Just a real quick entry as deadline beckons.....

Found this great TradeMe auction just now - an Invisible Ute .

This auction is much in the same vein as similar opportunistic auctions on Trade Me over the past couple of months. Remember the Ghosts in the jar, the Washing machine that was a portal into the time of the dinosaurs, the dude that sold his soul to Hell Pizza, and more recently the destiny church commitment ring circus.

All of these auctions show us one thing. There are still great ideas out there, and you can still make money out of them. Trade Me is a fantastic vehicle for guerilla marketing, and if you are clever about it you can get a great deal of publicity for free.

So what is so great about using Trade Me as a vehicle to promote your business. It is a viral form of social networking, in it's simplest state.

Most people in New Zealand will know of Trade Me, and will be familiar using it. The search mechanisms within the site are very strong so it is very easy for anyone to pick up just a taste of the story behind the auction and find it once it starts to gather momentum.

The ability to ask and answer questions creates it's own form of entertainment. For those running these high profile auctions, the ones that are most successful are those that devote massive time to answering questions with a great sense of humour, and humility, in typical kiwi understated fashion.

How will the invisible ute auction go? The first question was asked on May 5th so one presumes that the auction started around then. The bidding is now up to $1000, and the page has had 185,000 page views. That is a pretty big audience for the selling of 4 used tyres.

Clever.

Copy and paste this link to see the auction < http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=288359598 >

Footnote: the auction closed with a final bid of $1100 and 240,842 page views. Not bad going for a set of used tyres with a nail in one!