If you are a woman in the Greater Seattle Area with a pair of high heels and a couple of friends, I bet I saw you last weekend at the Sex and the City Premiere in Seattle. 

The Big Picture partnered with Holiday Golightly to host a great party on Saturday afternoon (which was where I saw it with 10 friends), but no matter where I went all weekend I saw groups of women dressed up and heading to movie theaters.  I've never seen the bar at Big Picture as busy as it was that day, and I know Holiday Golightly got some great attention from their target market.

And you probably read about Bag, Borrow or Steal, the high end purse rental company mentioned in the movie.  They got a lot of press and expected a nice bump in sales after the premiere.

All of this got me thinking about taking advantage of current events to promote your business.  What do you do to ride the coattails of events entirely outside your control?

For example:

• With gas prices over $4/gallon, a bicycle store could get some really great press with a healthy alternative to driving a car.
  
• The Phoenix Mars Lander arrived last week. If you have a bookstore this is a great time to showcase space books for kids and adults.  Or a video rental store can feature a selection of space movies.
• When airlines stopped allowing liquids over 3 ounces in carryon bags, smart makeup companies made travel-sized versions of their popular products.  Now that airlines are charging for checked bags, travel-sized items will become even more popular.

When you read the newspaper, do you think of how you can tie your business in with current events?  Remember, everyone else is reading the same things you are.  Why not help them draw a connection between what is happening in the world and how your product or service can help?