The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #439 Feb. 24, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

Circulation: 42,491

==========================================

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

Receive this ezine direct to your desktop
http://www.publicityarticles.net/archive/

==========================================

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The
Publicity Hound website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you
told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn’t subscribe, you
can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the
newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free
publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their
reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more
products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

******************************************

Complete My Survey, Get a $40 Coupon & Chance to Win a Kindle:

I’m sending 500 readers of this newsletter, chosen randomly, my
customer satisfaction survey. If you complete it, you’ll get a
$40 coupon (I’ve increased it from 30) good for any products or
services I sell, and your name will be entered in a drawing for a
Kindle 2, the new wireless reading device that Amazon sells for
$359. If the winner doesn’t want the Kindle, I’ll send an Amazon
gift certificate for that amount.

The first batch of 500 surveys are helping me identify any
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products and services I might not be aware that you need.

*****************************************
================================
In This Issue
================================

1. Enhance Your Pitch with Video

2. Target College Blogs

3. Blogrolls: Publicity Gold

4. Meet Journalists Face to Face

5. Promoting Home & Garden Shows

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog…

========================================
1. Enhance Your Pitch with Video
========================================

Too many Publicity Hounds are obsessed with generating coverage
in the printed versions of newspapers and magazines.

They forget that newspaper circulation is plummeting and that
things aren’t exactly rosy in the magazine industry, either.

If you can make it into your local daily newspaper,
congratulations. But what about the thousands of people who have
stopped subscribing because they can read much of the content
online and not have to pay?

If your story shows up in the printed newspaper, but not at the
paper’s website, you’re missing the chance to be in front of all
those people who read it online.

Entice editors to publish your story in the printed and online
editions by offering them video at their website. For example:

–Let’s say you’re a fashion consultant. You can pitch a story
about how Casual Friday has resulted in slobs in the workplace,
and then offer a short video that shows the Top 10 Casual Friday
Fashion Mistakes. Editors will be happy to put the video at their
website and refer to it from the story in the printed edition.

–An author publicizing a recipe book for children can offer the
food editor a video that shows a child making a peanut butter and
jelly roll-up, with help from mom or dad.

–A manufacturer who’s pitching a business story can offer video
that shows a product in various stages of completion, sort of a
mini version of the popular show “How it’s Made” on the Science
Channel.

Print journalists love video because they’re under immense
pressure to provide multi-media at their websites. Multi-media
draws visitors, and that means more people reading paid ads. So
be sure to mention video in your pitch. Lots of other Publicity
Hounds aren’t using video. If you do, you’ll set yourself apart
from the crowd.

Publicity Hound John Easton, a videographer, has turned into a
media darling in his own community of Charlotte, North Carolina
by cranking out videos whenever he can–for use at newspaper
websites and the local Chamber of Commerce websites, among
others.

He says you don’t have to be a video professional like he is to
endear the media. With an inexpensive Flip Video camera and a few
tricks up your sleeve, you can generate mountains of publicity
far and above what every else is getting.

John explained all his tricks during a teleseminar last year on
“9 Clever Ways to Use Video to Become a Publicity Darling in Your
Industry or Community.” We recorded it, and it’s available as a
CD, MP3 or electronic transcript that you can download as soon as
your order has been approved. Read more about what you’ll learn
at http://tinyurl.com/5pbgzn

==============================================
2. Target College Blogs
==============================================

If you’re publicizing something that appeals to a college
audience, the school’s newspaper and campus TV and radio stations
should be on your targeted media list.

Don’t forget about the blogs associated with those media.

I picked up a copy of The Marquette Tribune, the campus paper
published by Marquette University in Milwaukee. Inside, I found
four URLs leading to the newspapers blogs. They are devoted to
student government, music and entertainment, Greek life, and club
sports. Most of them accept comments.

I’m guessing that some college students who don’t read
traditional newspapers also don’t read their college paper but,
instead, search for information online, including these blogs.

Including college newspapers in your publicity campaign is one of
the thousands of tips featured in the 2009 update of my ebook
“How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound.” When co-author Tom
Antion and I updated it late last year, we added six new chapters
on social media.

This is one of my most popular learning tools because it gives
Hounds an overall view of hundreds of publicity tools and
resources, and gives specific strategies on how to use them. Our
eight new chapters include tips and strategies for using video,
MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, photo-sharing sites, and
social bookmarking. If you’re late getting started with social
media, this ebook explains in easy-to-understand terms how to
incorporate these sites into a publicity campaign.

Read more about what you’ll learn at http://tinyurl.com/2a3dp9

========================================
3. Blogrolls: Publicity Gold
========================================

Authors, if you want more reviews for your books, pay attention
to this tip.

Publicity Hounds everywhere, if you’re trying to generate
publicity among the blogging community, and you blog, this tip
applies to you, too.

It’s courtesy of Rebecca Morgan, who publishes the excellent
SpeakerNetNews ezine for speakers at
http://www.SpeakerNetNews.com

Rebecca says that since so many newspapers are discontinuing
their book review sections, Hounds need to think creatively about
ways to publicize their books.

She suggests that you hunt down bloggers who mention your blog in
their blogroll. The blogroll is the list, usually in the right or
left margin, that links to all the blogs they find interesting.

I’ve seen my blog listed on dozens, maybe even hundreds, of
blogrolls that deal with marketing, publicity, books and
promotion.

Rebecca suggests that you ask bloggers who list you in their
blogroll to review your book.

“You already know they are your fans. Send them an advance copy.
When they review it, put a link on your site to the review and
tell your readers to check it out.”

She also suggests:

–Add a quote from their review on your book description page
with a link to the full review.

–Ask other bloggers or sites that focus on your book’s topic for
a review, even if your site isn’t on their blogroll.

–Offer five f~ree books to their site to use as awards for a
contest they may want to run. Thus your book’s title stays in
front of key buyers.

–Provide bloggers with a jpg of the book cover to post with the
review.

–If you have an affiliate program, invite them to join so they
earn commissions from orders coming from their readers. Many of
these folks will also invite you to appear as a guest on their
podcasts or Internet radio shows.

Her ideas could work for many other products, not just books. To
find blogrolls that mention your blog, you can use
http://blogsearch.google.com or http://www.Technorati.com

P.S. If you list me in your blogroll and want to review the 2009
edition of “How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound,” or if you’re
a blogger or ezine editor who wants to review the book, let
Christine Buffaloe, my customer service manager, know.
Mailto:Chris@serenityva.com

Authors, if your book sales have fallen flat, do NOT give up and
start writing your next book. That’s a big mistake. Instead,
start applying the same strategies that book publicist Lissa
Warren uses when her clients’ book sales hit the skids. She
details them all during the teleseminar we conducted on “How to
Revive a Dying Book Marketing Campaign.” It’s available as a CD
or electronic transcript that you can read as soon as your order
has been approved.

Read more about how to jump-start dying book campaigns at
http://tinyurl.com/67bhu

==========================================
4. Meet Journalists Face to Face
==========================================

More than 100 journalists from media outlets large and small will
meet Publicity Hounds face to face at the National Publicity
Summit April 22-25 in New York.

The journalists will sit across from authors, speakers,
consultants, experts and others who will be pitching their ideas
to get onto shows like “48 Hours,” ABC’s “The View,” Fox News and
the “Today” show.

Hounds will be delivering succinct, 10- or 15-second pitches and
including all the enticing little “extras” that encourage a media
person to say “tell me more.”

Each year, only 100 people are accepted at the summit so that
each can have enough face time with journalists.

In years past, the summit has produced dozens of success stories
that include:

–Ron & Lisa Beres’s appearance on the “Today” show.

–Steve Shapiro’s big write-up in “O the Oprah Magazine” after
meeting the writer at the publicity summit.

–Barry Spilchuk’s interview on the Fox News Channel within just
five hours of meeting the producer at the summit!

–Sandy Clemmons’s stories in Health Magazine, Money Magazine and
TV Guide, all from meeting journalists face to face at this
event.

You’ll have to complete an application before you’re accepted.
Visit http://www.NationalPublicitySummit.com/?10011 for all the
details.

==========================================
5. Promoting Home & Garden Shows
==========================================

This week, eight Publicity Hounds have tips on how Lori Feldman
of St. Louis, Mo. can promote home & garden shows in four cities
throughout the United States.

From Jeff Rutherford:

“There has been so much media coverage of the impact of the
economy on people’s day-to-day lives, why not pitch reporters on
the idea that more people will be gardening this year? It’s
relatively low-cost fun, and some of those people may very well
be growing their own food. You could offer spokespeople from the
show as experts on the power of gardening–to help feed people
and promote family bonding.”

From Holly Miller:

“Get in touch with your local Master Gardeners, Cooperative
Extension Office, and any regional government groups that promote
water conservation, beautification, or storm water management
through rain gardens. For examples, see http://www.hrwet.org,
http://www.hrclean.org, and http://www.hrstorm.org.

“Additionally, check http://www.meetup.com for environmental or
gardening groups in your target area. You’ll be amazed at how
many resources there are for finding your target audience. And,
a give-away targeting a specific green initiative wouldn’t hurt.
Think about free rain barrels or installation of a rain garden.”

From Catherine McVicker:

“Get a garden center to contribute the creation of a pint-size
victory garden for four people as a prize. They get publicity at
the show, get to put a sign at the street like painters do, and,
hopefully, get word of mouth exposure as the family of four eats
its way through the garden produce during the summer.”

The Publicity Hound says:

These ideas are fabulous. The first one, about promoting
gardening during a bad economy, is perfect for TV because there
will be so many great visuals at the show. I’d pitch it to local
TV stations a day or two before the show opens in each city. If
you can find local people who preserve their garden vegetables,
that would be a great local tie-in.

TV producer Shawne Duperon gave step-by-step directions on how to
contact local TV newsrooms and pitch ideas when she was a guest
on my teleseminar “How to Get on the Local TV News Tomorrow.”

It’s available as a CD or an electronic transcript that you can
download and be reading as soon as your order has been approved.
Read more about what you’ll learn at http://tinyurl.com/yjrktx

Read all the responses to this week’s Help This Hound question at
http://tinyurl.com/atm843

Send your own Help This Hound question to
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com

==================================
6. Help This Hound
==================================

Jill Cranford of Livermore, Colo. writes:

“My company, Stone2Furniture, which makes outdoor furniture from
stone, is having an Ugly Patio Furniture Contest at
http://www.stone2furniture.com/contest.htm and we’ll be giving
away a set of our stone furniture valued at $4,100.

“So here I am with the rules drawn up, and it’s live on our
website and in the Media Room. I sent out 130 snail-mail flyers
and emails to editors.

“My next step is getting it to the local news channels. But I am
wondering if I am missing a step? I haven’t heard from any
editors. I know this will be fun but I’m just not sure how to
launch it.”

The Publicity Hound says:

I love these “ugliest” contests and other journalists do, too!
Sometimes a photo can tell a story far better than a press
release or a brochure. You already have two photos of entries at
the link above. The photo that shows the ugly patio table made
out of two rubber storage containers will really attract a lot of
attention when you’re pitching this story.

I’m leaving it up to my Hounds to offer suggestions on how to use
that photo, and any other ideas they have on how to promote your
contest. Hounds, you can post your ideas to my blog at
http://tinyurl.com/apbzws

==================================
7. Hound Joke of the Week
==================================

Today is Mardi Gras Day.

To celebrate, Jeanne Hurlbert of Baton Rouge, La., shares this
video of the Mardi Gras Dog Parade, an annual event where she and
her family “throw beads and dog treats and have a great time.”
(If the video won’t load, come back in an hour or so because too
many people might be trying to watch it.)

http://tinyurl.com/d2am2b

Jeanne is the survey consultant I hired to help me create the
survey that you’ll be getting from me soon.

DOG JOKES & QUOTES EBOOK: 170+ G-rated dog jokes and quotes,
perfect for a dog-lover, your favorite vet, or just for a few
good laughs.

BONUS: Buy the ebook and you also get a compilation of the 50
best websites for dog humor.

http://www.publicityhound.com/dogjokebook/

===================================
8. And at My Blog…
===================================

Increase your web sales: 27 ways to get ‘em to buy
http://tinyurl.com/bmdfo7

More publicity for Dallas hardware store after Bush visits
http://tinyurl.com/blaz7p

Real estate magazine needs expert articles
http://tinyurl.com/cz8vpu

A journalist’s tips for pitching story ideas about your business
http://tinyurl.com/agzdkf

—————————————

WHERE TO SEE AND HEAR THE PUBLICITY HOUND:

March 6-8–Atlanta, Ga.

I’ll be at the Stompernet Live 7 event. If you’re going, let’s
meet for coffee.

March 16–Teleseminar on Internet Marketing

I’ll be Marilee Tolen’s guest from 8 to 9 p.m. Eastern Time for
her teleseminar series “Introduction to Internet Marketing” for
nurses, healers, coaches and holistic professional solopreneurs.
If this is your niche, and you’re tired of running after the next
client, this is the training session for you. It starts Feb. 23.
Learn more at http://tinyurl.com/dl3xhm

PERMISSION TO REPRINT:

You may reprint any items from “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the
Week” in your print or electronic newsletter. But please include
the following paragraph:

Reprinted from “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” an ezine
featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity.
Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email
the handy cheat sheet “89 Reasons to Send a News Release.”

If you like these tips please pass them on to your friends,
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PRIVACY STATEMENT:

The Publicity Hound® respects your privacy and has a strict anti-
spam policy. Read my privacy policy at
http://www.publicityhound.com/privacypolicy.htm

=======================================================
Joan Stewart
a.k.a. The Publicity Hound®
3434 County KK
Port Washington, WI 53074
USA
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #438 Feb. 17, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

Circulation: 42,573

==========================================

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

Receive this ezine direct to your desktop

http://www.publicityarticles.net/archive/

==========================================

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The
Publicity Hound website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you
told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn’t subscribe, you
can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the
newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free
publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their
reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more
products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

******************************************

Complete My Survey, Get a $30 Coupon & Chance to Win a
Kindle:

I’ll be sending 500 readers of this newsletter, chosen randomly,
my customer satisfaction survey as soon as it’s ready later this
week. If you complete it, you’ll get a $30 coupon good for any
products or services I sell, and your name will be entered in a
drawing for a Kindle 2, the new wireless reading device that
Amazon sells for $359.

The first batch of 500 surveys will help me identify any glitches
I need to fix before sending it to everyone else. Your honest
feedback will help me improve this newsletter and give you
products and services I might not be aware that you need.

*****************************************
================================
In This Issue
================================

1. Grand Slam Giveaway

2. Don’t Ask to Review an Article

3. How to Recycle Publicity

4. 2 Events for Hounds

5. Promoting a Farmer’s Market

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog…

========================================
1. Grand Slam Giveaway
========================================

Call it what you want–a handout, a sample, a giveaway.

When the economy is tanking, consumers want a good deal. That’s
exactly what Denny’s restaurant delivered two days after the
Super Bowl when it gave away 2 million of its signature Grand
Slam Breakfasts.

Denny’s reported that its $3 million commercial drew that many
people to its 1,600 outlets in North America and Puerto Rico. The
company spent $5 million for the promotion that generated $50
million in news coverage.

“A lot of people have forgotten what Denny’s is, or they think
they know, while we’ve come out with a whole lot of new products.
We felt like we needed to jump start the brand,” said Mark
Chmiel, Denny’s chief marketing and innovation officer.

Mitchell Davis, who owns Expertclick.com and
NewsReleaseWire.com, loved the Denny’s promotion.
If it could work for people who needto eat breakfast,
why can’t it work for Publicity Hounds who need to
write press releases, he reasoned.

Mitch wants you to “taste his service” and send news releases
this week without cost or obligation.

“I got the idea after seeing Denny’s give out 2 million Grand
Slam breakfasts and thought more people should see how good our
News Release Wire service works–and understand our
commitment to customer service,” he said.

So here’s the deal. For one week, you can test-drive his service
by sending press releases and creating a Press Room Page about
your business. Watch his video about how it all works at
http://www.ExpertClick.com/brochure

I subscribe to the service, which helps me claim the first three
spots on Google for the keyword phrase “publicity expert” and
drives my competitors crazy.

Don’t expect those kinds of results within one week, however,
because Google probably won’t index your pages that quickly. But
if you call Mitch at 202-333-5000 and ask him for The Publicity
Hound special, he’ll set it up for you so you can see how the
service works–with no commitments to subscribe. I love the fact
that they answer their own phones and jump through hoops for
their customers–like the time I spotted a heinous typo after I
posted my release. I called them, and they corrected it within
minutes.

If you don’t want to call Mitch, you can create the test-drive
yourself at https://www.ExpertClick.com/create

Choose the Gold Level at $995. Then scroll down and complete
the “Participant” information (who the account will be about)
and the “Subscriber” info (for the person in charge of the
account).

Check the credit card box but don’t enter your number because you
aren’t paying for this.

In the “Special Offer” box enter:”F*ree Week from Publicity
Hound.” Then click on “Create Your Press Room Page” and you’ll
be able to edit instantly. Once they approve your account, you’ll
be able to start sending press releases instantly. Their standard
editorial policies at http://www.TermsandConditions.com apply, so
be sure to read them.

Try it for a week and let me know how you like it.

==============================================
2. Don’t Ask to Review an Article
==============================================

Publicity Hound Gail Sideman saw a Twitter post that caught her
attention recently.

It was from someone who said that Inc. magazine was doing a
feature on him until he asked the magazine to let him review the
article for his final approval.

“Was I wrong to ask? Yes or no?”

She replied and told the guy he was wrong. That led to a spirited
debate on Twitter. So she emailed me and several others in the
journalism world and asked our opinions.

Here’s what I told her:

–You were right. He was wrong. By asking that question, he
showed he wasn’t media-savvy, and it sounds as though it cost him
publicity in Inc. magazine.

–He certainly could have asked the writer, “Would you be willing
to run by me any direct quotes you are attributing to me?” Some
journalists will say yes, some will say no. It never hurts to ask
because some journalists will want to make sure their quotes are
accurate. But the deal is, if you hear the quote and you know you
said it, but you don’t like the sound of it, you can’t ask the
writer to change it. That’s one of the ground rules they never
teach you.

–He could also have asked if the magazine will fact-check the
story. Inc. most likely has its own fact-check department and
would do this anyway. But again, it never hurts to ask.

Bottom line: Never ask a journalist to show you a story before
it’s printed so you can “approve” it. For sensitive interviews,
you can negotiate the terms of the interview, but little else.

I devoted an entire chapter of my ebook “How to be a Kick-butt
Publicity Hound” to what you should do before, during and after
an interview. These are the ground rules the media never tell you
about and hope you never learn. The ebook is the most
comprehensive product I offer on all aspects of generating free
publicity. The 2009 update includes six new chapters on social
media.

Read more about what you’ll learn at
http://www.publicityhound.com/publicity/publicityhound.htm

========================================
3. How to Recycle Publicity
========================================

When you generate a publicity hit in a newspaper or magazine, on
a TV or radio station, or in the social media, don’t be
satisfied.

Try to recycle that hit into multiple hits, or multiple
promotions.

I’m one of three experts featured in the January/February issue
of SUCCESS magazine, offering my advice on how to promote
online.
You can read more about it at my blog at
http://tinyurl.com/bg33ml

Here are six ways I’ve already recycled that publicity:

–I tweeted about it at Twitter.

–I included some of the tips that didn’t make it into the
magazine in the “What’s New” section of my Facebook group
called Friends of The Publicity Hound. If you already have a Facebook
profile, join the group by logging into Facebook, then pasting
this link into your browser and join: http://tinyurl.com/d2h8gk
I’ll be sharing more tips over there and I might not always
remember to share them here.

–I went to the blog of Joel Comm, who was featured along with me
in the article. I posted a comment to an unrelated blog post and
then mentioned in a “P.S.” how interesting it was to read his
advice alongside mine in SUCCESS.

–Ditto for Scott Fox, the other Internet marketer featured in
the article.

–I added a line to my email signature that lets people know I
was in the magazine, and I linked to the article.

–I’m writing about it here.

That’s only six ways! And I know you Hounds can think of many
others. Add them to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/bg33ml

Recycling publicity is an important part of a media plan because
you must follow up, follow up and follow up. I explain in step-
by-step detail how to create a yearlong plan, follow up, and take
advantage of every publicity opportunity in front of you. The
teleseminar series “How to Create a Media Plan” is available as
CDs, MP3s and electronic transcripts. Read more about why you
need a plan and how to create one at
http://www.publicityhound.com/mediaplan.htm

==========================================
4. 2 Events for Hounds
==========================================

Event #1: Teleseminar on how to start a coaching program

Do you offer coaching services? If not, consider it.

Coaching is one of the quickest ways almost any non-fiction
author or anyone with expertise can make more while also helping
a lot of people. For example, I have three types of coaching
programs: one-on-one coaching over the phone, my group mentor
program at
http://www.publicityhound.com/mentorprogram/intro.html
and teleseminar series devoted to specific topics.

You’ll be surprised how much others will gladly pay for what you
know, even though you take it for granted.

To discover how to get started offering coaching services, you’re
invited to a free telephone seminar on Thursday, February 19.
Hear Steve Harrison interview Tim Paulson, an author, speaker and
coaching expert who’s helped many people start thriving coaching
practices. You’ll learn how to get others to pay you from $100 to
$1,000 an hour, or more, for your expertise.

Register for the call at
http://www.CoachingTrainingTeleseminar.com/?10011

If you have another commitment, register anyway and recruit
somebody to take notes for you. Steve doesn’t record most of
these teleseminars and if you miss it, it’s gone.

Event #2: Media event for products tied to celebrities or good
causes.

If you have a consumer product that’s tied to a celebrity or a
good cause, consider displaying it at the annual Celebrity
Connections Media Event and the Good Causes Media Event, to be
held April 1 in New York City.

Journalists are always looking for a great angle when it comes to
covering new products, and many journalists are looking for
products with either a celebrity connection or products that help
worthy causes. The events draw an impressive list of top-tier
media.

Read more about them at my blog at http://tinyurl.com/awdwlx

==========================================
5. Promoting a Farmer’s Market
==========================================

This week, 12 Publicity Hounds have tips for Rose Strong of
Springtown, Pa. on how to publicize a local farmer’s market.

From LisaMarie Dias:

“Send an online newsletter through a company like Constant
Contact. You could profile the vendors, post a calendar and
include recipes. If you send the newsletter out monthly, you
could do weekly reminders in a smaller form–with links back to
your website. You could have prizes and giveaways to gather email
addresses.”

From Michael Carr:

“Invite local chefs to create an ongoing set of promotional
opportunities. Book your chefs in advance and publicize their
participation. Your chefs can shop the market to select fresh
produce to use in their demonstrations. Customers will appreciate
sampling what the chef has made as well as learning about using
fresh seasonal ingredients at home.”

From Tara Bright:

“Kick off your season with a Raw Food Uncook-off. Host a Green
Foodie Contest. Join forces or initiate a “Buy Local, Live
Sustainable” group. Host weekly potlucks on a day you are closed.

“Why not set aside a space where children can start seeds while
their parents shop? They will need to come back every week to
check the progress and water their little sprouts. Also, do a
comparison shopping trip at a local chain grocer. If your cart
ends up costing less at the farmer’s market, publicize it.”

The Publicity Hound says:

Team up with local artists, musicians and other entertainers. One
week, feature an art show and let the artists manage it. The
next week, how about a bluegrass band? The following week,
feature arts and crafts vendors. All would provide one more
reason to shop the farmer’s market.

The teleseminar I hosted on “Publicity Tips for Restaurants,
Chefs & Foodies” offers 51 ideas you can use for almost any food-
related story. The recording is available as a CD or electronic
transcript that you can download as soon as your order has been
approved. Each includes a downloadable list of all 51 ideas.

Read more about how to generate food publicity at
http://tinyurl.com/clr26

Read all the responses to this week’s Help This Hound question at
http://tinyurl.com/bayg2c

Send your own Help this Hound question to
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com and be sure to mention your
city and state.

==================================
6. Help This Hound
==================================

Lori Feldman of St. Louis, Mo. writes:

“My client is a home and garden show that’s produced in four
cities–Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Portland from
late February through early March.

“We’re launching a social media plan for this company that has
done nothing but traditional advertising for the last 50 years!
Last year was the first time they even attempted to collect email
addresses from attendees, so we have a list of 20,000 we can use.

“As you can imagine, ad costs significantly increase each year
with significantly declining ROI. So the challenge was to find
alternative media to combat the ineffectiveness of old media.
They also face these hurdles: Home starts and real estate are way
down. Young people have not supported these live shows (but this
could be due to a lack of an online presence). All marketing is
local–you’re not going to jump on a plane to attend.

“Because time is short, I’d like to get as many suggestions from
your readers as possible to consider every option to increase
traffic. The pre-show promotions site is
http://www.ImproveYourHomeAndGarden.com We’ll be press
releasing, tweeting, and social networking between now and show day.
I can do a shopping spree contest winner. Thoughts?”

The Publicity Hound says:

You–and my Hounds–are up against a tough deadline. But that’s
when my Hounds are most creative! I know a lot of them publicize
events, so they’ll post their best ideas to my blog at
http://tinyurl.com/atm843

Don’t have time to wait to hear their ideas? “How to Plan &
Promote Sizzling Special Events” will give you hundreds of ideas.
Read more about what you’ll learn at
http://publicityhound.com/publicity/promote.html

==================================
7. Hound Joke of the Week
==================================

Thanks to Publicity Hound Kerry Hargraves of Oakland, Calif. for
this one:

Little Harold was practicing the violin in the living room while
his father was trying to read in the den.

The family dog was lying in the den, and as the screeching sounds
of little Harold’s violin reached the dog’s ears, it began to
howl loudly. The father listened to the dog and the violin as
long as he could. Then he jumped up, slammed his paper to the
floor and yelled above the noise, “For Pete’s sake, can’t you
play something the dog doesn’t know?”

DOG JOKES & QUOTES EBOOK: 170+ G-rated dog jokes and
quotes, perfect for a dog-lover, your favorite vet, or just for a few
good laughs.

BONUS: Buy the ebook and you also get a compilation of the 50
best websites for dog humor.

http://www.publicityhound.com/dogjokebook/

===================================
8. And at My Blog…
===================================

Online promotion tips in Jan/Feb issue of SUCCESS magazine
http://tinyurl.com/bg33ml

The Number One mistake of online press releases
http://tinyurl.com/d86hxx

Media event to feature products tied to celebs, good causes
http://tinyurl.com/awdwlx

—————————————

WHERE TO SEE AND HEAR THE PUBLICITY HOUND:

March 6-8–Atlanta, Ga.

I’ll be at the Stompernet Live 7 event. If you’re going, let’s
meet for coffee.

March 16–Teleseminar on Internet Marketing

I’ll be Marilee Tolen’s guest from 8 to 9 p.m. Eastern Time for
her teleseminar series “Introduction to Internet Marketing” for
nurses, healers, coaches and holistic professional solopreneurs.
If this is your niche, and you’re tired of running after the next
client, this is the training session for you. It starts Feb. 23.
Learn more at http://tinyurl.com/dl3xhm

PERMISSION TO REPRINT:

You may reprint any items from “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the
Week” in your print or electronic newsletter. But please include
the following paragraph:

Reprinted from “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” an ezine
featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity.
Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email
the handy cheat sheet “89 Reasons to Send a News Release.”

If you like these tips please pass them on to your friends,
clients and colleagues.

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The
Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you
told me you want to subscribe.

PRIVACY STATEMENT:

The Publicity Hound® respects your privacy and has a strict anti-
spam policy. Read my privacy policy at
http://www.publicityhound.com/privacypolicy.htm

================================================
Joan Stewart
a.k.a. The Publicity Hound®
3434 County KK
Port Washington, WI 53074
USA
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #437 Feb. 10, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

Circulation: 42,567

==========================================

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

Receive this ezine direct to your desktop
http://www.publicityarticles.net/archive/

==========================================

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The
Publicity Hound website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you
told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn’t subscribe, you
can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the
newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free
publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their
reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more
products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

******************************************

Last Call for the National Publicity Summit:

Thursday, Feb. 12, is the last day for the early-bird
registration for Steve Harrison’s National Publicity Summit in
New York April 22-25. This is the event where you can meet
journalists from top-tier publications and TV and radio shows
face to face and pitch them. Steve will even provide coaching on
how to deliver your pitch so you make a great first impression.

You can learn more about the event here:
http://www.NationalPublicitySummit.com/?10011

*****************************************
================================
In This Issue
================================

1. Don’t Make Yourself Sound So Boring

2. Cool Tool for Hounds & Journalists

3. 5 Tips for Hiring Interns

4. Bloggers Gush About Cleaning Products

5. How to Piggyback onto Book Publicity

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog…

========================================
1. Don’t Make Yourself Sound So Boring
========================================

I’m not mentioning any names.

But when I read the social networking profiles of some of my
friends and business associates, I think to myself: “You’re
really interesting. And you’re lots of fun. You even have unusual
hobbies. So why are you making yourself sound so boring?”

Yes, that little snippet of information just below your photo on
your Twitter or Facebook profiles can determine whether a visitor
follows you, friends you, or decides that you have nothing to
offer and leaves in search of somebody else who does.

On LinkedIn, that much longer profile will determine whether
somebody wants to connect with you, or forget you.

I can’t begin to count the number of Twitter replies and direct
messages from my followers who comment on my love for the Food
Network and motorcycles, which I’ve mentioned in my profile at
http://Twitter.com/PublicityHound

What does that have to do with publicity?

Absolutely nothing. But if a fellow Food Network junkie follows
me, and then one day hopes to generate publicity, she might look
to me for advice, my products, or my mentor program.

Consider adding these topics to your social networking profiles,
depending on the type of people you’re hoping to attract:

–Your hobbies

–Your pets

–Your favorite TV shows

–Your favorite movies and music

–The most unusual thing you’ve ever done

–Your biggest business accomplishment

–Your most unusual personal accomplishment

–What makes you an expert

–Humor!

A word of caution: Don’t treat all your profiles the same.

Social networking expert Nancy Marmolejo will be my guest during
a 70-minute teleseminar at 4 p.m. Eastern Time tomorrow. It’s
called “Can Your Social Networking Profile Pass the 10-Second
Test?” In addition to tips galore on how to write your profiles,
you can listen as Nancy remakes the profile of one lucky
participant. If the time is inconvenient for you, sign up anyway
because I’ll send you the link for the MP3 recording and the link
for a webinar Nancy hosted that goes into even greater detail.

Learn more about the topic at my blog and register at
http://tinyurl.com/blvdby

============================================
2. Cool Tool for Hounds & Journalists
============================================

I just discovered a new service that costs you nothing and helps
connect Publicity Hounds with journalists who are looking for
specific types of sources.

It’s called PitchRate.com and here’s how it works.

–Journalists write a query explaining the types of sources
they’re seeking. If they’re from a top-tier media outlet, they
have the option of cloaking their query and not revealing exactly
where they work. When you sign up for the service, you can see
all the journalist queries and decide which ones you want to
respond to.

–The technology behind the platform automatically rates your
pitch on a five-star scale. It then delivers all the pitches from
a particular query to that journalist, who can then sort them
according to how many stars each receives.

–Journalists will open the five- and four-star pitches first
and, most likely, disregard all the others. This saves them
valuable time.

–If they contact you for an interview, they can then rate your
interview on your PitchRate.com profile so other journalists can
tell instantly if you’re helpful and worth contacting.

Is that cool or what?

I’ve already signed up as both an expert and a journalist.
Bloggers and newsletter editors, I suggest you sign up as a
journalist, too. This is a terrific place to find sources.

Drew Gerber, who owns the site, tells me it’s in its infancy but
that response from journalists has been so overwhelming that the
site doesn’t have enough experts to respond to all the queries.
So sign up NOW while there’s less competition among experts.

Go to http://www.pitchrate.com/publicityhound

========================================
3. 5 Tips for Hiring Interns
========================================

If you’re laying off employees at your PR agency or in your
corporate PR department, why not rely on a few interns to pick up
the slack?

The current issue of My Midwest inflight magazine offers several
suggestions for making the most of your interns:

–Determine beforehand exactly what you want them to do for you,
and then choose the best candidate according to their skills that
dovetail with your goals.

–Consider paying them. This widens your pool of applicants
simply because many young people can’t afford to work for
nothing.

–Don’t waste talent by using them to bring you coffee or pick up
your dry cleaning. They won’t learn much and you won’t benefit.
(The Publicity Hound’s idea: How about using them to research
media outlets whose audiences are a perfect match with your
pitch? This one task will help you save time because you won’t be
pitching media that have no interest in your topic. And that
means you’ll have time to customize those pitches.)

–Help them make connections at your company and at other
companies, and introduce them to possible mentors. Long after
they’re gone, they might return the favor and refer job
candidates who would be a perfect fit.

Once you’ve chosen an intern, let me provide a large part of the
training. My teleseminar series “How to Help Your Boss or Client
with a Publicity Campaign” is perfect for any company or
nonprofit that hires interns or assistants. It’s also ideal
for virtual assistants who want to add PR skills to their
services.

It’s available as CDs, MP3 recordings and electronic transcripts
that you can download as soon as your order has been approved.
Read more about how to shorten the learning curve of your
assistants or interns at
http://www.publicityhound.com/PHU_AssistantsCourse.htm

==========================================
4. Bloggers Gush About Cleaning Products
==========================================

Household cleaning products don’t seem to be the kinds of things
that would get the blogging community all excited, especially
during the holidays, right?

But if bloggers happen to be stay-at-home moms who spend a good
part of the day cleaning up after their toddlers, or bloggers who
care about environmentally friendly products, offering a product
sample to them can bring hundreds more moms to your website.

That’s what happened just before the Christmas holidays when
Sweeney public relations launched a publicity campaign for Weiman
Products, a cleaning products manufacturer.

Publicity Hound Jennifer Manocchio, a Sweeney VP, said the
campaign invited bloggers to review products that help keep the
home clean. Sweeney offered each participating blogger
samples of products such as stainless steel wipes that can be
used to make kitchen faucets shiny, and Weiman E-tronic Wipes
that can be used to remove fingerprints from computer screens.

The campaign resulted in a whopping 44 positive reviews from
bloggers, like this one from the My Trendy Tykes blog:

“Weiman Stainless Steel Wipes shine, polish and protect all
stainless steel surfaces. They leave NO streaks, and the strong
odor?? Well, it’s not there. It’s actually a pleasant smell for
my nose. Oh, and get this…It actually repels fingerprints,
water marks and dirt. Now that’s what I’m talking about!”

Blogger Rockin’ Mama gushed about how the floor polish made her
laminate floors super-shiny. And at the Chocolate Fingerprints
blog, Andrea McMann said she could tell the e-tronic wipes are “a
high-quality product” and my screens still aren’t dusty or
smudgy.”

The campaign also resulted in 172 clips, 196 direct links to the
Weiman website, and 772 website visitors who stayed an average of
two minutes and five seconds.

When you launch a publicity campaign, are you targeting bloggers
who reach your ideal customers? If not, you’re leaving money on
the table. Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff can show you in step-
by-step detail how to identify bloggers who reach your target
audience, pitch them, interest them, and encourage them to
review your product or service. They were my guests during a
teleseminar on “How to Pitch the Best Bloggers & Create a
Publicity Explosion.”

It’s available as a CD or an electronic transcript that you can
download as soon as your order has been approved. Read more about
how to entice bloggers at http://tinyurl.com/m7ymr

==========================================
5. How to Piggyback onto Book Publicity
==========================================

This week, three Publicity Hounds have tips for astrology blogger
Michele Lessirard of Vero Beach, Fla. who wants to know how to
ride on the coattails of author Stephanie Myers’ popular series
of vampire novels and the upcoming movie.

From Dal Jeanis:

“Be very careful of attempting to ride the coattails of a popular
hit, especially without knowing what it’s really about…Before
doing anything else, find out what it is that you are attempting
to leverage off of. See the first movie, at the very least.

“From understanding the phenomenon, you can then move to figuring
out what products or services you can provide to that
demographic. Next, you can research to create a list of the
keywords in the Meyers books, obviously including vampire,
sparkle, romance, and so on, and figure out to what degree you
can use those keywords in your own astrology posts to increase
accidental traffic to your site.

“You could do mock-horoscopes for the characters just for fun,
although that’s a lot of work and might not get you anything in
return. The key to doing that well would be to get copies of the
books and read them, picking incidents to warn about.”

From Christine Buffaloe:

“Create Google Alerts for keywords that relate to both Stephanie
Myers’ topics and yours. You can do this at
http://www.Google.com/alerts

“Tell Google you want to receive the alerts once a day. Then
follow them and see what Google delivers to you in the way of
news stories, videos, blog posts, etc. In some cases, if a
blogger is discussing Myers’ books, you can post a comment and
you’ll get a link back to your website or blog.”

From The Publicity Hound:

Go over to Amazon.com and review Stephanie’s books, which will
let you link back to your blogs. You can also create “best of”
lists dealing with your topic and all kinds of other content to
attract the attention of her readers.

Randy Gilbert and Don Mitchell are all over that website and pull
in tons of traffic to their own sites as a result. They were my
guests during a teleseminar on “How to Make Amazon a River of
Gold (for Authors, Speakers & Experts).”

It’s available as a CD or an electronic transcript that you can
download and be reading as soon as your order has been approved.

Read more about how to piggyback off the popularity of other
best-selling authors or products at http://tinyurl.com/7u76e

And then read the complete responses to this week’s Help This
Hound question, or add your own, at http://tinyurl.com/dmzml4

==================================
6. Help This Hound
==================================

Rose Strong of Springtown, Pa. writes:

“I am a volunteer for the Springtown Farmers Market and I’m
looking for some marketing and publicity ideas.

“We started off with a bang last year but for some reason we lost
our shoppers, and our vendors sort of dwindled down a bit. One
week there’d be lots of customers, but not too many vendors, the
next week it was a good vendor attendance and a lack of shoppers.

“This year, we were fortunate to receive a $10,000 donation from
a local resident as well as applying for a Dept. of Agriculture
grant. So we are planning a website, major advertising in a
local weekly newspaper and rack cards for local businesses to
have on their counters and hand out.

“What other inexpensive, creative ideas can your Hounds suggest
to help us promote this year’s market from May 20 to Oct 28?”

The Publicity Hound says:

The bad economy should certainly be a springboard from which you
can pitch all kinds of interesting story ideas to your local
media. Let’s see what other ideas my Hounds can suggest. Hounds
with suggestions for Rose can post them to my blog at
http://tinyurl.com/bayg2c

==================================
7. Hound Joke of the Week
==================================

A client brought a litter of Golden Retriever puppies to the
local veterinary clinic for inoculations and worming. As the
look-alike pups squirmed over and under one another in their box,
the vet realized it would be difficult to tell the treated ones
from the rest. So he turned on the water faucet, wet his fingers,
and moistened each dog’s head when he had finished treating them.

After the fourth puppy, the vet noticed the hitherto talkative
client had grown silent. As he sprinkled the last pup’s head, the
woman leaned forward and whispered, “I didn’t know they had to be
baptized.”

DOG JOKES & QUOTES EBOOK: 170+ G-rated dog jokes and quotes,
perfect for a dog-lover, your favorite vet, or just for a few
good laughs.

BONUS: Buy the ebook and you also get a compilation of the 50
best websites for dog humor.

http://www.publicityhound.com/dogjokebook/

===================================
8. And at My Blog…
===================================

Workplace columnist needs sources in South Florida
http://tinyurl.com/cq8tct

Speakers, use local stories in towns where you speak
http://tinyurl.com/apmdgu

How a Dallas hardware store generated national publicity
http://tinyurl.com/am8bbm

————————————–

WHERE TO SEE AND HEAR THE PUBLICITY HOUND:

“Boost Your Biz with a Blog Teleseminar Replay”

Listen to the replay of “Boost Your Biz with a Blog,” the
teleseminar I hosted on Jan. 26 with Denise Wakeman and Patsi
Krakoff, aka The Blog Squad. They explained how to draw more
traffic and boost more sales from a blog. You can hear the replay
at http://blogsquad.audioacrobat.com/download/bizblog_012609.mp3
by cutting and pasting this link into your browser window.

Wednesday, Feb. 11–Teleseminar

“Can Your Social Networking Profile Pass the 10-Second Test?”
with Nancy Marmolejo. From 4 to 5:10 p.m. on the telephone. All
participants will receive the electronic transcript, the MP3
recording and a one-hour webinar on the same topic that goes into
even greater depth on how to write social networking bios.
Register at http://tinyurl.com/blvdby

March 6-8–Atlanta, Ga.

I’ll be at the Stompernet’s Live 7 event. If you’re going, let’s
meet for coffee.

PERMISSION TO REPRINT:

You may reprint any items from “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the
Week” in your print or electronic newsletter. But please include
the following paragraph:

Reprinted from “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” an ezine
featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity.
Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email
the handy cheat sheet “89 Reasons to Send a News Release.”

If you like these tips please pass them on to your friends,
clients and colleagues.

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The
Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you
told me you want to subscribe.

PRIVACY STATEMENT:

The Publicity Hound® respects your privacy and has a strict anti-
spam policy. Read my privacy policy at
http://www.publicityhound.com/privacypolicy.htm

=======================================================
Joan Stewart
a.k.a. The Publicity Hound®
3434 County KK
Port Washington, WI 53074
USA
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #436 Feb. 3, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

Circulation: 43,345

==========================================

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

Receive this ezine direct to your desktop
http://www.publicityarticles.net/archive/

==========================================

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The
Publicity Hound website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you
told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn’t subscribe, you
can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the
newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free
publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their
reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more
products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

******************************************

I Don’t Want to Lose You:

I recently changed servers at the list management company that
distributes this newsletter, and I don’t want you to drop off my
list. Please add galaxy.sparklist.com to your Friends list or
Whitelist and contact me immediately if you suddenly stop
receiving the newsletter so we can find out what went wrong.

You can find back issue you have missed in the archives at
http://www.publicityarticles.net/archive/

*****************************************

================================
In This Issue
================================

1. Vanishing PR Clients

2. Grade Your Facebook Profile

3. Get Out of the Pile

4. Beware of the Shock Jocks

5. Formula Five Sweetens the Deal

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog…

===================================
1. Vanishing PR Clients
===================================

On the message boards, PR pros and publicists are lamenting the
fact that the lousy economy has forced companies to slash their
budgets for PR like never before.

In some cases, their client base has dried up completely.
Projects they were counting on this year have been canceled. And
they have no fresh leads coming into the funnel.

If you want to avoid that happening to you, here are four tips on
how to pull in PR prospects and convert them to clients:

–Hit the public speaking circuit and talk about how companies
can use traditional and social media to promote when lots of
other companies, paralyzed with fear, are doing nothing to market
themselves. Explain the value of the publicity and what happened
as a result of that front-page story you got for your client in
the local business journal, or that two-minute interview with the
local TV station.

–If you’re looking for local clients, and you’re a member of the
Chamber of Commerce, start shooting video of chamber events all
over town, and offer it to the chamber for use on their website.
The chamber will let its members know, and turn you into a star.
Also submit the video to local newspapers and TV stations, for
their websites. Guess who the chamber will recommend when a
company calls asking for a referral to a good PR person?

–Create a presence on the social networking sites. Use the
question-and-answer feature on LinkedIn to promote your expertise
and answer questions about PR. Create a group of fans on Facebook
and share PR tips with them regularly. On Twitter, refer your
followers to interesting articles and tips about PR and
publicity.

–Form alliances with local delivery services and ask them to
drop off your brochure with each package they deliver. If you
must, bribe the driver with a $20 bill. You never know who might

be looking for a PR person.

That last tip is courtesy of Illinois publicist Robert Smith, who
built his PR business from scratch in 1998, in part, by forming
alliances with a local shipping company and actually paying the
drivers to drop off his brochures. He has resorted to lots of
other off-the-wall tactics, like buying and selling leads, to
acquire clients.

He explained them all when he was my guest during a teleseminar
last summer on “How to Make an Extra $100,000 a Year as a
Publicist–Even in a Bad Economy.” We recorded it, and it’s
available as a CD, MP3 or an electronic transcript that you can
download and be reading as soon as your order has been approved.

Read more about Robert’s ideas (some of them really wacky but
effective) at http://tinyurl.com/PRclients

=======================================
2. Grade Your Facebook Profile
=======================================

If you’re on Facebook, find out how well your profile stacks up
against the profiles of the millions of other Facebook users.

Go to http://facebook.grader.com

It’s a fun little application that will instantly calculate your
“grade” based on things like how many friends you have, the power
and reach of those friends, how many groups you have joined, how
many wall posts you’ve written, and whether the information is
complete.

There’s one problem with the grader, however.

It doesn’t accurately reflect the appeal of the thumbnail bio
that appears under your photo. An app like this one can’t
possibly determine whether or not you sound interesting. That’s
up to the reader to decide.

After you’ve graded yourself, go back and review your thumbnail
bio. Does it encourage your target audience to connect with you?
Does it convey a little about your personality? Does it encourage
visitors to friend you and stay to read more?

What about your bio on LinkedIn? I can’t count the number of bios
I see on that site that are as potent as sleeping pills, even
though LinkedIn users can use as much space as they need to
describe themselves.

As for Twitter, few profiles I see actually make me smile or
visit the person’s website.

Join social networking expert Nancy Marmolejo and me on
Wednesday, Feb. 11, during a 70-minute teleseminar called “Can
Your Social Networking Bio Pass the 10-Second Test?” We’ll
explain the key elements of your profiles on the major sites like
Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and explain the three traffic-
killing mistakes that even the professionals are making.

Nancy will make over the bio of one lucky participant. Read more
about what you’ll learn and register for the session at
http://tinyurl.com/blvdby

While you’re there, check out Publicity Hound Judy Lederman’s
incredibly clever Twitter bio.

========================================
3. Get Out of the Pile
========================================

It’s the Number One Secret of Publicity Hounds who want big-time
publicity.

And it starts with getting out of the pile.

“The pile” refers to the mountain of boring press releases,
bulging media kits, books with chintzy covers that scream “self
published!”, product samples in hard-to-open packages, folders,
catalogs, brochures, videos and other unsolicited junk that
people send to newspaper editors and TV show guest bookers.

Journalists HATE digging into the pile each day because so much
of what’s there is awful.

So how do you get out of the pile?

One of the very best ways is to meet journalists face to face at
an event they’re attending with one purpose in mind–to find
interesting people to write about in their newspapers and
magazines or feature on their radio and TV programs. A face-to-
face meeting lets them hear the enthusiasm in your voice and see
the sparkle in your eye as you’re delivering your 15-second
pitch.

Steve Harrison’s National Publicity Summit has been introducing
journalists at top-tier media to Publicity Hounds who have
interesting stories to tell. As a result:

–Ron & Lisa Beres were booked on the “Today” show.

–Steve Shapiro was the subject of a big story in
“O the Oprah Magazine” after meeting the writer
at the summit.

–Lauri Loewenberg appeared on ABC’s “The View” and
“Good Morning America.”

–Jim Vonmier got on the “CBS Evening News” and “The Early Show”
as a result of the training and contacts he got at the summit.

–Kelly McCloskey used what she learned to get booked
on “Oprah.”

–Barry Spilchuk was interviewed on Fox News Channel within
just five hours of meeting the producer at the summit.

–Sandy Clemmons was written-up in Health Magazine, Money
Magazine and TV Guide–all from meeting journalists
face-to-face at the summit.

Only 100 attendees will be admitted and the early-bird
registration deal goes away after Wednesday,
February 11. If you’re interested in joining, go here now:
http://www.thebigsecrettogettingpublicity.com/?10011

If you’re not interested in attending, watch Steve’s video anyway
and learn about two other great ways to meet journalists face to
face.

=======================================
4. Beware of the Shock Jocks
=======================================

Before pitching a radio show, research the show and know what
you’re getting into.

Publicity Hound Kristie Tamsevicius, a work-at-home expert, is
downright proud of the mountains of favorable publicity she
generates each year in the week leading up to “Doing Business in
Your Bathrobe Day” on Feb. 9.

Until yesterday.

A guest booker for WKLS-FM in Atlanta called Kristie and invited
her to be a guest on the morning drive-time show to talk about
her special holiday.

“When I called in and heard heavy metal music, I wondered what I
was in for,” she said.

She soon found out when “Giant Brian,” the host, welcomed her and
asked the standard questions. Then he took a call from “Bruce”
who threw Kristie a curve and started talking about some yucky
topics she would rather have not discussed. Kristie details the
whole ugly episode at her blog at http://tinyurl.com/dzzsqt

“I should have done more homework about the station before the
interview,” she writes. “I asked about the audience and
demographics…should have insisted on getting info about the
host and their website to research.”

Lesson learned.

If this ever happens to you, and you need information quickly on
a particular radio show or media outlet, ask your Twitter
followers. I’m astounded at how quickly my own followers answer
questions I throw out, or retweet the questions to their
followers. You can follow me on Twitter at
http://www.twitter.com/PublicityHound

Kristie, by the way, encourages work-at-home Hounds to piggyback
onto “Do Business in Your Bathrobe Day.” Red Deer College in
Canada is using her holiday to promote its classes for
entrepreneurs. Two professors are even sponsoring a contest in
which work-at-homers can submit YouTube videos of themselves in
their bathrobes. Is that fun or what?

Despite Kristie’s bad experience, big radio shows can be a gold
mine for Publicity Hounds. Alex Carroll has done more than 1,264
radio interviews, grabbed more than $4.5 million worth of free
radio airtime and raked in $1.2 million in direct sales in the
process. He was my guest expert during a teleseminar called “Get
Booked on Big Radio Shows in the Top 20 Markets” and he revealed
the step-by-step process involved in identifying the biggest
shows, pitching them, and then being the kind of guest who hosts
invite back.

It’s available as a CD. Read more about how to get onto the
biggest and best shows at http://tinyurl.com/asgyx

==========================================
5. Formula Five Sweetens the Deal
==========================================

If you’ve been on the fence about Stompernet’s Formula Five, the
business-building program I’ve been raving about, and price was a
factor, you’ll want to know about several new enticements that
really sweeten the deal and make it well within the budget of
almost any business.

People said they love the idea behind the program but can’t
commit to paying for it all up front.

Here’s how Stompernet responded:

–They’ve lowered the price.

–They’re offering a new payment plan that spreads payments over
12 months.

–They’re adding a sixth module on how to create products,
regardless of whether you’re a chiropractor, window cleaning
company, Internet marketer or a publicist.

You can read more about it here:
http://tinyurl.com/PaulLembergFormulaFive

Formula Five will be available for just a few more days, and then
the shopping cart closes down, so grab yours now. I’ve reviewed
the entire product and give it my highest recommendation.

P.S. If you’ve already purchased FormulaFive, Stompernet
is going to be rewarding you with some really sweet extras that
you’re going to love.

==================================
6. Help This Hound
==================================

Yikes! I accidentally wiped out my entire blog last week,
including the Help This Hound question from Michele Lessirard of
Vero Beach, Fla.

But my webmaster, Jason Saeler, backs up my blog weekly and had
the entire thing back online within minutes.

I’m using last week’s question again this week in case you wanted
to contribute an idea but couldn’t find the post–or the blog.

Michele writes:

“I have been blogging for more than seven years at New Moon
Journal http://www.newmoonjournal.com and my blog
http://newmoonjournal.blogs.com

“Now, there’s a high-profile Harry Potter-type author named
Stephanie Myer who’s written a series of vampire novels. One
best-seller is New Moon. Of course, I am competing now for search
engine optimization with her New Moon book and soon-to-be movie.
The New Moon Journal is an astrology blog dedicated to creativity
and personal growth using the lunar cycles for power, healing and
problem solving.

“How can I use this name recognition and ride on the coattails of
her book. Is it possible?”

The Publicity Hound says:

It sure is. The many authors, publishers and book publicity
experts who read this newsletter can post their best ideas to my
blog at http://tinyurl.com/dmzml4

Here’s my idea. Go over to Amazon.com and review Stephanie’s
books, which will let you link back to your blogs. You can also
create “best of” lists dealing with your topic and all kinds of
other content to attract the attention of her readers.

Randy Gilbert and Don Mitchell are all over that website and pull
in tons of traffic to their own sites as a result. They were my
guests during a teleseminar on “How to Make Amazon a River of
Gold (for Authors, Speakers & Experts).”

It’s available as a CD or an electronic transcript that you can
download and be reading as soon as your order has been approved.

Read more about how to piggyback off the popularity of other
best-selling authors or products at http://tinyurl.com/7u76e

==================================
7. Hound Joke of the Week
==================================

Who needs cats?

Dogs will look at you intensely and try to understand every word
you utter. Cats will ignore you and go to sleep.

When you come home from work, your dog will be pleased and lick
your hand. Cats will still be cross at you for going out to begin
with.

Dogs will give you unconditional love until the day they pass on.
Cats will make you pay for every mistake you’ve made since the
day they arrived at your home.

DOG JOKES & QUOTES EBOOK: 170+ G-rated dog jokes and quotes,
perfect for a dog-lover, your favorite vet, or just for a few
good laughs.

BONUS: Buy the ebook and you also get a compilation of the 50
best websites for dog humor.

http://www.publicityhound.com/dogjokebook/

===================================
8. And at My Blog…
===================================

Publish an ezine? Submit it to BestEzines.com
http://tinyurl.com/bl9pzg

PR, marketing, comms article writers: Submit to Cision ezine
http://tinyurl.com/cg7g7a

————————————–

WHERE TO SEE AND HEAR THE PUBLICITY HOUND:

Monday, Jan. 26–Teleseminar Replay

Listen to the replay of “Boost Your Biz with a Blog,” the
teleseminar I hosted on Jan. 26 with Denise Wakeman and Patsi
Krakoff, aka The Blog Squad. They explained how to draw more
traffic and boost more sales from a blog. You can hear the replay
at http://blogsquad.audioacrobat.com/download/bizblog_012609.mp3

Wednesday, Feb. 11–Teleseminar

“Can Your Social Networking Profile Pass the 10-Second Test?”
with Nancy Marmolejo. From 4 to 5:10 p.m. on the telephone. All
participants will receive the electronic transcript, the MP3
recording and a one-hour webinar on the same topic that goes into
even greater depth on how to write social networking bios.
Register at http://tinyurl.com/blvdby

March 6-8–Atlanta, Ga.

I’ll be at the Stompernet’s Live 7 event. If you’re going, let’s
meet for coffee.

PERMISSION TO REPRINT:

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Week” in your print or electronic newsletter. But please include
the following paragraph:

Reprinted from “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” an ezine
featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity.
Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email
the handy cheat sheet “89 Reasons to Send a News Release.”

If you like these tips please pass them on to your friends,
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=======================================================
Joan Stewart
a.k.a. The Publicity Hound®
3434 County KK
Port Washington, WI 53074
USA
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737