Publicity tips/Toilet Paper Wedding Dresses June 5, 2007
The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #349 June 5, 2007
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®
Circulation: 31,377
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"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"
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Small Business People Will Love Publicity Hound U.:
Several dozen small-business people who can't afford to hire assistants have asked me if Publicity Hound University, next week's graduate-level training, could help them, too.
Absolutely. Even though I'm marketing it to assistants, virtual assistants and interns, a few small business owners already have signed up. And I guarantee that do-it-yourselfers will end the week knowing more about how to generate publicity than many PR people.
You can also take advantage of free email support for 30 days. Because of the intense interest in the small-business community, I'm extending the deadline until tomorrow night at midnight for the early-bird registration special.
Learn more at http://www.publicityhound.com/university.htm If you've already signed up for the course, you will receive your photo ebook and complete instructions on how to participate in the course by Thursday.
Don't have an assistant yet? Our CDs and electronic transcripts on "How to Find a Virtual Assistant to Help with Your Publicity Campaign" are finally ready. Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/23lgpf
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In This Issue
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1. Toilet Paper Wedding Dresses
2. Lame Landing Pages
3. Think Jingle Bells
4. Answer Media Queries Carefully
5. Promoting a Book on Open Adoption
6. Help This Hound
7. Hound Quote of the Week
8. And at My Blog...
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1. Toilet Paper Wedding Dresses
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This is in honor of June brides everywhere.
It's the Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest, sponsored by Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com, a home-based business in Boca Raton, Florida that exists primarily to generate revenue from Google Adsense ads, sell a few products in its small online store, and sing the praises of cheap weddings.
To draw traffic to the website, owners Susan Bain; her mother Roxie Radford; and sister, Laura Gawne sponsor the contest that's under way right now. The deadline for entries is July 31. First prize is $500 cash.
If you didn't know any better, you'd think many of the winning gowns from the past two years came right out of the glossy bridal magazines.
Take a look for yourself:
http://www.cheap-chic-weddings.com/wedding-contest.html
http://www.cheap-chic-weddings.com/wedding-contest-2006.html
When I saw the photos, I was convinced the women actually wear their toilet paper gowns at their weddings, but Sue says that isn't the case. So why do the women go through all that trouble?
"I want to believe that the majority of people who enter probably visit our website a lot," Sue said. "Some of these people have very small budgets. To them, winning $500 is a lot. They come back and tell us they spent it on their wedding. I think they're motivated by the money, but these are crafty, very talented people."
Here's the best part. The entire promotion campaign costs a paltry $200. They hired Paul J. Krupin from Direct Contact to write and distribute one press release.
News of the contest showed up in several magazines' online versions including Glamour, Yahoo's The 9, "and in tons of newspapers all over the country, from Sacramento, California to southern Florida where we live," Sue said.
Feeling creative? Like you're on a roll? Check out this year's toilet paper contest rules: http://www.cheap-chic-weddings.com/wedding-contest-2007.html
Then think about what kind of a fun contest your own organization can sponsor. You'll get many more ideas for great contests in "Special Report #18: Clever Contests That Will Tempt Reporters to Call" at http://tinyurl.com/6uz9g
Thanks to Publicity Hound Gail Kent of Newport News, Virginia for tipping me off to this one.
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2. Lame Landing Pages
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Sometimes I want to cry when I hear people bragging about a major media hit they got for themselves or their PR client, and all the resulting website traffic.
Nine times out of 10, I quietly go to their website to see what all the fuss is about, spend a few minutes looking around, and wait for them to ask me for my email address.
I wait. And wait. And wait.
I keep clicking onto new pages. I wait some more. And click some more.
Nothing happens. It's sort of like walking into a store and never seeing a human being behind the counter or out on the floor.
When I'm tired of clicking, I leave, shake my head and say to myself "another wasted opportunity."
Why are so many of you obsessed with getting publicity, thinking it will make you rich and famous? But when you get it, you have no way of pulling traffic into your sales cycle?
Based on many of the Help This Hound questions you're submitting, I see a related problem. Most of you who are getting traffic have lame landing pages.
Lots of Publicity Hounds, like Patricia Dischler of Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, whose Help This Hound question is in Item #5 below, struggle with sales copy.
So do I. As a result, I've been studying landing pages and sales copy the last five years, devouring everything I can find. I stumbled upon one of the ultimate teachers who can explain better than I ever could how to benefit from all that free publicity by creating compelling landing pages with sales copy that sells.
He's Internet marketing expert Mark Widawer. I called him last week, told him the problem I'm seeing, and he said my Hounds need a crash course in landing pages. He graciously agreed to host a free webinar.
It's specifically for Publicity Hounds who need help:
--Capturing the email addresses of visitors at your website.
--Staying in touch with them regularly until they get to know, like and trust you.
--Writing a landing page that includes sales copy so compelling that a few customers are whipping out their plastic long before you've asked for the order.
If you don't sell anything, but you still want people to join your online community, this course is for you, too.
Our webinar is called "Six Simple Landing Page Secrets." It will be held at 8 PM Eastern (5 Pacific) on Thursday, June 14. The webinar will be about 60-70 minutes, and you'll need a telephone and a Mac or a PC to participate.
Seating is limited. If you've already got more customers than you can handle, please let a less fortunate Hound take one of the seats.
Sign up now at http://publicityhound.net/LandingPage and you'll receive immediate instructions on how to participate.
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3. Think Jingle Bells
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It's only June, and smart Publicity Hounds should be pitching-- right now--the many consumer magazines, wire services and other media that will be featuring holiday gift guides or special holiday features.
Many national magazines, for example, work six months in advance.That means that while you're reading this, editors are sifting through their files looking for press releases and photos of products that would make great gifts this holiday season.
I know. It seems almost obnoxious to be thinking of December just as summer is getting into full swing. But that's what savvy PR people are doing.
They're identifying consumer media, from general interest newspapers like USA Today to niche publications like Vegetarian Times or PC World, searching for the best home for news about their holiday-related product or service.
The Gift List already has done all the heavy lifting for you.Their researchers speak directly with each media outlet to get detailed data you can't find anywhere else: story themes, product features, deadlines, submission preferences, photography requirements, cross references, and more.
Their media lists deliver contacts for U.S. and Canadian magazines, newspapers, television, newswires and radio, as well as original content for the Internet.
Read the glowing testimonials from happy PR people at the Gift List website at http://snipurl.com/GiftListMedia. Then take a 24- hour no-cost, no obligation test drive.
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4. Answer Media Queries Carefully
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Mildred Culp, the syndicated columnist who writes about workplace issues, sent this note after I included her media lead in last week's newsletter:
"I received a number of responses to your blurb about sources.You might want to suggest to your clients that they read queries carefully. Almost 100 percent of them were from people who owned businesses. The query you sent out (someone sent it to me) specified that I wasn't looking for business owners.
"The market is huge, huge, huge. They need to be more targeted, having wasted their time. Opportunities aren't there if you don't fit the query."
OK, Hounds. If you're guilty as charged, to the dog house without your dinner! If you read a Media Lead and have questions about what the journalist is looking for, I'd rather you pester me instead of the journalist. I'll contact the journalist myself, ask for more details, then let you know if you're a good fit.
When you see a great media lead, are you Googling that journalist's name to see if they also have a blog? If not, you're missing a great opportunity to do some heavy-duty research on issues that journalist thinks are important, and tidbits about their personal life that just might help you craft a better pitch.
"How to Pitch the Best Bloggers & Create a Publicity Explosion"explains everything you need to know about getting in front of influential bloggers, including journalists, with your message, and creating a great impression. It's a recording of a teleseminar I conducted with Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff, aka The Blog Squad. All three of us blog, and we shared the secrets of how to get bloggers so excited that they write about you. It's available as a CD or an electronic transcript that you can be reading as soon as your order has been approved.
Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/m7ymr
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5. Promoting a Book on Open Adoption
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This week, five Publicity Hounds have ideas on how Patricia Dischler of Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin can market her book "Because I Loved You: A Birthmother’s View of Open Adoption"(Goblin Fern Press, 2006). She is concerned that her sales copy is missing the "compel them to buy" components. And she's looking for someone to help her write compelling copy.
From Lara Kay Loest:
"I am so warmed by your story! I would love to write a sales letter for you. Take a look at my sample below. While it isn't in your field, I know you’ll see the value."
http://www.SiteHunt.com/sevenbucks/
From Lia Allen:
"If you haven’t already, I would record your book in your own voice. Then I would put on your website an excerpt for people to listen to your story in your voice. This would also be something you could send on a CD as part of your promotional material. Second, I am a firm believer of mini-web sites. This story it too important and may be lost on your main site. I would create a site just for the book that would have a link to the audio excerpt with ordering instructions." (The Publicity Hound says: I use Audio Acrobat at http://tinyurl.com/phau3 for all my audio needs. Their customer service is superior to the more expensive Audio Generator.)
From Garth Gibson:
"There are lots of copywriters out there. Just Google 'copywriter' and you’ll see tons of them. Some of them might have even posted on (Joan's) blog, so check the archives at http://www.publicityhound.net/. I’ve posted a lot so I know there are tons of archives here.
"Check out those copywriters' advice and see if it's creative. If someone is willing to give good free advice, imagine what goodies they might give out when you plop some dough their way.
The Publicity Hound says:
--Check out The Publicity Hound's Resources Page at http://www.PublicityHound.com/resources.htm where you'll find several copywriters.
--Sign up now, before all the seats are filled, for the free webinar I'm doing with Mark Widawer on June 14 http://publicityhound.net/LandingPage
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6. Help This Hound
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Elaine Solart of Skull Valley, Arizona writes:
"I need help with getting the word out about Heartaculture, a specific way to make every choice aligned to the heart in order to lead a more fulfilling and productive life.
"You hear 'follow your heart' but no one tells you how to do it.
"Everyone can do it no matter where they are in their lives, but most people continue to do things daily they do not want to do. Depression and illness is the too frequent result.
"I need ideas for my national campaign to have the concepts of Heartaculture known in every household:
--Specific contact information for all editors online, or offline who would be interested in an article or interviews.
--Specific radio and TV contacts for talk or interviews.
--Contacts for organizations that need speakers for self- empowerment/spiritual growth.
--Contact information for joint venture partners or organizations where Heartaculture books, CDs, ebooks, could be a bonus.
--Any other great ideas for promotion"
The Publicity Hound says: I love the concept, Elaine. Let's see if my Hounds have it in their hearts to help with your project. Hounds with great ideas can post them to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/2v57bq
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7. Hound Quote of the Week
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In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will adore him and a cat that will ignore him.
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/
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8. And at My Blog...
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Want your own radio show? Learn how Wednesday
http://tinyurl.com/2zckxu
Copywriters, how to attract high-paying clients
http://tinyurl.com/yvz3ys
Writing articles? Think marketing, not just writing
http://tinyurl.com/yo4z9q
'The Sopranos' finale: Piggyback onto this one
http://tinyurl.com/2523lh
Great lobbies, receptionists worth bragging about
http://tinyurl.com/2zaprw
Need a proofreader? I found a great one
http://tinyurl.com/2xw5bx
White Papers teleclass tomorrow night
http://tinyurl.com/25sz8l
Internet marketers, know the hot topics
http://tinyurl.com/yqyfgn
Going green? Let everyone know
http://tinyurl.com/2xa95o
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Where to Meet or Hear The Publicity Hound®
June 6, 2007: Teleseminar for Attorneys
"How to Promote Your Law Practice and Generate Thousands of Dollars in Print, Broadcast and Online Publicity"
I'll be the guest expert on Steven Farley's one-hour teleseminar at 4 p.m. Eastern Time on how attorneys can generate free publicity. $49. Register at http://www.rainmakerretreat.com/teleseminar.htm
June 7, 2007: Teleseminar on Press Releases
I'll be the guest expert on Debra J. Schmidt teleseminar at noon Eastern Time on "The New Rules of Press Releases: How to Write Them for Consumers, not Only for Journalists." Noon Eastern Time. Register at http://loyaltyleader.com/live_teleseminar.iml?id=81
June 11-15: Publicity Hound University for Assistants
Join me and a stellar line-up of guest experts for five days packed with teleseminars that will train your assistant, virtual assistant or summer intern on how to help manage your publicity campaign. This is the only training session of its kind. Learn more at http://www.PublicityHound.com/university.htm
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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 list "89 Reasons to Send a News Release."
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Joan Stewart
a.k.a. The Publicity Hound®
3434 County KK
Port Washington, WI 53074
U.S.A.
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central)
Fax: 262-284-1737
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