How One Business Got Opportunistic

Whether I'm speaking to a group about how to generate publicity or teaching my book promotion e-course, I always nudge people to capitalize on the day's headlines to create buzz for their charity, business or book.

One of my "Book Publicity 101: How to Build Book Buzz" students did this recently, placing an essay about her book's topic in today's Christian Science Monitor. Meagan Francis, author of Table for Eight: Raising a Large Family in a Small Family World, leveraged the buzz around Sarah Palin's five children and Angelina Jolie's ongoing comments about adding to her family to place Thanks to Angelina Jolie, having lots of kids is hip. It's a well-written piece that tells us more about why Meagan has four children and another on the way -- and one that I shared with my mother, who had seven children in 10 years back when that was more the norm than the exception.

Meagan's high-profile success is just one example of the kind of exposure your company, organization, product or service can enjoy by reacting quickly and effectively to the day's news. Most of us will have the most success by adding a local angle to a national story (a TV station in my area interviewed "local Joe the Plumbers" last week), but we can also score a big one -- as Meagan did today. Great job, Meagan!

What Does Sarah Palin's Nomination Mean to Your Publicity Plan?

Who can leverage Sarah Palin's nomination -- and the weekend announcement about her daughter's pregnancy -- to bring attention to their business, book or cause? There are exciting possibilities here for a wide range of nonprofits, authors and business owners who are willing to be opportunistic and act quickly with their local, specialized or national media.

I'd love to see my "Book Publicity 101: How to Build Book Buzz" student Meagan Francis, who wrote Table for Eight: Raising a Large Family in a Small Family World, run with this.

For starters, Meagan can send Palin an autographed copy of her book and her cell phone number so Palin can call her at any time for help or advice. Meagan should, of course, then send out a press release to her local media announcing that she has pushed aside her own political beliefs and stepped up to help a high-profile mom in need. It's a great local angle on a national news story.

Then I'd like to see Meagan send out a tip sheet (a type of news release that offers advice or tips in a numbered or bulleted format) that gives Palin advice for traveling with that large family on the campaign trail. Meagan can provide solid, helpful bits of advice while having a little fun with it. Using an online media release service such as PRWeb will let Meagan send her advice to daily newspapers and parenting pubs coast-to-coast quickly while also getting it into the inbox of parenting and family bloggers.

Meagan needs to be sharing advice with Palin on her blog, too -- and offering it on the blogs of others, as well. She can become the rallying point for mothers of large families nationwide.

Meagan's not the only one who can capitalize on the buzz created by Palin's candidacy or the latest expanding family revelation, either. If you're finding yourself spouting off about something related to his development, think about how you can get a microphone in front of your mouth when you're doing it -- and watch the impact the media exposure has on your business goals.