If you’re pitching Chicago-area business news, watch for BusinessWeek Chicago to debut in November. About 60,000 of BusinessWeek’s local subscribers and other Chicago-area businesses will receive the free-distribution magazine. Michael Arndt, a senior correspondent in BusinessWeek’s local bureau, will be the editor. The magazine, he says, will focus on long, analytical articles. Each issue is expected to be about 36… Read More
Shawnigan Lake School in Canada needs publicity ideas
Julie Ann Kodmur from St. Helena, California writes: “How do you get American writers and, of course, families, interested in Shawnigan Lake School, a Canadian boarding school? “I’ve been doing publicity for the wonderful school where my step-son goes and now find that we need some fresh ideas. The school is frankly a cousin of… Read More
Grant recipients: Tell the rest of the story
Thanks to Publicity Hound Beth Bilderback, public relations specialist for Nauticus, a marine science center in Norfolk, Virginia, for this tip that can be used by anyone who receives grant money: “This summer, we received a hefty grant to fund two oceanography camps for two separate groups of 10th-graders. One requirement was that the students… Read More
Freelancers: Your Secret Weapon
PR people spend huge amounts of time pitching the most influential writers at top-tier media outlets, and too little time finding freelancers who already have built strong relationships with those same newspapers and magazines. Finding freelancers isn’t always easy. But once you know who they are, they can be your secret weapon to publicity. Here… Read More
Website traffic eluding you? Free White Paper has tips
Frustrated because your website isn’t pulling the traffic you expect? I’ll bet part of your problem isn’t just a lack of traffic, but that you aren’t converting existing traffic into paying customers. Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff, aka The Blog Squad, have a free 12-page white paper called “The Great Internet Challenge–How to get your… Read More
New edition of ‘hidden Hawaii’ book needs publicity ideas
Karma Bennett of Ulysses Press writes: “The publishing house where I work was founded with our travel series, the Hidden Guides. The first book, Hidden Hawaii, was at the time, the only book on Hawaii that actually reviewed and compared the various beaches of the islands. “Now we are giving the books a whole new… Read More
Media interviews frightening? This card deck will help
At times, I dislike doing media interviews, particularly with reporters at top-tier publications whose interview style makes me feel rushed, or I suspect the journalist is either dense or biased. Crisis counselor Lou Hampton of the Hampton Group in Washington, D. C. says we don’t have to be afraid. He offers these six handy phrases to use during interviews: “Let… Read More
Promote books with a contest like this one for Packers fans
If you’re doing PR for a new book, here’s a great idea you can borrow, courtesy of Dorothy Molstad, marketing manager for MBI Publishing Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. Create a fun contest for the media, including ezine publishers and bloggers. That’s what she did to promote their book “Green Bay Packers: The Complete Illustrated History” by… Read More
Airlines magazine to feature best Road Warrior on cover
You don’t have to look far this summer to find stories about travel nightmares in airports all over the world. That’s why the Aug. 31 deadline for the 6th Annual Road Warriors contest sponsored by AmericanWay, the inflight magazine of American Airlines, is perfect timing. The magazine is searching for the top Road Warriors. The winner will participate in… Read More
Attract more clients with these 6 strategies
During these slow days of summer, I hear people complaining that business is flat. If you need more clients, consider these six ideas: Start blogging. The search engines love timely, content-rich blogs, particularly on niche topics. The more you blog, the more traffic you’ll get. Also, start posting comments at blogs written for the same target… Read More