ABSTRACT
Campaigns are about selling a product. That product is a candidate, library, school, parkland, civic building, water system, or whatever. The announcement of your candidacy or your issue-based campaign is the first piece in your free-media tool kit. Announcements should be timed to have the biggest impact and the best news coverage. Schedule the announcement at the convenience of television crews rather than newspapers. Getting your face in front of the camera is important, and the print media can be covered with a press packet. If you don't have the funds for a sustained paid advertising campaign, letters to the editor can carry a campaign until paid advertising begins. Early ads also give a candidate an initial bump in the polls. Further, in this era of Super political action committees where hundreds of thousands of dollars are thrown at TV and radio for up-ballot candidates, early advertising—away from all the clutter—is absolutely the way to go.
