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Frugal Marketing How to Make Yourself Topical Last month, we talked about seizing the moment to get into the news, and I promised to talk this time about how to make yourself topical. When there's a real news event, such as the August blackout, and you can jump in *immediately* with a story as the Rocky Mountain Institute did, of course you'll get tons of coverage. But what if fate doesn't drop that kind of good fortune into your lap? * * * Luckily, there are dozens of ways you can tie your own eagerness for publicity into dozens if not hundreds of news and feature stories, just by thinking creatively about how to tie your own "slant" into the news. A few among many possibilities: * Tie in to an existing holiday or trend--this is easy, but overused--so differentiate yourself in some way. * Create your own holiday. * Spin out a new angle on an existing story: something oddball or controversial, for instance. An example of each: Jeff Crilley cites a pet birthday party, complete with dogs wearing party hats; it got noticed even though everyone knows it's a marketing gimmick. As to controversy: try London Observer political reporter Greg Palast's claim that Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris stole the last presidential election by removing thousands of probable Democratic and heavily minority voters from the rolls--for crimes "committed" several years in the future. The mainstream media have managed to ignore this story, but a very focused search on Google ("palast" + "voters" + "florida" + "2000") yields over 5000 places that have picked it up, including such well-respected outlets as Salon.com and BuzzFlash.com. This is an old story, yet it's still gathering momentum. If it ever hits the mainstream press in a significant way, it could bring down the entire administration. In fact, I expect to have an article up within the next few days on my Peace and Politics webzine. * Include a charity angle; it vastly increases the chance of coverage. * Present yourself as someone who can comment authoritatively on a story--especially if you have a unique perspective. (This is what Lovins and RMI did in the summer.) * Look at anniversaries and unusual designated special days. You can search them by topic at http://www.chases.com, or look through copies of Chase's Annual Events or Celebrate Today to locate upcoming dates. Even your own company's 25th or 50th anniversary can be a news item, especially if you can attach a current slant.
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