Publicity Tips/Enhance Your Pitch with Video Feb 24, 2009

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #439 Feb. 24, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

Circulation: 42,491

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"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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In This Issue
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1. Enhance Your Pitch with Video

2. Target College Blogs

3. Blogrolls: Publicity Gold

4. Meet Journalists Face to Face

5. Promoting Home & Garden Shows

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...


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1. Enhance Your Pitch with Video
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Too many Publicity Hounds are obsessed with generating coverage
in the printed versions of newspapers and magazines.

They forget that newspaper circulation is plummeting and that
things aren't exactly rosy in the magazine industry, either.

If you can make it into your local daily newspaper,
congratulations. But what about the thousands of people who have
stopped subscribing because they can read much of the content
online and not have to pay?

If your story shows up in the printed newspaper, but not at the
paper's website, you're missing the chance to be in front of all
those people who read it online.

Entice editors to publish your story in the printed and online
editions by offering them video at their website. For example:

--Let's say you're a fashion consultant. You can pitch a story
about how Casual Friday has resulted in slobs in the workplace,
and then offer a short video that shows the Top 10 Casual Friday
Fashion Mistakes. Editors will be happy to put the video at their
website and refer to it from the story in the printed edition.

--An author publicizing a recipe book for children can offer the
food editor a video that shows a child making a peanut butter and
jelly roll-up, with help from mom or dad.

--A manufacturer who's pitching a business story can offer video
that shows a product in various stages of completion, sort of a
mini version of the popular show "How it's Made" on the Science
Channel.

Print journalists love video because they're under immense
pressure to provide multi-media at their websites. Multi-media
draws visitors, and that means more people reading paid ads. So
be sure to mention video in your pitch. Lots of other Publicity
Hounds aren't using video. If you do, you'll set yourself apart
from the crowd.


Publicity Hound John Easton, a videographer, has turned into a
media darling in his own community of Charlotte, North Carolina
by cranking out videos whenever he can--for use at newspaper
websites and the local Chamber of Commerce websites, among
others.

He says you don't have to be a video professional like he is to
endear the media. With an inexpensive Flip Video camera and a few
tricks up your sleeve, you can generate mountains of publicity
far and above what every else is getting.

John explained all his tricks during a teleseminar last year on
"9 Clever Ways to Use Video to Become a Publicity Darling in Your
Industry or Community." We recorded it, and it's available as a
CD, MP3 or electronic transcript that you can download as soon as
your order has been approved. Read more about what you'll learn
at http://tinyurl.com/5pbgzn


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2. Target College Blogs
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If you're publicizing something that appeals to a college
audience, the school's newspaper and campus TV and radio stations
should be on your targeted media list.

Don't forget about the blogs associated with those media.

I picked up a copy of The Marquette Tribune, the campus paper
published by Marquette University in Milwaukee. Inside, I found
four URLs leading to the newspapers blogs. They are devoted to
student government, music and entertainment, Greek life, and club
sports. Most of them accept comments.

I'm guessing that some college students who don't read
traditional newspapers also don't read their college paper but,
instead, search for information online, including these blogs.


Including college newspapers in your publicity campaign is one of
the thousands of tips featured in the 2009 update of my ebook
"How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound." When co-author Tom
Antion and I updated it late last year, we added six new chapters
on social media.


This is one of my most popular learning tools because it gives
Hounds an overall view of hundreds of publicity tools and
resources, and gives specific strategies on how to use them. Our
eight new chapters include tips and strategies for using video,
MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, photo-sharing sites, and
social bookmarking. If you're late getting started with social
media, this ebook explains in easy-to-understand terms how to
incorporate these sites into a publicity campaign.

Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/2a3dp9


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3. Blogrolls: Publicity Gold
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Authors, if you want more reviews for your books, pay attention
to this tip.

Publicity Hounds everywhere, if you're trying to generate
publicity among the blogging community, and you blog, this tip
applies to you, too.

It's courtesy of Rebecca Morgan, who publishes the excellent
SpeakerNetNews ezine for speakers at
http://www.SpeakerNetNews.com

Rebecca says that since so many newspapers are discontinuing
their book review sections, Hounds need to think creatively about
ways to publicize their books.

She suggests that you hunt down bloggers who mention your blog in
their blogroll. The blogroll is the list, usually in the right or
left margin, that links to all the blogs they find interesting.

I've seen my blog listed on dozens, maybe even hundreds, of
blogrolls that deal with marketing, publicity, books and
promotion.

Rebecca suggests that you ask bloggers who list you in their
blogroll to review your book.

"You already know they are your fans. Send them an advance copy.
When they review it, put a link on your site to the review and
tell your readers to check it out."

She also suggests:

--Add a quote from their review on your book description page
with a link to the full review.

--Ask other bloggers or sites that focus on your book's topic for
a review, even if your site isn't on their blogroll.

--Offer five f~ree books to their site to use as awards for a
contest they may want to run. Thus your book's title stays in
front of key buyers.

--Provide bloggers with a jpg of the book cover to post with the
review.

--If you have an affiliate program, invite them to join so they
earn commissions from orders coming from their readers. Many of
these folks will also invite you to appear as a guest on their
podcasts or Internet radio shows.

Her ideas could work for many other products, not just books. To
find blogrolls that mention your blog, you can use
http://blogsearch.google.com or http://www.Technorati.com


P.S. If you list me in your blogroll and want to review the 2009
edition of "How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound," or if you're
a blogger or ezine editor who wants to review the book, let
Christine Buffaloe, my customer service manager, know.
Mailto:Chris@serenityva.com


Authors, if your book sales have fallen flat, do NOT give up and
start writing your next book. That's a big mistake. Instead,
start applying the same strategies that book publicist Lissa
Warren uses when her clients' book sales hit the skids. She
details them all during the teleseminar we conducted on "How to
Revive a Dying Book Marketing Campaign." It's available as a CD
or electronic transcript that you can read as soon as your order
has been approved.

Read more about how to jump-start dying book campaigns at
http://tinyurl.com/67bhu


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4. Meet Journalists Face to Face
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More than 100 journalists from media outlets large and small will
meet Publicity Hounds face to face at the National Publicity
Summit April 22-25 in New York.

The journalists will sit across from authors, speakers,
consultants, experts and others who will be pitching their ideas
to get onto shows like "48 Hours," ABC's "The View," Fox News and
the "Today" show.

Hounds will be delivering succinct, 10- or 15-second pitches and
including all the enticing little "extras" that encourage a media
person to say "tell me more."

Each year, only 100 people are accepted at the summit so that
each can have enough face time with journalists.

In years past, the summit has produced dozens of success stories
that include:

--Ron & Lisa Beres's appearance on the "Today" show.

--Steve Shapiro's big write-up in "O the Oprah Magazine" after
meeting the writer at the publicity summit.

--Barry Spilchuk's interview on the Fox News Channel within just
five hours of meeting the producer at the summit!

--Sandy Clemmons's stories in Health Magazine, Money Magazine and
TV Guide, all from meeting journalists face to face at this
event.

You'll have to complete an application before you're accepted.
Visit http://www.NationalPublicitySummit.com/?10011 for all the
details.


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5. Promoting Home & Garden Shows
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This week, eight Publicity Hounds have tips on how Lori Feldman
of St. Louis, Mo. can promote home & garden shows in four cities
throughout the United States.


From Jeff Rutherford:

"There has been so much media coverage of the impact of the
economy on people’s day-to-day lives, why not pitch reporters on
the idea that more people will be gardening this year? It's
relatively low-cost fun, and some of those people may very well
be growing their own food. You could offer spokespeople from the
show as experts on the power of gardening--to help feed people
and promote family bonding."

From Holly Miller:

"Get in touch with your local Master Gardeners, Cooperative
Extension Office, and any regional government groups that promote
water conservation, beautification, or storm water management
through rain gardens. For examples, see http://www.hrwet.org,
http://www.hrclean.org, and http://www.hrstorm.org.

"Additionally, check http://www.meetup.com for environmental or
gardening groups in your target area. You'll be amazed at how
many resources there are for finding your target audience. And,
a give-away targeting a specific green initiative wouldn't hurt.
Think about free rain barrels or installation of a rain garden."

From Catherine McVicker:

"Get a garden center to contribute the creation of a pint-size
victory garden for four people as a prize. They get publicity at
the show, get to put a sign at the street like painters do, and,
hopefully, get word of mouth exposure as the family of four eats
its way through the garden produce during the summer."

The Publicity Hound says:

These ideas are fabulous. The first one, about promoting
gardening during a bad economy, is perfect for TV because there
will be so many great visuals at the show. I'd pitch it to local
TV stations a day or two before the show opens in each city. If
you can find local people who preserve their garden vegetables,
that would be a great local tie-in.

TV producer Shawne Duperon gave step-by-step directions on how to
contact local TV newsrooms and pitch ideas when she was a guest
on my teleseminar "How to Get on the Local TV News Tomorrow."

It's available as a CD or an electronic transcript that you can
download and be reading as soon as your order has been approved.
Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/yjrktx


Read all the responses to this week's Help This Hound question at
http://tinyurl.com/atm843


Send your own Help This Hound question to
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com


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6. Help This Hound
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Jill Cranford of Livermore, Colo. writes:

"My company, Stone2Furniture, which makes outdoor furniture from
stone, is having an Ugly Patio Furniture Contest at
http://www.stone2furniture.com/contest.htm and we'll be giving
away a set of our stone furniture valued at $4,100.

"So here I am with the rules drawn up, and it's live on our
website and in the Media Room. I sent out 130 snail-mail flyers
and emails to editors.

"My next step is getting it to the local news channels. But I am
wondering if I am missing a step? I haven't heard from any
editors. I know this will be fun but I'm just not sure how to
launch it."

The Publicity Hound says:

I love these "ugliest" contests and other journalists do, too!
Sometimes a photo can tell a story far better than a press
release or a brochure. You already have two photos of entries at
the link above. The photo that shows the ugly patio table made
out of two rubber storage containers will really attract a lot of
attention when you're pitching this story.

I'm leaving it up to my Hounds to offer suggestions on how to use
that photo, and any other ideas they have on how to promote your
contest. Hounds, you can post your ideas to my blog at
http://tinyurl.com/apbzws


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

Today is Mardi Gras Day.

To celebrate, Jeanne Hurlbert of Baton Rouge, La., shares this
video of the Mardi Gras Dog Parade, an annual event where she and
her family "throw beads and dog treats and have a great time."
(If the video won't load, come back in an hour or so because too
many people might be trying to watch it.)

http://tinyurl.com/d2am2b

Jeanne is the survey consultant I hired to help me create the
survey that you'll be getting from me soon.

DOG JOKES & QUOTES EBOOK: 170+ G-rated dog jokes and quotes,
perfect for a dog-lover, your favorite vet, or just for a few
good laughs.

BONUS: Buy the ebook and you also get a compilation of the 50
best websites for dog humor.

http://www.publicityhound.com/dogjokebook/


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8. And at My Blog...
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Increase your web sales: 27 ways to get 'em to buy
http://tinyurl.com/bmdfo7


More publicity for Dallas hardware store after Bush visits
http://tinyurl.com/blaz7p


Real estate magazine needs expert articles
http://tinyurl.com/cz8vpu


A journalist's tips for pitching story ideas about your business
http://tinyurl.com/agzdkf

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WHERE TO SEE AND HEAR THE PUBLICITY HOUND:

March 6-8--Atlanta, Ga.

I'll be at the Stompernet Live 7 event. If you're going, let's
meet for coffee.


March 16--Teleseminar on Internet Marketing

I'll be Marilee Tolen's guest from 8 to 9 p.m. Eastern Time for
her teleseminar series "Introduction to Internet Marketing" for
nurses, healers, coaches and holistic professional solopreneurs.
If this is your niche, and you're tired of running after the next
client, this is the training session for you. It starts Feb. 23.
Learn more at http://tinyurl.com/dl3xhm


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Joan Stewart
a.k.a. The Publicity Hound®
3434 County KK
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Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737