Today's Marketing Cookie - Great Attempts

Today's fortune came from George Nikanorov of Vernon, NJ. George is the Head of Marketing at DATA Inc. and Adjunct Professor at Passaic County Community College. George has over 15 years of Integrated Marketing and Communications experience spanning multiple businesses and industries. He is a great guy and you should follow him on Twitter. @George_N

Today's Marketing Cookie is about the glory of failure.

There are many times when I've failed in marketing and I've written about my failures many times before in the daily Marketing Cookies. I've never shared with you however, the story of my most glorious failure... until today. I must warn you that today's story has nothing to do with marketing, and I hope you will forgive me.

When we bought this house, it had a giant above-ground swimming pool. The kids were thrilled! We bought the house in the summer so the pool was already open for the season. The next spring, and every spring after that, I would learn what a struggle it is to take the cover off the pool without letting zillions of dead leaves fall into the water. Without fail however, I would fail - and the leaves would slip into the water and coat the bottom with a thick layer of yucky muck. This would be followed by weeks of vacuuming, unclogging the filter, and much aggravation.

After three seasons of struggle, I thought of a solution. I would build a temporary roof over the pool so the leaves and muck could roll right off the pool onto the ground. No more leaves in the pool. No more weeks of cleaning yucky muck. I was an absolute genius and would be hailed as such by aggravated pool owners throughout the world and beyond!

I had a plastic 50-gallon barrel that I tied to a couple of giant inner tubes. When fully assembled, the barrel floated about six feet above the water and would serve as a center column for my new pool-roof invention. I bought dozens of sixteen-foot PVC piping that would be connected to a "center hub" that was tied to the top of my barrel. As I connected every pipe to the center hub, it started to look exactly as I imagined, and I could feel certain victory over the yucky muck.

Once all the pipes were connected at the center, it was time to tie them down. Along the outside of an above-ground pool are metal supports that stabilize the walls. I decided I would tie off a pipe to every single wall support thus completing my new anti-yucky muck structure. Next, I pulled the pool cover tight over the structure, which came to such a peak in the center that it would be impossible for any leaves to find their way into the pool.

In February, I was looking out the window, proudly admiring my fantastic invention. Not a single leaf was able to collect on the top of the pool cover. It really worked! The week before, I had filed for a patent and was day dreaming about the millions of dollars I would make selling my incredible invention to every above-ground pool owner in America. I would be on the cover of "Pool Owners Magazine" and would make guest appearances at the annual "Family Pool Convention".

While I was completing my future acceptance speech for the "National Pool Genius Awards", my day dream was suddenly interrupted by a loud cracking sound, followed by a sonic boom! Apparently, the ropes I had used to tie the barrel to the inner tubes had dangled down into the water. As the water in the pool began to freeze, it pulled the inner tubes and barrel down with it. The barrel of course, was securely tied to dozens of pipes, which were tied to every single support along the outside walls of the pool. As the ice pulled down on the barrel, those pipes pushed out against the walls with immense pressure. The walls of the pool eventually gave way, and 30,000 gallons of water rushed directly into my neighbor's basement.

Needless to say, my incredible invention completely destroyed the family pool. It would be the last time I would ever have the privilege of dealing with yucky muck. I hope it may serve you as a valuable lesson of how NOT to avoid getting leaves in your pool. I think my pool roof idea was my greatest attempt at innovation and by far, my most glorious failure!