Publicity Tips/How About a Little Good News? Mar 3, 2009

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #440
March 3, 2009
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

Circulation: 42,341

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

"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 Survey is Being Emailed Now:

During the next several days, you'll receive my Customer Profile
Survey. Complete it, and you'll get $40 off of any products or
services I sell, by March 13. Your name will also be entered in a
drawing for a Kindle 2, the new wireless reading device that
Amazon sells for $359. If the winner doesn't want the Kindle,
I'll send an Amazon gift certificate for that amount.

We're already tabulating responses, and the results are
illuminating. I'll share them with you in a few weeks once all
the surveys are tabulated.

If you've already completed yours, thank you! Your honest
feedback will help me improve this newsletter and every other
aspect of doing business with me.

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

1. How About a Little Good News?

2. It's Square Root Day

3. 3 Teleseminars to Help You

4. The Advantage of Freelancers

5. Ugly Patio Furniture

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...


====================================
1. How About a Little Good News?
====================================

You and I aren't the only ones sick of bad news.

TV news producers are sick of it too. That's what my friend, TV
producer Shawne Duperon, told me a few days ago. We were talking
about the demise of the Rocky Mountain News, one of Colorado's
two biggest daily newspapers.

"Are things as bad in the TV industry as they are at newspapers?
"I asked her.

"It's not even the same conversation," she said. "Everything is
fine. But TV people are sick of all the gloom and doom.

"What does that mean to Publicity Hounds?

Pitch good news stories:

--My local newspaper had a story on Page 1 yesterday about how a
little small-town bank, where the bosses commute to work on foot,
is doing just fine, thank you, while bigger financial
institutions are grabbing bail-outs right and left. That bank
might never have received front-page publicity in a boom economy.
But today, it's the exception to the rule.

--Has your family found creative ways to skirt high grocery
bills? Are you and the kids cooking more instead of eating out
and, in the process, learning more about each other? If so, pitch
lifestyle reporters, bloggers, and explain your own story at your
blog.

--My friend opened The Chocolate Chisel, a gourmet chocolate shop
in my town of Port Washington, Wisconsin a few weeks ago. When I
asked her if she had second thoughts about opening in this
economy, she said no. While creating her business plan with her
partner, they researched the history of chocolate and learned
that it's one product that does well during bad times. People
might not be able to afford a $300 day at the spa, but a $10
sample pack of gourmet chocolates makes the world right again. I
told her that's a terrific angle she ought to pitch.

--Moore Oil Company in Milwaukee has its own economic stimulus
plan. President Scott Haag is offering employees $2,000 if they
buy a new car, or $1,000 for a used car. "It's just a gift.
There's no there's no payback," he said. "It's tough out there,
and a little positive news today goes a long way.

"Indeed. That story made it onto the local ABC station's news last
night.What good news story can you pitch? If you're having trouble
identifying it, you can learn all their inside secrets about what
TV stations want. Shawne Duperon was my guest during a
teleseminar on "How to Get on the Local TV News Tomorrow." We
recorded it 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 how to get your story onto TV at
http://tinyurl.com/4zpuz

Learn three more ideas on how to piggyback your story idea onto
the economy by joining my "Friends of The Publicity Hound"
Facebook group at http://tinyurl.com/bawp2z

In the next day or two, I'll email the group with more ideas on
how to piggyback your story ideas onto the economy.


====================================
2. It's Square Root Day
====================================

Today is Square Root Day, a holiday celebrated on dates where the
day and the month are both the square root of the last two digits
in the current year.

For example, the last square root day was March 3, 2009 (3-3-09),
and the next square root day will be April 4, 2016 (4-4-16). The
final square root day of the century will occur on September 9,
2081 (9-9-81). Square root days fall on the same nine dates each
century.

Ron Gordon, a Redwood City, California high school teacher, first
created the day for 9-9-81. He's the official PR person and sends
press releases to media outlets around the world.

There's even a Facebook group devoted to Square Root Day at
http://tinyurl.com/d7gz39 and it has more than 2,600 members.
Many of them have written wall posts that explain how they're
celebrating.

For all you foodies, one suggested way of celebrating the holiday
is by eating square radishes, or other root vegetables cut into
shapes with square cross sections.

If you think this is silly, check out the mountains of publicity
Square Root Day has received throughout the world:
http://tinyurl.com/ak4hjs

Now quite smirking. Go over to Chase's Calendar of Events at
http://www.Chases.com and create your own holiday, or your own
day, week or month of the year by clicking on "Submit an Entry"
on the left side of the screen. You have until April 15 to submit
an entry for the 2010 printed edition.

Once you've created your day, use it as a springboard to pitch to
the media. When Dan Janal interviewed me about how to pitch, I
explained all the ways sources caught my attention with their
pitches when I worked as a newspaper editor. I shared them all in
the recording "Secrets of Perfect Pitching."

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 pitch the right way at
http://tinyurl.com/s3tyx


===================================
3. 3 Teleseminars to Help You
===================================

--"Media Star Power: How To Become a Celebrity and a Media
Darling All at the Same Time," with Tom Antion and Judy Jernudd.
Judy is a former Los Angeles talk show host who has interviewed
presidents, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Selleck, Tom Cruise, Regis
Philbin, Larry King, Barbara Walters and hundreds of other
superstars. At 9 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, March 5. This is a
paid teleseminar. Register at http://tinyurl.com/ako5x7


--"Best-seller Blueprint--How To Make Your Book An Almost Instant
Best-seller and Sell Tons of Copies Even if You're A Marketing
Novice," with Steve Harrison, Randy Gilbert and Peggy McColl. At
2 or 7 Eastern on Thursday, March 5. Register for this
complimentary call at http://tinyurl.com/ccdbb7


--"How to Create Your own Strong Economy This Year with Online
Information Marketing," with Alexandria Brown, The Ezine Queen,
on Thursday, March 5. Learn 5 ways to recession-proof your
business. Register for this complimentary call at
http://tinyurl.com/bnh627


=====================================
4. The Advantage of Freelancers
=====================================

How many freelance writers have you built relationships with this
past year?

How many freelancers are you trying to court this year?

Publicity Hound Pam Lontos of PR/PR at http://www.prpr.net says
getting to know freelancers has paid off big.

Her company pitched one if its clients, Dr. Kenneth Christian, a
psychologist and author of "Your Own Worst Enemy," to a writer at
Self Magazine a few years ago.

The writer, a freelancer, was going to interview Dr. Christian,
but the magazine decided to kill the story. The writer also wrote
for Parade magazine and decided to write the whole story for
Parade around Dr. Christian's new book. In fact, she needed more
sources so she ended up using another one of PR/PR's clients, Dr.
Pamela Brill, author of "The Winner's Way." The story skyrocketed
the ranking for both authors' books on Amazon.

Dr. Christian's new book jumped from 35,000 to 35. Dr. Brill's
book, which was available pre-sale, jumped to 300 before it was
even released."

Be helpful and give the media more story ideas and resources
than they ask for," Pam says. "You never know which small town
newspaper writer also writes for a major media outlet."

"Special Report #40:42 Publicity Tips for Authors and Small
Publishers" shows you how to target niche markets, position
yourself as an expert and pull the media and others to your
website. Only $10, and you can download it as soon as your order
has been approved. Read more about it at http://tinyurl.com/6uz9g


====================================
5. Ugly Patio Furniture
====================================

This week, four Publicity Hounds have tips for Jill Cranford of
Livermore, Colo., on how to publicize her "Ugly Patio Furniture"competition at http://tinyurl.com/auhj8e


From Tonya:

"I am a huge fan of design, especially green design and I have a
Google reader full of design blogs. I would recommend that Jill
put together a little blurb about the competition along with some
photos of her products, and submit them to different design
blogs. I have a bunch of them in a list if she'd like to email
me, but she can go to Google and type in 'design blog' and she
will find a ton of them."


From Hendry Lee:

"These competitions are all over the place within Twitter. Zappos
has done it successfully, as well as solopreneurs.

"Nothing allows you to interact with your target market more
directly than Twitter. With the power of retweets, your info
can go viral. Not to mention that it makes a good case study for
many bloggers to write about, increasing your publicity even
more."


The Publicity Hound says:

I love those ideas. Twitter expert Warren Whitlock shows you "How
to Use Twitter to Amass an Army of Followers, Customers &
Valuable Contacts--and Promote." My teleseminar series with him
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 all the ways you can use Twitter at
http://tinyurl.com/3lbcaw


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

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


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

Colleen Schmid of Heathrow, Fla. writes:

"I've recently started a new business teaching families how to
start going green in their homes. I go through their homes and,
room by room, show them what things they can be doing to save on
power and water bills as well as removing toxins. I will also
begin showing small businesses how to do the same.

"Earth Day is on April 22, and I'm trying to come up with a big
idea to get media attention for my business. It's so critical
that we all become aware of what we're are doing to harm our
environment, waste precious resources and pollute. It's also
important to show people how living green saves them money and
takes care of our Earth.

"Can your Hounds thing of some powerful ways for me to tie my
business into Earth Day for some publicity?" Her website is at
http://green-colleen.com


The Publicity Hound says:

Some media people say they're suspicious about green pitches
which seem to be everywhere. So my Hounds need to come up with
some really clever angles for you, Colleen. Hounds with tips for
Colleen can post them to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/besbzg


==================================
7. Hound Quote of the Week
==================================

The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.- Andy Rooney.


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

Hiring a VA to book speaking gigs sends a bad message
http://tinyurl.com/akmxfv


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

WHERE TO SEE AND HEAR THE PUBLICITY HOUND:

March 6-8--Atlanta, Ga.
I'll be at the Stompernet Live 7 event. If you're going, let's
meet for coffee.


March 16--Teleseminar on Internet Marketing

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


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,
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PRIVACY STATEMENT:

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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/A Publicity Miracle Dec 9, 2008

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #428 Dec. 9, 2008
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

Circulation: 50,513

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

"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.

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

Announcements:

--Publicity Hounds have chosen Patricia Reszetylo the winner of
the $50 Amazon.com gift certificate for her idea of promoting an
ebook by hosting teleseminars that tie into the topic of the
book. You can see all the ideas at http://tinyurl.com/64jkzq
Thanks to everyone who voted.


--If you're new to the publicity game, here's a must-attend
teleseminar, join Steve Harrison for a free teleseminar on
Thursday, December 11, on "Practical Ways To Get More F~ree
Publicity In Top Magazines, Newspapers And On Radio/TV Shows," at
2 or 7 p.m. Eastern. He isn't recording it so if you can't
attend, recruit someone to listen and take notes for you. The
teleseminar includes a handout that will be available on
Thursday. Sign up at http://tinyurl.com/6cfrsn

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

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

1. A Publicity Miracle

2. Be the Expert in a Niche

3. Oprah Does it Again

4. PR Tips for Nonprofits

5. How to Promote Medical Guides

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...


=====================================
1. A Publicity Miracle
=====================================

One of the best ways to generate publicity is to be willing to
discuss your business problems and ways you are trying to solve
them, even if the solutions are so bizarre that people think
you're nuts.

For years, the real estate industry has known about the practice
of burying a St. Joseph statue upside down in your yard if
you want to sell your house.

In the mid-90s, my husband and I were so desperate to sell our
four-bedroom Colonial in Pennsylvania that had been on the market
for 14 months that we, too, buried a statue. Several weeks later,
we received three offers in one day and sold the house. I wrote
about it this week in my blog at http://tinyurl.com/6rkm75

I'm not alone.

The St. Joseph practice is so widespread that an entire industry
has been built around this superstition. Do a search for "St.
Joseph statue" and you'll find Phil Cates' website at
http://tinyurl.com/5lhyrg at the top of the list.

Phil, who has been in the real estate industry for 22 years, now
works full time selling a "St. Joseph Statue Home Sale Kit" that
includes a complementary online listing of the house you're
trying to sell. His website includes more than $2.7 billion in
real estate listings--all from people who have bought his home
sale kits.

"We've polled people who have bought our statues and 50 percent
of the real estate agents don't even tell their sellers that
they're burying it," Phil says. "And 50 percent of the sellers
don't tell their real estate agents they're burying the statues."

That means two St. Joseph statues, not one, are buried in
thousands of yards throughout the world.

This year alone, Phil has racked up publicity for his company in
more than 44 media outlets, blogs and social networking sites,
including the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, the
Dallas Morning News and Consumer Reports.

If you're a real estate agent or a home-seller willing to discuss
your experiences with the St. Joseph statue, publicity is almost
yours for the asking, particularly since the housing market is so
dismal. If you're pitching this fun story to TV stations, be sure
to have your own St. Joseph statue as a prop. You can get just
the statue or the entire kit at http://tinyurl.com/5lhyrg

Real estate agents, I know dozens of other ways to generate
publicity, and I shared them all during the interview I did with
real estate coach Jim Gillespie, available as a CD.

Read more about how to stop relying exclusively on expensive
newspaper classified ads at http://tinyurl.com/56waoa


=========================================
2. Be the Expert in a Niche
=========================================

A super way to promote your expertise within a niche and generate
publicity is to write a content-rich report that walks people
through the steps of how to solve a problem.

You can give it away if you wish and offer it to journalists who
write about topics within that niche.

Or sell the report for a low price. I sell 52 special reports on
all aspects of free publicity for only $10 each at
http://tinyurl.com/6uz9g

But what if you don't have a website, a shopping cart, or email
addresses from people who have given you permission to market to
them? What if you don't want the hassle of creating a website,
processing the payments or delivering the product?

Problem solved.

Lynn Terry, who I met in Stompernet, the membership site for
Internet marketers, has figured out a way for anyone to sell
practically any product without email subscribers, without a
website and without a shopping cart--even in super-competitive
niches.

You only need two things: an email address and a PayPal account.

It's an easy seven-step process that she explains thoroughly in
her 13-page report called "Easy 7-Step Fast C*ash Strategy."
You'll also learn how to sell the product quietly before you
launch it, so you can get feedback and testimonials from happy
customers in time for the official launch.

It's perfect for:

--Consultants who want to promote their expertise within a niche.

--Authors who want to create a quick product that upsells people
to their printed book or ebook. Or create it as a spin-off
product for people who buy the book.

--Speakers who want speaking engagements in a particular
industry.

--Small-business owners who can explain a problem, and the
solution, that relates to a product or service they sell. The
report can generate leads that turn into paying customers.

--Publicists and PR agency owners who want more clients. Show how
much you know by concentrating on one aspect of PR. You can sell
the report from your blog and on the social networking sites, or
simply use Lynn's seven-step formula.

In some cases, you can create the report and start selling it in
well under a week. And if you have questions, go over to Lynne's
discussion forum where she'll be happy to help you.

The report is a steal at only $10, and she's offering it
exclusively to Publicity Hounds. Read more about it at
http://www.fastcashstrategy.com/PHprivateoffer.htm


========================================
3. Oprah Does it Again
========================================

If your Christmas list includes a Kindle, that nifty hand-held,
wireless portable reading device that has access to more than
200,000 books, sorry.

You'll have to wait until February to get one because they've
sold out. Blame Oprah Winfrey for the delay.

Amazon was confident that it had enough Kindles in stock for the
2009 holidays, but then along comes Oprah in late October,
christening the Kindle as her "favorite new gadget" on her TV
show, and then gushing about it at her blog at
http://tinyurl.com/5p9hlx

Now, the shelves are bare.

That's what happens when the most powerful woman celebrity
endorses your product. Just ask the numerous authors whose books
have catapulted to the top of the New York Times Best Seller list
after Oprah chose them for her book club.

And that's why authors, speakers, experts, nonprofits and
millions of others are hankering to get onto her show.

Did you know, however, that one of the best ways to get the
attention of Oprah's producers is to first get mentioned in O,
the Oprah Magazine? If you can get into the magazine, it's almost
as though you've already passed inspection, and her TV producers
will be more inclined to take a second look when they get your
pitch.

Or they might hand-pick you for the show, based on the story they
read in the magazine.

That's what happened to Genevieve Piturro. She's the founder of
The Pajama Program, a charity that gives new pajamas to needy
children.

Genevieve first appeared in O Magazine, and then on the TV show
two years ago. That one segment resulted in more than 32,000
pairs of pajamas being raised for charity. Producers at Oprah &
Friends XM radio booked Piturro for an interview on the radio
show--so it was a triple whammy in Oprah Land.

Sometimes it works the other way around. You can get onto the TV
show first, and then appear in the magazine. But because
competition for the TV show is so intense, it's often better to
try to get into the magazine first.

Read about the 12 topics the editors love at
http://tinyurl.com/6c6nsc

Then grab Susan Harrow's ebook "Get into O Magazine" at $100 off
the regular price, now through Dec. 18. But you must use this
coupon code: oprah

Susan explains how at http://tinyurl.com/fuxmn


=========================================
4. PR Tips for Nonprofits
=========================================

Publicity Hound Bob Crawshaw from Australia has come up with a
creative way to market his business, help his community and give
a special holiday gift to the nonprofit world:

"We deal a lot with community groups and to help them out, we're
compiling a list of practical PR tips for challenging times. We
intend to circulate this f~ree to community groups in the next
couple of weeks.

"We've started out with some ideas in our latest post. You're
invited to add to this list. And in return, we'll share the
gathered ideas with you (or groups you nominate) before
Christmas."

Publicity Hounds can contribute ideas for low-cost PR tools and
tactics at http://tinyurl.com/6y56jz


If you don't want to wait to see what will be added to his list,
Paul Hartunian has dozens of tips on how nonprofits can generate
publicity, even on a shoestring budget. He shared them during the
teleseminar on "Failproof Publicity Tips for Your Nonprofit."
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/29dba


==========================================
5. How to Promote Medical Guides
==========================================

This week, four Publicity Hounds have tips for Winthrop Morgan of
Bethesda, Maryland, on how to raise awareness of a government
agency's comparative effectiveness summary guides for clinicians.


From Karen Cook:

"I have been creating a ton of podcasts and downloadable books
and seminars, even yoga classes for this generation of web-savvy
clients. We have found that it creates a buzz passed on by email
and Twitter/Facebook type applications. After the initial cost of
digitizing it, it's free advertising. You can attach these links
to every piece of correspondence."


From Bruce Jones:

"I would say produce some quick video guides and place them on
the popular web video hosting sites with links back to the
government sites. Promote that people can download them as PDF
files. You don't even have to use a camera. You can create four
or five slide presentations in PowerPoint and save them as a
movie, add a little music or see if you can read the copy into
your computer. Make sure you use keywords in the description and
title and add a link back to your website."

"Do an email blast to as many health sites as you can, offering
free publications that they can place on their site. Everyone is
looking for content.

"Set up a website with the copy of each book on a page, plus the
PDF download. Google loves good relevant copy."


From Paulette Ensign:

"Start by giving those PDFs and MP3s to every relevant
professional association for the association to provide to its
members. This is viral marketing at its finest, and costs zip!
The associations will be delighted, too, since they are always
looking for more member benefits to provide, as inexpensively as
possible. It doesn't get more inexpensive than free.

"The same is true for every relevant publication and website, for
each of them to use as bonuses to bring more traffic. "Visit our
site and get a free..."


The Publicity Hound says:

Winthrop, you should be reaching out to bloggers who write about
medical issues. They would love to know about your resources. See
"How to Pitch the Best Bloggers & Create a Publicity Explosion"
at http://tinyurl.com/m7ymr


Read all the responses to this week’s “Help This Hound question
http://tinyurl.com/65dltt


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


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

Publicity Hound Erin Portman of Austin, Texas writes:

"I am a freelancer and have a ton of media contacts. My New
Year's resolution this year was to find a better way to track and
capture information about the media I work with. Excel
spreadsheets are getting old. Also, I should note that I use a
Mac, which may be limiting in some instances.

"I’d be interested to hear about how other Publicity Hounds keep
track of their media contacts."


The Publicity Hound says:

This is a great question because a media contact list is an
important part of any media plan. Hounds with tips for Erin can
post them to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/5vf9pq


Time's a wastin' if you haven't created your media plan for 2009.
Wait until next year and you might miss opportunities to get into
the spring issues of national magazines. My training program "How
to Create a Media Plan" comes with a half-hour of telephone
consulting. Let me critique your media kit, your online press
room or your press releases, or give you creative ideas to work
into the plan. Read more about how to create a plan that keeps
you on track, month by month:
http://www.publicityhound.com/mediaplan.htm


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

"If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs
I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons."

--James Thurber


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

Can't sell your house? Bury St. Joseph for an offer & publicity
http://tinyurl.com/6rkm75


How to persuade newspaper editorial boards
http://tinyurl.com/5keakz


How to get Google juice from your LinkedIn profile
http://tinyurl.com/5wxnz9


When radio/TV talk show guests cancel, hosts need fill-ins
http://tinyurl.com/6cfpch



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

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 Virtual Opening Day Reception from 7
to 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Dec. 4. It's a free
teleseminar leading up to the telesummit, in which all the
speakers offer a few of their best tips. Register for Thursday's
free call at http://tinyurl.com/5haqs5 or 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/How to Claim the #1 Spot on Google Sept 17, 2008

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #417 Sept. 23, 2008
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 50,820

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

"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 Twitter Teleseminar and 2 Recordings:


--If you aren't Twittering yet, you're missing out on one of the
biggest publicity tools on the planet. Join me and Warren
Whitlock, co-author of The Twitter Handbook, for two 70-minute
teleseminars on how to use Twitter to promote. They're from 3 to
4:10 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, Oct. 13, and Tuesday, Oct. 14.
You can start signing up next week.


--If you're an expert who speaks on one of 17 topics, colleges
and universities want to hire you. If you missed last Tuesday's
teleseminar with James Malinchak, the king of the college
speaking circuit, you can learn more about it and listen to the
recording in which he shares the 17 topics that are in demand.
Learn more at http://tinyurl.com/43o9cl


--Tom Antion teaches you his (and my) three-part strategy--
public speaking, Internet marketing and success principles--to
position yourself as an expert and grow your business, including
the three biggest website mistakes. Download our interview at
http://tinyurl.com/4rpwer

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

1. How to Claim the #1 Spot on Google

2. Newspapers Eliminating Zoned Editions

3. Ping: Social Networking Time-saver

4. Advice for Friday's Debaters

5. Promoting Alternative Energy Research

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...


=========================================
1. How to Claim the #1 Spot on Google
=========================================

When news breaks in the TV advertising industry, journalists
Google "TV advertising expert" and, within seconds, find Adam
Armbruster's telephone number so they can call him for an
interview.

When news breaks in the toy industry, reporters can Google "toy
expert" and find Tim Walsh, who can talk about everything from
Hula-hoops to Wii, Nintendo's home video game console.

Both men have the coveted #1 spot on Google for their area of
expertise.

"When the new Bill Gates commercials came out recently, Fox News
called me and wanted an interview because they wanted to know if
I thought the commercials were a good tactic," Adam said. The
segment lasted about eight minutes.

Reporters from the Boston Globe, E Television, the Daily Globe &
Mail in Canada and other media have found him in the experts
database at Expertclick: The Online Yearbook of Experts.

"The Yearbook of Experts really turbo-charges the PR momentum of
what I'm doing," said Adam, who has had an Expertclick
subscription for only 18 months.

It includes his profile and contact information in the database,
which journalists search frequently, and the ability to post up
to 52 press releases a year with no additional per-release
charges.

Tim, the toy expert, credits Expertclick for his media hits.

"Anytime there's a toy safety recall, or a Cabbage Patch doll
anniversary, or a new hot game, they call me after finding me on
Expertclick," Tim said.

His biggest media hit was an appearance on CNBC's "The Big Idea"
with Donny Deutsch. Donny interviewed Tim for a segment on how to
be successful after you've been rejected. Several toy companies
rejected Tim's idea for a board game called TriBond in which
players have to guess what three seemingly unrelated things have
in common. So he manufactured it himself and sold 3 million
copies.

The Washington Post called Tim for a story on Wham-O's 60th
anniversary because he's the author of "WHAM-O Super Book:
Celebrating 60 Years Inside the Fun Factory," which will be on
book shelves in a few weeks.

KGO radio in San Francisco called him for an interview on Wii,
Nintendo's electronic game "and I've gotten a ton of smaller
media hits as well."

A trade publication even asked him to write an obituary for
Richard Knerr, WHAM-O's founder, who died in January at age 82.

"Expertclick isn't like a typical ad that you hope people find
and read," Tim said.

Sept. 30 is the deadline for Publicity Hounds to save $250 on the
price of an annual subscription, which is normally $995. Mitchell
Davis of Expertclick will let early birds save $150 if they
subscribe by Sept. 30, and an additional $100 if they mention The
Publicity Hound or use this link:
http://www.ExpertClick.com/Referral/Publicity_Hound


=========================================
2. Dailies Eliminating Zoned Editions
=========================================

Local daily newspapers, faced with mounting financial pressures,
are running out of things to eliminate.

This time, it's the zoned editions for local news that are taking
a hit. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently eliminated all of
its zoned editions, which offered readers local news from the
counties where they live. The Atlanta Journal Constitution
eliminated its zoned editions in July.

Making these cuts means newspapers, forced to lay off workers to
lower their payroll, no longer have to staff outlying bureaus.

But what does it mean to Publicity Hounds who have relied on
local dailies for publicity? Here are four alternatives which you
should also consider even if your local daily still has zoned
editions:

--Think weeklies. If you view weekly newspapers as rinky-dink,
get over it, and start building relationships with local
reporters. See "Special Report #49: 17 Ways to Build Valuable
Relationships with Media People" at http://tinyurl.com/539tcf

--Think video. Newspapers are hungry for your video, even amateur
video, to use at their websites. The next time your group has an
event that the newspaper won't cover, cover it yourself, using an
inexpensive Flip Video camera, and offer the video to your local
TV stations, too. I've explained how to do this at
http://tinyurl.com/4e8j4o

--Think Craigslist. One of the reasons newspapers are dying is
because Craigslist's free classified ads have taken millions of
dollars in ad revenue from local dailies. So start posting your
news to the Craigslist nearest you. Be aware that Craigslist has
strict rules against posting the same item to more than one
category or to more than one list. See "How to Use Craigslist as
a Global Publicity Tool." Craigslist expert Nancy Mills explains
the correct strategies for using this worldwide community
bulletin board to publicize your events and other news at
http://tinyurl.com/geog2

--Remember that most dailies might welcome your news for their
online editions. So identify one editor or reporter as your key
contact, and start building the relationship.


=========================================
3. Ping: Social Networking Time-saver
=========================================

One of the biggest complaints about social networking is that it
takes too much time to post to multiple sites.

Ping to the rescue!

Go to http://www.Ping.fm and open an account. Then decide which
social networking sites you want to receive the information you
post to Ping. The sites include MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter, Jaiku, Delicious, Friendster, Plaxo and more than 20
others. (You must first create separate accounts at whichever
sites you choose.)

You can post your message using AIM, GTalk, iGoogle, Windows Live
Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, WAP, iPhone/iPod Touch, SMS or
email.

When I started using Ping, I included LinkedIn, but I'm removing
it from the list. That's because a lot of the personal
information I post on my Facebook and Twitter pages isn't
appropriate for LinkedIn, which is strictly for business
networking.

LinkedIn, by the way, is very different from many of the other
social networking sites. I've spent a lot of time the last few
weeks answering questions related to public relations, publicity
and even writing, so I can promote my expertise through my
answers.

Scott Allen, a social networking expert, explained how to use the
question feature and many other strategies to forge valuable
relationships with your LinkedIn contacts. The two teleseminars
we conducted sold out quickly.

We recorded them, and they're available as electronic transcripts
and your choice of either MP3 download links or CDs. Start
learning "How to Use LinkedIn to Promote Anything--Ethically &
Powerfully" at http://tinyurl.com/5zvzyd


=========================================
4. Advice for Friday's Debaters
=========================================

Friday's presidential debate, which promises a record TV
audience, offers a golden opportunity for experts to weigh in
with their advice beforehand, their comments during the debates,
and a critique afterward.

Here are some ideas on how to use the three presidential debates
and the vice presidential debate to promote your expertise.

--Experts in anger management can offer advice on how to not get
rattled when somebody is pressing your buttons.

--Speakers and speech coaches, share your tips on how to sound
your best when somebody asks you a question you least expect and
don't want to discuss. Every speaker has faced this problem. But
the presidential candidates must face it head-on.

--Bloggers, write about the debate this week. Tell your readers
you'd like them to weigh in with their immediate reactions during
the debate, and afterward, in the comments section at your blog.

--Twitterers, let your followers know you'll be tweeting your
immediate reactions throughout the debate and invite them to join
the conversation.

--Afterward, create a video that critiques the candidates and
comments on whatever topics tie into your expertise, like image
for image consultants and speech for speech coaches. Upload it to
dozens of video-sharing sites at the same time using Traffic
Geyser at http://tinyurl.com/3sgo6s which will save you hundreds
of hours waiting for each video to upload. Many users are getting
front-page Google listings in just a few hours when they use this
service.

--Contact your local TV stations and offer your commentary
afterward, whether you're a group of soccer moms or a staff of
political science professors.

Local TV will be looking for the local angle to this national
story, and TV producer Shawne Duperon has valuable tips on how to
convince your local stations to feature you on the news. She was
my guest during a teleseminar on "How to Get on the Local TV News
Tomorrow." Take a peek at what she discussed and get started
contacting your local stations today using Shawne's advice at
http://tinyurl.com/4zpuz


==========================================
5. Promoting Alternative Energy Research
==========================================

This week, three Publicity Hounds have tips for Mike Michaud of
Fannin County, Texas, on how he can promote a website on
alternative energy research in a non-partisan way.

From Loretta Lynn:

"Promote it on MySpace, Linked In, Facebook, the usual social
media outlets....You can use Twitter to blog about it." (See "How
to Use Facebook to Promote Your Business or Nonprofit" at
http://www.publicityhound.com/teleseminar/facebook.htm )


From Gail Sideman:

"Stock your website with facts, facts and more facts--not with
pages of copy, but quickly and concisely so that people can get
the idea quickly.

"Include case studies about why alternative sources of energy are
so necessary for the future of our country. Again, keep it
concise and highlight the benefits so the average Joe/Jane can
understand.

"To highlight the bipartisan aspect of this effort, gather
comments from people who represent both sides of the aisle about
the importance of the research and why they believe in it."


From The Publicity Hound:

Create Google Alerts at http://www.Google.com/alerts for specific
keywords, so that you know on a daily basis what is being
discussed online about this topic. The Alerts will lead you to
bloggers. Post comments at their blogs and let them know about
your campaign. See "How to Pitch the Best Bloggers & Create a
Publicity Explosion" at http://tinyurl.com/m7ymr


Read all the responses to this week's Help This Hound question
http://tinyurl.com/622sud


Send your own Help this Hound question to:
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com and put Help This Hound in the
subject line. Include your city and state.


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

Jennifer Melnick Carota of Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania writes:

"I am an expert bargain shopper and 'give-ologist' known as the
Gift Therapist. I have a ton of fun teaching folks how find
fabulous gifts on a shoestring budget.

"I recently combined all of my bargain shopping tips and gifting
advice into my first book titled 'Shop Smart, GIVE MORE' and I
have been asked to speak about it next month at a regional
Women's Expo in the Pittsburgh area.

"I have purchased table space where I will sign my books
throughout the two-day event, but wondered if your Hounds had any
creative ideas on what other types of informational products I
could develop and sell at the Expo, as well as the upcoming gift
giving season.

"The event begins October 11. Yikes!"


The Publicity Hound says:

Yikes is right, Jennifer. Luckily, information products are among
the easiest to create because you can outsource the work to a
freelancer, and sell the products electronically, which requires
no up-front costs. I just wrote an article on "Outsourcing Tips
for Hiring Freelancers" at http://tinyurl.com/3lfklp

But electronic products probably won't sell very well at the
trade show. So let's see what other ideas my Hounds might have
for creative tchotches or other items you can create quickly to
sell. Hounds, post your best ideas to my blog at
http://tinyurl.com/4zxue7


==================================
7. Hound Story of the Week
==================================

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

--Yvonne Clifford, American actress


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

Perez Hilton's 3 tips for a p~rofitable blog
http://tinyurl.com/4z2ok5


Colleges hungry for experts who speak on 17 topics
http://tinyurl.com/43o9cl


How do you promote your social networking profiles?
http://tinyurl.com/6f59nn


Tomato pie: A great way to get rid of all those tomatoes
http://tinyurl.com/5sr4vz


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/This Retirement Party Rocks Aug.14, 2007

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #359 Aug. 14, 2007
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.com/
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 34,416

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

"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. This Retirement Party Rocks

2. Freelancers: Your Secret Weapon

3. Sell What You Know

4. What Media Bias Means to You

5. Promoting 'God is a Salesman' Book

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Quote of the Week

8. And at My Blog...


======================================
1. This Retirement Party Rocks
======================================

What? Call a newspaper and ask an editor a cover a retirement party?

You've got to be kidding. Unless, of course, the party has a fun little twist that compels not only print reporters, but the TV news crews to show up.

On Monday next week, friends and associates will gather in North Texas to honor legendary TV weatherman Troy Dungan, who is retiring after 31 years as a forecaster for WFAA-TV.

My friend Jeff Crilley, a reporter for FOX News in Dallas, discussed the party in his latest newsletter, and said the theme is Troy's signature bowtie.

"We'll have a giant bowtie cake, and everyone who attends will be asked to wear a bowtie to share a little sunshine with someone who's been sharing it with us for the last three decades," Jeff wrote. "If you have a bowtie, wear it. If not, don't worry. We'll be handing out paper bowties at the door. My forecast for the luncheon is a full house."

Of course the TV cameras will be there because Troy is one of their own. But the paper bowtie idea is one you can tweak or steal the next time you have a major retirement at your company or organization and you want the media to cover it.

How about asking well-wishers to come with their homemade paper airplanes to celebrate the retirement of an executive who's an amateur pilot? Or paper flowers for someone whose hobby is gardening?

Not elaborate enough for your VIP?

Then how about hosting a progressive dinner? Include the retiree's favorite dishes at different homes, or choose multiple restaurants. You can even transport the guests from place to place on a trolley or bus, or in limos.

The point is, if you want media coverage, make the party fun and visual. Shawne Duperon, a TV producer and reporter in Michigan, says it's important to paint a visual picture of the event when you pitch.

Her advice on how to track down the Queen Bee in every TV newsroom--the person who decides which stories will be covered-- and other tips on how to make your story irresistible for the cameras, are on the CD or electronic transcript "How to Get on the TV News Tomorrow." Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/4zpuz


========================================
2. Freelancers: Your Secret Weapon
========================================

PR people spend huge amounts of time pitching the most influential writers at top-tier media outlets, and too little time finding freelancers who already have built strong relationships with those same newspapers and magazines.

Finding freelancers isn't always easy. But once you know who they are, they can be your secret weapon to publicity. Here are four reasons why pitching freelancers is critical to a PR campaign:

--The vast majority of freelancers sell stories to several media outlets. So if they interview you for one story on a certain topic, and you've helped make their job easy, they'll probably return for another interview for a different article they're selling to a different publication.

--Most freelancers already are well-known by the media outlets they write for. They don't have to put up with the gatekeepers like you do. They can deal with assignment editors and reporters directly.

--If you have a great story idea, all you have to do is pitch the freelancer, who's usually easier to talk to and much more responsive than staff members. It's now THEIR job to pitch the journalists and follow up.

--Freelancers can't pay their bills unless they're continually pitching ideas and selling stories. That means they need great sources just like you to keep the ideas flowing.

On Wednesday, some of best, brightest and PR-friendliest freelancers will explain their inside tips, techniques and practical methods for breaking into some of the biggest publications with your story ideas during a 90-minute telephone seminar sponsored by Bulldog Reporter.

The veteran contributors and the influential publications they write for are:

--Eileen Gunn, Contributor, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, Worth, Smart Money, Business 2.0, Working Mother, Self, Glamour, Parents and The New York Post.

--Helen Chang, Contributor, Time, BusinessWeek, San Francisco Chronicle.

--Dave Lieber, Columnist, Ft. Worth Star Telegram; Contributor, The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine, INSIDE magazine; Stringer, The New York Times.

--Aliza Sherman-Risdahl, Contributor, Entrepreneur, Home Business, Minority Engineer, Professional Woman, SBResources.com, SLNN.com, WomenEntrepreneur.com.

--Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell, Freelance Committee Chair, Society of Professional Journalists; Contributor, Associated Press, World, Entrepreneur, The Kansas City Star.

That's five people who write for more than two dozen publications and websites. It would take me months, maybe even years, to get the inside track on all those journalists.

Read more about the teleseminar and how you can take a major shortcut working with freelancers at http://tinyurl.com/ywghf5

=======================================
3. Sell What You Know
=======================================

When I left the newspaper business 13 years ago--burned out, disillusioned and hankering to start my own business--corporate consulting seemed the only option.

That meant I never got paid unless I found a company that needed my services. If I worked, I got paid. It was that simple.

But the work/get paid, work/get paid, work/get paid cycle became tiring and frustrating, particularly when there was no work and no pay.

It wasn't until a few years later that I stumbled upon a business model that seemed so much easier, and a heck of a lot more fun. I could sell what I knew--not by providing a service but by creating information products on how to generate publicity, then market them at my website and via this newsletter.

I learned how to create audio cassette tapes, ebooks, CDs, tips booklets, special reports, in-depth training materials, workbooks, videos and more. And the best part was that I didn't have to constantly hunt for people to buy them.

People simply found me, either by typing words and phrases into a search engine and landing at my websie, or finding an article I'd written and posted online, or hearing about about me through a friend.

The orders started coming in, many at 3 or 4 in the morning while I was sleeping, from people I didn't even know.

Work/get paid, work/get paid, work/get paid suddenly turned into work...get paid, get paid, get paid, get paid...

Today, much of my revenue comes from selling products, many of which are created through telephone seminars that people love attending. No crowded airports. No smelly hotel rooms. No lousy meals on the road--for them or for me.

If you hate your corporate job, building an information empire might be just the alternative you've been looking for. Or if you love your day job, but your brain is like an encyclopedia of knowledge on a certain topic or hobby you love, creating info products could be another revenue stream for you.

Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer have helped more people make more money in the information business than anyone else on the planet.

In 2006, Dan's Platinum Members and private clients combined sold well over $200 million dollars of books, tapes, courses, newsletters, seminars and coaching.

Dan and Bill are hosting a free 70-minute teleseminar on Thursday, August 16, on "The Easiest Way to Acquire a Million Dollars by Leveraging What You Know." You can listen either at 2 p.m. or 8 p.m. Eastern.

Register at http://www.dankennedyspecialoffer.com/getinnow/tribar


======================================
4. What Media Bias Means to You
======================================

Publicity Hound Kathi Petersen of Asheville, North Carolina points out the results of a poll that shows more than half of Americans say U.S. news organizations are politically biased, inaccurate, and don't care about the people they report on.

You can read the article at http://tinyurl.com/ypce8a

She writes: "Thought you might want to address this with fellow Publicity Hounds. Does this impact the way the public perceives our news?"

I'm not quite sure what she's asking, but the public has always been skeptical of the media, at least as long as I've been around, and it seems to be getting worse.

Does that mean Publicity Hounds are spending less time trying to get stories placed in the traditional media? Not really. But the smart ones are including influential bloggers, podcasters, ezine editors and non-traditional media among those who they contact with story ideas.

Smart Hounds also know how to deal with biased reporters, or those with a grudge or an agenda. They go into every interview with a level playing field and know how to answer angry, difficult, hostile questions.

Crisis counselor Jonathan Bernstein explains "How to Keep the Media Wolves at Bay" on a CD or electronic transcript that you can download as soon as your order has been approved.

Read more about how to deal with the media wolves at http://tinyurl.com/b8wcy


==========================================
5. Promoting 'God is a Salesman'
==========================================

This week, three Publicity Hounds have tips for Carol Bloom Stevens on how to promote her husband Mark's book "God is a Salesman: Learn from the Master."


From Janet Huey:

"Many hosts of conservative talk shows are religious, and while they are inundated with books, it can't hurt to promote to them. Here's an example: Dan Patrick of KSEV here in Houston is a main host and owner of the station. In addition, he is a state senator and has written a Christian book and plugged Mel Gibson's movie quite a bit. In a market this big, an on-air interview with another author about how the book came to be could be a big hit."


From Cheryl Pickett:

"I'd recommend a page on Shoutlife which is a Christian version of MySpace, as well as offering articles or excerpts to the many Christian newsletters and blogs that are out there."


From The Publicity Hound:

"Pitch influential bloggers who write about religion, and those who write about sales. Start your research by going to Technorati.com and doing a search for 'sales blogs' or 'religion blogs.' When you find one, offer to send the blogger a book."

See "How to Pitch the Best Bloggers & Create a Publicity Explosion" at http://tinyurl.com/m7ymr

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


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

Karma Bennett of Ulysses Press writes:

"The publishing house where I work was founded with our travel series, the Hidden Guides. The first book, Hidden Hawaii, was, at the time, the only book on Hawaii that actually reviewed and compared the various beaches of the islands.

"Now we are giving the books a whole new look which emphasizes the hidden aspect of the series: the places that locals love, rather than the same tired tourist traps. The trick is that book reviewers don't like to review new editions, so I am looking for a good side-door angle. The original author will not be able to fly to Hawaii for the new edition as we are a small company and the airfare would be expensive.

"I would love to hear what your fellow Hounds can come up with to kick off this series with a bang."


The Publicity Hound says:

Interesting reviewers in your book the second time around is indeed difficult. But there are so many more ways to generate publicity for this series. Hounds can post their best ideas to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/2l97no


=================================
7. Hound Quote of the Week
=================================

"You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, 'My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!' " -- Dave Barry


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

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

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


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

Website traffic eluding you? Free White Paper has tips
http://tinyurl.com/2x7pco


Airlines magazine to feature best Road Warrior on cover
http://tinyurl.com/3aqc2y


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

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 IAVC members, $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/Aging parents & you June 26, 2007

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #352 June 26, 2007
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.com/
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 30,839

=====================================
"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 ThePublicity 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.

**********************************************
Need Help with Landing Pages?

Many of the landing pages at my website--pages where I am asking for someone's email address or where I'm trying to sell something--are missing two critical components.

That's what I learned after hosting the June 14 webinar called "Six Simple Steps for Landing Pages" with Internet marketing expert Mark Widawer. The webinar ran far past the one hour we had set aside, but stick with it to the end, particularly if pages at your website aren't converting visitors into customers:

http://www.PublicityHoundTemplate.com/replay
**********************************************
================================
In This Issue
================================

1. Aging Parents & You

2. How Not to do Media Relations

3. Extreme Makeovers

4. Amnesty Debate Heats Up

5. How to Raise Money for an Artist

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Quote of the Week

======================================
1. Aging Parents & You
======================================

USA Today and ABC News are devoting this week to exploring the challenges of caring for elderly parents.

The newspaper kicked off the series yesterday with seven articles devoted to the topic. You can read more about the series at http://tinyurl.com/2yuhea Last night, ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson" aired a story on nursing home alternatives.

Are you Hounds thinking what I'm thinking?

How about piggybacking onto this series and pitching your own stories related to coping with elderly parents? Since many broadcasters "rip and read" stories from papers like USA Today, they will be well aware of the series. So will newspapers in the Gannett chain, the parent company of USA Today. The bloggers are probably also discussing this series.

Here are ideas to get you started, based on the stories that will be appearing in USA Today this week:

--Today, the newspaper features articles on how to balance work demands with caregiving, and tips on negotiating with employers for time off. How is your company helping employees with elderly parents? Do you offer related perks that are part of a recruitment and retention strategy?

--Tomorrow, the newspaper will report on navigating sibling relationships when giving care, the rise of multigenerational households, and how to avoid scams targeting your parents. The scam angle, in particular, is worth piggybacking onto. If you know of scams in your particular state, pitch the idea.

--On Thursday, USA Today will focus on the risks of long-term-care insurance, how and whether to get a long-term-care policy, and what to do when a parent has Alzheimer's or dementia. Financial planners, insurance companies and experts in the medical community can offer background and commentary on these topics.

--Friday's installment will feature articles on planning ahead for retirement and elder care, and how to spend down assets to pay for care. Financial planners, retirement experts, authors, speakers and others who can address these issues can pitch story ideas.

--If you like the series, don't like it, or have your own two cents to add, write a letter to the editor of USA Today. I'm guessing they will be devoting a lot of space on their editorial pages to readers' reactions to this series.

When pitching media in your own community, it's OK to mention the USA Today series, and offer your own experiences as "the local angle."

If the topic of aging parents doesn't fit into your area of expertise, there are lots of other ways to generate publicity by being the local angle. "Special Report #35: How to be the Local Angle to National Stories" gives you many ideas on how to find opportunities for piggybacking off regional, national and international stories. Only $10. Order at http://tinyurl.com/6uz9g


========================================
2. How Not to do Media Relations
========================================

Freelance writer Patricia Luebke of New York, New York shares this example of media relations gone bad:

"I'm writing an article on sun protection for a recreational dive magazine.

"A friend had told me that Rit (the dye people) have a product that you put in the washing machine and it adds sun protection to your clothes. It turns out it's approved by the Skin Cancer Foundation so it works, and I wanted to include it in the article.

"I found the SunGuard (the name of the product) website, and you could only submit a question via a form, and I added MEDIA REQUEST in all caps."

About 10 minutes later, Patricia received this reply, undoubtedly sent via an autoresponder:

"Dear Patricia,

"All media requests are handled by our corporate office. Phoenix Brands, 300 Atlantic Ave, 11th Fl, Stanford, CT 06901.

"I hope this information is helpful.

"Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of further assistance.

"Joan - RIT Customer Service"

Patricia then told me:

"Gee, maybe I can dust off a typewriter, type them a letter, walk to the mailbox and wait a few days for it to be delivered, and then wait for them to write me back. I am thinking that their 'customer service handbook' needs updating as I imagine she looked under the Ms for 'Media Requests' and found this answer.

"And no, it wasn't helpful."


The Publicity Hound says: Amen.

RIT has probably alienated so many media people that there's little I can do to help them. As for the rest of you who truly care about media relations, check out "Special Report #49:17 Ways to Build Valuable Relationships with Media People" so they keep coming back to you again and again for background, commentary, story ideas and interviews. Only $10. Order at http://tinyurl.com/6uz9g

=======================================
3. Extreme Makeovers
=======================================

Thanks to Publicity Hound Paul Holley of Racine, Wisconsin for alerting me to an article in the Racine Journal Times.

It's about a group of local small businesses and medical personnel that donated or discounted their services for three months to improve the image of one lucky person chosen through an application process.

The theme of this year’s Dream Team Makeover was "The Bridal Edition." You can read about the bridal makeover at http://tinyurl.com/2gxc39

What a great publicity idea for small businesses and medical practices in any community! And the story is custom-made not only for newspapers but TV.

If your small business isn't getting the publicity you think you deserve, it isn't because the business is small. It's probably because you can't think of enticing story angles, or you're unaware of how much the media really love stories about small business.

Jeff Zbar, who was named a Journalist of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration, gives you the inside scoop on the kinds of small-business stories that get instant headlines and coverage by TV and radio. He was my guest during a teleseminar called "The Fastest, Cheapest, Easiest Ways to Publicize Your Small Business." The CD and electronic transcript each include Jeff's "shotgun list" of marketing ideas.

Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/3tbbp


======================================
4. Amnesty Debate Heats Up
======================================

The U.S. Senate voted today to revive a stalled immigration overhaul that would offer a path to citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants.

The Senate voted 64-35 to resume debate on the bill, which ties tough border security and workplace enforcement measures to a plan to legalize an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants and create a temporary worker program sought by business groups.

The measure still must overcome another make-or-break vote as early as Thursday that will also require the backing of 60 senators. And there is no guarantee that it will ultimately attract even the simple majority it needs to pass.

I can't think of any other recent issue that has had such opposition from both sides of the aisle.

Many voters--Democrats, Republicans and even folks in the middle--are furious. Supporters, however, including President Bush, say this bill is the last chance for immigration reform.

It's an opportune time for businesses, unions, Hispanic groups, party activists, and anybody who feels strongly about the bill's failure or passage to contact media outlets and bloggers and state their views.

Because this issue is generating so much heat, it's perfect for TV talk shows. If you want to get in the limelight, check out "How to be a TV Talk Show Host's Dream Date," available as a CD or electronic transcript. TV personality Connie Dieken explains the 6 traits that hosts are looking for and the Number 1 most important thing you must do to get invited back.

Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/3z7ut


=======================================
5. How to Raise Money for an Artist
========================================

This week, 15 Publicity Hounds have ideas for artist Jennie Rosenbaum of Melbourne, Australia who is trying to raise money to cover expenses for a trip she will be taking to Canada, where a gallery will feature her paintings.


From Tom Reitz:

"Talk to both the Australian and Canadian embassies. Many countries have funding opportunities so they can share their culture around the world."


From Alyson B. Stanfield:

"Consider doing what Karen Bubb of Boise, Idaho did when she wanted to go to China. She sold shares in her trip! For each $32 share, the shareholder received a hand-pulled stock certificate (doubled as a thank-you note), a handmade postcard sent to them from China, and a 6×6 encaustic painting. For $32! And, she got an awesome newspaper article, a magazine article or two (one by me), and sold far more shares than she needed for her trip."


From Stacey Apeitos:

"I also live in Melbourne and am originally from America. I travel to the States regularly and always undertake work there, so I can claim at least part of the trip on taxes. (Maybe this is an option for your husband, too?) This coming visit, I’ve lined up speaking engagements with a couple of arts councils. In the past, I’ve taken or taught classes. Aussies love fundraising trivia nights, which can be very profitable. You could run an auction on the night, too. Finally, I have to say I love Alyson Stanfield’s idea! Very cool."


Artists who want unusual ideas for marketing should check out the recording of a one-hour teleseminar I did with art marketing expert Ariane Goodwin. It's called "How Artists Can Sell More Artwork through Online and Offline Publicity." It's available as a CD and an electronic transcript.

Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/yvewm8

Read all the responses to this Help This Hound question at http://tinyurl.com/2es72l

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6. Help This Hound
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Nellie Lamers of Reeds Spring, Missouri writes:

"The Tri-Lakes TCRC is one of 10 Telecenter Network sites in Missouri. Our greatest benefit is in bringing education and technology to rural areas that otherwise would not have access to it. We need help getting folks to sign up for classes/events and telling people about the other things we offer:

--ITV (interactive video teleconferencing) services

--Degree programs/classes from other colleges/universities across the state that give people in our rural area the chance to take those classes without traveling the great distances to the campuses

--Continuing education programs for law enforcement officers, emergency medical providers, etc.

--Training events given by University of Missouri Extension specialists as well as other providers

--Free public access computers

--Computer classes on topics like Microsoft Office and eBay tutoring sessions

"We also rent the facilities to people in the community who need a place to do presentations. Our website is at http://telecenter.missouri.edu/reedsspring/ Can your Hounds offer some ideas that will help us spread the word?"

The Publicity Hound says:

Many of my Hounds are tied in some way to audio/visual presentations, and many of them are professional speakers who I'm sure have lots of ideas on how to promote what sounds like a terrific facility. If you have tips for Nellie, you can post themat my blog at http://tinyurl.com/2875c8


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7. Hound Quote of the Week
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Thanks to Lois Carter Fay of MarketingIdeaShop.com for this one:

"The problem with all those drug ads on TV is I always think I have the disease. Yesterday, I was convinced I had heartworm."


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

BONUS: Buy the ebook and you also get a compilation of the 50 best websites for dog humor.
http://www.publicityhound.com/dogjokebook/

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Where to Meet or Hear The Publicity Hound®


June 27: Teleseminar

"Promote Your Music: Tips, Tricks & Secrets of the Pros," 3 to 4 PM Eastern Time. Join me and media consultant Scott G., owner of G-Man Music & Marketing and a recording artist, who successfully markets his music around the globe and creates media campaigns for artists, organizations and corporations, from the American Cancer Society to Zenith. Tess Taylor, president of the National Association of Record Industry Professionals, will moderate this teleseminar. $39.95 for non-members. Register at http://tinyurl.com/37drvy


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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 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.

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