| Holidays offers a great excuse to write a press | | | | acknowledgement to another rising star. Your local |
| release. All you need to do is come up with a | | | | Chamber of Commerce might have already |
| newsworthy idea. And voila - you have yourself | | | | started a Small Business Month, or your state |
| some exposure. | | | | might already celebrate Entrepreneur's Month. It's |
| The media always cover the holidays. And if you | | | | a feasible idea for you to ride on their coattails |
| happen to be there with a pitch, guess who gets | | | | and offer up an award of your own, complete |
| covered? | | | | with a dinner and a ceremony. One company |
| This is called piggybacking in the news biz, and | | | | willing to help another is always a newsworthy |
| what makes it so effective is that major holidays | | | | event. |
| are a very slow time in newsrooms. So providing | | | | 3) Take a tradition and tie it was something new. |
| a good story for reporters to use during any | | | | Who cares about the origin of Thanksgiving, when |
| holiday will increase your chances of getting | | | | there's a turkeycam? One clever Kansas turkey |
| coverage. | | | | farmer shined the spotlight on his turkeys and |
| Here are some ideas to use the holidays to | | | | won an article on the pages of Fortune magazine |
| piggyback your way in getting some free publicity: | | | | last year. |
| 1) Get involved. One way to get some coverage | | | | 4) Develop a poll or survey and announce the |
| is to get involved in the holiday celebrations. Make | | | | results. What does the local small business owner |
| donations in honor of your customers during a | | | | really want for the holidays? What's the biggest |
| specific holiday. I know once coach who gave | | | | complaint people have about holiday shopping? |
| 10% of all her sales to the American Cancer | | | | Conduct a poll or survey and let the work know |
| Society during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. | | | | the results. |
| If money is an issue, how about volunteering your | | | | 5) And even if your product or service isn't a |
| services? | | | | giftable item, there's a number of other factors, |
| 2) Give something back. Offer an award and | | | | like the end of the tax year, new year's |
| present it, picking a special time of the year to | | | | resolutions, and family time off for the holidays |
| make it even grander. Since you are a leader in | | | | that can be great story angles for reporters. |
| your industry, it is always good publicity to offer | | | | |