Getting Oprahâ€™s Attention, Or at Least Some Press

Original Post: (8:48 a.m.) On March 24th, two entrepreneurs left Hope, Ill., on foot en route to Chicago and the doorstep of Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios. Their mission: an unscheduled seven-minute meeting today with the media diva to pitch their company, I Live Inspired, which delivers inspirational text messages to subscribers’ cellphones.

Their dream world is to sign Ms. Winfrey onto their network. At minimum, they want some publicity. (More on why I’m obliging in a moment.)

Guerrilla marketing like this can be tempting–it’s cheaper, relying on time and energy instead of dollars–but can backfire if the stunt goes awry. This story explains why certain tactics fail and others succeed.

So why single out I Live Inspired here? Two reasons. One, founders Rob Foster and Chris Deutsch have pulled this off with the Dalai Lama.The duo not only got a meeting (see video left) but struck a content deal and now base a channel on their Web site around the Dalai Lama’s teachings. With his Holiness on board, they figure, why not Oprah?

Second, the action matches the product. Walking-for-buzz is the brainchild of Mark Hughes, author of the book “Buzzmarketing.” Mr. Hughes, who says he’s consulting pro bono to the pair, figured that walking through hail and rain (as they have in the Oprah journey) is inspirational in itself. And technology means their efforts are less likely to go ignored: Armed with laptops and cellphones, they’ve chronicled the trek on their blog and YouTube, emailing me dispatches from the Windy City.

I Live Inspired had less luck with Al Gore whom they sought to meet to persuade him to support a channel about the environment. They miscalculated, and Mr. Gore was on vacation for the holidays when they arrived in D.C. Still, they scored coverage in Fortune Small Business. And they’ve now got just under 400 subscribers paying $3.99 a month for their texting.

As for Oprah today, Chris and Rob have already emailed and written letters letting her know theyÂ’re headed her way. Stay tuned here at Indy Street to find out if she bitesÂ…

Read the update here.

What do you think about I Live Inspired’s trek? WhatÂ’s the best or dumbest guerrilla tactic youÂ’ve heard of?