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

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

Circulation: 42,491

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

1. Enhance Your Pitch with Video

2. Target College Blogs

3. Blogrolls: Publicity Gold

4. Meet Journalists Face to Face

5. Promoting Home & Garden Shows

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...


========================================
1. Enhance Your Pitch with Video
========================================

Too many Publicity Hounds are obsessed with generating coverage
in the printed versions of newspapers and magazines.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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


==============================================
2. Target College Blogs
==============================================

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

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

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

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


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


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

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


========================================
3. Blogrolls: Publicity Gold
========================================

Authors, if you want more reviews for your books, pay attention
to this tip.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She also suggests:

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

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

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

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

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

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


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


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

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


==========================================
4. Meet Journalists Face to Face
==========================================

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


==========================================
5. Promoting Home & Garden Shows
==========================================

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


From Jeff Rutherford:

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

From Holly Miller:

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

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

From Catherine McVicker:

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

The Publicity Hound says:

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

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

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


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


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


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

Jill Cranford of Livermore, Colo. writes:

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

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

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

The Publicity Hound says:

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

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


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

Today is Mardi Gras Day.

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

http://tinyurl.com/d2am2b

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

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

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

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


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

Increase your web sales: 27 ways to get 'em to buy
http://tinyurl.com/bmdfo7


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


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


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

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


WHERE TO SEE AND HEAR THE PUBLICITY HOUND:

March 6-8--Atlanta, Ga.

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


March 16--Teleseminar on Internet Marketing

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


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Reprinted from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," an ezine
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=======================================================
Joan Stewart
a.k.a. The Publicity Hound®
3434 County KK
Port Washington, WI 53074
USA
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737

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


Circulation: 44,446


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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

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

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

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

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

My Holiday Gift to You:

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

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

http://tinyurl.com/Bestof2008Tips


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

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

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

1. Holiday Weather Stories

2. No More Cardboard Checks

3. The Secret to Corporate Sponsorships

4. 6 Critical Elements of Video

5. How to Promote a Fine Art Exhibit

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...

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

1. Holiday Weather Stories

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

2. No More Cardboard Checks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


The teleseminar "Fun Alternatives to Boring Ground-breakings,
Ribbon-cuttings and Check-passings" provides lots of great ideas
that will help you generate mountains of publicity instead of falling
back on the same old cliche photos. It's available as a CD or an
electronic transcript that you can download and be reading as soon
as your order has been approved.

Read more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/7cl6z


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

3. The Secret to Corporate Sponsorships

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

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

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

That's the wrong approach.

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

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

In less than 18 months, he has:

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

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

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

--Gotten fat speaking fees for 65 speaking engagements,

--Received testimonials from their CEOs.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

4. 6 Critical Elements of a Video

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

5. How to Promote a Fine Art Exhibit

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

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


From Sarah Adams:

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

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


From Robyn Davis Sekula:

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

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


From Shel Horowitz:



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


The Publicity Hound says:

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


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


Send your own Help this Hound question to:

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


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

6. Help This Hound

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

Nancy Wurtzel of Thousand Oaks, California writes:

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

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

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

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


The Publicity Hound says:

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


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

7. Hound Joke of the Week

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

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


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


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


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


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

8. And at My Blog...

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

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


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


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


WHERE TO SEE AND HEAR THE PUBLICITY HOUND:


Wednesday, Jan. 21--Teleseminar

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


PERMISSION TO REPRINT:

You may reprint any items from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the
Week" in your print or electronic newsletter. But please include the
following paragraph:

Reprinted from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," an ezine
featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity.

Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email
the handy cheat sheet "89 Reasons to Send a News Release."

If you like these tips please pass them on to your friends, clients
and colleagues.

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The Publicity
Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you told me
you want to subscribe.

PRIVACY STATEMENT:

The Publicity Hound® respects your privacy and has a strict anti-
spam policy. Read my privacy policy at
http://www.publicityhound.com/privacypolicy.htm

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

Publicity tips/Avoid Spray-and-Pray Publicity Nov 18, 2008

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #425 Nov. 18, 2008
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)

Circulation: 50,749

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

"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.

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

Let Corporate Sponsors Promote You on Their Dime

Of all the questions I receive each year from Publicity Hounds
who have a product or service to promote, one of the most
frequent is "How do I land a corporate sponsorship?"

I don't have a step-by-step guide on how to do that, but author
and speaker Brendon Buchard does, and he'll tell you about it
during a free teleseminar tomorrow.

See Item #2 below.

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

1. Avoid Spray-and-Pray Publicity

2. Let Corporate Sponsors Promote You

3. 'Buy My Stuff' Videos

4. LinkedIn Events

5. Promoting a Web Design Business

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...


========================================
1. Avoid Spray-and-Pray Publicity
========================================

If you're guilty of any of the following, you could end up with a
publicity campaign that falls on its face:

--To reach journalists that write about your area of expertise,
you rely primarily on a list of media contacts you've bought from
a company, without knowing whether the contact information is a
month old, or a year old, or whether the journalist receiving
your pitch is dead or alive.

--You use the "spray and pray" method of distributing press
releases. You spray the same one-size-fits all release to a
variety of journalists and bloggers, and then pray that one of
them bites.

--You use the same "spray and pray" approach with pitches,
spraying the same pitch to everybody without bothering to
customize it for different audiences.

--You know you're supposed to post comments at other people's
blogs. But you don't know how to make them sound like anything
other than "Visit my website. I have something to sell to you."

--You don't know about the secret weapon that can penetrate TV
and radio newsrooms and get you on the air. Instead, you keep
spraying and praying.

--You "spray" your press releases and pitches to everyone at the
same time. You're unaware that you can sometimes get onto TV the
same day you pitch but that if you want that same story in a
national magazine, you must sometimes pitch six months before the
magazine hits the newsstands.

--You rely primarily on press releases to get big publicity hits.

--You think the word "media" refers only to newspapers,
magazines, TV and radio stations.

--If you're an author, you foolishly pitch your book.

Do any of these sound familiar? If so, I'm betting you don't know
how to create a media plan, also known as a publicity plan.

A well-thought-out plan tips you off to journalists and bloggers
who are hungry for the kind of content you provide. It will help
you know, instantly, which TV stations you should be pitching
TODAY so you can get onto tomorrow's shows and which magazine you
should be pitching TODAY so you can get into the May issue.

A good plan also includes lots of ideas you can pitch during the
months when there's absolutely nothing happening at your business
or nonprofit and the idea well is dry. It includes evergreen
story ideas that will work just as well next year as they did
five years ago.

I conducted a series of eight teleseminars that explain how NOT
to make the types of mistakes I've described above and how to
create a 12-month media plan that targets your message like a
laser to the audiences that want and need to hear your message.

It's called "How to Create a Media Plan," available as CDs or
electronic transcripts, and it comes with a half-hour of
consulting which you can use now or later. Let me help you devise
a strategy that will get you maximum exposure. We can even
brainstorm story ideas that are irresistible.

Read more about how to create a 12-month media plan at
http://www.publicityhound.com/mediaplan.htm


=========================================
2. Let Corporate Sponsors Promote You
=========================================

Let's say you don't have the time or the inclination to create
the kind of media plan I've mentioned above. You'd rather have
somebody else do most of the work, but you can't afford a PR
firm.

In that case, go after a corporate sponsorship.

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

--Sony, for example, featured his company on a website with more
than 5 million visitors for free. That allowed him to quickly
build a mailing list of more than 30,000 people.

--Brendon knows the magic phrase you must use to quickly convince
nonprofits to publicize your book or product to their thousands
or millions of members.

--His corporate sponsorships have been responsible for the
publicity he has gotten on ABC World News, Oprah & Friends,
National Public Radio and 63 major radio stations. (The company
pays its PR firm or uses internal PR staff to get him media
exposure.)

--Corporate sponsors have made it possible for him to receive
$500,000 in advances for his second book.

--He has figured out how to get major companies like Wachovia,
Coke and Toyota to promote and sponsor his books, publicity, and
speaking tours.

Are you listening, speakers and authors?

If you can convince a company to pay you to travel around the
country speaking about your topic, you don't have to join the
chorus of thousands of other speakers who are all pitching
meeting planners. All you have to do is mention the company's
product or service during your presentation and let your
audiences know about the corporate sponsor arrangement.

In other words, you're using somebody else's influence, somebody
else's contacts and somebody else's money.

But Brendon says the process most people use to do what he does
is hit and miss, at best. They don't know the right people to
approach within a company or nonprofit. They don't know the five
elements they must include in their written proposal. And they
don't know about the website they can use to find potential
sponsors and promotional partners.

Curious about how he does it?

Listen to him explain during a free teleseminar tomorrow with my
friend, Steve Harrison. You can choose from two times: 2 p.m.
Eastern or 7 p.m. Eastern.

Sign up here and Steve will send you the handout and details for
tomorrow's call: http://tinyurl.com/5eosqa


========================================
3. 'Buy My Stuff' Videos
========================================

We've all seen them, and we hate them.

Mike Koenigs calls them "Buy My Stuff" videos, and they're all
over the Internet.

You click on a video thinking you'll see something funny, or
inspiring, or helpful. It turns out to be an author or a business
owner hawking a book or a widget and leading you to a sales page
where you can place the order.

"Buy My Stuff" videos have their place. But the correct place to
use them is never in front of the prospect when you're connecting
with them for the first time.

Videos can be so incredibly powerful to your publicity campaign
because Google sometimes indexes them within minutes after they
appear at a video-sharing site. So why waste your time on "buy my
stuff" videos that send prospects running from you?

Mike has a strategy he calls the 10 x 10 x 4 formula that shows
you exactly when you can use your "buy my stuff" video and what
you must do first. He explains it in a 20-minute video, and once
you see it, you'll understand why his method is so much better.
It establishes you as a credible expert and authority who
educates, informs, entertains and builds rapport with your
prospective audience so they feel a sense of connection with you
and, eventually, buy your stuff.

He'll send you the link to the video in exchange for your name
and email address. The video explains, by the way, that asking
for the prospect's name and email address is part of his
strategy.

Go to http://tinyurl.com/6ay5ab and learn how, and when, to use
"buy my stuff" videos.


=========================================
4. LinkedIn Events
=========================================

LinkedIn has a new application that's perfect for Publicity
Hounds who are speaking, attending or exhibiting at a live event.

It's called LinkedIn Events and it appears on the right side of
every LinkedIn user's homepage (log into your LinkedIn account
and scroll down on your homepage).

It lets you know about live events you might be interested in
attending. LinkedIn chooses which ones to display, based on the
information you've included in your profile. Unfortunately, it
doesn't let you submit information about your own events, and it
doesn't include events like teleseminars and webinars.

You can watch a short video that demonstrates how it works at
http://tinyurl.com/642j7t

This information is valuable in several ways:

--The application shows which other LinkedIn users within your
network are attending the event, a great heads-up if you want to
make plans beforehand to connect with any of them at the event.

--You can search for events by industry, date and location.
Speakers can use this functions to search for events that would
fit perfectly with their topic and area of expertise.

--It lets you announce to your contacts whether you are speaking,
exhibiting or attending the event.

The application is in beta, and judging from comments to the blog
post at the link above, it has several bugs. But it's one more
way to spread the word about your expertise.

Don't just create a LinkedIn profile and let it sit there
gathering dust. Make sure you know all the ways to connect with
your contacts.

Social media expert Scott Allen was my guest during two
teleseminars earlier this summer in which he created for us an
entire timeline of everything you should be doing on LinkedIn
several months before you're launching a product or sponsoring an
event. Scott says the secret is not to promote directly to your
contacts but, instead, to encourage them to let their contacts
know what you're doing. In other words, ask for their help and
they'll oblige.

He walks you step by step through the entire process of "How to
Use LinkedIn to Promote Anything--Ethically & Powerfully." 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 start using LinkedIn the right way at
http://tinyurl.com/5zvzyd


==========================================
5. Promoting a Web Design Business
==========================================

This week, 10 Publicity Hounds have tips for Nancy Cavanaugh
of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a web designer who needs quick ideas to
boost sales at her website, Cavanaugh Interactive, at
http://www.cavanaughinteractive.biz/


From Meryl K. Evans:

"Contact business and nonprofit organizations to offer to speak
to their members at no charge. Be sure the presentation adds
value. 'How to turn visitors into customers' sounds like a good
one for you." Do a good job presenting it and the members might
prefer to have you do the work for them."


From Efia Moore:

"It seems like your website is lacking a theme. Sure, everything
is neat and easy to navigate, but what is it that makes your site
stand out above the rest?

"Also, if you're an interactive design company, where is all the
Web 2.0 stuff? If I can't Digg you, add you to my RSS feeds, or
get your Twitter updates, what's the point of calling yourself
interactive?"


From Judy Vorfeld:

"The purpose of the first page above the fold is to connect with
the visitor. Instead of the two graphics in the middle column
(which are totally impersonal and not valuable enough to be near
the top of the home page), consider some text that addresses the
issues potential website owns have and show how you can make
their life a lot better."


The Publicity Hound says:

Even though you offer tips in the margins, your website cries out
for free articles. This is one of the first things visitors look
for, and it's a great way to build your expertise. If you have
difficulty writing, use the template I've provided that comes
with the CD or the electronic transcript on "How to Write How-to
Articles." You can use the same template over and over again.
Read more about what I taught during this teleseminar:
http://tinyurl.com/dnxhb


Read all the responses to this week's Help This Hound question
http://tinyurl.com/6lzg8e


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 Susan Sogaro of Trumbull, Texas writes:

I am an Italian Diorama artist, and my handmade, three-
dimensional Nativities include town scenes which have homesteads,
vendors, shops and market scenes. Our art and gift shop caters to
Italian art lovers in the U.S. and crafts range from the Dioramas
to small travertine coasters and ceramic boxes and tiles.

I can't find anyone in the Houston area doing the same work and
would really like to get the word out there about my artwork,
with very limited resources. We invested all our savings in
setting up the company. Do your Hounds have any suggestions on
how to promote the artwork and our online store? You can find us
at http://www.shsartandgift.com,
http://www.youtube.com/susansogaro and
http://www.susansogaro.blogspot.com/


The Publicity Hound says:

With the Internet, you should be thinking far beyond attracting
potential buyers only in the Houston area. Many of my Hounds do
just that, and some of them are artists. Hounds with great ideas
for Susan can post them to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/6hycv8


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

Thanks to Publicity Hound Elaine Grassbaugh of Columbus, Ohio for
this one:


Who is your REAL friend, your spouse or your dog?

If you're not sure, just try this experiment. Put your dog and
your spouse in the trunk of the car for an hour. When you
open the trunk, who is really happy to see you?


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

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

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


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

WHERE TO SEE AND HEAR THE PUBLICITY HOUND:


Wednesday, Nov. 19--Teleseminar

"Write Like a Journalist: Media Wordsmiths Share Proven
Copywriting Secrets for Earning More Ink," 1 to 2:30 p.m.,
sponsored by Bulldog Reporter. Join me and three other panelists
for our best writing tips. Register at http://tinyurl.com/5cs6p7


Thursday, Nov. 20--Teleseminar

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


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 2:45 to 4:30 p.m. You can start
registering next week.


PERMISSION TO REPRINT: You may reprint any items from "The
Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week" in your print or electronic
newsletter. But please include the following paragraph:

Reprinted from "The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week," an ezine
featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity.
Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email
the handy list "89 Reasons to Send a News Release."

If you like these tips please pass them on to your friends,
clients and colleagues.

You are receiving this because you signed up for it at The
Publicity Hound® website at http://www.publicityhound.com/ or you
told me you want to subscribe.

PRIVACY STATEMENT: The Publicity Hound® respects your privacy and
has a strict anti-spam policy. Read my privacy policy at
http://www.publicityhound.com/privacypolicy.htm


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

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

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

Circulation: 46,003

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

"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Don't Let Video Pass You By

2. Follow the Thief

3. Join the Debate: Online or Offline?

4. New NPR Program Wants Your Input

5. Promoting Trading Cards for Tweens

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Quote of the Week

8. At My Blog...


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

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

Those strategies can actually hurt you.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

"I was absolutely disgusted," he said.

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

The result?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The recording is available as a CD or an electronic transcript that you can download and be reading as soon as your order has been approved.

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


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

Which would you rather have:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's available as a CD or an electronic transcript that you can download and be reading as soon as your order has been approved.

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



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


From Carrie Eddins:

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


From Linda Lipinski:

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


From Lisa Romeo:

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

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

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


The Publicity Hound says:

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


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

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


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6. Help This Hound
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Debbie Jordan Kravitz of York, Pa. Writes:

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

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

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

The Publicity Hound says:

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

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


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7. Hound Joke of the Week
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Thanks to Publicity Hound Sophie Wajsman of Melbourne, Australia for this one:

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

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

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

Http://www.publicityhound.com/dogjokebook/


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

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Where to See or Hear The Publicity Hound

April 30: Teleseminar

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

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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