Publicity Tips/Lighten Your Load April 14, 2009

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #446 April 14, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

Circulation: 41,324

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"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

Receive this seine direct to your desktop
http://www.publicityhound.com/tipsoftheweek/

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Authors, Don't Miss this One:

Jack Canfield of "Chicken Soup for the Soul" fame, learned early
how to handle rejection--and overcome it. He and Mark Victor
Hansen went on to sell more than 100 million 'Chicken Soup" books
despite the army of people who said it couldn't be done. Learn
his inside secrets during a f*ree teleseminar with Steve Harrison
on Thursday, April 16, at your choice of two times. Register at
http://budurl.com/sv7g

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In This Issue
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1. Lighten Your Load

2. Where to Find Speaking Gigs

3. Tea Party Publicity

4. Use a Gravatar

5. Promote a Consignment Shop

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...


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1. Lighten Your Load
=================================

One of the biggest misconceptions of social networking is that
you must produce mountains of content--and still keep your day
job.

Yes, you need content galore for your blog, articles, Facebook
page, press releases, Squidoo lenses, HubPages and video-sharing
sites.

But here's a little secret.

You don't have to produce all of it yourself, or even most of it.
Outsource, outsource, outsource.

Thousands of competent people, many of them unemployed, would
love to work with you right now, at prices you can afford.

And smart Publicity Hounds who realize that a bad economy is the
very best time to outsource are casting their nets for the best
writers, photographers and video producers. Those include a glut
of newspaper journalists who have joined the already crowded
market for freelance writers.

Here are five tips to get started:

--Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter can help you
find freelancers fairly quickly. Just let people know what you're
looking for and they'll spread the word.

--If you want a wide range of candidates from which to choose,
post your project to sites like Elance.com, Guru.com or
RentaCoder.com. They will put the fee in escrow and release it
only after you've signed off on the project, thus eliminating a
lot of squabbles. I've used Elance and RentaCoder many times with
good results.

--Hire fast, and fire faster. Never let freelancers learn on your
nickel.

--Reward outstanding work.

--Require freelancers who bid on writing projects to speak
English as a first language. I made the mistake of hiring someone
offshore and was disappointed.


Leili McKinley, one of my business coaches, says there are other
traps to avoid when working with freelancers. She explained them
all and offered dozens of helpful tips on how to keep the best
freelancers working for you when she was my guest during a
teleseminar I hosted on "Outsourcing Secrets: How to Get the Best
Quality, Price & Teamwork from Freelancers." Read more about how
to get started and how to order the CD or electronic transcript
at http://budurl.com/uw5j

Still not convinced you need to outsource? Publicity Hound Debra
Condren explains why trying to do it all yourself can actually
cost you money. Read her article at http://budurl.com/gpy4


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2. Where to Find Speaking Gigs
=================================

Speakers, if you're spending hours searching for events where you
can speak for a fee, or no fee, here's a handy tool that will
make your job easier.

SpeakerLeads.com at http://www.SpeakerLeads.com is a wiki that
lets meeting planners everywhere provide information on events
that need speakers. It includes other helpful details like the
deadline for speakers to apply, the major market in case you want
to search by city, and the website where you can find more
information about the event.

You can search the database, the wiki or you can opt-in and they
will send you updates--all f*ree.

Already, the wiki has about 1,000 events, as far as three years
away, that need all types of speakers for keynotes, panels and
break-out sessions. In some cases, meeting planners want only
speakers who are already planning to attend the event. But that's
OK. Speakers who need experience on the circuit will gladly take
these gigs.

Meeting planners, add this website to the list of places where
you can promote your event.

It's brought to you by the Yearbook of Experts, the service that
provides expert sources and contact information for journalists,
as well as press release distribution services for experts.

I've subscribed to this service for several years and have
received many phone calls from reporters seeking my commentary on
publicity topics. If you're an expert, this service is for you.

Mitchell Davis and his staff answer their own phones at
202-333-5000 and can get you set up. Before you call, check out
their website at http://www.expertclick.com/ and tell them I sent
you. They'll knock $100 off the price of your subscription.


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3. Tea Party Publicity
=================================

Thousands of anti-tax protesters will attend tea parties in more
than 300 cities throughout the United States tomorrow.

If you're one of them, or not, here are ways to promote your
cause:

--Provide updates throughout the day on Twitter and Facebook. Use
the hashtag "#teaparty" in your tweets. Learn more about hashtags
at http://budurl.com/b8x9

--Shoot video and offer it to your local TV stations and
newspapers. Even if you're traveling hundreds of miles to
participate, you're still the local angle to this national story.

--Provide video comments to videos that generate a lot of traffic
on sites like YouTube. David Mathison offered this tip during the
teleseminar I hosted with him last week on how to use social
media to help you "be the media." Listen to the replay at
http://budurl.com/a7p5

--Take photos and upload them to photo-sharing sites like
Photobucket and Flickr. Some tea parties are encouraging
participants to bring food for food pantries. Shoot photos and
videos when you're delivering it.

--Blog about the experience.

--Offer to be a correspondent for a media outlet or website
that's interested in covering the event. The Huffington Post is
looking for local correspondents. Sign up at
http://budurl.com/jcuz

--Call your U.S. congressmen and let them know how you feel.

--Call your local TV stations and see if they're sending
reporters. If so, offer to do an on-camera interview or be their
mini-correspondent. For inside secrets on how to contact the TV
newsroom's "Queen Bee" who decides what they will and won't
cover, read about the teleseminar I hosted with Shawne Duperon on
"How to Get on the Local TV News Tomorrow" at
http://budurl.com/y5ty


If you're on the other side and want to protest the protests,
you can use many of these tactics.


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4. Use a Gravatar
=================================

Why is it that when you leave a comment at someone's blog, your
photo doesn't show up next to your comment, but photos of the
other Publicity Hounds who comment are everywhere?

Could be you don't have a gravatar.

A gravatar is a globally recognized avatar, an image that follows
you from site to site and appears beside your name when you
participate. It's a powerful tool because your smiling face might
be the first thing that catches a reader's attention.

To create your own gravatar in a few minutes, go to
http://budurl.com/ahzh

Once you've done that, it's time to set up gravatars on your blog
or forum. Plug-ins are available for leading blog software and
content management systems. Watch the tutorials at the link above
for more information.

Publicity Hound David Leonhardt wrote a great blog post on "10
Ways to Make Your Gravatar Sell" at http://budurl.com/cdet and
included my gravatar and several others as examples of those he
loves.

I prefer a gravatar of someone smiling rather than a cartoon-
character depiction, or a company logo, or an inane illustration
that has nothing to do with the person behind the curtain. Social
media is all about transparency and forming relationships with
people.


At social networking sites, people can decide within a few
seconds whether to follow you when they see your gravatar and
read your profile. Almost every profile I read can be improved.
Social networking expert Nancy Marmolejo explained what the ideal
profiles include, with step-by-step instructions on how to dress
up yours during the teleseminar I recorded with her. It's called
"Can Your Social Networking Profile Pass the 10-Second Test?" and
you can read more about it at http://budurl.com/ru5e


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5. Promote a Consignment Shop
==================================

This week, nine Publicity Hounds have tips for Karen Nardella of
Conway, N.H. She owns a consignment outlet and home staging
center for high-end furniture and needs to know how to spread the
word, on a very tight budget, about what she's doing.


From Howard Pierpont:

"With your location, I would look for local coverage in the
tourist media. There is a high traffic count from the Boston and
North Shore markets. They're looking for a quality and price that
beats their neighborhood locals."


From Alan McBride:

"What about a massive upper-scale garage sale? Maybe get the
local newspaper to host it. Let them think it's their idea too.
They could hire a hall or other area, sell stalls (yours is
free), and advertising is theirs."


From Cheryl Kurland:

"Go back through your previous sales receipts and make a customer
list. Create a letter and mail it to each previous customer
offering a 10 percent discount on anything purchased between
[date] and [date]. Include two business cards--one for them, one
to pass along to a friend who might be in need of your products.


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


I'm running low on HTH questions. Send yours to
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com?subject=HelpThisHound and include your city and state.


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

Karen Kalisek of Escondido, Calif. writes:

"WomensMedia.com is a seven-year-old website that has undergone a
major overhaul and is in the process of relaunching.

"We pride ourselves in offering expert advice for working
women. Currently, we have 30,000 unique website followers each
month (20 percent of those are overseas), 10,000 follow the blog,
Women's Lunch Talk, and 1,000 listen to our podcast, Working in
Heels.

"We don't male bash, but do offer realistic advice concerning
working women. We also have a library with over 200 articles
written by people such as Madeline Albright, Suze Orman, and many
other notables. We also are proud of our Google ranking of 5.

"We have done all this with no advertising or sponsorship. With
the new 'look' we want to increase our followers, create revenue
channels, offer classes, provide speakers and build
relationships. Where do we start getting the word out that we
exist? Any suggestions for a media kit, PR kit, etc. would be
greatly appreciated. We have no money, but we have a great
message with a proven history."


The Publicity Hound says:

With millions of women participating in social networking sites
and just waiting to spread the word for you, you don't need a
huge budget, or any budget for that matter, to make a splash. How
about it Hounds? How can Karen use social media as well as
traditional media to promote the site? Post your best comments to
my blog at http://budurl.com/chzf


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

Sign inside my hair salon: Unattended children will be given an
espresso and a f*ree puppy.


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...
================================

Hate Twitter? Claim your username to protect your brand
http://budurl.com/8a8n


Social media tips for getting email addresses & selling products
http://budurl.com/a7p5


Financial advisers, use WSJ section to market yourselves
http://budurl.com/qafa


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