Direct marketing doesn’t get much directer when it only targets an audience within twenty feet. Forget podcasts, banner ads, RSS feeds and blogs–just give me snow up to my nostrils and a big ol’ stick.

That’s what some clever, industrious folks have been saying in upstate New York recently. Faced with nine feet of snow and drifts of almost twice that, those lucky enough to be able to plow or blow their way out are making their services available to others.

How are they getting the word out? Direct mail? Radio spots? Are they digging down to people’s windshields and leaving flyers under the wipers?

Nope. Snow writing. Just a simple headline like “Snow Removal” and a phone number. True, it won’t win any awards (not even in the “Organic Direct Marketing” category?) but it’s sure making their phones ring.

Now that’s some “old media.”