Meg Weaver of Wooden Horse Publishing wants Publicity Hounds to know about these five new magazines, or those planning to launch soon: —My House in the Mountain States is the first in a series of “My House in…” shelter magazines by McGraw-Hill, consisting of regional magazines serving high-end homeowners and the design and building professionals.… Read More
Pitching
“Side door strategy” relies on not-so-obvious angles
Proteges in The Publicity Hound Mentoring Program heard me lecture recently on the “side-door strategy” to publicity during a teleseminar I hosted just for them. Even though I’ve always understood and promoted the concept, I first heard the phrase “side-door strategy” when I read an article by publicist Jodee Blanco. The “side-door strategy” means pitching… Read More
Pitch “surprise” destination stories to inflight magazines
When I think of New Jersey, I think of the string of gritty industrial scenes that flash on the TV screen during the opening of my favorite show, “The Sopranos.” That’s why the entire special section that profiled South Jersey, featured in a recent issue of US Airways’ Attache magazine, was such a pleasant surprise.… Read More
Publicity for your holiday traditions
This is the perfect time of year to let the media know about holiday or year-end traditions followed by you, your company or your church, school or family. Here are some examples: –If your company has a holiday tradition of helping others in need, like helping at the local food pantry for a day, let… Read More
Use short pitches
Think about the last pitch you emailed to a journalist, or sent by snail-mail letter. How long was it? If it was longer than a paragraph or two, the journalist might have hit the “delete” key or thrown the letter into the wastebasket. Or if you started your phone pitch with “let me fill you… Read More
Who’s your daddy?
I confess to watching most of “Who’s Your Daddy?”, Fox’s maudlin melodrama in which a blonde babe tries to pick her biological father out of a line-up of seven men and pocket $100,000. She guessed correctly, of course. Adoptive parents and others, including the National Council for Adoption, pleaded with Fox’s 182 affiliates not to… Read More
Invite reporter with a pet to cover vet clinic opening
Beth Ann Black of Coppell, Texas has a client, a large group of specialty veterinarians–all for animals–that will celebrate their fifth anniversary this spring. She wants fun promotional ideas, beyond the one they’ve already thought of: hosting an open house where current and potential clients bring teddy bears to be examined so the doctors can… Read More
Alternative publications
The more you pitch to large magazines and newspapers, the stiffer the competition for an editor’s attention. That’s why placing stories in alternative publications can be so much easier–and sometimes more effective. They have a ready-made audience for your topic, regardless of how obscure it is. Check out the New Pages Guide to Alternative Periodicals… Read More
How to Get Onto “The 700 Club”
Sharon Dotson of Bayou City PR in Houston, Texas wants to know how to get a client onto “The 700 Club,” a live TV program that airs weekdays from The Christian Broadcasting Network’s (CBN) broadcast facilities in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Hosted by Pat Robertson, the program focuses on Christian ministry. From Sandy Dumont of Norfolk,… Read More
Finding the nut graph will help you with pitches
Journalists refer to it as the “nut graph.” It’s short for “nut paragraph,” the part near the beginning that explains, in a nutshell, what the story is about. The nut graph often lends perspective, includes statistics or makes a comparison between something then and now. Here’s an examples from a recent Wall Street Journal. A… Read More