The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #453 June 2, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
http://www.PublicityArticles.net (Ezine Archives)

Circulation: 39,854

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“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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In This Issue
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1. Grab Your Facebook Vanity URL

2. Publicize on Bank Marquees

3. Email Subject Lines

4. Link Your Plaxo, Facebook Accounts

5. How to Promote Tips Booklets

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Quote of the Week

8. And at My Blog…

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1. Grab Your Facebook Vanity URL
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Starting this week, Facebook users will be able to claim their
own vanity URLs.

The Techcrunch blog broke the story and says it isn’t sure
whether Facebook will charge users for this, but the rush to
claim a name will begin within a few days.

I’m mentioning it here because if you’re on Facebook, keep your
eyes open for an announcement and grab your name pronto!

Even if you’re not using Facebook, it would be worth it to go
there now and create an account. You don’t want to be kicking
yourself six months from now if you decide that you need to be
active on this site and discover that somebody already has your
name.

Vanity URLs have only been available to celebrities, or to
Facebook users who spend a wad of dough on advertising or have a
special business relationship with Facebook.

They’re a long-awaited improvement that will make it so much
easier for people to remember their friends’ URLs. Instead of
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joan-Stewart/541605146, my URL
would look something like this:
http://www.facebook.com/Joan-Stewart (This is not a real URL so
don’t expect it to go anywhere.)

But only if I claim it in time. Delay this task by just a few
hours and the name could be gone forever. That would be Big
Mistake Number 1.

Christine Buffaloe, of Serenity Virtual Assistant Services, who
creates and manages Facebook accounts for her clients, has
identified 11 more Big Mistakes which she’ll discuss when she’s
my guest on a teleseminar at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday,
June 4.

“11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook” is expected
to be sold out. Everyone who signs up receives a copy of the MP3
recording.

Register at http://www.PublicityHound.com/teleseminar.htm

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2. Publicize on Bank Marquees
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When my garden club sponsored its annual plant sale a few weeks
ago, we asked customers at the check-out counter how they heard
about the sale.

We were surprised that several people read about it on the
scrolling marquee outside a local bank.

Add these marquees to your publicity campaign because they
provide great exposure, particularly on busy streets. Banks see
this is a valuable community service.

In the rush to cover all the bases online, don’t forget about
these other tried-and-true offline publicity tools that can be
just as effective if you’re publicizing something local:

–Flyers on bulletin boards in the supermarket lobby or at the
check-out counter

–Church bulletins

–Local newsletters

–Local shoppers, those weekly publications that are mostly paid
ads

–Flyers at colleges and universities

–Bumper stickers

–Banners and signs

–Statement stuffers

–Door hangers

–Posters

–Calendar listings on local cable TV channels

–Flyers at colleges and universities

–Flyers in company cafeterias

You’ll find thousands more ideas in my ebook “How to be a Kick-
butt Publicity Hound,” a one-stop shop for everything you need to
know to create a publicity campaign for any product, service,
cause or issue. The 2009 update has six new chapters on social
media.

Read more about what you’ll learn at http://budurl.com/wvtn

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3. Email Subject Lines
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When you email a pitch or press release to the media, you have
one or two seconds to catch their attention with your subject
line.

Publicist Michelle Tennant, of Wasabi Publicity, sometimes flags
the media by using these phrases in her subject line, just before
the actual headline:

–Last-minute:

–Look:

–Media alert:

–Local:

It works. Michelle, one of the first graduates of The Publicity
Hound Mentor Program, has an outstanding track record of scoring
major media hits for her clients in top-tier media outlets.

Earlier this year, she got a client onto “Dr. Phil” the first day
they started working together. Learn how she did it, and listen
to the dozens of other publicity tips we shared when we were
guests recently on Voice of America’s “PRInsider” radio show with
Maureen Kedes.

The show is 60 minutes and covers a variety of topics, including
the importance of piggybacking onto celebrity news, pitching
traditional vs. new media, how to write headlines for your
pitches, and several of Michelle’s other client success stories.

Listen at http://budurl.com/l8jt

Read about my mentor program, in which I serve as your personal
writing coach, at
http://www.publicityhound.com/mentorprogram/intro.html

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4. Link Your Plaxo, Facebook Accounts
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Want an easy way to share your Facebook items with your friends
on Plaxo?

Plaxo now lets you post your items once and share them on both
sites. Of course, you control exactly what you share with whom.
Plus, Plaxo will honor your Facebook friendships on its site, if
you wish.

When you link your Plaxo and Facebook accounts, you can:

–Share your Facebook photos, links and videos with the
connections you choose on Plaxo.

–Sync your status updates between the two services.

–Automatically connect with your Facebook friends who use Plaxo.

–Share messages, links or reviews you post on Plaxo with your
friends on Facebook.

Connect your accounts at http://www.plaxo.com/settings/facebook

Sites like Plaxo can cut hours off the task of social networking.
BL Ochman, a social media expert and a prolific blogger,
discussed many more during the teleseminar, “How to do Social
Networking, Run a Business & Still Have a Life.” Learn more about
what we discussed at http://budurl.com/7gck

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5. How to Promote Tips Booklets
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This week, four Publicity Hounds have tips for Hugo Tschudin of
River Vale, N.J. He wants to find licensees and publicity for
his tips booklet, “Wake Up to Abundant Energy.”

From Greg Pincus:

“I think Twitter would be a great place to build up a following
of folks who could spread the word about the booklet and website.
To do this, I think many of the tips would need to be tweeted.”

From Sonia Singh:

“How about going after the alternative medicine segment? You
could reach out to naturopaths, Reiki healers, massage
therapists, etc. and reach a whole new market–those who are
looking for alternative solutions to health issues, like
fatigue!”

From Christine Buffaloe:

“I know of someone that could help you tremendously. You can find
Paulette Ensign at http://tinyurl.com/qqtpo2 Learn from someone
who has been well paid for publishing more than 1 million of her
‘business cards’ (tips booklets). She shows her consulting
clients how to publish and market them, too.”

The Publicity Hound says:

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

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

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6. Help This Hound
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Nancy L. Jerominski, of SeaTac, Wash., writes:

“I’m a holistic lifestyle coach who has pitched a variety of
story ideas, including ‘maddening menopausal symptoms stopped
without meds’ and ’stop doing crunches for flatter abs.’

“I actually HAVE pitched Oprah several times with no results.
There are lots of miserable menopausal women, and I can help
every one of them, just by tweaking what they eat.

“I write a regular wellness column for the local neighborhood
papers and have traded my services for ad space, but have yet to
enjoy any kind of real influx of new blood into my client base.
I’m on Facebook and am trying to figure out Twitter.

“After a fair amount of media exposure, I seem stuck. Suggestions
from your Hounds?”

The Publicity Hound says:

You seem to be in a crowded field, Nancy. But even so, there
should be enough menopausal women, or anyone else who needs to
get fit, to keep you busy for months. Hounds with ideas on how
Nancy can pump up her fitness practice can post them to my blog
at http://budurl.com/w66e

As for Twitter, stop struggling! Twitter expert Warren Whitlock
explains “How to Use Twitter to Amass an Army of Followers,
Customers & Valuable Contacts–and Promote.” Read more about the
teleseminar I hosted with him at http://budurl.com/bupu

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7. Hound Quote of the Week
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An elderly lady sat on her front porch reflecting on her long
life, when a Fairy Godmother suddenly appeared and offered to
fulfill three wishes for her.

“First, I’d like to be rich.”

Poof! The Fairy Godmother turned her rocking chair into solid
gold.

“And I wouldn’t mind being a young and beautiful princess.”

Poof! The Fairy Godmother turned the old woman into an exquisite
young princess, with a priceless crown of jewels.

“Could you possibly turn my wonderful dog into a handsome
prince?”

Poof! There, in front, stood the most handsome young man anyone
had ever seen.

As he came toward her, her knees weakened. He bent down, brushing
his lips across her ear as he whispered, “I bet you’re sorry you
had me neutered.”

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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Your media pitch isn’t dead until you hear the word ‘no’
http://budurl.com/96pn

Publicity ops for DIY weddings, coaches and franchises
http://budurl.com/mrc4

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Where to See & Hear The Publicity Hound:

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http://www.twitter.com/PublicityHound

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

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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
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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