By Joan Stewart If you’re blogging, but nobody’s listening, take heart. Cathy Stucker, aka The Idea Lady, offers six great tips on how to encourage people to comment at your blog. Ask questions at the end of your blog posts, she says. And be controversial by taking a contrarian stand on an issue. I love her suggestion of interacting… Read More
Publicity Blog
Can't write? Can't blog? Use a recorder & transcriber
By Joan Stewart If you’re still not blogging because you’re not a very good writer, or you don’t have time to write, here’s an easy solution. Dictate your thoughts about a topic into a hand-held recorder. Then, find an assistant to transcribe what you’ve recorded and—voila!—you’ve got a blog post. I was talking to one… Read More
Author needs help selling tips booklets for senior citizens
Ted Fuller of Lafayette, Calif., writes: “Thanks to you and Paulette Ensign, the Tips Booklet Queen, I have completed my first two booklets. “‘The Best Ideas Yet About Aging Successfully is 16 pages, and ‘Tips for Writing a Great Memoir is 12 pages. Now comes the grind of contacting book and gift store distributors, retirement… Read More
Ebooks offer talk radio contact info for specific niches
If you’re trying to get onto radio talk shows to promote your book, product, service, cause or issue—and you’re on a tight budget—a series of inexpensive ebooks will help you locate the contact information for shows in specific niches. Talk radio advocate Francine Silverman has based the ebooks on her book, Talk Radio Wants You:… Read More
Author needs help promoting a book on Christian civility
Mitch Carnell of Charleston, SC, writes: “My book, Christian Civility in an Uncivil World, has just been published and I need help promoting it. The other contributors from different denominations are all much better known than I am. “The publisher sells mostly online and relies on distributors to get it into bookstores and on Amozon. … Read More
Speakers, publicize your speaking engagements these 9 ways
If you do free or paid speaking engagements, there are opportunities galore to get in front of audiences that need to hear whay you have to say. But some Publicity Hounds don’t quite know where to begin. In Friday’s issue of the SpeakerNet News ezine, Michael Schatzki said he wants to give a new hour-long speech he has created… Read More
13 ways to use royalty-free stock images in a PR campaign
If you can’t afford your own photographer, or you take lousy photos, or you hate creating graphics, use a stock photo service to enhance everything from press releases to media kits in a PR campaign. Royalty-free stock images can save you a lot of time and money trying to generate graphics on your own. Royalty-free means you… Read More
Bad press releases outed by journalists with blogs
In the old days, when we used typewriters to write press releases, and then snail-mailed the releases to the media, the worst that could happen would be that the media didn’t use our releases. Now that many journalists blog, the occupational hazards of bad press releases distributed online are multiplied. Send a crappy release and the journalist… Read More
8 ways public speaking produces multiple revenue streams
If you aren’t speaking about your area of expertise, you’re missing valuable opportunities and multiple revenue streams. Here are eight ways speaking pays, even if you stay in your own community and don’t want to hassle with packed airplanes, crummy hotels and crummier road food: Audience members have invited me to be part of their books.… Read More
Oprah’s producers blog & drop clues about what they like
If you’re dying to get onto Oprah, stop sending unsolicited books, press kits and other junk. Instead, spend some time reading the blog posts from the show’s 14 producers. Yes, they blog. Is it OK to contact them? You bet! Check out the invitation: If you read just one week’s worth of posts from producer “Caroline,”… Read More