The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

Can’t think of a story to pitch about your business, nonprofit or government agency?

Thanks to TV producer Shawne Duperon’s excellent newsletter Shawne’s TV Guide, for this timely story idea: politics in the workplace.

Shawne suggests you pitch the idea to your local TV stations, daily and weekly newspapers, and bloggers who cover your industry. It’s too late for trade publications but still a great opportunity for publicity in business journals.

Shawne suggests these talking points:

• Is it safe to talk politics in the office?
• Is it unavoidable?
• How loud and frequent is the conversation in your workplace?
• Does your organization have a policy about discussing politics with clients or customers?
• What’s the proper office etiquette?

I suggest these:

• Do you have policies governing T-shirts, campaign buttons and bumper stickers inside the office?
• Are you a sole proprietor? If so, do you ever discuss politics with your clients or customers? If not, would you consider discussing it if you knew that you and a client or customer are backing the same candidate? 
• Do you make your political affiliation known on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, and comment about things like the presidential debates and the campaigns? Have you gotten any flack from people who following you and disagree?
• What about LinkedIn, the social networking site that’s strictly for business? If somebody asks a question on LinkedIn about something pertaining to politics, do you make your political views know without fear of alientating your connections? I’ve seen a few political questions that have led to political debates that have no businesses on a site like this one. 

Keep this story idea in mind for when you’re creating your publicity plan or media plan in the years ahead, even when you have hot local or statewide contests. 

Shawne is one of my favorite Publicity Hounds. We teamed up and brainstormed more than 200 story ideas you can pitch to print and broadcast media when we presented teleseminars on 116 WOW Story Ideas from January through June and 103 Sizzling Story Ideas from July through December. 

Posted In: Blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Newspaper Publicity, Nonprofits, Pitching the Media, Social networking, TV Publicity, Twitter
posted On: 10/2/2008: 11:39 am: By Joan
Comments: 4 Comments

Mike Michaud of Bonham Fannin County, Texas writes:

I would like to get some ideas on how to promote a site that is all about pooling our financial contributions to fund alternative energy research, development and production. There are many promising technologies that are languishing due to government ineptness, red tape, corporate greed, banking failure and investor panic.

We as a nation of individuals need to go around this roadblock and fund our own future energy development.

I’m setting up a website to provide more information and set it up to accept funds. The address is http://www.americanfuelfreedom.com. It isn’t set up yet. I’m just looking for ideas on how to promote this in a non-partisan way. This cuts across all lines.

(If you have a question you’d like included in my newsletter, The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week, you can email it.)

Posted In: Nonprofits, Publicity on the Internet
posted On: 9/16/2008: 8:41 am: By Joan
Comments: 4 Comments

When the news of GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s pregnant 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, broke over the weekend, Barack Obama was quick to issue an order to his campaign workers to “back off.” 

Family members of candidates aren’t fair game, he warned.

“We don’t go after people’s families, we don’t get them involved in the politics. It’s not appropriate and it’s not relevant…And if I ever thought that it was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that, they’d be fired.”

But what about the rest of us?

Should anti-abortion or abortion-rights advocates piggyback onto this news event to further their cause or issue?

What about opponents or proponents of condoms in schools? What about churches? Abortion clinics? Adoption agencies? Roe v. Wade backers and opponents? Parents groups?

Is the pregnancy fair game?  

It most certainly is, just as the pride—or not—that Michelle Obama felt for her country was a legitimate issue after she commented publicly about it.  As for Sarah Palin, she thrust her family into the spotlight, warts and all, when she accepted the nomination. (This photo of Bristol was taken Friday during her mother’s acceptance speech in Dayton, Ohio.) 

What about you? Do you work for a company or agency that will be piggybacking onto the issue of the pregnancy for publicity? Or have you decided to let it rest? What are you telling your spokesperson?

If you’re an author, speaker or expert whose topic ties into this news, will you be writing press releases or blogging about your opinions? Will you be offering yourself as a source to the media and bloggers? Why or why not?

Posted In: Authors & Publishers, Blogs, Crisis Communications, Nonprofits, PR Consultants/Publicists, Pitching the Media, Press Releases/News Releases, Publicity on the Internet
posted On: 9/2/2008: 9:27 am: By Joan
Comments: 30 Comments

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

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