Publicity Tips/Like Rats on a Sinking Ship Apr 7, 2009

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #445 April 7, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

Circulation: 41,324

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The
Publicity Hound website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you
told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you
can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the
newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free
publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their
reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more
products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.


*******************************************

Social Media Teleseminar Tomorrow, April 8:


Puzzled about the return on investment you'll get by
participating in social media?

David Mathison, once an unknown author, has one success story
after another to share about what has happened to him as a result
of joining the conversation at sites like Twitter, Facebook and
LinkedIn.

While writing his book "Be the Media: How to Create and
Accelerate Your Message...Your Way," he spent time on those sites
and others and has one success story after another to share with
you.

David will join me for a complimentary teleseminar from 3 to 4
p.m. Eastern Time tomorrow and explain how to use social media to
create a huge following and sell more books, products or
services. Only 200 people will be able to participate. Register
at http://www.Publicityhound.com/teleseminardavemathison.htm

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

1. Like Rats on a Sinking Ship

2. Google Measures Your Influence

3. Let 'em Know You Twitter

4. Before You Write a Nonfiction Book...

5. Advice for Twitter 'Unfollowers'

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...


=================================
1. Like Rats on a Sinking Ship
=================================

Those newspaper and magazine journalists you're pitching are
grumpier than ever.

You'd be grumpy, too, if you had an ax hanging over your head.

The 2009 PRWeek/PR Newswire Media Survey shows that half of the
2,174 journalists surveyed this year are considering careers
outside of journalism.

Doug Elfman, entertainment columnist at the Las Vegas Review-
Journal describes the situation like this:

"I know several people who have changed careers or have
considered changing their careers because they don't want to feel
like rats on a sinking ship anymore."

That confirms what I'm hearing from my friends in the newspaper
business.

PRWeek's survey results also show:

--70 percent of journalists are working harder this year than
last.

--They're taking on more work on the Web, where publishers
feel they have the best chance of recouping lost revenues.

--At magazines like Teen Vogue, journalists produce numerous
daily online-only items and blog posts to tide over readers
between issues.

--The number of journalists who have a social networking profile
has increased from 54 percent last year to 77 percent this year.
Many of them say they look for story ideas, sources and other
information on sites like Facebook and Twitter.


What this means to you:

--Pay attention to a newspaper's or magazine's website, not only
the printed edition. You might find many more opportunities for
publicity online than offline.

--The emphasis on the Web means journalists are no longer "print
journalists" or "broadcast journalists." They are all "multi-
media journalists." So think "multi-media" when you pitch by
offering a video clip for a newspaper's or TV station's website.

--If you're obsessed with generating publicity in traditional
media, you need to have a presence on the social networking
sites, where many journalists hunt for stories.

--Position yourself as a helpful source who's willing to go the
extra distance. Many journalists are still confused about how to
use sites like Facebook and Twitter. If you can help them by
showing them, in step-by-step detail, how to do something like
search Twitter by topic, you could score points.


If you're creating video for, let's say, your local newspaper,
you can recycle it in other ways for additional publicity.
Videographer John Easton does it all the time in Charlotte, North
Carolina, and the local chamber of commerce and TV stations love
him. During a teleseminar I hosted, he explained how you can do
what he does without fancy equipment or much techie know-how. "9
Clever Ways to Use Video to Become a Publicity Darling in Your
Industry or Community" is available as a CD, MP3 or electronic
transcript that you can download as soon as your order has been
approved.

Read more about how to use the power of video for publicity at
http://tinyurl.com/5pbgzn


=================================
2. Google Measures Your Influence
=================================

If you're one of the many people who thinks Twitter is a waste of
time and you refuse to participate, please reconsider.

Rumors have been circulating that Google is interested in buying
Twitter, the micro-blogging site that lets users send messages of
no more than 140 characters to everyone who follows them.

For now, it's nothing more than gossip. But if there's a nugget
of truth to the rumor, here's how it could affect you.

Google, the granddaddy of search engines, already measures your
influence.

Let's say you sell dog toys and somebody types "dog toys" into
the Google search box. Google will rank your site on the left
side of the screen according to several factors. One of the
biggest is whether your site includes those keywords in the title
bar, description, meta tags and copy on your website.

Another factor is how many other influential websites link to
yours.

It gives high ranking to videos, too. When Google bought YouTube
for $1.65 billion in October 2006, that was the company's way of
screaming "We think videos are important."

Same with Twitter.

If Google buys Twitter, chances are good that one of the factors
it will use to measure your influence is your Twitter presence,
how often you tweet and how often you join the conversation.

If your competitors are on Twitter but you're not, what kind of
message do you think that will send to Google?

At Stompernet's Internet marketing seminar in Atlanta last month,
several speakers predicted that the search engines will place a
greater emphasis on your influence in the social networking
world.

Already, you can measure your influence on Twitter with a variety
of tools and applications. One of them is Twitalyzer at
http://twitalyzer.com/twitalyzer/index.asp

Type in your Twitter name, and it will grade your impact and
success in social media according to several factors: relative
influence, signal-to-noise ratio, generosity, velocity and clout.

Compare your score to the scores of your competitors.

If you ranked really low, you can boost your score by
understanding all the ways you can join in the conversation and
be helpful to the people who follow you. Warren Whitlock
explained how to do this, and he gave dozens of tips when he was
my guest during a teleseminar on "How to Use Twitter to Amass an
Army of Followers, Customers & Valuable Contacts--and Promote."

We recorded it and it's available as a package of electronic
transcripts and your choice of CDs or MP3s that you can download
immediately. Read more about what you'll learn at
http://tinyurl.com/3lbcaw


=========================================
3. Let 'em Know You Twitter
=========================================

Hardly a day goes by when the mainstream media isn't reporting on
Twitter. It's obvious many journalists and broadcasters are still
confused about the value of this site.

If you Twitter, particularly for business, and you're seeing a
return on your investment, offer yourself as a source for this
story. Explain what has happened to you since you started
Twittering, how many followers you have, how much time you spend,
how many valuable contacts you've made, and how many clients or
customers you've generated.

Consider pitching this story to your local business journal,
daily and weekly newspapers, TV stations and even your trade
journals.

How about offering a short list of three or four Twitter tools or
apps you use that save you time and help keep you organized? I
blogged about a cool directory that separates all these tools by
category. You can find it at http://tinyurl.com/cwcnwq


===========================================
4. Before You Write a Nonfiction Book...
===========================================

Don't write one word until you've made a long list of all the
ways you can use that book as a springboard to other products and
services.

Too many authors view the book as the end product. Then, if the
book doesn't sell, they're stuck.

Smart authors use their books as calling cards. The book
"upsells" readers to a variety of other products and services.

After working with more than 9,000 authors over the last 20
years, Steve Harrison has learned that the most successful
authors simply do seven key things differently than poor authors.

Some of them are very famous bestsellers, like the creators of
the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and Rich Dad Poor Dad.

Others are happily not-so-famous but quietly raking in high six-
figure and even seven-figure annual incomes without ever being on
Oprah or hitting any bestseller list.

To learn what wildly successful authors know that poor authors
don't, join him for a free 75-minute telephone seminar at 7 p.m.
Eastern Time tonight, April 7. There's no cost to participate in
the call (except for your normal long distance charges) so go
here now and sign up:

http://www.freepublicity.com/RichAuthorSecrets/?10011


========================================
5. Advice for Twitter 'Unfollowers'
========================================

This week, eight Publicity Hounds have tips for Dan Janal of
Shorewood, Minn., owner of PRLeads.com. He subscribes to
Qwitter.com at http://UseQwitter.com and wants advice on what to
do when the service notifies him that one of his Twitter
followers has "unfollowed" him.


From David Kadavy:

"For me, it's not about reciprocity, it's about genuine
relationships and useful information. Follow that principle and
you'll know when it's right to unfollow someone."


From Gail Sideman:

"I have a small follower base compared to many of those with whom
I have Twitter relationships, but can say that all I choose to
follow are valuable minds in their industries or are lots of fun.
If they unfollow me, I'm not going to analyze why. You can't
please everybody, especially in a base as broad as social media."


From Meryl Evans:

"I signed up for Qwitter a long time ago and forgot about it.
Suddenly, it hit me with a bunch of unfollowers. Obviously, the
service was flaky. Nonetheless, I unsubscribed to the service
after that. It's just not worth getting hurt or emotional about
those who stop following you."


Read all the responses to this week's Help This Hound question
http://tinyurl.com/cnb3b2

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


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

Karen Nardella of Conway, N.H. writes:

"I am a sole proprietor who owns the Emporium Consignment Outlet
and Home Staging Center, a consignment shop for high-end
furniture in Conway, N.H.

"I sell gently-used, high-quality, brand-name furniture such as
Ethan Allan, and I pay the owner 55 percent of the sale. All the
furniture is no more than 10 years old.

"With the sagging economy, what's the best way on a very tight
budget to spread the word about what I'm doing? I need to attract
the attention of people who have furniture to sell as well as
people who can't afford new furniture. What tips can your Hounds
share with me, either through traditional marketing channels or
by generating publicity?"


The Publicity Hound says:

The bad economy presents all kinds of great tie-ins to your
pitches. Let's see how many ideas my Hounds can suggest. If you
have a great idea for Karen, post it to my blog at
http://tinyurl.com/dyscmt


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

Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.


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

Massive Twitter directory lists tools, apps galore
http://tinyurl.com/cnnz6n


-------------------------------------

Where to See & Hear The Publicity Hound:


April 8, 2009

Teleseminar with David Mathison on how to use social media to
sell books and other products. 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern.
http://www.Publicityhound.com/teleseminardavemathison.htm


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


Friend me on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joan_Stewart/541605146


Connect with me on LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/publicityhound


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Reprinted from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," an ezine
featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity.
Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email
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If you like these tips please pass them on to your friends,
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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

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #430 Dec. 23, 2008
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)


Circulation: 44,446


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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The Publicity
Hound website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you told me
that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you can
unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free
publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their reputation,
position themselves as employers of choice, sell more products and
services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

******************************************

My Holiday Gift to You:

More than 2,000 Publicity Hounds have already download my "Best
of the Publicity Hound's tips of the Week of 2008," the free ebook
that's my holiday gift to you. Lots of Hounds are tweeting about it
on Twitter and offering the book to their followers, too. Yes, I am
encouraging you to regift it.

You can claim your copy here. Please use this link when sharing the
book with your own readers, followers and connections:

http://tinyurl.com/Bestof2008Tips


Thanks to all of my loyal Publicity Hounds for your continued
support. May you have a safe and happy Christmas, Hanukkah,
Kwanzaa and New Year's.

*****************************************
================================

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

1. Holiday Weather Stories

2. No More Cardboard Checks

3. The Secret to Corporate Sponsorships

4. 6 Critical Elements of Video

5. How to Promote a Fine Art Exhibit

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...

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

1. Holiday Weather Stories

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

Here's an almost guaranteed way to make it onto TV, into your local
newspaper, or onto a drive-time radio show during the holidays.

Comment on how the weather is affecting you during Christmas and
New Year's.

Here in Wisconsin, we're being pounded with up to a foot more of
snow in the next 24 hours--on top of the foot of snow that's
already on the ground.

Up and down the middle of the U.S., watches and advisories for
snow and freezing rain are already in effect from the Upper Midwest
and Great Lakes southward to northern Texas.

O'Hare and Midway airports in Chicago are a mess. In Maine, ski
areas are kicking into overdrive following the state's first major
snow storm of the winter season.

Here are some ways to get publicity for your product, service,
cause or issue during the holidays, when news departments are on
the lookout for anybody who can tie into the weather.

--Home improvement and hardware stores that sell salt, snow rakes
and snow blowers should let news departments know if they still
have these products in stock. Any other time of year, you'd have to
buy expensive advertising. This time of year, it's called free
publicity because it's part of a major news story.

--How is the bad weather affecting nonprofits like the Salvation
Army's red kettle bell ringers? Or the local food pantry's ability to
get food to the needy?

--Hospitals and clinics, are you seeing more patients who have
fallen on the ice or suffered from frostbite?

--Veterinarians, how can we keep our four-legged hounds safe
while walking them in bitter-cold weather? Or should we keep them
indoors?

--Chiropractors, are more people throwing out their backs and
shoulders from shoveling snow?

--Garden centers and nurseries, can you offer tips on how to
provide seed and water for the birds?

--Therapists, how can people in cold-weather states like Wisconsin
where I live, keep their sanity during a treacherous winter?

--Companies, are you letting workers go home early? Or are you the
type of business that needs to schedule additional employees during
bad weather?

Even if the weather is great in your neck of the woods, your local
news departments will still be reporting on it.

The media HATE making cold calls to search for these kinds of
sources who can round out the obligatory weather stories. So start
pitching NOW, when everyone else is shopping, wrapping, cooking,
salting and shoveling.

"Special Report #37: How to Tie Your Product, Service, Cause or
Issue to the Weather" offers many more ideas on how to piggyback
onto weather stories 365 days a year. Only $10 Order at
http://www.publicityhound.com/publicity-products/reports.html


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

2. No More Cardboard Checks

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

If you're raising money this holiday season for a worthy cause,
promise me you'll also make this New Year's resolution.

You will NOT publicize the donation by asking the media to cover a
"check passing," in which two people pose, one on each side of an
oversized cardboard check.

You've seen a million of these obnoxious check-passing photos, and
they all look alike. Instead, think of creative ways to generate
publicity for your donation. Here are three ideas:

--If you're raising money for a food pantry, invite the TV cameras
and newspaper photographers to join you when you unload dozens
of boxes of food from a truck into the pantry or warehouse.

--Buying toys for needy kids? Invite the media to accompany your
volunteers on a shopping trip.

--If your company is foregoing the annual Christmas party and,
instead, donating money to a worthy cause like a local homeless
shelter, go one step further. Ask employees to donate small bottles
of shampoo and mouthwash, similar to the ones hotels provide, and
invite the media to shoot them packing the samples into gift bags.


The teleseminar "Fun Alternatives to Boring Ground-breakings,
Ribbon-cuttings and Check-passings" provides lots of great ideas
that will help you generate mountains of publicity instead of falling
back on the same old cliche photos. 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/7cl6z


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

3. The Secret to Corporate Sponsorships

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

One of the most frequent questions I receive from Publicity Hounds
is "How do I get a corporate sponsor to pay for my (fill in the
blank)?"

Too often, people go fishing for corporate sponsors by sending blast
emails and form letters to any old company they think might have
some extra money to throw around. Then they wonder why they
receive no replies.

That's the wrong approach.

You must find a company that's a perfect fit with the audiences
you already have in place. Even speakers, authors and experts who
have very niched topics are in a perfect position to find corporate
sponsors--if the people who are already in your target market want
or need the products or services that company provides.

Brendon Burchard, an author and speaker, has figured out some
really ingenious ways to land corporate and non-profit promotional
sponsorships and use them to fund his marketing efforts.

In less than 18 months, he has:

--Had a major PR firm representing him and getting him booked on
ABC World News, National Public Radio, Oprah & Friends, and 63
major radio stations.

--Had companies like Coca-Cola, Wachovia, Yahoo, Toyota, Sony
Pictures and other leading Fortune 500s and leading non-profits
offer to buy up to 50,000 copies of his self-published book every
year,

--Had those same companies make it possible for him to get
$500,000 in advances for his next book,

--Gotten fat speaking fees for 65 speaking engagements,

--Received testimonials from their CEOs.

--Had those same companies send emails to 100,000+ of their
customers or volunteers promoting his book, cause or business,

--Gotten at least 5 million impressions from visitors sent to his
website by those companies.

That's because his topic meshes PERFECTLY with what those
companies sell.

To discover how you can use his methods to promote your own
book, product or business, you're invited to a free telephone
seminar on Tuesday, December 30, hosted by Steve Harrison. It's a
repeat of a teleseminar he had several weeks ago that sold out,
and Publicity Hounds have begged him to repeat it. You can sign up
at http://www.SponsorshipTrainingTeleseminar.com/?10011

Here's just some of what you'll learn on next Tuesday's call:

* What to do step-by-step to get a major company to sponsor your
national promotional tour and pay for everything!

* Why the current economic downturn means more big companies
and non-profits sponsoring authors, speakers and entrepreneurs--
even if they're not famous.

* A website you can use to find potential sponsors and promotional
partners.

* The "secret phrase" which gets big nonprofit organizations to
endorse your book and promote it to their members.

* The title of the BEST person to contact with your proposal and
why you should never send one done with Microsoft Word.

* The Number One fatal mistake to avoid making when trying to
land a deal a sponsorship deal with a Fortune 500 company.

* How to write a short proposal that gets huge companies to
sponsor you--even if you're an unknown, self-published author
(HINT: there are five elements and he'll reveal all five on the call.)

Again, to sign up for next Tuesday's call, go here now:

http://www.SponsorshipTrainingTeleseminar.com/?10011


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

4. 6 Critical Elements of a Video

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

When you're creating video for the video-sharing sites like YouTube,
be sure your video includes six critical elements:

--The title. This is normally located above the video and it's
searchable. The first words of your title should be the most
important keywords of your video. Instead of "6 Powerful Tips for
TV Publicity," my video would say "TV Publicity--6 Powerful Tips."

--The description. This tells viewers what the video is about and it
should include keywords. Write two descriptions--one of less than
200 characters and one of more than 200 characters because some
video sites take only short descriptions.

--Tags, or keywords. When you upload a video, they ask you for
the title, the description and the tags. Don't go overboard repeating
the same keywords you put in the title and description.

Think about other keywords that might apply. Also, you can put
common misspellings in these tags.

--When you shoot your video, refer to your keywords in the video
and make them part of your script. Also mention your website by
name. here's a website called EveryZing.com. It has the capability
of listening to your words in a video and turning them into text and
making the text searchable. It will probably be awhile before
everybody starts using EveryZing, but your videos will be ready if
you mention your keywords and website in them.

--An open and closing slide, both of which should include your
website URL to make it easy for viewers to find you.

--A watermark. This usually appears at the bottom of the video.

It can include your URL, or the name of your company or your brand.

Viewers can see it the entire time they are watching your video.

These tips are excerpted from the chapter "Tom's How-to Video
Guide," a new addition to the 2008-2009 version of my ebook "How
to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound," which I co-wrote with Tom
Antion. He gives you step-by-step instructions on how to shoot and
produce video that pulls a ton of traffic to your website.

The updated version of the ebook also includes chapters on
MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and social bookmarking.

The ebook is one of my most popular products, sort of a one-stop-
shop on how to generate thousands of dollars in online and offline
publicity. Read more about what it includes at
http://www.publicityhound.com/publicity/publicityhound.htm


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

5. How to Promote a Fine Art Exhibit

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

This week, three Publicity Hounds have tips for Kendra Hinzmann of
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the director for a fine art exhibit space within
an upscale retirement community. Kendra is looking for ideas on how
to do a second round of promotion for the show because it didn't
pull the crowds she had hoped for during its first showing.


From Sarah Adams:

"I, too, own an upscale gallery, and unfortunately, I think your
show may have become a two-fold victim of a poor economy and a
tough time of year, depending upon what day in November you
scheduled.

"I suggest trying after the New Year. I tend to promote a "Last
Chance" private invitation to everyone, including those that did
show up. Be sure to include a link to your press release and
newspaper/magazine review of the show, quotes from the artist on
the opening. They will feel like they really missed a great event, and
are more likely to show up for the last week of the show!"


From Robyn Davis Sekula:

"The last week of December, your community is likely to be filled
with a lot of visitors who are sick of being locked inside with their
relatives and want something to do that can include the whole
family. I'd try to find a way to market to that audience-- 'here's
something great to do that's inexpensive and fun (especially if it is
free).' The first two weeks of January are also dead times in the
media world. That's another good time to try to drive in some
business.

"Ask the TV folks if you can come on and talk about the show and
bring a piece of art with you that last week of December or first
week of January. Or, if they'll do a live shot from the gallery, tie it
to the economy. We're all looking for inexpensive things to do with
our families, etc."


From Shel Horowitz:



Develop local contacts on Twitter and Facebook and send a string
of interest-building notices there.


The Publicity Hound says:

Since we're getting another foot of snow, call the local newspaper
and TV stations and suggest a story about fun things happening in
the community for winter-weary Cheeseheads. Mention your own
art show and a few more events you know about. If you pitch this
as a "series" of fun things to do instead of a story only about your
art show, they might be more inclined to cover it.


Read all the responses to this week’s Help This Hound question
http://tinyurl.com/6eafms


Send your own Help this Hound question to:

mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com?subject=HelpThisHound
and include your city and state.


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

6. Help This Hound

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

Nancy Wurtzel of Thousand Oaks, California writes:

"I have a client who is interested in writing a book on brain health,
targeted to Baby Boomers. My idea is to take the book in an
entirely different direction so it will stand out from the dozens of
other books that have already been published on this subject.

"We need a ghost writer to help us refine the book concept, write a
great outline and a dynamite pitch letter to publishers.

"I can provide direction, and the physician I work with is bright,
funny and reasonable. He can supply all medical information and
research that will be needed--he simply does not have the time to
pen the book word-for-word.

"Can your Hounds explain the best way for us to find a ghost-
writer who's a good fit for this topic? Any tips and resources they
could provide would be greatly appreciated."


The Publicity Hound says:

Many writers, authors and publishers read this newsletter, and I
know they'll be able to help you. Hounds with suggestions for Nancy
on how to find a ghostwriter can post them to my blog at
http://tinyurl.com/994lwl


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

7. Hound Joke of the Week

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

Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled
through snow.


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...

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

How to sell how-to reports without a website, shopping cart, or
hassles
http://tinyurl.com/9dbv7p


EzineArticles.com adds 17 new niche-market categories
http://tinyurl.com/5c44gm


--------------------------------------


WHERE TO SEE AND HEAR THE PUBLICITY HOUND:


Wednesday, Jan. 21--Teleseminar

Join me for the third annual smARTist telesummit where
photographers, jewelers, potters, painters, metalworkers,
woodworkers and other artists will learn all the secrets for growing
their art business. I'm presenting a session on how to use social
networking, from 2 to 2:45 Eastern Time on Wednesday, Jan. 21.
Register for the telesummit at http://tinyurl.com/5axy3x


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 News 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

Publicity tips/Social Networking Can Consume You Oct 21, 2008

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #421 Oct. 21, 2008
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

Circulation: 50,863

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The
Publicity Hound website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you
told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you
can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the
newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free
publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their
reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more
products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

**********************************************

How to do Social Networking, Run a Business & Still Have a Life:

This is the teleseminar many of you have been begging me to
offer.

If you didn't know any better, you'd think that BL Ochman, one of
the most prolific and well-respected bloggers and social
networkers, does social networking 24/7, but she doesn't. Join us
on November 6 for a 70-minute teleseminar and hear her explain
how she rations her time, uses a variety of social networking
tools, and still manages to set aside a huge chunk of her
schedule each day for client projects. She'll also explain how
she'll use social networking to launch a new business---tips many
of you can use to promote your existing businesses.

Register at http://tinyurl.com/6kswbc

See Item #1 below.

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

1. Social Networking Can Consume You

2. Great Tip for Getting onto TV

3. The Voice of GOOG-411

4. The Big Lie About Self-publishing

5. Promoting a Photography Studio

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...


=========================================
1. Social Networking Can Consume You
=========================================

I go over to Twitter, call up the profile of somebody I'm
following, and I see she's posted 6,698 tweets to my piddly 108.

So I call her on the phone and ask her how many hours a day she
spends on Twitter. I know it isn't 24 because she sometimes
tweets that she's headed off to bed. How many, then? Ten? Twelve?
Twenty?

When she tells me she spends about an hour and a half throughout
the entire day, I'm stunned.

We start talking about Facebook. She says she relies so heavily
on Twitter posts and Facebook email to communicate with her
friends and followers, that she seldom relies on traditional
email anymore. In fact, if you want to communicate with her, go
find her on Twitter or Facebook.

Her blog about online PR campaigns is one of my favorites. She
writes occasionally about her client projects, and I often sit
here and wonder, "When does she have time for clients, let alone
sleeping and eating?"

Meet BL Ochman, one of my heroes--a prolific writer and blogger
who calls 'em like she sees 'em. Many longtime Publicity Hounds
know her name because I've written about her here, and she's been
a guest on several of my teleseminars, including one of my most
popular on how to write a pitch letter that's more powerful than
a press release at http://tinyurl.com/6yd65

On Twitter, I've seen her beg for help when a plumbing problem
almost flooded her kitchen. She isn't above appealing to her
1,738 followers and asking for advice on whether to take on a
client project.

She gripes, rightly so, about press releases she hates. She tells
us when she picks apples and takes her dog, Benny Bix Ochman, a
Labradoodle, for walks in Central Park. She even tweets to tell
us about her acupuncture treatments. Even though we've met only
once, I know more about her life than I know about the lives of
many of my friends.

Oh yeah. She also does social bookmarking, another form of social
networking. And she says Benny "gets better Google juice than
most corporations" because she writes about him so frequently.

One of the most perplexing problems Publicity Hounds face is
learning how to budget our time in the world of social networking
and not let it swallow us whole. That's why I invited BL to
be my guest during a teleseminar Nov. 6 on "How to do Social
Networking, Run a Business & Still Have a Life."

Many of you have asked for this topic, and BL is the perfect
person to teach you. Read more about what you'll learn, and then
register for one of the 100 seats, at http://tinyurl.com/6kswbc


============================================
2. Great Tip for Getting onto TV
============================================

This idea won't work for run-of-the-mill businesses.

But if you have an unusual book title, company name, or product
or service, it can get you onto the TV news in your local
community. It's courtesy of John Kremer's excellent Book
Marketing newsletter at http://www.bookmarket.com/tips.htm

Bobbie Lee, author of Straight Man's Pocket Guide to Picking Up a
Hottie, wrote the following note to John:

"Your book recommends making contacts every day. So I never miss
a chance to put my card advertising my book somewhere when I can!

"I saw a Fox station reporter van one day in my neighborhood and
put one on their windshield. They gave it to an Executive
Producer who produces a segment called 'Pillow Talk' during the
news in the morning and they invited me on to talk about my book.
Thanks for your inspiration.

"You can check out my appearance on my local Fox station on
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n9r4bgYMPw"


A business card tucked under the windshield. That's all it took.

If you're lucky enough to get on the air, the more difficult
challenge is persuading the TV station to mention your website.
One of the best ways is to offer viewers something for free at
your website--in exchange for a name and email address.

Can't think of anything? I have dozens of ideas and examples and
I list them 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://tinyurl.com/6uz9g


=============================================
3. The Voice of GOOG-411
=============================================

You'll never pay for directory assistance again once you start
using GOOG-411, the free service from Google that gives you a
phone number, information about the business you want to call,
and even driving instructions.

As you watch the clever video that explains the service at
http://www.google.com/goog411/ note:

--How Google packed a lot of content and creativity into a 91-
second video.

--The fun challenge at the end to "find the voice of Google."
This is a reminder for Publicity Hounds to issue your own
challenge to your customers or followers to "find the voice"
associated with your company, from your radio ads to the recorded
greeting people hear when they call your company. How about
turning it into a contest?

--Google invited viewers to post their comments regarding the
"find the voice" challenge at YouTube at
http://www.google.com/goog411/ The video has had more than 3.4
million views and has amassed more than 700 comments.


Video ranks right up there as the Number One way to pull massive
amounts of traffic to your website quickly. It's also a powerful
way to generate attention from traditional media, which might not
be interested in covering your events. Publicity Hound John
Easton, a videographer, was my guest expert during a teleseminar
on "9 Clever Ways to Use Video to Become a Publicity Darling in
Your Industry or Community."

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/5pbgzn


=========================================
4. The Big Lie About Self-publishing
=========================================

One of the fiercest debates among authors and publishers centers
on whether your book is any good if you self-publish.

Purists keep perpetuating the big lie: That self-published books
lack credibility.

It's a ridiculous argument.

Just ask Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. When they shopped
their first Chicken Soup book to publishing houses many years
ago, they received several dozen rejection letters. Refusing to
give up, they published the book themselves.

It was so successful that the two have since self-published an
entire series of more than 100 Chicken Soup titles that have sold
more than 100 million copies. Add to that a variety of licensed
products such as calendars, greeting cards, nutritional
supplements, and even dog food.

My friend, Steve Harrison, will interview Jack Canfield tonight
at 7 p.m. Eastern and ask him about the other strategies he's
used to become a super-successful best-selling author and
internationally renowned speaker. The call is 90 minutes, and
it's free. Your usual long-distance rates apply.

You will learn:

--How Jack went from an inner city public school teacher to a
best-selling author and speaker.

--Jack's advice if you need revenue within 30 to 60 days.

--How to systematically create word-of-mouth marketing for your
book.

--Jack's insider advice on how to get started as a professional
speaker.

--How the Law of Attraction can help you create a best-selling
book.

Sign up now at http://tinyurl.com/5n2pwm


==========================================
5. Promoting a Photography Studio
==========================================

This week, nine Publicity Hounds have tips for Lisa Hoang of
Honolulu, Hawaii, a professional child and family photographer
who caters to elite clientele. She would like some classy ideas
on how to become more established in this niche. Her websites are
Windward Skies at http://www.windwardskies.com and Tiny Moments
Photography at http://www.tinymomentsphotography.com


From Kelly Watson:

"Get testimonials from other high-end customers and display them
prominently on your website. If you have a blog or an email
newsletter, you can also subtly 'name-drop' important customers
by displaying the work you've done for them or describing a
problem that you've solved for them.

"Potential customers will see that you've got a roster of high-
end clientele, and soon they'll be clamoring to join the list."



From Lori Green LeRoy:

"Consider donating your services to a silent auction for a Junior
League or other social benefit. Often, you can submit marketing
materials and examples of photos. The promotion at the event
would be great, and you could get excellent word-of-mouth
exposure from the person that 'wins' your services."


From Fiona Ingram:

"I live in South Africa and a local photographer came up with a
great idea. Start an album that draws the client back constantly.
For example, do the wedding pics, and add on a good price for
their anniversaries, the pregnancy, right up until the first baby
(and beyond). The baby album idea was to actually give
the client a stunning baby album and bring them back each month
so they capture the year's progress in great pics. You can extend
this to school first days etc. The 'hook' to draw them back will
be a growing record of their family, beautifully photographed.
You can also offer to do separate copies for proud mums, dads and
grandparents."


The Publicity Hound says:

Lisa, how about trying to get onto the local TV talk shows? You
can offer tips for parents who want to get the most out of a
photo shoot if they're having photos taken for their holiday
greeting cards. Yes, you specialize in photographing babies, and
you can certainly mention that during the show. But the greeting
card angle is timely, and it just might get you on the air.

Producers are looking for six traits in the ideal talk show
guest. Connie Dieken, a TV talk show host in Cleveland, explains
what they are and "How to be a TV Talk Show Host's Dream Date." .

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 how to get onto talk shows and wow producers so
they invite you back: http://tinyurl.com/3z7ut


Read all the responses to this week's Help This Hound question
http://tinyurl.com/4a4yjv


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


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

Jeff Elliot of Cedar Rapids, Iowa writes:

"I am a manager at Planet X, a family entertainment center in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa featuring mini golf, bumper cars, space bikes,
space ball, rock climbing and arcade games. We serve food and
cater to many birthday parties and corporate events.

"Do your Hounds have any clever ideas on how we can celebrate our
10th year anniversary in January 2009? We're planning our
anniversary celebration all of next year. Our website is at
http://www.planetxfuncenter.com "


The Publicity Hound says:

Anniversaries lend themselves beautifully to publicity, as
long as you don't rely on the same old tired ideas. I can think
of several really fun publicity ideas for this one. Let's see how
sharp my Hounds are today. Hounds with great ideas can post them
at my blog at http://tinyurl.com/6okmne


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

Thanks to Dan Poynter, the self-publishing guru from Santa
Barbara, California, for sharing these great photos of "upside
down dogs." They made me laugh:

http://upsidedowndogs.com/


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

Life coaches: Offer tips on weathering the economy
http://tinyurl.com/6kcyas


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/



WHERE TO SEE AND HEAR THE PUBLICITY HOUND:

Nov. 6 -- Teleseminar

"How to Use Publicity To Become an Expert and Grow Your
Business," part of the Business Owner Super Conference. It's
already started, but you can still get in on the action at
http://tinyurl.com/633m83 A terrific training session for
business owners everywhere, with a line-up of top speakers.



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 list "89 Reasons to Send a News 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

Publicity tips/Is Palin's Daughter Off-limits? Sept 2, 2008

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #414 Sept. 2, 2008
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/(Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 50,520

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The
Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you
told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you
can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the
newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free
publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their
reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more
products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

**********************************************

Don't Miss These Deadlines & Events:

- -Publicity Hounds can still get $200 off the $1,195
registration fee for Ragan Communications' Social Media Summit
Sept. 10-12 in Chicago. I'll be there, and I'd love to buy you a
cup of coffee if you're attending. Register at
http://www.ragan.com/publicityhound

- -A free teleseminar with Tom Antion, who will teach you his
three-part strategy of public speaking, Internet marketing and
success principles to position yourself as an expert and grow
your business. From 9 to 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9. See Item
#3 below.

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

1. Is Palin's Daughter Off-limits?

2. Beware the New 'Public Record'

3. How to Earn Expert Status

4. Why Hounds are Internet Marketers

5. How to Promote a Book Signing

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...

=========================================
1. Is Palin's Daughter Off-limits?
=========================================

When the news of GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's
pregnant 17-year-old daughter broke over the weekend, Barack
Obama was quick to issue an order to his campaign workers to
"back off."

Family members of candidates aren't fair game, he warned, adding
that his own mother gave birth to him when she was 18.

"We don't go after people's families, we don't get them involved
in the politics. It's not appropriate and it's not
relevant...And if I ever thought that it was somebody in my
campaign that was involved in something like that, they'd be
fired."

But what about the rest of us?

Should anti-abortion or abortion-rights advocates piggyback off
this news event to further their cause or issue?

What about opponents or proponents of condoms in schools? What
about churches? Abortion clinics? Adoption agencies? Roe v.
Wade backers and opponents? Parents groups?

Is the pregnancy fair game?

I say it is. So is the issue of Michelle Obama's feelings of
pride--or not--for her country, and the issue of Joe Biden's son
who is a high-priced federal lobbyist, an occupation Obama
disdains. But when it comes to the media shoving microphones in
the face of minor children, hands off.

What about you? Do you work for a company or agency that will be
piggybacking off the news of the pregnancy? Or have you decided
to let it rest?

If you're an author, speaker or expert whose topic or area of
expertise ties into this news, will you be writing press releases
or blogging about your opinions? Will you be offering yourself
as a source to the media? Why or why not?

Weigh in at my blog at http://tinyurl.com/5ho3tg

If you have a media spokesperson, or if you'll be training one,
make sure you know the difference between a media spokesperson
and an expert spokesperson. An expert spokesperson must be able
to do something that a simple spokesperson doesn't. Media
trainer Al Rothstein explained the difference, and discussed the
skills an expert spokesperson must have during a teleseminar I
hosted and recorded.

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 "How to be an Expert Spokesperson the Media Love"
at http://tinyurl.com/rzcdd


=========================================
2. Beware the New 'Public Record'
=========================================

In the old days, you had to scour public records for any hint of
bad news in your history that the media might make public and ask
about during interviews.

That included things like drunken-driving arrests, lawsuits, and
transcripts of messy divorce proceedings.

Today, scouring the "official public record" of government
documents isn't enough.

Recordings of private conversations, videos of activities that
were never meant to be public, private emails, and even snippets
of information on social networking sites like MySpace have a way
of becoming part of the unofficial but very "public record"
within minutes.

Here are two examples we saw over the weekend:

- -Conservative blogs and, eventually, the mainstream media,
reported on a YouTube video of Don Fowler, former head of the
Democratic National Committee. Taken with a cell phone camera by
someone sitting behind him on an airplane, the video showed
Fowler commenting to his Democratic seat mate about the timing of
Hurricane Gustav and the opening of the Republican National
Convention:

"The hurricane is going to hit New Orleans about the time they
start. The timing is, at least it appears now, it will be there
Monday. That just demonstrates God is on our side." You can see
the video at http://tinyurl.com/6bznw4

- -Liberal blogs and the mainstream media reported on comments
made on Levi Townsend's MySpace page. He's the father of the
baby of 17-year-old Bristol Palin, the daughter of GOP vice
presidential candidate Sarah Palin. On his MySpace page, Levi
reportedly commented that he's a "redneck" and even though he's
"in a relationship," he doesn't want children. The page
apparently has been taken down. But you don't have to look far
to find that news. Here's a story from the New York Daily News:
http://tinyurl.com/63lgnp

So what's the lesson for Publicity Hounds?

- -You're safer assuming that any email you write will become
public. That includes jokes and anything else you forward to
others.

- -Don't say anything in a public place you don't want to show up
on YouTube.

- -Know what's on the social networking sites of your employees,
your children, or others associated with your company.

- -Know EVERYTHING that's said about you online. Set up a Google
Alert at http://www.Google.com/alerts Create one each for your
name, your website URL, and your company name. Tell Google you
want alerts daily, or as soon as the information appears.
Monitoring these alerts is time-consuming. But well worth it.
It's a task you can give to an assistant.

If you don't have an assistant, you can get one without hiring a
full- or part-time employee. The telephone and email make it
easy to use a virtual assistant--even one who lives several
thousand miles from you. Learn about where to find Vas, how much
you can expect to pay, and the types of tasks you can give them.

Cindy Greenway and Diana Ennen, both very successful Vas, were my
guests during a teleseminar I hosted on "How to Find a Virtual
Assistant to Help with Your Publicity Campaign." 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 how to find a virtual assistant at
http://tinyurl.com/2e5875


=========================================
3. How to Earn Expert Status
=========================================

If you want to become a well-respected expert, here are five
powerful ways to make that happen:

- -Speak publicly on your topic, even if it's only local speeches
to Rotary and chamber of commerce groups. During the first few
years of my business, I relied almost exclusively on these
speaking engagements to find consulting clients. Depending on
your topic, you can, too.

- -Create a great website that pulls traffic like a magnet, with
dozens of free articles and other resources for visitors. Try to
capture every visitor's email address like I do with a box that
bounces down from the top of the screen. That box is called the
Hover Ad Generator and you can buy it at
http://tinyurl.com/2sa3u9

- -Create a huge presence elsewhere online. That includes
writing articles for article directory sites, blogging,
commenting at other people's blogs, and writing an ezine.

- -Create downloadable information products on your topic--
quickly and with no up-front costs. I can create a special
report in only a few hours and have it for sale at my website.
And it costs me nothing to produce.

- -Adopt a policy to always "under promise and over deliver."
Your customers will love you for it.

I've just described my business model, and many of you have
emailed me to say you like it and want specific instructions on
how to do one or more of what I've described above.

I wish I could take credit for it, but I can't. Tom Antion, my
first mentor, taught it to me. And he's graciously agreed to do
a complimentary teleseminar with me from 9 to 10 p.m. Eastern
Time on Tuesday, Sept. 9, to explain various aspects of that same
model.

The call will introduce Publicity Hounds to the type of content
he will be presenting at this live event called "Fusion," Oct.
17-19, in Los Angeles. Tom will do what he preaches on this
call: under promise and over deliver. If you can't attend the
live event, you'll still come away with pages of notes you can
start implementing that same night.

Sign up for the Oct. 9 teleseminar at
http://www.PublicityHound.com/teleseminar/fusion.htm

Learn more about the conference at http://tinyurl.com/5cefjt


=========================================
4. Why Hounds Are Internet Marketers
=========================================

Can you think of a good reason why you shouldn't be concerned
with Internet marketing? If so, let me know because I can't
think of one.

If you have a website, and most of you do, you or someone in your
office should know things like how much traffic you get and how
much of that traffic you can convert to customers.

Let's say you aren't selling anything. You're simply trying to
lure journalists to your website. You should know which colors
and graphic elements immediately turn off visitors. You can have
dynamite content, but if it's difficult to read, journalists will
bail out.

I want to give you the heads-up about a set of DVDs called
"Stomping the Search Engines 2.0" and an accompanying journal
called "The Net Effect" that the folks at Stompernet asked me to
review last week.

The product launch is tomorrow. They won't say how much they're
asking for it, but they call it "Liberty and Justice for All,"
whatever that means.

Here's a quick critique of the materials:

- -They call the 45-page publication (with only two full-page
ads) a journal. I hate that word because it makes it sound dry
and academic. I wish they'd just call it what it is: a damn good
magazine.

- -Several of the articles might bore you tears, like the one
about how search engines decide which pages get ranked at the
top. But unless the person managing your website knows this
stuff, you can't hope to compete.

- -A few articles will knock you off your chair, like the one
titled "Wanna be Broke? Then Maybe You Shouldn't Sell Cheap."
It explains why selling a bunch of inexpensive products can send
you to the poor house.

- -On several pages, the graphic artist slapped graphics on top
of print which makes some of the type difficult to read. So I
hope they clean up the graphics in future issues and keep the
content just as compelling.

- -The most valuable part of the magazine is at the end: a 14-
point checklist of things you should do based on the articles in
the review issue. Some you may have already done, but many of
them I still need to do.

- -The DVDs are excellent but some of the material may be too
advanced for people who aren't technically inclined. If that's
the case, then at least encourage your webmaster, who MUST know
this stuff, to buy it. The entire table of contents is at
http://tinyurl.com/5au4lo

When I learn more about this tomorrow, I'll send you a follow- up
email.


==========================================
5. How to Promote a Book Signing
==========================================

This week, five Publicity Hound have tips for Roz Wolf of Los
Angeles, California, on how to promote the book signing for "How
To Woo A Bi’aaatch: The Key To Attracting Females" by Brian
Zoozoo, a guide that speaks to a generation of single men and
curious women aged 18-35. She thinks the title is turning off
some journalists and she needs a way around that problem.

From Jennifer Melnick Carota:

"Why not do a signing at a local university where your target
audience already is? Develop MySpace and Facebook pages for your
book, choose regional friends accordingly and promote the heck
out of it online. Be sure to promote any giveaways like free
books or T-shirts that can also draw college students to your
event."

From Natasha Henry:

"Try to get in touch with Wendy Williams' booking agent. Wendy
Williams is a popular radio shock-jock in that area who recently
started her own TV talk show in NYC. When contacting her agent,
be sure to highlight your book’s title. Williams most recently
had Donald Trump’s notoriously raunchy Apprentice guest, Omarosa,
on her show to promote her book, "The Bitch Switch." You can put
a spin on your book in that it speaks more positively about
women, contrary to your book's title and contrary to what
Omarosa's book is about...Also mention that you would be a more
pleasant-mannered guest than Omarosa. YouTube has a snippet of
that show for reference."

From Ken Okel:

"The title will likely either make people laugh or cringe and
sometimes that keeps the media away. Any wacky morning radio
shows that might give you a segment? Any singles groups or
events you could partner with for publicity?"


The Publicity Hound says:

Don't forget about all the online event calendars. I blogged
about this and included several of the best sites at
http://tinyurl.com/6qhejc Those include Craigslist which, of
course, has its own list for Los Angeles.

Nancy Mills, a Craigslist expert, explained smart ways to promote
with Craigslist when she was my guest during a teleseminar on
"How to Use Craigslist as a Global Publicity Tool." 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 how to get started promoting on Craigslist at
http://tinyurl.com/geog2


Read all the responses to this week's "Help This Hound" question
at http://tinyurl.com/6cslfs

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


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

Alaa el Ghatit of Libertyville, Illinois, writes:

"I own a national service called LifeOnRecord which lets people
capture and preserve their stories and memories from any phone.
The most popular product is a keepsake CD that people will give
for birthdays, anniversaries and other events.

"Here's how it works. Someone planning the celebration will sign
up for a LifeOnRecord account. Friends and family all call a
toll-free number and leave stories, memories and well-wishes.
The recordings are all preserved onto a keepsake CD, and can also
be managed and played via our website, or downloaded into iTunes.
The web site is http://lifeonrecord.com/uniquegift.htm

"Much of my business comes from referrals and people coming from
the search engines. But I'm looking for other ways to reach
people who are looking for gift ideas for milestone birthdays or
anniversaries. What ideas do your Hounds have for spreading the
word?"


The Publicity Hound says:

If your product would make a perfect gift, subscribe to The Gift
List, a service that provides contact information for national
and regional magazines, the top 250 daily newspapers, news wires
and syndicates, national television, and national radio, as well
as a list for web and blog outlets.

These media are HUNGRY for gift ideas for things like Christmas,
Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day and Graduation Day.
Learn more about how to get into these gift guides at
http://tinyurl.com/9es8y


Hounds with ideas on other ways to promote these keepsake Cds can
post them to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/64tgx7


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

Actual classified ad that appeared in a weekly newspaper in Ohio:

FREE to a good home: Domestic tan male. Neutered and declawed.
Has shots.


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

Know bloggers' pitching preferences; avoid 'me too' emails
http://tinyurl.com/58v5wd


Prepare for an interview with a reporter these 8 ways
http://tinyurl.com/6gwmlt


Why trying to get a magazine column can be wasted effort
http://tinyurl.com/6qgbkf


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 list "89 Reasons to Send a News 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

Publicity tips/Don't Let Video Pass You By April 29, 2008

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #396 April 29, 2008
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 46,003

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

******************************************

Authors & Experts, Don't Miss This One: 22 Revenue Streams

If you're an author, or you're thinking of writing a book, relying on the book as a major revenue stream is a huge mistake. I've seen more authors end up in the poor house because they thought a book would pay the bills.

It's the other way around. Publishing a book can drain your bank account and your sanity, unless you know how to monetize it. Steve Harrison says authors and experts must know about and choose from 22 revenue streams if they want their businesses to go "ka-ching...ka-ching..."

He'll explain them all during a free call he's hosting this Thursday, May 1. Choose from two times: either 2 p.m. Eastern or 7 p.m. Eastern. He is not recording it, so if you want the info, either listen yourself or ask somebody to listen for you and take notes. Sign up here: http://www.MillionDollarAuthorClub.com/Thursday/?10011

*******************************************

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

1. Don't Let Video Pass You By

2. Follow the Thief

3. Join the Debate: Online or Offline?

4. New NPR Program Wants Your Input

5. Promoting Trading Cards for Tweens

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Quote of the Week

8. At My Blog...


===================================
1. Don't Let Video Pass You By
===================================

Stop wasting time trading links with other websites, posting the same how-to article to a gazillion article directory sites, and doing sneaky little things at your own website to try to trick the search engines.

Those strategies can actually hurt you.

Spend your time instead creating video, one of the most powerful ways to pull traffic to your website or blog. It will boost your position in the search engine rankings and, in some cases, take tons of business away from your competitors. Do it right, and they'll be so shell-shocked they'll pack up and go home.

During my 70-minute teleseminar with video expert Mike Stewart earlier this month, the 400 people who were on the line listened as Mike outlined lots of creative, powerful ways to use video in your publicity campaign, or to sell products or services.

We're not talking about full-length productions here. Just short clips of about two and a half minutes or less.

Here are our ideas on how to use video in a publicity or marketing campaign:

- -Create short videos about your products and services, upload them to your website, and include video links in your press releases.

- -Speakers, create short video snippets of your presentations and post them at your site.

- -Use videos to demonstrate how to use your product.

- -Authors, create short little videos that discuss portions of your books.

- -Take visitors on a tour of your website using a screen-capture software program like Camtasia.

- -Shoot your own video of events the media won't cover, and submit the video to local newspapers and TV stations, many of which offer consumer-generated video at their websites.

- -Use video on a one-page sales letter. If a picture is worth a thousand words, video can close the sale.

- -Generate leads and pull traffic by creating videos and posting them to YouTube and other video-sharing sites.

- -Use video at your blog, or create a video blog on a free Wordpress platform like I'm doing. (I should be ready to introduce it to you next week.)

If you missed last week's call, you can hear the replay and see the nifty video I shot myself at http://www.JoanandMikeStewart.com

Mike will show you the absolute easiest-to-use equipment you'll need to start producing video that will turn you into the type of marketing warrior that will send your competitors running home to their mommies.

P. S. Many of you who participated in the call asked if Mike and I would give you more options in terms of buying a camera, the editing software and the training tutorials so you can get comfortable shooting and editing video first, and then do the training. We have. Now you can get what you want when you want it. Go to http://www.JoanandMikeStewart.com


====================================
2. Follow the Thief
====================================

When Michael Costigan heard a news report on a Milwaukee radio station last week that a brazen thief had stolen a flat-panel TV from the local veterans hospital, he couldn't believe what he'd heard.

He went to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's website where he confirmed the story.

"I was absolutely disgusted," he said.

Michael, general manager of the Waukesha Home Design Center, wasted little time getting angry. He immediately contacted the VA center and made plans to deliver and install a 52-inch LG LCD model. Total value: $3,300.

The result?

- -Michael ended up on the front page of the Journal Sentinel, complete with a photo of him in his store.

- -All the Milwaukee TV stations followed up with their own stories.

- -The Associated Press picked up the story, which ended up on the national Fox News and CNN websites.

- -His store received calls from customers and others telling him how much they appreciated what he had done.

Michael's quick thinking is a terrific example of how piggybacking onto bad news stories like this one can generate mountains of publicity.

When you hear news reports like this and you can donate something to replace what was stolen, publicity is practically yours for the asking.

By the way, this would also have been a great opportunity for a company that sells surveillance equipment. What do state laws say regarding surveillance? Are cameras small enough that thieves will barely notice them? What kinds of crimes have been solved thanks to surveillance cameras?

Jeff Zbar, the Small Business Administration's 2001 Journalist of the Year, says piggybacking onto breaking news, like Michael did here, is one of the best ways for small business owners to create publicity. He was my guest during a teleseminar on "The Fastest, Cheapest, Easiest Ways to Publicize Your Small Business." Stop calling journalists and begging them to cover you. Instead, listen to the tips Jeff gives on how to really catch the media's attention.

The recording is 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://publicityhound.net/publicityforsmallbusiness


=========================================
3. Join the Debate: Online or Offline?
=========================================

Which would you rather have:

- -An appearance on "Oprah," or the most influential blogger in your industry writing about you?

- -A big story in a major consumer magazine about your new product, or a review at one of the many websites that review products?

- -A front-page story about your nonprofit in your local newspaper, which mostly local readers will read, or the same story at your newspaper's website?

They're interesting questions likely to create heated disagreement among Publicity Hounds, depending on the product, service, cause or issue you're trying to promote.

And I want you to weigh in. Go to my Squidoo lens at http://www.squidoo.com/howtogetfree_publicity

Here's the question I want you to answer: If you had to devote time and money to either online publicity or offline publicity exclusively, which would you choose? And why?

You'll be lined up next to somebody who disagrees with you, and it should turn into a healthy debate.

This Squidoo feature, by the way, is called the "Duel," and it's one of many interesting ways to present content at your lens to engage your audience and pull in traffic. Publicity Hounds, of course, will see it as one more way to publicize whatever you're promoting so you can get your message in front of other Hounds who visit.

OK, give it your best shot. Which is more valuable, and why?

Bloggers and ezine editors, pose this question to your own readers, and provide the link: http://www.squidoo.com/howtogetfree_publicity



========================================
4. New NPR Program Wants Your Input
========================================

Move over, "Morning Edition." You have a new rival.

It's called "The Takeaway," a chatty, less-formal, more interactive program that launched yesterday on National Public Radio stations in New York, Boston, Baltimore and several smaller cities.

Hosted by John Hockenberry and Adaora Udoji, the new show in the morning time slot will allow listeners to weigh in via the Internet on what subjects the hosts should cover next or examine in greater detail. Listeners can participate in on-air discussions.

Read the details in yesterday's wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120933344564348077.html

You can learn more about the show, including the names of all the producers, at http://www.thetakeaway.org/about/ and then submit your own comments on topics such as photo Ids, Atlanta hip-hop and the rebate checks.

National Public Radio can be a gold mine for Publicity Hounds who are targeting a better-educated, more upscale audience--but only if you understand how the NPR labyrinth works and you know how to navigate it. Book publicist Lissa Warren explains how she gets dozens of her clients onto NPR shows and how you can use the same strategies she uses. She was my guest on a teleseminar called "How to Get Booked on National Public Radio."

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.

Start getting valuable tips right now on how to make NPR a powerful part of your publicity campaign: http://publicityhound.net/cdnpr/



============================================
5. Promoting Trading Cards for 'Tweens
============================================

This week, 11 Publicity Hounds have tips on how Shirley James of Ormond Beach, Florida can get her activity-based trading cards for 'tween girls (ages 7-12) into the marketplace.


From Carrie Eddins:

"Start blogging about, and create a list of the exact situation that you really want...Women are the most prolific bloggers online and I am sure they all want to make their girls even happier. I would start chatting about being mompreneurs, and you could even see how some of these ladies would like to invest in your cards. I think it's a truly wonderful idea and much needed!"


From Linda Lipinski:

"I had a difficult time finding any 'real' information about your company on your website. I finally found something the media did, which prompted several more clicks. But I couldn't get all of it onto the screen. I would suggest that on your website, you add an 'About Us' button. Your story should be unique and if well- written, it will be great publicity. The public loves reading about how someone came up with the idea to create a product."


From Lisa Romeo:

"Your marketing copy reads: 'Encourage them to become physically active, mentally challenged, creatively inspired, and socially responsible.'

"These are almost an exact duplicate of the goals of the Girl Scouts (and probably other similar organizations). Maybe explore tie-ins. Try to get your products placed beside Scouting items in hobby shops, sports stores, camping/outdoor stores and other places that sell Scouting gear.

"I can also see your product as a give-away at events and conferences that promote development of girls' interest in challenging careers. After-school care programs, often run by YMCAs, might be interested too."


The Publicity Hound says:

Submit your trading cards for inclusion in special sections or programs featuring products that would make great gifts for 'tweens. Newspapers, magazines, and TV and radio need products to feature. Take a test drive of The Gift List, a database of hundreds of media outlets planning this coverage, so you know whom to pitch and when. Take a test drive at http://publicityhound.net/giftlist


Read all the responses to this week's Help This Hound question at http://publicityhound.net/cardgame

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


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

Debbie Jordan Kravitz of York, Pa. Writes:

"I'm a professional organizer. I also blog weekly at http://OnlineOrganizing.com which has been going really well and leading to lots of website hits from all over the country.

"To capitalize on this broad audience, and since I can't physically organize these people, I have added virtual organizing consultation programs to my list of services. This allows me to consult with clients from any part of the country via email and phone calls regarding their problems.

"Aside from pitching this service through my blog, though, how can I market this service to my target audience (Internet-savvy, time-crunched individuals who are capable of implementing organizational instructions and strategies, but are looking for customized plans, ideas and guidance?"

The Publicity Hound says:

How about writing an article or pitching bloggers about how dangerous and harmful answering email all day long can be to somebody's personal and financial health? I'm trying really hard to break free of this addiction, which is more difficult than quitting smoking. Then suggest ways people can organize, sort and fly through several hundred email messages quickly. If readers benefit from your email advice, they'll wonder what else you know that can help them.

Hounds with other ideas for Debbie can post them to my blog at http://publicityhound.net/professionalorganizer


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

Thanks to Publicity Hound Sophie Wajsman of Melbourne, Australia for this one:

"The noblest dog is the hot dog because it feeds the hand that bites it."

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. At My Blog...
=================================

When bloggers ask for free products, be generous http://publicityhound.net/productsforbloggers

------------------------------------------------------------

Where to See or Hear The Publicity Hound

April 30: Teleseminar

"How to Create a Media Plan," part of the teleseminar series "Intro to Internet Marketing" for health professionals. Perfect for doctors, nurses, spa owners, holistic health counselors, massage therapists, etc. Register at http://publicityhound.net/introinternetmarketing

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 list "89 Reasons to Send a News 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
U. S.A.
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737

Publicity tips/Why Most Authors Fail April 15, 2008

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week Issue
#394 April 15, 2008
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 44,401

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

**************************************

Attention Wisconsin Hounds:

Meet me next week, April 22, at my day-long workshop in Shorewood (Milwaukee). In the morning, learn about online and offline publicity and video. In the afternoon, learn how to write and post direct-to-consumer press releases. We're almost filled to capacity, so sign up today before you're closed out: http://www.publicityhound.com/teleseminar.htm

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

1. Why Most Authors Fail

2. Don't Make the Video Mistake I Made

3. Connect with Top-Tier Journalists

4. Answers to Your Craigslist Questions

5. Promoting a Gift Service for Kids

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Quote of the Week

8. At My Blog...


===================================
1. Why Most Authors Fail
===================================

Yes, I said most. As in more than 90 percent.

Some weeks, based on the calls I receive from frustrated authors who can't sell their books, I conclude that 9 out of 10 of the authors who wrote the more than 170,000 titles last year should never have written their books in the first place.

When the phone rings and it's a desperate author begging for advice on how to generate free publicity, the first question I ask is, "Who's your target audience?"

Silence.

"That's what I'm hoping you'll help me decide," the authors sometimes reply.

By then, it's way too late. I've spoken with authors who have spent up to five years of their lives writing, editing and publishing their books. Some have applied for bank loans. Others have sold books, but they can barely cover the cost of self-publishing.

Sadly, most authors' success doesn't come anywhere close to their fantasies of selling thousands of books and attracting a huge following.

It kills me to see authors make dumb mistakes, and then struggle to move piles of books nobody wants to read.

Other authors, like the creators of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and Rich Dad Poor Dad, are happily not-so-famous but quietly raking in high six-figure and even seven-figure annual incomes without ever being on "Oprah" or hitting any bestseller list.

To learn what those wildly successful authors know that poor authors don't, sign up for a free 75-minute telephone seminar this Thursday, April 17, at your choice of two times: either 2 p.m. Eastern or 7 p.m. Eastern. It will be hosted by Steve Harrison, who will explain the seven key differences between r^ch authors and poor authors and why they aren't obvious things like getting publicity or having a good title, although those things are important.

You'll also learn how the top 0.1 percent of authors overcome the many problems and frequent obstacles of the bookstore distribution system, and the "unfair advantage" r^ch authors use to win the publishing game which 99.9 percent of the other authors don't know anything about.

There's no cost to participate on the call (except for your normal long distance charges). So if you're writing your next nonfiction book, or planning to write one, don't miss this call. Go to http://publicityhound.net/RichAuthorSecrets to learn how to participate.


=========================================
2. Don't Make the Video Mistake I Made
=========================================

Speaking of dumb mistakes, here's one of mine.

When I wanted to start creating video, I foolishly bought an Aiptek HD camcorder, thinking the quality would be far superior to much simpler-to-use cameras.

For five days, I struggled.

The instruction manual has print so small that I held a magnifying glass in one hand trying to read the directions, and the camera in the other, trying to fiddle with the controls. Not only that, but the joystick on the back of the camcorder was difficult to move up and down and back and forth.

Three days later, when I finally figured out how to record, I watched my first video on my computer screen. But I could barely hear the audio and I couldn't figure out what I did wrong.

Then I met Mike Stewart, who told me one of the biggest mistakes people make when entering the world of video is buying equipment with too many bells and whistles, and then spending days like I did figuring out how to use it.

That's valuable time that can be spent cranking out videos and posting them to a website or video blog to pull in tons of traffic. Google, it's worth remembering, bought YouTube for $1.65 billion--proof that the granddaddy of search engines gives high priority to video and will reward you handsomely if you use it.

Mike recommends two brands of camcorders. One is the Flip Video. I immediately went to Best Buy to exchange the Aiptek for a Flip. I had it out of the box, on the tripod and recording in less than half an hour, by myself! He then showed me how to use a video editing software program that's so easy and cool, I felt like a big-shot Hollywood producer.

I'm hosting a free teleseminar with Mike from 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, April 17, for the first 300 Publicity Hounds who sign up. As of this morning, I only had 26 seats remaining, and it will certainly be filled to capacity before long. Mike will teach you how to create videos for YouTube, for one-page sales letters, and for your own video blog or website.

Learn how to participate in "How to Create Videos for Your Website to Pull Traffic, Impress Visitors, Make the Phone Ring and Close the Sale" at http://www.PublicityHound.com/mikestewartvideo.htm


=========================================
3. Connect with Top-Tier Journalists
=========================================

Here are three more reasons why I'm wild about Publicity Hounds getting a subscription to Expertclick: The Online Yearbook of Experts. Speakers and authors, pay attention.

- -Mitch Davis of Expertclick is speaking at the International Association of Speaker Bureaus' annual convention in Chicago on April 24. Many Expertclick clients are speakers and authors who greatly benefit from his networking. He's giving away copies of the Yearbook of Experts to help his clients promote themselves to speakers bureaus.

- -Mitch rubs elbows with more top-tier journalists and broadcasters than almost anybody I know. Over the weekend, he passed out yearbooks at the 37th Annual American Society of Journalists, Authors and Writers Conference in New York. He's also passing them out at Talkers Magazine's 11th Annual New Media Seminar, and at the Society of Professional Journalists National Convention.

- -When Mitch attends a trade show or convention, he invites Expertclick clients to a client appreciation networking program. He also invites local journalists, who have a table full of sources right at their fingertips. He'll be hosting these events April 25 in Chicago at the International Association of Speakers Bureau event, the National Association of Government Communicators event April 28 in Albuquerque, the National Speakers Association's branding lab on May 2 in Boston, NSA's Speakers Academy May 9 in Atlanta, and the giant Book Expo May 29 in Los Angeles.

I'm an Expertclick subscriber, and several journalists have called me for stories or commentary after searching the Expertclick database. Tell Expertclick you're a Publicity Hound reader and they'll knock $100 off your subscription price. Learn more about this great service at http://PublicityHound.net/expertclick


========================================
4. Answers to Your Craigslist Questions
========================================

I'm still amazed at the number of people who don't use Craigslist as part of their publicity campaigns.

I don't care what you're selling. You should be posting regularly to the Craigslist nearest to where you live, even if you're in Podunk Junction.

In a question-and-answer feature about Craigslist in The New York Times last year, Jim Buckmaster, the CEO of Craigslist, said postings on the smaller Craigslists can be just as valuable as postings on lists for big cities like New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

"Surprisingly, postings to smaller markets like Des Moines often get more page views than ones in large cities where there are more postings competing for attention," he said.

You can read the entire feature at
http://publicityhound.net/craigslistquestions

But before you start posting, take advantage of the dozens of tips that Nancy Mills shares on how to make the most of this worldwide bulletin board. She was my guest during a teleseminar on "How to Use Craigslist as a Global Publicity Tool" and passed along fabulous tips on how to save time, pull Craigslist visitors to your website and make this service one of your most powerful publicity tools.

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://publicityhound.net/cdcraigslist


============================================
5. Promoting a Gift Service for Kids
============================================

This week, 10 Publicity Hounds have tips on how Steve Mock of Henderson, Nevada can promote his company, Giftventure, that gives children a personalized week-long treasure hunt.


From Susan Gingerich:

"Where are kids found? At the library during story hour, at the playground, and kids events. Work with promoters of these venues to stage a hidden treasure that is found with, none other than, your clues.

"Most activities sponsored by parks and recreation centers and libraries and have media coverage. You can tag onto their press as a sponsor and pass information onto parents at the events in a secret letter for parents."


From John Easton:

"I would consider running a contest for a video of the most entertaining reaction to your product. Have your customers upload videos to one of the online services (YouTube, Blip.tv, Revver, or other) and select the best one. I am partial to Brightcove and Splashcast which allow your customers to upload videos to your account directly (Brightcove enables you to filter the videos) and display the uploaded videos in a multi-channel player.

"I am willing to bet you would get some submissions that would rival America's Funniest Home Videos, and these could spread the word about you like wild fire."


From Carol White:

"Contact all the major sites where moms and grandparents hang out and offer a story about gift giving, a contest, etc. Here are a few ideas: MomsMinivan.com, Eons.com, Grandparents.com, 2young2retire.com, Boomerwomenspeak.com. At each site, look at their list of links for more ideas of sites to contact."


The Publicity Hound says:

Steve, your service is perfect for the many gift guides published by newspapers and magazines. The Gift List sells a database that tells you exactly which media are planning special sections and other features highlighting gifts. For example, gift guides in parents magazines would be a perfect place to pitch a story about your business. Learn more about the Gift List at http://publicityhound.net/giftlist


Read all the responses to this week's Help This Hound question at http://publicityhound.net/giftventure


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


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

Alex Foo of Christmas Island, Australia writes:

"I resigned from a prestigious job three years ago when I discovered that I could help people start Speaking Chinese in 58 minutes with no pen, no paper.

"My dream is to help 957,000 people around the world start speaking some basic Chinese before the Beijing Olympic Games held in August this year. Equally important, a portion of the proceeds from my DVDs and Cds will go to help 6 million men, women and children help themselves so that they no longer have to worry where the next meal is going to come from.

"What's the best way for me to spread the word about what I'm doing? My website is at http://www.ChinaSpeak.com.au (turn down your speakers)."


The Publicity Hound says:

Alex, the Beijing Olympics are the perfect tie-in! Let's see what specific ideas or pitching angles my Hounds can suggest. Hounds with tips for Alex can post them to my blog at http://publicityhound.net/speakchinese

Here's my idea. How about trying to get onto one of the many shows on National Public Radio that deal with topics like travel and culture, and give listeners a few basic lessons on how to speak Chinese quickly? I visited your website and saw from one of your videos that your mom teaches Chinese and your dad does Chinese calligraphy. I'm sure you have some great stories to share with NPR audiences. See "How to Get Booked on National Public Radio" at http://PublicityHound.net/cdnpr for helpful tips on how to get onto the shows, give great interviews and be invited back.


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

Alert Publicity Hounds emailed me after they read last week's item here about Loews Hotels' "learning vacations" for four- legged hounds and asked about the other two services that I read about in Midwest Airlines' inflight magazine. Here they are:

- -At Su'ruff Camp at Lowes Coronado Bay Resort, about 45 minutes from Tampa, Florida, dogs get surfing lessons with Coronado Surfing Academy at Coronado's Dog Beach.

- -At Outward Hound at Loews Denver Hotel--which features a two- hour on-and-off leash guided hike with a personal trainer--dogs get fresh-baked healthy treats, limo pick-up and drop-off, and a personalized Web photo gallery documenting their adventure.


If you're targeting your publicity at an upscale, well-educated audience, in-flight magazines might be the perfect vehicle for your story. "Special Report #27: Fly High with Publicity in the Inflight Magazines" saves you hours of research with pitching tips galore and contact information for 43 inflight magazines. Read more about the report at http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/reports.html


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. At My Blog...
=================================

National mag wants Wisconsin expert in small biz retailing http://publicityhound.net/smallbizretailing


How to promote your 'best of' honor for more publicity
http://publicityhound.net/bestofhonor


American Airlines' canceled flights a publicity op
http://publicityhound.net/canceledflights


------------------------------------------------------------

Where to See or Hear The Publicity Hound


April 17: Teleseminar

Mike Stewart demystifies the process of creating video for your website; 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. Registration is free. Only 26 seats left as of today so register now: http://www.PublicityHound.com/mikestewartvideo.htm


April 22: Shorewood, Wisconsin

"Savvy Media Relations: How to Get FREE Online & Offline Publicity," 8:30 to noon, and "The New Rules of Press Releases: How to Write Them for Consumers, Not Only for Journalists," 1 to 3:30 p.m.; North Star, 4515 W. Oakland Ave., sponsored by the Shorewood Business Improvement District. Tickets are $75 each or $65 for two or more persons. To register, contact Barb Caprile at barb@shorewood.com or 414-962-7002.


April 30: Teleseminar

"How to Create a Media Plan," part of the teleseminar series "Intro to Internet Marketing" for health professionals. Perfect for doctors, nurses, spa owners, holistic health counselors, massage therapists, etc. Register at http://publicityhound.net/introinternetmarketing


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 list "89 Reasons to Send a News 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
U. S.A.
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737

Publicity tips/Pan for Gold Using Web Video April 8, 2008

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #393 April 8, 2008
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/(Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 44,189

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

********************************************

USA Today Says Web Video is Marketing Gold

The story on the front page of the Business section in Friday's USA Today says it better than I ever could.

"You don't need a pan and a stream in California to join the next video gold rush. A video camera, computer and high-speed Internet connection will do."

If you're a Publicity Hound who's willing to spend a little time learning how to use video to promote your product, service, cause or issue, you'll pull traffic to your web site, gain attention from traditional media, and make your phone ring by attracting dozens and maybe even hundreds of new customers.

Read the USA Today story here: http://publicityhound.net/usatodaywebvideo

Or skip to item #1 below.

********************************************

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

1. Pan for Gold Using Web Video

2. Will Journalists Find You on LinkedIn?

3. How to Hire a Virtual Assistant

4. Going Ape over Bananas

5. Promoting a Credit Union

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Quote of the Week

8. At My Blog...


===================================
1. Pan for Gold Using Web Video
===================================

Tired of relying on newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations to decide whether your story is worth telling?

Tell it yourself by creating a two-minute video and posting it at your website. Watch the traffic flow to your site, listen for the ringing telephone, and figure out a way to handle all those additional sales.

Entomologist Hal Coleman in Alpharetta, Georgia, for instance, has been using video for a little more than a year to sell his exterminating services. Watch the 90-second video at http://www.northfultonexterminating.com

And then, head over to his video blog at http://www.YuckyNastyBugFacts.com and give him your name and email address.

You'll be treated to a series of informative and sometimes hysterical videos about yucky, nasty little critters that are having fun right now, as you're reading this, in the bottom of your toaster, inside your gas grill and maybe even on your toothbrush. (Warning: Don't watch this video immediately before or after a meal.)

I saw Hal's videos over the weekend at the Stompernet conference in Atlanta, where more than 400 Internet marketers learned how to promote anything using video and lots of other cutting-edge strategies.

Hal owes his video expertise to my good friend Mike Stewart (no relation), who teaches business owners, experts and Publicity Hounds everywhere how to promote a product, service, cause or issue using short online videos.

During Mike's presentation on Saturday, he demonstrated how you can create video quickly and easily with a $150 camera, a $12 miniature tripod, a piece of paper with notes scribbled in felt-tip pen (it doubles as a dirt-cheap teleprompter), video editing software, and a laptop computer.

It took him less than 30 minutes to create a short video of himself, edit it, post it to his Wordpress blog and play the video live on the Internet.

I got so excited about the possibilities for Publicity Hounds that I invited Mike to do a free teleseminar with me on how to create video clips that you can use at your website, in your publicity campaign, at a video blog, or anyplace else.

It will be from 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, April 17. The call is limited to the first 300 people, and I'm expecting registration to be closed within a week. So sign up here right now: http://www.PublicityHound.com/mikestewartvideo.htm


=========================================
2. Will Journalists Find You on LinkedIn?
=========================================

Journalists are turning to social networking sites such as LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook to supplement their news coverage or find sources to interview.

That was one of the findings of the 2008 PRWeek/PRNewswire Media Survey.

Of 1,231 media members surveyed, one out of four say they have a profile on MySpace. About one-third have a profile on Facebook, and one-third are on LinkedIn.

More than 57 percent of those surveyed report using blogs to measure sentiment. About half of the respondents use blogs to find what other mainstream publications are writing about. Almost one-third use blogs to find industry experts.

Here's what the survey results mean for Publicity Hounds:

- -If you aren't blogging, start today. You can have a blog up and running in less than 10 minutes at Blogger.com. Or use a more stable, flexible platform like WordPress, Typepad or MovableType.

- -Post comments at blogs that your target audience reads. Comments give you a backlink to your own blog or website and positions you as an expert.

- -Pitch bloggers, but don't just send press releases. Most bloggers want a customized pitch, and they want to know you read their blogs. See "How to Pitch the Best Bloggers & Create a Publicity Explosion" at http://www.PublicityHound.net/cdpitchbestbloggers

- -Create a profile on MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn and use relevant tags, or keywords, so journalists can find you easily when searching these social networking sites.

If you're intimidated by social networking sites, don't be. Don Crowther peels away the mystery and gives you lots of solid tips you can start using today to build a huge presence online and reach many people who have abandoned traditional media. He was one of my guest experts when I presented the teleseminar series "How to Create a Media Plan" last year. The entire course, including a template for a 12-month plan, is available in audio format, or as electronic transcript that you can download as soon as your order has been approved.

Find out how you can start creating your publicity plan today, and learn about the social media sites where you must have a presence. Go to http://www.PublicityHound.com/mediaplan.htm


======================================
3. How to Hire a Virtual Assistant
======================================

I'm in love with Jennie-O fresh turkey sausage links and eat them most mornings for breakfast.

When my local supermarket stopped carrying them, I had to start calling the meat department every few months and order them by the case. But making calls like that chips away at time I should be spending teaching Publicity Hounds how to promote.

So I started assigning calls like this one to Christine Buffaloe, my virtual assistant. Yesterday, she hunted for the cheapest 16- foot USB cord she could find online and ordered it. She orders my books from Amazon.com. She even researched where I can get reasonably-priced printer cartridges for my ink jet printer (there is no such thing as reasonably priced cartridges for an ink jet printer).

This afternoon, she's calling the sewing machine repair shop to see if my sewing machine is ready to be picked up. When that's done, she'll make a doctor's appointment for me.

I can't tell you the number of hours she's saved me, not only doing business tasks, but making personal phone calls that eat up my precious time.

Isn't it time you found a virtual assistant to free you from annoying chores so you can concentrate on the important stuff that brings in the bucks?

"How to Find a Virtual Assistant to Help with Your Publicity Campaign," a 70-minute interview I conducted with two top-notch VAs, explains everything you need to know about virtual assistants. You'll learn where to find them, how to interview them, tasks you can give them, how to work within your budget, and how to make the relationship smooth sailing all the way.

It's available as a CD or an electronic transcript you can be reading as soon as your order is approved. Start down the road to outsourcing and find out more at http://publicityhound.net/virtualassistant


=================================
4. Going Ape Over Bananas
====================================

When Tom Holubowicz wanted publicity for his custard stand in Grafton, Wisconsin, he donned an ape costume and visited the local Pick 'n Save supermarket to buy bananas for Monkey Pox, his "flavor of the day."

The recipe calls for bananas, custard and chocolate-covered peanuts.

Before he left, he called The News Graphic, his local weekly newspaper and told them it would make a great photo op.

The result? Two black and white photos on page 3 of last week's issue, one showing a big hairy ape reaching for a bunch of bananas and another showing the ape at the check-out counter.

The 6-by-9 inch package of photos cost him nothing. Even better, he sold out of Monkey Pox a few days later, as a result of the publicity. If he had bought an ad the same size, he would have paid $627.48 for it.

Which of the two do you think readers would remember--the photos or a paid ad?

Are you pitching photo ideas to your local newspapers and magazines? If not, you're letting lots of publicity opportunities slip through your fingers. The next time a creative idea strikes, call the photo department of your local newspaper and pitch it.

This also works particularly well if you call an editor or reporter and pitch an idea for a story, and they say no. Photo desks love it when readers call with ideas for photos because photographers are under immense pressure to produce great stand- alone photos.

You'll find hundreds more ideas in my ebook "How to Use Photos & Graphics in Your Publicity Campaign." It's chock full of tips on what kinds of photo equipment to buy on a budget, how to take your own great photos and submit them to the media, and how to sweeten your story pitch with your own graphics, or ideas for graphics that the publication can produce on their own.

Learn how to start using powerful photos and graphics today at http://www.publicityhound.com/publicityphotos.htm

If you live in the Milwaukee area, join me April 22 for a daylong workshop where I'll share hundreds of tips like this one, and teach you how to write and distribute press releases online. I'm speaking to the Shorewood Business Improvement District. For details, see "Where to See and Hear The Publicity Hound" below.


========================================
5. Promoting a Credit Union Contest
========================================

This week, eight Publicity Hounds have tips on how Natasha Henry of Laurel, Maryland can promote a savings contest for a credit union.


From Carol Rademan:

"How fitting that Joan mentioned a possible angle of tying into teaching money habits to children, especially since National Credit Union Youth Week is celebrated April 20-26 by credit unions around the country. I think that’s a great angle!"


From Kathleen Lisson:

"Since you are so close to Washington D.C., crafting a partisan pitch might be effective. Local media might enjoy reporting on a story where members of Congress and their staffs actually tried to SAVE money instead of spend it!

"Which party will be better at saving, Democrats or Republicans? See if you can round up a credit union member from both parties and have them available for interviews, promoting their party as the party of saving money."


From Paulette Ensign:

"Natasha, how about sending a tip of the month? You also have a salable product there by putting those tips into autoresponders and licensing that series to a credit union. Joan created her 89- autoresponder series about press releases. You can do a tip of the month (or week) autoresponder series to license out rather than give it out."


The Publicity Hound says:

How about sponsoring a local contest in which kids in your community submit short videos of how to save money? Lots of kids know how to quickly shoot video on their cell phones and upload it to YouTube. The producer of the best video wins a cool prize. The videos will live online forever. Don't forget to notify your local TV stations and make the video available. Tell your members to sign up for the Mike Stewart teleseminar on how to create videos at http://www.PublicityHound.com/mikestewartvideo.htm


Read all the responses to this week's Help This Hound question at http://publicityhound.net/blogcreditunion

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


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

Steve Mock of Henderson, Nevada writes:

"I am an uncle who was trying to impress my nieces with making my gift-giving to them an adventure.

"As a result, I've created my own company, Giftventure, at http://www.GiftVenture.com It gives children a personalized week-long treasure hunt that comes in the mail.

"At our website, the parents enter a location in their house where they will hide a gift, such as in the closet. We take that information and print out and mail a series of personalized letters from a mythical character such as a dragon, pirate, fairy, Santa Claus, etc.

"The child reads the letters and solves the puzzle which leads him or her to the hidden location and the gift.

"It takes five minutes for the parents to order, the adventure lasts a week, and the experience for the child lasts a lifetime. They are excited to get mail, amazed it's from a mythical character, and even more amazed to have everything come true when they find the actual gift.

"How can we spread the word about our service and get some media attention?"

The Publicity Hound says: Your question makes me wish I were a kid again, Steve. And I know my Hounds are going to have a blast answering this one. Hounds with ideas for Steve can post them to my blog at http://publicityhound.net/giftventure


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

This isn't a joke, but it'll make you smile. It's from the April issue of My Midwest, the inflight magazine of Midwest Airlines.

To make it easy for people to travel with their dogs, Loews Hotels has introduced "learning vacations" for your favorite pooch at three of its hotels.

At "The Hound of Music" at Loews Vanderbilt Hotel in Nashville, your dog can head into the recording studio with a voice coach for a professional recording session where it will howl along with a musician or bark to its favorite karaoke beat.

If you're targeting your publicity at an upscale, well-educated audience, in-flight magazines might be the perfect vehicle for your story. "Special Report #27: Fly High with Publicity in the Inflight Magazines" saves you hours of research with pitching tips galore and contact information for 43 inflight magazines. Read more about the report at http://publicityhound.com/publicity-products/reports.html

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. At My Blog...
=================================

Spanish-language newspapers buck industry's dismal trend http://publicityhound.net/spanish-languagenewspapers


------------------------------------------------------------

Where to See or Hear The Publicity Hound


April 17: Teleseminar

Mike Stewart demystifies the process of creating video for your website; 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. Registration is free. Http://www.PublicityHound.com/mikestewartvideo.htm


April 22: Shorewood, Wisconsin

"Savvy Media Relations: How to Get FREE Online & Offline Publicity," 8:30 to noon, and "The New Rules of Press Releases: How to Write Them for Consumers, Not Only for Journalists," 1 to 3:30 p.m.; North Star, 4515 W. Oakland Ave., sponsored by the Shorewood Business Improvement District. Tickets are $75 each or $65 for two or more persons. To register, contact Barb Caprile at barb@shorewood.com or 414-962-7002.


April 30: Teleseminar

"How to Create a Media Plan," part of the teleseminar series "Intro to Internet Marketing" for health professionals. Perfect for doctors, nurses, spa owners, holistic health counselors, massage therapists, etc. Register at http://publicityhound.net/introinternetmarketing


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 list "89 Reasons to Send a News 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
U.S.A.
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737

Publicity tips/Brett Favre's Retirement Mar 4, 2008

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #388 March 4, 2008
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.com/
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 43,481

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

*********************************************

Deadline March 7 for ExpertClick.com Upgrade:

Publicity Hounds who have a subscription to Expertclick.com: The Online Yearbook of Experts, have until Friday, March 7, to upgrade their subscription to a full-page ad in the next online and print directory for $595.

A full page will give you better positioning on the Expertclick website. Journalists, by the way, search the Expertclick database frequently when they need experts. For example, I'll bet lots of journalists and broadcasters are using Expertclick today to search for experts who can comment on Brett Favre's retirement. (See Item #1 below.)

You can only upgrade if you already have a subscription or if you subscribe by Friday. Subscribers who mention The Publicity Hound will get $100 off the price of their subscription, but not the $595 upgrade.

Learn more by calling Randy at 202-333-5000.

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

1. Brett Favre's Retirement

2. 10 Dirtiest Hotels

3. Turn Content into Cash

4. Media Leads

5. How to Promote an ACT! Contest

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. At My Blog...


======================================
1. Brett Favre's Retirement
======================================

You don't have to be a Cheesehead like I am to mourn the announcement just a few hours ago that Brett Favre is retiring as quarterback of the Green Bay Packers after 17 seasons.

Gail Sideman of PubliSide Personal Publicity in Milwaukee, who comes from a sports publicity background, says she thinks this is an ideal time for Publicity Hounds everywhere to piggyback off this news. I agree.

The news media's 24-hour news cycle, she says, combined with its insatiable appetite for copy and film footage, means sports shows like those on ESPN and CNN, as well as other non-sports programs and news shows right in your own community, will be looking for experts who can comment on the retirement. I asked her to brainstorm with me ways that experts can piggyback onto this news.

Here are our ideas:

- -Authors, speakers and experts on the topic of leadership can comment on what made Favre such a great leader.

- -Are you an expert on grief? If so, comment on Favre's amazing performance on "Monday Night Football" on December 21, 2003, the day after his father died of a heart attack and drove his car into a ditch in Kiln, Mississippi. Favre decided to play the game, and passed for four touchdowns in the first half and 399 total yards in a 41-7 victory over the Raiders on international television.

- -What can kids learn from Favre's well-publicized problems with drugs and alcohol? And his rehab?

- -Despite their fame and fortune, Favre and his wife, Deanna, together have experienced more horrific events in just a few years than most people experience in a lifetime. His problems with drugs and booze. Her b~reast cancer. A marriage that almost fell apart. His father's death. The death of Deanna's brother in an ATV accident in Mississippi. The Favre family home in Mississippi that was destroyed in August 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. Brett and Deanna's property in Hattiesburg, Mississippi that was extensively damaged by the storm. Yet Favre chose to continue to play. And his wife wrote a book and has established her own fund-raising foundation to support women with b~reast cancer. What lessons can we learn from their resiliency?

- -Sports experts can comment on whether Favre is the greatest quarterback of all time. Or one of the top three, or the top five.

- -Bloggers, can your readers learn a lesson about a particular topic from Favre's long career?

- -PR people, how about commenting on Favre's and the Packers' botched PR moves? Just last week, for example, a Packers exec was quoted as saying he's confident Favre will return this fall.

Regardless of where you live, commenting on topics such as these can make you the local angle to this national story. That means your local TV station might jump at the chance to interview you. TV producer Shawne Duperon explains the step-by-step process of "How to Get onto the Local TV News Tomorrow" on a CD or electronic transcript that you can be reading as soon as your order has been approved.

Read more about what you'll learn at http://publicityhound.net/cdgetlocaltvpublicity


======================================
2. 10 Dirtiest Hotels
======================================

TripAdvisor.com has released this year's list of the "10 Dirtiest Hotels"--one list each for the U.S. and the UK.

"The grossest thing...was the drain clogged with years worth of hair. It literally came out in a solid mass. I gagged," said one hotel visitor, whose comment is among thousands at the company's website at http://www.tripadvisor.com/DirtyHotels?nl=MU&pid=831

Other comments, some with photos and videos, include complaints about bad plumbing, mold, crumbling ceilings and walls, no heating or air conditioning, peeling paint, broken locks on the doors, elevators that don't work, broken windows, used tissues under the bed, and even one room where the headboard fell off the bed.

Consumers are invited to weigh in with their own comments. As of this morning, more than 600 people had commented on Hotel Carter in New York City, which made the Hotels from Hell list.

Do a search for "10 Dirtiest Hotels" and you'll see that the contest provides great fodder for the bloggers and for consumers who participate in a variety of forums.

The annual contest draws attention to TripAdvisor's "Travelers' Choice Award Winners" in 10 categories, from the Best Luxury Hotels to the Best Inns and B&Bs.

Here's what Publicity Hounds can learn from this contest:

- -Know what consumers are saying about you online. Create Google Alerts for your own name, your URL and the name of your company.

- -Respond to bad reviews and explain what you're doing to solve the problem. If you hide in the shadows when the news is bad, the conversation will continue without you.

- -The best way to avoid being nominated for these "10 Worst" lists is to clean up your act and provide outstanding customer service and a great product.

Let's see how sharp you are. What else does this contest teach you? Post your comments to my blog at http://publicityhound.net/10dirtiesthotels

Crisis counselor Jonathan Bernstein has fabulous tips for responding to the media when the news is bad. He explained them all, including the tip about the one sure-fire way to ensure the media quote you accurately, on the CD "How to Keep the Media Wolves at Bay." 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/b8wcy


====================================
3. Turn Content into Cash
====================================

Most authors, speakers and experts are sitting on a gold mine, and they don't even know it. Chances are, you're not getting all you can out of the knowledge you have and the content you have already created.

Have you written a book? Or articles for a newsletter or ezine? Do you blog?

Do you present speeches or workshops? Or teleseminars? Have you created handouts or workbooks?

Do you ever respond to emailed questions, or post to forums?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you may have a wealth of content ready to start making more money for you.

Even if you don't have a lot of existing content, there are ways to quickly and easily create products using what you know.

Using the content you already have--and learning simple, fast ways to create new, quality content--will get you off the hours-for-dollars treadmill and empower you to create multiple streams of passive income. It will also attract the attention of the traditional media, bloggers, and many others who will invite you to share your expertise.

Cathy Stucker--one of the foremost experts on how to create, package, repurpose and market content--will by my guest on a free 60-minute teleseminar at 3 p.m. Eastern Time tomorrow, March 5.

I'll be picking her brain about her time-saving tips and asking her to explain how she earns a six-figure income with her information empire and how you can, too.

We only have 250 slots available, so if you aren't prompt, you might not get onto the line. You pay your own long-distance charges. Call 1-218-486-1300. The access code is 1-8-2-2-2-2#.


======================================
4. Media Leads
======================================

- -Do you know a great military dad? For Father's Day, USA WEEKEND magazine is planning a cover story that will show the commitment of countless military dads to their families even as they serve thousands of miles away. Thanks to improved technology, dads can now be "with" their kids, no matter where they're serving. Submissions also will be considered for publication in both "Army Times" and "Navy Times." Nominate your favorite dad at http://publicityhound.net/militarydads


- -CD Vann, editor of Magazine SOHO, a Milwaukee-based magazine, is looking for experts who live anywhere and who can write a monthly column for a new website specifically for entrepreneurs. She needs an entrepreneurial mom to write a column called "Baby and Me, and Business Makes Three" which will offer tips and advice on how to balance work duties and mom duties. She needs an expert who can comment on dating at any age. She also needs a writer for a column called "Soho Today" which will highlight news topics of the day that affect a SOHO's business and personal life. All columns should be 500 words and must be submitted before the 25th of each month. "We are looking for a conversational writing style--writers who are well-versed, and can reach out to our audience and inspire or inform them with words." Submit at least two writing samples in Microsoft Word to mailto:cdvann@sohobusinessmagazine.com


=========================================
5. How to Promote an ACT! Contest
=========================================


This week, three Publicity Hounds have tips for Lori Feldman of St. Louis, Missouri on how to publicize a contest in which people can register to win ACT! Software and training.


From Gail Sideman:

"You need to publicize this as a traditional group of news stories during the course of the contest. Each service that ACT! Software provides should be molded into story angles to be pitched to media. Highlight the benefits of each one of the services and provide comments from people whose sales have increased and time has been better managed as a result of using it. Since ACT! profits from its software sales, the mention of the contest should be introduced through the 'back door'--via details at the end of your press releases."


From Chelsea Quinn:

"Search online for work-at-home and small business ezine publishers who might be willing to get the word out for you. Telling their members about your drawing gives the ezine publisher owner something new, free and practical to offer their readers."


The Publicity Hound says:

You have almost two months to promote this. A more time-consuming but very effective way to pull traffic to the contest page is to create a Squidoo lens at http://www.squidoo.com/ or a HubPage at http://www.hubpages.com/ and fill it with original content. The search engines love these two content-sharing sites and will bring lots of traffic to you.


Read all the responses to this Help This Hound question at http://tinyurl.com/2wcw9g


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


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

Marna A. Krajewski of Wakefield, Rhode Island writes:

"I am an Army wife who had her first book published in May 2006 (HOUSEHOLD BAGGAGE: The Moving Life of a Soldier's Wife). It's a collection of first-person stories about Army family life.

"My next book, HOUSEHOLD BAGGAGE HANDLERS: Celebrating the Lives of Military Wives, is coming out in May. This one is an anthology which I compiled and edited. A good friend tells me marketing it only to the military community is a mistake, yet this is my niche.

"Should I broaden my intended market, and if so, what are your publicity ideas?"


The Publicity Hound says:

The more niched your topic, or the more niched your audience, the easier your job of promoting it will be. But I'm curious. Does anyone out there who is not a military wife have any interest in reading a book like this one? If so, where should Marna promote it? Hounds with ideas for Marna can post them to my blog at http://publicityhound.net/militarywives

Marna, National Public Radio interviews hundreds of authors each year. Go to their website at http://www.npr.org/ and type "military wives" into the search box at the top of the screen and you can see a list of programs that have included information about your topic.

For the inside scoop on how to find out which shows are perfect for you, and how to pitch them, see "How to Get Booked on National Public Radio" at http://tinyurl.com/ayms6


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

Thanks to Darlene Arden of Framingham, Massachusetts for this one.

A man wrote a letter to a small hotel in a Midwest town he planned to visit on his vacation. He wrote:

Dear Hotel,

I would very much like to bring my dog with me. He is well- groomed and very well-behaved. Would you be willing to permit me to keep him in my room with me at night?

An immediate reply came from the hotel owner, who said, "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/


=================================
8. At My Blog...
=================================

TV interview tip: Don't use the anchor's name
http://publicityhound.net/anchorname


Zvents sends your calendar listings to local, national media
http://publicityhound.net/zvents


Get your products into celebrities' hands
http://publicityhound.net/sendproductstocelebrities


Comment on popular videos with your own video comment http://publicityhound.net/videocomments


-------------------------------------------------------------

Where to See or Hear The Publicity Hound


March 5: Teleseminar on "How to Turn Your Content into Cash"

Join me for a free teleseminar at 3 p.m. Eastern Time with Cathy Stucker. This one-hour call is perfect for authors, speakers and experts who have handouts in their file cabinets and on their bookshelves and hard drives. Cathy will show you how to take your content and spin, retool or tweak it to create information products and lots more. She promises a teleseminar packed with content, and she'll take your questions, too. This call is limited to the first 250 people. You don't have to sign up. Simply call 1-218-486-1300. The access code is 1-8-2-2-2-2#.


March 27: Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin

"Red Hot Tips to Set Your Publicity Campaign on Fire," Menomonee Falls, Sussex and Germantown Business to Business Networking Breakfast; networking and breakfast from 7:30 to 8, presentation from 8 to 8:45 a.m. Tickets are $15. Guests welcome. For reservations, call Diane Henning at the Menomonee Falls Chamber at 262-251-2430.


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 list "89 Reasons to Send a News 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
U. S.A.
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737

Publicity tips/TV Talk Show Stunts Feb 26, 2008

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #387 Feb. 26, 2008
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.com/
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 42,789

=====================================
"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

*******************************************

Last Call for National Publicity Summit:

Steve Harrison's National Publicity Summit still has a few openings for Publicity Hounds who want to pitch top-tier journalists face-to-face. It's March 26-29 in New York City.

You'll meet with journalists and producers from top national TV shows like ABC's The View, CBS' 48 Hours, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News Channel, Montel, Fox & Friends and Live with Regis & Kelly.

You'll also personally meet writers who do stories for big-time print media like People magazine, Woman's Day, Alternative Medicine, Good Housekeeping, New York Times, Parents, Family Circle, INC., Time magazine and many other top publications.

In this newsletter, I've written many success stories about Publicity Hounds who have attended the summit, gotten huge media hits, sold tons of books as a result, and have raved about the event. If you're on the fence, at least read about what you'll learn at http://www.nationalpublicitysummit.com/?10011

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

1. TV Talk Show Stunts

2. The Mayo Clinic & Facebook

3. Create a Hall of Fame

4. Google Will Reward You for Video

5. How to Promote a College 'Care Package'

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. At My Blog...

9. At My Squidoo Lens...


======================================
1. TV Talk Show Stunts
======================================

In the old days, if you wanted to get onto one of the morning TV talk shows, you had to pitch a compelling idea that had the three magic elements that TV loves: people, color and motion.

These days, however, your chances improve drastically if your pitch includes a publicity stunt. Don't worry. You don't have to round up a stunt man. Instead, suggest the stunt be performed by one of the talk show hosts, anchors or reporters.

Like "Today" show news anchor Ann Curry bungee-jumping off a bridge in England.

Or her cohort, Meredith Vieira, jumping into frigid Lake Champlain in Vermont in February to promote the annual Penguin Plunge to benefit the Special Olympics.

Or Chris Cuomo, ABC's "Good Morning America" newsman, sky-diving off the roof of the Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City last week.

Why the stunts?

Simple. It helps the audience to connect to the personalities they see every day, said Jim Murphy, "Good Morning America" executive producer who was quoted in an Associated Press story.

Cancer patient Robin Roberts, co-host of "Good Morning America," even doffed her wig in public. Viewers flooded her and other personalities with email, saying they loved the stunts.

The next time you're looking for TV coverage, think of ways TV personalities can become directly involved in your story. See "Special Report #42: Tips for Letting Reporters Experience Your Story, Not Just Write About It" at http://www.publicityhound.com/publicity-products/reports.html

Can't think of a stunt? That's OK. There are many more ways to get onto the "Today" show, "Good Morning America" and "Fox & Friends." Lissa Warren explains them all on "How to Get Booked on the Morning TV Talk Shows." 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://publicityhound.net/cdmorningtvtalkshows


=====================================
2. The Mayo Clinic & Facebook
=====================================

Thanks to Publicity Hound Tom Ribar of Grafton, Wisconsin for alerting us to this article that explains why even the world- renowned Mayo Clinic has its own Facebook page: http://www.1to1media.com/Xfactor.aspx?DocID=30670&m=n

The clinic uses Facebook to post information about itself and link to its three websites for patients, consumers, and research and education. It also displays "wall post" messages and photos, offers video and audio podcasts, provides updates on news and events, and connects with its Facebook friends.

The clinic encourages patients to tell their own stories and describe what their experience was like at the clinic.

Tom Ribar and I are learning more about Facebook because we're among the hundreds of students in the SMARTS social media coaching program. If you missed signing up for the program, you can still get a taste of what we're learning by watching the 50- minute video and downloading the special report. Dozens of Publicity Hounds have thanked me for alerting them to these content-rich resources.

Watch the video and sign up for the free report at http://www.stompernet.net/jvp/aw.aspx?B=25&A=332

Then create your own Facebook page and ask me to be your friend. But please let me know that you subscribe to this newsletter. You can find my page at http://www.PublicityHound.net/facebookprofile

Facebook is one of seven sites where social media expert Don Crowther, our SMARTS coach, says you must have a presence. He explained more about Facebook and the other six sites during a one-hour teleseminar earlier this year as part of my training series "How to Create a Media Plan."

If you need help building a 12-month plan that will really reach your target audience, pull traffic to your website, and have journalists calling for interviews, take a look at what you'll learn: http://www.PublicityHound.com/mediaplan.htm

The training program includes a list of more than 200 story ideas, several for every month of the year. You can incorporate them into your own plan.


=======================================
3. Create a Hall of Fame
=======================================

When Publicity Hound Karla Kinstler of the Houston Nature Center in Houston, Minnesota read one of my tips about creating a Hall of Fame, she knew the idea was a perfect fit with the annual "Festival of Owls."

"We now recognize one owl and one human each year who have done extraordinary things to make the world a better place for owls," says Karla, who submitted a Help This Hound question several months ago.

The first year, the Oregon Associated Press picked up the story when Fat Broad, an owl in Oregon, was inducted into the hall of fame.

Last year, the nature center widened its search and made it the "World Owl Hall of Fame."

"Coverage of our hall of fame wound up in the Canberra Times in Australia, and was linked to from the New Zealand Journal of Birds website," she adds.

This year, the nature center has nominations from seven countries on four continents. It has added a "Special Achievement" award category since there were so many nominations.

"Now we call our festival the International Festival of Owls and have folks attending from the U.S., Canada, Jamaica and The Netherlands this year. I just wanted to let you know that starting a Hall of Fame is, in itself, an award-winning idea."

You can read more about the contest at http://www.festivalofowls.com/World%20Owl%20Hall%20of%20Fame.htm

The next step, Karla says, is to grow the Houston Nature Center into a North American Owl Center with its own room for the World Owl Hall of Fame.

Why not follow Karla's lead and create your own hall of fame that ties into your own product, service, cause or issue? Promote it by writing and posting online press releases, pitching bloggers who write about your topic, pitching journalists on your media hit list, using social media sites, and creating videos about inductees.

See "The New Rules of Press Releases" at http://publicityhound.net/cdnewrules


======================================
4. Google Will Reward You for Video
======================================

Are you tired of lousy Google rankings for your website or blog?

Are you wasting hundreds of dollars on Google pay-per-click advertising that isn't making anybody except the Google advertising people happy?

I hear from dozens of Publicity Hounds each week who are doing just that. That's why I tell them to start cranking out short videos as fast as they can. Google and the other search engines place a high premium on video, even low-cost videos made by amateurs.

Why? Because web surfers love watching video. Take a look at the statistics:

- -More than 141 million Americans viewed online video in December of last year alone.

- -YouTube is almost double the size of Google, the granddaddy of search engines, in the number of page views.

- -More than half of all videos online are being watched on other websites, not just on YouTube. That means that if you upload your video to YouTube, bloggers, website owners and anyone else can embed your video link at their blog or website, thus giving your video even more exposure and your website more traffic. And you don't pay them a cent for doing it.

- -Video can reward you with more traffic, a higher conversion rate on your sales pages and maybe even a call from a journalist who watches one of your videos and wants to interview you.

On Thursday night, I'll be on the phone taking notes furiously on Tom Antion's teleseminar on "How to Get Instant High Rankings on Google Using Short Videos." Then I'll be converting some of the videos I use in my live workshops for the web.

Don't miss this call, and his special bonus to the first 200 people who sign up. Read more about what you'll learn at http://www.PublicityHound.net/antionvideo


=========================================
5. How to Promote a College 'Care Package'
=========================================

This week, 13 Publicity Hounds have tips for Patricia Hudak of Jersey City, New Jersey. She's creating an informational care package for college seniors and is looking for corporate sponsors who want to reach this niche audience.


From Paulette Ensign:

"Look at who else is already marketing to that population, such as big financial planning companies, gasoline companies, recruiting firms, and cruise lines. Contact their marketing departments with your proposal. Be prepared to modify your package if they are interested in parts of it. In fact, it may serve the sponsors better to pull apart your package and provide pieces of it spread out over time to keep them in front of that audience longer."


From Ann Wondra:

"While new college grads are often very savvy in technology and more globally aware, employers are dismayed at their lack of work ethic, top salary expectations with little or no experience to back it, attitudes of 'entitlement,' and weak written and verbal professional communication skills (text messaging doesn't fly well in most corporate business settings). If those kinds of skills are included in your Career module, those would be attractive selling points to businesses that are recruiting from the college of students you are targeting."


From A. Moore:

"Create a place online where you can interact with and share your ideas with college grads and young career enthusiasts. Offer portions of your programs as downloads. Spend the time to build a following for yourself and you'll be better positioned to engage sponsors. You'll probably even attract media and become a valuable resource, or you may get a book deal out of it or a radio show."


The Publicity Hound says:

Contact bloggers who write about corporate marketing and let them know what you're doing. They have a ready-made audience that would be perfect for you. See "How to Pitch the Best Bloggers & Create a Publicity Explosion" at http://www.PublicityHound.net/cdpitchbestbloggers


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


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

Lori Feldman of St. Louis, Missouri writes:

"I am an ACT! Software consultant and I belong to The CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Alliance, a consortium of the top ACT! Consultants across the U.S.

"We have pooled resources to offer a $6,500 grand prize for a complete CRM/Email Marketing/Internet Marketing package for one winner, with other winners getting second- and third-place prizes. Your Hounds can read more about it at http://www.actsoftwarepromotion.com/

"Were launching the promotion next week and it will run through April 30. We're promoting it through our alliance members' lists, our vendor partners' lists and through two lists we just purchased. We're also using press releases before and after the event.

"Total value of the prizes is $17,000. That's pretty hefty for our little group, and I'd love to do as much as I can to get the word out. Help from you and your Hounds would be greatly appreciated."


The Publicity Hound says:

Maybe it's just because I've immersed myself in the SMARTS social media marketing program the last five weeks. But I can think of all kinds of great ways to use the social media sites to drum up interest in this. Let's see if my Hounds are thinking along the same lines. Hounds with ideas for online and offline promotion can post them to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/2wcw9g


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

My dog chewed the tongue on one of my new, very expensive running shoes. I hoped to save my investment, so I took the shoes to a shoe repair shop.

I placed them on the counter and told the man, "My dog got hold of this."

The repairman picked up the shoe, looked it over, and placed it back down on the counter.

"Well, what do you recommend?" I asked.

He looked at me and replied, "Give your dog the other shoe."


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. At My Blog...
=================================

Best blogs for writers
http://publicityhound.net/index.php/best-blogs-for-writers/


LinkedIn can provide comments from experts
http://tinyurl.com/3c4aph


Top 10 tips for free publicity--in Italian
http://tinyurl.com/34zg3r


Hannah Montana--buckle your seatbelt!
Http://tinyurl.com/2j3dx2


=================================
9. At at My Squidoo Lens...
=================================

- -March and April Story Ideas


- -How Reporters Loosen Your Lips


http://www.squidoo.com/howtogetfree_publicity

- -----------------------------------------------------------

Where to See or Hear The Publicity Hound


March 5: Teleseminar on "How to Turn Your Content into Cash"

Join me for a free teleseminar at 3 p.m. Eastern Time with Cathy Stucker. This one-hour call is perfect for authors, speakers and experts who have handouts in their file cabinets and on their bookshelves and hard drives. Cathy will show you how to take your content and spin, retool or tweak it to create information products and lots more. She promises a teleseminar packed with content, and she'll take your questions, too. This call is limited to the first 250 people. You don't have to sign up. Simply call 1-218-486-1300. The access code is 1-8-2-2-2-2#.


March 27: Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin

"Red Hot Tips to Set Your Publicity Campaign on Fire," Menomonee Falls, Sussex and Germantown Business to Business Networking Breakfast; networking and breakfast from 7:30 to 8, presentation from 8 to 8:45 a.m. Tickets are $15. Guests welcome. For reservations, call Diane Henning at the Menomonee Falls Chamber at 262-251-2430.


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 list "89 Reasons to Send a News 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
U. S.A. Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737

Publicity tips/The Bucket List Jan 22, 2008

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #382 Jan. 22, 2008
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.com/
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 39,927

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

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

1. The Bucket List

2. Don't Make Deals Like This One

3. If You Hate Your Job, Read This

4. Media Lead

5. How to Work with Impatient PR Clients

6. "Speakers Cruise Free" Replay

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...


======================================
1. The Bucket List
======================================

The opening of the movie The Bucket List shows aging car mechanic Carter Chambers, played by Morgan Freeman, extinguishing his cigarette in an old Chock Full o' Nuts coffee can.

Later, Jack Nicholson as his dying geezer buddy Edward Cole, sings the familiar ditty we've all heard in those Chock Full o'Nuts commercials. It goes like this:

Chock Full o' Nuts is that heavenly coffee, Heavenly coffee, heavenly coffee, Chock Full o' Nuts is that heavenly coffee, Better coffee a millionaire's money can't buy.

That's called product placement. And when Jack sings about your product, well, it doesn't get much better than that.

Whether you're selling jewelry or purses, cars or coffee, product placement opportunities on the sets of TV shows and movies await Publicity Hounds who are smart enough to go after them.

While the Chock Full o' Nuts placement, no doubt, required deep pockets, many others don't.

If you supply cases of your company's bottled water for the stars to drink while they're shooting, a bottle just might show up in the final version of a movie or TV show.

After your product shows up on the screen, there are lots more opportunities. For example, InStyle magazine has a "Where Can I Find" column each month. It might feature a huge photo of an actress wearing a necklace on the set of a movie. It gives you the brand name and price, and the website where you can buy it.
That kind of publicity is free and powerful.

Product placement experts Amy Bates Stumpf and Rebecca Lightsey joined me in December for the teleseminar "How to Get Your Consumer Products onto the Sets of Movies & TV Shows." We recorded it, and it's available as a CD or an electronic transcript that you can be reading as soon as your order is approved. Only $39.95.

Order the CD at http://tinyurl.com/39bnqb

Order the electronic transcript at http://tinyurl.com/3y38hj

I loved The Bucket List, by the way, even though it got lousy reviews.


========================================
2. Don't Make Deals Like This One
========================================

Twenty years ago, I would have been horrified to hear about a deal like this one between a hospital and a daily newspaper.

But today, the line between editorial and advertising is so blurred that it's of little surprise.

WEAU TV-13 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin tried to negotiate a deal with the local Sacred Heart Hospital in which the station would air medical stories featuring personnel only from that hospital and its affiliates, but not employees of other Chippewa Valley hospitals or clinics.

TV news director Glen Mabie was so outraged that he resigned. He said he was unsure whether the hospital would pay TV-13 as part of the agreement but that the exclusive deal posed an obvious conflict of interest.

The company decided not to proceed with the agreement, but the local newspaper got wind of it. You can read the entire story at http://tinyurl.com/322s88

I ran this by my friend, TV producer Shawne Duperon, for her comments:

"Yikes! Kudos to Glen Mabie for taking an ethical stand. Coming from a health reporter background, this would be a nightmare as a journalist! WEAU was completely crossing every ethical boundary that literally holds the newsroom together.

"In news, everything is about finding many sources (angles) to help you tell stories for the community. It would be like only talking to the NAACP for all civil rights issues.

"Creating a deal would also alienate all the other medical resources, organizations and clinics in the community. The deal could only fall flat on its face because it violates the very existence of journalistic news gathering processes."

My own take is that the stench from all that bad publicity is as harmful to the hospital as it is to the TV station. So if media outlets offer you a deal like this one, run the other way.

Besides, smart Publicity Hounds don't have to sleaze their way onto TV. Shawne says it's easy to get on the local news and that a well-delivered pitch to the newsroom in the morning can sometimes get you onto the news that night. She explains "How to Get onto the Local TV News Tomorrow," available as a CD or an electronic transcript you can read as soon as your order is approved.

Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/4zpuz


=========================================
3. If You Hate Your Job, Read This
=========================================

When you hear the phrase Internet marketer, you probably think of a geeky guy with thick glasses, hunched over his laptop all day buying Google pay-per-click ads and watching the orders roll in.

That's one description.

I'm an Internet marketer, too. And I've worked hard to build my business to the point where I don't have to travel anymore. No more sleeping in airports, living in germ-laden hotel rooms or eating lousy food on the road.

I do most of my work in my pajamas or jeans and a T-shirt. About 98 percent of my revenue is generated in front of my computer, where I can also promote myself to the hilt.

I leave my home office so seldom these days that I don't even use a weekly planner. All my appointments are on a large wall calendar.

Most afternoons, I take a quick nap in my own bed, with Bogie asleep next to me in her kennel.

During the summer, I take frequent mid-morning breaks to weed the garden or pick a bouquet of flowers. Then I make my own healthy lunch.

With the help of Christine Buffaloe, my part-time virtual assistant, I've cut back my work week drastically and created several new revenue streams that have boosted my income. I can take vacations and long weekends when I want, without reporting to anybody.

Oh, did I mention that I've got the best boss in the world? Me.

Much of what I've done to morph from consulting/speaking into almost all Internet marketing is the same as what Alexandria Brown, "The Ezine Queen," teaches in her workshops. We've presented at the same events, and she's the real deal.

After hours of editing, polishing, and coddling, the brand new 2008 version of her "Online Success Blueprint-in-a-Box" is finally ready. It's perfect for anybody who hates their job, is already an expert in a certain topic, and wants to work on their own, at home, in front of their computer.

It's the home version of the exact same program she taught live a few months ago. You can see everything you get right now at http://tinyurl.com/ea6od (but turn down your speakers if you're at work).

She's selling only 147 copies of this version, so act now before you miss it. Read the success stories of her clients who have followed in her footsteps at http://tinyurl.com/ea6od


=========================================
4. Media Lead
=========================================

Mildred Culp, who writes the syndicated Workwise column, is looking for people who retired but have gone back to work for the same company or a different company. She has research indicating that this group needs to be managed by employers rather than left on their own. She wants to interview those who agree or disagree. Don't be shy if you have a relative to suggest. Source must be post-retirement, 65 or older. Send leads to mailto:workwise@comcast.net


============================================
5. How to Work with Impatient PR Clients
============================================

This week, four Publicity Hounds have advice for Gail Sideman of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She wants tips on how to work with impatient PR clients who expect immediate results.


From Lanada Chanel:

"I have begun keeping track of published articles, editorials, press announcements, TV appearances, etc. we have gotten (however big or small they are). I list them, attached to monthly invoices, along with the time spent making calls to try to get her speaking engagements and the community relations work we're doing for her just so the client can see how much time and relationship building goes into this whole process.

"I figure that when the clients see how that all adds up, they can choose to either handle it all themselves and run their business, which already keeps them overwhelmed, or let me do what I feel I do best."


Barbara Rozgony:

"Since we transitioned away from counting clips to more of an SEO/virtual PR visibility approach, we find that our clients appreciate their different, but more measurable and immediate results. Within 24-48 hours, many of our clients land on page one of Google news for the desired search terms.

"After a few web releases, many of them vault way ahead of their competition, both in terms of number of Google results and page rank. One client showed up at 4, 5 and 6 on page one for their keyword term for the first month or so after their release. Three months later, their news release shows up at 35/232,000 results-- while their own site is buried many, many pages back."


From The Publicity Hound:

"If clients are obsessed with immediate results, then give them immediate results. Not in the traditional media, but in the hundreds of social media sites like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and Squidoo. Choose just a few, create their profiles, and then teach them how to use the sites. If you do it right, they could see a boost in traffic---and possibly sales---in just 24 to 48 hours.

Read all the responses to this week's Help This Hound question at http://tinyurl.com/23kk33


================================
6. Speakers Cruise Free Replay
================================

"Speakers Cruise Free: Trade Your Talents for Free Luxury Cruises," a one-hour interview with Daniel Hall, shows you how to turn your hobby or expertise into a cool presentation you can offer to cruise ship lines that are looking for experts to entertain and educate their passengers. Listen for free at http://www.speakerscruisefree.com/houndcall

Help this Hound will return next week.


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

Thanks to self-publishing guru Dan Poynter of Santa Barbara, California for pointing out this:

The California town of Carmel-By-The-Sea has created the nation's first official doggie drinking fountain. It's called the "Fountain of Woof" and features a life-size dog's head spurting water from its mouth onto a step arrangement of rocky pools from which pooches can drink. Mayor Sue McCloud said the fountain was created "by pupular demand."


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

Book promotion tip: 'Cool Book of the Day'
http://tinyurl.com/3b6gfw


Video pitching will become overused
http://tinyurl.com/3yk38g


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 list "89 Reasons to Send a News 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
U.S.A.Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737

Publicity tips/'Dirty Hotel Glasses' Contest Winner Dec.18, 2007

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #377 Dec. 18, 2007
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.com/
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 37,659

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

Need help with publicity?
See the resources list at
http://www.publicityhound.com/resources.htm


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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

***********************************************************

Coming Christmas Morning:

It's my annual "Best of The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week"ebook, a special gift to all of you loyal Hounds who have been kind enouch to read and respond to this newsletter.

I've chosen more than two dozen tips from this past year that have generated the most response from readers, and I'll tell you how to download the ebook in next Tueday's issue of this newsletter.

Bloggers, ezine editors, coaches and consultants, you are welcome to regift the ebook to your own readers and clients.

Until then, have a safe and happy holiday.

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

1. 'Dirty Hotel Glasses' Contest Winner

2. Say Buh-Bye to Journalists

3. YouTube Video Reminder

4. Pitch This Week and Next

5. Promoting a Photography Studio

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...


======================================
1. 'Dirty Hotel Glasses' Contest Winner
======================================

Next time the Sheraton Suites, Embassy Suites or Holiday Inn hotel chains are looking for a PR spokesperson, they should choose the winning candidate from among Publicity Hounds who read this newsletter.

Last week, I told you about the video produced by an Atlanta TV station that took its hidden cameras into guest rooms at local hotel chains. At those three chains, the video showed, the housekeeping staff never used soap and water to clean dirty glasses and coffee cups in the guests' rooms.

I told you to watch the video at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a7f_1194813218 and then tell me how you would respond if you were the PR person at one of those chains.

You can read all 75 comments at my blog at http://tinyurl.com/28aqm9

Many of the responses are excellent and showed the appropriate level of contrition and embarrassment. But one response, in particular, stood out from the others.

Jennifer Moreau, a marketing specialist with ITU Inc., an industrial towel and uniform company in New Berlin, Wisconsin, suggested that the hotel apologize for the safety violation, then ask the TV station to become involved in reporting on the change in housekeeping procedures.

"For instance, invite them to the initial meeting with staff when this video is shown so they obtain footage of staff reaction to the hidden camera video and the discussion that takes place after," she wrote. "Then, have the media do a second hidden video test after a month or 2 months when the changes were implemented to ensure that they actually were.

"Working with the media as a partner instead of an enemy will actually help both parties. They get a better, more in-depth story, the hotel improves their process, and both receive PR coverage. Plus, the hotel's credibility is perceived much higher by admitting the problem right away and dealing with it to solve it. This, in turn would reduce potential negative sales effects and perhaps could actually have a positive effect on sales."

I ran her comment by Clarence and Ellen Jaffe Jones, the husband-and-wife crisis counselors. Both are former award-winning TV investigative reporters.

"Clarence and I like the idea," Ellen said. "Formally called the 'ride-along,' it invites the media inside. 'Walk a mile in my shoes' gives the reporters a unique view."

Tylenol execs used this invite-them-in technique effectively when cyanide was maliciously injected into the company's star drug.The company invited "60 Minutes" to watch company execs debate how to handle the drug tampering crisis.

"Lawyers cringe," Ellen said. "But in a crisis, it is a matter of saving your image and often the entire company. Tylenol didn't suffer any long-term market share loss, and is still very much in business."

Clarence and Ellen were doing a crisis counseling training for clients when I contacted them.

"We discussed the hotel glass story in our media training class today," Ellen said. "It was amazing how many people from all over the U.S. had seen or heard of this one story that was initially done by one local TV station. With YouTube and Internet connection to the TV's website, bad news like this is immediate worldwide...Many of our students today said they've been using bottled water in their hotel rooms since that story."

Jennifer's comment wins her $200 in Publicity Hound products.

All of you can win, too, by reading Clarence Jones' excellent book "Winning with the News Media: A Self-Defense Manual When You're the Story." It's the book I wish I had written. I referred to my copy so often that it eventually fell apart from overuse, and I had to order another one. Order yours at http://www.winning-newsmedia.com/bookordr.htm

In fact, order two. Give one to the Publicity Hound on your gift list.


========================================
2. Say 'Buh-bye' to Journalists
========================================

Right now, all over the U.S., there's an exodus of experienced, high-profile, high-priced journalists taking early retirement.

To boost profits, newspapers are offering buy-outs to some of their veteran staff members who will be replaced with cheaper, less experienced reporters and editors.

Here in Milwaukee, for example, the Journal Sentinel offered buyouts to about a dozen veteran writers and editors. The same thing is happening at radio stations.

During yesterday's private teleseminar with members of the Publicity Hound Mentor Program, I discussed a long list of ways Hounds can use this to their advantage.

If a beat reporter with whom you've established a great relationship leaves, make sure the reporter introduces you to the new person taking over the beat.

Then shift into the role of "educator" and help the new reporter understand your industry, its lingo, its idiosyncrasies and its trends.

--Invite the reporter to a "getting to know you" lunch.

--Ask "How can I help you?"

--Encourage the reporter to call on you for story ideas, background and commentary, day or night.

If you join my mentor program, you can listen to a replay of yesterday's teleseminar. And in our initial phone consultation, I'll help you create a plan designed to promote you and your business online and offline. Find out if you're a good candidate for the program at http://www.publicityhound.com/mentorprogram/intro.html


=========================================
3. YouTube Video Reminder
=========================================

Thanks to Publicity Hound Meryl K. Evans for reminding us not to use YouTube or podcasting as a replacement for any written content we currently provide.

"If you do, you could neglect a small but important audience-- those with disabilities. The deaf, like me, can't follow the video unless it's obvious from visuals.

"The blind miss out on visual cues."

She said Jeff Crilley, the FOX News reporter in Dallas, includes a link to his video in every newsletter, "but thankfully he continues to provide content in the same newsletter." (You can sign up for the newsletter at http://www.jeffcrilley.com/)

The number of people with disabilities has grown, especially with Baby Boomers losing hearing and eye sight as a result of getting older.

Not using video yet in your PR campaign? You should be. Learn how with the 2-CD set "How to Make a Fortune with Video" at http://tinyurl.com/y3b6wj


=========================================
4. Pitch This Week and Next
=========================================

I hated working the weeks before and after Christmas when I was in the newspaper business.

Schools are on Christmas break. Politicians recess until after the holidays. Entire companies shut down for a week. And sources are nowhere to be found.

That's why you should be pitching this week and next, particularly to media like newspapers and TV stations which have short lead times. Call a TV station tomorrow morning with a great story idea and you could be on the news tomorrow night.

Offer "the local angle" to a newspaper reporter writing about a national problem like home mortgage foreclosures and you could be in tomorrow's paper.

Or tie your story to Christmas or New Year's.

TV producer Shawne Duperon explains the insider secrets of "How to Get onto the TV News Tomorrow" during the one-hour teleseminar I conducted with her.

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


============================================
5. Promoting a Photo Studio
============================================

This week, 15 Publicity Hounds have ideas on how Kammy Thurman of Laurel, Montana can promote her photography studio.


From Kathleen Lisson:

"Start or participate in a photography group on Meetup.com."


From Jennifer Cook:

"Growing up, we loved wandering our local mall during the school year because the local photography studios would post 8×10s and even 5×7s of the local senior pictures. We enjoyed looking for our friends and other people we knew. For many years the pictures were simply mounted or framed and hung on foldable partitions in the middle of the walkway. This is how a new photography studio launched themselves up against the 'go to' studio for all formal events. The new studio now has the greater share of the market."


From Linda Barrett:

"I suggest creating a niche like black-and-white pet photographs, children in dress-up clothing, or movie star shots using a professional makeup artist...You will still offer full photography services of course, but you will become known because of your special talent. For example, a local framing shop uses recycled or found items of architectural interest to create one- of-a-kind frames. This generated two feature articles in the first month of her store opening."


Read all the responses to this Help This Hound question at http://tinyurl.com/yptul3


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

Kelly Moore of Des Moines, Iowa writes:

"I have been the number-one ‘community’ (just a fancy way of saying ‘unpaid’) blogger for a local magazine in our city for more than a year. The magazine is owned by our city’s daily newspaper. Consequently, I was able to find out that my page- views not only outshine the other magazine bloggers’ (staff included), they also stack up extremely well as compared to the daily newspaper’s own bloggers, including their print columnists.

"I’d like to parlay my readership success from this unpaid blog into a more high-profile (and hopefully profit-generating) pursuit. In particular, I’d like to pitch myself as a regular columnist for the daily newspaper, but I’m unsure how to go about it.

"You can see my blog at http://blogs.dmjuice.com/?cat=42. I write about parenthood (note I did not say ‘parenting,’ as that implies I dole out advice). My goal is to entertain by showing other moms and dads the humor in the every day of parenthood and to ease the guilt that seems almost epidemic these days.

"Hope you and your readers have some good suggestions for me..."


The Publicity Hound says:

Kelly, my Hounds will not only give you ideas on how to get the paid writing gig. I'll bet at least one will offer a suggestion about how you can go far beyond the boundaries of Des Moines and turn that blog into a profitable venture. Hounds with ideas for Kelly can post them to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/2vkjod


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

"Every time I go near the stove, the dog howls." -- Phyllis Diller


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

'Best of ProfNet' list promotes PR agency
http://tinyurl.com/38v69k


Book tours being replaced by virtual tours
http://tinyurl.com/352hms


----------------------------------------------------------


Where to See or Hear The Publicity Hound:


January 21: 2008 smARTist Telesummit

I will teach artists "The New Rules of Press Releases: How to Write Them for Art Buyers and Collectors, Not Only for Journalists" from 1 to 1:45 p.m. Eastern Time. Register for the entire telesummit at http://tinyurl.com/3x35vr If you want a taste of what you'll be learning, you can register for a one-hour teleseminar at 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, Jan. 8. Three experts will give away their best marketing advice on how to succeed without sacrificing your artistic voice or wasting tons of time on dry business stuff. To register for that call, click on the link above, then "Register" at the top of the page.


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 list "89 Reasons to Send a News 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
U.S.A.
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737

Publicity tips/Oprah's Scandal Nov 6, 2007

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #371 Nov. 6, 2007
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 35,452

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"
Receive this ezine direct to your desktop
http://www.publicityhound.com/tipsoftheweek/

Need help with publicity?
See the resources list at
http://www.publicityhound.com/resources.htm


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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

*******************************************************
Spiders, Cheeseheads & Those Funny Plastic Thingamajigs:
Everybody receives a plastic spider ring. And a chance to win a big Wisconsin Cheesehead hat. And an odd-looking plastic thingamajig that got worldwide publicity on CNN. That's just the fun part.

Spend the day with me on Thursday in Gurnee, Illinois and you'll know how to create a blog in 10 minutes or less. My daylong workshops on publicity will also teach nonprofits how to use free publicity to pull in volunteers and donors. Businesses will learn how to use publicity to boost holiday sales this year. Everyone will learn how to build strong relationships with journalists and use social networking sites to call attention online to your product, service, cause or issue. Read more about what I'll be teaching and how you can join the fun at http://www.PublicityHound.com/gurnee.htm

See Item #3 below.

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

1. Oprah's Scandal

2. Rosie's Book Signing Hot Seat

3. Spider Rings & Press Releases

4. How Are You Using YouTube?

5. Promoting a Guitarist & Songwriter

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week


======================================
1. Oprah's Scandal
======================================

Maybe Oprah had the best crisis counselors money can buy.

Or maybe she has already dealt with so many crises that she knew exactly how to handle the latest one: charges of s~exual allegations at the Oprah Winfrey Academy in South Africa.

CEOs and Publicity Hounds everywhere can learn several lessons from the way she responded when she learned of reports that girls had been abused at her school, which has been open less than a year.

--In October, when she first heard the news, she immediately hired her own independent investigative team, headed by a former detective and commander of the Child Exploitation Unit of the Cook County Sheriff's Office in Chicago, to investigate.

--Tempted to talk to the press, she kept quiet, on the advice of investigators who told her not to say anything until they made an arrest. You can read the transcript of yesterday's entire press conference and watch the video at http://tinyurl.com/ywyrue

--She traveled to the school to personally talk with students and their parents and to encourage the girls to come forward with whatever other details they could provide. Several did.

--Oprah "cleaned house from top to bottom." She fired the head mistress who was later charged, and she removed all the remaining dorm matrons and replaced them with faculty members. She also admitted that the process of background checks was inadequate.

--She accepted full responsibility, stressing "the buck stops with me."

--She spoke with heartfelt honesty about what happened, calling it "one of the most, if not THE most devastating experience of my life." She talked about how, when she first heard the news, she cried for a half hour while walking from room to room in her house, in shock.

--Oprah is in the process of buying cell phones for all the girls so they can contact her personally if other problems arise.

Many of the steps she took are those recommended by crisis counselor Jonathan Bernstein, who was my guest during a teleseminar on "How to Keep the Media Wolves at Bay." Jonathan discusses the most important things anyone can do when faced with bad news of any kind. He explained the top 5 mistakes people make when they find themselves knee-deep in a crisis.

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.
Click here to continue reading more about how to deal with the media wolves: http://tinyurl.com/b8wcy


========================================
2. Rosie's Book Signing Hot Seat
========================================

Attention, authors.

I doubt you'll be ambushed by a TV reporter at your next book signing, but it happened to Rosie O'Donnell over the weekend. If you or your topic are controversial--the stuff that radio and TV talk show hosts love--it can also happen to you.

A staff member from Bill O'Reilly's "No Spin Zone" on FOX approached Rosie with a camera crew on Saturday afternoon as she was signing copies of her book "Celebrity Detox" at a Long Island bookstore.

He invited her to appear on O'Reilly's show to discuss comments she has made about how 9-11 was an "inside job."

Rosie, who is bitter enemies with O'Reilly, kept calm and used one of the strategies that crisis counselor Jonathan Bernstein recommends (see Item #1 above). She asked the crew to turn off the camera.

They refused and were eventually escorted out of the bookstore. You can watch the video at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21535945/

Knowing the little tricks TV reporters use to encourage you to talk are very different than the tricks used by print reporters. Radio reporters have their own quirks, too. So do reporters for the wire services.

Former reporter Al Guyant explains them all on "The Dangerous Hidden Secrets of Print & Broadcast Reporters," a CD that comes with a chapter from his book in which he outlines the advantages and disadvantages of working with each type of reporter. You can download it as soon as your order has been approved.

Click here to read more about what you must know when dealing with each type of reporter: http://tinyurl.com/g54jk


=========================================
3. Spider Rings & Press Releases
=========================================

Everyone who attends one of my workshops on how to write press releases gets a black plastic spider ring to take home with them.

Wear it on your finger. Or hang it on a string so it dangles in front of you while you're at your computer writing press releases.

It's my way of reminding Publicity Hounds to write press releases for the spiders--the search engine spiders, that is.

After all, the key reason you write press releases isn't to get the great big stories we all love. (You get those by delivering a customized pitch.) Instead, we write them primarily to pull traffic to our websites.

Before you write, you must know the keywords or keyword phrases that people type into the search engines to find the kind of information that's in your release. Using those keywords in your release, over and over again, will flag the spiders and pull traffic to your site.

Writing and posting press releases online also means that even if the traditional media ignore our releases and our stories, we can still pull people into our sales funnel.

At Thursday afternoon's workshop in Gurnee, Illinois, I'll explain how to write press releases for the search engines. I'll also discuss the 6 key elements in every press release and emphasize the one element that most people overlook. Without it, it's impossible to measure the success of your press release or pull anyone to your website.

Everybody also gets a fun little tchotchke to take home with them. It's long, it's plastic, and it was the subject of a worldwide feature story on CNN. You'll also get $500 in coupons to be used at stores at Gurnee Mills Mall, where I'm speaking.

Read more about what you'll learn at Thursday's two workshops in Gurnee, Illinois at http://www.PublicityHound.com/gurnee.htm


=========================================
4. How are You Using YouTube?
=========================================

Smart Publicity Hounds are using YouTube in creative ways to self-promote, and I want to start featuring some of the more clever videos and strategies.

If yours is one of them, drop me a line at mailto:jstewart@PublicityHound.com?subject=YouTubeVideo and explain how you use it and, more importantly, what kind of feedback you've gotten. And please provide a link to the video.

If you feel like you're living in the Dark Ages because you aren't using video yet in your publicity campaign, don't despair. Tom Antion has been raking in the bucks using video for several years, and he shows you how to get very smart about video very quickly.

His two-CD set explains how to:

--Shoot simple video clips and get them up on your website all by yourself. This costs hundreds or even thousands of dollars to hire out.

--How to get broadcast quality productions on the tightest budget possible.

--How you can get someone to provide financing for the production.

--How you can get paid to air your promotional production on TV. You'll learn exactly how to do this to make yourself a celebrity.

Continue reading more about all the cool stuff you'll learn about video at http://tinyurl.com/y3b6wj


==========================================
5. Promoting a Guitarist & Songwriter
==========================================

This week, six Publicity Hounds have tips for Tamra Engle of Oakland, California. She's a guitarist and songwriter who needs ideas on how to market herself to music supervisors and film producers who can give her projects.


From Jennifer:

"Don’t forget to network through 'official' organizations like ASCAP, BMI and NARAS--they can all put you in touch with other people who can help."


From Jason Feinberg:

"I run a music industry online marketing company at http://www.otmg.net and the key is niches. Find the hundreds (or more) of websites that cater to niches you fit into. This includes music, lifestyle, social networks, and more. It isn’t always easy to make an enormous instant splash, but a lot of coverage across many niche sites can add up to something big."


From Bill Georgi:

"Work with a political campaign that will be producing its own TV commercials."


The Publicity Hound says:

Music publicity expert Bob Baker knows every trick in the book for promoting, whether you're a big band or a musician on your own. He explained them all, including some of the best websites for music publicity, on the CD or electronic transcript "Do-it-Yourself PR Tips for Songwriters, Musicians and Bands on a Budget."

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.

Click here to continue reading more about what you'll learn: http://tinyurl.com/mqsug


Read all the responses to last week's Help This Hound question at http://tinyurl.com/36zm3l


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

Publicity Hound Janice Bittner of northern Virginia writes:

"Our company, Dryer Vent Wizard, cleans, fixes and installs dryer vents in an effort to help prevent dryer fires. I've sent at least three media kits to 10+ newspapers in our area over the last year that covered fire safety. I even gave out free dryer vent check kits to provide helpful tips and warning signs to readers.

"We live in a highly populated area with several weekly newspapers, all of which have extremely expensive advertising rates and not much editorial and news space. I haven't been able to get a story printed in any of them, even after speaking to a reporter whose paper covers the area where a family recently experienced a dryer fire due to a clogged dryer vent (I even secured permission from the family to be interviewed).

"Any help from your Hounds on how to get publicity in a news environment that doesn't have room for filler-type articles would be greatly appreciated!"


The Publicity Hound says:

That's an admirable goal, Janice. But why target only traditional media? I'll bet my Hounds will suggest lots of tips on how to break through that brick wall at your local newspapers AND use social networking sites and other online tools to generate publicity. Hounds, let's hear your best ideas. You can post them to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/37t4jb


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

"Do you know the present value of your husband's policy?" the life insurance salesman asked his client.

"What do you mean?" countered the woman.

"If you should lose your husband, what would you get?" asked the salesman.

The woman thought a minute, then brightened up and said, "Probably a poodle."


P.S. Tomorrow night, Bogie and I stand before the entire class at puppy training school and the instructors will grade me (not Bogie) on how well I can get her to "sit," "stay," "come" and "down." Here's hoping for straight As. But don't count on it.


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/


----------------------------------------------------------

Where to Meet or Hear The Publicity Hound®


Nov. 8: Gurnee, Illinois

"Savvy Media Relations: How to Generate Thousands of Dollars in Free Print, Broadcast and Online Publicity," 9 a.m. to noon. "The New Rules of Press Releases: How to Write Them for Consumers, Not Only for Journalists" from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Central Time. At the Rink Side Sports & Family Entertainment Center meeting room in the Gurnee Mills Mall. Register at http://www.PublicityHound.com/gurnee.htm


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 list "89 Reasons to Send a News 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 KKPort Washington, WI 53074
U.S.A.
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737

Publicity tips/Create a 2008 Media Plan Oct. 16, 2007

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #368 Oct. 16, 2007
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 34,944

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

Need help with publicity?
See the resources list at
http://www.publicityhound.com/resources.htm


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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

*******************************************************

Attention Shoppers, Attention Shoppers:

--When my workshops are done for the day on November 8 at Gurnee Mills Mall in Gurnee, Illinois, Publicity Hounds can shop till they drop, if they have any energy left. Everyone who attends one or both sessions will receive a coupon book worth $500 at stores within the mall. Is that cool, or what?

My host, Jeanne Lundgren, a Publicity Hound extraordinaire from Rink Side Sports & Family Entertainment Center, made it all possible. Click here to continue reading about what other fun we'll be having that day:http://www.PublicityHound.com/gurnee.htm

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

1. Create a 2008 Media Plan

2. Authors Worry About the Wrong Things

3. Your Favorite Online Calendar Sites

4. My Big, Dumb Speaking Mistake

5. Promoting a Festival of Owls

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week


======================================
1. Create a 2008 Media Plan
======================================

If you were leaving home on a 1,9000-mile car trip, and you knew where you wanted to end up, I'll bet you wouldn't leave your driveway without a road map or two.

Otherwise, you'd be making dozens of wrong turns, wasting time and gasoline. At long last, you'd arrive several days later than you had planned.

So why would you even attempt a publicity campaign without a handy road map also known as a publicity plan? Why risk dead ends, backtracking and wasted effort?

This time of year, professional publicists and do-it-yourself promoters start emailing me about how to create a media plan for next year. Many of them are new to PR, and they don't know what a media plan looks like.

If you've been around PR Land for awhile, you might be just as puzzled as the newbies.

But you can't just throw a few story ideas on paper, and then start pitching. If you do, good luck getting from here to there! You'll end up sidetracked when a breaking news story throws you off-course.

And follow up? It will be non-existent. That means starting from scratch all over again.

There's an easier, more efficient, more productive way.

If you start mapping out a strategy now on how to promote your product, service, cause or issue in the traditional media, and figure out how to join the many online conversations under way at the many social media websites, you have a good chance of crushing your competitors, most of whom won't be as smart as you.

A 12-month plan with realistic, achievable action steps will point you toward your goal. It will keep you focused, while still giving you room to react to unforeseen events.

For the first time ever, and due to your many requests, Publicity Hound University will offer a series of teleseminars on "How to Create a Media Plan for 2008."

It starts October 30 and it comes with 30 days of email support. No crowded airplanes, crummy hotels, unhealthy road food, or ice-cold meeting halls. Relax and enjoy each lesson from the comfort of your home or office. You don't even have to be present at each session because I'll send you the link where you can download the audio.

Click here to continue reading about how to join us: http://www.PublicityHound.com/MediaPlan.htm


========================================
2. Authors Worry About the Wrong Things
========================================

Authors, like many other Publicity Hounds, waste too much time worrying about the wrong things when it comes to selling books online.

They spend precious time, for example, fretting about the perfect shade of lavender, the primary color at the site, so it doesn't clash with the green cover of the book that's displayed prominently.

They dream up ways to add spark to the site with gaudy flash openings in which things bounce around the screen, blink on and off, and jump from side to side. Instead, the website looks like a gaudy carnival midway.

They rely on those outdated "guest books" to capture email addresses, and those silly "counters" that tally, embarrassingly, too few visitors at their site.

Missing are a gold mine of free articles, a link to a content-rich blog, pages optimized for the search engines, and one of those obtrusive boxes that bounces down from the top of the screen as soon as a visitor arrives.

Yes, those boxes are indeed annoying. But they capture email addresses quickly, and they bypass the pop-up box filters. Still, authors think the boxes are too "over the edge" for them. Then they wonder why they sell only an armful of books from their website within one long year.

Tom Antion and Adam Witty would rather see authors worrying about other things. Like which web pages pull in the most traffic. Or which pages lose the most visitors. Or how to blog about their topic. Or how to manage their own websites without having to rely on expensive techies who take two days to fix one lousy typo.

Tom, an internationally acclaimed expert at Internet marketing, and Adam, founder and CEO of Advantage Media Group, a leading author-centric publisher, want authors everywhere to stop relying only on bookstores to sell the bulk of their books. They want you to know about their "three-pronged attack" for making books flyout the door, thanks to a website that goes ka-ching, ka-ching.

I've bribed them to be my guests during a f*ree teleseminar for authors or wanna-bes. It will be from 9 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, October 22. It's called "How Authors Make Money on the Internet...FOR REAL."

Curious? Sign up at http://publicityhound.net/authors


=========================================
3. Your Favorite Online Calendar Sites
=========================================

When you have a special event to promote, are you doing more than just pushing out your message to traditional media?

Are you pulling in traffic by posting your event to online calendar directories?

Learn about the six we're using, and then join the conversation at my blog at http://tinyurl.com/2xeogp

Let's see how many we can share with each other.

I've got more than 847 other ideas on how to plan and promote special events. You can hear them on the 6-CD package called "How to Plan & Promote Sizzling Special Events." Or read about them on the electronic transcripts. I created the package with Debra J. Schmidt, a former event planner who was never at a loss for ways to pull in the media and the crowds.

My favorite special event success story is the one about the women's golf tournament organizers who decorated all the Port-a-potties with delicate finger towels, scented candles, and pretty toilet paper. Guess what the golfers were buzzing about at the banquet that night and even the following year?

Click here to continue reading about what you'll learn, and download five of our handy checklists: http://tinyurl.com/46jzg


=========================================
4. My Big, Dumb Speaking Mistake
=========================================

During last week's teleseminar with James Malinchak, who explained how to get onto the college speaking circuit, I was kicking myself for being naive when I started my business more than 10 years ago.

When I hit the speaking circuit, I never even considered speaking at colleges because, well, they're not my market.

Then last Tuesday, I heard James rattle off a list of 20 categories of topics that are ideal for people who want to speak at colleges and universities.

Three of them fit in beautifully with my publicity expertise:

--Marketing and management. I could have done a marketing segment on the importance of publicity and public relations.

--Staff development training. I could have worked with the PR staff and even the professors and shown them how to generate publicity for a particular class, a special event, or the entire college or university.

--Entrepreneur-related. What's it like to climb to the top of the corporate ladder, and then suddenly realize it's time to jump off the ladder and have no idea what awaits below? I could have explained how I took the plunge without knowing where I was headed. And I landed with my feet on the ground and started my own business.

If you're a speaker, and you're making the same big, dumb mistake I did--writing off colleges and universities as too unworthy or too poor or too "lowly" for your important topic, please reconsider.

If you're a wanna-be speaker who isn't considering colleges either, take 60 minutes to listen to the replay of last week's teleseminar with James. He thinks every speaker has a presentation that fits neatly into one of the 20 categories. He also explains where the big pots of money (paid to speakers) are located on campus. Once you know where they are, you can target the correct administrators and staff.

It could be the most valuable 60 minutes you spend on your career this year. Click here to see if your topic is a great fit: http://www.collegespeakingsuccess.com/stewart


==========================================
5. Promoting a Festival of Owls
==========================================

This week, 10 Publicity Hounds have tips on how Karla Kinstler of Houston, Minnesota can promote the International Festival of Owls at http://www.festivalofowls.com It's held annually the first weekend in March in the tiny little town of Houston.


From Janet Huey:

"There are many organizations dealing with wildlife. A Google search will get you a bunch of places to send your info. Many rehabbers, as they are called, specialize in specific animals, so your info will be forwarded to generalists as well as owl-specific people."


From Doris Appelbaum:

"The owl is the mascot for Mensa members (Wisconsin for sure -but I think internationally). I would suggest a tie-in with Mensa International. I know they would love to place an article about your event in their monthly publication. These folks are also a great source of puns, if you want some humor."


From Donna Cook:

"We went to the Hummingbird Festival in Mississippi, and found out about it on a flyer at the Visitors Information Center rest area. They have over 800 people over their weekend. We just happen to be driving through the neighborhood.


The Publicity Hound says:

Have you created a Google Alert for "owls"? If so, Google will deliver a list of websites, online articles and news stories dealing with owls. Then you can really target like a laser!


Farm out this task to your assistant or VA. But give them far more than just that. Check out my CDs, MP3 files or electronic transcripts called "How to Help Your Boss or Client with a Publicity Campaign." By the time assistants are done reviewing these materials, they'll know more about how to do PR than many PR people. Click here to continue reading about everything they'll learn: http://www.publicityhound.com/PHU_AssistantsCourse.htm

Read the rest of the responses to this Help This Hound question at http://tinyurl.com/26rs9p


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

John Easton of Charlotte, North Carolina asks:

"My new web video portal, Broadcast Charlotte, features local small business events, and I would like some help from your Hounds who can suggest ways to generate publicity for this portal.

"Broadcast Charlotte provides on-demand video coverage of grand openings trade seminars. We want to attract not only small business owners, but anyone whose busy schedule keeps them from missing important local business news."

The Publicity Hound says: I love your site, John, and small business Hounds in Charlotte should be beating down your door! Video is hot right now, and my Hounds' tips will be even hotter.

If you have a terrific tip on how John can publicize this website, post it to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/22eyn7


=================================
7. Hound Quote of the Week
=================================

To err is human; to forgive, canine.

--Unknown


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/


---------------------------------------------------------------

Where to Meet or Hear The Publicity Hound®


Nov. 8: Gurnee, Illinois

"Savvy Media Relations: How to Generate Thousands of Dollars in Free Print, Broadcast and Online Publicity," 9 a.m. to noon. "The New Rules of Press Releases: How to Write Them for Consumers, Not Only for Journalists" from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Central Time. At the Rink Side Sports & Family Entertainment Center meeting room in the Gurnee Mills Mall. Register at http://www.PublicityHound.com/gurnee.htm


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 list "89 Reasons to Send a News 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
U.S.A.
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737

Publicity tips/The College Exam Nightmare Sept 11, 2007

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #363 Sept. 11, 2007
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.com/
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 35,411

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

Need help with publicity?
See the resources list at
http://www.publicityhound.com/resources.htm


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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

*******************************************************

"How to Help Your Boss or Client with a Publicity Campaign"

Dozens of you have asked about how to buy the audio recordings or electronic transcripts of my weeklong training program for assistants, virtual assistants and interns. The audios are available as MP3 files and CDs.

Read more about what you and your assistant will learn at http://tinyurl.com/yvwdje This series is also perfect for small-business owners who want to manage their own publicity campaigns.
*******************************************************
================================
In This Issue
================================

1. The College Exam Nightmare

2. Article Rights

3. Eliminate Publicity Grunt Work

4. Donate a Prize for Publicity

5. Promoting a Fashion Design Competition

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Quote of the Week

8. And at My Blog...


======================================
1. The College Exam Nightmare
======================================

Did you ever have the nightmare in which you're taking a final exam for a college course, and it suddenly dawns on you that you've never attended one class?

Or how about the bad dream in which all your teeth fall out?

Or the one in which you're going about your business, usually at work or in a public place, and realized you aren't wearing any clothes?

Dream expert Lauri Lowenberg of http://www.thedreamzone.com/ says those nightmares and others are good for us because they teach us a lesson about something that deserves our attention.

Lauri used her "nightmares are good for you" pitch at the National Publicity Summit in New York City three years ago, and immediately caught the attention of a booker for "The View."

On October 29, 2004, she was a guest on the Halloween episode in which Meredith Vieira and Company wore costumes and talked about spooky stuff like bad dreams.

At the publicity summit, Lauri also successfully pitched a story to the Hackensack Journal in New Jersey. A producer at ABC's "Good Morning America" read it and booked her for that show on November 29, 2004.

Her publicity campaign suddenly grew on its own, like a giant snowball rolling downhill. CNN's Anderson Cooper interviewed her twice, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, interviewed her once.

What can national publicity like that do for you?

"Right now I'm in Toronto, filming a pilot for The Discovery Health Channel, which will air in November," Lauri said last night from her hotel room. "It's my own show called 'The Dream Zone' and it will go to series in January. The National Publicity Summit was the launching pad that got me to this point. It was the best thing I've ever done for myself."

As of last night, the summit only had 14 seats left for its October 24-27 event. That's when you'll get to personally meet more than 100 producers and journalists who do stories and shows for many of America's biggest media outlets like the "Today" show, CNN, "Montel," Fox News, "O" the Oprah Magazine, Time magazine, "Fox & Friends," "48 Hours," ABC's "20/20," Alternative Medicine, USA Weekend, "Dateline NBC," Inc., Health magazine, Entrepreneur, MSNBC, Family Circle and many more top outlets.

All those media were represented at the last summit and most of them are expected back. Steve Harrison, who is hosting the summit, is also adding new producers and journalists.

Registration closes Sept. 18, a week from today. Don't miss out and then kick yourself later when you read other success stories like Lauri's in this space. Learn more about the summit at http://www.NationalPublicitySummit.com/?10011


========================================
2. Article Rights
========================================

You know you're a Publicity Hound when a newspaper, magazine or an influential website asks you to write an article on a particular topic.

Smart Hounds usually say yes. But what happens when, several months later, an even more influential publication wants to print the same article?

Some Hounds are stumped and don't know what to say. So they email me and ask, "Is that OK? Can somebody else reprint it?"

It all depends on what kind of an agreement you made the first time. Smart Hounds always maintain the copyright, unless they're receiving a freelance fee, in which case the publication usually buys first rights, some rights, or all rights.

If they buy all rights, you cannot give someone else permission to reprint the identical article because it isn't yours anymore. You can, however, rewrite it so that it's different enough from the first one, and then offer it to someone else.

I receive so many questions on the topic of articles and reprint rights that I asked intellectual property attorney Patricia Eyres to be my guest during a teleseminar called "Legal Issues You Must Know When Writing Articles for Fee or for Free."

Patricia mentioned, for example, that Publicity Hounds who automatically reprint an article written about them at their websites are violating copyright. You shouldn't reprint it without first getting permission. And if the article appeared in a major publication like the New York Times, you might be surprised that the newspaper wants several thousand dollars for reprint rights.

Avoid sticky situations like these, and others, by knowing your rights before you start writing and negotiating. The teleseminar is available as a CD or an electronic transcript that you can download and be reading as soon as your order is approved.

Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/dbc3p


=========================================
3. Eliminate Publicity Grunt Work
=========================================

If you're frustrated that you don't have time to implement all the great ideas you see here, consider hiring a virtual assistant to eliminate most of your grunt work by helping with chores like:

--Creating Google Alerts for specific keywords and keyword phrases, and then flagging you to the high-page-rank blogs that are writing about your topic, so you can post comments.

--Posting articles to article directory sites

--Proofreading your articles, press releases and website copy

--Researching media outlets that want your story ideas

--Regularly reading the blogs of journalists who you want to get in front of

--Submitting your press releases to press release distribution services

--Updating copy at your website, particularly in your online press room

--Updating your media contact lists

--Uploading videos to sites like YouTube.

--Researching podcasts that might welcome you as a guest

--Finding ways to recycle publicity

--Looking for book reviewers

--Finding content for your ezine and blog

--Ordering reprints of articles

--Doing keyword research

That just might free you up to write articles, start a blog, get onto the speaking circuit, or take a long weekend or even an extra vacation.

Sound intriguing? "How to Find a Virtual Assistant to Help with Your Publicity Campaign" explains where to look for a VA, how to hire one, and tips for smooth sailing all the way. It's a recording of a teleseminar I conducted with VAs Cindy Greenway and Diana Ennen, and 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/23lgpf


======================================
4. Donate a Prize for Publicity
======================================

There's a clever promotion under way at ProBlogger, one of the top blogging sites that's dedicated to showing bloggers how to add income streams to their blog.

The blog is celebrating its third anniversary, and Darren Rowse is asking readers to donate significant prizes--everything from cash to iPods--and generate some great publicity.

Call me nuts, but I'm donating $300 and participating for one selfish reason. His blog has a Google page rank of 6, which is very good. It was ranked the Number One blog for bloggers at http://tinyurl.com/yr7clu according to four factors, so he has a huge following.

That means that if Darren chooses my prize, then links to my blog, that one link will go a long way toward helping boost the page rank at my blog from 5 to 6. One of the things Google and the other search engines also consider in ranking websites and blogs is the number of bloggers who link to sites that link to me. The more links to ProBlogger, the better it is for me and others to whom Darren links. His contest is already generating alot of buzz online, and I want to get in on the action and in front of all those other bloggers.

If you do, too, learn more about the prizes he's looking for at http://tinyurl.com/yvzpkv Deadline is this Friday.

If you don't feel like donating, you can still get in front of influential bloggers and generate links from them, but only if you know how to play the game. That means you can't pitch bloggers the same old way you pitch traditional media. Learn the tricks of how to catch a blogger's attention and win a valuable link back to your own blog or website. "How to Pitch the Best Bloggers and Create a Publicity Explosion" is 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/m7ymr


==========================================
5. Promoting a Fashion Design Competition
==========================================

This week, Brenda Rogerson of Highland, Michigan received seven responses to her question about how to generate more contestants for the American Sewing Expos' Baby Lock Passion for Fashion design contest inspired by Project Runway. The event is Sept. 28 in New York.


From Shonika Proctor:

I just searched 'Baby Lock' and I didn’t see your event listed on the highly ranked pages found under that term. The three sites listed below all have a dedicated event, blog or announcement link which appears to be to be used as a resource or feature an event such as yours. Contact these websites with the details about your contest. Offer to share photos of some of the contest entries that can then be posted on their websites and ultimately help to sell more Baby Lock machines (be sure to get permission from the contestants first). Here are the three sites:
http://www.babylock.com/
http://www.jennys-sewing-studio.com/Babylock.asp
http://www.quiltingbee.com/products/machines/BabyLock.html


From Alice Hohl:

"See if you can find a Facebook or MySpace page for the fashion majors at your local college, and post the information there."


From Linda Merrill:

"The blogosphere is the way to go. There are hugely popular fan websites dedicated to Project Runway. Specifically http://www.bloggingprojectrunway.blogspot.com/ and http://www.bravissimoblog.blogspot.com/ They attract a wide readership of Project Runway devotees, including designers, stitchers, etc. Plus, just Google "Project Runway" blogs. There many people whose blogs include Project Runway with other shows or fashion-related items."

Read all the responses at http://tinyurl.com/2w95vv


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

Jim Labadie of North Palm Beach, Florida writes:

"Our company has launched what we feel is the best tasting snack bar on the planet. It's called Prograde Cravers, and we literally sold out of our first shipment in just nine hours after we put them up for sale!

"You can see all the video testimonials we have from our recent debut at a fitness industry seminar at our website at http://tinyurl.com/3xfojy. Our Prograde Nutrition products are only available via fitness professionals, so it only made sense to let them try them first."

"I've got numerous ideas on how to promote the bars:

--Put the video testimonials on YouTube
--Perfect Halloween candy because they are 100 percent organic and less than 200 calories
--Holiday gift guides

"I'd really love some extraordinary ideas. The bars are so nutritious and taste so amazing we want to be sure they keep selling out. We want to be sure the entire U.S. and Canada knows about them and tries one. What ideas can your Hounds offer that will help us reach that goal?


The Publicity Hound says:

Send a sample snack bar to bloggers who write about anything related to food, fitness or nutrition. But first, make sure your website has a photo of the health bar so if they write about it, they can show their readers what it looks like. I wanted to use a photo at my blog and searched and searched at your site, but came up empty. See "How to Use Photos & Graphics in Your Publicity Campaign" at http://www.publicityhound.com/publicityphotos.htm

Hounds with ideas for Jim can post them to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/37qrfg


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

Thanks to Publicity Hound Jeff Haebig of Rochester, Minnesota for this one:

A nursery school teacher was delivering a station wagon full of kids home one day when a fire truck zoomed past.

The children saw the Dalmatian sitting in the front seat of the fire truck and started to discuss the dog's duties.

"They use him to keep crowds back," said one youngster.

"No," said another, "he's just for good luck."

"I know!" said a third... "They use him to find the fire hydrant!"


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

Canadian magazines have their own blog
http://tinyurl.com/yrcop5


Company anniversary? Get onto the speaking circuit
http://tinyurl.com/yvcynq


Cockroach Hall of Fame museum still generating publicity
http://tinyurl.com/2z92tz


---------------------------------------------------------------

Where to Meet or Hear The Publicity Hound®


September 12: Germantown, Wisconsin

Menomonee Falls Rotary Club, noon, "How to Generate Thousands of Dollars in Free Print, Broadcast and Online Publicity," Lohmann's Steak House, W183 N9609 Appleton Ave. To attend, you must come as a guest of a current Rotary member.


September 18: Teleseminar

"How to Use FREE Publicity to Drive Tons of Traffic to Your Web Site," 8 p.m. Eastern Time. This is part of Michelle Nightengale's four-part teleseminar series for speakers, coaches, consultants, trainers, programmers, designers, and personal assistants on simple, effective marketing strategies to breathe life into your business and multiply your client base and profits in six months or less. Sign up at https://paydotcom.com/r/18572/JoanStewart/1612861/ where you can also listen to the unedited 65-minute round table call that previewed the entire series.

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 list "89 Reasons to Send a News 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
U.S.A.
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central)
Fax: 262-284-1737

Publicity tips/Why I'm Crying Elephant Tears, Aug 7 2007

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #358 Aug. 7, 2007
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.com/
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 33,589

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"
Receive this ezine direct to your desktop
http://www.publicityhound.com/tipsoftheweek/

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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the newsletter.

Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

*******************************************************
TELESEMINARS FOR HOUNDS:

Here are two teleseminars you'll want to know about, both on Thursday:

--Listen to Steve Harrison's "Seven Things You Absolutely Must Know to Get Publicity in Major Magazines and Newspapers" at 2 or 7 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, August 9. The 90-minute call will explain the three biggest mistakes most people make trying to get publicity in magazines and newspapers. You'll also learn how to understand the mind set of top magazine writers and editors, how a woman was so good at getting advance publicity her book hit the New York Times Best Seller List BEFORE her publication date, an incredibly simple strategy for scoring an Associated Press story about you that runs in dozens of newspapers across the United States, how to contact journalists, and how to spin a small story into a much larger feature for yourself. Steve has offered this call in the past, and I know you'll come away with some good tips." Read more about it at http://www.freepublicity.com/printpublicitycall/?10011


--"Pitching Holiday Gift Guides: Editors Show How to Get Products in Front of Millions of Shoppers," 1 PM Eastern on Thursday, Aug. 9, sponsored by Bulldog Reporter's PR University. The winter holiday shopping season is make or break time for many companies with seasonal gift-oriented products to sell. That's why so many PR pros start working this summer to finagle their products into the media's most credible holiday shopping guides and product reviews pages. Get an inside look at the secrets of scoring valuable coverage in the nation's top holiday gift guides--from the very editorial gatekeepers who decide what runs and what doesn't. They'll outline what they're looking for and when, this year's hottest items and how best to position your product for optimal placement in front of millions of holiday shoppers. Register at http://tinyurl.com/2bpyxv
********************************************************
================================
In This Issue
================================
1. Why I'm Crying Elephant Tears

2. Keep Your Message Clear

3. 6 Ways to Attract More Clients

4. Promote a Book with a Contest

5. Making a Website Ready for Visitors

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...


======================================
1. Why I'm Crying Elephant Tears
======================================

I love getting Hound success stories from readers like you.

But sometimes I cry big, fat elephant tears when I learn about missed opportunities, or how people who generated fabulous publicity didn't follow up.

Publicity Hound Sue Lowery of Chattanooga, Tennessee saw a short news item on one of her local TV stations about how the Bliss spa in Dallas, Texas pampered an elephant the day before it was making its Dallas debut at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus.

She said the news clip showed a spa worker giving the elephant a facial by slathering mashed avocado all over its face. The worker also used an oversized nail file to give the elephant a pedicure.

Curious, Sue started searching for the story online and found a shortened video clip at the Dallas Morning News website at http://tinyurl.com/2x33bj She sent me the link.

I watched it this morning, and got all excited that I had stumbled upon a great story. I Googled the Dallas Bliss, found the website, but saw that the only phone number listed was the one to call for reservations. I was hoping to reach the manager and ask her how the story originated, then congratulate her on a brilliant publicity coup.

Silly me.

I reached what sounded like an answering service, or perhaps the woman who takes reservations for the entire Bliss chain of spas. She said there was no way to reach the manager, and the only thing she could do was send her an email on my behalf.

When I asked for the manager's email address, she wouldn't give it to me. So I patiently dictated the message. She asked me to wait while she proofread it.

This, my dear Hounds, is called making somebody jump through hoops to give you publicity. Had I been a working journalist, I would have given up long before then. I patiently explained to the woman who answered the phone that I send this newsletter to more than 30,000 people, and this was a chance for the spa to get even more publicity. She didn't seem impressed.

What can Publicity Hounds learn from this lesson?

--Make sure your front-line employees understand the importance of media inquiries. Give them an emergency telephone number they can use if the media call on deadline. Better yet, include the emergency number at your website.

--When you get a fabulous media hit, include it at your website. Most local and network news people will gladly let you use the clip. I found nothing at the Dallas Bliss site--not even a mention.

--The Bliss Press Room included several press releases which I didn't have time to open. I couldn't find the name or phone number of a media contact anywhere on the site. Put contact information--including a shipping address, phone number and email address--in an easy-to-find place on your homepage.

--I got callbacks from Vollmer PR, the local firm in Dallas, which pitched the idea, and from the Bliss national PR person who told me they won't put the media contact phone number on the homepage because they get "flooded with calls." (I thought lots of calls were a good thing, not a bad thing.) Besides, she said, the national media all know how to contact them, which I find difficult to believe.

She asked if I wanted to be added to their media list. Uh, no thanks.

Tips on how to make it easy for the media to find you, plus thousands of helpful suggestions on how to make your company media-ready, then build strong relationships long after the interviews are over, are in "How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound," my most popular ebook. We've even added an entire lengthy chapter on blogging. Read more about what you'll learn at http://www.publicityhound.com/publicity/publicityhound.htm


========================================
2. Keep Your Message Clear
========================================

When you interview with the media, you always risk working with a reporter who doesn't understand your key point, or the most important thing you want to communicate.

Crisis counselor Lou Hampton of the Hampton Group in Washington, D.C. offers these six handy phrases to use during interviews:

--"The key point is..."

--"The bottom line is..."

--"The one thing people need to realize..."

--"Let me repeat that, because it's such a critical point..."

--"One trend we see..."

--"What is especially exciting/surprising/unexpected..."

The phrases are included in Lou's deck of Mem-cards, a package of 26 cards, each featuring a media tip for Hounds who interview. Use the cards as handy reference tools while you're waiting in the green room on the "Today" show. They also make great gifts for clients--even if you're on a budget. The cards are $9.97 per deck until August 31.

Read more about them at http://www.hamptongroup.com/meetthemediacards.htm


=======================================
3. 6 Ways to Attract More Clients
=======================================

Lots of people are complaining that business is flat during these slow days of summer. If you're among them, consider these six ideas for attracting more clients:

--Create a short presentation on how people can solve the most pressing problem that ties into the product or service your company sells, or the cause or issue your nonprofit addresses. Then hit the speaking circuit in your town. Dozens of service clubs are looking for luncheon and dinners speakers. This is what I did when I started my consulting business, and many people in my audiences hired me to help with their PR.

--Write articles for article directory sites like http://www.ezinearticles.com/.Make sure the author resource box links to your website. Be sure to capture email addresses at your site. I do with Hover Ad Creator, powerful HTML coding that makes the sign-up box at my website bypass spam filters. Learn more about it at http://www.marketingtips.com/hover/t/827664

--Start blogging. The search engines love timely, content-rich blogs, particularly on niche topics. The more you blog, the more traffic you'll get.

--If you sell anything that helps people generate publicity, consider joining The Publicity Hound's Resources List at http://www.publicityhound.com/resources.htm This is where I send callers when they want to know who I recommend to help them write press releases, proofread their copy, or contact the media on their behalf.

--Swallow your pride, call former clients and tell them you need more work.

--Go to the Craigslist in the city closest to where you live at http://www.craigslist.org/ and start posting tips on this f~ree community bulleting board. Then link to your website. See "How to Use Craigslist as a Global Publicity Tool" at http://tinyurl.com/geog2

If you're a PR practitioner or a publicist, you'll want to know about the 24 ideas I brainstormed with Marcia Yudkin on how to bring more clients through the door. They're on a handout that accompanies the CD and electronic transcript called "24 Ways to Attract Clients to Your PR Practice," and you can download it as soon as your order has been approved.

Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/8txj8


======================================
4. Promote a Book with a Contest
======================================

Dorothy Molstad, marketing manager for Voyageur Press in St.Paul, Minnesota, deserves a doggy treat for a clever idea she's using to promote their book "Green Bay Packers: The Complete Illustrated History." It hits bookstores next week.

Knowing I'm a Packers fan, she asked permission to send me the book. It arrived with a hand-written note that said:

"I'll bet you'll find many Packer fans read your newsletter if you print something about the book. I'll send a copy to the most distant fan who responds."

If you're a Packers fan in a distant land, email Dorothy and tell her how many miles you live from me at 3434 County KK, PortWashington, Wisconsin. Mailto:dmolstad@mbipublishing.com?subject=PackersContest

The coffee table book sells for $29.95 and includes some interesting photos from yesteryear.


If you're an author whose book has been on the market for several months and your sales have stalled, give 'em a jump-start. Publicist Lissa Warren knows how, and she explains how she boosts sales for her own clients' books on the CD or electronic transcript called "How to Revive a Dying Book Marketing Campaign." Too many authors give up after less than a year, but the most successful ones use many of the ideas she mentions.

Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/67bhu


==========================================
5. Making a Website Ready for Visitors
==========================================

This week, seven Publicity Hounds have tips for Nancy Mills, on how she can improve The Spirited Woman website at http://www.thespiritedwoman.com/ by August 11. That's the day that Six Apart, a blogging company, will feature her site as Website of the Day.


From Valerie Hayes:

"I’m concerned that the sign-up box for your newsletter may get lost on the page. Consider enlarging or repositioning it to make it more noticeable."


From Stacey Kannenberg:

"I would profile a highly spirited woman on that day!! I would run a campaign starting today to tie into six degrees of separation to see who your readers already know--people who are a few degrees away to find your amazing spirited lady to profile. Not only will this help you find other spirited women to profile, but it will empower your existing base to help you find some truly amazing people and share the path. For example, I know a producer at the 'Rachael Ray' show...so we are two away from Rachael Ray!"


From Jim Labadie:

"Videotape yourself with a crystal clear message for all those visitors to see first thing on the 11th. Who are you? How do you help them? Why should they subscribe to your newsletter? Besides just looking around, what specific action do you want them to take? Video is such a powerful way to deliver a concise message. And it shouldn’t be like your other video where they have to click multiple times to watch it. It should be like an embedded YouTube video where they click on the video and the message plays."


The Publicity Hound says: Jim's suggestion to offer video is easier than you might think. Tom Antion, my mentor, has created a helpful set of two CDs. Learn how to create high-end infomercials on a low-end budget, how speakers can create their own videos to use in their marketing campaign, and how to create screen-capture videos right on your computer and sell them as info-products. Read more about it and see the cool videos Tom created himself at http://tinyurl.com/y3b6wj


Read all the responses to this Help this Hound question at http://tinyurl.com/37nlvh


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

Carol Bloom Stevens of Rye Brook, New York writes:

"My husband, Mark Stevens, wrote a book called 'God Is a Salesman: Learn from the Master' which will be published by Hachette at the end of this year.

"We are looking for a Christian faith-based PR firm to get the word out to the churches across the country to buy this book. Grace Hill Media does this for movies like Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ." We are seeking specialists in the book publishing industry.

"We're also looking for creative ideas from other Hounds on how our own PR firm, MSCO, can promote this to consumer and business media."

The Publicity Hound says: Lots of authors and book publishers read this newsletter, Carol, and I'm sure you'll get lots of ideas. Here's my own:

Any author who wants to create a buzz for a book on just about any topic should head over to Amazon.com, a high-traffic website that offers 17 opportunities to promote your books, CDs and other products--even on your competitors' product pages. Mark can review other books and even provide a "Top 10" list of his favorite sales strategies or tips. Randy Gilbert and Don Mitchell explain all the other ways to use Amazon to promote.

They were my guests when I interviewed them on "How to Turn Amazon.com into a River of Gold." It's available as a CD or electronic transcript. You can download the handout with all 17 ideas as soon as your order has been approved. Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/7u76e


Hounds with ideas for Carol can post them to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/yvlbcq


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

Dogs are better than kids. They eat less, don't ask for money all the time, are trained, usually come when called, never drive your car, don't hang out with drug-using friends, don't smoke or drink, don't worry about whether they have the latest fashions, don't wear your clothes and don't need a gazillion dollars for college. And if they get pregnant, you can sell the pups.


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

Restaurant reviewers report on dirty restrooms
http://tinyurl.com/3d6nxp


Online games, quizzes great for website promotion
http://tinyurl.com/38gmnu


Fortune Small Business wants to know your financials
http://tinyurl.com/2agmkw


---------------------------------------------------------------

Where to Meet or Hear The Publicity Hound®


August 14: Norfolk, Virginia

9 a.m. to noon: "Savvy Media Relations: How to Get Free Print, Broadcast & Online Publicity." 1:30-4 p.m.: "The New Rules of Press Releases: How to Write Them for Consumers, Not Only for Journalists." Each session is $97. Or attend the entire day for $147, and save $47. Register at http://www.PublicityHound.com/norfolk.htm


August 15: Virginia Beach, Virginia

I'll be spending the day with Internet marketing expert Tom Antion, my mentor, in his office, learning the latest strategies for Internet marketers. It's the annual daylong training session for members who join the Internet Association of Information Marketers at the highest level. If you earn most of your revenue through Internet marketing, you can join at the Outer Circle level, then meet us at Tom's place for this day of training. This one day alone is worth 50 times more than the price of membership. Or if you're just starting out, join for $15 a month. Learn more about the association at http://tinyurl.com/54dp6


September 11: Brookfield, Wisconsin

Association for Volunteer Administration of Southeastern Wisconsin, keynote presentation on "Savvy Media Relations: How to Get Thousands of Dollars in FREE Online and Offline Publicity," 9:45 a.m., University of Phoenix Metro-Milwaukee Campus, 20075 Watertower Blvd. $30 for AVA/SEW and IAVCmembers, $40 for non-members. Deadline August 31. Learn more at http://www.ava-sew.org/content/blogcategory/5/4/or call Kay Bloesl at 414-571-1327 to register.


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 list "89 Reasons to Send a News 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
U.S.A.
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central)
Fax: 262-284-1737

Publicity tips/Oprah Magazine Ranked #1 March 6, 2007

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #336 - March 6, 2007
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.com/

http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 29,530

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

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

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you told me that you want to subscribe. If you didn't subscribe, you can unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of the newsletter.
Please forward this ezine to anyone you know who needs free publicity to establish their credibility, enhance their reputation, position themselves as employers of choice, sell more products and services, or promote a favorite cause or issue.

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

1. Oprah Magazine Ranked #1

2. 32,000 Readers and a 2-Book Deal

3. Sponsor a Contest at YouTube

4. Piggyback onto 'The Secret'

5. How to Distribute PSAs

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Quote of the Week

8. And at My Blog...

==================================
1. Oprah Magazine Ranked #1
==================================

Good news for the gazillion Publicity Hounds who want to get into O, The Oprah Magazine.

It clinched the top spot on Adweek's Hot List of magazines, published yesterday. The list honors magazines with a track record of advertising and circulation growth.

Overall, O's circulation was flat, but the fact that it's as big as it is and still managed to grow nearly 10 percent in ad pages in a very competitive category was the reason for the honor.

Oprah's magazine dethroned "People" magazine, last year's Hot List champ, which this year didn't even make it into the top 10. This year, "Real Simple" was ranked Number 2. "Us Weekly" held steady in the Number 3 spot.

More, the magazine for middle-aged women, ranked fourth.

Condé Nast dominated the middle of the order, placing Teen Vogue, Glamour, Allure and Wired in Numbers 5 through 8.

So what does all of this mean to Publicity Hounds?

Lots of ads usually translate into a bigger magazine with more room for editorial copy. And bigger magazines mean more opportunities for pitching.

Successful pitching, on the other hand, requires an intimate knowledge of the kind of editorial content the magazine wants.You also must be patient, persistent and have story ideas that are customized for a particular magazine.

Susan Harrow's ebook "Get into O, the Oprah Magazine" offers in-depth case studies of publicists who have gotten their clients into the popular publication.

One of the secrets, Susan says, is that you must be willing to wait up to two years before the editors review your pitch and say yes. If you're willing to stay the course and keep in touch with the magazine, you'll have a big advantage over most other people who give up after two or three months.

The payoff can be huge.

Denise Loren, whose company makes DVDs for dogs and was featured in O Magazine, got her products into more than 100 retail outlets after the article appeared.

Even nonprofits can reap the benefits. Genevieve Piturro, who founded the pajama project, a charity to give new PJs to poor kids, went from five chapters to 30 and growing. She got 9,000 new PJs donated and a donation of $5,000 after appearing in O.

Read more about what you'll learn in Susan's ebook at
http://snipurl.com/OprahMagazine


====================================
2. 32,000 Readers and a 2-Book Deal
====================================

How did a new blogger go from a pathetic 10 readers a day to being featured in the New York Times and clinching a two-book deal with a major publisher in just two months?

As anyone who has started blogging knows, it's not easy to attract a lot of traffic. But Greg Pincus used a system of viral marketing to create buzz for his blog, which he launched on Feb.21 last year at http://gottabook.blogspot.com/

Greg--a screenwriter, children's book author, volunteer librarian and a dad--writes poems as a hobby. His blog encouraged readers to submit poems using a series of numbers known as the Fibonacci sequence.

Readers were intrigued. They passed the idea on to their friends, who wrote and submitted their poems. Greg's blog attracted the attention of Slashdot, a heavily trafficked blog that featured him on April 7 and brought more than 32,000 people to his blog.

Shortly afterward, the New York Times published an article about Greg. That resulted in calls from publishers, including Arthur A. Levine Books at Scholastic.

"Little did I know that a two-book deal would result after only two months," Greg said.

Blogging expert Denise Wakeman says Greg started blogging the smart way: "He knew he needed traffic to his blog to really leverage the power of online marketing, and he set out to recruit readers through use of a viral gimmick."

He'll explain how he did it, and how other bloggers can replicate a viral campaign for their own businesses and blogs, during a telephone seminar tonight called "32,000 Readers and a 2-Book Deal: How to Launch and Profit from a Viral Blogging Campaign."

Denise and her partner, Patsi Krakoff, who are also known as The Blog Squad, will host the telephone call at 8 PM Eastern Time. If you can't make it, that's OK. They'll send you the CD to listen to later.

Read more about what you'll learn and register at http://snipurl.com/ViralBlogging


==================================
3. Sponsor a Contest at YouTube
==================================

If you don't like the job your ad agency is doing, turn to the folks over at YouTube to help. And turn it into a contest.

That's what the nonprofit SmartPower has done. Its national non-profit marketing campaign which promotes the use of clean renewable energy from sources such as wind, solar and water, is sponsoring a contest at YouTube.com for the most creative 30-second public service announcement.

It has contacted film students, environmentalists and others committed to a cleaner future. So far, it has collected 11 videos on its YouTube page at http://tinyurl.com/3ysymy

A panel of judges will review the ads, and the winning entry will receive $10,000 and be included in SmartPower's national TVcampaign.

Deadline is April 22, Earth Day. Learn more about the contest at http://smartpower.org/contest/

If you've found a way to get YouTubers involved in your publicity, advertising or marketing campaign, let the media know. Stories like this are perfect for top-tier media outlets as well as for smaller papers like business journals and daily newspapers and even TV stations, simply because YouTube is so hot.

But that doesn't mean the media will jump on just anything related to YouTube. You must pitch quickly and convincingly. "How to Create the Perfect 30-Second Pitch" shows you how to attract the attention of busy media people, sometimes in as few as 5 or 10 seconds. Raleigh Pinskey, a master at enticing pitches, was my guest during a teleseminar, and we recorded it. It's available as a CD or an 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/6xghx


=================================
4. Piggyback onto 'The Secret'
=================================

Thanks to Publicity Hound Jim Labadie, who coaches personal trainers, for passing along this idea on how anybody can piggyback onto all the hype surrounding "The Secret."

The best-selling hardcover book and DVD tells people how to achieve what they want from their relationships, jobs, finances and future through positive thinking, gratitude for what they have, and envisioning what they want.

"The Secret" has been featured on "Oprah," "Larry King Live," "Ellen," the "Today" show, and in top-tier newspapers and magazines like Newsweek.

Jim suggests contacting the media and letting them know how you use "The Secret," or the law of attraction, in your business.

Just yesterday, I saw a story in my local newspaper featuring several business people and educators who commented on whether they're believers (most are) or non-believers. And some of them provided concrete examples of their success.

Things to consider:

--Round up several business people in your industry or town and offer yourselves as sources for your local newspapers. Pitch the story to the news departments at local TV stations on the days when national shows like "Oprah" or "Ellen" are featuring the topic. TV news crews love to offer "the local angle" on hot topics like this one.

--Survey your members, students, parishioners, or group on whether they believe, and let the media know.

--Pitch bloggers, and offer concrete examples of how "The Secret" has helped you in your personal or business life.

The possibilities for publicity are almost endless, including the big morning TV talk shows which love topics like this. "How to Get Booked on the Morning TV Talk Shows" walks you step-by-step through the entire process of how to get in front of--and convince--the powerful people who decide what they will feature on their programs each day. Publicist Lissa Warren has gotten more than 100 of her clients onto these shows, and she says you can get on, too.

Read more about what you'll learn from the CD or electronic transcript at http://tinyurl.com/ab86x


====================================
5. How to Distribute PSAs
====================================

This week, five Publicity Hounds have tips for Carrollyn Cox of Optimist International in Virginia Beach. She wants to know about inexpensive ways to distribute public service announcements througout North America.


From Paul Furiga of WordWrite Communications:

"Carrollyn, the key word here is 'leverage.' You need to find a large, companion nonprofit that might share your mission and which is willing to partner with you in distribution. For example, AARP, the nation’s largest nonprofit membership organization, has perhaps the best nonprofit broadcast center in the world with full studio and satellite capability inWashington, D.C.

"If your PSAs have a 'hook' that ties them with the mission of another nonprofit, whether it would be AARP or a medical mission or whatever, two nonprofits would be better than one."


From Robert Smith, The PR Doctor:

"One of my clients, Drive & Grow Rich, wanted to use PSAs so we thought about driving hazards, i.e., drunk driving, kids and car seats, etc. Well, MADD uses drunk driving PSAs.

"Also, none of these angles helped promote us to business people. So we created a PSA about using your cellphone while driving and we found statistics on the number of accidents.

"And at the end we say this PSA was brought to you by Drive & Grow Rich. Now imagine hearing that 400 times a day across the country. We also targeted the cities with the worst traffic.

"All you need to make this happen is a good PSA and email addresses or fax numbers of program directors. You can go to http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/ and send emails to the media at no cost."


From Lennie Rose of Rise Public Relations LLC:

"At Rise, we don’t use a buck-shot approach. We get the names of Community Affairs directors. You can also research who to submit to by going online to TV & radio stations. Your hope is that your cause will be 'adopted' by the media who care about what you care about.

"If this is a nationwide event, I’d stick to the key cities where it can be seen and heard by the most people. Another thing to keep in mind is matching the demographic of the media audience with the cause. If the radio plays rock, it’s more apt to endorse a younger hip cause."


The really smart Publicity Hounds know of the more than two dozen other ways you can get your story onto radio or TV without paying for ads. I share them all in my most popular ebook, "How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound." Read more about what it includes at http://tinyurl.com/6uw4n

Read all the responses at http://tinyurl.com/3b744b


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

Joan Schramm of Annapolis, Maryland writes:

"I volunteer with the Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League and recently took over as the publicity coordinator for Maryland/D.C.

"I'd like some new ideas for getting the word out about our monthly Meet and Greet events where we set up at local pet stores and bring some of our dogs for people to meet and learn about Great Danes, and for our larger events, such as our annual Parade of Paws, Bull Roast, etc.

"I thought about trying to get some local news celebrity to kick it off, or do a live broadcast, or something, and I also thought about trying to get some local corporate sponsors."

"We have about 80 Danes looking for homes, and we're in desperate need of more people to foster Danes while they're looking for their forever home."


The Publicity Hound says: I just love questions about four-legged Hounds. And I know my two-legged Hounds will help. If you have a great idea for Joan, post it to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/2sr9wm


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

Thanks to Burgundy Olivier, The Spinach Lady, of Rayne, Louisiana for this one:

It's one of "Rules for Dogs and Cats" to be posted on your refrigerator door--at nose height:


Dear Dogs and Cats,

I cannot buy anything bigger than king-size bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort.

Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out, having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

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

L.A. Times to discontinue book review section
http://tinyurl.com/2khghg


Doing TV interviews? Don't overuse the reporter's name
http://tinyurl.com/248z8x


Flower magazine to debut March 15
http://tinyurl.com/2e2868


Wall Street Journal editor explains
how to get into the paper
http://tinyurl.com/yqgs7q


Writer of ghoulish Anna Nicole press release
responds to criticism
http://tinyurl.com/ytjwad

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Where to Meet or Hear The Publicity Hound®

March 8, 2007: PR University's Bulldog Reporter Teleconference

"PR Writing--Top PR Wordsmiths Analyze Proven Press Releases to Reveal Best Practices for Writing Compelling Copy That Reaches Millions," 1 p.m. Eastern. Want to improve your press releases and boost media pick-up fast? I'm part of a panel of wordsmiths that will deconstruct some of the year’s best releases and personally hand you the keys to duplicating their successes. Register at http://tinyurl.com/2cf7aq


March 17, 2007: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

"Savvy Media Relations: How to Get Free Print, Broadcast and Online Publicity." 8 a.m. to noon. Register at http://www.nsapittsburgh.com/


May 12, 2007: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Florida Speakers Association: "The New Rules of Press Releases: How to Write Them for Consumers, Not Only for Journalists." 9 a.m. to noon. "Sleeping with the Competition: How to Collaborate with Other Speakers to Create Profitable Products and Programs." 2 to 4 p.m. For more information, call 561-630-7766 or visit http://www.florida-speakers.org/


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