If you’re looking for a job, an apartment, a date, or people in your own community with common interests, you probably already know about Craigslist. But did you realize you can also use these free online community classifieds and forums to promote an event, announce a new employee, advertise a workshop months before it will… Read More
Event Publicity
Pitch Jay Leno for special event publicity
Promise me that after you read this item, you won’t pester Jay Leno’s staff with a boring idea that could put his late-night audience to sleep. If you watch Leno, like I do, you know his “correspondents” travel far and wide to fun events where they can film whacky segments, from John Melendez going belly-to-belly… Read More
How to Generate Publicity at Trade Shows
Most people who exhibit at trade shows overlook a powerful publicity tool that’s just waiting for their news. It’s the trade show daily, the newspaper that offers a bird’s-eye view of what’s happening that day at the show. When I first attended the BookExpo America convention last year, I was kicking myself for not paying… Read More
How to get publicity during your state, county fair
I’ll be one of the first in line when the Wisconsin State Fair opens this weekend, making a mad dash to the Expo building to see if two framed needlepoint canvasses I entered won blue ribbons—or were judged good enough to even place. Then it’s off to the creampuff building to stand in a mile-long… Read More
How to Create a Buzz with Special Events Publicity
As I watched Tiger Woods sink his putt on Sunday to win the British Open, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the Porta Potties on the golf course at St. Andrews in Scotland had pretty toilet paper and delicate hand towels. I doubt it. But every time I watch golf on TV, I’m curious about… Read More
Stop passing checks and passing it off as news
Publicity Hound Marilynn Mobley of Atlanta, Georgia writes with this comment about my advice two weeks ago to stop staging boring check-passing photos: “AMEN to your advice about how dreadful ‘passing the check’ photos are. I thought you might be interested to know that they can actually be dangerous as well. “Recently, I picked up… Read More
Don’t take boring check-passing photos
A Publicity Hound who just started reading this newsletter emailed me last week, asking if I have any clever suggestions for an interesting check-passing photo. Sorry, I said. There is no such thing. Every check-passing photo looks alike. Two people stand shoulder-to-shoulder, each clutching one end of a check and staring into the camera with… Read More
Don’t offer exclusivity for special event photos
If the situation warrants it, some Publicity Hounds like to give a particular story to their favorite media that reaches a large audience. If a certain newspaper or magazine knows they will get the story first, they will be more inclined to cover you–as long as it’s a good story. With photos, however, that isn’t… Read More
People behind the events make great stories
She arrived in Milwaukee at age 24 with less than $40 in her purse, learned to speak English and took the streetcar to work. Today, at age 75, Magrit Heitmann still logs up to 1,500 hours a year doing what she loves best–organizing the hundreds of volunteers for Germanfest, one of the signature festivals in… Read More
No more boring ribbon-cutting ceremonies
When Dan Collins had to drum up publicity for the opening of The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center for Women’s Health and Medicine at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, he stayed away from the cliche ribbon-cutting ceremony. Instead, he thought of as many news angles as he could. There were the “magnet physicians” the hospital… Read More