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Seasonal
Stories: It’s All About Digging and Cooking
The
warm weather is finally in reach. It’s time to think ahead
and be proactive in generating Spring and Summer news stories.
Take out your calendar and map out the next few months with
your planned activities and events. …and consider how
you may use the following ideas to generate more publicity.
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If
you watched “Desperate Housewives” last week,
you know Gaby (Eva Longoria Parker) joined a gardening club.
If she can plant some seeds, so can we! Consider what kinds
of environmental stories you can “dig up”. It
may be composting, an entrepreneur or nonprofit that’s
helping landscape or lead a local beautification project or
litter cleanup. Maybe you can join forces with a neighborhood
park or camp to get it ready for the summer. “Thinking
Green” doesn’t only mean big solar panels and
windmills.
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Cook
up some food/family-related stories. Is someone a certified
barbecue judge (yes there is such a thing!) Does someone have
a work or family reunion or annual gathering that’s
different or timely? Is your business really “cooking”
despite the economy? Will the warm weather impact your work/industry?
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Be
smart and look at the schools. The end of the school year
is just around the corner. There are opportunities to announce
a small scholarship, mentoring or internship program. Has
someone in your organization returned to their Alma Mater
with a success story, reuniting with their favorite teacher
or a plan to deliver a commencement speech?
-
Going
somewhere? Summer often means travel and vacation plans. If
you’re a real estate professional, you can generate
tipsheet-style press releases on what to bring and not bring
when renting a vacation home, best etiquette tips for visiting,
and home safety tips if you’re in the market (buying
or selling).
With
the long weekends of Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day, plan
some “undated” stories and e-mail your press releases
to reporters a week before. They have a four or five day window
where they have to fill newspaper pages and airtime in slow
news cycles. Help them out and your story, which may have gotten
little or no attention on a busy news day, could now be a front
page headline!
Communications
Quote:
“To get your ideas across, use small words, big ideas,
and short sentences."
- John Henry Patterson
One
Of My Favorite Quotes:
“Throw a resourceful person into a river, and he will
probably come out with a fish in his hand." - Arabian
proverb
Upcoming
Events:
Click
here to view Susan Young's Calendar |
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