The headlines this week are a familiar sight:

From Washington: “Burst Pipes Keeping Local Plumbers Busy”

From Iowa: “Frigid Overnight Temps Cause Pipes To Burst”

From Minnesota: “Cold Temps Mean Broken Furnaces, Burst Pipes”

These news reports are from December 2008, but they could easily be from 2007, 1994, or even 1952! Despite environmentalists’ warnings, it gets cold every year in our country. Usually cold enough to do some damage. And where there’s damage, there’s a plumber to the rescue.

Why can’t you be that plumber?

I’m not talking about fixing the problems (yet). I’m talking about media relations and free publicity, here. Reporters will write these headlines every year. YOU should be the local plumber they contact for an expert opinion.

I sat in on a teleseminar last week that featured, among other marketing experts, Tom Peric of Galileo Communications Inc. Tom spoke to us 500+ listeners about a secret weapon every contractor should have in his filing cabinet ― four folders. One for every season of the year.

As every plumber knows, each season brings with it its own challenges and recipes for disaster. From freezing pipes in winter to flood-control in the spring. From Thanksgiving toilet back-ups to garbage disposal trouble from pumpkin-carving pulp. These problems happen every year, and you can preempt the news cycle by pulling out from your secret-weapon folders tips and energy- and money-saving advice for homeowners in your area. It puts your expertise out there for thousands (maybe millions) of potential customers to see. And this can all be done relatively easy and for very little advertising dough.

Tom says to start locally with those neighborhood weekly newspapers (the ones that sometimes litter your driveway). By developing a relationship with these weekly edition editors, you can become their go-to expert when they’re looking for a story.

Another benefit with starting locally is that these publications are a lot more accessible than larger dailies, and most of the time you can walk right into production offices. And since these weeklies don’t feel the pressures of larger newspapers of TV crews, they’re more willing to listen and build up rapport.

Send the editors press releases on “Problems Of The Season,” or “Things To Watch Out For,” maybe two weeks before the season starts. This not only gives the editors time to print your story, but it gives readers time to prepare their homes ― and maybe call you for service.

Staying local is great, however, don’t count out the major newspapers or television news stations altogether ― it just takes a little more persistence. I’ll talk more about this next week when we uncover Tom’s other secret weapon: “Sad Story P.R.”

Till then, share with us below what other public relation “secret weapons” your company uses to get your business in front of the customer.