No news is, well, no news.

Empty newsstandI’ve been a bit preoccupied lately. This past weekend my family celebrated the bat mitzvah of my amazing, beautiful, brilliant, oldest daughter (isn’t it remarkable how unbiased I am about this?).

As you probably know, a bat mitzvah is a coming of age religious celebration that comes with a party. Things can sometimes get a bit crazy when it comes to the festivities. Religiously speaking, a bar or bat mitzvah is the first time a member of the congregation is called to read from the Torah.

It makes sense to celebrate firsts and other milestones, not just in the religious community, but in the business community as well. It’s easy to see why.

When was the last time you wrote a press release with the title, “Acme Widget Company continues to produce a great product. Customers remain satisfied”? I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess not once. We all know it would go straight into a reporter’s trash can. It’s only news if it’s new.

The same principle holds for web content. Even your most loyal customers and supporters crave a story line to follow. “Firsts” and other milestones provide an ideal vehicle for checking in and reminding people that you exist. There are obvious examples, like, JOIN US FOR OUR FIRST ANNIVERSARY SALE! But what about some less conventional ones?

Here are some examples I came up with of alternative “firsts” and twists on the usual milestone story:

  • First year. Give some back story about the first year. I love this post by simple.com
  • First full-time employee. Create an interview of your new employee, but don’t ask boring questions. Tell us the fun stuff. Here is a great interview of a new employee from Sisarina
  • A new office location. Herahub is opening its DC office, and they have been posting pictures of the location both on their website and on social media as it gets ready.

I’d love to hear examples of other milestones or surprising ways you’ve observed them. Tell me in comments.

~e