The Million Dollar Idea
The Million Dollar Homepage is a website conceived by Alex Tew, a then 21-year-old student from Cricklade, Wiltshire, England to help raise money for his university education. Launched on August 26, 2005, the website is said to have generated a gross income of $1,037,100 USD and has a current Google PageRank of 4a. The site's Alexa ranking as of 2008-05-08 is 50,101, having peaked at around 127.[1]
The index page of the site consists of a 1000×1000 pixel grid (one million pixels), on which image-based links were sold for US $1 per pixel, in minimum ten by ten blocks. The purchasers of these pixel blocks provided tiny images to be displayed on them, a URL to which they were linked, and a slogan displayed when hovering the cursor over the link. The aim of the site was to sell all of the pixels in the image, thus generating one million dollars of income for the creator.
On January 1, 2006, the final 1,000 pixels left were put up for auction on eBay.[2] The auction closed on January 11 with a winning bid of $38,100.00, bringing the final tally to $1,037,100 USD in gross income.

Taco Bell Buys the Liberty Bell
In the morning, an ad appeared in The New York Times with a headline that read: "Taco Bell Buys the Liberty Bell." The ad copy explained that Taco Bell was "pleased to announce that we have agreed to purchase the Liberty Bell, one of our country's most historic treasures. It will now be called the 'Taco Liberty Bell' and will still be accessible to the American public for viewing. While some may find this controversial, we hope our move will prompt other corporations to take similar action to do their part to reduce the country's debt." It sounded logical, if distasteful. In another press release, Taco Bell helpfully explained that people had been "adopting" highways for years and that purchasing a national treasure was just a way of furthering that idea.

Mount Rushmore gets a new look?
ProShade is a company that makes a 3-in-1 gadget that combines a visor, sunglasses and a lanyard--which is a cord and a hook that allows you to carry something on them, like keys or a pocketknife or what have you. Proshade made an intriguing offer to the National Park Service earlier this year when they proposed to give $4 million to Mount Rushmore in exchange for getting to put a logo visor on each of the presidents' heads. The company explained in a news release, "The National Park Service needs more support in preserving Mount Rushmore. There's a dearth of funding in the budget to provide the national landmark with the facelift it needs. If they accept, we'd like this to go toward preservation efforts-including a much-needed pressurized wash."

$28,000 Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Because they're legally restricted from advertising in traditional media, online casino GoldenPalace.com, based in the Caribbean, has devised many marketing stunts to grab the public's attention, from paying people to tattoo their logo on body parts to--earlier this year--purchasing William Shatner's kidney stone for $25,000, so they could auction it off for charity. But their most famous marketing stunt took place a few years back when they bought a partially eaten grilled cheese sandwich for $28,000. But it wasn't just any sandwich: It looked like the likeness of the Virgin Mary had been burned into the bread.

Left-Handed Whopper
Obviously inspired by the good folks at Taco Bell, Burger King put out an ad in USA Today, stating that they'd re-engineered their most famous sandwich in order to benefit 32 million Americans, and now they were ready to present . . . the Left-Handed Whopper. They offered details of how the sandwich had been designed to fit more comfortably in the left hand, including rotating the condiments and redistributing the weight of the toppings.

The Death of Superman
Whether we're talking art or not, D.C. Comics is--yes--a business, generating approximately $40 billion in revenue each year. So it's not surprising that many people felt that releasing a comic book called The Death of Superman was a marketing stunt, given that nobody with half a brain really, truly thought this company was going to stop producing its most popular title, a hit since the Superman character was born in 1938. (According to a recent estimate published in Entertainment Weekly, since that time, Superman has generated some $4 billion in revenue.)

What Happened Next: The news media covered this development extensively, not quite as if a head of state had passed away, but seriously enough, and the comic book featuring his death sold out on the first day. As more issues were published, they kept selling out. In fact, millions of readers purchased not just The Death of Superman issue but numerous others that followed, including Funeral for a Friend and eventually--who would have guessed?--The Return of Superman.

Stage a protest for "good customer service."
Imagine what would happen if you had picketers outside your place of business with picket signs that read something like, "We're protesting good customer service at this location!" or "This place is full of nice people interested in customers!" First, you'll get noticed. Second, you may get coverage by the local media. Stage a repeat visit of the protesters and next time publicize their intent of returning. You never know what might happen, who might take notice and what it'll do for your business.

Conduct a random act of kindness
Pay the toll for the car behind yours and ask the toll collector to give your business card to them, telling them you paid their toll. Sure this is a crapshoot, but it's imaginative and you never know who might be on the road. It's a low-cost guerrilla marketing tactic that has imagination written all over it.

Nominate yourself for an award
Look around the internet. Ask your local chamber of commerce. There are many awards given by many organizations that accept self-nominations. Once you're nominated, publicize it with a press release. Once you're awarded the award, issue another press release. Use the award designation as part of your bio when speaking or when writing an article. Prospects love "award winning" people and businesses.

Award a "Customer of the Month" award and have many, many winners.
Customers like attention, especially if they're in a special group. Award a plaque or certificate; these won't get thrown away and will remain at your customer's place of business as a reminder of their relationship with you.

Tie yourself to a news event or current event covered by the newspaper.
I do this by reviewing Super Bowl commercials as a marketing expert and get free press out of it. Another example I've seen are chiropractors commenting on stretching exercises before local 5K runs or charity walks that are popular in many communities. Find a news story and issue a press release to publications, radio stations and television stations, offering yourself as an expert to comment on a related subject. It's one of the best ways to get free PR. Remember to use your imagination here. Just watch the news and do a reverse analysis. Make a list of companies that would be appropriate to comment on each story you watch. Sooner or later you'll find one where your company fits.

Provide special attention to trade-show attendees the night before a trade show you're attending
Stand out from the crowd at trade shows by hanging door hangers on hotel room doors at designated trade-show hotels, offering a hook and an announcement or a special offer. Leave bags of candies, aspirin, insole pads for shoes or maybe a cloth carry bag to collect trade show information in. Your competition isn't doing this. You'll stand out, you'll be noticed, and you'll definitely be thanked if you put yourself in front of your prospect again.

Hold a wacky contest.
The beauty of contests is threefold. You can announce the contest to your prospects, customers and the media. You can then announce the winners to the media and hopefully get press each time. Have multiple winners to delight multiple customers. Contests can be fun, wacky and imaginative: a messy desk contest, ugly tie contest, pet/owner look-alike contest, etc.

Pass out notepads with coupon offers intermingled in the pages.
Even use the back cover stock to print an offer. Use your fusion marketing skills here. I know of a printing company that partnered with a pizza company and placed a coupon for a free pizza as the last page of the notepad. Both companies realized an increase in business with these giveaways.

Create a funky holiday.
Today is "Orange Hair Day," or "Wear Army Fatigue Day," or "Give Ice Cream to a Friend Day." These are made up and from a brainstorm session. Your holiday that cross promotes your business, service or products is only limited by your imagination. Don't forget to publicize it, announce it, market it over and over, and have fun with it. You'll get noticed and people will grow to expect it if you do it on a frequent basis.

Create a unique association.
This is a little bit more of an undertaking, but imagine appealing to a target group, getting members, receiving paid subscriptions, offering a set of benefits, and being at the center of attention. Many associations have been created with this in mind and to market a business. Get creative here. I have often thought about creating the National Listeners Association, or the Tagline Association, or the Take Fridays Off Work Association. Remember: You're trying to gain attention and awareness that eventually turns into sales. Also remember you're a guerrilla marketer and are without a blank check book to spend on marketing.