Hand your business over to your 14 year old kid or one of your employees young children for the day.

11. Run a "silliest thing" or "dumb mistakes" contest with your customers. For instance, if youre a shoe repair shop, ask your customers for the silliest things theyve ever done with their shoes. If youre a sport goods retailer ask your customers for the dumbest mistakes theyve made while camping. These are great human interest stories that the press will love.

12. Sponsor a local community service project. For example, if youre a dry cleaner, clean the clothes for all the visitors of the local food shelter. If youre a fast food retailer, hold a free lunch day for disabled children. If youre a car repair shop, offer oil and lubes to the parents of Boy Scouts and donate all the proceeds to the Boy Scouts of America.

13. Throw a one-of-a-kind customer appreciation theme party, such as a luau with Polynesian cultural dancers, or a magical theme party in which customers can bring their children to watch a magician do incredible tricks.

14. Do you have a customer that uses your products in an unusual way or uses your product to become a high achiever? If you run a gym, is one of your customers a bodybuilding champion? If you own a bike shop, is one of your customers a champion trial racer? If you manage an electronics store, do you have a customer who has invented a whiz-bang contraption?

15. Take on the sacred cows of your industry and challenge them. If youre a human resource consultant, give employee-of-the-month programs a severe drubbing. If youre a Taco Bell manager, tell consumers how "real" Mexican food actually tastes bland and boring. If youre a home-based business person, write about how corporate America is suffocating good people.

16. Close down your business for one day a year and have your entire staff do a day of charity work. Headlines would read, "Local Print Shop Closes Doors to Help the Needy!"

17. Recently I had a client whose business burnt down. He built it back up and is now doing more business than ever. Has your business survived a tragic incident (like the recession) and made it through with flying colors?

18. Write a general interest story about the problem that your product or service solves. If youre a car detailer you could write about how oxidation and rust destroys the integrity of your car and makes it unsafe to drive. If you sell website services write about hosting problems or the effects of poor website design and how to solve them.

19. Why did you start your business? If you started your business because you were dissatisfied with the provider you were using (or the employer you worked for), let the press know. For instance, you went into the Italian restaurant business because the Italian food in the local area wasnt authentic. Maybe you started pool cleaning service because of the lousy job service providers were doing on your own pool.

20. Prove a myth or stereotype in your industry wrong. For instance, if youre a hot tub dealer, show a man who sits in his hot tub every night and has 12 children (meaning the hot water really doesnt kill your sperm!).

How you make your business newsworthy is only limited by your creativity and ingenuity. Remember, there are no boring stories, just boring approaches to interesting