Publicity tips/CEOs Who Twitter Oct. 7, 2008

The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #419 Oct. 7, 2008
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/ (Blog)
The Publicity Hound

Circulation: 50,851

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"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"

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New Teleseminar: Stop Wasting Time on Twitter

Too many Twitterers are wasting way to much time tweeting about
way too many things they're doing that are way too boring. Learn
how to keep your followers engaged, enlightened and entertained
so they pay close attention when you want to promote something.
Join Twitter expert Warren Whitlock and me for two 70-minute
teleseminars on how to use Twitter to promote. They're from 3 to
4:10 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, Oct. 13, and Tuesday, Oct. 14.
You can sign up at http://tinyurl.com/3lbcaw

See Item #1 below.

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In This Issue
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1. CEOs Who Twitter

2. A Cover Story in Kiplinger's

3. Why Many Authors Just Don't Get It

4. Media Leads

5. Promoting Organic Dog Shampoo

6. Help This Hound

7. Hound Joke of the Week

8. And at My Log...


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1. CEOs Who Twitter
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Add these four CEOs to the millions of smart business people who
Twitter:

--Jonathan Schwartz, chief executive of Sun Microsystems. He uses
Twitter to announce quarterly earnings. Last week, he linked to
his bog post in which he shared a note he sent to Sun's leaders,
explaining how he wants them to focus their efforts during the
stock market's plunge.

--Michael Hyatt, chief executive of Thomas Nelson, the Christian
book publishers. He says Twitter helps him humanize his company
and connect with his employees, customers and authors.

--Christine Perkett of PerkettPR in Massachusetts. Twitter helps
her firm connect with reporters who often tweet about what their
stories are going to be before anyone else knows about them.

--Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, the world's largest online shoe
company. He has almost 14,000 followers on Twitter, many of whom
are loyal customers.

You can read about the other 14 CEOs who Twitter in
BusinessWeek's article titled "Tweets from the Chiefs" at
http://tinyurl.com/566rsp

Now, it's your turn. If you're already Twittering, you're in good
company.

But are you using the site to write memorable tweets that
delight, humor and help your followers? And do you understand how
to use Twitter to promote your product, service, cause or issue
without aggravating them? Do you know the best ways to really
engage your followers so that they actually end up promoting you
to THEIR followers?

I see so many Twitterers who waste time on this site because they
don't understand that you must first give more than you get.
Then, and only then, can you promote. Do it correctly, and you
can turn "tweet tweet" into "ka-ching ka-ching."

Twitter expert Warren Whitlock is one of the savviest Twitterers
I know. That's why I invited him to be my guest expert during two
teleseminars next week on "How to Use Twitter to Amass an Army of
Followers, Customers & Valuable Contacts--and Promote."

On Monday, Oct. 13, we'll deal with the basics of the site. On
Tuesday, Warren will show you how to create a timeline for an
actual promotion and encourage your followers to promote you to
THEIR followers.

This teleseminar series promises to sell out, like the calls I
hosted recently on how to use LinkedIn and Facebook.
Registration is limited to the first 100 Publicity Hounds.

If you can't make it live, sign up anyway. You'll get the MP3
audios and the electronic transcripts to review later, at your
leisure.

Claim your seat now at http://tinyurl.com/3lbcaw


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2. A Cover Story in Kiplinger's
============================================

It's a pretty good day when Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine
mentions you in a cover story.

But it's time to really celebrate when one of your clients ends
up on the cover of the same issue--thanks to you.

That's what happened to Eli Davidson, a member of The Publicity
Hound Mentor Program. During yesterday's private teleseminar with
my proteges, I asked Eli--an author, motivational coach and
speaker--to explain how she scored the huge media hit for herself
and her client, TV producer Nicole Dunn, in this month's issue.

The cover story is "What $1,000 Can Do--37 Fresh Ways to Invest
in Stocks, Funds, Your Home and Yourself." A few years ago,
Nicole's TV career had been struggling, so she decided to spend
$1,000 on one month's worth of group coaching with Eli.

"It was the best $1,000 that I ever spent," Nicole told
Kiplinger's.

Within a few months, she had landed a job with a new show as a
supervising producer, several levels above her previous position,
and nearly tripled her salary, to $3,000 a week. She credited Eli
with helping her visualize her goals, and achieve them.

Eli, who has been in my mentor program for four years, pays close
attention to everything I teach. A year ago, an editor from
Kiplinger's called her and asked for a comment for an article.

"I stayed in touch with her and kept her updated and offered her
tips," Eli said. "This year, when they were planning a story on
what $1,000 could buy, they looked at personal coaching as one
possibility."

Because Eli was already on the editor's radar screen, the editor
called her, asked to interview one of her clients and asked her
to provide tips on how to hire a coach. (Is that great or what?)
The article included Eli's web site at http://EliDavidson.com

In the short time the magazine has been on news stands, the
article has already resulted in four new coaching clients for
Eli. The Kiplinger's publicity comes just four months after she
followed one small tip I gave her on how to get onto big TV
shows. In June, she appeared on a segment on the "Today" show.

Eli is a perfect fit for The Publicity Hound Mentor Program. Are
you? Find out the kinds of people I want to work with at
http://www.publicityhound.com/mentorprogram/intro.html


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3. Why Many Authors Just Don't Get It
=========================================

My voicemail and email are filled with one sad story after
another from authors who invested their life's savings and
several years of precious time writing a book.

Broke and exhausted, the typical non-fiction author can't figure
out why she has taken such a huge financial hit on what should
have been, according to her calculations, a best-seller.

But every now and then, along comes an author who really gets it.
She's not famous, but she's raking in a six-figure annual income
without ever getting onto Oprah or hitting the best-seller
list.

Her background, tenacity and writing skills aren't much different
than those of the poor authors. But she does seven not-so-obvious
things that they don't do.

Steve Harrison, who has worked with more than 9,300 authors over
the last two decades, is hosting a free 75-minute telephone
seminar this Thursday, Oct. 9, at your choice of two times:
2 p.m. Eastern or 7 p.m. Eastern.

I know what those seven things are that rich authors do, and they
could be the most valuable tips you get in your publishing
career.

If you're a non-fiction author, or you're thinking of writing a
non-fiction book, don't miss this call. Sign up now at
http://tinyurl.com/2onv6b and mark it on your calendar.


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4. Media Leads
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--CNNMoney.com wants to know how small businesses are affected by
the economy. Is your small business struggling because the bank
won't give you credit? What are you planning to do? Have you
found other ways to get financing, or is your business in
jeopardy? Is the financial downturn affecting your sales, or have
you found a way to thrive? Send your photos and videos, and you
could be included in an upcoming story. Learn more at
http://www.ireport.com/ir-topic-stories.jspa?topicId=78304
where you'll have to create an account first.


--October 25 is the annual "Make a Difference Day" sponsored by
USA Weekend magazine. If the newspaper in your community is part
of the Gannett chain, and you're participating in this national
day of good deeds, pitch a story to the editors who will be
looking for the local angle. If you have good visuals, your local
TV stations might interested, too. Learn more about the event and
read their list of publicity tips at
http://www.usaweekend.com/diffday/tools/getpublicity.html


--The Food Network is holding auditions in six U.S. cities this
month for "The Next Food Network Star" reality show. You can find
the audition schedule at http://tinyurl.com/4n2g39 If you can't
make the auditions, complete an application and send it along
with a video to the network no later than Oct. 31.


OK, so you're not quite good enough for The Food Network. You can
still get great publicity in your own community. "Publicity Tips
for Restaurants, Chefs & Foodies" features my 51 best ideas for
food publicity. 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 generate delicious publicity at
http://tinyurl.com/clr26


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5. Promoting Organic Dog Shampoo
==========================================

This week, nine Publicity Hounds have tips for Dr. Shawn
Messonnier, a veterinarian and award-winning author from Plano,
Texas who needs help promoting his new line of organic pet
shampoos. So far, they are only available on line at
http://www.drshawnspetorganics.com


From Dena Harris:

"Dogster.com and Catster.com have huge followings. Try sending
samples to their bloggers and see if they'll write an entry on
your product."


From Joan Schramm:

"My hairdresser, a big dog fan, has a Golden Retriever. He
recently recently started carrying a line of dog grooming
products in his salon, right up front at the check-in counter,
and they're doing very well. With everyone going green and
organic, both for people and pets, it seems like this would be a
natural for a pet-friendly salon owner.

"Also, you might contact some local rescue groups to see if they
would promote your products on their website or newsletter. In
fact, if you contact me, I'll put something in our next
newsletter for Great Dane Rescue at http://www.magdrl.org "


From Maria Marsala:

"Many of the holistic magazines are owned by the same company.
Most have product review sections....why not send samples?"


Read all the responses to this week's Help This Hound question
http://tinyurl.com/47ldtf

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

Jackie Stanley of Greensboro, N.C. writes:

"I'm an attorney and recently launched a website at
http://www.NCDivorceSchool.com which offers online courses
that teach people how to handle their own simple divorce cases in
North Carolina.

"It teaches people who want to save time, money and hassle how to
handle their own simple divorce actions. There are lots of places
to go online to get divorce papers. But we teach you to prepare
the forms and walk you step-by-step through filing them and
getting your divorced finalized.

"We customize our courses to each of the 100 counties in the
state. I'm hoping your Hounds could share some creative ways to
promote the website."


The Publicity Hound says:

Hounds with great ideas for Jackie can post them to my blog at
http://tinyurl.com/4uqrs6

Why not pitch this story to the local newspapers as one more way
to save money when the economy is going south? If newspapers
won't bite, try pitching the story to your local TV stations.
This will be difficult. But if you can find a client who's
willing to be part of the story, that would make it more
enticing.

TV producer Shawne Duperon offers terrific tips on how to track
down "The Queen Bee," the person in every local TV newsroom who
assigns stories. Shawne explains how to pitch your story and how
to make it irresistible to the Queen. The teleseminar I conducted
with her called "How to Get on the Local TV News Tomorrow" is
available as a CD or an electronic transcript that you can
download and be reading as soon as your order has been approved.

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


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

I went to a movie theater the other day and saw an old man and
his dog in the front row.

It was a sad/funny kind of film. During the sad parts, the dog
cried his eyes out, and during the funny parts, the dog laughed
his head off. This happened all the way through the movie.

When it ended, I walked up to the man and said, "That's the most
amazing thing I've ever seen. Your dog really seemed to enjoy the
film."

The man turned to me and said, "Yeah, it is. He hated the book."


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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Offer advice on how businesses can cope in a bad economy
http://tinyurl.com/4he8ce


Find a freelancer with SPJ freelancer directory
http://tinyurl.com/4o4c49


Presidential politics in the workplace: A great story idea
http://tinyurl.com/4fu46u


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