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
Event Publicity
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
Don’t let poor planning ruin your special event
In the more than two decades I worked as a newspaper editor, I saw one special event planner after another moan and complain that the media didn’t give them enough publicity to draw huge crowds–resulting in special events that were colossal flops. In many cases, it wasn’t the media’s fault. The event planners did it… Read More
Ideas galore for year-round Massachusetts clambake
Three Publicity Hounds have ideas for Sue Tremblay of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Sue wants suggestions on how to publicize the fact that Francis Farm, a clambake facility in her town, is open year-round. Business during the summer is good, but it drops off this time of year. From Linda Williams of Wellsboro, Pennsylvania: Throw a special… Read More
No ho-hum groundbreaking for this health clinic
Eighteen ublicity Hounds have tips for Anne Deeter Gallaher of Camp Hills, Pennsylvania. Her client is breaking ground for a new clinic addition. It houses a family practice with nine physicians that have 30,000 patients. She wants alternatives to the routine and boring groundbreaking ceremony. From Lisa “Chase” Patterson of Jersey City, New Jersey: Sometimes… Read More
Create fun for reporters
Opening a new pizza shop? Invite a reporter to the shop so the client can teach her how to make a pizza. Tell her she’ll even learn how to twirl the dough around on her fist, then throw it up in the air and catch it. Opening a hardware store? Invite a reporter to a… Read More
Yahoo gets mountains of publicity for 10th anniversary
Yahoo didn’t need any clever publicity hooks to promote its 10th anniversary recently. There was more than enough for the media to cover, including interviews with co-founders Jerry Yang and David Filo, who parlayed Yahoo Inc. from a college hobby into a full-time job. Today, the thirtysomethings are billionaires. But two clever anniversary promotions caught… Read More