Main Event, by Raleigh Pinskey

"Event marketing is a magnificent opportunity for you to show your wares," says Raleigh Pinskey, owner of The Raleigh Group, a marketing consulting firm in Santa Monica, California. The author of You Can Hype Anything (Carol Publishing), Pinskey believes entrepreneurs are all too often merely passive marketers. "Small-business owners need to get out of their stores and put their mission statements to work," she says.

How? Pinskey suggests participating in contests, benefits, auctions, lectures, parades, religious services, dinners, gala affairs, sporting events--anything and everything. If you own a hair salon, for instance, consider providing free haircuts and styling to those participating in a benefit; florists can provide flowers for the podium at any religious or speaking event.

Above all, if you`re participating in an event, tell a local newspaper or radio station, or put a sign in your window trumpeting your involvement. However you do it, says Pinskey, "make sure somebody else knows about it."

Raleigh Pinskey is a speaker and consultant on Viz-Ability Marketing. She is the author of 101 Ways To Promote Yourself, You Can Hype Anything, and the audio series, The Zen Of Hype, How To Do Your Own PR.