OHAMA, NEBRASKA - HEADQUARTERS OF MODERN TELE-MARKETING 

When you see those Telemarketing ads selling something especially from the U.S. TV stations, do you ever wonder where that person is that answers when you phone?

Well, I want to tell you they aren't likely where you think.

I recently had the opportunity to visit, at midnight of all times, one of the largest telemarketers in the business. This type of company works under contract to whoever has ran the television advertisement and they answer all the calls purchasers like you make from any spot on the globe. It is a big business. Even as late as it was there were hundreds of men and women all lined up in very comfortable chairs, in well lit rooms in front of modern video screens punching keys in relation to the purchase orders and then answering every conceivable question that could ever be asked about that specific product. It was a fascinating look into the present and future of marketing.

But that wasn't the real surprise. Guess why they were in Omaha, Nebraska? After all, this isn't exactly "advertising row" Madison Avenue, New York, New York.

Because of the Strategic Air Command. That is part of the U.S. Air Force and many years ago, when the general belief was that nuclear war was about to happen, SAC designed a communications system that was 400% larger than they would ever need. They installed four separate and detached systems. Why? Because their studies said that no matter what occurred they likely would still have a one full communications facility even in the other three-quarters of the whole installation was wiped out.

None ever were.

Enter today's Marketeer. They worked a deal with the phone company to utilize all those unused systems and let the phone companies earn money from a dead cat. They pay as little as .13 cents a minute for their long distance collect phone calls no matter from where they come. That keeps them happy, lets you buy at bargain prices and the phone company gets richer too.

Are there any dead cats in your town that are an undiscovered gold mine?

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