Bad News Is Good News Take a negative of your product and promote the positive that surrounds it.

Don't be afraid to sell a negative. Just consider thefollowing example: Listerine admitted that its product tasted bad("The taste that you hate twice a day"), but customersinterpreted that to mean it killed a lot of germs. If you can findsomething about your business that you can joke about but thatconveys a strong message, go with it.

For instance, one tropical-produce vendor took pride in the widevariety of uses he found for coconuts. But people who shopped athis market walked right past his coconut bin. He decided tocapitalize on the hairy, little product by creatively displayingthe coconut under a colorful sign that read "The ugly fruitwith the beautiful taste!" Sales went up.

Excerpted from 303 Marketing Tips: Guaranteed To Boost YourBusiness