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Ditch the Shovels, Scissors & Checks

This week’s edition of my local weekly newspaper had another one of those ghastly ground-breaking photos.

You know what it looks like because you’ve seen hundreds of them.  Four guys wearing business suits and hard hats are posing, each with their foot on a shovel, looking very uncomfortable and out of place.

These photos belong in the same category with the photos of oversized cardboard checks being passed from one person to another, or the ribbon-cutting photos that feature a 3-foot pair of cardboard scissors.

C’mon, Hounds.  You can do better than that.

How about promising yourself that from now on, you will never assign, allow, take or request one of those horrible ground- breaking, ribbon-cutting or check-passing photos?

Instead, think creatively about how to promote a donation, the opening of a new business, or a new construction project.

If you’re coming up dry, Dan Collins can help.  He’s the creative media relations director at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore.  When I interviewed him during a teleseminar a few years ago on “Fun Alternatives to Boring Ground-breakings, Ribbon-cuttings & Check-passings,” I knew there was no excuse to resort to those cliche photos or staged media events.  The teleseminar is available as a CD or an electronic transcript that you can be reading in minutes, as soon as your order is approved.

Read more about what you’ll learn at “Craigslist: A Valuable Publicity Tool.”

Dan offers dozens more creative ideas on how to promote a hos- pital or medical center.  “How to Make Hospital PR an Easy Pill to Swallow” is also available as a CD or an electronic transcript.  Read more about what you’ll learn at http://tinyurl.com/lr6qf

by Joan Stewart on January 7, 2008

Filed Under: Publicity Blog Tagged With: Event Publicity, Photos & Graphics, Pitching

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Publicity expert Joan Stewart, a PR mentor aka The Publicity Hound, works with small business owners who need free publicity, and with PR pros who tell their clients' stories to the world. She shows you how to establish your credibility, enhance your reputation, position yourself as an expert, and sell more products and services. To receive her free DIY publicity tips twice a week, subscribe here. See all the ways you can work with Joan. Or contact her and ask a burning question about PR, self-promotion or social media.

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