Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Featured...for free? Have something newsworthy, write a press release, invite the targeted editors for an interview, and hope. You basically need an angel who believes in your business model and products -- and sees that you're following your own "drummer".

Featured...for pay? Pay for advertising. You can create ads that look like parts of the magazine/newspaper (they have the disclaimer: "This is an advertisement"), but blend in effectively.

Find out what celebs might wear these type of glasses and send them their way. The minute a photo is taken and someone asks, "where did she get those glasses?" the buzz will begin. You can also build on that with targeted press releases with headlines such as, "Sarah Jessica Parker dons Such-and-Such Glasses That Are All The Rage" or the like.

As Jay Hamilton-Roth said above, also be aware of newsworthy elements regarding the glasses and the industry (e.g: reading glasses sales have spiked 60% in the last two years) and pitch them to targeted media with your brand as the featured item. Start the blog world buzzing and post fashion video on YouTube that features the glasses and what makes them different.

I ran (on a consulting basis) a national/international public relations program for a specialty eyewear (sunglasses) company for several years. Got them lots of exposure in their trades and specialty magazines here and in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Nothing magical - they had a good products(s) and a story to tell. I created professional press releases and also obtained quality photography - sent it to the new products editor at the trades and kept an eye out for other publications' features on eyewear.

Their eyewear started to show up in the movies (we didn't have any real endorsement program - actors just started to do it) - so I listed all of the appearances in a release called "In the movies" - that release was very useful to create a fashion presence.

Their eyewear was worn by several foreign (e.g. non-US) Olympic athletes (supplied by their distributor in that country). When these people won the gold in one of their sports - we were sure to let their national trade media know about it (localization.) I played up their sports accomplishments and my client's mention was an "oh, by the way..." low-key type of thing. The media loved it. In one particular case- our entire press kit was reprinted verbatim in a major European (French) trade magazine (one of their athletes was the top European guy in his sport.) I had simply FedEx'd them the press kit with a localization letter (in English) about their (French) athlete but never heard back - next thing I know - they are getting calls from their European sales guys who are going nuts. Sometimes, that's how it works out.

In your case - follow the suggestion of someone else here and go visit your local (or nearest major city) fashion photographers and give them several pairs for use as fashion accessories in shoots.

Also, as I suggested - have a list of new products editors at the trades and send them your new stuff, along with a release about it (the inspiration, the designer, etc., etc.)

Once those two efforts get traction - work it from there.