Publicity tips/Create a 2008 Media Plan Oct. 16, 2007

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #368 Oct. 16, 2007
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

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"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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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.

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Attention Shoppers, Attention Shoppers:

--When my workshops are done for the day on November 8 at Gurnee Mills Mall in Gurnee, Illinois, Publicity Hounds can shop till they drop, if they have any energy left. Everyone who attends one or both sessions will receive a coupon book worth $500 at stores within the mall. Is that cool, or what?

My host, Jeanne Lundgren, a Publicity Hound extraordinaire from Rink Side Sports & Family Entertainment Center, made it all possible. Click here to continue reading about what other fun we'll be having that day:http://www.PublicityHound.com/gurnee.htm

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In This Issue
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1. Create a 2008 Media Plan

2. Authors Worry About the Wrong Things

3. Your Favorite Online Calendar Sites

4. My Big, Dumb Speaking Mistake

5. Promoting a Festival of Owls

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week


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1. Create a 2008 Media Plan
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If you were leaving home on a 1,9000-mile car trip, and you knew where you wanted to end up, I'll bet you wouldn't leave your driveway without a road map or two.

Otherwise, you'd be making dozens of wrong turns, wasting time and gasoline. At long last, you'd arrive several days later than you had planned.

So why would you even attempt a publicity campaign without a handy road map also known as a publicity plan? Why risk dead ends, backtracking and wasted effort?

This time of year, professional publicists and do-it-yourself promoters start emailing me about how to create a media plan for next year. Many of them are new to PR, and they don't know what a media plan looks like.

If you've been around PR Land for awhile, you might be just as puzzled as the newbies.

But you can't just throw a few story ideas on paper, and then start pitching. If you do, good luck getting from here to there! You'll end up sidetracked when a breaking news story throws you off-course.

And follow up? It will be non-existent. That means starting from scratch all over again.

There's an easier, more efficient, more productive way.

If you start mapping out a strategy now on how to promote your product, service, cause or issue in the traditional media, and figure out how to join the many online conversations under way at the many social media websites, you have a good chance of crushing your competitors, most of whom won't be as smart as you.

A 12-month plan with realistic, achievable action steps will point you toward your goal. It will keep you focused, while still giving you room to react to unforeseen events.

For the first time ever, and due to your many requests, Publicity Hound University will offer a series of teleseminars on "How to Create a Media Plan for 2008."

It starts October 30 and it comes with 30 days of email support. No crowded airplanes, crummy hotels, unhealthy road food, or ice-cold meeting halls. Relax and enjoy each lesson from the comfort of your home or office. You don't even have to be present at each session because I'll send you the link where you can download the audio.

Click here to continue reading about how to join us: http://www.PublicityHound.com/MediaPlan.htm


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2. Authors Worry About the Wrong Things
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Authors, like many other Publicity Hounds, waste too much time worrying about the wrong things when it comes to selling books online.

They spend precious time, for example, fretting about the perfect shade of lavender, the primary color at the site, so it doesn't clash with the green cover of the book that's displayed prominently.

They dream up ways to add spark to the site with gaudy flash openings in which things bounce around the screen, blink on and off, and jump from side to side. Instead, the website looks like a gaudy carnival midway.

They rely on those outdated "guest books" to capture email addresses, and those silly "counters" that tally, embarrassingly, too few visitors at their site.

Missing are a gold mine of free articles, a link to a content-rich blog, pages optimized for the search engines, and one of those obtrusive boxes that bounces down from the top of the screen as soon as a visitor arrives.

Yes, those boxes are indeed annoying. But they capture email addresses quickly, and they bypass the pop-up box filters. Still, authors think the boxes are too "over the edge" for them. Then they wonder why they sell only an armful of books from their website within one long year.

Tom Antion and Adam Witty would rather see authors worrying about other things. Like which web pages pull in the most traffic. Or which pages lose the most visitors. Or how to blog about their topic. Or how to manage their own websites without having to rely on expensive techies who take two days to fix one lousy typo.

Tom, an internationally acclaimed expert at Internet marketing, and Adam, founder and CEO of Advantage Media Group, a leading author-centric publisher, want authors everywhere to stop relying only on bookstores to sell the bulk of their books. They want you to know about their "three-pronged attack" for making books flyout the door, thanks to a website that goes ka-ching, ka-ching.

I've bribed them to be my guests during a f*ree teleseminar for authors or wanna-bes. It will be from 9 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, October 22. It's called "How Authors Make Money on the Internet...FOR REAL."

Curious? Sign up at http://publicityhound.net/authors


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3. Your Favorite Online Calendar Sites
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When you have a special event to promote, are you doing more than just pushing out your message to traditional media?

Are you pulling in traffic by posting your event to online calendar directories?

Learn about the six we're using, and then join the conversation at my blog at http://tinyurl.com/2xeogp

Let's see how many we can share with each other.

I've got more than 847 other ideas on how to plan and promote special events. You can hear them on the 6-CD package called "How to Plan & Promote Sizzling Special Events." Or read about them on the electronic transcripts. I created the package with Debra J. Schmidt, a former event planner who was never at a loss for ways to pull in the media and the crowds.

My favorite special event success story is the one about the women's golf tournament organizers who decorated all the Port-a-potties with delicate finger towels, scented candles, and pretty toilet paper. Guess what the golfers were buzzing about at the banquet that night and even the following year?

Click here to continue reading about what you'll learn, and download five of our handy checklists: http://tinyurl.com/46jzg


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4. My Big, Dumb Speaking Mistake
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During last week's teleseminar with James Malinchak, who explained how to get onto the college speaking circuit, I was kicking myself for being naive when I started my business more than 10 years ago.

When I hit the speaking circuit, I never even considered speaking at colleges because, well, they're not my market.

Then last Tuesday, I heard James rattle off a list of 20 categories of topics that are ideal for people who want to speak at colleges and universities.

Three of them fit in beautifully with my publicity expertise:

--Marketing and management. I could have done a marketing segment on the importance of publicity and public relations.

--Staff development training. I could have worked with the PR staff and even the professors and shown them how to generate publicity for a particular class, a special event, or the entire college or university.

--Entrepreneur-related. What's it like to climb to the top of the corporate ladder, and then suddenly realize it's time to jump off the ladder and have no idea what awaits below? I could have explained how I took the plunge without knowing where I was headed. And I landed with my feet on the ground and started my own business.

If you're a speaker, and you're making the same big, dumb mistake I did--writing off colleges and universities as too unworthy or too poor or too "lowly" for your important topic, please reconsider.

If you're a wanna-be speaker who isn't considering colleges either, take 60 minutes to listen to the replay of last week's teleseminar with James. He thinks every speaker has a presentation that fits neatly into one of the 20 categories. He also explains where the big pots of money (paid to speakers) are located on campus. Once you know where they are, you can target the correct administrators and staff.

It could be the most valuable 60 minutes you spend on your career this year. Click here to see if your topic is a great fit: http://www.collegespeakingsuccess.com/stewart


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5. Promoting a Festival of Owls
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This week, 10 Publicity Hounds have tips on how Karla Kinstler of Houston, Minnesota can promote the International Festival of Owls at http://www.festivalofowls.com It's held annually the first weekend in March in the tiny little town of Houston.


From Janet Huey:

"There are many organizations dealing with wildlife. A Google search will get you a bunch of places to send your info. Many rehabbers, as they are called, specialize in specific animals, so your info will be forwarded to generalists as well as owl-specific people."


From Doris Appelbaum:

"The owl is the mascot for Mensa members (Wisconsin for sure -but I think internationally). I would suggest a tie-in with Mensa International. I know they would love to place an article about your event in their monthly publication. These folks are also a great source of puns, if you want some humor."


From Donna Cook:

"We went to the Hummingbird Festival in Mississippi, and found out about it on a flyer at the Visitors Information Center rest area. They have over 800 people over their weekend. We just happen to be driving through the neighborhood.


The Publicity Hound says:

Have you created a Google Alert for "owls"? If so, Google will deliver a list of websites, online articles and news stories dealing with owls. Then you can really target like a laser!


Farm out this task to your assistant or VA. But give them far more than just that. Check out my CDs, MP3 files or electronic transcripts called "How to Help Your Boss or Client with a Publicity Campaign." By the time assistants are done reviewing these materials, they'll know more about how to do PR than many PR people. Click here to continue reading about everything they'll learn: http://www.publicityhound.com/PHU_AssistantsCourse.htm

Read the rest of the responses to this Help This Hound question at http://tinyurl.com/26rs9p


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6. Help This Hound
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John Easton of Charlotte, North Carolina asks:

"My new web video portal, Broadcast Charlotte, features local small business events, and I would like some help from your Hounds who can suggest ways to generate publicity for this portal.

"Broadcast Charlotte provides on-demand video coverage of grand openings trade seminars. We want to attract not only small business owners, but anyone whose busy schedule keeps them from missing important local business news."

The Publicity Hound says: I love your site, John, and small business Hounds in Charlotte should be beating down your door! Video is hot right now, and my Hounds' tips will be even hotter.

If you have a terrific tip on how John can publicize this website, post it to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/22eyn7


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7. Hound Quote of the Week
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To err is human; to forgive, canine.

--Unknown


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


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Where to Meet or Hear The Publicity Hound®


Nov. 8: Gurnee, Illinois

"Savvy Media Relations: How to Generate Thousands of Dollars in Free Print, Broadcast and Online Publicity," 9 a.m. to noon. "The New Rules of Press Releases: How to Write Them for Consumers, Not Only for Journalists" from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Central Time. At the Rink Side Sports & Family Entertainment Center meeting room in the Gurnee Mills Mall. Register at http://www.PublicityHound.com/gurnee.htm


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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