Karmic balance resting on a five inch heel

When I first started working in PR, I represented a lot of little-known brands. It was the late 90's, so independent "cult" beauty brands were all the rage, but some of my accounts were truly off the wall.

I worked on a skin care line whose all-natural products were handcrafted by a witch and packaged in jars corked with sealing wax; bottled water that claimed to be "super oxygenated;" a "relationship game" that was more a conceptual exercise, yet cost $65 for the packaging; and a washed-up fitness guru trying to get in shape for his infomercial comeback. Editors weren't exactly banging down my door to write about these guys.

Still, I had a job to do, and at one point, I made friends with a newspaper writer in Phoenix. For some reason, no matter what I threw at him, he always found space to write about these challenging misfits, and, as such, made me look good in the process. It's not an understatement to say that he saved my ass a few times, his lone paper atop my monthly placement reports often making it seem like I had made the impossible pitch, possible.

Today, I might finally be able to do something for him in return.

Every week he posts a fun, interactive element to his paper's blog which asks a simple question: Shoe, Hot or Not? Readers are asked to comment on the shoe in question, this week a pair of Louboutins in the new Kylie Minogue video. Each week, a lucky commenter wins a prize from Sam's bag of SWAG, which, judging the rest of his column, is filled with much better stuff than what I used to peddle.

In an effort to boost the blog's readership beyond it's current audience, I'm asking all of my readers to please take a little trip over to Sammit and leave your opinion on Shoe, Hot or Not?. This week's winner will receive a free 8.5 oz. bottle of Jo Malone Nectarine Blossom and Honey bath oil. Guys, if that's not appealing to you, please comment anyway. I'm sure if he looks hard enough, Sam can still find you that fitness guru's best-seller.