Kathy Slattengren of Kenmore, WA writes: “I have an online parenting class. It’s $99 for three months of instruction, and parents can take the course at their own pace. You can learn more about it here. “For $139, students take the same course, starting April 19, and get email reminders and a weekly conference call… Read More
Publicity Blog
Free contact info, pitching tips for 9 TV producers
If you’re hoping to get your product, service, cause or issue onto one of the big TV programs or news shows, whom do you contact? A producer? Or a guest book booker? Or someone with a title you’ve never heard of? Help is on the way. Cision, the company that sells media databases, has a… Read More
Magazine turns typo in an ad into a contest
Here’s a great example of how to generate publicity from an embarrassing mistake. When the editors of Texas Dogs & Cats magazine discovered a typo in a paid ad in the April issue, they invited readers to find the typo. Everyone who emails the editor with the correct answer gets a coupon for $5 off an order of $10… Read More
Tips for updating your LinkedIn profile
By Joan Stewart Too many of us build out our LinkedIn profile, and then once we see the blue bar that says “100% profile completeness,” we forget to return to it periodically for updates. An article by Elaine Varelas at Boston.com offers several tips that are especially pertinent to anyone who has lost their job,… Read More
How Einstein Bros. Bagels exploded its Facebook fan base
If you couldn’t access the article I mentioned in Tuesday’s newsletter about how Einstein Bros. Bagels is using its Facebook Fan page, it’s because Ragan Communications moved the article to its paid membership site after 48 hours. I begged them to keep it in the public area of their site, and they agreed. The article… Read More
Help Texas border town promote itself despite violence nearby
Nancy S. Millar, director of the convention and visitors bureau in McAllen, Texas, writes: “I have a doozy. Our great little city in the southernmost part of Texas is on the border with Mexico, which is having terrible problems now with violence, though we’re fine on this side of the border. But that’s not what… Read More
Help a PR expert promote her social media services
Jennifer Melnick Carota, aka The Gift Therapist, of Pittsburgh, Pa., writes: “I have recently launched a new business, Virtual PR 101, that specializes in affordable social media marketing strategy, promotion, and coaching for small businesses and nonprofits. “Services are provided a la carte, and range from basic blog set-up to the full development and… Read More
4 percent of tweets recommend or criticize products
By Joan Stewart At first glance, it doesn’t seem like a lot, but a new study shows that 4 percent of the posts on Twitter include recommendations or complaints about a product. The study, done by TextWise, analyzed the content of 8.9 million tweets posted by 2.6 million unique users. An analysis of 1,000 tweets it… Read More
Free White Paper for recruiters can help anyone who tweets
You don’t have to be a recruiter to find a treasure trove of Twitter tips in the free White Paper “Twitter for Recruiters: How to Minimize Your Time & Maximize Your ROI,” from Arbita. Twitter newbies will learn the basics like how to optimize their profiles, what to tweet and not tweet, how to quickly… Read More
Pros & cons of using Facebook, Twitter geo-location features
Any day now, you’ll be able to let your Facebook friends and Twitter followers know where you are when you post status updates. Daniel Ionescu’s article in PC World says Facebook will start adding friend location starting next month, though it’s uncertain exactly how this will work. Twitter turned on its feature briefly this week and… Read More