As we enter the last week of March it’s time to look ahead to April to identify the small business public relations opportunities and possible story ideas for entrepreneurs. We talk about the importance of seasonal holidays and timely angles in the PR Toolkit for Small Business, so each of the following topics are angles that are relevant to April in short term planning. Use these ideas to help generate possible stories for your company you can develop to pitch a reporter during the month of April. Download your PR Toolkit today or draft up a very creative small business press release so you can send it to an editor. Ok here we go with the April story angles:
April Fools Day: Yes, there may be a chance to do a story on the most famous practical joke day. Do you have fun with your employees?
Tax Day 15: This is a great story opportunity for any accountants, tax attorneys or any other related business.
Easter: Think of how your company may fit into the religious holiday, either through the spiritual sense or the bunny and chocolates that accompany the holiday. Sometimes you can even think of a creative way to promote Easter eggs.
MLB Season: Is your company impacted by the start of the major league baseball season?
Autism Awareness Month: Possibly a chance to showcase an employee dealing with autism in the family, or any products/services that help families cope.
Car Care Month: Always a great opportunity for mechanics that want to offer up some interesting polls or surveys about the way people maintain their cars.
Financial Literacy Awareness Month: Look for money-saving trends and offer up ways people can get a better hold on their finances.
International Customer Loyalty Month: A perfect opportunity to showcase that all-star small business loyalty program of yours.
National Child Abuse Prevention Month: A very serious tone but still one that offers up the chance to drive important awareness.
National Decorating Month: On the lighter side you can do lots of fun things with your local home and garden editors.
National Garden Month: Same as the previous item, you can either offer tips for getting your garden ready for the long summer, or even hold a worst garden in America contest.
National Parkinson’s Awareness Month: Again, a chance to drive awareness of the important cause.
Pet First Aid Month: A good time for pet retailers to do some interesting stories to help all the pet lovers out there.
Stress Awareness Month: It’s a safe bet to say there are a lot of stressed people right now. Take advantage of this one by offering up some stress relief tips.
National Women’s Nutrition Week 5-11: Here’s one where clinics or health food retailers may be able to get some publicity.
National Personal Training Week 11-17: Calling all gyms and personal trainers. Here’s your chance for a story.
Consumer Awareness Week 19-24: What are some important tips you want consumers to be aware of?
Fish Fry Week 19-24: A perfect chance for restaurants to have a fish fry or eating contest as a local photo opportunity.
National Window Safety Week 19-25: Home builders and remodelers can do a lot with this story angle and use for some great local publicity.
National Pie Week 23-25: Are you a baker looking for some great local small business public relations? Here’s your chance to get creative.
World Autism Day 2: A chance for any business or organization to drive awareness of the important autism awareness cause.
National Deep Dish Pizza Day 5: More opportunities for local restaurants and pizzerias to have some fun with the media.
Barbershop Quartet Day 11: Can’t you just picture the photo opportunity your local barber could have with this one?
Get to know your customers day 15: What a great way to celebrate your most prized asset – your customers.
Boston Marathon 19: Does this event impact your business in any way? Jump on board, especially if you’re a company looking for small business public relations in Boston.
Take our daughters and sons to work day 22: Another fun chance to get some feel-good publicity at your small business.
Long-Lead Planning
If you’re feeling up to going after a story in a national magazine that works off a longer lead time, use the following as a guide to help you think of story ideas that relate to items taking place in July – the month magazine editors are usually working on at this time of year.
National Grilling Month: A great chance for cooks and restaurateurs to offer up some delicious recipes for summer backyard extravaganzas. You can also offer up some great health tips to magazines like Men’s Health and Family Circle.
National Ice Cream Month: On the flip side, what a great way to cool off during the hot summer months. Pitch stories to magazines that have food sections, like First For Women and Ladies Home Journal, which are always looking for ways to help moms with yummy treat ideas.
National Hot Dog Month: Capped off by the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest (which takes place on July 4th Independence Day), here’s one you can definitely have some fun with. If you’re having your own hot dog eating contest you’ll want to make sure it’s listed in a local lifestyle magazine.
July 26th is Take Your Dog to Work Day: Plan ahead to offer up some great photos to magazine editors that may be planning feature stories here. Again, local lifestyle magazine editors may be interested in doing a feature story on you and your dog.
Remember to download your copy of the PR Toolkit for Small Business, which offers up more great ideas to help you achieve publicity for your company (plus it will help you avoid landing on the Bad Pitch Blog). Also, take advantage of the new press release writing service from UnderstandingMarketing.com, a great resource to help you gain the attention of a reporter for a story.
Would you care to add to this list of small business public relations ideas for the month of April? Please do so by leaving a comment!
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Basant day ( a local festival) In Pakistan. It can be really helpful in spreading word of mouth
Thanks for the tip!
Do a publicity stunt around April Fool’s. Taco Bell, for example, put a giant sign in the ocean when (was it Skylab?) was crashing to earth. “Hit this and get a free taco.”
Tie-in with Earth Day. I’m doing this for a blog series.
Publicity stunts are my absolute favorite. We’ll have to plan a blog post on that.
The key is to know how your prospects and customers tick.
I sometimes get confused with the holidays because I have clients in different cultural zones, e.g. Europe and USA.
I wish there were more common ground here.
Cheers.
Hi John. This sounds like an opportunity to me. Why not do promotions for European and US holidays? I’m sure you have Euro expats in the US that would enjoy a holiday promotion they’re passionate about and vice versa. Not only that, as a business it demonstrates your global presence and awareness, something many American companies neglect.
Being a part of the global economy, I couldn’t agree more, Ben. Might you be able to point us in the direction of some resources that illustrate European events and holidays?
Great ideas! Some are new, and some reminders that needed dusted off - thanks for giving me a fresh start for the month of April!
Thanks for the feedback, Cindy. Let us know if any of them work for you!
These are all great tips, John! Good news is that National Pie Week starts tomorrow, so I didn’t miss the boat
There are so many ways to utilize these angles, from social to traditional media.
Check out March PR’s blog, PR Nonsense. A recent post talks about the changing day-to-day functions of a PR professional and the importance of stepping back and determining what’s best for the campaign.
http://www.marchpr.com/blog/2010/04/pr-wide-angle-lens-required/
It’s the time of year for spring cleaning. You could use this related to organizing your finances (after Tax Day), organizing your life (getting legal documents in order, etc) or as a home improvement angle.