Margaret Larkin is the creator and host of the Radiogirl Podcast, a media podcast that features interviews with people who work in radio and TV, in Chicago and beyond. She also writes for CBS Radio in Chicago. She owns Metrolingua LLC and specializes in writing and editing, website content, and audio and video. By Margaret Larkin… Read More
Free PR Tools
New PhotoFunia Tool Let’s You Put Yourself on TV
I’ve written about PhotoFunia before, and I’ve concluded that it’s the simplest, most fun graphics tool I’ve found. Use it to turn your photo into a pencil drawing. Type a message on the marquee of a movie theater or in neon lights on a giant billboard. Or create a photo of yourself with Brad Pitt,… Read More
How FotoJet Pitched Me and Got Publicity for Its Web App
When you launch a new product or service, reach out to bloggers whose audiences are a perfect fit. This morning, I found a compact little pitch in my email, from Candy at PearlMountain Technology, the graphic software developer that created the FotoJet web app. You can use the free tool to make collages, photo cards, social media images… Read More
Help This Hound Returns: Submit Your Publicity Question
Help This Hound, a regular feature in my twice-a-week email tips, was one of the most popular sections of my newsletter. Readers loved it, because they could submit a question about a publicity problem that stumped them. I featured the question here and then included it in the newsletter. Other readers, who welcomed the challenge,… Read More
7 Ways to Use the Best Free Media Database for Publicity
Michelle Tennant of Wasabi Publicity tipped me off to USNPL.com, the giant free database of newspapers, TV and radio contacts in the U.S. She’s one of the most successful publicists I know. If Michelle says it’s indispensable for her job—booking clients on major TV shows and into top-tier media like the Wall Street Journal and… Read More
The Best of The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week of 2014: Yours to regift
Here’s a gift that’s perfect for small business owners, a nonprofit that needs publicity, authors who want to sell more books, or anyone who wants to self-promote on a shoestring budget and without an expensive publicist. It’s “The Best of The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week of 2014,” an ebook that includes 26 tips… Read More
How a sink of dirty dishwater sparks my creativity
When I can’t think of a clever idea for an article that’s due tomorrow, and my brain is stuck in neutral, I leave the office in my home and head for the kitchen. I squirt Palmolive into the sink and fill it with hot water. Then I reach for my scrub brush and start working.… Read More
The biggest publicity mistake most people still make
If you’re new to publicity, I’ll bet you’re making this mistake. You’re “spraying and praying.” That’s the phrase we use to describe DIY publicity seekers who spray a pitch or a message to the winds, or to a list of 300 contacts from a big media list, and then pray someone responds. Often, there’s silence. That’s… Read More
11 ways to use this publicity cheat sheet with your PR team
I found a gem of a little publicity cheat sheet I know you’ll love. Actually, it’s a big cheat sheet which is all the better because it’s one of the most thorough at-a-glance summaries I’ve seen anywhere on how to get publicity. It’s called simply a Publicity Primer and it was written by Kirk… Read More
5 cool tools I learned about at #AuthorU Extravaganza
I love learning about free or dirt-cheap tools that make my job easier, and I know you do, too. Here’s a quick list of five tools I learned about today, during the second day of the AuthorU Extravaganza. 1. Video Hive At VideoHive you can buy and sell royalty-free footage and motion graphics as well… Read More