The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #492 Feb. 16, 2010
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.com/
http://www.publicityHound.net/ (Blog)
http://www.publicityarticles.net/ (Ezine Archives)

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

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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

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

1. Four Benefits of a Google Profile

2. Video: Facebook Changes

3. New Media Leads Service

4. Promoting Book Videos

5. Help This Hound

6. Hound Joke of the Week

7. And at My Blogs…

======================================
1. Four Benefits of a Google Profile
======================================

Have you ever Googled your name, and then flinched when you saw
what showed up on the first page?

If so, you might be able to push what you didn’t like onto Page
2. That’s the first benefit of creating your Google profile at
http://tinyurl.com/createmyprofile

It’s sort of like a mini version of a Facebook profile page.
After you list your name, occupation and location, your profile
will appear in a box on the first page of Google’s search results
for your name. Next to the thumbnail information and your photo,
people can click a link to your full Google profile.

Three more benefits of creating your profile:

–It’s needed before you can start using Buzz, the hot new social
tool that Google introduced last week.

–You can link to your website, blog, Twitter and Facebook pages,
social bookmarking profiles, photo-sharing sites, and other
places where you want traffic.

–Your profile page can be your main home on the Web if you don’t
yet have a website.

After you’ve created it, here are five ways to share it:

–Add it to your IM status message.

–Link to it in your email signature.

–Note it in Google Reader.

–Post about it on Twitter.

–Share it on Facebook.

How you write your profile often determines whether someone wants
to learn more about you, or bail out. See “Can Your Social Media
Profile Pass the 10-Second Test?” at
http://tinyurl.com/socialmediaprofiles

======================================
2. Video: Facebook Changes
======================================

Last week, I wrote about Facebook’s redesigned home page and
heard from lots of readers who said they were still having
problems navigating it.

Thanks to Publicity Hound Christine Buffaloe, my virtual
assistant, for sharing this video tour of the redesign:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=484066065483

Do you have a VA yet? Knowing where to look and what questions to
ask these independent contractors will save you time. See “How to
Hire a Virtual Assistant to Help with Your Publicity Campaign” at
http://tinyurl.com/prassistants

=====================================
3. New Media Leads Service
=====================================

Here’s another free media leads service designed to give you
daily email updates, Monday through Friday, of queries by
journalists, broadcasters and bloggers who are looking for
specific types of sources to interview.

Reporter Connection, created by Bill and Steve Harrison, tells
you which journalists are looking for sources with your
expertise. You respond, and then you wait to see if the
journalist wants to interview you. You can sign up for the
service at http://ReporterConnection.com/JoinFree/?11577 (I’m an
affiliate).

Almost every week through March 20, they’ll choose one subscriber
and give away something cool like an Amazon Kindle, digital
camera or GPS.

Publicity Hound Steve Hines, of Marketing Resource Management,
said a query he saw in Reporter Connection resulted in almost a
dozen radio interviews about the Olympics.

“I had covered four Summer Games, one Winter Olympics and 15+
world championships in a variety of sports as a photojournalist,”
Steve said. “The stations were looking for comments on being a
part of the Games.”

You could be next.

====================================
4. Promoting Book Videos
====================================

This week, four Publicity Hounds have suggestions for Jenni
Bowring-McDonough of St. Paul, MN on how her husband, Tim, can
let authors and publishers know about the promotional book videos
(trailers) he creates.

From Meryl K. Evans:

“Go the extra mile and add captions or subtitles to your
trailers. You’ll make a lot of people happy, not just those who
rely on captions. So few videos are captioned so folks like me
mention those that are by word of mouth. The website
http://www.22frames.com/ lists all captioned videos or videos
without words, so submit your videos there to reach that
audience.”

From Martine Ehrenclou:

“Maybe you can connect with independent publishers through the
Independent Book Publishers Association (formerly PMA). They have
a monthly newsletter that goes out to all the publishers. You
could place an ad or write an article on the advantages of book
trailers for book promotion and list your name and website
address.”

From Alexis O’Neill:

“It seems that the real buyers of trailers today are authors,
since the houses claim they have no money. Find out from the
houses/agents what their upcoming lists will include and have
them pass your information along to their authors.”

The Publicity Hound says:

Tim should write a series of articles on how to create book
trailers, how to use the videos, and examples of success stories
from authors who have used them. See “How to Write How-to
Articles” at http://tinyurl.com/howtoarticles

===================================
5. Help This Hound
===================================

Gabrielle Javier-Cerulli, of Rochester, NY writes:

“I just launched the Global Network of Expressive Arts
Facilitators at http://www.expressiveartsfacilitators.com/ and
need to get the word out about it and attract new members on an
international scale.

“It’s a membership-based organization for facilitators, all non-
therapists, who use the creative process (painting, drumming,
singing, journal writing, collage-making) with their clients with
the intent of self-discovery, clarity, enjoyment and healing.

“Our mission is to build community for these heart- and soul-
centered facilitators, and also to publicize our members and what
they do by listing them on the online directory, highlighting
them in the Member of the Week, a BlogTalkRadio show and giving
them an opportunity to submit their articles on videos to the
website.

“We have Twitter and Facebook pages and a blog. I’d love to hear
other ideas of getting the word out to this global niche market.
Also, how do we go about finding speaking engagements to talk
about the network?”

The Publicity Hound says:

Gabrielle, your topic lends itself perfectly to video. Let’s see
what my Hounds suggest on ways you can use it, and any of their
other ideas. Hounds with suggestions for Gabrielle can post them
to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/artsfacilitators

=================================
6. Hound Joke of the Week
=================================

The front door was accidentally left open and our dog was gone.
After unsuccessfully whistling and calling, my husband got in the
car and went looking for him.

He drove around the neighborhood for some time with no luck.

Finally, he stopped beside a couple out for a walk and asked if
they had seen our dog.

“You mean the one following your car?” they asked.

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/

==================================
7. And at My Blogs…
==================================

Consider retweeting these blog posts:

Don’t be anonymous at social media sites: Use a gravatar
http://ow.ly/15RAq

Let people comment at your blog without logging in first
http://tinyurl.com/commentatblogs

Action Sports Hub magazine needs articles
http://tinyurl.com/actionsportshub

————————————

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

Join my Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/publicitytips

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

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #487 Jan. 12, 2010
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityHound.net/ (Blog)
http://www.PublicityArticles.net (Ezine Archives)

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

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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

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

1. The Missing Marketing Tool

2. Ban This Cliche

3. How to Attract PR Clients

4. Promoting a Book for Associations

5. Help This Hound

6. Hound Joke of the Week

7. And at My Blogs…

======================================
1. The Missing Marketing Tool
======================================

At a small networking breakfast I attended last week, I met five
people who were either job-hunting or were there to talk about
their businesses.

They brought their resumes, engaging personalities, impressive
marketing materials and succinct elevator pitches and shared them
with our table of 10.

But all five were missing a critical marketing tool that could
have landed them a job or set them apart from their competitors.

Not one of them had a blog. For more than an hour, the
conversation centered on how each of them can reach their target
audiences.

By the end of the breakfast, I lost it.

“Everyone at this table should be blogging!” I yelled. With nine
pairs of eyes riveted on me, I explained:

–A blog establishes your credibility and expertise.

–It’s like a giant magnet that pulls in traffic.

–It can impress visitors and turn them into buyers.

–Many of your competitors are blogging.

–Unlike Twitter, you can use your blog to discuss topics in-
depth.

–You can engage visitors and carry on a conversation with them
in the comments section.

–A blog can give you a huge online presence, even if you can’t
afford a website.

–It can help you gain more traction than publicity in
traditional media because, unlike most media people, bloggers
love to link to each other. Get in front of just one influential
blogger and you can be all over the Internet within minutes.

Finally, they got it.

If you’re already blogging, good for you! If you aren’t, it’s not
too late to start.

Blogging expert Patsi Krakoff will be my guest during a
teleseminar on “Time-saving Tips for Smart Business Blogging” at
4 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, Jan. 20. Everyone who registers
will receive the MP3 recording and a handout that includes 77
ideas for finding blog content, and several simple formulas on
how to write blog posts quickly and easily.

Register at http://budurl.com/smartbusinessblogs and then start a
list of questions for Patsi.

======================================
2. Ban This Cliche
======================================

You can’t listen to a TV newscast without hearing somebody wrap
up their commentary with the tired phrase “at the end of the
day.”

Watch the talking heads shows on Sunday morning and you can’t
escape it. Even the sportscasters and meteorologists are using
it.

It’s showing up in blog posts, media pitches, press releases,
press kits, emails and how-to articles. Just for the heck of it,
I went to http://search.twitter.com and typed “at the end of the
day” into the search box. It’s even showing up in tweets!

When I critique articles and pitches for people in my mentor
program, I’m on the hunt for cliches and other mistakes that
dilute writing. If you need your own writing coach, find out if
you’re a good candidate for the program at
http://www.publicityhound.com/mentorprogram/intro.html

For smaller projects, I do telephone consulting at $300 an hour
and can help you brainstorm pitches, create a press kit, develop
a social media strategy, find joint venture partners, critique
your website and create an impressive presence online, one step
at a time. Email JStewart@PublicityHound.com with several times
you’re available.

===================================
3. How to Attract PR Clients
===================================

If you work in the PR industry and you’re fishing for new
clients, here’s a clever way to hook ‘em.

Choose a company that you’d love to have as a client. Then keep
your eyes open for coverage their competitors are receiving. When
you see a story written about a competitor, print it or clip it,
and send it along with a short note to one of the key decision-
makers at the company. The note can say something like, “Thought
you’d be interested in this.” Sign the note and include your
business card.

Do it again, then again. After you’ve sent two or three articles
to the same person, follow up with a phone call. I’m betting that
you’ll receive a return phone call, and maybe even a contract.

A Publicity Hound shared that tip during the teleseminar I hosted
titled “24 Ways to Attract Clients to Your PR Practice.” PR pro
Marcia Yudkin joined me in discussing 24 ways to bring more
business through the door. We’ve both used many of the ideas
ourselves, and we both have found two ideas that work
particularly well.

They can for you, too. Read more about what we discussed and
download the entire list of 24 ideas that you can be reading
within minutes while you’re waiting for the CD to arrive. It’s
also available as an electronic transcript. Read more about what
it includes at http://budurl.com/morePRclients

====================================
4. Promoting a Book for Associations
====================================

This week, four Publicity Hounds have tips for Linda Alexander of
Pitman, NJ, who wants advice on how to market a book. It helps
new members on association boards understand their new roles and
learn the skills and competencies they need to be a successful
board member.

From Leslie Sturgeon:

“Contact the American Society of Association Executives and try
to sell to the association itself for them to resell. Or check
out http://www.asaecenter.org and contact association management
companies and association executives directly.”

From Mary Callen:

“Send a sample copy, or sample pages by email if you’re on a
budget, to the executive director of every association you
mention. Work your way into newsletters for groups of association
managers with the free sample offer. If it’s truly a valuable
resource, they’ll jump at the chance to purchase and distribute a
book to each new member of their boards of directors. A few
copies to pass between newbies can be used and reused.”

From Mitch Carnell:

“Get leading community volunteers from several states or
nationally known volunteer leaders to write and publish reviews
in local and national publications. For example: the CEO of a
United Way, president of the Boy Scouts, chairman of a food bank.
Try for name and organization recognition. Some universities have
courses dealing with the not-for-profit world. I taught a
graduate course on the subject for many years. Contact the
professors.”

The Publicity Hound says:

How about pitching influential bloggers who write for nonprofits?
One of the best is Nancy Schwartz and her Getting Attention blog
at http://www.gettingattention.org/ See my article “Let Bloggers
Create Publicity for You” at http://budurl.com/49dw.

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

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

===================================
5. Help This Hound
===================================

From Bonnie Stuempfig of Waukesha, WI:

“I wrote a book, Heavenly Connections, a soft-cover spiral-bound
book, and hoped to sell it mostly at my church and other area
churches, but there seems to be a ho-hum attitude despite the
fact that I’m already a published writer and the stories are
uplifting and entertaining.

“They include 24 God-based contributions from other church
members and me, along with a few poems and four pages of color
photos.

“My plan was to donate a good portion of the proceeds to the
church, but now I’m thinking it would be best to just bypass the
church and pitch it to bookstores and gift shops.

“I’m working on getting a website and am doing nothing with
social media. I should have done all this earlier but have put
more than two years into this book and wanted it printed by
Christmas. Now, I can concentrate on the marketing but don’t
know where to start.

“Thanks for any help your Hounds can give.?

The Publicity Hound says:

The most difficult part of your task will be to promote the book
without a website. Let’s see what ideas my Hounds have. Hounds,
you can share them at my blog at http://budurl.com/religiousbook

=================================
6. Hound Joke of the Week
=================================

“I know that dogs are pack animals, but it is difficult to
imagine a pack of standard poodles…and if there was such a
thing as a pack of standard poodles, where would they rove to?
Bloomingdale’s?

–Yvonne Clifford, American actress

==================================
7. And at My Blogs…
==================================

Starting this week, I’ll be including on this list blog posts
I’ve written at MySocialMediaSolution.com, the blog I share with
Jeanne Hurlbert, my new business partner. The second post below
is from that blog.

3 business blogging tips to save time–even if you hate writing
http://budurl.com/bizbloggingtips

30 PR experts you should follow on Twitter
http://budurl.com/twitterprexperts

Social media boosts book marketing guru’s Alexa rankings
http://budurl.com/kremeralexaranking

————————————

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

Join my Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/publicitytips

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

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #481 Dec. 8, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityHound.net/ (Blog)
http://www.publicityarticles.net/ (Ezine Archives)

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

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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

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

1. Your Bio: A Sleeping Pill?

2. Journalists Who Twitter

3. Corporate Sponsors Want You

4. Promoting Booklets About Aging

5. Help This Hound

6. Hound Video of the Week

7. And at My Blog…

====================================
1. Your Bio: A Sleeping Pill?
====================================

If your bio is anything like the bios written by most other
people, it’s more potent than a sleeping pill.

Boring bios usually include a big gray paragraph of schools
attended and academic degrees earned, a long list of awards, no
fun facts, and nothing that shows the writer’s personality.

These bios, void of anything remotely interesting, are bogging
down websites and online press kits and turning off potential
customers, clients and the media.

I came across photographer Terry Turrentine’s bio last week while
preparing my presentation on “Ezines, Blogs & Bios” for the
smARTist Telesummit 2010. I found her bio so intriguing that I
started to dissect it.

Terry photographed egrets for her book, Great Egret. Her bio
concentrates on only one theme: her relationship with birds.

She discusses learning how to shoot them when she was 10 years
old and a card-carrying member of the National Rifle Association.
She lovingly mentions the mallard wing her father gave to her,
which she tucked into her drawer with her other cherished
possessions. She later admits to feeling revulsion for having
killed birds.

Her bio gives readers an intimate glimpse into her life and what
shaped her love of birds. It’s void of the standard “where I
attended school” facts that can clutter a beautifully written
piece.

Take a look: http://terryturrentine.com/artist-bio.html

So what about her degrees earned, schools attended, awards won
and other minutiae that ruin bios? You can include them in your
standard resume, and link to it from your bio.

“Special Report #46: Tips for Rewriting Your Boring Bio,”
includes ideas for various ways to approach your rewrite,
examples of bios I love, and how to incorporate key events from
your childhood, just like Terry did. Only $10. Order at
http://budurl.com/boringbio

If you’re an artist whose marketing campaign needs a jolt,
there’s still time to register for the smARTist Telesummit 2010.
Go to http://budurl.com/smartistelesummit (I earn a commission
for selling seats to this event).

===================================
2. Journalists Who Twitter
===================================

Thanks to book marketing guru John Kremer’s excellent ezine,
“Book Marketing Tips of the Week,” at http://www.bookmarket.com/

He provides a list of where to find journalists who Twitter, and
it’s important because many journalists use these sites to find
experts to interview. “Follow those journalists that you want to
begin creating relationships with,” John says.

http://www.journalisttweets.com
Allows you to track what journalists are writing about you, your
book, or your subject. Includes email alerts. Also allows you to
locate journalists on Twitter by subject interest.

http://www.justtweetit.com/media/reporters-press
Features 156 reporters and editors.

http://www.mediaontwitter.com/
Features more than a thousand journalists by name, Twitter ID,
title/beat, media outlet and country.

http://www.muckrack.com/
Features journalists by beats (world, U.S., politics, business,
technology, sports, arts, etc.) and media company.
Add to those three of my favorites: Harry Hoover’s three lists of
media, U.S. journalists and Canadian journalists that Twitter at
http://listorious.com/MyCreativeTeam

If you’re twittering and not seeing a return on your investment
of time, check out “How to Use Twitter to Amass an Army of
Followers, Customers & Valuable Contacts–and Promote,” a two-
part teleseminar series I hosted with Twitter expert Warren
Whitlock, at http://budurl.com/WarrenonTwitter

====================================
3. Corporate Sponsors Want You
====================================

One of the best ways for corporations to market themselves is
through experts like Brendon Burchard and Jacqueline Whitmore and
maybe even you.

After a lot of trial and error, Brendon cracked the code and
developed a surprisingly easy way to get major companies like
Wachovia, Coke, Toyota and Sony Pictures to promote and sponsor
his books, publicity and speaking tours.

Jacqueline has had equally impressive success.

She’s the gift-giving expert for Sam’s Club, the gift buying
expert for Office Depot, and a national spokesperson for Sprint.
She also has partnered with Clarisonic skin care products and
Hologic, which sells imaging equipment for the health care
industry. In both cases, Brendon and Jacqueline found companies
that were a perfect fit with their area of expertise and have
received mountains of free publicity from national print and
broadcast media.

“When you’re aligned with a corporation, especially a Fortune 500
company or one that has a reputable name, you’re perceived as
more credible because that corporation has chosen you as its
spokesperson,” she said.

In fact, at the National Speakers Association convention last
year, Jacqueline heard Brendon speak about how to land corporate
sponsors and said he was one of the highest-rated speakers at the
event.

This year, Brendon will share his secrets during a free
teleseminar this Thursday, Dec. 10, with Steve Harrison. Discover
how you can use his methods to promote your own book, product or
business, just like Brendon and Jacqueline do, and get PR firms
to pay all your expenses.

The call will be presented twice?-at 2 and 7 p.m. Eastern. If you
can’t make it, please recruit someone to listen and take notes
for you. Register at
http://www.SponsorshipTrainingTeleseminar.com/?10011 (I earn a
commission for customers I send to Steve Harrison).

===================================
4. Promoting Booklets About Aging
===================================

This week, five Publicity Hounds have tips for Ted Fuller of
Lafayette, CA, on how to promote his two tips booklets for senior
citizens, “The Best Ideas Yet About Aging Successfully” and “Tips
for Writing a Great Memoir.”

From Berg:

“It shouldn’t be too expensive to send actual samples.”

From Mary Jane Hurley Brant:

“Allot a certain amount of your newly written booklets and make
like Santa and give them away for free. Also, start giving talks
with a ‘buy 2, get 2 free’ offer.”

From Carrollyn C. Cox:

“Many retired seniors have the time to spend on Facebook, Twitter
and especially LinkedIn. Build a Facebook page and promote via
other social media sites.”

The Publicity Hound says:

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

=================================
5. Help This Hound
=================================

Gabrielle Yetter of Marblehead, MA, writes:

“I recently launched my new company and produce The Screaming
Pillow which is a pillow you scream into when you need to let off
steam.

“It came about after my sister and her baby were killed in a car
crash many years ago and my mother was counseled by a bereavement
therapist to scream into a pillow. The product is more of a
novelty item and I’m selling it through my website because it
isn’t cost-effective to sell retail.

“I have been doing a huge amount of online promotion and recently
had a nice article written about me in our local paper which
resulted in a decent number of sales.

“But I’m looking for creative ways to get the message out to
broader audiences. I’ve made contact with a few therapists who
love it and I have lots of ideas, but am somewhat limited since I
am a company of one.

“I’d love some ideas from your Hounds about how I might be able
to reach more targeted audiences and ways in which I may be able
to get press other than just in our local paper.”

The Publicity Hound says:

Gabrielle, your challenge is easier than you think because you
have a compelling story behind the product–something media love.
Hounds, post your best ideas to my blog at
http://budurl.com/screamingpillow

==================================
6. Hound Video of the Week
==================================

Dread trimming the tree this year? Get some inspiration from this
video, courtesy of Publicity Hound Kathleen Mahan of San Juan
Capistrano, CA. Watch how these clever four-legged Hounds trim
their own tree. One even climbs up on a ladder. If they can do
it, you can do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUtPKbMwnRo

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/

==================================
7. And at My Blog…
==================================

Offer 30-second spots featuring “how to” tips for local radio
http://budurl.com/radiospots

Giving free speeches? More places where you can speak
http://budurl.com/givefreespeeches

10 ways to get free publicity from the Tiger Woods mess
http://budurl.com/PRfromtigerwoods

————————————

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

Join my Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/publicitytips

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

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #480 Nov. 24, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityHound.net/ (Blog)
http://www.publicityarticles.net/ (Ezine Archives)

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

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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

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

1. Stop Talking About Yourself

2. Call Your Trade Associations

3. Oprah’s Farewell

4. For Artists Only

5. Help This Hound

6. Hound Quote of the Week

7. And at My Blog…

====================================
1. Stop Talking About Yourself
====================================

If social media were a cocktail party, many of us would be
heading for home by 8:30.

That’s because everybody seems to be talking about themselves:

“I’m standing in line at Starbucks.”

“I’m starting my day with a hot bowl of oatmeal.”

“I just dropped my kids off at school. It’s pouring rain!”

Chris Brogan, who is arguably one of the top social media experts
in the world and whose blog has been ranked Number 1 by
Advertising Age magazine, says we should be spending 12 times as
much time talking about other people as we do about ourselves.

He spoke last week at the Web 2.0 Expo in New York City. A 10-
minute snippet of his presentation at
http://budurl.com/chrisbroganvideo may be one of the most
valuable videos you’ll watch all year. His tips:

–If you’re not spending time using http://www.Search.Twitter.com
or the search part of your social media application, you’re
missing one of the best opportunities that social media offers.
That’s because you can search for people who are talking about
specific topics. Following conversations is often more valuable
than following people.

–We should be listening far more than worrying about what to
say.

–When we share helpful tips and information from other people,
that makes us more valuable to the people who follow us. Eighty
percent of his Twitter posts are responses to things other people
have tweeted.

–No continual “barking” (his words, not mine) about your
products.

–The difference between an audience and a community is the way
you turn the chairs.

As you watch the video, notice the tweets that show up on the
screen behind him. Many of them are from audience members who are
tweeting about his presentation. They’re using the hashtag #w2e
in their tweets. That makes it easy for anyone searching for
information about the conference to find it at
http://www.search.twitter.com/

Read more about how to use hashtags for publicity at my blog at
http://budurl.com/usehashtags

===================================
2. Call Your Trade Associations
===================================

When New York Times columnist Ron Lieber wanted to end his recent
series of columns on money and divorce with advice from financial
advisors whose own marriages fell apart, he turned to the
Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts looking for experts.

The association contacted its members, including Publicity Hound
Scott Martin of Lake Mary, Fla, who runs DivorceDirection, a
financial advisory firm. Scott jumped at the chance to get into
the Times. He emailed the reporter, offered his expertise, and
was quoted in Saturday’s article at
http://budurl.com/moneyanddivorce

Don’t wait for your trade association or professional group to
contact you. Call or email them and let them know that if
journalists contact them looking for sources, you’ll be happy to
help. Your trade associations will welcome your call because they
won’t have to spend time searching for members who would agree to
be interviewed.

Scott, by the way, used my teaching tool “How to Create a Media
Plan” to build a relationship with the Times reporter. Scott is
also reviewing the more than 200 story ideas, from January to
December, that come with the step-by-step instructions, and
deciding which ones he’ll incorporate into his own media plan.
Read more about “How to Create a Media Plan” at
http://www.publicityhound.com/mediaplan.htm

====================================
3. Oprah’s Farewell
====================================

Many Publicity Hounds are devastated by the news that Oprah
Winfrey is ending her talk show in September 2011, but not nearly
as devastated as local affiliates, which share advertising
revenues with syndicated shows like “Oprah.”

Affiliates will be the big losers when Oprah says good-bye after
23 years so she can concentrate on creating the Oprah Winfrey
Network (OWN). It’s expected to launch January 2011 on cable and
will feature ?lifestyle?? programs shaped by Oprah. She isn’t
expected to have her own talk show.

That means that if you’ve been dying to get onto “Oprah,” you
still have almost two years to pitch her producers. Here are
three tips for getting onto the show:

–Pitch a topic that pushes Oprah’s hot buttons, like helping
children live better lives.

–Pitch an entire segment, not just yourself.

–Research her producers by reading their blogs at
http://budurl.com/oprahproducersblog

When I interviewed Susan Harrow, the foremost expert of “How to
Get Booked on Oprah,” Susan revealed Oprah’s other hot-button
topics and offered tips galore on how to get onto the show. Learn
more about what we discussed at http://budurl.com/bookedonoprah

===================================
4. For Artists Only
===================================

Most artists I know are incredibly creative, but they struggle to
sell their artwork when the economy is booming.

Today, when unemployment is still rising and there’s no end in
sight to the gloom and doom, artwork is one of the first things
consumers can do without.

If you’re a jeweler, potter, fabric artist, painter or
woodworker, join me in January for the smARTist Telesummit 2010,
hosted by art marketing expert Ariane Goodwin. I’ll present a
program on “Ezines, Bios & Blogs! The Top 3 Writing Problems That
Stop Artists Cold? and How to Solve Them.”

If you’re an artist who wants to turn an art passion into an art
business, or salvage an art business that has been ravaged by the
economy, don’t miss this one. It’s, by far, the very best
marketing training you’ll get anywhere.

The smARTist Telesummit 2010 launches today with the traditional
Early Bird Special. Save $50 by registering before Dec. 8.

Still not sure? Join Ariane, by phone, on Dec. 8 for the ?Virtual
Opening Reception Party,? a free teleseminar where the 11
speakers, including me, will whet your appetite with solid take-
away tips. Sign up for the reception party, or register for the
entire telesummit at http://budurl.com/smartistelesummit

=================================
5. Help This Hound
=================================

Mitch Carnell of Charleston, SC, writes:

“My book, Christian Civility in an Uncivil World, has just been
published and I need help promoting it. The other contributors
from different denominations are all much better known than I am.

“The publisher sells mostly online and relies on distributors to
get it into bookstores and on Amazon. The book is great for small
group discussions in churches and college classes. Each chapter
can stand alone. My chapter on ‘The Power of Words’ brings
everything together.

“Paul Raushenbush, associate dean of the Princeton University
Chapel, wrote a dynamic foreword. I am doing all of the normal
book publicity tasks but I need some breakthrough help. Can your
Hounds offer their best ideas on how to market the book?”
The Publicity Hound says:

Social media provides opportunities galore to target niche
audiences like a laser beam. How about it Hounds? How can Mitch
use traditional and social media to sell more books? Post your
best ideas to my blog at http://budurl.com/gjzx

==================================
6. Hound Quote of the Week
==================================

“You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give
you a look that says, ‘My God, you’re right! I never would’ve
thought of that!’”  — Dave Barry

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/

==================================
7. And at My Blog…
==================================

13 ways to use royalty-free stock images in a PR campaign
http://budurl.com/stockimages

Bad news releases outed by journalists with blogs
http://budurl.com/badreleases

Speakers, publicize your speaking engagements these 9 ways
http://budurl.com/4w3z

————————————

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

Join my Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/publicitytips

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

The Publicity Hound’s
Tips of the Week
Issue #470 Sept. 22, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
http://www.PublicityArticles.net (Ezine Archives)

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

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

Receive this ezine direct to your desktop
http://www.publicityarticles.net/feed/rss/
===================================
         In This Issue
===================================

1. How to Promote Local Events on Twitter

2. Five Social Media Marketing Ideas

3. Entertainment Tonight Needs Pitches

4. Promoting a Reading Program

5. Help This Hound

6. Hound Joke of the Week

7. And at My Blog…
=========================================
1. How to Promote Local Events on Twitter
=========================================

You can find some of the best tips by reading comments at blogs.

For example, if you’re curious about how to use Twitter to
publicize local events, you’ll find a slew of tips in the
comments at http://budurl.com/uymm

They include:

–Use Twitter Grader at http://twitter.grader.com/ After entering
your Twitter username and getting your grade, click on your city,
state or country. A list of local tweeters will appear. If you
find them of like mind, you could choose to follow them. Then
tweet about your event so they’ll see it.

–Download and install Tweetdeck, a browser that will let you
organize your tweets and see everything all at once. Then set up
search columns based on your local area. You’ll then “see” people
talking about that area. Chances are that if they are talking
about it, they either live there, or visit regularly, so follow
them. Chances are also good they’ll follow you, too.

–Follow the premiere local tweeters in your area, including
bars, hotels, clubs and local businesses whose target customers
are the people you want to attract. Retweet events and posts they
tweet. This will tell them you’re interested in promoting what
they’re doing and, in turn, they may follow you and promote your
event.

–Two good tools for finding Twitterers in your area are
http://TwitterHawk.com and http://Twellowhood.com

Be sure to read the rest of the comments for lots more tips.

Now that you have the tools, adopt a good strategy. Warren
Whitlock shows you how. See “How to Use Twitter to Amass an Army
of Followers, Customers & Valuable Contacts–and Promote” at
http://budurl.com/b8nj
=======================================
2. Five Social Media Marketing Ideas
=======================================

Social media is more than just collecting Facebook fans, sending
tweets and joining the conversation. It’s also about making all
that hard work pay off.

Here are five great social media marketing ideas, courtesy of DP
Dialogue, a social media marketing agency in Australia. All of
them are free. Pick and choose which ones are best for you:

–Start a Twitter account and give people incentives to follow
you. Read their blog post to see how Domino’s Pizza did this at
http://budurl.com/8flq

–Use Google’s keyword tool at
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal to find
whatever keywords related to your business are being searched for
the most. Blog about them and make videos about them.

–Become an expert and start blogging or podcasting. (Read the
excellent Expertise Imperative White Paper that explains how to
become an expert at http://www.PublicityHound.com/expertise.pdf
It was written specifically for professional speakers from a wide
variety of backgrounds. Use it as a starting point to grow your
own expertise.)

–Start a Facebook group that people will want to join and subtly
sponsor it. If you sell candles, start a Facebook group for
people who are afraid of the dark. (See “11 Ways to Avoid Missed
Opportunities on Facebook” at http://budurl.com/wcxb

–Figure out who the key influencers are for whatever it is
you’re selling. Read their blogs and leave comments on them
regularly. (When it comes time to pitch them, see “How to Pitch
the Best Bloggers & Create a Publicity Explosion” at
 http://budurl.com/xlgw
========================================
3. Entertainment Tonight Needs Pitches
========================================

Entertainment Tonight has asked PitchRate.com, a media leads
service, to suggest segment ideas and experts to be featured in
short segments of three to five minutes. Segments must be unique
and interesting.

PitchRate will review your pitches and pass along the best ones
to Entertainment Tonight. If the producers are interested,
they’ll contact you.

If you’ve already signed up as a Publicity Hound at
http://www.PitchRate.com, simply visit the site again, log in,
and at the top of the requesst list, you’ll see the request for
Publicity Hounds only. If you haven’t signed up yet, use this
link: http://www.PitchRate.com/PublicityHound

P.S. Shannon Nicholson says PitchRate’s recent request for women-
related tips, advice and success stories resulted in 17 great
pitches from Publicity Hounds. He will forward all of them to
PitchRate’s top media contacts, including O Magazine, Montel
Williams, the Associated Press, and more.
Not sure how to craft a great pitch? See “How to Write a Pitch
Letter More Powerful Than a Press Release” at
 http://budurl.com/rphb
=======================================
4. Promoting a Reading Program
=======================================

This week, nine Publicity Hounds have tips for Suzanne Wood, of
Raleigh, NC, who is starting an after-school writing academy to
help kids in grades 8-12 improve their writing.
From Meryl Evans:

“Contact local school PTAs to offer a free presentation on a
topic of value. I am sure there’s something you can offer to help
parents with kids and writing.”
From Karen Zapp:

“Look for any club or group for Home Schooling. Then meet with a
few moms to demonstrate how you can help them and the kids, and
the word will start to spread. These moms can also help spread it
to parents in the neighborhood who don’t home-school.”
From Shel Horowitz:

“Do a free demo for teachers and guidance counselors who then
could send a steady stream of referrals.”
The Publicity Hound says:

Read all the responses from last week’s “Help This Hound”
question at http://budurl.com/3f5n

Send your own Help this Hound question to:
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com?subject=HelpThisHound
and include your city, state or province. I need questions!
===================================
5. Help This Hound
===================================

Vicki Young of Dallas, Texas, writes:

“What’s the best way for a very worthy nonprofit agency to get
free help with their PR campaign?

“I’ve been doing PR work for Captain Hope’s Kids as a nonprofit
client for years, but I have to step down. It’s a great
organization in Dallas, Texas, that’s dedicated to meeting the
critical needs of homeless children in North Texas.

“They need an annual marketing and public relations plan
developed, and help publicizing their annual special events.

“I know this agency isn’t the only one that needs volunteer PR
help, so I’m hoping your Publicity Hounds can recommend ideas
that will help many other groups, too. Where should we be looking
for volunteer PR people who can write press releases, or at least
advise nonprofits on how to create a good marketing plan?”
The Publicity Hound says:

I hear this question all the time, so I hope my Hounds can
suggest ideas for nonprofits or any other company on a budget.
How about it Hounds? Are unemployed PR people, particularly
beginners, a possibility? What about college journalism classes?
Or stay-at-home moms who once worked in PR? Ideas? Post them to
my blog at http://budurl.com/vfe6

If you can find a great volunteer, I can do all the training for
you. See “How to Create a 12-Month Media Plan” at
http://publicityhound.com/mediaplan.htm
==================================
6. Hound Joke of the Week
==================================

The front door was accidentally left open and our dog was gone.
After unsuccessfully whistling and calling, my husband got in the
car and went looking for him.

He drove around the neighborhood for some time with no luck.
Finally he stopped beside a couple out for a walk and asked if
they had seen our dog.

“You mean the one following your car?” they asked.
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/
===============================
7. And at My Blog…
===============================

Stompernet taking new members: Here’s what you’ll get
http://budurl.com/wwpm

80+ free social media policies: Add yours to the list
http://budurl.com/sr6m

How to publicize your ‘Make a Difference Day’ activities
http://budurl.com/n28y

Gift List offers 25 percent discount until Sept. 30
http://budurl.com/lv6c

————————————

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

Join my Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/publicitytips

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 #469 Sept. 15, 2009
            Publisher: Joan Stewart
       mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
          http://www.PublicityHound.com
       http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
 http://www.PublicityArticles.net (Ezine Archives)

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

   “Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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

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

1. Grade Your LinkedIn Credibility

2. Help Celebs Deal with Anger

3. Twitter: A Giant Garbage Dump?

4. Test-drive Stompernet for Free

5. Publicizing Zombie Stories

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

=====================================
1. Grade Your LinkedIn Credibility
=====================================

If you’re answering questions on LinkedIn to promote your
expertise, good for you.

But don’t make the mistake I’ve been making. At times, I’ve been
creating the impression that it’s all about me.

Yesterday, for example, I answered a question from somebody who
wanted to know how to use press releases to promote his
consulting services in anger management.

I wrote a detailed answer (see Item #2 below). Then, at the
bottom of the answer, where I could offer three links to websites
where he could learn more about press releases, I offered three
links to my own websites.

LinkedIn also gave me the chance to name other experts on press
releases. But I didn’t.

A few hours later, I realized my mistake when I read the
excellent article “7 Ways to Have Character (and Show It) on
LinkedIn” at http://budurl.com/5jd2

It was written by LinkedIn expert Scott Allen, who says it isn’t
all about me or you. It’s all about giving before we take, and
offering other resources and experts that can help our LinkedIn
connections solve problems that are bugging them.

I used his article to grade my own credibility on LinkedIn. As a
result, I’ll be doing three things differently:

–Writing recommendations for my LinkedIn connections without
being asked.

–Responding more quickly to requests for introductions.

–Referring people whose questions I answer to other websites and
experts.

Read Scott’s article, and grade your own credibility. Then read
more about what he taught during the teleseminar I hosted with
him on “How to Use LinkedIn to Promote Anything–Ethically and
Powerfully” at http://budurl.com/44×8

======================================
2. Help Celebs Deal with Anger
======================================

U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, tennis champ Serena Williams and rapper
Kanye West have just handed you three fabulous opportunities to
piggyback your pitches onto big news events.

Anger management experts, etiquette consultants, therapists,
sports coaches and others should be tying their tips to the
recent problems experienced by Wilson’s “You lie!” outburst,
Williams’ potty mouth threat at the US Open, and West’s obnoxious
interruption onstage at the MTV Awards ceremony.

Some ideas worth pitching:

–When is “I’m sorry” enough?

–What constitutes an appropriate apology?

–Should politicians, sports stars and music celebs be held to a
higher level of behavior than the rest of us?

–What does their bad behavior teach us about anger management?

–When somebody loses their cool in public, what does it tell us
about their character?

See “Special Report #50: How to Piggyback onto Celebrity News to
Promote Your Product, Service, Cause or Issue” at
http://budurl.com/qat2

=======================================
3. Twitter: A Giant Garbage Dump?
=======================================

Are you so disgusted with the garbage that flows into your
Twitter feed, that you sometimes feel like you’re knee-deep in a
stinky, fly-infested landfill?

Some days, I am.

Most of the tweets I see tell me to download a free ebook. Or
register for a teleseminar. Or ask me if I want 10,000 more
Twitter followers in just a few weeks.

Those automated “thanks for following me” messages are so overtly
promotional that I dread reading them.

Other followers bore me with annoying chatter about what’s going
on in the coffee shop where they’re tweeting.

Some talk nonstop about humorous things their cute kids have
done. Others offer a steady stream of pithy quotes from
celebrities, experts and gurus.

A few lazy authors and speakers offer nothing more than one-
liners taken directly from their books or speeches.

But I plod on, slogging through the garbage, because
occasionally, I come across a little nugget–usually a helpful
tip or a link to a content-rich article–that makes it all
worthwhile.

All the topics I’ve mentioned above, including humor, are
perfectly acceptable on Twitter, and your followers may actually
welcome them. But knowing the right formula for the kinds of
things to tweet, and how often, separates the Twitter “must-
follows” from the Twitter “unfollows.”

My new business partner, Jeanne Hurlbert, an expert on social
media and surveys, has been collaborating with me the last five
months on a new learning tool that will give every Publicity
Hound who uses it their own customized formula for participating
in social media, not just Twitter. It’s for social media newbies
who haven’t dipped their toes into the water yet, and for
Publicity Hounds who are already using social media but don’t
know what they don’t know.

The process we’ve developed for customizing our training–
depending on your level of expertise, interests and hobbies–is
so specialized that we’ve even applied for a patent.

I’ll keep you posted as soon as we’re ready to launch. In the
meantime, follow both of us on Twitter at @PublicityHound and
@MySurveyExpert and watch what we’re tweeting. You’ll find
valuable clues about what we’ll be teaching.

========================================
4. Test-drive Stompernet for Free
========================================

Before Jeanne and I launch the social media learning tool
mentioned above, we need to solve a few knotty problems with how
we market and deliver it.

As a member of Stompernet, the world’s largest membership site
for Internet marketers, I took advantage of yesterday’s Faculty
Office Hour to present our questions to two top Internet
marketers.

Their feedback will keep us from making three major mistakes.
They also gave us several creative solutions we never would have
thought of on our own. The faculty calls, held four times a week,
are one of the most valuable benefits of a membership.

Several Publicity Hounds have joined Stompernet, based on my
recommendation. But many more have complained that the $800-a-
month membership is too expensive.

Stompernet has taken note of those complaints and revised their
membership structure. Next Tuesday, you’ll be able to join for as
little as $200 a month.

But don’t take my word for it. Test-drive Stompernet, and watch
seven days worth of webinars on topics like social media, search
engine optimization, article marketing, keyword research and
niche marketing. In all, you can get 40 pieces of content at no
charge–training courses, mega tutorials and free software.
There’s something for everybody.

Test-drive Stompernet at http://budurl.com/zqrs to get a taste of
what you’ll get when you join. And find out more about the 11
cool tools that come with a membership.

If you have any questions about this, feel free to email me at
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com?subject=StompernetQuestion

=================================
5. Publicizing Zombie Stories
=================================

This week, eight Publicity Hounds have tips for Karma Bennett, a
publicist for Ulysses Press. Her company is publishing a
compilation of zombie stories, and she needs ideas on how to
publicize the book.

From Jena Zakany:

“Do what Universal Studios did when it first announced the
upcoming Harry Potter ‘theme park within a theme park,’–go to
the bloggers.” (Read my free article “Let Bloggers Create
Publicity for You” at http://budurl.com/s6xx )

From Ryan Mecum:

“There’s a book, The Living Dead, that sounds exactly like your
book, which did really well in sales. The author went to zombie
conventions and horror conventions to help promote it.”

From Bruce Jones:

“We are becoming such a video world, and YouTube is becoming so
powerful, that I would recommend reading excerpts from some of
the stories onto video and publishing them on line. At the end of
the video, send the viewer to a website for more information or
how they can buy the books. Also put the text in the description
area to attract Google.”

The Publicity Hound says:

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

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

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

Suzanne Wood of Raleigh, NC asks:

“I’m starting an after-school writing academy to help kids in
grades 8-12 improve their writing. Services include tutoring and
workshops on topics such as writing the college application
essay.

“I’m having trouble figuring out how best to market this academy,
because most parents rely on word-of-mouth recommendations for
tutoring and instruction, and I haven’t generated enough momentum
yet for that to be effective. Besides, I can’t afford advertising
yet.

“Can your Hounds offer some creative ideas for promoting my
classes?”

The Publicity Hound says:

Here’s my idea. Sponsor a writing contest for kids, and convince
a local merchant to donate a cool prize in exchange for a little
publicity. Ask kids to write an essay on a really fun topic.
Write a press release and submit it to your local newspapers.

I know my readers can come up with ideas better than that one.
How about it, Hounds? Help Suzanne fill her classes by posting
your best ideas to my blog at http://budurl.com/3f5n

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

Thanks to BL Ochman of New York, New York for this one:

I pulled into a crowded parking lot at the Pinecrest Plaza
Shopping Center and rolled down the car windows to make sure my
Labrador Retriever Pup had fresh air.

She was stretched full-out on the back seat and I wanted to
impress upon her that she must remain there. I walked to the curb
backward, pointing my finger at the car and saying emphatically,
“Now you stay. Do you hear me? Stay! Stay!”

The driver of a nearby car gave me a strange look and said,”Why
don’t you just put it in park?”

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/

————————————

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

Join my Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/publicitytips

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 #468 Sept. 8, 2009
            Publisher: Joan Stewart
       mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
          http://www.PublicityHound.com
       http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
 http://www.publicityarticles.net/ (Ezine Archives)

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

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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

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

1. Use Trade Associations

2. Ditch the Shovels, Scissors & Checks

3. Sell 120,000 Books with One Phone Call

4. Marketing an Indie Movie

5. Help This Hound

6. Hound Joke of the Week

=====================================
1. Use Trade Associations
=====================================

If you aren’t using trade associations in your publicity
campaign, you’re missing a valuable tool that can save you time
and help you flex your promotional muscle.

Here’s how:

–If you belong to a particular trade association, let their PR
department know that you welcome calls from reporters. Often, if
the media need sources in a particular industry and they don’t
know who to call, they call the trade association and ask for
names of members.

–Sending a direct mail piece? You can often buy lists of names
from trade associations.

–If you’re a speaker, and you want to be hired to speak before
audiences in a particular industry, contact the editor of that
association’s newsletter or trade magazine and start submitting
articles. Months later, when you call the meeting planner, you
can refer to the articles you’ve written–proof that you’re not a
novice to the industry. I’ve written many articles for the
Society for Marketing Professional Services magazine and PR
Tactics, published by the Public Relations Society of America.
Both have led to numerous speaking engagements.

–Writing an opinion column and looking for ammunition to support
your position? If so, find out which trade associations support
your cause. Trade groups are among the most ardent lobbyists.

–If you need statistics to incorporate into your story pitches,
or for letters to the editor or articles you’re writing, you can
find them by calling trade associations or visiting their
websites or blogs.

Need a quick, handy template for a how-to article? I’ve included
one in the handouts that come with the CD or electronic
transcript on “How to Write a How-to Article.” Learn more about
it at http://budurl.com/s6r2

=======================================
2. Ditch the Shovels, Scissors & Checks
=======================================

I saw it again this week, another one of those ghastly ground-
breaking photos.

You know what it looks like, because you’ve seen hundreds of
them. Four guys wearing business suits and hard hats are
posing, each with their foot on a shovel, looking very
uncomfortable and out of place.

These photos belong in the same category with the photos of
oversized cardboard checks being passed from one person to
another, or the ribbon-cutting photos that feature a 3-foot
pair of cardboard scissors.

C’mon, Hounds. You can do better than that.

Instead of passing an oversized check, how about asking the local
newspaper to photograph kids playing on the playground equipment
that your fund-raiser made possible? Instead of a ribbon-cutting
for your candy store, plan a fun chocolate-tasting.

Promise yourself that from now on, you will never assign, allow,
take or request one of those horrible ground-breaking, ribbon-
cutting or check-passing photos?

Instead, think creatively about how to promote a donation, the
opening of a new business, or a new construction project.

If you’re coming up dry, Dan Collins can help. He’s the
creative media relations director at Mercy Medical Center in
Baltimore. I interviewed him during a teleseminar a few
years ago on “Fun Alternatives to Boring Ground-breakings,
Ribbon-cuttings & Check-passings.” Lean more about it at
http://tinyurl.com/7cl6z

========================================
3. Sell 120,000 Books with One Phone Call
========================================

Dr. Neil Baum tried lots of ways to promote and distribute his
book, Marketing Your Clinical Practice.

But most of them didn’t work, and he ended up frustrated.

Then, he thought that perhaps a big pharmaceutical company might
want to buy his book in mass quantity and give it away to doctors
as a gift. Pharmaceutical companies have very strict regulations
on what they’re allowed to give to doctors. But giving them
educational products wasn’t a problem.

So Dr. Baum contacted Bayer, the aspirin company, and asked if
they’d like to give his book away to their customer doctors as a
way of showing appreciation for their patronage. Within a week,
Bayer bought more than 120,000 copies and sent it to doctors
throughout the U.S. Today, his book is on the shelf of
virtually every medical clinic in the U.S.

And it all happened from just one phone call.

These kinds of deals happen all the time. But few authors
understand the step-by-step process of how to make that happen.

Matthew Bennett, a self-published author who’s relatively unknown
to the general public, has had even greater success than Dr.
Baum. He has sold more than 5 million books in quantity to
Fortune 500 corporations, including Disney, Reebok, NBC, Abbott
Labs, Pfizer, US Healthplans, Subway and many others.

Want to learn how he does it–and how you, too, can get started
selling your books by the truckload to big companies?

You’re invited to a free telephone seminar on Thursday, Sept. 10,
to hear Steve Harrison interview Matthew about his proven methods
and system for selling tons of books. Register at
http://www.freepublicity.com/mattbennett/?10011

=================================
4. Marketing an Indie Movie
=================================

This week, eight Publicity Hounds have tips for Maria Antonia, of
New York, N.Y. on how to market the movie “Under Jakob’s Ladder.
Set in the Soviet Union in 1941, it’s based on a true story about
a man who was thrown into prison for praying at a funeral.

From Janine Libbey:

Nia Vardalos (of ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ fame) used Twitter to
promote a new movie recently. She tweeted details about it and
also included a link to the trailer in her Twitter profile. To
see what she did, follow her on twitter:
http://www.Twitter.com/NiaVardalos.

From Jackie O’Neal:

You may want to consider starting a social networking site
related to the film on Ning.com. It’s free and you can blog about
the film, add videos, invite others to the site, but best of all,
use the “Share” feature to promote on multiple social networking
sites with just a click.

From Maggy Whitehouse:

“Jakob’s Ladder is one of the diagrams used by Kabbalists
worldwide. Hundreds of thousands of people are aware of it as a
symbol. Assuming that there is a Jewish character in the movie
(the man who prayed?) and if there is any mystical aspect, then
it can be spread around the world on Kabbalistic email lists (I
have one) and promoted that way on Facebook, etc.

The Publicity Hound says:

Jackie O’Neal also suggested using Animoto, the cool program that
turns still photos into videos. Animoto just introduced a new
feature that now allows users to insert video clips, too. I raved
about Animoto and suggested ways you can use it to produce fast,
snazzy videos–even if you have no technical abilities. Read more
about Animoto at http://budurl.com/mqmu or go over to their
website and take a free test drive at http://www.budurl.com/zlye

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

===============================
5. Help This Hound
===============================

Karma Bennett, a publicist for Ulysses Press, asks:

“My company is publishing a compilation of zombie stories. It
will be a direct-to-trade-paperback, so I can’t get reviews in
the leading periodicals that review fiction since it isn’t coming
out in hardback.

“Some, but not all, of the stories have never been printed
before. The editor is not local and, although the compilation
does include some of fiction?s biggest names–Steven King, Clive
Barker, Harlan Ellison, H.P. Lovecraft, Richard Matheson,
Christopher Fowler, Robert E. Howard and Joe Hill–I don’t think
they will be responsive to interview queries.

“We are only just starting to venture into releasing fiction and
I’m not sure how to go about this. I can’t get reviews. I can’t
get interviews. But the topic is zombies, which are so popular
now because of movies like World War Z, 28 Days Later, the film
version of Pride & Prejudice, and Zombies.

“Can your Hounds suggest ideas for publicity?’

The Publicity Hound says:

The popularity of all those zombie movies is a huge plus, and it
will make it easier for my Hounds to suggest ideas for publicity.
If you have a great idea for Karma, share it at my blog at
http://budurl.com/ujvz

===============================
6. Hound Joke of the Week
===============================

Thanks to Darlene Arden, of Framingham, Mass., for this one:

A man wrote a letter to a small hotel in a Midwest town he
planned to visit on his vacation. He asked if it would be OK if
he brought his well-groomed and well-behaved dog. The hotel owner
sent him this immediate reply:

“I’ve been operating this hotel for many years. In all that time,
I’ve never had a dog steal towels, bedclothes, silverware or
pictures off the walls. I’ve never had to evict a dog in the
middle of the night for being drunk and disorderly. And I’ve
never had a dog run out on a hotel bill. Yes, indeed, your dog is
welcome at my hotel. And, if your dog will vouch for you, you’re
welcome to stay here, too.”

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/

————————————

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

Join my Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/publicitytips

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 #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

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

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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

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

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

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…

=====================================
1. This Newsletter is Moving
=====================================

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.

=====================================
2. Big TV Shows Want MJ Tie-ins
=====================================

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

=====================================
3. Selective Twitter
=====================================

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

=====================================
4. Rank Your Company Against the Best
=====================================

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

=====================================
5. How to Measure ROI of Web Hits
=====================================

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.

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

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

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

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/

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

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

————————————

Where to See & Hear The Publicity Hound:

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

Friend me on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/joanstewart

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 #459 July 14, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
http://www.PublicityArticles.net (Ezine Archives)

Circulation: 39,035

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

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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

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

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

1. When in Doubt, Tweet It

2. Use Value in Your Pitches

3. Who’s Using Your YouTube Videos?

4. How to Look Like a Weasel

5. The Benefits of Petting Animals

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Video of the Week

8. And at My Blog…

=====================================
1. When in Doubt, Tweet It
=====================================

Do you ever send helpful tips on the social media sites and
wonder if anybody’s reading them?

I’m trying to make sure that about half my tweets include advice
that people would find useful.

Last week, for example, I tweeted about Oprah’s top 25 money-
saving tips and also included the link on my Facebook page.

One of my Facebook friends, Jennifer Melnick Carota, of
Pittsburgh, Pa., replied:

“Joan…you are a lifesaver! Just got a call from our local news
network requesting a last-minute money-saving segment with me
tomorrow…so many fresh ideas that I look forward to sharing,
thanks to you.”

Jennifer calls herself The Gift Therapist. At her website at
http://www.TheGiftTherapist.com, she passes along helpful tips to
her audience on how to buy inexpensive gifts for almost any
occasion.

When she taped the segment for the “Project Economy” feature in
the studios at WTAE-TV, the ABC station in Pittsburgh, on Friday,
she took the list of tips with her.

“What we didn’t use, I turned over to the reporter in case he
wanted me to do a follow-up segment,” she said. “I told him,
‘Here’s my gift to you. If you need anything else, please call
me.’”

Not only did I earn Jennifer’s loyalty with that one little tweet
that took less than 60 seconds to post, but I helped her help the
reporter, who will be more inclined to call her again. She said
he’s already considering a “Christmas in July” segment with her
that explains how shoppers can get good deals by buying now.

I called Jennifer after I saw her reply and invited her to test-
drive a new learning tool I’m creating. If she likes it, she’ll
give me a testimonial. So that little tweet turned into a win-
win.

Lesson: In social media, give before you receive. If you’re ever
on the fence about sharing helpful information, when in doubt,
tweet it.

That’s the Number One message from Warren Whitlock who was my
guest last summer during a teleseminar on “How to Use Twitter to
Amass an Army of Followers, Customers & Valuable Contacts–and
Promote.” Read more about what else Warren taught at
http://tinyurl.com/3lbcaw

=====================================
2. Use Value in Your Pitches
=====================================

When you pitch yourself to journalists and clients, how do you
describe yourself?

Do you tell them about the tasks you perform? Or do you explain
how you add value?

Publicity Hound Cheryl Antier, a freelance writer who lives on
the French Riviera, says there’s a huge difference. Before she
knew any better, she would tell potential clients about all the
things she could do for them, from writing copy for their
websites to creating their marketing brochures.

Business was good, not great, and she closed about 40 percent of
the projects she pursued. Last year, she immersed herself in
Formula Five, the course that teaches a five-pronged formula to
growing a business. She immediately started applying what she
learned when trying to attract clients.

As a result, she landed a freelance job writing for What Boat, an
international yachting magazine published in the UK.

Earlier this year, while on assignment in Greece, she ran into
the editor of the magazine and knew immediately she wanted to
write for him. Formula Five had taught her how to discuss value,
so she pitched him right on the spot, without preparing or
rehearsing the pitch.

“They write about a lot of technical topics, like sophisticated
radar devices you can use on your boat,” she said. “I told the
editor I thought readers might appreciate a story that explained
what they could do for fun in the Greek Islands, from chartering
a yacht to visiting shipwrecks from the 5th Century B.C.

“I told him I would immerse readers in the story, make them feel
like they were actually there, and open their eyes to all the
possible ways they could have fun while on their boats.”

Value. Value. Value.

Cheryl not only sold the story, but the editor invited her to
write a monthly article for his magazine.

Communicating value also works with her consulting clients, and
it can work with yours, too, whether you’re a nonprofit, sell PR
services, own a bricks-and-mortar store or work for somebody
else. A few weeks after she returned to France from Greece, she
met with a potential client in the insurance industry who needed
help with his website and other marketing materials.

Instead of going through the typical client interview and then
submitting a proposal, she instead communicated value by
discussing how she would work with his graphic designer, results
he would see from her work, and ways he could work with her on a
long-term basis.

“I told him that I’d like the opportunity to look at how he was
currently doing his marketing, as well as keeping in touch with
past clients. I told him that from looking at his website, I
could see five ways he could start getting his current customers
to buy new or more comprehensive policies–within the first 30
days.

He immediately asked her, “Where should I send the check?”

She’s booked solid with writing assignments until October, and
she’s on track to almost double her goal of $150,000 in revenues
this year. Today, 85 percent of new business comes from
referrals. Here’s the kicker.

Cheryl uses much of the information she learned in Formula Five
when working with her own consulting clients and with members of
the Writer’s Business Academy at
http://www.writersbusinessacademy.biz where she teaches authors
and writers how to market themselves.

In other words, she teaches her clients the five-pronged
technique of growing their businesses, just like she has. You can
do the same with your clients, too, and add value to what you
already do.

Watch the video Cheryl created that talks more about what she
does differently when somebody calls her and asks about her
prices. (Hint: You should be doing this, too!)

http://tinyurl.com/nqgp87

=====================================
3. Who’s Using Your YouTube Videos?
=====================================

When you post a video to YouTube, you’re giving anyone permission
to cut and paste the coding and embed it on their own website or
blog.

Knowing who’s using your videos can help you in several ways.

It can lead you to possible joint venture partners. You can share
other information you have, like articles you’ve written. You
might offer to be a guest on their podcast, or write a guest post
at their blog, or ask them to write a guest post at your blog.

YouTube is now making it easy for you to learn who’s using your
videos with a new tool called Insights. You’ll find step-by-step
directions at http://tinyurl.com/mhz6gf

That’s just one of dozens of benefits of using online video to
promote yourself. Learn more at a free webinar on Thursday, July
16. Register for “How To Quickly Drive More Traffic and Sales to
Your Website Through Social Media Using Easy-To-Create Videos
That Cost Almost Nothing to Produce” at
http://www.TrafficExplosionWebinar.com/?10011

========================================
4. How to Look Like a Weasel
========================================

If you’re appearing at a press conference or media event you’re
hosting, or one you’ve been invited to by somebody else, don’t
expect the media to play nice and ask you questions only about
the topic at hand.

Bad news, controversy and other nasty topics you don’t want to
discuss are fair game. Refuse to answer a reporter’s questions
and you’ll look like a weasel.

That’s what happened to Wisconsin State Rep. Tom Nelson last
week when he appeared at a press conference to discuss autism, an
innocent topic that couldn’t possibly get him into trouble.
..
Problem was, he and another Democratic legislator had been
dodging reporters from the local TV station all week. The
reporters wanted them to comment about an investigation they did
into an unknown provision that was slipped into the state budget.
It gives special treatment to a local Indian tribe and the way it
gets its liquor license. The tribe is a huge campaign contributor
to the Democratic governor.

After the autism event, a reporter approached Nelson on camera
and asked him to explain his vote approving the budget. Watch the
short video (after a short ad) and judge for yourself if you
think Nelson looks like a weasel when he refused to answer
questions about anything other than autism:
http://tinyurl.com/m2sb2g

That’s one of the disadvantages of press conferences. If you put
yourself out there for the media, you’d better be ready to answer
any and all questions, particularly if you’re a public official.
The media hate these staged events, by the way, but people
continue to have them.

The CD “Creative Alternatives to Boring News Conferences”
features PR pro Sandra Eggers who gives you dozens of ideas for
fun, interesting events that sidestep those horrid news
conferences.

Read more about what you’ll learn at http://tinyurl.com/hb3rs

=====================================
5. The Benefits of Petting Animals
=====================================

This week, six Publicity Hounds have advice on how Cathy Watson,
of Bostic, N.C., can promote the therapeutic benefits of petting
animals so she can bring traffic to her website and sell tickets
to her farm where people can pet animals.

From Patti Pokorchak:

“Have a party! Make it a charity fund-raiser for your favorite
animal shelter or other animal-related charity. Invite other
animal-related businesses to be part of this day–dog trainers,
groomers, pet food retailers, gourmet pet biscuit companies,
doggie shrinks, etc. Put on a fashion show. Go wild with
stretching the animal theme (paintings, sculptures, cakes).”

From Joni at Tangi Adopt A Rescue:

“Invite local artists and art teachers to a special ‘Draw the
Animals’ Day at your farm…Contact dog trainers and see if they
need a place to hold dog training classes or special events.
Consider learning, then starting, your own Clicker training
classes.”

From Lori Green LeRoy:

“Write a news release with tips about why petting animals is
therapeutic and invite unemployed people, people who have lost
their houses or cars, etc. (and the media) for a free pet therapy
session event to combat the recession blues.”

Read all the responses to this week’s Help This Hound question
http://budurl.com/9g6y

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

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

Cynthia Flash, of Bellevue, Wash. writes:

“I’m looking for a way to put a dollar value on web hits I get
for my PR clients.

“For example, if a client is mentioned in a blog, is that worth
anything in terms of dollar equivalents (like having an article
appear in a newspaper)? If an online-only newspaper does a story
about the client, how much is that worth? Certainly, increased
sales to the client is a great way to tell, but it’s difficult to
know if that’s directly a result of the web publicity.

“Are PR people putting dollar values on web placements or is that
only something reserved for traditional media?”

The Publicity Hound says:

Many other PR people are curious about this, too, so the answers
will be interesting. If you do PR and can help Cynthia, post your
comments to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/kmwqcp

================================
7. Hound Video of the Week
================================

Thanks to Elaine Grassbaugh of Columbus, Ohio, for this video of
Bizkit, the Sleep-walking Dog:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2BgjH_CtIA

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…
=================================

Artists, new book shows how to meet your PR goals
http://tinyurl.com/nfggu5

Media interview? How to deal with a confused journalist
http://tinyurl.com/lggx5f

————————————

Where to See & Hear The Publicity Hound:

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

Friend me on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/joanstewart

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 #457 June 30, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
http://www.PublicityArticles.net (Ezine Archives)

Circulation: 39,264

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

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

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

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

1. Feed Your Twitter Tribe

2. Avoid Excessive Links

3. Think Christmas in July

4. Another Facebook Annoyance

5. Reach Interior Design Students

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Video of the Week

8. And at My Blog…

=====================================
1. Feed Your Twitter Tribe
=====================================

If you use Twitter to provide lots of helpful tips and advice to
your tribe, what happens to all that great content you’re dishing
up every day?

The more you tweet, the more your tips get pushed to the bottom
of your feed, right? Does that mean they’re as stale as last
week’s leftovers?

Not if you follow the lead of Chris Knight, CEO of
EzineArticles.com, who came up with a clever idea this week on
how to recycle his tweets and encourage others to share them.

He collected more than 50 of his own tweets and organized them
into four categories: tips and training snippets, fun facts,
inside information and motivation moments.

At the end of each tweet, you can click on the link and it
will take you directly to your Twitter sign-in page. Once
you’ve signed in, the retweet will automatically appear in the
window. All you have to do is click on “update.”

One caution, however. I noticed that in some cases, the addition
of “RT @EzineArticles” will make the tweet longer than 140
characters, so you may have to shorten it.

Take a look:
http://budurl.com/ugm5

What a fabulous way to feed your Twitter tribe with information
they don’t have to dig up themselves. You’ve suddenly given new
life to a lot of your old but valuable content.

Still confused by Twitter, or not getting the return on
investment that you expected? Let Warren Whitlock guide you. See
“How to Use Twitter to Amass an Army of Followers, Customers &
Valuable Contacts–and Promote” at http://budurl.com/bupu

=====================================
2. Avoid Excessive Links
=====================================

Submitting articles to EzineArticles.com can pull traffic to your
website or blog and make it easy for others to republish your
content.

But don’t make the mistake of stuffing lots of links into your
articles, or the EzineArticles police might reject them.

You should have no more than four links in each article:

–Two links within the body copy that lead to websites you don’t
own. These should be inserted after the third paragraph.

–Two self-serving links that can lead to your own websites or
blog. These should be in the author resource box at the end.

Here’s a tip I learned during yesterday’s “faculty office hours”
call hosted by  Stompernet, the membership site for Internet
marketers. Make sure one of those self-serving links is a raw
link that looks like this: http://www.PublicityHound.com

The second self-serving link should be hyperlink text. That means
my author resource box would include the phrase “publicity tips.”
That phrase would be a live ink that would lead the reader to my
homepage at http://www.PublicityHound.com

Why does Stompernet recommend this?

Because many publishers, when reprinting your articles offline,
will reprint them exactly as they appear on the screen. If an
article doesn’t include a raw link, the reader doesn’t have the
option of clicking on hyperlink text and going to your website.
Without a raw link, readers won’t know where to find your site.
And you lose.

Check out the cool video “Guide to Avoiding Excessive Links” at
http://budurl.com/2syw

If you can’t write, I’ll show you how. See “How to Write How-to
Articles” at http://budurl.com/s6r2 My training session includes
a template for a how-to article that you can use when writing
about almost any topic.

=====================================
3. Think Christmas in July
=====================================

Smart Publicity Hounds are poring over their media contact lists
right now, on the lookout for newspapers, magazines, wire
services, TV and radio shows and other media outlets that are
hungry for press releases and photos of consumer products that
would make great holiday gifts.

Many of these media outlets, particularly national magazines,
work six months ahead of time. Know their deadlines so you can
start pitching while lots of other clueless people are lying on
the beach.

This year, inexpensive gifts that offer high value, as well as
environmentally friendly gifts, will take precedence.

The very best guide on the market for holiday gift coverage is
The Gift List, which includes contact information, deadlines and
pitching tips for hundreds of media outlets. Today is the last
day to take advantage of their offer to knock $100 off the
subscription price, but only if you act before the clock runs out
at midnight and use this link:
http://www.giftlistmedia.com/?link=ph

If you’re donating a portion of the product price to a nonprofit
or charitable group, mention that in your pitch.

=====================================
4. Another Facebook Annoyance
=====================================

Many Facebook users who weren’t able to grab a vanity URL for
their Fan Pages several weeks ago, because they didn’t have at
least 1,000 Fans, waited patiently until this past Sunday when
Facebook opened up the URLs again to everybody who got closed out
the first time.

But–surprise!–Facebook raised the number of Fans you must have
from 25 to 100.

That sent lots of angry users to the message boards, blogs and
their own Facebook profiles where they ranted about how Facebook
unfairly raised the bar at the last minute.

Instead of complaining, how about trying to unravel some of the
other complexities of the world’s largest social networking site
and figuring out what you CAN do to make the experience better
for you and your Facebook Friends?

You can read all the rules about creating Fan Pages at
http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=900

Then, when you’re done, take a look at all the topics Christine
Buffaloe covered on June 4 when she was my expert on a
teleseminar on “11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on
Facebook.” We included 28 pages of illustrated handouts that walk
you step-by-step through some of the most confusing parts of the
site. You can read the rave reviews from attendees and see all
the topics we covered at http://budurl.com/jfgw

=====================================
5. Reach Interior Design Students
=====================================

This week, four Publicity Hounds have ideas on how Jeanette
Simpson, of Lakewood Ranch, Fla., can market her ebook, “From
Interior Design Intern to Employee: How to be a Keeper (Including
Tips from those Who Hire)”, to interior design interns:

From Judy Soccio:

“ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) has student
members, and they do a lot to involve students in the society’s
activities. Contact your local ASID chapter to be included in
their newsletter, and offer to do a presentation to student
chapters. ASID also has a LinkedIn group where you could promote
your book.”

From Bruce Jones:

“Being that most of the interns are college students and are
heavily into Facebook and YouTube, how about producing several
videos? Make some simple two- to three-minute videos about
getting a job, with links to Amazon or wherever you’re selling
the book.”

From Susan Murphy:

“Join some of the many LinkedIn groups for interior designers and
promote your book (or blog if you have one) through those
groups…I am an interior designer and brand marketing
professional and find new resources through my groups all the
time.”

The Publicity Hound says:

If you’re using LinkedIn to promote, which can be powerful, make
sure you aren’t too heavy-handed with the promotion. LinkedIn
expert Scott Allen says you must be very savvy about how you use
this site in a marketing campaign. Do it right, and you can
encourage hundreds of your connections to also promote for you.

During the teleseminar I conducted with him last summer on “How
to Use LinkedIn to Promote Anything–Ethically & Powerfully,” he
offered an entire timeline of what a promotional campaign would
look like on LinkedIn. Read more about it at
http://budurl.com/fjm5

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

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

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

Cynthia Harvey, of Pasadena, Calif., writes:

“I am a fashion designer, sewing instructor and fashion career
advisor.

“I own The Sewing Studio in Old Town Pasadena, Calif., where I
have fun teaching kids, teens and adults about the fashion
industry and how to sew.

“For almost two years, I have taught hundreds of students. My
goal is to teach 100 each month.

“How do I reach my goal without an ad budget?”

The Publicity Hound says:

The first place I’d promote it is on Craigslist. See “How to Use
Craigslist as a Global Publicity Tool” at http://budurl.com/hff3

I can also think of several ways to collaborate with other
organizations in your community. Let’s see how many other ideas
my Hounds can generate. Hounds with great suggestions for Cynthia
can post them to my blog at http://budurl.com/hff3

================================
7. Hound Video of the Week
================================

Thanks to Publicity Hound Karla Little, of Toverton, R.I., for
this video of a four-legged hound defending itself from stealing
its own bone. If this doesn’t make you laugh out loud, I’ll be
doggone:

http://ow.ly/ga2p

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…
=================================

Michael Jackson songs won’t stop playing inside my head–help!
http://ow.ly/gbrD

Use social networking to market your product, services 12 ways
http://ow.ly/g9PD

Retailer’s guide lists clever ideas for in-store promotions
http://ow.ly/fXoc

Online press releases: 8 powerful reasons to keep using them
http://ow.ly/ga6y

———————————-

Where to See & Hear The Publicity Hound:

Listen to the Internet radio interview I did yesterday morning
when I was a guest on “Techno Granny,” Joanne Quinn-Smith’s
Internet radio show. Topic: “25 Things to Hate About Facebook.”
http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/30986

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

Friend me on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/joanstewart

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