Promotions

Can you spot the 5 mistakes in this guest blogger’s pitch? Find them all and win $100 coupon

If you want to write a guest blog post at your favorite blog, and you’re writing the pitch, don’t make the five mistakes this blogger made when he emailed me today. Can you guess what they are? Here’s the entire pitch: OK, what did the blogger do wrong? But let’s be fair. What two things… Read More

15 ways to publicize a major publicity hit

The next time you generate publicity in a major newspaper or magazine, or at a blog, or you get onto a TV or radio show, don’t stop there. You also need to publicize your publicity. That’s what Michelle Tennant of Wasabi Publicity is doing, after landing her client, Landmark Education, in an article headlined Friendly Fight:… Read More

Girls: You could be the next Milk Mustache star

Actress Julianne Hough is teaming up with the national “got milk?” campaign and Seventeen magazine to find nine girls throughout the United States to become the next Milk Mustache stars. The “Power of 9” campaign emphasizes the power of milk’s nine essential nutrients and encourages girls to celebrate the power of looking and feeling their best, which can inspire… Read More

BBQ restaurant in Philly needs ideas for promotion

Michael Smith of Philadelphia writes: “My brother is the chef/owner of Fletcher’s BBQ, a restaurant that opened in September in a working middle-class neighborhood in the Philadelphia suburbs. “It offers take-out and delivery only. The motto, emblazoned on T-shirts and the menus, is ‘Dig the Pig!’ “My brother already has landed a great story… Read More

50+ (almost all free) websites to promote events

When it’s time to promote a live or special event, do you rely on the same old websites to spread the word? Posting on Craigslist, Facebook and LinkedIn is a no-brainer. But if you aren’t doing much more than that, you could be missing the smaller niche websites where you can target your ideal attendees… Read More

How to work with a PR firm: 15 do’s and 8 don’ts

The New York Times’ Small business blog has an interesting post about do’s and dont’s when working with a PR firm. Jennifer Walzer, founder and chief executive of Backup My Info!, a company that does online data back-up, discusses her experiences with a PR firm and passes along advice on how to make the relationship go smoothly. You’ve… Read More

21 ways to promote your webinars and teleseminars

If you’re new to hosting webinars, the team at SocialBrite.org has a very helpful summary of 10 steps for planning a successful webinar. It includes nine ways to promote your webinar. I took their list and added to it. Most of these ideas will also work when promoting teleseminars. Here’s their list of suggestions on… Read More

Need a clever tagline? Learn from nonprofits Taggies contest

Taglines, those pithy one-liners that follow the name of an organization, can let people know within two seconds what your organization does and how it helps them. Yet too many companies don’t have a tagline because they can’t think of something clever. If that’s you, Nancy Schwartz’s 2010 Tagline Contest for Nonprofits will inspire you.… Read More

Definitions of advertising, promotion, publicity and PR

If you work in PR, and you’re trying to explain to somebody what you do, and they look at you with a blank stare, explain it this way: “If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying ‘Circus Coming to the Fairground Saturday,’ that’s advertising. If you put the sign on… Read More