Thursday, March 23, 2006

How A Guy Became A Millionaire Selling Antenna Balls.

Jason Wall Story

http://antennaballs.com/

As Jason Wall sees it, success is all about having a ball. Since 1998, Wall has been topping car antennas with happy faces, 8-balls and even cowgirls—complete with braids and hats. Wall is president and CEO of In-Concept Inc., the company behind Antennaballs.com, which manufactures more than 500,000 custom antenna balls per month.

Based in Glendale, California, Antennaballs.com owes its success to one “man”: Jack. It all started when Wall saw a Jack In The Box fast-food commercial in mid-1997 that said the company had sold more than 3 million antenna balls. Sensing opportunity, Wall came up with a few designs he thought would penetrate the auto accessory and novelty industries. The designs stuck.

After selling four million balls through local gas stations and convenience stores, Wall recently landed some major national accounts, including AutoZone, Circle K and Wal-Mart, and he’s negotiating licensing deals with Universal Studios. With sales of $1.15 million for 1999 (one year after he started his business), Wall attributes timeliness to his overnight success. Six years later, Jason Wall is a multimillionaire.

But it wasn’t all easy. First, in 1999 Coolballs.com-DDS, Co., a division of Self Reliant Systems, Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Wally Balls, L.L.C., Jason Wall, and IN-Concept, Inc. The amended complaint alleged copyright infringement, false designation of origin and unfair competition relating to Coolballs'(R) proprietary antenna ball designs.

After the issue was resolved HappyBalls.com, online retailer of antenna ball toppers, and In-Concept, Inc., (www.AntennaBalls.com), developer and distributor of custom antenna toppers, announced an agreement to join forces in January of 2006.

“This alliance is a perfect fit,” says Jeremy Turner, founder and owner of the Florida-based HappyBalls.com. “Our website carries over 500 unique and collectible antenna toppers,” says Turner. “This partnership will create one of the largest antenna ball manufacturing and distribution companies in the United States."

“The next time you are driving down the road, look at people’s antennas,” says Turner, “You will be amazed at how many antenna balls are out there. Companies seeking effective advertising methods should consider the low cost of antenna toppers,” he says. “At its peak, Union 76 sold 4 million antenna toppers each year, and if you saw one of their antenna toppers, their advertising message worked – and it worked well. This is viral marketing at its best,” Turner says. “You can get your message across much more cost effectively with four million antenna balls than just one 30-second television commercial. Your customers and potential customers carry your advertisement with them wherever they go for the entire world to see – a constant reminder of your product or service,” says Turner.

“It’s very easy to think of a good idea,” Jason Wall says. “But I think success really comes down to execution and perseverance.”


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