What a great plug for publicity in tonight’s Risking it All on Channel 4 (it’s still on as I type). Entrepreneurs Craig Wilson and Richard Darlow are starting a new hair salon in Sheffield called Loaf, but disaster strikes when a magazine doesn’t print their recruitment advert, and they don’t have any staff!

Millionaire presenter Martin Webb suggests they try using free publicity instead. He gives some great advice: come up with a good human interest story and contact the local newspaper. Martin told them the resulting article would have lots of credibility, probably be read by more people – and it’s free!

Craig and Richard managed to get a half page story in the local weekly Sheffield Telegraph – and they practically had a queue of staff wanting to join them right there and then. Great stuff.

UPDATE: Now halfway through the programme and have just had a great launch – good for them! And the salon has continued to use publicity to build its business, looking at this. £100,000 revenue from June to October 2005, that’s not bad at all!

UPDATE 2: Hey, they just showed them doing that publicity stunt in a main shopping street in Sheffield. They got each stylist to cut a model’s hair, and then get the public to vote for their favourite. The presenter Martin reckons they attracted £3,000 of free publicity in the Sheffield Star (the local evening paper) and two local magazines. And it cost them just £800 for a load of branded gear (which made them look very very slick). Very impressive stuff.