Today, with a staff of 20 people who love their jobs, Marilyn has surpassed her original goal. Some of the perks that Harbinger offers its employees include birthdays off, free chocolate, fun and games at meetings, passes to movie premieres, and even trips to exotic destinations.

Now as Harbinger looks to hire additional staff, it has decided not to follow the traditional path involving head hunters and classified ads. Instead, the company has decided to do something fun. This September they are launching Life's a Beach, a promotional contest that will help reach communication professionals with the message that there is such a thing as a fun work environment - if you work for Harbinger.

The Life's a Beach contest gives potential employees the chance to win a trip for two to Jamaica. The contestant's entry form: a resume.

To qualify the participants must meet minimum employability requirements. Ads promoting the contest, which runs from September 5th to September 30th, will appear in Strategy and Marketing Magazine.

Marilyn hopes that this campaign will help them find 2 to 3 employees immediately, but is even more interested in the long term. It took a lot of time for her to bring in some of the companies best employees, so she understands the need to build relationships with people to attract them into the business.

The Life's a Beach campaign should benefit Harbinger on many different levels. First, it should help the company find some new employees immediately. As the company's first self-promotion, it will raise their profile in the industry. It should also help them meet interesting people who could become future members of the team. And of course, as with many fresh ideas, PR angles can be leveraged.

Marilyn hopes that the sum of these benefits will communicate one message: that Harbinger is a smart marketing company.

We asked Marilyn to share a few marketing tips with us. Here's what she said:

Tip 1:
"Thinking of a good idea takes just as much time as thinking of a bad idea, so it's important to get the best thinking that you can. Bring together individuals who can help everyone think about the business in new ways. Create a think tank and brainstorm."

Tip 2:
"This program is designed to reflect our unique character, so it won't work for other businesses. You need to assess the strengths of your organization and chose the best tactics to address it. Don't use a cookie cutter solution and think in different ways about your business, its unique strengths, and what you can leverage to market yourself."

Tip 3:
"The less money you have, the more innovative you need to be," says Marilyn. "We're always looking to do things in innovative ways .. that have more impact, breakthrough."