Controversy sells! The mass media depends on the curiosity and occasional outrage a good controversy arouses in the general public.

And your local business can legitimately benefit from all that publicity. But you have to be quick with news events, since the story will fade from the spotlight in a few days or weeks.

Here’s a good local business example I came across on Yahoo UK’s news page this morning:

Tweet Article writing is one of the services I offer clients - but not just any old articles. I’m not the quickest and I don’t compete with bottom feeders on cost or volume. And you certainly won’t catch me “banging out” (as one buyer on a freelancing site memorably stated) 100 articles on “building rock […]

Tweet I’ve been looking forward to starting this blog because ‘freelance ghostwriting and copywriting’ is a big, dynamic field. Back in Nov 2007 I started a blog on mid-career change and used it to introduce readers to my coaching services and information products. That blog is still very much active and I usually post there […]