This is the perfect time of year to let the media know about holiday or year-end traditions followed by you, your company or your church, school or family. Here are some examples:
–If your company has a holiday tradition of helping others in need, like helping at the local food pantry for a day, let reporters know.
–Does your church have an unusual holiday tradition? At some churches, parishioners gather outside in the parking lot around a big burning barrel just after evening services on December 31. They toss into the fire piecesof paper on which they wrote things they wanted be rid of, like resentments and character defects. Great visuals for TV.
–Do the families in your neighborhood get special visits from Santa?
–Do they participate in Christmas cookie exchanges, or do they go caroling? If so, let your local weekly newspaper know.
–Holiday ethnic traditions abound. What tradition did your parents or grandparents bring from “the old country”? And how are you using the traditions to teach your children about their ethnic origins?
If you have a tradition that would make a particularly good visual, keep both national and local TV shows in mind. They need holiday stories of all kinds, and they might welcome your idea. But before you call, learn the finer points of how to pitch, how to come up with ideas for props you can take with you, and how to make your story ideas enticing. CDs and audio tapesare available for two recordings of teleseminars:
“How to be a TV Talk Show Host’s Dream Date” offers tips for being a great guest on a local TV talk shows.
“How to Get Booked on the Morning TV Talk Shows” gives an overview of the 7 major national morning shows, and pitching tips galore.