The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #460 July 21, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
http://www.PublicityArticles.net (Ezine Archives)

Circulation: 38,964

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“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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In This Issue
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1. This Newsletter is Moving

2. Big TV Shows Want MJ Tie-ins

3. Selective Twitter

4. Rank Your Company Against the Best

5. How to Measure ROI of Web Hits

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog…

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1. This Newsletter is Moving
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This newsletter is moving to a new home–and I don’t want to lose
you!

Starting Aug. 11, I’ll be using a different email marketing
company that will allow me to:

–Send this newsletter in two formats: HTML and text. You can
decide which format you prefer. Many people who completed my
Customer Profile Survey earlier this year asked for an HTML
version.

–Segment readers according to your interests. That means I’ll
send the newsletter to everyone who subscribes and confirms their
subscription. But over time, I’ll be able to segment readers by
occupation, interests and other factors. Authors will receive
tips and special mailings only for authors. Speakers will receive
tips and special mailings only for speakers, and so on.

–Send special tips and follow-up messages to segmented groups
via autoresponder. From time to time, I’ll be offering a series
of email tips on certain topics that might interest only certain
segments. If you’re not interested, I won’t bother you with email
you don’t want.

Now, here’s the important part. So that I don’t lose you, you
must do two things:

First, subscribe to the new version of the newsletter by going to
http://www.PublicityHound.com/aweber/optin.htm and entering your
name and email address into the form.

Second, check your email inbox for a message with the subject
line: “Response Required: Confirm Your Publicity Hound
Subscription. Click on the link inside the email. If you miss
this step, you’ll miss receiving the weekly tips and you’ll be
like a lost puppy wandering the streets, looking for its mama.

Questions? Email me at mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com. If you
ever suddenly stop receiving the newsletter, let me know and
we’ll get you back onto the list.

Thanks for reading and for being such a loyal Publicity Hound.

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2. Big TV Shows Want MJ Tie-ins
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If I had a PR client who was aching to get onto one of the big TV
shows, the first thing I’d suggest is a Michael Jackson tie-in.

Within a week or two, the media will be going nuts again as fans
await Jackson’s autopsy results, and guest bookers on the major
talk shows and news programs will be looking for any angle they
can milk.

The most logical story idea is anything connected to Jackson’s
long history of confirmed health problems.

Here are ideas that could get experts onto big TV shows:

–What do most doctors do when they suspect a patient is seeing
multiple doctors to get prescriptions like pain-killers? Do they
typically call law enforcement officials or handle the problem on
their own?

–Dermatologists can discuss vitiligo, Jackson’s skin condition
that caused him to lose melanin, the pigment in skin.

–If you’re with someone who is suffering a heart attack or goes
into cardiac arrest, what should you do after you call 911? How
do you resuscitate? Should you even try?

–Estate attorneys, what can people learn from the huge mess that
has been created over Jackson’s estate, and the custody battle
for his three children?

If you don’t have a Michael Jackson angle, there are still plenty
of ways to get on big TV shows. Michelle Anton, who worked as
Oprah’s former guest booker, will share them all when Steve
Harrison interviews her on “The Three Big Secrets For Getting
Free Publicity as a Guest On America’s Top National TV Shows”
at 2 or 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, July 23.

If you can’t attend, recruit somebody to listen and take notes
for you. These sessions are seldom recorded. Register at
http://budurl.com/8263

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3. Selective Twitter
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If you use the Twitter Facebook Application to feed your Twitter
posts into Facebook, don’t be surprised if your Facebook friends
start complaining.

Facebook users who don’t use Twitter hate seeing your Facebook
status flooded with tweets and retweets. Sometimes they feel like
they’re missing out on the entire conversation. They have no idea
what “RT” means (retweet). Pretty soon, they’re acting like
anything but a friend.

Here’s the solution. It’s a Facebook application called Selective
Twitter at http://budurl.com/r44h

It will feed a tweet into Facebook only if you type “#FB” at the
end of the tweet. I’ve been using this for several weeks and like
it. But when I’m in a hurry, I sometimes forget to add those
three extra characters.

Blogger Kim Woodbridge explains it in greater depth at
http://budurl.com/lgu6 Apparently this is a huge problem, judging
from the more than 70 comments at her blog.

For more tips, see “11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on
Facebook” at http://budurl.com/jfgw

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4. Rank Your Company Against the Best
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If you aren’t capturing email addresses, you’re missing a chance
to build a targeted list of loyal prospects who can turn into
happy customers.

Give away a clever tool, application or assessment, and capturing
addresses isn’t all that difficult. You might even generate
publicity by mentioning what you’re doing in an online press
release.

Wetpaint and Altimer Group are giving you a chance to see how
your company’s use of social media ranks among the Top 100
companies. They’re offering a complimentary social media
Engagement Survey that asks five questions about your level of
involvement at places like blogs, Facebook, Twitter, photo
sharing sites and forums.

Take the survey at http://www.engagementdb.com/Rank-Yourself
When you’re done, give them your email address and you’ll receive
your report.

The Top 10 list includes Starbucks, Dell, eBay, Google,
Microsoft, Thomson Reuters, Nike, Amazon, SAP, and a tenth-place
tie between Yahoo! and Intel.

What kind of tool can you give away in exchange for an email
address? I came up with 55 ideas, and they’re all in “Special
Report #51: 55 Free Things You Can Offer to Generate Publicity or
Capture People’s Email Addresses.” Only $10. Order at
http://budurl.com/xyvl

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5. How to Measure ROI of Web Hits
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This week, seven Publicity Hounds have tips for Cynthia Flash of
Bellevue, Wash., who asked about how to put a dollar value on web
hits she gets for her PR clients.

From Lora Hyler:

“Unless there’s a time limit or special order code, it’s
difficult to tie in the web article to sales. However, it’s
essential that PR experts quantify the value of their work for
clients. Research web views for websites to determine if these
sites are worth pursuing for clients. Religiously do this as much
as you would check out circulation for hard copy media outlets,
and make sure the demographics (target audience) match with the
client’s needs.”

From Grant Johnston:

“I personally believe that you should be tracking all links as
the Internet is one of the very few mediums that you can actually
track your online promotional efforts right down to the cent!

“The classic quote is ‘50 percent of your advertising budget is
wasted, but no-one knows which 50 percent!’”

From Plumber Atlanta:

“I don’t think you can put a dollar amount on a link. I think the
more links you have, the better you will rank in search engines,
and how do you quantify the value of that?”

The Publicity Hound says:

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

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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Cynthia Barnes of Fort Wayne, Ind., writes:

“After moving to Fort Wayne, Ind., and being unable to find an
African American doctor, I decided to create
BlackHealthCareProviders.Org.

“The site has a nationwide free referral service that helps
consumers find black health care providers in their own
neighborhoods. The challenges I face are getting the word out to
enough doctors so they’ll visit the site and register, and
spreading the word to enough consumers to let them know that this
directory is available.

“I’d like to make money from the site eventually, via
pharmaceutical endorsements, but for now it’s just a labor of
love. What ideas do your Hounds have for marketing the site to
doctors and consumers?”

The Publicity Hound says:

African-American publications, radio programs, blogs, podcasts
and niche social media sites seem like the obvious answers. But I
know my Hounds will come up with many more ideas than those.
Hounds with suggestions for Cynthia can post them to my blog at
http://budurl.com/e7xr

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7. Hound Joke of the Week
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The Kennedy’s dog gave birth to four pups: Butterfly, Blackie,
Streaker and White Tips, while in the White House. During a
letter-writing campaign to find homes for the pups, one child
wrote in: “I will raise a dog to be a Democrat and bite all
Republicans.”

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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Nonprofit marketing: Contest offers ideas for creative taglines
http://budurl.com/mbzz

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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 cheat sheet “89 Reasons to Send a Press Release.”

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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