Give a loaded IPOD for V-Day

I have a fool-proof plan to WOW your business partners this Valentine's Day.

From your best customer to your favorite employee, you can get serious brownie points with a little time and money. When you were younger, you made mix-tapes for your friends and family. They reflected the music the two of you shared in common or gave you opportunity to introduce them to new music.

Here's how you bring this into the 21st century:
1. Pick a list of six people you do business with that you want to give a V-Day gift to.
2. Call or email them to find out which type of music they like.
3. Buy six IPOD 1Gig Shuffle players
4. When you get them, load them up with music based on your first step.
5. Wrap it up, with a handwritten card and deliver it to them.

I've done this dozens of times and it always thrills people. No one has too many IPODs, and the new shuffle is portable and has no moving parts (so you can take it to the beach). Your recipients can also delete what you put on there and load their own later.

If you have time, try this out. Otherwise, stock up on these shuffles and use them to say thank you to people that have done extraordinary things for you.

Comments

[Electronics Philippines]

Hey, this is pretty good stuff! Although this is my first visit here, I find your blog and your posts very insightful. Keep up the good work.

-seff-

[cheap computers]

It's going to be exciting to watch this space. So, one more thing, why is it that iPod Touch don't have 30GB at least? Well, the new iPod Touch is actually quite small, compare to the traditional iPod Classic. One likely reason is that the flash drive market is still dominant and it will take some time for Apple to transition the users from the traditional iPod click wheel to the touch screen.

[Allan Mitz]

wow. this is a great thing for lovers out there. (Leave out the hormonal concept,) i would also recommend this RIAA's new device, the miShare, which is certainly is hot for couples who wants to share their personal music and songs to each other. best part is that it would not require online status to ensure availability and quality sharing. it just connects two ipods. you've just given me a great idea to what i'll give my girl this coming valentines. Both of us have don't have our own iPods, She doesn't own a desktop and i do. i'll probably get freebies from my personal Ipod Download Music site and bravo! So this will be a fun share while we dine!

[Lawrence C. Scott, Jr.]

I am sure that such a unique gift will get the person you want to do business with to recognize you immediately. Does anyone have an experience similar to this? I am dying to know the outcome.

[Tim Sanders]

Good comment, 45 Tunes Music Guy. Fair use is tricky, but Apple provides great copy protection that prevents the user from extracting the tracks from a shuffle and placing them on a computer or for burning a disc. At best, much like a mixtape, you are promoting music that most likely leads to a sale.

It's a question of taste, of course, but as a former musician, I'm comfortable making this suggestion. I wouldn't burn MP3s on a disc and give them to a friend, because that would replace a sale, which is the acid test of failing the fair use test.

[45 Tunes Music Guy]

Hey Tim,

You are not suggesting that we pirate music for passing on to our employees/partners, are you? Even if you legally own the CDs of the tunes that your lucky recipient likes, you can't just willy-nilly copy your tunes on to their new iPod (legally anyway).

Don't make me sick the RIAA on you! :)

BTW, love your blog and your "Killer App" book!

[A Kline]

Great idea!