NFL playoff games a chance to generate publicity

Even if you’re not a football fan, you might be able to generate publicity from today’s two big NFL playoff games.

The Chicago Bears host the New Orleans Saints in Soldier Field for the NFC championship, and the New England Patriots travel to Indianapolis for the AFC title.

Publicity Hound Jennifer Spies of New Philadelphia, Ohio, tipped me off to a way Publicity Hounds can piggyback onto the playoffs.

The day after the big Ohio State loss a few weeks ago, Jennifer was watching the local TV news.

“They interviewed a psychologist talking about the sports blues,” she said. “Everyone in Ohio was very depressed on Tuesday because the Ohio State Buckeyes had such a bad game on Monday night. The game was hyped to the max everywhere for days. It’s truly a Publicity Hound moment when a psychologist can get on the local TV station by piggybacking on the Buckeyes’ loss.”

That got me thinking. If you’re a high school coach, author, therapist or a motivational speaker, you might have a topic that can tie into today’s big games. Here are four ways you can piggyback onto the outcome. Comment on: 

1. Whether big wins or losses affect productivity and morale in the workplace.

2. Whether big losses in championship games can actually lead to depression in fans.

3. Good and bad sportsmanship during the big game.

4. How a winning or losing team affects the local economy.

In addition to pitching to the local media, you can write press releases about all of the above and post them online.

If you’re disciplined about writing press releases regularly, subscribe to Expertclick because you can post up to 52 press releases a year. You’ll build a huge online presence and have your releases picked up by Google, Yahoo and Lexis-Nexis.

Former journalist David Meerman Scott, who I interviewed last year on “The New Rules of Press Releases: How to Write Them for Consumers, Not Only for Journalists,” explained that today’s smart Publicity Hounds understand that buyers who are searching online for information on a particular topic might end up reading a press release you’ve written. They can click on your URL embedded within the release, visit your website and perhaps even buy—regardless of whether the release attracts attention from journalists.