Hello and welcome!
This post marks the launch of a new project called the Mona Lisa Million.
Over the next six to nine months I’ll be auctioning off pre-defined sections of a million pixel image of the Mona Lisa – probably the most famous image in the world!
This is an ambitious project designed to raise over one million dollars. If the target is reached I will donate 85% of the after tax profits to a very good cause – the aid effort in Haiti.
It’s not just about raising the money though, it’s also about providing something of value to those who use this site as readers and as winning bidders. You see, I’m not simply asking for money – I’m providing something in return.
For winning bidders, I’m providing a place where people can see who you are and what you do, and I’m doing it in a way that helps the search engines connect you with your customers or your audience. And this applies to you whether you’re a mommy blogger looking to increase your readership or a business owner trying to get your website higher up the search results.
For readers, I’m providing a place where you can get involved in nominating good causes and deciding which ones should benefit. A place where you can connect with genuine sites/services/products.
For both winning bidders and readers, I’m providing a place where people with a social conscience can get involved and feel they’re contributing to something worthwhile.
This is how it works:
As a winning bidder your site will be linked from the Mona Lisa image and anyone clicking on your section of the grid will be taken directly to your site.
As a winning bidder you’ll have the option to supply a 150 word text with one in-context anchored link back to your site, which I’ll publish in a blog post on the front page of Mister Good Guy.com. Do yourself a favour and make the wording of the link relevant to your site, product or service. It tells the search engines exactly what it is you do, which makes it easier for them to connect you to your customers or audience! (What is an anchored link and why is it important?)
The Mona Lisa Million image has its own ‘main page’ on the site making it easy to find, access and reference – but it won’t be restricted to that one page! The image will appear regularly in new posts, and perhaps even daily as the project picks up momentum.
At the end of the project when the last section has been auctioned, the top ten winning bidders will have the opportunity to submit an additional 300 word text with TWO in-context anchored links back to their site. Here’s an example of how the main page might look.
This project represents the potential for a phenomenal amount of exposure for you, your business and your site and the beauty of it is, you’ll get it not at a price I dictate, but at a price the market dictates.
Why will people come here to see your banner and your text?
Well, because I’m doing something different and unusual and interesting!
But it’s not just about the novelty value, there’s real value to the winning bidders and there’s real value to the readers of this site.
You see, I’m not accepting bids from ‘adult’ themed enterprises, questionable pharmaceuticals, online gambling opportunities, spammers or scammers. I’m only accepting bids from genuine individuals or companies – that’s, genuine people with genuine products, services or sites.
What makes this project so different and so unusual, and what really sets it apart, is that the majority of the proceeds after tax and fees will be donated to help the people of Haiti. People whose lives have been torn apart by the devastating earthquake on 12 January 2010 and whose need for help from the rest of the world will continue for many years.
Now before you point out that people could just as easily give the money directly to the appeal – because of course, that’s true – I’d point out that this project will generate money that might not otherwise have been donated.
This project is brand new right now, but once it reaches a wider audience there will be obvious positive benefits in being associated with it. This is a creative way to support an extremely worthwhile cause and also get something tangible in return – and that has to be an attractive proposition!
If you’re wondering how owning a few hundred pixels can generate so much interest, you may remember back in 2005 all the buzz surrounding the Million Dollar Homepage, from which student Alex Tew raised 1 Million Dollars by selling off one million pixels for a dollar each.
It was a genius idea! It really was a genius idea, and it generated massive interest worldwide and was without doubt a great success.
You’ll have gathered by now that this project is based loosely on that concept, but it differs wildly in the execution.
Winning bidders get a much better outcome from the Mona Lisa Million. It’s not just a link from the image, there’s a 140 character mouseover text, there’s a mouseover graphic, there’s the 250 word text, and the in-context links, the positive association with the project, the quality of the other “advertisers”, and perhaps above all, that the people of Haiti will receive much needed aid through money that might not otherwise have been available.
The amount of money donated to Haiti will work on a sliding scale as I;ve already mentioned, if One Million Dollars or more is raised, then 85% of the after tax and fees proceeds will be donated to Haiti.
That’s not where the giving ends though. There’s more.
Tim Brownson and John P. Streleky are raising money to get 1 million FREE copies of their great new book “How to be Rich and Happy” into the hands of those who might benefit most, for example, kids aged between 15 – 20, single parents on income support, unemployed people and homeless people.
I’ve read the book and I can say without reservation that it’s made a positive difference to my life. The idea for this site came to me after I followed the advice within and I’d be delighted to see others benefit from it too. Which is why I’ll donate 5% of the after tax and fees proceeds to Tim and John’s very worthwhile project.
There’s much more to this site too
Whilst the Mona Lisa Million project is the central focus of the site, I’ll introduce simultaneous auctions for other good causes and charities. Some of these causes will be nominated and chosen by the readership giving you involvement and some influence over the direction of the site.
I also plan to run some “just for fun” projects so that those who regularly comment and support the site can get a section of an image dedicated to them and their own sites.
And let’s not forget the personal interest aspect
I’ll be sharing my experiences with you as I develop the site. I’ll be writing about the highs and lows along with how the project has benefited my own life.
Ultimately I believe that people will come to this site because they like what I’m doing and how I’m doing it. The tagline of the site is Helping Others and that’s exactly what I’m doing here.
I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below.
Thanks for reading.
Dave
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