The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #448 April 28, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

Circulation: 40,905

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

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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

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

Authors, Thrive as an Expert or Author in Any Economy:

If you missed any of the three teleseminars Steve Harrison hosted
on how authors and experts can thrive, even when lots of other
people aren’t, you’re in luck. He recorded all three and he’s
making them available to you at http://budurl.com/9cje

Don’t miss his call at 7 p.m. Eastern tonight on “How To Get A
Whole Lot More Media Publicity and Exposure and Make A Name for
Yourself as an Expert in Your Field.” It will include a tip from
a producer at “Good Morning America” on the best way to pitch the
show–something very few publicity-seekers do, but it
dramatically increases your chances of getting booked”

Sign up for tonight’s call at http://budurl.com/yvpn

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

1. Bloggers, What if You’re Sued?

2. Gardening Story Ideas

3. ZooLoo’s Intern Contest

4. Sneak into Inflight Magazines

5. Promoting a Concierge Service

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog…

=================================
1. Bloggers, What if You’re Sued?
=================================

If you woke up tomorrow and discovered that someone who you wrote
about in your blog had sued you for libel, what would you do?

Regardless of how many blogging books, online courses, tutorials
and other materials you’ve devoured on blogging, I’m betting you
wouldn’t know what to do next.

I’m also betting that you don’t know exactly what constitutes
libel, defamation and invasion of privacy.

Do you know what you can and can’t write about that celebrity you
loath? What about your busy-body neighbor next door? Is she
immune from public criticism?

What if you’re researching material for a blog post and you cut
and paste a few paragraphs from somebody else’s blog into your
own blog but fail to rewrite it? Is that copyright infringement?

There’s nothing like a big fat lawsuit dumped right in your lap
to make all those other blog topics we’re always sweating–like
Typepad vs. Wordpress, or moderated vs. unmoderated comments–
seem so absolutely irrelevant.

When the former headmistress at Oprah Winfrey’s school for girls
in South Africa sued me in October last year, I was lucky enough
to find the Media Bloggers Association, a membership-based
organization that helped me when I didn’t know where else to
turn.

It was founded in 2004 by dozens of leading bloggers as a “mutual
defense pact” for bloggers facing legal threats. The MBA
promotes, protects and educates its members and supports the
development of “blogging” or “citizen journalism” as a distinct
form of media.

I blogged about the lawsuit, how the MBA helped me, and what you
can learn from my mistakes. Read all about it at
http://tinyurl.com/d5fh9x

=================================
2. Gardening Story Ideas
=================================

At my local garden club meeting last week, somebody announced
that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was looking for members to
quote in a story on sustainable gardening.

That reminded me that gardening stories are in demand in every
state and country as people try to trim their grocery bills. The
Milwaukee paper has an entire section at its website devoted to
gardening stories. So if you can’t make it into your newspaper or
onto TV, offer content for media websites.

Here are ideas for your media pitches, blog, articles and videos:

–Are local farmer’s facing tough economic times? Will more
backyard gardeners be selling produce at these markets to make
some extra money?

–People who have never gardened before want to know the basics.
It’s a great opportunity for horticulturists and garden centers
to offer tips on how to minimize weeds, fertilize and keep the
critters from eating at your backyard salad bar.

–Is organic all it’s cracked up to be? Why is organic food so
expensive?

–Restaurants, are you specializing in food grown locally?

–Are neighborhoods creating Victory Gardens? What about rooftop
gardens in bustling metropolitan areas?

–Artists, how about demonstrating how to make inexpensive garden
art like scarecrows, metal doo-dads for the herb garden and
whimsical garden angels?

–My compost pile is a mess. Will somebody please explain how to
keep it from looking so gross?

–Parents, are you teaching the kids how to garden?

–Are more people going to be canning pickles, applesauce, beets
and other fruits and veggies like I do?

–What are the most in-demand gardening supplies and accessories?

If you don’t have a gardening idea, but you still want publicity
during the next few months, you have opportunities galore.
Shawne Duperon and I teamed up to present “116 WOW! Story Ideas
from January through June.” It’s available as a CD and comes with
a downloadable handout that lists all 116 ideas. If you order by
midnight tonight Eastern Time, we’ll send you the companion “103
Sizzling Story Ideas from July through December,” a $39.95 value.
Both come with a downloadable handout that lists all the ideas,
so you can review them while you’re waiting for the CDs to
arrive. Order the “116″ CD at http://tinyurl.com/6k7zk and we’ll
send along the bonus, even though you won’t see it in your
shopping cart.

================================
3. ZooLoo’s Intern Contest
================================

If you’re hiring a summer intern, take a cue from Zooloo.com, an
Internet marketing company in Scottsdale, Ariz.

It’s looking for a marketing intern to help promote a new product
that’s still a secret. The formal launch will be later this year.

ZooLoo’s PR strategy incorporates many social networking tools
such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Reddit,
Technorati and Digg. And, of course, video.

To apply for the job, candidates had to create videos explaining
why they should be chosen. You can read more about the
competition at http://tinyurl.com/dxryku and see the videos from
the top seven candidates at http://tinyurl.com/dmdslc

Very clever.

If you’re hiring an intern or anybody else for a job that entails
creativity, why not incorporate videos as part of your
application process?

Then, once they’re hired, get them up to speed very quickly on
publicity and promotion. A series of teleseminars I sponsored on
“How to Help Your Boss or Client with a Publicity Campaign” is
perfect for newbie interns, or a great refresher course for
somebody returning to PR. The course is available as a series of
CDs, MP3s or electronic transcripts.

Read more about how to get the monkey off your back and let me
and my small army of experts do the training for you at
http://www.publicityhound.com/PHU_AssistantsCourse.htm

=================================
4. Sneak into Inflight Magazines
=================================

Landing a full feature story in one of the inflight magazines can
be next to impossible unless you know exactly what the magazine
is looking for.

If you can’t convince them to write about you, there are other
ways to sneak into these high-circulation publications:

–Submit a press release and photo for their new product section,
particularly if the product is related to business or travel.
Publicity Hound Jason Claybrook, of Carl Zeiss Sports Optics,
wrote to tell me that a pair of compact binoculars his company
sells ended up in Delta Sky’s “Splurge of the Month” section
several years ago, thanks to my tips. The publicity resulted in
“tremendous feedback from travelers all around the world.”

–Submit a press release and photo for the magazine’s calendar
section.

–Write a letter to the editor, particularly if you’ve had great
service on a recent flight. Clever Publicity Hounds can always
figure out a way to weave into their letter a mention of whatever
product or service they sell.

–Establish a relationship with a freelancer who writes for the
magazine. Pitch your story to her, and let her pitch it to the
editor. Freelancers often write for more than one publication and
might use you as a source multiple times.

“Special Report #29: Fly High with Publicity in In-Flight
Magazines” includes pitching tips, contact information and more
insider tips for 49 magazines published by domestic and
international airlines. It was last updated in October. Learn
more about how to add these valuable magazines to your publicity
campaign at http://tinyurl.com/6uz9g

==================================
5. Promoting a Concierge Service
==================================

This week, six Publicity Hounds have tips for Shametra L. Thomas
of Dallas, Texas on how to promote her new concierge service,
The Savvy DFW, in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas.

From Molly Cook:

“A business like this will rely more than many others on
personal, one-on-one contact. Visit your likeliest
customers/clients personally, take small gifts along with
business cards and brochures, and get acquainted with as many
potential users of your service as possible.”

From Mary Shafer:

“Your target customer is the home decision-maker, most likely a
woman. So look for her where businesswomen congregate:
networking groups like Le Tip, Chamber of Commerce mixers,
business card exchanges and businesswomen’s organizations. Send
press releases to their newsletters and websites.”

From LisaMarie Dias:

“Collect email addresses from events, networking, etc. and then
start an e-newsletter and flyer campaign to make sure everyone
knows what you are offering.”

The Publicity Hound says:

Read all the responses to this week’s Help This Hound question
http://tinyurl.com/dzm3kh

Send your own Help this Hound question to
JStewart@PublicityHound.com and include your city and state.

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

Terri Jay of Washoe Valley, Nev. writes:

“I am a psychic messenger for humans and pets. My main focus
right now is to generate private reading clients and also to get
the word out about what I do.

“I am able to communicate with people who have Alzheimer’s,
dementia, autism, or those in a coma. These communication
disorders affect millions of people.

“Some people want pet readings. As soon as they start talking
about their pet, I can feel the pet through them. Pet
communication covers everything from health to behavior to
grieving to performance (especially with horses). My website is
at http://www.TerriJay.com

“I have virtually no advertising budget, but I do have an agent
in L.A. who is pitching a TV show idea. I’d like to find ways to
reach out to people and let them know this is possible right
away, until I get the TV show going. I’m doing fairly well, have
a show at the Pioneer Underground in Downtown Reno on some
Saturdays, but would really like to become more well known
because it would help move the TV show pitching along.

“Can your Hounds help me with ideas?”

The Publicity Hound says:

By teaming with some joint venture partners, you can really
expand your reach, Terry. I can hardly wait to see the fun ideas
my Hounds post to my blog at http://budurl.com/jdla

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

Thanks to Lois Carter Fay, who found this joke in the newsletter,
“Ah, there you are!” published by Dick Cook in Norfolk, Va.:

A guy walks into a bar with a small dog. The bartender says, “Get
out of here with that dog!”

The guy says, “But this isn’t just any dog…this dog can play
the piano!”

The bartender replies, “Well, if he can play that piano, you both
can stay…and have a drink on the house!”

So the guy sits the dog at the piano, and the dog starts playing
ragtime, a little swing, some Gershwin. The bartender is amazed
and patrons are enjoying the music.

Suddenly a bigger dog runs in, grabs the small dog by the scruff
of the neck, and drags him out. The bartender asks the guy, “What
was that all about?”

The guy replies, “Oh, that was his mother. She wants him to be a
doctor.”

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…
================================

11 publicity tips for retails who sell tea–or anything else
http://budurl.com/mkzq

Bloggers, ask the right question: ‘What if I’m sued tomorrow?’
http://tinyurl.com/d5fh9x

————————————-

Where to See & Hear The Publicity Hound:

Follow me on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/PublicityHound

Friend me on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joan_Stewart/541605146

Connect with me on LinkedIn (and tell me how we know each other):
http://www.linkedin.com/in/publicityhound

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 Press 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 #447 April 21, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

Circulation: 41,318

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

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

Receive this ezine direct to your desktop
http://www.publicityhound.com/tipsoftheweek/

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

Authors, Don’t Write That Next Book:

….until you’ve squeezed every ounce out of the one you’ve
already published. Big Mistake #1 of most non-fiction authors is
cranking out one book after another without using those books as
springboards that lead readers to an entire line-up of products
and services. That means you’re doing it the hard way by relying
only on the book to pay your bills. Learn his inside secrets of
doing it the right way during a f*ree teleseminar with Steve
Harrison tomorrow, April 22, at your choice of two times.
Register at http://budurl.com/qr65

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

1. You Have No Control

2. Help the Unemployed

3. Social Networking Annoyances

4. Dating Service of PR

5. Promote a Women’s Website

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog…

=================================
1. You Have No Control
=================================

If you work for a boss who refuses to let your company have a
blog or participate in social networking, you’ve already heard
all the lame excuses:

“We don’t want bad comments showing up at our blog.”

“We have to protect our brand.”

“We want complete control over what’s said about us online.”

Yeah, right.

Tell the boss there is no such thing as complete control. Or any
control.

Then, refer the boss to the ugly messes that Domino’s Pizza and
Amazon.com found themselves in last week.

A Domino’s employee videotaped a fellow employee doing nasty
things to food, and uploaded the video to YouTube. Within two
days, the video had been viewed more than a million times.

Over at Amazon, sales rankings and search results for a category
of books plummeted after titles seemed to disappear from the
website. The bloggers went nuts. So did those on Twitter,
Facebook and on the author discussion boards.

Neither company was prepared to weather the storm. Of all the
bloggers I read who weighed in on Domino’s and Amazon’s debacles,
social media expert BL Ochman nailed it. She offered these five
simple tips for any company that doesn’t want to see itself in a
similar mess:

–Monitor your brand 24/7.

–Establish a credible presence in blogs and social media.

–Acknowledge the conversation where it’s happening.

–Explain how you’ll address the problems to prevent them from
recurring.

–Have a crisis strategy ready to roll.

Read her entire blog post at http://budurl.com/w7al

How many of those five crisis tools do you have in place?

If you or the boss fears social media, or you don’t have time to
participate, BL can help. She was my guest during a teleseminar
on “How to do Social Networking, Run a Business & Still Have a
Life.” We recorded it, and it’s available as a CD, MP3 or
electronic transcript that you can download and be reading as
soon as your order has been approved. Read more about the time-
saving tips she shares at http://budurl.com/7gck

=================================
2. Help the Unemployed
=================================

If a clever idea can generate mountains of publicity for the big
car companies, it can work for a real estate office. And maybe
even you, too.

Decide what your business will do to help the unemployed. And
then pitch the story to the media.

Realtor Bob Shultz says he liked the idea of GM and Ford making
nine payments of up to $500 for any car owner who loses a job
during the first 24 months of ownership.

Bob, of the Century 21 Landmark Realty Group in Elkhart, Ind.,
says his office came up with its own offer. If anyone who buys a
house through his office gets laid off in the first 24 months, up
to $10,800 will be paid toward that person’s mortgage.

“I thought we might get a 30-second blurb on the local TV news
when I pitched the story,” he said. “WSBT Channel 22, one of the
local stations, jumped in with both feet. We were their lead
story on their Friday evening and weekend news. What a pleasant
surprise!”

The station also wrote a story for its website, which you can
read at http://budurl.com/z5dy

Real estate agents need every possible idea to generate publicity
when the market is flat. Real estate coach Jim Gillespie
interviewed me for my very best tips. We recorded it, and it’s
available as a CD. Read more about how real estate agents can
have the edge at http://budurl.com/xsze

=================================
3. Social Networking Annoyances
=================================

Stuff I’m starting to hate in the social media world:

–The glut of invitations to every teleseminar on earth is bad
enough. I RSVP to all of them and comment. I explained why in the
blog post I wrote at http://budurl.com/5jzh But please, don’t
write back and thank me for my RSVP. Enough already.

–People who ask questions on LinkedIn but fail to give enough
information so I can offer an intelligent answer. If you want my
help marketing your book, don’t make me visit your website to
find out what the book is about. Tell me in one or two sentences
or I’m bailing out.

–People who invite me to connect on LinkedIn but don’t explain
how they know me. This results in back-and-forth emails that
could have been avoided.

–People who thank me for following them on Twitter and then
pitch a book, ask me to sign up for their ezine or–this is the
worst–buy a product that will help me get a zillion Twitter
followers in only five days. I don’t want a zillion followers. I
want only people who are interested in what I have to say. If
you’re promoting something right out of the gate, I will no
longer follow you. If you have interesting, helpful content,
let’s follow each other on Twitter. You can find me at
http://Twitter.com/PublicityHound

Warren Whitlock’s how-to-Twitter tips, his etiquette advice and
the smart strategies he advocates for promoting on Twitter have
helped me offer a lot of value to my more than 6,600 followers.
Learn what I’ve learned. The teleseminar I hosted with him on
“How to Use Twitter to Amass an Army of Followers, Customers &
Valuable Contacts–and Promote” is available as an audio and
electronic transcript. Read more about how to stay out of
trouble on Twitter at http://budurl.com/bupu

=================================
4. Dating Service of PR
=================================

Have you seen the “Dating Service of PR”? That’s what PRWeek
called ExpertClick, the site that connects experts and
journalists.

I’ve been a member for years, and my press room page has helped
me capture the first three spots on Google for the phrase
“publicity expert.” This drives my competitors crazy.

To celebrate their 25th year, Expertclick is offering great
benefits:

–Open access, without registration or purchase, to both
databases: the Expert Directory and the Journalist Directory.
You can open PDFs of both books live from their website.

–F*ree opt-in to get their feed of questions from journalists.
Just enter your email address in the top tool bar and you’ll
start receiving questions on your topic.

–You also have full access to experts, and their press
releases, on thousands of topics–great for bloggers and ezine
publishers who are looking for content. And you can see
journalist profiles.

–As one of my Publicity Hounds, you can get listed as an expert
and double-dip on the $100 Publicity Hound discount when you call
202-333-5000 and ask for the special rate today or tomorrow,
April 21 and 22. Or, visit
https://www.ExpertClick.com/Discount/Publicity-Hound You can get
your own press room page which should rank high on Google, send
up to 52 press releases a year at no additional charge, and use
their topic keyword system which will let you link to other
experts and drive more traffic to your website.

Call Mitch, Randy, Robert, Phil or Brian at 202-333-5000. They
answer their own phones and give great customer service.

==================================
5. Promote a Women’s Website
==================================

This week, seven Publicity Hounds have suggestions on how Karen
Kalisek of Escondido, Calif. can promote the WomensMedia.com
website at http://www.womensmedia.com

From Meryl K. Evans:

“Have a contest or celebration. Get sponsors for prizes and let
people qualify for entries. Example: If they Tweet a link to your
website, they get an entry. If they mention your site at their
blog, they get an entry.

“Have them email you a list of what they’ve done with their
links.”

From Jeff Rutherford:

“In addition to any proactive PR outreach that you do, you
need to focus heavily on search engine optimization. Make sure
that your content is titled and tagged correctly so that Google
and other search engines will index all that great content for
organic search results.”

From Mary:

“Establish a YouTube presence. Before you know it, you’ll be a
YouTube partner who receives 10,000 visits per month from people
who are looking for your content. If you are teaching classes,
you may be able to join YouTube’s education channel. If you are a
nonprofit, you’ll receive free advertising from YouTube.”

The Publicity Hound says:

My “Special Report #17: Powerful Ways to Promote Your Website to
Draw Traffic and Boost Sales” includes more than 70 tips, and
dozens of resources. A steal at only $10. Cherry-pick the tips
that will work best for you. Order at http://budurl.com/xyvl

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

Send your own Help this Hound question to
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com?subject=HelpThisHound and
include your city and state.

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

Shametra L. Thomas of Dallas, TX writes:

“I have a new concierge business, The Savvy DFW Mommy, in Dallas,
Texas. The business targets professional/working moms.

“It serves the Dallas/Fort Worth area and specializes in on-call
personal assistance, corporate concierge services, home
organization, home improvement project management, event
planning, personal shopping, and style and decor consulting.

“My website is at http://www.savvydfwmommy.com This is a new city
for my company and I have no previous ties. How do I get the word
out to potential clients and keep them coming in?”

The Publicity Hound says:

First, show your website visitors who you are. I searched your
website and couldn’t find your photo. Once you’ve done that,
start following the helpful advice my Hounds will post to my blog
at http://tinyurl.com/dzm3kh

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

Thanks to Erica Gorsuch of Thiensville, WI for this one:

Q. Why did the cowboy want to buy a dachshund?

A. (Said with a southern drawl) He wanted to get a long little
doggie.

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…
================================

Oprah, here are 5 ways to improve your Twitter bio
http://budurl.com/vv9v

Am I stingy by not answering a LinkedIn question? You decide
http://budurl.com/g5sk

————————————-

Where to See & Hear The Publicity Hound:

Follow me on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/PublicityHound

Friend me on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joan_Stewart/541605146

Connect with me on LinkedIn (and tell me how we know each other):
http://www.linkedin.com/in/publicityhound

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 Press 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 #446 April 14, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

Circulation: 41,324

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

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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

==========================================
********************************************

Authors, Don’t Miss this One:

Jack Canfield of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” fame, learned early
how to handle rejection–and overcome it. He and Mark Victor
Hansen went on to sell more than 100 million ‘Chicken Soup” books
despite the army of people who said it couldn’t be done. Learn
his inside secrets during a f*ree teleseminar with Steve Harrison
on Thursday, April 16, at your choice of two times. Register at
http://budurl.com/sv7g

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

1. Lighten Your Load

2. Where to Find Speaking Gigs

3. Tea Party Publicity

4. Use a Gravatar

5. Promote a Consignment Shop

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog…

=================================
1. Lighten Your Load
=================================

One of the biggest misconceptions of social networking is that
you must produce mountains of content–and still keep your day
job.

Yes, you need content galore for your blog, articles, Facebook
page, press releases, Squidoo lenses, HubPages and video-sharing
sites.

But here’s a little secret.

You don’t have to produce all of it yourself, or even most of it.
Outsource, outsource, outsource.

Thousands of competent people, many of them unemployed, would
love to work with you right now, at prices you can afford.

And smart Publicity Hounds who realize that a bad economy is the
very best time to outsource are casting their nets for the best
writers, photographers and video producers. Those include a glut
of newspaper journalists who have joined the already crowded
market for freelance writers.

Here are five tips to get started:

–Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter can help you
find freelancers fairly quickly. Just let people know what you’re
looking for and they’ll spread the word.

–If you want a wide range of candidates from which to choose,
post your project to sites like Elance.com, Guru.com or
RentaCoder.com. They will put the fee in escrow and release it
only after you’ve signed off on the project, thus eliminating a
lot of squabbles. I’ve used Elance and RentaCoder many times with
good results.

–Hire fast, and fire faster. Never let freelancers learn on your
nickel.

–Reward outstanding work.

–Require freelancers who bid on writing projects to speak
English as a first language. I made the mistake of hiring someone
offshore and was disappointed.

Leili McKinley, one of my business coaches, says there are other
traps to avoid when working with freelancers. She explained them
all and offered dozens of helpful tips on how to keep the best
freelancers working for you when she was my guest during a
teleseminar I hosted on “Outsourcing Secrets: How to Get the Best
Quality, Price & Teamwork from Freelancers.” Read more about how
to get started and how to order the CD or electronic transcript
at http://budurl.com/uw5j

Still not convinced you need to outsource? Publicity Hound Debra
Condren explains why trying to do it all yourself can actually
cost you money. Read her article at http://budurl.com/gpy4

=================================
2. Where to Find Speaking Gigs
=================================

Speakers, if you’re spending hours searching for events where you
can speak for a fee, or no fee, here’s a handy tool that will
make your job easier.

SpeakerLeads.com at http://www.SpeakerLeads.com is a wiki that
lets meeting planners everywhere provide information on events
that need speakers. It includes other helpful details like the
deadline for speakers to apply, the major market in case you want
to search by city, and the website where you can find more
information about the event.

You can search the database, the wiki or you can opt-in and they
will send you updates–all f*ree.

Already, the wiki has about 1,000 events, as far as three years
away, that need all types of speakers for keynotes, panels and
break-out sessions. In some cases, meeting planners want only
speakers who are already planning to attend the event. But that’s
OK. Speakers who need experience on the circuit will gladly take
these gigs.

Meeting planners, add this website to the list of places where
you can promote your event.

It’s brought to you by the Yearbook of Experts, the service that
provides expert sources and contact information for journalists,
as well as press release distribution services for experts.

I’ve subscribed to this service for several years and have
received many phone calls from reporters seeking my commentary on
publicity topics. If you’re an expert, this service is for you.

Mitchell Davis and his staff answer their own phones at
202-333-5000 and can get you set up. Before you call, check out
their website at http://www.expertclick.com/ and tell them I sent
you. They’ll knock $100 off the price of your subscription.

=================================
3. Tea Party Publicity
=================================

Thousands of anti-tax protesters will attend tea parties in more
than 300 cities throughout the United States tomorrow.

If you’re one of them, or not, here are ways to promote your
cause:

–Provide updates throughout the day on Twitter and Facebook. Use
the hashtag “#teaparty” in your tweets. Learn more about hashtags
at http://budurl.com/b8×9

–Shoot video and offer it to your local TV stations and
newspapers. Even if you’re traveling hundreds of miles to
participate, you’re still the local angle to this national story.

–Provide video comments to videos that generate a lot of traffic
on sites like YouTube. David Mathison offered this tip during the
teleseminar I hosted with him last week on how to use social
media to help you “be the media.” Listen to the replay at
http://budurl.com/a7p5

–Take photos and upload them to photo-sharing sites like
Photobucket and Flickr. Some tea parties are encouraging
participants to bring food for food pantries. Shoot photos and
videos when you’re delivering it.

–Blog about the experience.

–Offer to be a correspondent for a media outlet or website
that’s interested in covering the event. The Huffington Post is
looking for local correspondents. Sign up at
http://budurl.com/jcuz

–Call your U.S. congressmen and let them know how you feel.

–Call your local TV stations and see if they’re sending
reporters. If so, offer to do an on-camera interview or be their
mini-correspondent. For inside secrets on how to contact the TV
newsroom’s “Queen Bee” who decides what they will and won’t
cover, read about the teleseminar I hosted with Shawne Duperon on
“How to Get on the Local TV News Tomorrow” at
http://budurl.com/y5ty

If you’re on the other side and want to protest the protests,
you can use many of these tactics.

=================================
4. Use a Gravatar
=================================

Why is it that when you leave a comment at someone’s blog, your
photo doesn’t show up next to your comment, but photos of the
other Publicity Hounds who comment are everywhere?

Could be you don’t have a gravatar.

A gravatar is a globally recognized avatar, an image that follows
you from site to site and appears beside your name when you
participate. It’s a powerful tool because your smiling face might
be the first thing that catches a reader’s attention.

To create your own gravatar in a few minutes, go to
http://budurl.com/ahzh

Once you’ve done that, it’s time to set up gravatars on your blog
or forum. Plug-ins are available for leading blog software and
content management systems. Watch the tutorials at the link above
for more information.

Publicity Hound David Leonhardt wrote a great blog post on “10
Ways to Make Your Gravatar Sell” at http://budurl.com/cdet and
included my gravatar and several others as examples of those he
loves.

I prefer a gravatar of someone smiling rather than a cartoon-
character depiction, or a company logo, or an inane illustration
that has nothing to do with the person behind the curtain. Social
media is all about transparency and forming relationships with
people.

At social networking sites, people can decide within a few
seconds whether to follow you when they see your gravatar and
read your profile. Almost every profile I read can be improved.
Social networking expert Nancy Marmolejo explained what the ideal
profiles include, with step-by-step instructions on how to dress
up yours during the teleseminar I recorded with her. It’s called
“Can Your Social Networking Profile Pass the 10-Second Test?” and
you can read more about it at http://budurl.com/ru5e

==================================
5. Promote a Consignment Shop
==================================

This week, nine Publicity Hounds have tips for Karen Nardella of
Conway, N.H. She owns a consignment outlet and home staging
center for high-end furniture and needs to know how to spread the
word, on a very tight budget, about what she’s doing.

From Howard Pierpont:

“With your location, I would look for local coverage in the
tourist media. There is a high traffic count from the Boston and
North Shore markets. They’re looking for a quality and price that
beats their neighborhood locals.”

From Alan McBride:

“What about a massive upper-scale garage sale? Maybe get the
local newspaper to host it. Let them think it’s their idea too.
They could hire a hall or other area, sell stalls (yours is
free), and advertising is theirs.”

From Cheryl Kurland:

“Go back through your previous sales receipts and make a customer
list. Create a letter and mail it to each previous customer
offering a 10 percent discount on anything purchased between
[date] and [date]. Include two business cards–one for them, one
to pass along to a friend who might be in need of your products.

Read all the responses to this Help This Hound question at
http://tinyurl.com/dyscmt

I’m running low on HTH questions. Send yours to
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com?subject=HelpThisHound and include your city and state.

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

Karen Kalisek of Escondido, Calif. writes:

“WomensMedia.com is a seven-year-old website that has undergone a
major overhaul and is in the process of relaunching.

“We pride ourselves in offering expert advice for working
women. Currently, we have 30,000 unique website followers each
month (20 percent of those are overseas), 10,000 follow the blog,
Women’s Lunch Talk, and 1,000 listen to our podcast, Working in
Heels.

“We don’t male bash, but do offer realistic advice concerning
working women. We also have a library with over 200 articles
written by people such as Madeline Albright, Suze Orman, and many
other notables. We also are proud of our Google ranking of 5.

“We have done all this with no advertising or sponsorship. With
the new ‘look’ we want to increase our followers, create revenue
channels, offer classes, provide speakers and build
relationships. Where do we start getting the word out that we
exist? Any suggestions for a media kit, PR kit, etc. would be
greatly appreciated. We have no money, but we have a great
message with a proven history.”

The Publicity Hound says:

With millions of women participating in social networking sites
and just waiting to spread the word for you, you don’t need a
huge budget, or any budget for that matter, to make a splash. How
about it Hounds? How can Karen use social media as well as
traditional media to promote the site? Post your best comments to
my blog at http://budurl.com/chzf

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

Sign inside my hair salon: Unattended children will be given an
espresso and a f*ree puppy.

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…
================================

Hate Twitter? Claim your username to protect your brand
http://budurl.com/8a8n

Social media tips for getting email addresses & selling products
http://budurl.com/a7p5

Financial advisers, use WSJ section to market yourselves
http://budurl.com/qafa

————————————-

Where to See & Hear The Publicity Hound:

Follow me on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/PublicityHound

Friend me on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joan_Stewart/541605146

Connect with me on LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/publicityhound

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 #445 April 7, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

Circulation: 41,324

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

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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

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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The
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told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn’t subscribe, you
can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the
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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.

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

Social Media Teleseminar Tomorrow, April 8:

Puzzled about the return on investment you’ll get by
participating in social media?

David Mathison, once an unknown author, has one success story
after another to share about what has happened to him as a result
of joining the conversation at sites like Twitter, Facebook and
LinkedIn.

While writing his book “Be the Media: How to Create and
Accelerate Your Message…Your Way,” he spent time on those sites
and others and has one success story after another to share with
you.

David will join me for a complimentary teleseminar from 3 to 4
p.m. Eastern Time tomorrow and explain how to use social media to
create a huge following and sell more books, products or
services. Only 200 people will be able to participate. Register
at http://www.Publicityhound.com/teleseminardavemathison.htm

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

1. Like Rats on a Sinking Ship

2. Google Measures Your Influence

3. Let ‘em Know You Twitter

4. Before You Write a Nonfiction Book…

5. Advice for Twitter ‘Unfollowers’

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog…

=================================
1. Like Rats on a Sinking Ship
=================================

Those newspaper and magazine journalists you’re pitching are
grumpier than ever.

You’d be grumpy, too, if you had an ax hanging over your head.

The 2009 PRWeek/PR Newswire Media Survey shows that half of the
2,174 journalists surveyed this year are considering careers
outside of journalism.

Doug Elfman, entertainment columnist at the Las Vegas Review-
Journal describes the situation like this:

“I know several people who have changed careers or have
considered changing their careers because they don’t want to feel
like rats on a sinking ship anymore.”

That confirms what I’m hearing from my friends in the newspaper
business.

PRWeek’s survey results also show:

–70 percent of journalists are working harder this year than
last.

–They’re taking on more work on the Web, where publishers
feel they have the best chance of recouping lost revenues.

–At magazines like Teen Vogue, journalists produce numerous
daily online-only items and blog posts to tide over readers
between issues.

–The number of journalists who have a social networking profile
has increased from 54 percent last year to 77 percent this year.
Many of them say they look for story ideas, sources and other
information on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

What this means to you:

–Pay attention to a newspaper’s or magazine’s website, not only
the printed edition. You might find many more opportunities for
publicity online than offline.

–The emphasis on the Web means journalists are no longer “print
journalists” or “broadcast journalists.” They are all “multi-
media journalists.” So think “multi-media” when you pitch by
offering a video clip for a newspaper’s or TV station’s website.

–If you’re obsessed with generating publicity in traditional
media, you need to have a presence on the social networking
sites, where many journalists hunt for stories.

–Position yourself as a helpful source who’s willing to go the
extra distance. Many journalists are still confused about how to
use sites like Facebook and Twitter. If you can help them by
showing them, in step-by-step detail, how to do something like
search Twitter by topic, you could score points.

If you’re creating video for, let’s say, your local newspaper,
you can recycle it in other ways for additional publicity.
Videographer John Easton does it all the time in Charlotte, North
Carolina, and the local chamber of commerce and TV stations love
him. During a teleseminar I hosted, he explained how you can do
what he does without fancy equipment or much techie know-how. “9
Clever Ways to Use Video to Become a Publicity Darling in Your
Industry or Community” is available as a CD, MP3 or electronic
transcript that you can download as soon as your order has been
approved.

Read more about how to use the power of video for publicity at
http://tinyurl.com/5pbgzn

=================================
2. Google Measures Your Influence
=================================

If you’re one of the many people who thinks Twitter is a waste of
time and you refuse to participate, please reconsider.

Rumors have been circulating that Google is interested in buying
Twitter, the micro-blogging site that lets users send messages of
no more than 140 characters to everyone who follows them.

For now, it’s nothing more than gossip. But if there’s a nugget
of truth to the rumor, here’s how it could affect you.

Google, the granddaddy of search engines, already measures your
influence.

Let’s say you sell dog toys and somebody types “dog toys” into
the Google search box. Google will rank your site on the left
side of the screen according to several factors. One of the
biggest is whether your site includes those keywords in the title
bar, description, meta tags and copy on your website.

Another factor is how many other influential websites link to
yours.

It gives high ranking to videos, too. When Google bought YouTube
for $1.65 billion in October 2006, that was the company’s way of
screaming “We think videos are important.”

Same with Twitter.

If Google buys Twitter, chances are good that one of the factors
it will use to measure your influence is your Twitter presence,
how often you tweet and how often you join the conversation.

If your competitors are on Twitter but you’re not, what kind of
message do you think that will send to Google?

At Stompernet’s Internet marketing seminar in Atlanta last month,
several speakers predicted that the search engines will place a
greater emphasis on your influence in the social networking
world.

Already, you can measure your influence on Twitter with a variety
of tools and applications. One of them is Twitalyzer at
http://twitalyzer.com/twitalyzer/index.asp

Type in your Twitter name, and it will grade your impact and
success in social media according to several factors: relative
influence, signal-to-noise ratio, generosity, velocity and clout.

Compare your score to the scores of your competitors.

If you ranked really low, you can boost your score by
understanding all the ways you can join in the conversation and
be helpful to the people who follow you. Warren Whitlock
explained how to do this, and he gave dozens of tips when he was
my guest during a teleseminar on “How to Use Twitter to Amass an
Army of Followers, Customers & Valuable Contacts–and Promote.”

We recorded it and it’s available as a package of electronic
transcripts and your choice of CDs or MP3s that you can download
immediately. Read more about what you’ll learn at
http://tinyurl.com/3lbcaw

=========================================
3. Let ‘em Know You Twitter
=========================================

Hardly a day goes by when the mainstream media isn’t reporting on
Twitter. It’s obvious many journalists and broadcasters are still
confused about the value of this site.

If you Twitter, particularly for business, and you’re seeing a
return on your investment, offer yourself as a source for this
story. Explain what has happened to you since you started
Twittering, how many followers you have, how much time you spend,
how many valuable contacts you’ve made, and how many clients or
customers you’ve generated.

Consider pitching this story to your local business journal,
daily and weekly newspapers, TV stations and even your trade
journals.

How about offering a short list of three or four Twitter tools or
apps you use that save you time and help keep you organized? I
blogged about a cool directory that separates all these tools by
category. You can find it at http://tinyurl.com/cwcnwq

===========================================
4. Before You Write a Nonfiction Book…
===========================================

Don’t write one word until you’ve made a long list of all the
ways you can use that book as a springboard to other products and
services.

Too many authors view the book as the end product. Then, if the
book doesn’t sell, they’re stuck.

Smart authors use their books as calling cards. The book
“upsells” readers to a variety of other products and services.

After working with more than 9,000 authors over the last 20
years, Steve Harrison has learned that the most successful
authors simply do seven key things differently than poor authors.

Some of them are very famous bestsellers, like the creators of
the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and Rich Dad Poor Dad.

Others are happily not-so-famous but quietly raking in high six-
figure and even seven-figure annual incomes without ever being on
Oprah or hitting any bestseller list.

To learn what wildly successful authors know that poor authors
don’t, join him for a free 75-minute telephone seminar at 7 p.m.
Eastern Time tonight, April 7. There’s no cost to participate in
the call (except for your normal long distance charges) so go
here now and sign up:

http://www.freepublicity.com/RichAuthorSecrets/?10011

========================================
5. Advice for Twitter ‘Unfollowers’
========================================

This week, eight Publicity Hounds have tips for Dan Janal of
Shorewood, Minn., owner of PRLeads.com. He subscribes to
Qwitter.com at http://UseQwitter.com and wants advice on what to
do when the service notifies him that one of his Twitter
followers has “unfollowed” him.

From David Kadavy:

“For me, it’s not about reciprocity, it’s about genuine
relationships and useful information. Follow that principle and
you’ll know when it’s right to unfollow someone.”

From Gail Sideman:

“I have a small follower base compared to many of those with whom
I have Twitter relationships, but can say that all I choose to
follow are valuable minds in their industries or are lots of fun.
If they unfollow me, I’m not going to analyze why. You can’t
please everybody, especially in a base as broad as social media.”

From Meryl Evans:

“I signed up for Qwitter a long time ago and forgot about it.
Suddenly, it hit me with a bunch of unfollowers. Obviously, the
service was flaky. Nonetheless, I unsubscribed to the service
after that. It’s just not worth getting hurt or emotional about
those who stop following you.”

Read all the responses to this week’s Help This Hound question
http://tinyurl.com/cnb3b2

I’m running low on HTH questions. Send your own Help this Hound
question to:
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com?subject=HelpThisHound and include your city and state.

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

Karen Nardella of Conway, N.H. writes:

“I am a sole proprietor who owns the Emporium Consignment Outlet
and Home Staging Center, a consignment shop for high-end
furniture in Conway, N.H.

“I sell gently-used, high-quality, brand-name furniture such as
Ethan Allan, and I pay the owner 55 percent of the sale. All the
furniture is no more than 10 years old.

“With the sagging economy, what’s the best way on a very tight
budget to spread the word about what I’m doing? I need to attract
the attention of people who have furniture to sell as well as
people who can’t afford new furniture. What tips can your Hounds
share with me, either through traditional marketing channels or
by generating publicity?”

The Publicity Hound says:

The bad economy presents all kinds of great tie-ins to your
pitches. Let’s see how many ideas my Hounds can suggest. If you
have a great idea for Karen, post it to my blog at
http://tinyurl.com/dyscmt

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

Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.

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…
================================

Massive Twitter directory lists tools, apps galore
http://tinyurl.com/cnnz6n

————————————-

Where to See & Hear The Publicity Hound:

April 8, 2009

Teleseminar with David Mathison on how to use social media to
sell books and other products. 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern.
http://www.Publicityhound.com/teleseminardavemathison.htm

Follow me on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/PublicityHound

Friend me on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joan_Stewart/541605146

Connect with me on LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/publicityhound

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