So, you think you know how to write press releases?

Answer true or false to the following statements:

• I write press releases primarily to encourage journalists at newspapers and magazines to write articles about my company, or for broadcasters who will feature us on the news or invite us as guests on talk shows. » (Read More)

When Harley-Davidson broke ground for its $95 million motorcycle museum in Milwaukee last week, you had to look pretty hard to find a shovel.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel covered the event, but readers didn’t have to suffer through one of those awful groundbreaking photos. You know the kind: a bunch of stuffed suits lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, looking ridiculous in those hard hats, and poised with their feet on the shovels, ready to turn over the first spade of ceremonial dirt. » (Read More)

This is one of those no-brainer tips that sounds so obvious, yet few remember it.

If you want to double the number of your media placements, pitch not only stories but photos and graphics. With newspaper and magazine space at a premium, you sometimes stand a far greater chance of getting a photo published than a lengthy article.

“Especially with the digital cameras that are available today, making photos available to editors automatically DOUBLES the space you receive,” » (Read More)

Don’t tell me you can’t get any publicity because all the reporters who you’ve pitched are ignoring you.

Boo-hoo.

That’s all the sympathy you’ll get from me. I’d rather spend my time telling you about Dick Stangl, a former client who claimed 7 column inches in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to brag big-time about Weimer Bearing & Transmission, Inc., his 86-year-old company, a distributor for the power transmission industry. » (Read More)

If you’re an expert who can share advice, write a how-to article, create a quiz, take a poll or survey, dream up a clever holiday, offer a Q&A, or show someone how to do something, don’t forget the kids.

I don’t have children. But while at the local library last week, I paged through three magazines for parents to see what kinds of publicity tips I could find. The exercise reminded me that experts in a wide variety of specialty areas should be pitching articles aimed not only at adults, but at children, or articles dealing with children. » (Read More)

If you’re looking for a job, an apartment, a date, or people in your own community with common interests, you probably already know about Craigslist.

But did you realize you can also use these free online community classifieds and forums to promote an event, announce a new employee, advertise a workshop months before it will be held, publicize an award, announce your new book, find people to attend your events, and enhance your visibility in specific cities in the U.S. and around the world? » (Read More)

Most people who exhibit at trade shows overlook a powerful publicity tool that’s just waiting for their news.

It’s the trade show daily, the newspaper that offers a bird’s-eye view of what’s happening that day at the show.

When I first attended the BookExpo America convention last year, I was kicking myself for not paying closer attention to the dailies. I missed meeting Gene Hackman, » (Read More)