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* Compile a set of useful tips. E.g., ten ways you should never use a toothbrush.
* Donate your product or a gift certificate to a good cause. E.g., a new wallet for every high school graduate in your home town.
* Offer a freebie. E.g., a free call-in line for questions about dental hygiene.
* Invent a new use for your product. E.g., wallets designed for efficiency at security checkpoints.
* Tie your product to economic trends. E.g., what toothbrush sales reveal about recessions and economic booms.
* Do something anachronistic. E.g., create wallet carriers, which a butler can hold out for
man in house when he comes home from work.
* Sponsor a charity event. E.g., Toothbrush Ball.
* Do something about your environmental impact. E.g., recyclable wallets.
* Celebrate an anniversary. E.g., your 10 millionth toothbrush sold.
* Create regional variations. E.g., Tall Texan wallet, Seattle Surprise, Plains Packer.
* Get offbeat endorsements. E.g., from a punk rocker, a bartender, a has-been politician for your toothbrushes.
* Feature employees with stories. E.g., an over-80 wallet designer, marketing vice-presidents who are twins.
* Run an event for kids. E.g., develop a show that travels to day-care centers on how to brush teeth.
Once you have a newsworthy angle, then ambition to get your story into every household in country makes more sense!
Marcia Yudkin is the author of the classic guide to comprehensive PR, "6 Steps to Free Publicity," now for sale in an updated edition at Amazon.com and in bookstores everywhere. She also spills the secrets on advanced tactics for today's publicity seekers in "Powerful, Painless Online Publicity," available from www.yudkin.com/powerpr.htm .
