6 Steps to Free Publicity

Chapter 2

Thinking Like a Publicity Hound

Suppose you’re opening a new branch of your hardware store in Cactus Junction, Texas, population 2,500, 158 miles southwest of Dallas. Cash flow is one-way so far, and you’ve heard that publicity is the low-cost alternative to advertising, so you contact every newspaper in Texas with your announcement, printed up in classy italic type at your local print shop. For good measure you throw in all the NBC, ABC, and CBS affiliate stations from El Paso to Texarkana, and National Public Radio in Austin.

For a prosaic local store opening, does that sound to you like a wise expenditure of effort? Because I deliberately chose an extreme example, you’re probably shaking your head.

Effective publicity involves a ...