Everyone's Dream Job

By now most everyone has heard about Tourism Queensland's promotion for The Best Job in the World.

But for those of you who maybe have not, I will elaborate!

As a tourism promotion for the Barrier Reef Islands, Tourism Queensland decided to launch this promotion to hire an "island caretaker." The job description includes feeding the fish, checking the mail, and cleaning the pool. Applicants are asked to submit a 60-second video clip describing why they are the best choice. Eleven finalists will be flown to the islands for an interview in May, with the final choice to commence work July 1.

The compensation package includes airfare to and from the islands and $150,000 AU (about $100,000 US).

Now of course the final choice will have to do more than clean the pool. They are required to try new things and showcase all of the opportunities and adventures that abound on the islands and then take pictures and video and blog about their experiences.

This is a very economical PR campaign for several reasons: the media attention (free) that this job has generated has already given them the estimated equivalent of $10 million in publicity on a $1.1 million campaign. (MSN news article) The opportunity itself is an opportunity of a lifetime for whomever is chosen and offers them what to an individual would be a phenomenal salary. Yet for the PR campaign, $100,000 is spent on a single magazine ad campaign. No doubt this campaign is being blogged about all over the Internet and will be followed by both the applicants and their friends to see who is chosen creating even more long-term publicity.

When looking at this model, I wonder how I could implement something similar in my own promotion of the events I manage. I have seen people trying to sell businesses do a similar model by offering a paid-to-enter contest. For example, someone trying to sell their B&B might do the traditional route and list with a Realtor and possibly get their asking price. Or they could take a chance, list it as an essay contest with a $100 entry fee, and hope the business is appealing enough to get a lot of entries and perhaps make more. (watch The Spitfire Grill as a fictional example)

I did try something similar on a much smaller level when I first started The Turtle Mountain Birding Festival seven years ago. I did a promotion with some radio stations around the state to give away one weekend package to a couple. Unfortunately, we did not get enough paying participants to actually hold the event that year, so my PR efforts were for naught. But at least I was on the right track!