My good friend and colleague Jessica Guadiana is participating in this years March of Dimes WalkAmerica event and asked if I would give her a quick plug on my Blog.

For those of you not familiar with the March of Dimes, it's an organization whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. As a charity event to raise money for this cause, the March of Dimes organizes several walk-a-thons called WalkAmerica. Participants of this event raise money, based on their involvement in the walk-a-thon, and then donate it to this very worthy cause.

When Jessica first asked me to plug her website, a place where people can go and donate / sponsor her, I first thought no way. I've got nothing against this charity, but I try very hard to keep this Blog geared towards Website Marketing and Design. I owe it to you readers to keep this resource relevant.

So why the sudden change of heart? Well Jessica has come up with a pretty decent marketing idea and as a Blogger it's my duty to share it with you. So here goes:

For every $25 dollar donation Jessica's website receives (because of this Blog post), Jessica will gladly print and press your company's logo/advertisement on to the plain white T-Shirt that she will be wearing the day of her walk-a-thon. Your company's logo/advertisement will be prepared by the Karl Ribas.com art department (thus... myself), printed in color, and sized as big as a 5in x 5in square. Everything will be prepared for you... all you have to do is donate.

So what does this mean to you as an advertiser? Well it's a chance for your website to be seen by a couple hundred other people who'll be participating in this event, not to mention any local newspaper and TV exposure that is usually associated with it. In addition, the March of Dimes is a nationally recognized charity. With that said, there's a chance that Jessica, and thus your advertisements, could get national exposure. I must admit that the chances are quite small, but then again the possibility is definitely there.

Other than that... you'll receive that warm and fuzzy feeling that comes to a person when they do something as rewarding as donating to a very worthy cause. You want that warm fuzziness don't you?

Here's Jessica's special web page: http://www.walkamerica.org/jguad. Please go here and give your donation. What the hell... its only $25, right? If you can't afford $25 and still want to donate, please do. Every little bit helps.

Because I feel this is such a worthy cause, I'm going to percent-match any donation that is associated with this Blog post. Simply go and sponsor her at the website above and then come back and comment telling me you did so. On April 21st, we'll add up all of these donations and I'll personally donate 25% of what you, my readers, contribute... in addition to what I've already agreed to donate.

It's for a great cause... its cheap advertising... sponsor Jessica!