How to Generate National Publicity From Your Own Holiday

My friend Jacqueline Whitmore is quickly making a name for herself as the Cell Phone Courtesy Queen. She's a professional speaker who owns the Protocol School of Palm Beach and has found a way to really establish herself as an expert. Here’s how she got herself into USA Today simply by creating her own month of the year. Jacqueline writes:

"I e-mailed a press release about National Cell Phone Courtesy Month to the editors of USA Today in mid-May. In the release, I announced the holiday and included eight quick cell phone etiquette tips.

"One of the editors emailed me back to say that my holiday sounded very interesting. I didn't find out that they were actually going to mention it in the paper in Publisher Al Neuharth's column until much later. Today, they e-mailed me a copy of the article to read before it goes to print on Friday. As you know, this is not customary practice, so I felt very privileged. They asked me to send a quote or two so that they could "pad" the story. National Cell Phone Courtesy Month, by the way, is listed in the 2002 edition of Chase's Calendar of Events. This is the first year it is listed."

My friend Jeff Zbar, also a solo entrepreneur and a small office/home office expert, has his own week of the year. It’s called National Home Office Safety & Security Week and it’s celebrated during the second week of January. He ties it into “America’s Safest Home Office Contest.” Jeff also dubbed the Friday before Father’s Day as National Work@Home Father’s Day and he ties it into the “Why I Work@Home: A Dad’s View Contest.”

Before 2001, none of Jeff’s days or contests existed. “But in each case, I realized how ignored—and potentially lucrative—the market was,” Jeff says. “So I created the dates and marketed the heck out of them. It’s really as simple as that.”

My friend Jacqueline Whitmore is quickly making a name for herself as the Cell Phone Courtesy Queen. She's a professional speaker who owns the Protocol School of Palm Beach and has found a way to really establish herself as an expert. Here’s how she got herself into USA Today simply by creating her own month of the year. Jacqueline writes:

"I e-mailed a press release about National Cell Phone Courtesy Month to the editors of USA Today in mid-May. In the release, I announced the holiday and included eight quick cell phone etiquette tips.

"One of the editors emailed me back to say that my holiday sounded very interesting. I didn't find out that they were actually going to mention it in the paper in Publisher Al Neuharth's column until much later. Today, they e-mailed me a copy of the article to read before it goes to print on Friday. As you know, this is not customary practice, so I felt very privileged. They asked me to send a quote or two so that they could "pad" the story. National Cell Phone Courtesy Month, by the way, is listed in the 2002 edition of Chase's Calendar of Events. This is the first year it is listed."

My friend Jeff Zbar, also a solo entrepreneur and a small office/home office expert, has his own week of the year. It’s called National Home Office Safety & Security Week and it’s celebrated during the second week of January. He ties it into “America’s Safest Home Office Contest.” Jeff also dubbed the Friday before Father’s Day as National Work@Home Father’s Day and he ties it into the “Why I Work@Home: A Dad’s View Contest.”

Before 2001, none of Jeff’s days or contests existed. “But in each case, I realized how ignored—and potentially lucrative—the market was,” Jeff says. “So I created the dates and marketed the heck out of them. It’s really as simple as that.”

You will learn:

• How to choose a holiday that get’s maximum publicity
• The two best resource books for listing your holiday
• How to piggyback your holiday off national news events
• Tips for getting into major publications
• Example of holidays created by others
• How non-profits can benefit from having their own holidays

Price: $10.00

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