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The Publicity Hound's
Tips of the Week
Issue #369 Oct. 23, 2007
Publisher: Joan Stewart
mailto:JStewart@PublicityHound.com
http://www.PublicityHound.com
http://www.publicityhound.net/
(Blog)
The Publicity Hound®
Circulation: 37,734
=====================================
"Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity"
Receive this ezine direct to your desktop
http://www.publicityhound.com/tipsoftheweek/
Need help with publicity?
See the resources list at
http://www.publicityhound.com/resources.htm
*******************************************************
Media Plan Teleseminar Series Starts Tuesday:
--Don't wait until January to start worrying about how you're
going to promote yourself or your PR client next year. Smart
Publicity Hounds will have done the bulk of their planning long
before that. And they'll be pitching in January, while the not-
so-savvy Media Mutts are bogged down with research and other
time-consuming chores they should have been doing right now. Get
a huge jump on your competitors, then leave 'em in the dust next
year, by creating a smart, efficient media plan that guides you
through the entire process of promoting a product, service, cause
or issue.
This series is filling up fast. Learn more at
http://publicityhound.com/mediaplan.htm
See Item #3 below.
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In This Issue
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1. Ellen, Moms and Mutts
2. Replay of Last Night's Call
3. What the Best Media Plans Include
4. Halloween Ideas
5. Promoting a Small-Business Web Portal
6. Help This Hound
7. Hound Joke of the Week
8. And at My Blog...
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1. Ellen, Moms and Mutts
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Too bad that TV talk show host Ellen Degeneres and the dog rescue
group Moms and Mutts didn't have Publicity Hound Joni Hubred-
Golden by their side last week to help avert a PR disaster.
Ellen, you may have heard, adopted a terrier mix dog named Iggy
from the nonprofit dog rescue group Moms and Mutts. When the dog
didn't get along with her cats, she gave it away to her
hairdresser--in direct violation of the organization's rules.
The dog rescue group ridiculed Ellen publicly. Ellen cried on her
show. The animal rights people went nuts. And the bloggers threw
gasoline on the fire. Even radio talk show hosts chastised Moms
and Mutts for yanking the dog out of the hands of the
hairdresser's two little girls who had bonded with it.
Joni, of Farmington, Michigan, reads this newsletter and offered
what would have been a terrific solution:
"Moms and Mutts really missed a GREAT opportunity to get some
national PR. They could have said, 'OK, you broke the contract,
but let's talk. We'll come on your show and discuss how important
it is to place dogs in the right homes, and why we have this
contract provision that you can't just give the dog away--and
we'll do our due diligence with your hairdresser to make sure
this is a good home for the dog, and everybody will be happy.'
Ellen gets great ratings, and this group wouldn't be seen
negatively by her loyal fans.
"These women need a good publicist!"
Indeed, Joni.
TV talk shows love controversy. An on-air love-fest between Ellen
and the moms, complete with a few mutts on the set, would have
made for great TV and fabulous publicity.
If you aren't afraid of controversy (and no Publicity Hound
should be), the TV talk shows will want to hear your pitch. Book
publicist Lissa Warren has regularly placed dozens of her clients
on shows like "Good Morning America" and the "Today" show.
She
explains how she does it, and how you can too, on "How to Get
Booked on the Morning TV Talk Shows."
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.
Click here to continue reading more about what you'll learn:
http://tinyurl.com/ab86x
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2. Replay of Last Night's Call
========================================
More than 500 authors, wanna-be authors, writers, publicists,
speakers, coaches, experts and other Publicity Hounds were on
last night's call and heard me interview Tom Antion and Adam
Witty about how authors can sell lots of books and related
products online.
If you missed the call, you can listen to the replay at
http://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/joan.htm
It was 90 minutes of solid content, including these tips:
--Authors, or anyone else for that matter, don't have to spend
several thousand dollars on a website. Tom explained how you
can create a simple website for under $100. (This is not a
typo.)
--Even fiction authors can set up lucrative membership sites.
Adam said: "As a fiction author, people care about not just what
you write about, but what you think, breathe and eat. They care
about other books you're reading." Smart fiction authors are
creating fan clubs and charging from $19.95 to $29.95 a month to
join. In return, fans receive a monthly newsletter. They get
sneak previews of new books the author has written. The author
even asks the fans for feedback on things like the title or
subtitle of their new book, or plot development.
--Smart authors repackage the content of their books and create
spinoff products such as CDs, DVDs, ebooks, special reports, home
study programs, and teleclasses. They create a higher-priced
product and call it a "system," a "method" or a
"kit." Then they
create an even higher-priced mentor program. They are always
upselling and never use their book as their primary revenue
generator.
Listen for hundreds of other tips that explain Tom's and Adam's
three-pronged approach to making books and other products fly out
the door:
http://www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/joan.htm
Their ideas work equally well for many other kinds of products,
not just books.
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3. What the Best Media Plans Include
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When I created media plans for my PR clients, I always built in
time for them to meet their local media contacts in person.
Sometimes it was over lunch. If a journalist couldn't break away
for lunch, the client would offer to visit the newspaper office
which saved time.
Often, that getting-to-know-you session paid huge dividends. It
gave the journalist time to match a name with a face. And it gave
my client the chance to ask the most important question you must
ask every journalist you meet: "How can I help you?"
These days, the job of meeting your key contacts is more
difficult. That's because bloggers are now among the people you
should be targeting with your message.
A good media plan works bloggers into the schedule, too. Not by
in-person contacts but by doing things such as taking the time to
comment at their blogs so they know who you are long before you
tell them about your product, service, cause or issue.
I pay close attention to everyone who comments at my blog, and
you can bet that if someone who posted a comment later emails me
and mentions that they read my blog regularly and have commented,
I sit up and pay attention.
My media plans for clients usually included an extra little
publicity hit every time a newspaper or magazine wrote a story
about them. I'd tell the client to write a letter to the editor
of the publication that just wrote about them, and comment on an
aspect of the story that the journalist didn't write about.
This little trick delivered a one-two punch. It gave readers who
saw the original article another chance to read about my
client. It also gave readers who missed the original story a
chance to see my client's name in print.
I have lots more tricks like that up my sleeve, and I'll be
sharing them during the teleseminar series "How to Create a Media
Plan for 2008," which starts on Tuesday, October 30.
Everyone who registers receives a handy template they can use
when creating their own plan. They also receive a copy of my
ebook "How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound," 30 days of email
support at a password-protected discussion board, two handy
notepads with "10 Magic Phrases the Media Love" and a list of 219
story ideas that are ideal for print and broadcast media.
Continue reading more about my stellar line-up of guest
presenters at http://www.PublicityHound.com/mediaplan.htm
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4. Halloween Ideas
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Here are some ideas on how to promote a product, service, cause
or issue by tying it to Halloween, the second largest retail
holiday of the year. They're courtesy of TV producer Shawne
Duperon, one of my guests during next week's media plan
teleseminar series:
--Sponsor a pumpkin-carving contest at your company. Challenge
participants to carve the call letters of a certain local TV
station. Then contact the station, invite them to bring their
camera and film the carvers whittling, cutting and slicing.
--Pitch the fear angle. What's our cultural fascination with
being frightened, watching horror flicks or going to haunted
houses? Experts, pitch away!
--Do you own a specialty shop? Do you create customized cookies
or cakes? The pumpkin-carving idea can also apply here. Bakers,
create a spooky confection with the call letters of your local TV
station. Send it to the "Queen Bee" in the TV newsroom. Your
confections and store could catch their eye for a story.
--The media always want to know about healthy alternatives to
trick-or-treat or tips on how to inspect candy and make sure it's
safe.
Shawn explains how to identify the Queen Bee in every TV
newsroom, how to make the QB interested in your pitch, and the
little extras you can offer to get yourself on TV. Shawne's tips
are featuring in "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.
Click here to continue reading more about what you'll learn:
http://tinyurl.com/yjrktx
==========================================
5. Promoting a Small-Business Web Portal
==========================================
This week, five Publicity Hounds have tips for John Easton of
Charlotte, North Carolina on how to promote his web video portal
called Broadcast Charlotte at http://www.broadcastcharlotte.com/
It features local small business events such as on-demand video
coverage of grand openings and trade seminars.
From Renee Brown:
"Being from the Charlotte area, I know that there are a lot of
areas that can be marketed too. One of the main ones is all the
events that go on uptown...Attend the events, interview the main
person or someone who is directly involved with that certain
event, record some of the events if allowed and publish them.
Hand out your business card, fliers, and write articles on each
event and submit them to the Charlotte Observer."
From Jamie Foster:
"Have an event at a new restaurant and invite other businesses to
participate in the video coverage."
From Shonika Proctor:
"Have you considered speaking pro bono at a local Chamber or your
SBA's Local Small Business Development Centers about a topic such
as '5 Ways For Time Strapped Small Businesses to Put More Time in
a Day?' and then you can introduce your video web portal as a
tie-in, or one of the five ways. You can play with the words in
the title and change 'small business' to: 'nonprofits,
solopreneurs/home based businesses or big businesses' to attract
your niche market and do other tie in products or services.
The Publicity Hound says:
John, offer your video to all local newspapers and TV stations.
Many of these media outlets, as you know, feature user-generated
video. You should also start collecting email addresses of local
business people who want to be notified each time you shoot a
video, or from people who want to learn how to shoot their own
videos. Collecting emails and publishing a "video tip of the
week" can pay off down the road.
Dan Janal interviewed me on "How to Turn Your Ezine into a Cash
Machine," and I explained all the ways I use this newsletter to
build a community of loyal Publicity Hounds and sell products and
services. Click here to continue reading more about how you can
do it, too: http://tinyurl.com/y6mp2c
Read all the responses to this Help this Hound question at
http://tinyurl.com/22eyn7
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6. Help This Hound
================================
Elbert Mackey of Austin, Texas writes:
"I am interested in pitching a new FDA-approved disposable dental
drill that consumers buy from us for $49.95 and which we, in
turn, ship directly to their choice of dentists throughout the
United States. The FDA prohibits the sale of dental devices to
consumers.
"Our one-time-use dental drill eliminates patient concerns for
safety when visiting the dentist. In dentistry, secondary
diseases such as hepatitis and HIV viruses are transmitted
primarily to the patient or to the health care worker by the use
of contaminated dental instruments. The conventional reusable
dental drill's sterility cannot always be assured by the patient.
Also, the drill has one of the highest risk factors for secondary
diseases.
"Our disposable one-time-use drill solves this problem and allows
consumers to take a more involved role in their own health care.
What tips do your Hounds have on how to publicize and market the
drill?"
The Publicity Hound says:
This is a tough one, Elbert, because I suspect that dentists
wouldn't endorse your product. That said, let's see what ideas we
can brainstorm. Hounds with marketing and publicity ideas for
Elbert can post them to my blog at http://tinyurl.com/223o3f
=================================
7. Hound Quote of the Week
=================================
Thanks to marketing guru Shel Horowitz of Northampton,
Massachusetts for this one:
A woman told a marriage counselor that her husband's complaint
that he leads a dog's life is probably well-founded.
"He comes in the house with muddy feet," she said, "tracks across
my clean floors, barks at nothing, growls at his food and makes
himself comfortable on my best furniture."
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...
=================================
Free press release distribution for Calif. wildfire news
http://tinyurl.com/yv3d9o
Entrepreneur columnist focuses on do-gooders
http://tinyurl.com/23v8ar
Treat your blog like a dog
http://tinyurl.com/2zhmrr
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Where to Meet or Hear The Publicity Hound®
Oct. 30-Nov. 2: "How to Create a Media Plan for 2008"
This teleseminar series features eight sessions that will show
you how to create a media plan, research targeted traditional and
social media and milk every opportunity to promote your product,
service, cause or issue. Two one-hour teleseminars each day for
four days. See the stellar line-up of guest experts at
http://www.PublicityHound.com/mediaplan.htm
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
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.
=======================================================
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
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