• Discovery World Museum is giving prizes to math wizards and Einsteins who can recite from memory the most digits of pi.  
      
• Each year, Whole Foods Market in Milwaukee gives away free slices of apple, cherry or blueberry pie, starting at 3:14 p.m. It also sells pies for $3.14.

Your business doesn’t have to be tied to food, or math, in order for you to generate a little publicity from Pi Day.  What can you sell for $3.14?  Or what challenge can you issue to your customers that ties into the numbers 3, 1 and 4?

Phyllis May of Key West, FL, writes:

“March 1 is my day in Chase’s Calendar of Events.  It’s ‘Refired not Retired Day’ and it’s also the title of my book. It’s a humoprous book that shows people how to make the most of life after retirement.  

“Might your Publicity Hounds have suggestions for things I can suggest for people to do on March 1? Amazingly, because I have a Google Alert, there is a restaurant in Australia that has it on their calendar. I wrote and told them I thought I should be there but they didn’t respond. Darn.

“One time I saw an assisted living facility promoting it but I truly don’t know any BIG ideas. Can your creative readers help?”

If you’re looking for publicity from bloggers or traditional media but can’t think of an idea to pitch to them, here’s a quick way to find several. 

Longtime Publicity Hound Norman Lieberman reminded me about this yesterday when he emailed me to see if I had a list of questions that Publicity Hounds can ask themselves, designed to uncover nuggets of information that are possible story ideas.

I gave Norm two resources. The first is my “Story Idea Tickler List,” part of the handouts for my “Savvy Media Relations” workshop: 

1. What’s new or unique about your business?
      
2. What do you offer that your competitors don’t?                                                   
         
3. How do you help people solve problems, save time or save money?
       
4. What business mistakes have you made that you learned from?
      
5. What new trends have you spotted in your industry?
      
6. Is there a social or political issue you feel strongly about? (Write an opinion column, letter to the editor or blog post.) 
       
7. Are you sponsoring a contest or an award?
       
8. Can you piggyback your topic off a holiday or anniversary?
       
9. How are you using technology in your business?
       
10. Do you have any good visuals that tie into your story idea for television?
        
11. What about your personal life? (Hobbies, travels, food, clothing, etc.)
        
12. Have you formed an interesting partnership or alliance?
        
13. What how-to articles could you write?
             
14. What topics are good fodder for a tip sheet? (9 tips for….)
        
15. On what radio talk shows would you be a good fit and what’s the hot story of the day that ties into your expertise?
        
16. Are you the local angle to a national or regional story?
           
17. How are you using social media in your business? 
       
18. How can you piggyback onto celebrity news? For example, here are 10 ways to generate publicity from the Tiger Woods mess and here’s how Connie Dieken, a Cleveland TV personality and media trainer, got publicity by piggybacking onto celebrity outbursts.
       
19. Do you have an interesting  stand-alone photo you can offer the media? Newspapers and magazines often use these photos as fillers.

If those aren’t enough, you can check out the free sample chapter of my ebook, “How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound” where you’ll find more ideas, and a fuller explanation of some of the ideas listed above. 

What ideas have you pitched recently that other Publicity Hounds could also use? Share them here.

Have you claimed your copy of “The Best of The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week of 2009″ yet?

It not, grab it here. You’ll find the 26 tips that generated the most response from readers of my ezine last year. 

I give away this ebook each year, and my readers eagerly look forward to it. Many of them regift the book to their own friends and followers. And the big attaction is that anyone can access the ebook. You don’t have to opt in with your name and email address. 

What will you learn in this book? Plenty.

For example, I explain how to create your own day, week or month of the year. You’ll learn about lots of tricks and tools for participating at the social media sites. Read about 10 dead or dying PR tactics. 

And for Publicity Hounds who are looking to connect with journalists, I’ve given you several resources.  The book will help you, regardless of what business or nonprofit you’re in. 

Use the ebook one of these 12 ways:

1. Create a Facebook note, and excerpt the entire tip. Use the photo along with the text, and you’ve got a nice little item that your followers and fans will love. Christine Buffaloe discussed Facebook notes when she was my guest during a teleseminar on “11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook.” 
        
2. No time for a Note? Write about it and share the link (http://tinyurl.com/bestof2009tips) in a Facebook status update.
       
3. Write about it in a LinkedIn status update.
        
4. Blog about the book, and include your own success story that ties into one of the tips. 
        
5. Offer the ebook as a bonus along with other products and services you’re selling.
       
6. Give it to your clients and customers.
       
7. Mention it at your weekly staff meetings.
       
8. Add it to the Free Articles page at your website.
       
9. Give it away to the winner of a contest you’re sponsoring.  
         
10. Offer the ebook as a freebie to help you capture names and email addresses at your website. 
       
11. Create a video that discusses the ebook and upload it to your website or to YouTube, then share that with your social media friends and followers.
       
12. Include the link  (http://tinyurl.com/bestof2009tips) in a book you’re writing, or in handouts you’re using for a speaking engagement.

What about you? Have you thought of any other clever ways to use the ebook? If so, share them here. I’d love to hear them.

Cheryl Muskus of Oak Creek, WI, writes:

“I’m the owner of  The CarmelRose, a floral shop, and I’m looking for ways to generate publicity in a very competitive market.

“Even though our industry is hurt to a large extent when obituaries state ‘in lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to…,” we’re trying to form relationships with local funeral homes so they can refer us to families that are buying flowers for the funeral.  I’d also like to target the local corporate market because revenues from local businesses that need floral arrangements can be significant.

“What ideas to your Hounds have for events I can sponsor at the shop or elsewhere, story ideas I can pitch to the local media, press releases I can write, photos I can offer the local media, opportunities for getting onto local TV, and joint venture partnerships I can form with other businesses? 

“Also, suggestions for using social media would be appreciated.”

Suzanne Fox Sevel of Melbourne, Fla., writes:

“I have a client in Atlanta, Ga., who just launched a new product called Scurtz: stylish, decorative skirts for chairs.  They’re very upscale, and some people see them as an alternative to tablecloths or place settings as a unique way of decorating for guests.

“They’re $49-$69 a pair and come in luxurious or traditional fabrics such as velvet and tulle.  Since they are so new, there are not very many customers.  The sales numbers are not impressive enough for the local business press to even write a story about it.

“Also, local newspapers and magazines are showing little interest in writing a feature story about these fabulous home accessories or the two entrepreneurial moms who invented them.

“They will be available in a major retailer very soon, but my job is to create some initial buzz and excitement about them first so that when they hit the stores, there will be a line of people waiting for them.  Do your Hounds have any ideas for low-cost, high-impact PR? The owner is not on Facebook or Twitter and has no interest in social networking as a means of promotion.”

Here’s a video that demonstrates how to tie Scurtz:

Publicity Hound Ruth Furman, a PR specialist and a speaker at this weekend’s World Tea Expo in Las Vegas will be among panelists who will discuss ways tea retailers can generate publicity.

She asked if I could provide some tips for her handout, and I thought I’d share them here.

These tips are written specifically for those who sell tea. But there’s no reason you can’t tweak them for your own retail business, regardless of whether you’re selling dog beds or industrial widgets.

Retailers, remember that the days are long gone when we concentrated only on pitching story ideas to traditional media outlets. The Internet provides opportunities galore for spreading the word about any product or service.

1. If you’re not Twittering about tea, start right now! Remember that many people searching for tea information on Twitter will be using Twitter’s search engine. Use a hash tag (example: #herbaltea) when tweeting. Learn more about how to use Twitter hashtags for promotion and publicity. And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter.
2. The topic of gardening is hot right now because of the bad economy. How can tea-lovers create their own tea garden, filled with herbs and other tea ingredients?
3. What’s the Number One flavor of herbal tea? Survey tea lovers at your website and on the social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Write the results in a press release that you post online and distribute to the media.
4. What’s the correct way to make the perfect cup of tea? Create a short video of from two to three minutes, include a link to your website, and upload to the video-sharing sites.
5. Listen to the teleseminar I hosted recently with David Mathison, author of the book Be the Media. He offers tips galore on how to use social networking to promote and to build an email list.
6. Create your profile on Facebook. Then promote your retail tea business by creating Facebook Pages. Click the “Ads and Pages” icon in the lower left corner. You can create a Page for each product, and then invite your Facebook friends and others to become “Fans” of your pages. Remember that your Profile has Friends. Your Pages have Fans.
7. Create a tea-lover’s group on Facebook. Email them each week with a “tea lover’s tip of the week.”
8. Upload photos of tea and tea-related products, tools and ingredients to the photo-sharing sites like Flickr and PhotoBucket.
9. Create a profile on LinkedIn and start answering questions regularly on tea. It will help promote your expertise. (See “How to Use LinkedIn to Promote Anything–Ethically & Powerfully.”)
10. Subscribe to “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week” and receive the ezine every Tuesday. It’s loaded with tips on how to generate free publicity.
11. Sign up for the free email tutorial “89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases” at  so you can learn how to write and distribute press releases.

If you’re a retailer and you have your own publicity tips, feel free to share it here.

If you want publicity in traditional media for a food-related story, don’t miss these tips from Nancy Wall Hopkins, deputy editor of food and entertaining at Better Homes and Gardens.

Brian Pittman of Bulldog Reporter interviewed her. Here’s a quick summary, but please read the entire article. After each one of Nancy’s tips, I’ve also given you some of my own ideas on other ways to pitch, or ways to sweeten your pitch. These ideas also work well when pitching bloggers and in social media.

Nancy’s tip:

People are cooking more these days because of the bad economy. (I assume that means they’re eating out less.) 

My tip:

Pitch stories on how to save on grocery bills.  Restaurants, what are you doing to respond to this? Any special marketing promotions that have worked well? Are you altering menus, changing your hours or adding cooking classes to draw the crowds? (See “Publicity Tips for Restaurants, Chefs & Foodies.“)    

Nancy’s tip:

Consumers are using more cents-off coupons.

My tip:

Professional organizers, suggest ways for us to organize all those coupons and actually use them.  Consumer experts, are using coupons usually better than buying the store’s generic brand? 

Nancy’s tip:

People are still entertaining an average of twice a month but it’s casual and low-key.

My tip:

Pitch your local “grub club” or dinner group to the food columnist at your local newspaper. It might also make a fun feature story for your local TV station. If an upcoming dinner is tied to the holidays or a religious celebration, that’s a nice little extra.

Nancy’s tip:

Consumers are still very interested in health and prevention.

My tip:

This is a chance for health departments and others to pitch story ideas like how to wash produce and  avoid food poisoning. What about all those food allergies we’re hearing so much about?

Nancy’s tip:

PR people, leave the office for good old-fashioned face-to-face, desk-side meetings with journalists. This goes against advice that Steve Mullen of the Social Media PR blog wrote in his post 10 Dead or Dying PR Tactics. 

My tip:

When you visit, ask the Number One most important question you can ever ask: “How can I help you?”

Nancy’s tip:

Give exclusives.

My tip: 

Be careful because this can backfire, particularly if it’s a breaking-news story. The writer might be excited about the story and love the exclusive. If her editor isn’t nearly as interested and buries it way inside the magazine, you’ve blown a publicity opportunity.

Nancy’s tip:

Report on trends. Remember that magazines are restricting travel for some journalists so they rely on expert sources to keep them informed about trends and what’s happening at shows like the Fancy Food Show. 

My tip:

Report on trends even when the story doesn’t directly affect you. This positions you as a golden source. 

Nancy’s best take-away tip:

“It’s all about the relationship. The best PR people talk to me before pitching me to see what’s new with me and to ask me what’s going on.  They then tailor ideas to me that no one else is getting.  That’s how you build trust with us.”

My tip: Never forget it.

Colleen Schmid of Heathrow, Fla.  Writes:

“I’ve recently started a new business teaching families how to start going green in their homes.  I go through their homes and, room by room, show them what things they can be doing to save on power and water bills as well as removing toxins.  I will also begin showing small businesses how to do the same.

“Earth Day is on April 22, and I’m trying to come up with a big idea to get media attention for my business.  It’s so critical that we all become aware of what we’re are doing to harm our environment, waste precious resources and pollute.  It’s also important to show people how living green saves them money and takes care of our Earth.

“Can your Hounds thing of some powerful ways for me t otie my business into Earth Day for some publicity?”  Her website is at Green-Irene.com.

Shannon Hein of Fort Collins, Colorado writes:

“I am helping a friend promote Branchies, a product she invented that lets people hang heavy objects on their Christmas trees.

“They attach easily to the trunk of your Christmas tree and support very heavy and bulky ornaments. They are a great way to transform your tree using themes you�ve never been able to create before. For example, you can decorate your tree with your favorite football helmets if you want!

“Of course, Christmas is over, but we want to get a jump on promoting this next year. What ideas do your Hounds have for promoting Branchies? We’re on the web at www.branchies.com