Here’s a fun, timely publicity idea that just about anybody can steal.
It’s called “Feed a CPA,” and I heard about it from Seth Hodes, marketing director for Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz, a Baltimore law firm.
On March 1, a local caterer hired by the firm will deliver delicious gourmet lunches wrapped in a beautiful silver bag, complete with fresh flowers, to three random CPA firms throughout Baltimore, Harford and Howard counties, all in Maryland.
“CPAs are one of our great allies,” Seth said. “And since they barely come up to breathe this time of the year, we wanted to do something fun to thank them, while creating some goodwill between our firms.”
He wrote a three-paragraph press release, posted it at their website at http://www.hupk.com/news.asp?opt=1&id=244 and sent it to a targeted list of 200 media outlets. The story already has appeared in The Daily Record in Maryland, at an accounting blog, and in the AICPA Newsletter which goes to 350,000 CPAs.
The Publicity Hound loves this brilliant promotion for many reasons:
–It’s the local angle to the national story of preparing income tax returns.
–Notice the CPA firms are in three counties, which means more newspapers and TV stations will likely cover the story. (The law firm also has offices in those three counties, by the way.)
–CPAs are a gatekeeper industry for law firms. “Being a law firm, we cover the legality of all the financial stuff the CPAs do, so we get a lot of great referrals,” Seth said. “We wanted a promotion that was more than just ringing our bell or pushing our wares.”
–Each year, three different CPA firms will be chosen. That means more publicity, more goodwill, and more valuable referrals for the lawyers.
–This story has all the elements TV news crews want: people, color and motion. Can’t you just picture the harried CPAs surrounded by stacks of papers, a bouquet of fresh flowers and all that tempting gourmet food?
Smart Publicity Hounds can take this idea and give it their own spin. How about “Feed a Santa” at Christmas? Or “Feed a Landscaper” during the spring? Or “Feed a Florist” on Valentine’s Day?
Create your pitch, make it enticing, then set aside lots of time for all those media interviews. And don’t forget the bloggers who love newsy tidbits like these. “How to Pitch the Best Bloggers & Create a Publicity Explosion” shows you how to save time by finding the influential bloggers, getting in front of them without being pushy, and convincing them to blog about you. Learn more about this CD or electronic transcript that I created with Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff (aka The Blog Squad) at http://tinyurl.com/m7ymr
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