Publicity tips/The Power of Perfect Pitching Feb 5, 2008

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #384 Feb. 5, 2008
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.com/
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound®

Circulation: 40,398


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"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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Spank the Hound on Super Tuesday:

While we're rooting for our favorite candidates to win tonight, I'll be blowing out 56 candles on the cake, then filling orders that will come pouring in from this year's birthday special.

Buy at least $100 worth of products, within the next 48 hours, and I'll knock off $56at the check-out counter. If you've been eyeing CDs, transcripts, special reports or my ebooks, take another look, and order before you forget.

This is a great time to buy the in-depth training programs "How to Create a Media Plan" and "How to Help Your Boss or Client with a Publicity Campaign" (for people new to PR and publicity). Both of these are on the CDs/Transcripts page, under the "In-depth training" category near the top.

You must first use this link which will take you to my website where you can order. The $56 coupon will be applied at the check-out counter: http://tinyurl.com/yoc9sy

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In This Issue
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1. The Power of Perfect Pitching

2. EzineArticles.com Rejects Articles

3. How Are You Dealing with the Economy?

4. A PR Crisis for PRWeek

5. Tips for Pre- and Post-natal Fitness Expert

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Blog...


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1. The Power of Perfect Pitching
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When Publicity Hound Julie Lanuille called last week to thank me for the huge publicity hit she scored on Page 1 of Thursday's Wall Street Journal, and then explained how she got it, I pumped my fist into the air and screamed "Way to go!" in her ear.

First, the background:

Julie's mother, Suzanne Davenport, suffers from Parkinson's disease. In 2004, she entered a clinical trial through the University of California. Doctors surgically implanted an experimental drug into her brain, with the intent of improving her motor skills.

After the trial, her health went from bad to worse. She could no longer walk or sit upright. She needed a diaper. Her mouth hung open. Within eight months, she required constant monitoring. Her family eventually put her into a nursing home.

At issue was the UCLA consent form she signed before the surgery. It states that if patients are injured as a direct result of research procedures, they will be treated at no cost, but that they cannot collect additional compensation.

Last year, Julie and other family members decided to sue Titan and Berlex, the two pharmaceutical companies involved in the trials, and the UCLA Board of Regents. The legal process hit a brick wall.

That's when Julie decided to go to the media and pitch the story to the Wall Street Journal. She bought "Special Report#7: How to Write the Perfect Pitch Letter that Convinces an Editor to Write About You," and followed the step-by-step directions. She did her homework, learned that reporter Sarah Rubenstein covered health issues, wrote a succinct pitch, and piggybacked onto the controversy surrounding drug trials.

The result? Thursday's front-page article which totaled 58 column inches. You can read it at http://tinyurl.com/2twzk6.

After the reporter contacted the university and the drug companies for comment, the legal process moved forward and both sides are on the brink of resolving it.

Julie's success story touched my heart because my own mom was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease at age 39 and died from it at age 74.

Her call was an early birthday gift of sorts--one of the best I've ever received.


Why not try to score a big media hit like Julie did to promote a cause or issue close to your own heart? Read more about how to do it in "Special Report #7: How to Write the Perfect Pitch Letter That Convinces an Editor to Write About You" at http://tinyurl.com/6uz9g


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2. EzineArticles.com Rejects Articles
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EzinerArticles.com, the granddaddy of the article directory sites, is cracking down on keyword abuse and rejecting thousands of articles by writers, many of whom are trying to beat the system.

Within the last month, the site rejected a whopping 2,416 articles.

Writers abuse keywords when they repeat them over and over again in the same article, hoping to trick the search engines and earn a high ranking.

Christopher Knight of EzineArticles.com gave this example of a paragraph that's stuffed with the keyword phrase "massage table."

"If you want to be a massage therapist, you'll have to buy a massage table. Massage tables come in many sizes, from big massage tables that are not portable to small massage tables that fold up for portability."

If keywords don't appear naturally in copy, they look, well, unnatural. And Google and the other search engines are smarter than we give them credit for. They spot that repetition within a split second and actually penalize the writer with a low ranking.

"I can't tell you specifically what our internal criteria is for when we'll reject an article for keyword and key phrase repetition vs. abuse because we need to be deliberately vague to prevent gaming of the system," he says.

Read his entire blog post, and the three tips he shares so you don't abuse keywords, at http://tinyurl.com/26jc5v

Then start writing articles and submitting them to his site.It's a fabulous way to flaunt your expertise and earn inbound links to your website or blog.

If you hate writing or you can't write, I've solved the problem for you. I've written a handy template for a how-to article.You can download it immediately when you buy the CD or electronic transcript called "How to Write How-to Articles."

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


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3. How Are You Dealing with the Economy?
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Stories about how people are coping with the uncertain economy are starting to pop up everywhere. Within the last several weeks, I've seen stories on:

--What restaurants are doing to offset the higher cost of food (perfect for food pages).

--How companies are dealing with skyrocketing premiums for employee health insurance (great for business journals--See "How to Use Business Journals to Tell Your Story" at http://tinyurl.com/q4rf7).

--Tips on how nonprofits can launch fund-raising campaigns when the economy is bad and still reach their goal (great for bloggers who write for nonprofits).

--Advice from mental health experts on how to cope with depression brought on by economic problems like bankruptcy and foreclosures.


If you're an expert who can pass along tips on how to cope, or your company or nonprofit has adopted a strategy that you hope will pull you through bad economic times, pitch away!

Write about it on your blog. Submit articles to article directory sites. Post your tips in the comments section at blogs that your target audience reads. Share your tips on social media sites like Squidoo. (More about Squidoo next week.)

Another great media outlet is National Public Radio. To find out which NPR program might be eager to book you as a guest, use the search box at the NPR website at http://www.npr.org/.
Listen to the program in the archives, and then pitch your idea. Learn how to navigate the NPR labyrinth and use pitching tips galore on the CD or electronic transcript "How to Get Booked on National Public Radio" at http://tinyurl.com/ayms6


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4. A PR Crisis for PRWeek
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On Friday, I blogged about a fascinating crisis involving PRWeek, a newspaper for the PR industry, and its email company, Adicio.com.

Thousands of subscribers to PRWeek found themselves the victims of an accidental s*pam attack that, in some cases, rendered the software programs on their computers ineffective. Online marketing expert BL Ochman, one of the victims, chronicled the ugly mess at Twitter.com, and at her own blog, then commented later on my post.

I'm calling your attention to it here because I'm challenging Publicity Hounds to explain how they would have dealt with it.You can read more about it my blog at http://tinyurl.com/2pcf7e

Crisis counselor Jonathan Bernstein says companies need to know how to handle ugly crises like this one BEFORE they happen. He explains what to say and when to say it after a disaster like this one. The CD "How to Keep the Media Wolves at Bay" is also available as an electronic transcript that you can read as soon as your order has been approved.

Continue reading more about what you'll learn at http://tinyurl.com/b8wcy.


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5. Tips for a Pre- and Post-natal Fitness Expert ==================================================

This week, five Publicity Hounds have tips on how Sara Holliday of Poway, California, can capitalize on great media hits and turn them into paying customers at her website at http://www.fitbysara.com/.


From Heather Gallegos:

"A website redesign is needed to help focus the visitor on what you want them to do. You really want them to buy. But I had a hard time finding what you are selling. And I was looking for things to buy."


From Kim Bieler:

"I’ll be brutally honest about your store page: It doesn’t inspire confidence. Think about how you shop online--you want that feeling of trust that this is a legitimate business that sells things I want. Your store page starts with a bunch of scary-looking text. But what I want to see is gorgeous images of your products with persuasive marketing copy. What do you sell here? Why should I buy it?"


From Garth Gibson:

"Lots of celebs are getting pregnant these days, so you might want to put up a blog to design specific detailed programs for them.

"Word will get out that someone is designing a pre/post natal program for them and they might get curious to compare yours with what they are already doing. This also leads you into the possibility of tying your products to them like, 'Best Working Pre-Natal Health Program Female Stars Use To Look Good And Stay Healthy.'"


The Publicity Hound says:

Garth's idea of piggybacking onto celebrity pregnancies, if followed, should pull in lots of traffic from people who are searching online for info about a particular celebrity. See "Special Report #50: How to Piggyback onto Celebrity News to Promote Your Product, Service, Cause or Issue" at http://tinyurl.com/6uz9g

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


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6. Help This Hound
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Dave Kessler of Richmond, Indiana writes:

"For the last 50 years, I've sold everything from airplanes to caskets. But I've got a challenge now that is proving more difficult.

"One of my ebooks published by Amazon.com is The Crapper Digest #1. It's available for 49 cents, and readers can download it for their lifetime use. It's a collection of the humor, doggerel and vulgar verse that I've collected from restroom walls all over America for the last six decades.

"Astute wall readers have sent some of the best they've found, and examples are included that date from 1896 to current days. An old school teacher, undertaker, truck drivers and college students have joined the fun sending me their finds which are included.

"What can I do to let the world know about this soon-to-be-coveted treasure of multi-generational pop art?"


The Publicity Hound says:

Start by going to the "Authors & Publishers" section of my blog at http://tinyurl.com/2xelpd and spend some time looking through the many posts that have great suggestions on how to market books. This should keep you busy for days.

Here's another idea. Write reviews of similar books at Amazon.com--a great way to call attention to your own book because you are able to mention it and link to it. (See "How to Turn Amazon into a River of Gold" at http://tinyurl.com/7u76e).


Now let's see what my Hounds have to say. Hounds with suggestions for Dave can post them to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/2jn6g9.


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7. Hound Joke of the Week
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"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow."

--Jeff Valdez


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

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

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


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8. And at My Blog...
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Why I hate Amazon, B&N best-seller campaigns
http://tinyurl.com/yowdne


How should PRWeek, Adicio respond to this PR crisis?
http://tinyurl.com/2pcf7e


'Pink products' media event helps you meet journalists
http://tinyurl.com/2ho7j6


Why social media? Kids advise parents on purchases
http://tinyurl.com/28a9th


New mom asks: 'Where do we put the baby?'
http://tinyurl.com/34w4gg


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Where to See or Hear The Publicity Hound


March 27: Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin

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


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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."

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Joan Stewart
a.k.a. The Publicity Hound®
3434 County KK
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Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central) Fax: 262-284-1737