The current issue of People magazine includes a short item about Jessica Simpson, who showed up at two recent events without her 3.5-carat wedding ring. Two photos that accompany the item show her without her hubby, Nick Lachey, and waving high “hi” with her left hand, without her ring.
So is there a meaning in the missing sparkler?
Etiquette expert Peggy Post thinks so. “It’s pretty unusual when people who are married keep leaving their rings off,” she said. She then told us we shouldn’t get all worked up about the photos because showing up without a wedding ring doesn’t necessarily mean the marriage is on the rocks.
I can’t remember where I read it, but John Gray, the author of the Mars/Venus books, was quoted recently as saying he thinks the Brad Pitt/Jennifer Aniston marriage was doomed from the start. And he predicts it will eventually be Splitsville for Brad and his new squeeze, Angelina Jolie.
You probably have better things to worry about than a celebrity’s love life, but you can learn a valuable lesson from Peggy Post and John Gray.
Any time you can tie celebrities to your product, service, cause or issue, you automatically increase your chances for publicity. A great way to do this is by creating briefs, short little items that editors love because they fill odd-size holes on a page and need little editing. In a teleseminar I conducted titled “Briefs, Fillers & Quizzes: How to Create Them & Why Editors Love Them,” I offer all kinds of ideas for briefs. They include:
—Quizzes, either multiple choice or true and false.
—Round-ups, where you “round up” sources of information, such as websites, on a particular topic readers want to know more about.
—Q&As. Ask five questions and give five answers.
–A fact box: facts about a story that might not be mentioned in the accompanying article.
Some briefs can stand alone. Editors love them because they fill odd-size holes on a page and need little editing.
What briefs can you write today to generate more publicity for your prouduct, service, cause or issue?