Publicity tips/Pitch poker, bridge stories January 3, 2006

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #275 - January 3, 2006
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.net (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®
Circulation: 14,046

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"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"
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In This Issue
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1. Pitch Poker, Bridge Stories

2. Fitness Month

3. Publicity for Musicians

4. Media Leads

5. How to Market a Book for Parents

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

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1. Pitch Poker, Bridge Stories
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When I called my sister on New Year's Eve to wish her a happy new year, I asked her what everybody was doing.

"The geezers are upstairs watching TV and Tim is in the basement with his buddies playing poker," she said.

Tim is my nephew. He and his buddies are 16.

Back when I was a kid, the geezers were in our basement playing poker, and the kids were upstairs watching the tube.

Poker is everywhere these days, from coffee shops to junior high cafeterias. The media go ga-ga over anything related to poker, and this is an ideal time to pitch this story.

Do employees play poker during their lunch hour in your cafeteria? Are there poker clubs at your high school or college? Do you belong to a neighborhood poker group? Do people play poker at the neighborhood YMCA or restaurant? Do you watch poker tournaments on TV? Do you wear sunglasses when you play?

While searching the Internet for poker stories, I found a USA Today article at http://tinyurl.com/djp4w It discusses the poker epidemic and the resulting concerns that students are getting hooked on this form of legalized gambling.

I also found another USA Today story from several weeks ago that explains how Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, both of whom are crazy about bridge and play it in tournaments and online, are investing $1 million to start a program to teach contract bridge in junior high schools. You can read the story at http://tinyurl.com/dx9tg They want the game of bridge, usually played by geezers, to become even more popular than bridge among youngsters because it teaches intellectual development and teamwork.

If you play bridge, you're automatically the local angle to this national story. When pitching, mention the Gates/Buffett tie-in. Tell the media whether you like the idea of bringing this into the schools. Discuss in interviews why you play bridge and the skills it has helped you develop. If you're a geezer, does bridge help keep your mind sharp? Consider writing an opinion column or a letter to the editor about poker or bridge. Don't forget to pitch columnists who write on youth or lifestyle issues.

Pitching columnists is just one of 19 "rules of the road" for Publicity Hounds, suggested by a panel of journalists that met in New York in October. They included reporters from The Wall Street Journal, Family Circle and NY1, New York's cable station. The tips are included in the January/February issue of The Publicity Hound subscription newsletter. The issue, available only as a PDF, also includes articles on why you should banish the words publicity and PR from your vocabulary and concentrate instead on storytelling, an example of a pitch from a storyteller, how a PR practitioner can manage client expectations, how to write the perfect author resource box at the end of an article, a book that offers numerous case studies on marketing to Hispanics, how to attend f~ree monthly teleseminars featuring publicity tips, what network news program wants your "good news" story, how to look like an expert on TV, and January/February story ideas.

Order it for $10 at http://tinyurl.com/7adar

Or order a year's subscription (6 issues) for $49.95 at http://tinyurl.com/4mz3x

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2. Fitness Month
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My Jazzercise instructor has already warned us to be braced for packed classes this month.

That's because this is the month when everybody tries to take off what they gained over the holidays. TV stations everywhere want to know about these stories.

Here's an almost guaranteed way to get your company on the local TV news. The tip comes from my friend Shawne Duperon, a TV news reporter in Michigan, who writes an excellent ezine that you can subscribe to at http://shawnetv.com/subscribe.html

"Create a game where your employees will lose 100 pounds in the month of January. Media will LOVE that story," Shawne says.

Here's my 2 cents worth: Piggyback off NBC's reality show "Biggest Loser" and award a prize to the employee who loses the most and keeps it off for 6 months. And be sure to pitch the story to your NBC stations or the local NBC affiliates. I'll bet you show up on the nightly news twice--once when you announce the contest and again when you announce the winner.

Other fitness-related ideas from Shawne: Any new health or fitness craze, stories on aging, fad diets, fast food, plastic surgery, and cooking healthy for your family, with an invitation for the TV cameras to come into your kitchen.

Don't forget healthy eating in company and school cafeterias.

Shawne and I came up with 116 story ideas that print and broadcast journalists will be looking for during the first half of this year. We discussed them all during a teleseminar called "116 WOW! Story Ideas from January through June." We recorded it and are offering as a CD. You can download the entire list and be reading it as soon as your order is approved and while you're waiting for the CD to arrive. Read more about what we discussed at http://tinyurl.com/6k7zk

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3. Publicity for Musicians
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When musicians email me asking for publicity tips, I share my best advice. Then I lead them to Bob Baker's website at http://tinyurl.com/9slw9

Bob is a writer, independent musician and former music magazine editor who is dedicated to showing musicians how to get exposure and publicity, connect with fans, sell more CDs, and book more gigs.

Here are four tips I found at his website and blog:

--Jimmie Vestal has written songs that reference certain restaurants and tourist attractions in the southeast United States, and even a gourmet steak sauce called Bald Head Diva. Of course, he makes these establishments aware of the exposure and tries to set up promotional opportunities with them.

--"I know a couple of radio disc jockeys in my town who have sandwiches or special meals named after them at certain eateries. Why couldn't you do that? Especially if you perform regularly at a particular coffee shop, bar or restaurant. For example, if your band is called Sweet Potato Sunrise, approach a manager with the idea of offering a Sweet Potato Sunrise omelette, or a Sweet Potato Sunrise latte, or a Sweet Potato Sunrise daiquiri. You get the idea. The special name would get you exposure at the establishment whenever it's open (hopefully, your item will be listed on the menu). Plus, you can use the unique promotional angle to get mentions in the local press."

--Add mystery to your next CD by announcing that there's a secret message to uncode within your lyrics, song titles or CD liner notes, a la "The DaVinci Code." Make a game out of it and you just might get an infectious buzz going.

You can read more great ideas at his blog at http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/


If you're a musician who's in the market for a publicist and you don't know how to find one, don't do anything until you read the special chapter for musicians in my ebook "How to Hire the Perfect Publicist." In fact, the book is the only resource you'll need to learn all about the various types of publicists, where to find them, how to interview them, how to work with them, and how to avoid the Publicist from Hell. Read more about the book at http://www.publicityhound.com/hireapublicist.html

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4. Media Leads
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--The publishers of Human Capital magazine are looking for "lessons learned" stories about your employee recognition programs. For example, what worked and what didn't? What were positive and negative employee reactions? Were there any unexpected reactions? If you have been involved in a recognition program that presented challenges, contact Betty Hintch, editor of Human Capital, at mailto:bhintch@douglaspublications.com or call 847-483-9406.


--"Between the Lines" is a new monthly ezine published by The Editorial Department, a full-service book publishing company. It offers "an insider's perspective on the craft of writing and the publishing scene." It is looking for interesting authors and publishers to interview, and it also accepts articles on several aspects of publishing. To submit articles or be interviewed, contact Lynne Zerance at mailto:lz@editorialdepartment.com Subscribe to the ezine at http://editorialdepartment.com/e-zine.html


If you're submitting articles to websites like "Between the Lines," you must know how to write and use the articles to market whatever you're selling. Otherwise, why bother? "How to Submit Online Articles that Pull Traffic to Your Website" features tips from marketing expert Sharron Senter, who gets as many as 100 sales leads a month from her online articles. In the CD or electronic transcript of this teleseminar, she explains the 2 things that writers do that drive editors crazy, 5 ways to sell your expertise within your article without selling your product or service, how to follow up on all those leads, and more. Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/5zvga

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5. How to Market a Book for Parents
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This week, three Publicity Hounds have advice for Tim Martin of Corona, California. He asked for advice on how to help his friend, Rex Bowlby, market his book "Why Would I Want the Toy, When I Can Have the Box?...101 Ways to Make the Most of Your Children, With the Least from Your Wallet." It provides a treasure chest full of ideas on teaching and bonding with your kids using everyday items--such as a pile of dirt or a big cardboard box--that will stimulate their imaginations and creativity.


From Stacy Lytwyn Maxwell:

"Here’s one excellent radio source to consider: Faith Middleton, Producer/Host of The Faith Middleton Show on WNPR.

"WNPR’s website at http://www.wnpr.org/radiomiddleton.asp describes her as reporting 'on traditional mainstream journalism subjects,' and further explains, 'she also has developed a specialty' reporting on the achievements of ordinary people. She finds original ways to show that the qualities of our humanity are often as compelling and popular as what is wrong.
"I met Faith personally a number of years ago, and I can attest to the fact that she is one terrific (and I mean with a capital T) woman. She always has an available ear for new show ideas. An 'author who isn’t in it for the money' sounds just like the kind of person she looks for!"

(Also see "How to Get Booked on National Public Radio" at http://tinyurl.com/ayms6 )


From Kathy Podusky:

"Contact Lynn Badessa at Shoppingskills.com at http://www.shoppingskills.com/ She is a self-published author who sold 10K the first week off the press and then wrote a second book that just hit the shelves and is going gangbusters. She teaches a one-day class in Sarasota, Florida to authors who have what she calls pallets of books in their home--on how to sell them without any marketing plan. In no time, she shows them how to get them sold with flair and free PR every time."


From The Publicity Hound:

"Research magazines, and print and electronic newsletters read by parents. Write articles for those publications. At the end of the article, include a link to your website where parents can buy your book. Also, writing briefs is an excellent way to get into the big national magazines. Briefs include short articles of about 300 words, two- and three-paragraph items, quizzes, questions and answers, on a particular topic, a list of industry definitions, etc.
"Briefs, Fillers & Quizzes: How to Write Them & Why Editors Love Them" explains the various types of briefs and gives advice on how to do things such as write a cover letter that accompanies your brief. It's available as a CD or electronic transcript that you can download and be reading within a few minutes after your order is approved. Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/3294r

Read all the responses at http://publicityhound.net/?p=439


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6. Help This Hound
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Publicity Hound Kevin Jackson of Chicago, Illinois writes:

"I recently opened Manifold, a men's specialty store that does NOT focus on clothes. Rather, it's a lifestyle concept that sells skin and hair care products, accessories (watches, belts, etc.) and home furnishings (bar accessories and the like) designed for men. I think this is a unique concept and would like to get the word out to the media in my market.

"I also plan to get customers involved in the community by offering specials in support of a different charity each month. For example, one month I'll provide a discount for customers who bring in old cell phones that can be donated to shelters. Another month, I might encourage people to bring in non-perishable food items that will be donated to the needy.

"In addition to fashion reporters at the newspapers and magazines, are there other opportunities for me to spread the word?"

The Publicity Hound says: You bet! Many of my Hounds--male and female--will love to tackle this one because it has so many great possibilities. Hounds with great ideas can post them at my blog at http://publicityhound.net/?p=444

My own suggestion is to get your products and store mentioned in all the special sections published for Father's Day and Graduation Day later this year. These journalists are hungry for information about great gifts. And you should start pitching those sections now. The Gift List is an online database, updated weekly, of newspapers, magazines, television shows, radio and news syndicates that will have gift guide features. The database contains detailed media information, including direct contact names, method of receiving suggested gifts, story themes, focus and deadlines. The contacts also indicate if the reporters are interested in featuring products year-round. They have a list specifically for you called "Moms, Dads & Grads." Learn more about it at http://tinyurl.com/9es8y

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7. Hound Joke of the Week
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Thanks to Publicity Hound Linda Culbreth for this one:

What's the difference between a dog and a cat?

You can call the dog by name and it will come to you. You can call the cat by name and it will say "Take a number."


DOG JOKES & QUOTES EBOOK: 170+ G-rated dog jokes and quotes, perfect for a dog-lover, your favorite vet, or just for a few good laughs.
BONUS: Buy the ebook and you also get a compilation of the 50 best websites for dog humor.
http://www.publicityhound.com/dogjokebook/
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Where to Meet or Hear The Publicity Hound®:

January 19: Kenosha, Wisconsin

Wisconsin Women Entrepreneurs Racine-Kenosha Chapter, "How to Organize Your 2006 Media Campaign and Get Thousands of Dollars in Free Publicity," 5:30 P.M., UW-Parkside, Union Building, Room 104, $19 for members and $24 for guests, including dinner. To register, call 262-632-7993.


February 10: Washington, D.C.

National Speakers Association Winter Workshop, concurrent session for staff on "How to Position the Boss as an Expert the Media Love," 4:30 to 5:45 p.m., Crystal Gateway Marriott. Details and registration at http://www.nsaspeaker.org/dc/online_schedule.shtml


March 22: Waukesha, Wisconsin

2006 Micro Entrepreneur Expo, "How to Get Free Publicity," Part 1 from 5:30-6:15 and Part 2 from 8-8:45 PM, Waukesha Area Technical College; pre-registration $25 or $30 at the door (includes dinner). To register, call 262-695-3468.


May 18: Washington, D.C.

PMA University. "How to Turn Your Ezine into a Cash Machine." Sponsored by Publishers Marketing Association. 8:30-10:15 a.m. Details pending.

***If you're in the National Speakers Association or the Public Relations Society of America--or another business, marketing or PR group--and you want details on how to bring in The Publicity Hound to do a fund-raiser for your chapter, or you want me to host a teleseminar customized just for your group, contact me at mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com?subject=speaker_inquiry or call 262-284-7451.

***Attention Meeting Planners: If you're booking speakers for winter, spring or summer conferences or events, keep me in mind--even if you have a last-minute cancellation. I deliver high-content, interactive programs that are lots of fun. Call 262-284-7451 or mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com?subject=speaker_inquiry for details.

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Joan Stewart
a.k.a. The Publicity Hound®
3434 County KK
Port Washington, WI 53074 U.S.A.
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737