Tracy Arceo of Pelican Publishing of Gretna, LA writes: “I am a publicist for Pelican Publishing Company. The publicists have been presented with a challenge and we’re having trouble comping up with ideas. “Our company has two rather large series of books. One series is based on the classic children’s poem “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” each… Read More
Publicity Blog
What Tim Russert taught us about how to interview
After almost five days of non-stop tributes to Tim Russert, none was as fascinating as the five-year-old article I found last night titled “How to Beat Tim Russert.” Jack Shafer, who writes the press column for the online magazine Slate, dissected in step-by-step detail the strategy that any guest can use to disarm Russert, the toughest… Read More
Unusual weather a perfect chance to pitch weather stories
Flooding in the Midwest. Wild fires in California. Snow in the Northwest. Scorching heat on the East Coast. And it’s still only spring. This is the time to pitch weather stories. If you sell or give away a product or service to help people cope with the weather, let the media know. They’re hungry for… Read More
Dairy Queen joins Girl Scouts to create Thin Mint Blizzard
Here’s a perfect example of how a nonprofit can team up with a popular nationwide chain, and piggyback onto a “Week of the Year” to promote a good cause. Dairy Queen is creating the Girl Scout Thin Mint Blizzard for the month of July to promote Girl Scout Appreciation Week July 7-13. What a wonderful idea! No more… Read More
Wal-Mart offers free online classified ads
Are you selling a car or real estate? Looking for someone to fill a job? Selling concert or sports tickets or miscellaneous items? If so, take advantage of Wal-Mart’s new free classified ads which the giant retailer started offering about three weeks ago in partnership with Oodle.com, which aggregates listings from more than 80,000 local and… Read More
Health system needs ideas to pitch to local business journal
Lisa Cupolo of Ballston Spa, New York writes: “I handle public relations and marketing for Northwoods Health System, four rehabilitation and nursing home facilities that offer pediatric through geriatric care. “I’m looking for story ideas that I can pitch to the local business journal. The newspaper only focuses on hard business stories as opposed to… Read More
New social networking site for New Age, spiritual communities
New Age Directories—sort of a MySpace or Facebook of the New Age, spiritual and alternative communities— has just gone live. “Create your own online world and promote yourself, your ideas, your dreams; share your thoughts, expertise and advice; share your healing, love and gratitude; find, seek, look, listen, ask; make friends, business contacts, even romance – anything… Read More
Why few journalists comment at blogs and in forums
Journalists have traditionally been slow to embrace online tools that will make their jobs easier. Some of them are finally using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to find sources or look for story ideas. One area where you won’t see many journalists participating, however, is in the comments section at blogs and in… Read More
Crisis at your company? Consider embedding reporters
When seven people in the Chicago area died in 1982 after ingesting Tylenol capsules which had been laced with potassium cyanide poison, Johnson & Johnson moved quickly to manage the crisis. The company embedded journalists in meetings with top management so they could hear first-hand all the issues and problems the company faced. That move, and others, were brilliant. Johnson… Read More
Create video for your chamber of commerce, local media
If you’re a member of your local chamber of commerce and the only thing you have to show for it is the receipt for your annual dues, don’t even think about dropping out. Because you’re a smart Publicity Hound, you have an opportunity right at your fingertips to be a star in the organization and… Read More