Pull you car in to one of these Interstate Stores and you find a multitude of gas pumps for cars, completely separate

from the 4 acres of parking for the big rigs.

Inside, you might find a franchised fast food outlet (McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King, Popeye etc) Some have more than one. Plus cooler after cooler of soft drinks and exotic elixirs. Plus, the isles and isles of packaged food.

If you wander into the chrome and mud flap section you will see every kind of CB radio and antenna on the market as well as truck TVs, DVD layers and hundreds of movies. Some have truck taillights and wiring harness as well as load restraining sticks and tarps.

But for the ultimate educational experience for the small business owner, make a fact-finding trip to the toilet!

Most big league truck stops use every opportunity to sell you something. Even in the john. There are ads in the stalls, ads over the urinals, ads near the sink. All suggesting additional purchase before you leave the giant store.

Let’s boil that down to small business advertising applications. Most advertising is passive. You drive by a billboard, turn the pages in the paper, listen to the radio as you do something else. But in the john, how can you not read what is plastered there? You are pretty much stuck there, for a while anyway, inches away from the ad. Forced attention, A foolproof advertising method. The "read-through" rate has to be near 100% every time.

This is not to suggest small businesses put large signs in the wc and encourage customers to visit and ponder. But if your store toilet does get some traffic, consider your own silent billboards in there.

Take a cue from the truck stops, make and use signs promoting specials and spur of the moment purchases and pout 'em everywhere.

Just like Internet pages have links to other areas of interest, your signs can suggest other areas of the store with different products and specials.

Ads in the john are just the tip of the iceberg for the astute small business owner. Use every available resource to educate your potential customer as to what you do and what you can do for them. Sell the benefits everywhere, even in the john.