Arrgh You Ready To Profit From Pirate Day?

Prepare For The Media Frenzy

DO latch onto a popular, but nerdy pop culture theme: Pirates, vampires, hobbits, X-Men. If it's in a comic book store, you're on the right path.

DO design a Web site and prepare for the onslaught: International holidays aren't created overnight, matey. Provide clear contact information so media outlets can learn more and book you for interviews.

DON'T expect immediate success: Talk Like A Pirate Day didn't hit the big time until Dave Barry wrote about it in a 2002 Miami Herald column.

(Photo Credit: celebdu)

Cash In ASAP

DO create and regularly send out an e-newsletter: E-mail word of mouth is still a great medium for spreading word about unusual ideas. Bored people at work will forward details of the holiday or inane stunt to everyone they know.

DO recruit the help of an assistant: As you get busy with interviews and public appearances, you will need an organized assistant to keep things running smoothly. The pirate guys have such an assistant, and her e-mail address is literally wench@talklikeapirate.com.

DON'T waste any time getting a literary or talent agent: The pirates are represented by Folio Literary Management and have already sold two books. (If you aren't profiting from your holiday, what's the point?)

(Photo Credit: Ack Ook)

Rock It With 100% Enthusiasm

DON'T go it alone: Great minds need support: Edison had Tesla, after all. Bringing a friend aboard will help keep morale up and will make you seem (slightly) more legitimate to media outlets.

DO look the part: John and Mark wear the full pirate garb with pride and have even given each other swashbuckling aliases: Ol' Chumbucket and Cap'n Slappy.

(Photo Credit: Leonid Mamchenkov)

Be Controversial

Some are not entirely amused, though: Daniel Sekulich is a modern piracy expert and author of "Terror On The Seas." He told MainStreet: "Modern day pirates bear no resemblance to Johnny Depp, to Captain Jack Sparrow... It's OK to have a little fun at their expense, but it's important to remember that they are violent criminals who in the first half of this year took 561 people hostage."

But remember: if your invented holiday isn't at least a bit controversial, no one will cover it.

(Photo Credit: Deanna Fisher, Defenselink.mil)

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