True Publicity Hounds take every opportunity to build the buzz and keep it humming, even long after they’re gone. How? By writing their own obituaries. Check out this article in Newsweek magazine on an emerging trend–writing your own obit.
Double-check dates in press releases
Here’s a tip that seems so obvious that you’ll wonder why I’m even mentioning it. But TV personality Connie Dieken says it’s a frequent mistake that will send your news release or story pitch right into the TV station’s wastebasket. Ditto for news releases sent to print media outlets. Too often, the day and date… Read More
Submit online articles to pull website traffic
Once a month, small-business marketing expert Sharron Senter writes a how-to article that helps small businesses tackle a problem. She submits it to up to 30 different portals. A portal is a launching pad of sorts that helps consumers find destination and commerce sites. Search engine websites you are familiar with such as Google, Yahoo!,… Read More
Write special reports
If you aren’t writing special reports to help your customers help themselves, or to create a quick and easy product, you’re missing a wonderful chance to become better known and create an easy revenue stream. The secret is to choose topics that are only an inch wide, and then present content that goes a mile… Read More
Write a thumbnail bio for the end of your articles
While en route to a speaking engagement, I found a page in Airtran Airways’ in-flight magazine that’s a great lesson on how to write thumbnail bios. These are one- or two-sentence bios that you can tack onto the end of articles you write for other publications, along with your contact information such as an email… Read More
Don’t put dates on press releases
Here’s another big boo-boo made by made by many people who write news releases. They put the date the release was distributed right at the top. Why not just include a headline in 40-point type that screams, “OLD NEWS.” In an era where hour-old news is practically ancient history, dating your news releases is just… Read More
People behind the events make great stories
She arrived in Milwaukee at age 24 with less than $40 in her purse, learned to speak English and took the streetcar to work. Today, at age 75, Magrit Heitmann still logs up to 1,500 hours a year doing what she loves best–organizing the hundreds of volunteers for Germanfest, one of the signature festivals in… Read More
These email faux pas show you’re clueless
Some time ago I wrote about nerdy websites. If you email anything to the media, make sure you aren’t guilty of these nerdy email blunders: –A subject line that says “News Release” with no clue what the release is about. –A generic greeting such as “Dear Editor.” Always use the editor’s name. If you don’t… Read More
Mossberg recommends MSN Spaces for bloggers
In the Personal Technology column in today’s Wall Street Jurnal, Walter Mossberg recommends Microsoft’s MSN Spaces as the best of the online services for free blogs. “My Verdict: MSN Spaces is very well done,” he says. “It makes it easy to create a simple, attractive blog with text, links and potos, and to customize the… Read More
12 worst mistakes PR people make
It was difficult to pare them down to a dozen, but we did. Of all the mistakes PR people make when working with the media, Jon Greer of Bulldog Reporter’s PR University and Liz Miklya of Weber Shandwick joined me in whittling down the list to 12. We presented them the Media Relations 2005 conference… Read More