Special Events

Wanted: PR ideas for car raffle, training for teen car racers

11/15/2011 By Joan 9 Comments

Barbara Roy

This week’s Help this Hound question is from Barbara Roy, a communications specialist in Oakland City, IN:

“I need ideas on how to promote an upcoming charity car raffle in 2012 through the Mad Mac Foundation, a group that sponsors educational programs for at-risk youth.

“Proceeds from the raffle will be used to get teenagers, who illegally race their cars on street, into the classroom where they can learn how to build tuner cars from the ground up. The training will help them transfer their skills, which they’ve been using illegally, into career paths that might include auto engineering and design, auto repair, and creating video games that involve cars. The curriculum includes science, technology, engineering and math.

“Two cars will be given away during the July raffle.

“The winter months will be spent on materials prep and strategy. But beginning in January, we’ll focus more on going after sponsors and businesses to carry the raffle tickets. I could really use recommendations on how to gain mass awareness for this nationwide event.

“We will have branding, messaging and content on the website by January, as well as a Facebook event page. Can your Hounds offer their best ideas?”

If you have ideas, please comment.

Filed Under: Facebook, Nonprofits, PR Consultants/Publicists, Special Events Tagged With: auto careers, drag racing, hot rods, mad mac foundation, tuner racers

6 ways to promote your retail business before you open

10/11/2011 By Joan 8 Comments

Create a buzz all over town long before your store opens.

These days, in a sour economy, businesses opening just about anywhere are major news. So don’t shy away from publicity. Here six ways to promote your retail business before you open.

Display a large banner or sign outside your building letting people know you’ll be opening. Thanks to Alyson Stanfield, a business coach for artists and an art marketing expert, for this idea which I read at her blog yesterday.
Pitch the story to the local media. Contact a reporter at your local newspaper, business journal or business magazine and pitch a story about the opening. Angles can include why you chose this time, when the economy is bad, to open a new business.
Write a press release. Post it on a site like Craigslist, which gets millions of eyeballs. Post it only in one category and only in the city closest to where your business is located.
Plan a fun grand opening celebration. Publicize it on a local event sites like Yelp, EventCrazy.com and MeetUp.com. This list of 27 questions to ask before promoting your event will stimulate ideas and help you plan a more interesting event. Please, no boring ribbon-cuttings. You can do better than that. Here are some alternatives to ribbon-cutting events.
Just before you open, create a business profile on Google Maps.
Contact related businesses and offer to cross-promote. Ask them to display flyers about your grand opening at the front counter. Tell them that once you open, you’ll be happy to promote something they’re doing. If you’re opening a pet store, contact owners of dog kennels, dog obedience schools and veterinarians.

What other ideas can you offer for ways that retail businesses can promote long before they open? Any examples in your own community?

Filed Under: Business Promotion, Google, Newspaper Publicity, Pitching the Media, Press Releases/News Releases, Special Events Tagged With: DIY public relations, DIY publicity, new stoie publicity, retail PR, retail publicity, ribbon cutting event, ribbon-cutting, store opening

How to publicize an auction for breast cancer research?

9/5/2011 By Joan 4 Comments

Leticia Meireles of San Diego, CA, writes:

I just had my birthday and in lieu of gifts, I’ve been asking friends to support a cure for breast cancer.

Many generous business owners helped me to gather almost 100 items to be sold on my fundraising online auction—items on Ebay too. Many of them are from retailers and restaurants in San Diego. Others are for national chains such as Borders and BestBuy. All proceeds will benefit the Susan Komen 3-Day for the Cure.

I need to raise $10,000 but no one seems to be bidding. What should I do differently? You can see the items up for bid here.

Filed Under: Nonprofits, Special Events Tagged With: breast cancer, online auction, susan komen

Need local publicity? 6 tips for pitching Patch.com

5/20/2011 By Joan 7 Comments

If you need local publicity, and you live in one of 19 states in the United States, or the District of Columbia, Patch.com is almost begging for your pitch.

A memo from Patch editor-in-chief Brian Farnham outlines a plan to increase traffic by increasing article production.

Patch currently requires every site to post a minimum of four times per day, but many are not. Hence, the memo.

Patch covers California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

It loves news about new businesses, community events, local government, crime, items for the events calendar, columns from local residents and government officials, news tips, and the all-important and often overlooked photos and videos.

This is the perfect time to pitch Patch for another reason. AOL Inc, which owns Patch, is launching 33 sites in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, key states that play an early role in the U.S. presidential election.

How to Pitch Patch

Build a relationship with Patch writers and editors. Spend time at the Patch site for your community, and identify who is responsible for your local news. The editor’s name and email address is under the logo at the top of the page.
Email the editor and ask questions. I’ve found Patch writers to be incredibly helpful and friendly.
Many Patch writers are former journalists. And all journalists love to report news first. Keep Patch in mind when hear a newsy item about something in your community.
Add Patch to your media database. Every time you write a press release, ask if the content is something that Patch would like.
Is your business doing something new? It’s much easier to get business stories onto Patch than it is to get your story told in your local business journal, which usually requires multiple sources.
Don’t forget about stand-alone photos with captions, and video. (See How to Use Photos & Graphics in a Publicity Campaign)

One of the other reasons Patch is such a super tool in a publicity campaign is because people can sign up for the Patch newsletter in their community, and receive email alerts. I’ll often stop what I’m doing when I see the Port Washington/Saukville (Wisconsin) newsletter arrive in my Inbox.

What kind of publicity have you gotten from Patch? Do you have any pitching tips to add to my list?

Filed Under: Business Promotion, Citizen journalism, General, Newspaper Publicity, Photos & Graphics, Pitching the Media, Press Releases/News Releases, Publicity Resources, Special Events, The Local Angle, Video Tagged With: business journals, community calendar, community journalism, local news, local reporting, news photos, Patch, Special Events

Moose Lodge in Norwalk, CA, needs marketing ideas

5/3/2011 By Joan 9 Comments

Don Luepnitz of Norwalk, CA, writes:

“I am with the Norwalk, CA, Moose Lodge, and we can sure use some help getting the word out and trying to get new people to come down and or join.

“We offer dinners, breakfast, bingo, darts, full bar, kids room, and have fundraisers for ourselves and other charites. We also sponsor kids’ sports teams, and we have a Facebook Fan Page.”

“How can we use traditional and social media to attract more members and visitors?”

Filed Under: Facebook, Nonprofits, Publicity on the Internet, Special Events Tagged With: darts, moose lodge, nonprofit publicity, pool