EzineArticles.com, the giant repository for thousands of articles that can be picked up by editors and publishers all over the world, is one of my favorite places for submitting how-to articles. Now, they’ve added eight new categories for articles: Data Recovery—Lost data? Got data? This computer related category covers all of the issues relating to… Read More
Writing Articles
How a freelance business writer can get more clients
This week, Cheryl Beck asks: “I am a freelance writer and I am trying to get more business writing clients. I also offer some publicity services because writing is so heavily involved. What I need are ideas to promote myself to get the ball rolling. I can think of campaigns for other companies, but not… Read More
Boulder newspaper trains citizen journalists
One of the things I hated about the newspaper business was our failure, as a whole, to teach people how to use the newspaper. That’s why I welcome a new program started by the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colorado. It’s sponsoring an in-person training session for its MyTown site. It’s running full-color, half-page ads in… Read More
Why Publicity Hounds must have good-quality publicity photos
I’ll bet at least 3 out of 4 of you who are reading this right now don’t have a good-quality photo of yourself that you can give to a reporter or editor who asks for it. Photos are often far more powerful than articles. Every time my photo appears in the newspaper along with a… Read More
Child Safety Stories
The happy ending to the story of the 9-year-old girl who escaped from her kidnapper in San Jose, California begs for follow-up story pitches on anything dealing with child safety. Schools, law enforcement agencies, non-profits, and companies that make safety equipment should pitch anything related to: –Technology that keeps children safe –Statistics on missing children… Read More
Quote excerpts from product reviews, with attribution
Lisa Wuennemann of Beloit, Wisconsin writes: “When a reporter reviews our new product and prints a review in the newspaper or voices it on air, can we legally use a quote from the review in materials that we send promoting the product as long as we source it? Do we need to obtain written approval… Read More
Keep track of who’s using your articles
If you write articles for print or online publications, here are three reasons why you should keep track of who’s using them. –You want to thank the editors and start establishing a relationship with them. –You want to add their names to your media database and continue submitting articles as often as you can. –You… Read More
Go out with a bang and write your own obit
True Publicity Hounds take every opportunity to build the buzz and keep it humming, even long after they’re gone. How? By writing their own obituaries. Check out this article in Newsweek magazine on an emerging trend–writing your own obit.
Submit online articles to pull website traffic
Once a month, small-business marketing expert Sharron Senter writes a how-to article that helps small businesses tackle a problem. She submits it to up to 30 different portals. A portal is a launching pad of sorts that helps consumers find destination and commerce sites. Search engine websites you are familiar with such as Google, Yahoo!,… Read More
Write a thumbnail bio for the end of your articles
While en route to a speaking engagement, I found a page in Airtran Airways’ in-flight magazine that’s a great lesson on how to write thumbnail bios. These are one- or two-sentence bios that you can tack onto the end of articles you write for other publications, along with your contact information such as an email… Read More