The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

Publicity Hounds hate it when they create their own day, week or month of the year, and then see other people piggyback onto it for publicity.

Not Michelle Nichols, a former writer for BusinessWeek.com, who created National Hug Your Kids Day on July 21.

Michelle is inviting Hounds everywhere to generate publicity for their own companies or organizations by tying into Hug Your Kids Day.  Already, she has generated lots of interest.

“A Realtor in Reno had 1,000 pens made that say ‘National Hug Your Kids Day, July 21′ with her name, company and phone number,” Michelle said.  “A non-profit consulting company in Maryland is sponsoring an event.  An expert on happy post-divorce families in Red Bluff, California is putting together an event.  A luxury toy company may have its mother cat stuffed animal be its ’spokescat’ for the day.”

She asks, however, that the events and other promotions encourage parents to hug their own kids, not other people’s kids.  And she’ll even send a copy of her new book, “Hug Your Kids Today!  5 Key Lessons for Every Working Parent” as a thank-you to Hounds who participate.

Learn more about her project and email Michelle.

Don’t have your own day, week or month of the year yet? If not, see “Special Report #45: How to Generate National Publicity from Your Own Holiday (or Day, Week or Month of the Year).”

Posted In: Nonprofits, Pitching the Media, Publicity for Niche Markets
posted On: 5/13/2008: 2:30 pm: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

Mitch Carnell of Charleston, South Carolina writes:

“Last year, we celebrated the first Say Something Nice Sunday on the first Sunday in June.  This is now an annual event.

“We want churches and denominations of all faiths to join in.  This is a Sunday when Christian will say nothing negative about any other Christian or Christian group or organization.  It originated from my little book, Say Something Nice; Be a Lifter.

“We have put together an ecumenical group to promote this.  It started at First Baptist Church of Charleston, the Charleston Baptist Association, the South Carolina Baptist Convention, the Charleston Atlantic Presbytery and CBF of South Carolina.  Next year, we will sponsor a poster contest with middle and high school students.

“We are looking for ideas to get individuals and churches involved.  We’ve provided some promotional ideas for them.  Can your Hounds help with other suggestions?”

Posted In: Holidays, Newspaper Publicity, Publicity for Niche Markets
posted On: : 1:47 pm: By Joan
Comments: 5 Comments

Are you a business or organization celebrating a big anniversary soon?

Or how about just a Publicity Hound who wouldn’t mind being a celebrity in your own town? This idea is great for both.

This year, the Nashville Opera is sponsoring a “Put Me on a Billboard Contest” to raise funds and awareness for a new opera house. Earlier this year, it launched a promotional campaign in which it photographed local celebrities holding their fancy opera glasses, and put the photos on billboards throughout Nashville.

The opera then opened the contest to anyone and asked local opera-lovers to write about why they raise their glasses to opera. They even built a special website for the promotion.

Winners, including Publicity Hound Beverly Wichman, shown here on the right, were photographed with their opera glasses, and the series of photos started appearing over the weekend on digital billboards throughout the city.

If Beverly’s name sounds familiar, you might know her better as one-half of “The Saucy Sisters.” She and her sister, Barbara Nowak, review wine, write books and entertain at corporate events.

Beverly’s winning essay explains how her parents treated her to her first opera at age 10. She loved it so much that she calls opera her “soul music.”

During her many travels throughout the U.S., she would faithfully listen to radio performances by The New York Metropolitan Opera on Saturday nights. So would her parents. After each program, they would call each other to discuss the shows.

“It was like attending the opera together,” she said. “We would wait for the final applause and the curtain would come down. Then we’d call each other and say,’Bravo!’ ”

I love this billboard idea, too, to promote fund-raisers and special events even though you might have to have a big budget to pull it off.  Here’s why it’s so effective:

—It encourages people to become involved in your cause.

—It brings them to your website.

—It does a great job of turning local people into celebrities.

—It helps raise money for a worthwhile cause or issue.

Your next special event can include elaborate promotions like this one, or much simpler, less expensive ways to capture people’s attention, draw crowds, and attract the media.

“How to Plan & Promote Sizzling Special Events,” a series of six interviews I conducted with Debra J. Schmidt, explains how to inject fun and profit into even routine events like the standard business golf outing. For example, Deb tells the story of a Wisconsin group that hosted a women’s golf tournament and created a huge buzz for the event by featuring something as simple a port-a-potties with candles, scented soaps and pretty hand towels.

At the golf banquet that night, the port-a-potties were the topic of conversation, and the participants raved about that that nice, unexpected touch really made the event special.  

Posted In: Contests, Nonprofits, Photos & Graphics, Publicity for Niche Markets, Special Events
posted On: 4/22/2008: 10:11 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

Shirley James of Ormond Beach, Florida writes:

“A partner and I have developed an activity-based trading card for tween girls (ages 7-12) called, UgoGrl at http://www.ugogrl.com/. The cards encourage them to become physically active, mentally challenged, creatively inspired, and socially responsible.  This is accomplished across six catgories of real-life fun.  Each card has a tip, suggestion or idea to try.

“Our target market loves them, but the problem is getting them into the marketplace.  The major retailers purchase trading cards through a pay-on-scan contract–a situation that requires more capital than we have, and more risk than we are willing to take.  We added a shopping cart to our website 18 months ago but the sales have been slow.  We need help developing a strategy to educate parents and tween girls about our product.

“Our second product was developed as a means to earn enough capital to advance the UgoGrl Activity Cards.  We developed a line of paper air fresheners with artwork from the cards.  We have just fulfilled a chain-wide order for Wal-Mart.  Our ‘Get Fresh’ Mood Enhancing Air Fresheners are now on the shelves!  It has been a huge success for us, but we’re faced with the same problem–how to market them on a shoestring budget.

“Hounds, please help us out!  We are two fortysomething stay-at-home moms, each with four kids.  We need a home run.”

Posted In: Business Promotion, Information Products, Publicity for Niche Markets, Publicity on the Internet
posted On: 4/21/2008: 6:04 pm: By Joan
Comments: 11 Comments

While many other newspapers are marching toward the graveyard, Spanish-language daily and weekly newspapers are seeing circulation and advertising revenue soar.

The April 7 issue of PRWeek says La Opinion, a Hispanic newspaper, saw its circulation grow by 3.7 percent in September, the largest increase of any newspaper—in any language—in the United States. 

The readership of many  Spanish-language newspapers is not only increasing, it’s diversifying.

“The Hispanic newspaper audience in South Florida, for example, may include Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, and other various nationalities originating from South America and the Caribbean.”  

PR Week offers these pitching tips if you’re targeting Spanish-language newspapers:

—Don’t think you’re serving Spanish-speaking audiences by simply translating press releases into Spanish. Tailor your content for the specific Hispanic newspaper audience.

—Spanish-language newspapers are interested in themes that relate to Hispanics–such as family, education  and health, regardless of nationality.

—Pitch stories that include multimedia content such as video. These dailies are following their English-language counterprarts by creating online portals.

In a related trend, the number of Spanish-language radio programs is also expoloding. 

Posted In: Newspaper Publicity, Pitching the Media, Press Releases/News Releases, Publicity for Niche Markets, Publicity on the Internet, Radio Publicity, Video
posted On: 4/3/2008: 6:57 am: By Joan
Comments: 2 Comments