Issue #738 Aug. 3, 2013
Publisher: Joan Stewart
“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”
In This Issue
- 3 Cheat Sheets for Tips Lists
- Free Audit for Your Blog
- Google’s Gmail Slap
- Hound Video of the Week
This Weekend in the Hound House:
We shot video on Thursday down by the marina where I live, for a
TV show I might be in about entrepreneurs. But I bagged the idea
of shooting there for a “Welcome to My Website” video because the
wind picked up and my hair was flying everywhere.We shot B-roll
of me walking the dog and I might include a snippet of that, but
the film crew is coming back today to shoot the “talking head”
part in my office.
1. 3 Cheat Sheets for Tips Lists
How important is the content of your tips list that you send to
journalists and bloggers?
Important enough that I decided just now to create three cheat
sheets for everyone who registered for Thursday’s webinar on “17
Ways to Use a Tips List and Make It More Powerful Than Ever.”
The first cheat sheet includes the critical elements of your tips
list.
The second cheat sheet includes the six elements of your author
resource box.
The third cheat sheet includes important things you need to
remember when sending the lists to media outlets. For example, if
a magazine calls you and loves the list, and it wants exclusive
rights to print it, it’s time to start talking money. Never give
any media outlet exclusive rights unless they pay you, and only
if you have NOT offered the list to anyone else. Or it can get
really messy.
Just how well do these tips lists work?
About 13 years ago, at the height of the labor shortage, I
created two tips booklets on how to find and keep employees, at
$5 each. To promote the booklets, I wrote a list of “17 Tips for
Finding and Keeping Valuable Employees.” I sent it with a cover
letter to dozens of media outlets.
The Kiplinger Letter, a prestigious business newsletter,
published a three-line blurb about the booklets in its print
edition, complete with ordering information.
Here’s the kicker. They didn’t print one tip! Yet that puny
three-line mention resulted in sales of $10,000 in booklets,
including many bulk orders, and a paid speaking engagement.
Have I convinced you that tips sheets work?
If you want the three cheat sheets, the video replay of the
webinar and all the other bonuses, you can buy it at my shop.
2. Free Audit for Your Blog
Tips lists, and lists in general, are one of the six important
types of content that you should be producing for your blog and
website and sharing on social media.
The other five are video, audio, slides, graphics and docs.
They send a loud signal–to journalists and consumers–that you
are an expert in your field.
Nick Kellet, an expert in content creation and content curation,
created a fabulous slidedeck on SlideShare that “audits” the
blogs of many of the top bloggers and creates little baseball
cards of those who scored the highest in each area.
His project is a clever way to catch the attention of celebrity
bloggers, many of whom are sharing the link. It also underscores
the importance of each of the six types of media.
Slide #14 invites you to submit your blog for a free audit.
“Like” his slidedeck on Slideshare and leave a comment with your
blog URL. He will audit your last 25 blog posts for free.
Go to the Top Content slidedeck.
If you score low, go back and read #1 above.
3. Google’s Gmail Slap
If you’re a Gmail user, Google thinks it knows better than you
how it wants to deliver your email.
It recently rolled out a new design for Gmail that creates three
tabs into which your incoming mail is deposited: Primary, Social
and Promotions.
This newsletter, like many others, is being dumped into the
Promotions folder along with other marketing messages. If you
don’t check this folder regularly, you’ll be missing valuable
tips from me.
There are three work-arounds:
–You can click on any message and drag it into the Primary
folder.
–You can change your settings so that everything comes into the
Primary folder.
–You can “star” messages you don’t want to miss.
Watch this short video from Mike Stelzner that demonstrates How
to Disable Gmail tabs.
If you’re reading this, and you’re a Gmail user, hit “Reply” and
let me know you’re still here, OK? then “star” this newsletter,
or move it into the Primary box.
4. Hound Video of the Week
An oldie but goodie worth another look: The Dancing Merengue Dog
Share Your Two Cents