I’ll tell you. About two years ago, these signs started popping up all over Fargo as a new and convenient way of marketing. I have to say that the very first bright, neon signs I saw like this did catch my attention and cause me to stop and read them. The problem was that after a little while, others thought they would make some money with this new and successful advertisement and set out to replicate the success of the originator. I am not sure exactly how much it costs to put one of these signs in front of your business. I believe about $150 / week. As you can see, it would only take about two weeks to recover the cost of the materials used to make and alter the sign’s message, then pure profit.

The major problem now is that the novelty of these signs wore off and now they are just like all the other billboards in town begging to interrupt our lives in the hopes of selling us something. The bang for the buck advertisements these signs once had is now gone. They only attract the people who were already looking for whatever is being sold. What are people to do now when they want to get their message out about a new deal or gizmo? Doing something different works for a while, but that requires lots and lots of change to stay ahead. How does this relate to online advertising?

Remember when the fold down ad corners popped up online and everyone went crazy to stick ads in there because people were intrigued? Well, that novelty has worn off and pretty quick I might add. Or how about Google Adsense? It is no wonder Google always has to invent new ways and places to stick ads in order to keep up ad generated revenue. Ads in video, ads on the sidebar, ads in email, ads on their own version of Wikipedia now named Knol, ads on cellphones and the list will go on.

What if, and I mean a big what-if, you took all of the money you planned to spend on advertising and interrupting people’s lives and used that money to better your service or product. You would probably end up with a product that people will start talking about because it has become truly useful or over the top in a way that will separate itself from anything similar to it. It would be like spending the time to run a free clinic to get people interested in a sport or new hobby. The end result could be more sales of your product for helping others get involved, or perhaps more recognition as an authority on the subject increasing your demand.

A funny thing happens when your demand goes up, so does your salary. This will never happen overnight, but it will eventually happen as you increase the value you contribute to others. In other words, you separate yourself from the pack and distinguish yourself or product, allowing for people to talk about it openly. When was the last time someone was ecstatic about the McDonald’s dollar menu and told you about it?

edit* If you don’t have these signs in your town yet, you could make a lot of money by being the first to start.

For those of you who don’t know, my girlfriend is the writer of ThatMutt.com. We have been dating for over two years now. We have many things in common, like, we both play rugby, enjoy music, competition, outdoor activities and traveling. On the reverse side, I am very extroverted and she is quite introverted. This post is dedicated to all the boyfriends or girlfriends with an introverted companion.

1. Introverts don’t make quick decisions. If you want a direct answer to a question, limit the possibilities to two answers. If you ask an open-ended question, you will get the usual response of “I don’t care.” Say we are planning a dinner out and haven’t decided where to go yet. I will ask, “Would you like to go to Olive Garden or Red Lobster?” If she prefers one or the other, she will say so. If she doesn’t like either one, she will also normally voice her opinion. I ask in this matter when I don’t have a preference, simply to save time in guessing.

2 . Just because they are quiet doesn’t mean they are upset. When I am angry, tired, upset or exhausted, it is easy to see why. When my girlfriend is quiet, it could simply mean she is just thinking or reflecting. She often uses down time to reflect and consider options, life issues or to mentally map out the tasks ahead, whereas I tend to crash into things as they come and deal with the mess afterwards. So when I see her pondering, I think something is the matter. Often times she isn’t upset or angry but rather considering.

3. Give them time to unwind. I feed off energy. A fast tempo and a lot going on tends to drive me like a steam engine. When the fire settles down, I quick look for a new source of fuel to fan the flames again. She, on the other hand, needs to take a mental break and unwind from the chaos she just witnessed. It is probably a good thing that I have this sort of balance in my life in order to bring some rest time for me. By choice, I would probably avoid sitting idle at all costs. It’s like how deep sea divers are required to spend time in decompression after hours of work in the ocean’s depths.

4. Talking is not a necessity. I can talk and talk and talk. Lindsay, on the other hand, doesn’t feel the need to fill the void with words. Take for instance, if we go to a movie. When it is over, I love to talk about it and see what thoughts it provoked. She never has much to say about the movie immediately afterwards. She would rather think the movie over first and form her own opinions, then talk about it later. But for me, my thoughts and opinions form while talking about the experience, not before.

5. Challenge them. Like I mentioned before, we balance each other out. I challenge and stretch her social side, while she grounds me in knowing it’s okay to take a break sometimes. I doubt that Lindsay would have ever decided to cliff jump if it weren’t for me challenging her. I am not saying the introverts don’t love excitement just that it is good to challenge and stretch them in different situations.

6. Don’t interrupt them. My experience with introverts is they hate to be interrupted. When they are giving their thoughts or opinion on a matter, you can be sure it has been well thought out and processed before doing so. They like to have a firm grasp on the subject at hand before sharing their thoughts. I on the other hand think and speak from the hip and get excited doing so. This is probably why I loved impromptu speaking in speech and debate. This fly by the seat of my pants approach to speaking also gets my in trouble in a structured setting and I tend to step on some toes in the process. I’m a work in progress.

7. Ask questions. Unless asked or provoked on certain subjects, Lindsay will probably not broach a subject unless it’s hard pressing. Unless you ask questions to things you want answers for, you will probably keep getting those very limited responses like “I don’t know” or “I don’t care.” I can’t stand these limited answers to things I am interested in and typically continue to ask questions.

8. Give them a verbal map. When Lindsay and I are going to a conference or a family engagement, I find planning is vital. She can appear to be content one minute, but ready to run out the building in less than 5 minutes because she needs a break or has had enough. This can be avoided by letting the introvert know what the plan is in advance. I would love to sit and chat with random strangers for hours if the topic is interesting to me, but for Lindsay, this is not the case. I tell her the meeting or gathering is planning to do X and will take approximately X amount of time. Then things tend to go a lot better because she can prepare ahead of time, knowing how much mental energy the event will take up. Plus she can schedule in her own breaks. When engagements are open ended and without direction, she and I tend to run into conflict.

9. Listen. If Lindsay thinks I am not listening, then her feelings are easily hurt. This is because if she is going to voice her opinion on a subject, she has most likely planned and thought ahead on it. When she says something, she expects me to listen. This is different from my thought process, because I often just speak without thinking first, so I tend to overlook the vested interest she has put into what she is saying.

10. Encourage them to express themselves. In general, introverts do not show as much emotion as extroverts. I’m not talking about just crying and laughing. I mean anger, hurt, excitement, whatever it may be. Introverts and extroverts experience the same emotions, they just don’t show them the same way. I have to remind myself that just because Lindsay is not showing something, it doesn’t mean she isn’t feeling it. When she does decide to express something a little more than usual, I try to encourage her.