Why I love Mensa’s quizzes

Why I love Mensa’s quizzes (even though I’m no Mensa)

 

By Joan Stewart

The Publicity Hound

 

Whenever I fly American Airlines, I pull the in-flight magazine out of the seat pocket in front of me and turn to the back to see if there’s a Mensa Quiz.

 

Then for the next half hour or so, I go to work filling in the blanks, or decoding a series of numbers, or playing the word association games.

 

An hour later, I tally up my points and see if I’m Mensa material. (I’m not.)

 

The “High IQ Society” generates fabulous publicity with these quizzes. You can borrow Mensa’s idea and dream up a fun quiz of your own, and then submit it to the print and online publications on your media hit list, including in-flight magazines, if the topic is a good fit.

 

Be sure to include the answers, and give those taking the quiz a key so they can grade themselves.

 

Mensa does something else that’s brilliant. It provides a bonus question, and then tells readers to go to its website, log in and find the answer. What a great way to generate traffic!

 

You can do the same thing—offer bonus questions or even have an additional quiz at your website.

Editors at in-flight magazines, by the way, LOVE quizzes. That’s because passengers are looking for something fun to do, other than crossword puzzles, while en route to their destination city.

 

You can find a list of more than 40 in-flight magazines with contact information and pitching tips in  “Special Report #29: Fly High with Publicity in the In-flight Magazines.” Order at https://www.publicityhound.com/publicity-products/reports.html. While you’re there, subscribe to “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” a free ezine at “Craigslist: A Valuable Publicity Tool.”