Trips For Cancer

When good people do good things, we have to talk about it! Elite Travel International, a client of ours, just launched the 2nd annual Trips for Cancer campaign. Stacy Small, owner of Elite Travel International, is offering luxury travelers worldwide the opportunity to once again “make a donation, take a vacation” through her unique luxury travel online auction.

Beginning on March 1, 2007 you can bid on these great trips for cancer! The best part about this auction is that it hits close to home. Stacy's father, Jerry, recently lost his battle with cancer and her mother, Sheila, is a two-time breast cancer survivor. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Evelyn Lauder’s Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Full descriptions and photos of the trips up for bid will be posted in February, and the auction will run for approximately four weeks.

Melissa and I want to say how honored we are to be involved in this initiative and we hope that you will tell as many people about Trips for Cancer as you can. Link to it, talk about it, write about it. As someone who has had two close family members struck with cancer within the last two years, I have seen first hand how badly we need a cure. Please help this great cause out by spreading the word!

Shameless Plug Time...

OK, so what good is a blog if you can't reach a lot of people with it? :)

Melissa needs a little help, so fellow PR peeps please reach out:

OverTime Magazine, the leading business and lifestyle publication for professional athletes and sports industry insiders, is developing a package that will be about current or former professional athletes who are business partners. The story will profile a yet-to-be determined number of athletes who have been in business together and document their high points, low points, and lessons learned. The purpose of the article is to help other athletes who may be thinking about partnering with another athlete. The athletes must be willing to be interviewed over the phone. This is for our winter issue, which is distributed at Super Bowl. Do you know of any athletes who fit the bill?

If so, please send Melissa the names of the athletes, sports/yrs/teams played, years in business, and type/name of business.

Writing Press Releases To Result in Action!

We subscribe to the Publicity Hound newsletter and have for years. This is a FABULOUS resource for newbies, seasoned PR people and businesses trying to do their own PR. Joan Stewart (author) has put out a great idea that I wanted to pass along:

She is kicking off a free 89-day course for Publicity Hounds on "89 Waysto Write Powerful Press Releases."Every day for 89 days in a row, she'll give you one lesson, delivered via email, on how to write and distribute a press release. By the time you're done, you'll learn everything you need to start writing releases not only for journalists, but for the end user. You'll see examples of good and bad press releases, and you'll get tips from some of the very best publicists, PR practitioners and PublicityHounds on the planet. You can start the tutorial at any time, and you can opt out of it at anytime. To sign up go here: http://www.PublicityHound.com/pressreleasetips/art.htm

Happy press release writing! :)

Telling your story - what many forget to do in PR!

“Tell me a story.” As a child, you typically want your storyteller to be verbose and colorful in the details – helping to paint a realistic image in your mind. In business, and subsequently in media relations, the 30-second pitch and the elevator speech reign king. Essentially, you have a very small window of opportunity to tell your story.

So, what is your story? All too often business owners box themselves into the typical storyline: “I run a business on the corner of x and x and we sell unique products that are just so special. Please write a story about us.” But, that is rarely the story the journalist wants to hear.

Go beyond the grand openings, new products, employee hirings, etc.. there is a story to be told, we promise! To really understand what we are talking about, it’s best if we provide you with one of our stories.

One of our clients recently opened an Italian restaurant in a small strip mall in Suburbia, USA. Our goal was to generate buzz and, of course, drive more customers to their business. Yes, it is a great restaurant and one that is desperately needed in an area full of gas stations and fast food joints. But, here is the REAL story…or rather the types of things the media wanted to hear and picked up on..resulting in an Editor’s Dessert Pick for a major monthly glossy BEFORE the restaurant even opened its doors:

· The owners of the restaurant come from a huge Italian family and, in fact have five children of their own. Everyone is involved in the running of the restaurant – all of the dishes are named after family members.
· The family patriarch is a world class athlete and Olympian.
· The co-owner is a seasoned choreographer and was involved in the choreography of a movie that happened to be releasing the same time the restaurant was opening, which was a great angle for entertainment media.
· The other co-owner had been a waiter and manager at several high-end Italian restaurants before he pursued his dream of opening his own place.
· The owners hired a consultant who had been a chef on a leading Food Network program to plan the menu and get the kitchen ready to open.
· And the list goes on…

The point is, take inventory of the histories, passions, goals, and interests of all persons involved in your business. You may not be an Olympian or a choreographer, but you may be a community philanthropist, author, or animal-lover. Whatever it is, find your angle and promote it – even if it doesn’t directly relate to your business. Chances are when they do a story on you and, for instance, your volunteer work at the homeless shelter, they will mention your business affiliation. Basically, TELL YOUR STORY!

Well, we are off to the races! Melissa and I decided it was time to start our own blog. We come accross so many media leads, PR opportunities and marketing tactics in our daily work, that we wanted to have a place to share them all with you. We are able to list a few on our website (www.teaminnova.com) but not all!

We intend to post our thoughts, tips and tactics that we want to share with you, so check back often, you never know what us creative gals will come up with! We also invite you to share with us anything you would like to have posted. We can't possibly know it all (even though we like to believe we do!) 'Til we meet again...

Your PRGals - Amy & Melissa