should just try another high school or keep going at this one.

    This lady left me with a very bad taste in my mouth.

    Anyways, haven't even had an appointment. Very frustrated. I walked like 5 miles in the heat, and they wouldn't even give me 5 minutes.

    Trying to stay positive. I am not going to stop trying with this school and I am going to add a few more highschools to my list now too.


    It's good you're trying to stay positive . . . BUT . . .

    You'd be better off working with business people who have a profit motive, and helping them increase their profits.

    People that work in the public teenage prison complex, er school system, have, by definition, a bureaucratic mindset. Plus they're already stealing like six to eight grand per student to run their little scam, so they shouldn't need any more money. And they sure as hell don't deserve it.

    Seriously, go use your brain power, motivation and self-respect to help like-minded people.
  • Selling these things are a good idea because people need and want them. I bring a pillow to sit on at my son's games to avoid the hard benches lol
  • Boy I wish us in Canada we just as crazy about sports as our Neighbors in the USA ... would love to implement this locally. But we just don't care as much.
  • This is a great idea but it will require some serious hustle at this point (since football season is already here). It has great possibilities!
  • It doesn't hurt to have an "in" at the schools you approach. Two of my nephews are still in high school and play football. What a great way to help the team to raise money and make a buck in the process!
  • This is great. If anyone can point me to more ideas like this, I would really appreciate it. Please pm me.

    I already know about Pizza Cards, Door Hangers, Coasters and now this of course.
  • In looking over the ads on that cushion, and if the measurements are the same as the vinyl cushions for this thread, it looks as if they were selling 40 ad spaces, measuring 1.2 inches by 3 inches. If there is enough business interest in an area, it might be possible to go with this business model.
    • [1] reply
    • Wouldn't it make sense, though, to sell fewer at ads at a higher cost per? Can always sell the value proposition of exclusivity. 40 ads on a seat cushion, man, that's a huge sales effort.
  • Raynay, how did it go? I'd love to hear results from anyone who gave this a try this season. I know football is the big sport in a lot of locations, but I think this would do just as well for soccer and baseball seasons in my area.
    • [1] reply
    • I didn't notice a picture being posted here of the back side of the cushion that has the advertisments on it, so thought I would post two of them myself for others to see.

      I hope this helps.

      All the best,

      Martin
  • I wonder if the vinyl surface is suitable for printing QR Codes? High school kids and smartphones go hand in hand. Anyone tried printing the QR Codes? Can they be read by the reader?
    • [1] reply
    • This sounds like a neat idea. I would love to try this. For the people that are doing this can you please keep us up to date on your progress. Thanks!
  • Really cool idea. Just had a question, if you were to donate these seats instead of doing a split on the profits, could you claim them as a charitable donation?
  • I would rather give the cushions for free, this way I will make less but with good response, I could possibly raise the prices or even have them individually sponsor each event!
    • [1] reply
    • This was my thought. Yes, you miss out on the proposed 50% from the seat sales but you instead can just pitch a idea where you donate the seats to the school.

      I also had another thought, just to increase the interest from the advertisers. People have proposed doing 16 squares that are all 3''x3'' on the 12x12 printable surface area. But when I read that I thought "why would people even want to look at the back?"

      If I can find a school interested in the next week or so I think I am only going to do 12 spots and put a sport schedule on the back instead. If the school is too small but has two popular sports, then just put both on there. Football and basketball for instance.
  • Ahh good question. The name of the school should not be an issue as long as it is a public school. The logo may be a bit different. If an artist created the logo for the school and they (the artist) still has the rights to it then you can just get permission from them. If you can't then just use a generic picture of the logo that you can get rights to.

    I think you also have some added legal protection if you just donate the seats to the school. You are not profiting from the sale of the seat but instead of the sale of the advertising space.

    I am not a lawyer but the bits and pieces I have gotten from some would lead me to believe this. Please contact a lawyer in your state or city to confirm my assumptions before you make any deals with the schools.
  • You could make an iconic logo, but I love the idea of a schedule on the back, this gives the advertisers more confident in sponsoring it, because if there is a schedule it instantly becomes a useful piece instead of just anything.

    I would also hire a hot high school girl for the opponents door, and hot high school guy (no homo lol) for the home team door. And have them give the seats, or actually only the home door because the other people are not local.

    The school will eventually ask us about this or trouble us, the first people to come question us would be ASB teachers and ASB president and what not, even if we are giving it away it is extremely likely they would want a cut. This is just inevitable, however considering this is only 6 weeks, with only few home games the first time around you could get by it.

    On another note if you know some kid from the school, it is possible that their would be no problem even if the kid is doing it through business point of view and not fund raising point of view, because when I was in high school me and this girl made and sold French fries, and I see a lot of people doing things like that.

    Another place this idea can be replicated is junior college or university, over there you would have much more lee way, much less hassle, larger crown. For university however I wouldn't go for the jugular of football games but rather other events and what not.

    Tis idea is smart but it requires a good plan and you gotta watch your back at all times.
    • [1] reply


    • Right now I am sending emails out using the schools websites contacting the band director. Bands at schools often need extra money for all the traveling, uniforms and competitions they do a year so it seems like a good fit.

      I am simply saying that I want to make a donation to the band and would like for them to contact me.

      Once they do (1st day of school was today) I will just explain that I have these seats and that if they want them they can sell them at the games. I suggest $7 each and 2 for $10.

      I make them agree to either sell them or give them away to fans (in case they are unable to sell the lot of them) so that I can tell advertisers that the ad will be on X amount of seats that will get to people.

      I will tell them that it will take a couple weeks for them to come in back one they do I will ask where they want me to bring them once delivery has been completed.

      Once they say yes, I will go about selling the ads and get the order completed. I will just bring the seats to the school and hand them over.

      As for the advertisers, I would highly suggest only businesses that don't make the school look bad. No alcohol places, no strip joints or anywhere that would reflect badly upon the school. Stick with places to eat, mechanics, banks etc.

      Now, I just called the company listed by the OP and talked with a guy named JJ. He is very nice and if you ask, he will probably send you a free sample of the seats. I plan on using this sample to show them the size of the ad space.

      Selling the ads should not be too terribly difficult. If you are doing some schools that are close, just go by with the sample and tell them what you are doing. I am only selling 12 spots.

      Tell people that they get to pick their spot of they pay you up front. Also, you will have two important plays in your play book. You are helping a band do fundraising and the back will have a schedule.

      The reason for the less amount of spots compared to the OP is that I am putting a large 6x6'' square in the center with 3x3" ads around it. This will be where I put a sport schedule. If you are dealing with a small school, you can put two schedules so that you can increase the amount of seats and ultimately how much you charge for a space.

      Last thing, I do not have a great plan for how I will calculate how many seats I will order for a school. I have thought about finding the average attendance of the sport I am targeting and doing 25% of that number. Anyone else have a good idea?
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Very nice idea. Thanks for sharing.
  • I have been having great great success with offline but this idea is just so innovative. I am going to give this a shot and if this goes well, which I do not doubt, I am going to come back here and report in detail. Thanks warrior ben.
  • Great thread with a lot of tips....
    I also phoned the guys over at customseatcushions, and I asked if there were any orders being filled in my area. Tyler said it was "sporadic" so I am setting things up to move forward with this.

    My plan is to attempt this in a manner that leaves the school out of it for the most part. My obligation will be to the advertisers. Deliver a lead for about .50 cents. I will do a generic football graphic on the front with the school colors and the year 2013 with a schedule on the back.

    My plan is to give the cushions away, so as to stay under the radar. I was thinking that one school a week is possible and I could deliver the cushions at the "Visitors" Gate for the teams coming to the school nearest me.

    Last night I made a mock-up of what the back side could look like using the local business in the area so that I can take it with me and not have to appear that I "NEED" sponsors and also to let them "envision" their business on there with the other surrounding businesses that are familiar to them. And for the ones who are ALREADY on there, they would have to say "No, take us off of there." Basically saying we don't support the school.
    I am going to put my own ad on there too! I am thinking of offering 2 different sizes for $500 and $350 so that no one is able to accurately calculate the math at a glance. They won't know how many of what sizes are "Sold", and I can tell them to pick their top 2 spots and when I get back to the computer and check what sales came in while I was out I can email them and tell them if #1 or #2 are still available.
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