Michelle Suter of Frisco, Texas writes: “Our company, Administaff, is a professional employer organization that serves as that serves as a full-time human resources department for small and medium-sized businesses. “We have had a great deal of national advertising, yet my best clients are small business owners in the Dallas/Fort Worth area who have from seven… Read More
Publicity Blog
Story idea for this week: Freedom from (fill in the blank)
My friend, TV producer Shawne Duperon, has a terrific idea for tying publicity into the July 4 Independence Day theme. Think of a “freedom from…” and use that in your pitch. Examples: —A health department in the Midwest might pitch tips to give people “freedom from mosquitoes” after the recent floods. —Credit counselors can pitch a story… Read More
Best Twitter tools and resources
Savvy Publicity Hounds are already using Twitter for business and publicity. Twitter has become so popular, in fact, that almost daily, people are creating a variety of tools and widgets to help you Twitter faster and more effectively, and locate tweets about you and your company. But with more than 350 Twitter tools from which… Read More
If you work in PR, you should be reading snarky Gawker
About half the posts on the popular blog Gawker deal with pop culture and celebrity gossip. That’s why it’s all too easy to dismiss this blog as frivolous. But Michael Sebastian, a former Chicago newspaper reporter who writes for Ragan Communications, says Gawker is must reading for anybody in PR. That’s because the other half of… Read More
Working with a virtual assistant? Follow these 4 golden rules
If you’ve hired a virtual assistant to help with your publicity campaign, or for any other tasks you don’t like to do or don’t have the talent to do, Tough Love & Accountability, or Four Golden Rules for Working with Your Virtual Assistant is must reading. Denise Aday of Aday VA Solutions, a Dallas, TX based virtual… Read More
How to get journalists to mention your website
A common frustration with media interviews results when the reporter, for whatever reason, never mentions your website. Here’s a way to solve that problem. The next time somebody interviews you, and the reporter asks for the name of your company, use your website URL, not the actual company name. Instead of me being the owner… Read More
If a journalist uses humor in a query, use it in your pitch
If you subscribe to a service that gives you leads from journalists who are looking for certain types of sources, pay attention to the way the reporter has written the query. Peter Shankman, whose free leads service called “Help a Reporter Out,” flags this terrific pitch from Jenny Schmitt, who works for the Georgia State… Read More
Couple needs help promoting book on depression, suicide
Patricia “Trish” Gallagher of Worcester, Pa. writes: “My husband, John, and I are doing a print on demand book and need help to publicize it and try to book paid speaking engagements. “The book is Don’t Jump! Out of the Shadows about Depression and Suicide. It’s about how John tried to commit suicide by jumping… Read More
Obituary for Lex the Husky can help you write a better bio
When Publicity Hound Michelle Tennant of Wasabi Publicity emailed me last week to let me know that her beloved pet, Lex, a strawberry blonde Siberian husky, had died, the obituary she wrote for him made me smile. While reading it, I couldn’t help but think that it’s more interesting than the personal bios of many humans I… Read More
Product publicity for holidays is easier with this resource guide
Now is the time to start pitching if you’re hoping to convince journalists to feature your consumer product or service in holiday gift coverage. Gift guides appear in many forms: —As special sections in newspapers, like holiday gift guides printed by USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. —As special holiday features in magazines like… Read More