Cool Tool Alert! What People are Talking About Online

You need ideas. 

Your blog/Facebook page/Twitter feed/Google + account needs content.

Your business needs attention from the media.

Need, need, need. But then blank-page-blindness strikes you down. You have NO IDEA what to write about, to post, to pitch.

Help is here! I’ve got an always-on source of ideas that are GUARANTEED to be hot, hot, hot.

This is a tool you can use to find out the EXACT top 20 Google searches every hour of every day: http://www.google.com/trends/. Using Google Trends, you’ll instantly have insight into the public zeitgeist, which you can use to spark topic ideas and pitch stories desperately sought by the media.

Trends help bring attention to your business.

If you can tie your business to a suddenly trendy topic with a well-timed press release, you might be able to steer the media spotlight your way. PR pros call it piggy-backing. Make it a daily habit to scan the trends and when you see an opportunity, jump on it!

Right now, a hot story is the record-breaking $540+ million Mega Millions multi-state lottery jackpot. The media is covering lottery-related stories galore. By offering an angle on this hot topic, you can “piggyback” off the public’s (and therefore, the media’s) interest in the contest.

Here are a few examples of how you can take that trendy topic and spin it into something newsworthy about your business:

• If you’re an attorney or a financial advisor, you could whip up a short and punchy press release with the top 3 (or 4 or 5) actions the winner must take immediately to protect him or herself financially.

• Sell luxury goods? Recommend the most popular items that a newly minted millionaire might buy in a splurge.

• Psychologist or other mental health specialist? Write a release on “lottery winner’s syndrome” along with your advice on how to avoid it. (For extra PR credit, include some verifiable statistics.)

Your fame building assignment:

Head on over to Google Trends and find one hot topic that you can use to create content for your business. Then, schedule a reminder to check the site daily for piggybacking possibilities.