A large feature story and several photos of Jessie Gwidt, shown here demonstrating how to make garden art, helped boost registrations for The Port Washington Garden Club

The next time you publicize a local event, keep these 11 tips in mind.

I compiled them after doing publicity for my garden club’s annual Gardening Seminar, which we hosted on Saturday. 

We generated mountains of publicity, from the local weekly newspaper to a nice story at Patch.com.
   
   
1. Start early!

I missed a deadline for a gardening newsletter because they work three months ahead. I knew I had to submit the calendar event for our local city magazine early but mistakenly assumed that deadlines for all the newsletters I was targeting were much shorter.

2. Pitch Businesses with Scrolling Signs

Those scrolling signs you see outside banks, credit unions and even some retail stores are perfect for your message!

I contacted several basks in our area and all of them posted a blurb about the seminar. The Fireworks Popcorn Co. in my town also has a scrolling sign and thanked me for submitting my item because so few other people do.   

3. Don’t Forget the Meteorologists

Your event might be perfect for pitching to the weather guys and gals at your local TV station, particularly if it’s held outdoors and relies on good weather.

Visit the TV stations’ websites, look for the weather team, and you might be lucky enough to find their email addresses. That’s what I did. 
   

4. Pitch the Shoppers

Local newspapers and other publishing companies print “shoppers,” those weekly freebie newspapers that you pull out of your mailbox. 

They’re packed with advertising, but they often need photos and text to plug the holes. These local papers are PERFECT for Publicity Hounds publicizing local events.
   
   
5. Let Local Colleges Know

If your event is educatonal, students and instructors at your local colleges and technical schools might want to attend.

I contacted a horticulture instructor at the local tech college and asked her to distribute our fliers to her classes. She did. She attended and brought several students with her.
   
   
6. Compile a Master Media List

Our club didn’t have a master list of media contacts, which really slowed me down.

I’ve compiled a simple list on a Word document, with deadlines, and I can hand it off to whoever does publicity for the next event.  I used many of the same tips I shared from the webinar on ‘How to Create Your Own Database of Valuable Media Contacts” which I hosted last week.
   
   
7. Pitch Your Best Visual Story Ideas 

Jessie Gwidt, one of our members, creates  beautiful garden art from castoffs she finds around the house, in her garage, and at rummage sales, and taught others how to do it at our seminar.

I chose that story to pitch to The Ozaukee Press, our local weekly newspaper and our Number One media target. I hit a bases-loaded home run. They ran a large story with several photos of Jessie and her creations on the front page of the Lifestyle section and jumpd the story inside. The same issue of the newspaper included the press release that had all the details, almost word for word.

Before you pitch, create a plan so that you’re pitching logical but different story ideas about the same event to different media outlets. That way, they all aren’t getting the same story, and your audience will be exposed to a lot different things that will be featured at your event.
   
   
8. Use Patch.com  

If you live in one of the 22 states in the United States where Patch has a local site, you’re in luck.

I pitched a story about a husband-and-wife gardening team in our club because they were both teaching classes at our event. Lisa Beyer, the editor, said she’d rather do a more general feature story on our club and mention the gardening seminar.  Patch lets readers subscribe to daily email alerts so they don’t miss any local news.     
  

9. Assign Two Photographers, Not One

I was disappointed with the photos I shot on Saturday with my iPhone 4S because the lighting was so poor. I should have taken a camera with a flash.

Then I got to thinking, what if I had lost my phone, or if it had fallen into the toilet? All those photos, lost forever.

Next year, I’m suggesting we have two photographers and also assign someone the job of shooting video testimonials. Let’s get participants talking about us when they’re still pumped up.
   
   
10. Debrief

Our committee is meeting again on Saturday to debrief and review a list of all the things we want to do better next year. We were tickled at the large turnout, but we noted about a dozen things we need to discuss.

Before the event, ask members to email you with anything the see that needs to be added to the list.
   
   
11. Send Thank You Notes

I’m busy writing thank you notes to the tech school instructor, the popcorn shop, the banks, the newspapers and everyone else who helped us publicize our event.

Don’t send email thank yous! That’s the lazy way. Handwritten notes are so much more personal and sincere. 
   
   
That’s my list. Let’s see yours. What are your favorite tips for publicizing local events? 

The Publicity Hound’s Blog

Side Effects

They side effects of LSD are largely unpredictable and vary from user to use. It also depends on the amount taken, the general mood the user is in, and what kind of surroundings they are in when they ingest the drug. Dilated pupils, increased heart rate, fever, dry mouth and tremors are the most common symptoms of people who have recently taken LSD. However, if someone takes enough LSD they can experience delusions and even visual hallucinations. It’s a serious issue when someome’s suffering from drug addiction.

Building Tolerance

Like many other drugs, once you begin taking LSD on a regular basis you will swiftly build up a tolerance to the drug’s effects. This takes place because the brain becomes used to getting a certain amount of the drug in order to feel its effects. People abuse LSD for many various reasons. LSD has no real, physical symptoms of withdrawal. This means that treatment for LSD addiction is much more psychological than physical in nature.

Why People Use LSD

Many depressed people experiment with LSD because they reason it will help to get out of their despair. With counseling, a person will learn to discover that there are alternate, healthy ways to deal with depression that do not revolve around drugs. When a person uses drugs to mask a pain, whether physical or emotional, it only works for a small amount of time and does not fundamentally address the issue the way it needs to be dealt with.

Consequences Of Addiction

Consequently, the person who is dependent on drug is almost always the last to realize. People who use drugs and alcohol as coping mechanisms often proclaim that the problem is not as somber as it may seem. They truly think they are capable of getting off the drug alone, whenever they choose to. Unfortunately, they do not appreciate that the drug has them imprisoned. It is hard to tell if a person is addicted to LSD because there are no real physical symptoms.

Obviously the law didn’t pass, but it was still scary. My buddy just sent me this video of his company talking about SOPA, check it out.

CSS Breeze – Web Design & Programming Blog

BioLite stoves make cooking on wood as clean, safe and easy as modern fuels while generating electricity to charge phones, lights and other electronics off-grid. The BioLite CampStove, designed for outdoor adventure and emergency preparedness, makes cooking on wood as clean, safe and easy as petroleum fuels while powering electronics off-grid.

Open wood fires are inefficient, wasting potential energy and creating toxic smoke due to incomplete combustion. Carefully designed stoves that use fans to blow air into the fire can dramatically improve combustion. However, such stoves require small amounts of electricity to power their fans and most people who cook on wood are without grid or battery access. BioLite stoves solve this problem by converting a fraction of the fire’s thermal energy into electricity to power the combustion improvement system. Excess electricity is made available to users for charging small electronic devices such as mobile phones, LED lights, GPS and many others.

CoolBusinessIdeas.com

The Blaster Brush cleaning brush is easiest, fastest car wash device. Attach to a normal garden hose and off you go – a brilliant, complete car wash and rinse, done in 10 minutes, without bending, reaching or getting wet and using up to 75% less water! The Blaster Brush has a patented, non-powered, high-pressure washer attachment built in that allows the water to blast to an incredible power wash of up to 2 storeys high, without a power outlet. Saves time, electricity and water.

Idea contributed by Sarah Pitt. Thanks!

CoolBusinessIdeas.com

1. The names of a reporter’s spouse and children.

2. An editor’s likes and dislikes. For example, the food editor of your local newspaper mentions in her column that she loves crispy, crunchy snacks in mid-afternoon but doesn’t touch the typical bagged snacks found in the supermarket because they have too much salt. 

3. Other publications where  a freelance writer sells his articles.
 

Why These Details Are Important 

If you can weave into your customized pitch the names of a reporter’s family members, including pets,  that will get attention like nothing else. Let’s say you know from reading the local business reporter’s blog that his wife, Sally, is training for a marathon. Your company sells insoles for walkers, runners or anyone who has foot problems. A smart Publicity Hound would weave Sally’s name into the pitch.   

If you’re pitching a story about your company’s low-salt rice cakes to the food editor, you’d mention her dislike for salty snacks.

As for the freelancer, if you know the names of other magazines he writes for, you can pitch story ideas that would be a perfect fit for those publications but only after researching the magazines.

It’s difficult to learn things like this about your media contacts, unless you know where to look. I’ll be explaining all my little tricks tomorrow—Thursday, Feb. 16—when I host the webinar “How to Create Your Own Database of Valuable Media Contacts” at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. 

Creating your own customized media database of far fewer contacts gives you flexibility to include valuable details that will help you build a relationships with your contacts and craft more powerful pitches. It will also save you thousands of dollars because you won’t have to buy the big, bulky databases that include a gazillion contacts you’ll never use, but are paying for. 
   
   
8 Fill-in-the-blank Templates for You 

So that you don’t have to start from scratch, I’m giving all registrants eight fill-in-the-blanks templates for newspapers, magazines, TV shows, radio shows, freelancers, newsletters, bloggers and websites.  

If the time is inconvenient for you, sign up anyway because, within 72 hours after the call, I’ll email you a link where you can download the video replay, the PowerPoint slides I used during the presentation, and other materials. Register here. 

The Publicity Hound’s Blog

Evidence Of Citizenship

All minors, even babies, are required to have a passport for overseas vacations. The evidence you can show to get a passport can vary, but a valid birth certificate is the most common for children. You must present the original copy of the birth certificate, however, because it has unique markings on it to show its validity that a copy would not have.

Parental Guidance

Also, if you are trying to acquire a passport for your child you will need to complete a parental consent form is your child is not yet 16. You also must remember that when applying for this passport your child must be present with both parents. Unfortunately, there is no passport renewal service offered for minors and if even if they have an expired passport they will need to reapply for a new one. Unlike with adults, there are many boring steps you must take to obtain a passport for a minor.

New Regulations

Getting a passport for your child is more energy consuming and problematic than ever. Over recent years, new requirements and restrictions have been placed on child passports in an effort to combat the abduction and trafficking of children around the world. Although this is clearly a noble objective, it does nothing to make getting a passport for your child any easier. It is important to remember if you need to get a passport for your child to start the process well before you plan on taking an overseas trip.

Passport Photo

When you submit your child’s application for a passport you must also provide a 2×2” photo that was recently taken within the last six months. Also, you will be required to pay all child passport fees associated with the passport application. There is also an application fee and an execution fee on top of this. The first fees go directly to the Department of State while the latter fees go to the passport agency you are using. Getting a U S passport name change is easy.

*Click here to go to the download page*

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Passports

Passports have been around for a long time, originating in France; they travelled to the US and became valid travel documents. These documents allowed people to enter or leave countries or territories easily. The same applies today. Passports are necessary documents when it comes to traveling to a foreign country. Fortunately, with technology and the internet the pass port renewal are easy to obtain.

Athens

Athens is named after the warrior Goddess Athena. She is the patron deity of this ancient thriving metropolis. Greek myths of the clash of the titans versus Olympic Gods have permeated literature and other aspects of world culture. There are very few people who are completely unfamiliar with any Greek myth. History books are full of ancient epic battles involving the Athenians and surrounding ancient peoples.

Historic Sites

The major sites of Athens include; The Acropolis where the Parthenon stands, Syntagma Square, the national archaeological museum, Mount Olympus, and the Olympic stadiums. These are just some of the many sites offered by Athens.

Parthenon

The Parthenon is one of the most famous sites of Athens. It is atop the hill, Acropolis. This structure was built in honor of the great Goddess Athena who was the cities deity. The Parthenon has had many uses since it was temple to Athena. It has been a church, a Muslim mosque, and was even a munitions depot when the Turkish occupied Greece. Through all that it has remained almost in tact.

Syntagma Square

Syntagma Square is the focal point of Athens business district. Syntagma means constitution, so it is constitution square. This is where all the governmental offices are and where filming for music videos, Greek movies, and photo shoots take place.

Museum

There are many museums in Greece; however, the National Archaeological Museum is the largest one. It houses over 11,000 exhibits ranging from the pre-historic era to the Bronze Age and beyond. Originally built to protect the finds in the nineteenth century excavations it has become the country’s national museum.