Get More Free Publicity with Holiday Tie-Ins

It's the holiday season again.  As if you didn't know.

There are lots of ways to get free publicity by doing holiday tie-ins. Actually, there are holidays throughout the year that you can tie into, and hopefully, this article will help you to start thinking of ways to take advantage of them.

To tie in means to think of a way to connect your publicity goals to one or more of these celebrations.

How do  you create a holiday tie-in?

Let's start with Halloween.  Yes, Halloween has passed, but it's the principle that's important.  So please, read on.

Halloween brings to mind witches, ghosts and other scary things.  So Let's use scary as a theme.

Let's say you're a building contractor.  You might create a press release titled, "The 10 Scariest Things about Hiring a Building Contractor."  You then list 10 (or any number) of pitfalls to look out for when hiring a contractor. 

By writing this release and getting it published in a local paper or having a reporter do a story on you, the implication is: you're the kind of contractor who helps people avoid problems, so you're the one people will want to hire.

Halloween is a holiday that lends itself to a visual appeal, both for print media and TV.  For example, you could put an actor in a costume, put a hammer in their hand and have them pretend to do something to your house.  This works as both a still image and a video you can send with your press release.  Be creative.  The media love great visuals.

Or what if you're a health spa owner or a health practitioner?  We all know the dangers of being overweight.  How about writing a release with the title, "10 Really Scary Reasons to Lose Weight Now."  Then you list the reasons, such as increased risk of heart attack, stroke, etc.

How can you make this visual?  Perhaps you could put a willing friend who is overweight in a coffin with a piece of pizza in their hands.  Then take their picture and send it with the release.

What about another holiday, perhaps Labor Day.  You might tie in by using the word "labor."

If you're an accountant, you might write a news release or an article called, "10 Labor-Saving Ways to Make Your Record Keeping Easier."

If you own a cleaning service, you might write a release titled, ""7 Labor-Saving Techniques to Keep Your House Clean."

Okay, so how about the big holiday?  No, not Arbor Day.  Christmas.

This religious celebration has also become secular, as well.  Whether that is good or bad is not the purpose of this article.

I do suggest that you respect the Christian aspects of the holiday, and respect the traditions of all other religions.  But I think the secular aspects of Christmas are fair game.

So how about doing something with everybody's favorite miser, Scrooge?

As a financial planner you might list "7 Penny-Pinching Tips Approved by Ebenezer Scrooge."  And then show people how to save money on everyday expenses.  

It's important to  understand that most media plan ahead for holiday-related stories several weeks ahead of time.  Magazines do it almost a  year ahead.  Plan accordingly.

So grab a cup of your favorite cheer, your yellow pad and pen, or keyboard, and starting brainstorming.  This time next year you could be celebrating an entire year of free publicity.