Everyone around here will tell you that I'm always a tad impatient when it comes to gaining new readers and advertisers. And even though we're starting to have some success in helping local businesses (particularly, but not exclusively, nightclubs) pull in customers, Kevin and I just can't get to enough people quickly enough.

So, I'm going to do something to mix things up a bit.

Here's the promotion:

Early adopters who sign (and pay for) an advertising contract will be put into a drawing. The winner will have their current contract automatically renewed. Forever. For free.

All the details are below, but the gist is that your business can reach thousands of locals every day. And if you're lucky, it won't cost you a nickel. The cool part (IMHO) is that everyone, big or small, has an equal chance to win, but the bigger you advertise, the bigger the payoff.

Say, for example, you're a nightclub who buys a $300/month contract (which is prolly far less than you're spending in print for a tiny static black-and-white ad buried in between a dozen others on the page). Well, if you win, you get a $300/month credit with us forever -- or at least until one of us goes out of business. That's $3,600/year of advertising. Free. And we'll even bump it up once a year to adjust for inflation.

But, if you're a big-shot retailer, and decide to run $5,200/month in ads (which would currently get you a piece of every pageview on the site), you could win $62,400/year in advertising. Free.

In either case you've got exactly the same odds of winning. Fun, eh?

If you want to participate in this promotion, contact me by email or call me at 214.514.4710.

If you need help deciding if advertising here is the right thing for you, click here for advertising information. Better yet, if you've got a broadband connection, click here for our super-cool Trey Carmichael-designed PDF.

Hat tip to Carl Landau (and his cat) for inspiration.

Now all the nitpicky details:

• The promotion will end when we sign our 51st advertiser spending $200 or more, or on October 31, 2006 -- whichever comes first.
• Pay-per-click advertisers are not eligible.
• For advertisers with whom we have larger sponsorship deals that involve us doing things like producing cds or putting on concerts, only the advertising portion of the contract will be considered.
• The winner's lifetime ad credit will be determined by the average monthly value of their existing contract, which must be paid in full before the first monthly credit is issued.
• There is no rollover -- The winner's credit is issued monthly and expires at the end of each month. Use it or lose it.
• The ad credit is good on any entity controlled by Pegasus News, Inc. It renews monthly forever, as long as both parties are ongoing business concerns.
• The credit is not redeemable for anything other than advertising.
• Ad credit will be applied to any form of advertising based on our publicly published ratecard, which may change without notice.
• Once a year, the monthly credit may be increased to account for inflation.
• We reserve the right to reject any ad or advertiser for any reason. However, any advertiser we accept who meets the eligibility requirements will be entered in the drawing.
• The prize is non-transferable to other commercial entities. However, if the winner wishes to donate all or part of his credit to a Pegasus-approved nonprofit, he may do so.
• We'll hold the drawing in public so there's no opportunity for funny business.
• There is a $8,000 cap on the monthly credit for the winner. So, even if the eventual winner has a $10,000/month ad contract (I wish!), they will only get an $8,000 credit.
• Who knows the actual value of the final prize? That all depends on your individual assessment of your viability and ours. Caveat emptor. (But we plan on sticking around awhile.)
• Don't do this just for the promotion. Even if you "lose" the drawing, you're still reaching a ton of local music lovers with the most efficient local advertising available.
• We reserve the right to tweak the promotion over the next week as we think of other potential wrinkles.