Inexperienced Publicity Hounds make the frequent mistake of inundating media people with too much information. For example: –Sending an unsolicited media kit along with a pitch letter, with grand illusions of the journalist spending hours poring over your materials. (Dream on). –Sending an unsolicited book, with hopes that a radio talk show host will find… Read More
Unitarian Church should target its marketing message
Bernadine Whedon Smith of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, does volunteer PR for her Episcopal church and wants to know how to measure the effectiveness of a 2 by 3 ad in local newspapers. She also needs creative ideas on how to promote the church and its new, young, dynamic minister. From Lois Carter Fay of Marketingwomen.com and… Read More
Use sales copy techniques when pitching
When you send a snail-mail or email pitch to a journalist, does the copylook like a big block of gray? Or do you flag the journalist to the most importance elements of your pitch by using things such as sub-heads, boldtype, indented paragraphs, underlined text and a post-script? Publicity Hounds who borrow those techniques, used… Read More
Tips booklet on how to recruit employees
When Publicity Hounds ask me about the best media hit I’ve ever received, they expect to hear about a feature story in the Wall Street Journal or a cover story on the front of a PR-industry publication. No way. I tell them about something far more profitable. It was a little 3-line item that appeared… Read More
L.A. Times op-ed
If you’re a woman, and you’ve been targeting the Los Angeles Times for an op-ed piece and have had no luck, this could be an ideal time to try again. Syndicated columnist Susan Estrich says the Times is guilty of blatant discrimination for not running more opinion pieces by women. In a Valentine’s Day email… Read More
Target smaller niche publications
When you’re creating a media plan for yourself or a client, don’t overlook all those second- and third-level publications–from free weekly shoppers to alternative newspapers–that might be hungry for your story idea or article. When I was in Studio City, California in February to speak to the Book Publicists of Southern California, I picked up… Read More
Things to consider when hiring a publicist
At least once a week, somebody emails me and asks if I can recommend a good publicist. Sure, I could. But usually, I don’t. That’s because you need to consider dozens of factors before hiring one. –How much money can you spend? –Do you want to get into only big national media, or do you… Read More
Congratulate journalists
From now until June, you’ll be seeing articles about journalists whose newspapers, magazines, TV stations and radio stations have won industry awards. The American Society of Newspaper Editors, for example, announced its 2005 winners recently. Why is this important to Publicity Hounds? Because these awards are important to journalists. And if one of the award-winners… Read More
Why newspapers are ailing
Publicity Hounds need to stay abreast of emerging media trends. For example, the proliferation of blogs, online discussion rooms and other Internet sources of news have made newspapers less relevant than ever. This excellent article in The Washington Post explains more reasons why. You’ll have to register at their website to gain access. The article… Read More
Author includes relevant keywords in press releases
If you’re trying to position yourself as an expert, you can often attract media attention if you’re in the right place at the right time. Specifically, near the top of the list that a search engine produces when a journalist is searching online for someone with your expertise. Marilyn Anderson, author of “Never Kiss a… Read More